i am so sorry for that! i must have clicked the wrong chapter to upload... sorry :((((( here is what i meant to post :)

GAAHHHHHHHH! RECORD NUMBER OF REVIEWS FOR ONE CHAPTER! GAHHHHHHH!

you people are seriously awesome. Like, seriously. THANK YOU!
as a thank you/holiday gift, this chapter is VERY long. I didn't intend on it, i just kept at it, and it just kept getting bigger and bigger!
this chapter is dedicated to Crazy-random-reader of hogwarts who wanted a chapter before their birthday... here you have it! :D

to say a uber big thank you, I will be uploading a Christmas present for you all on Christmas day, so keep your eyes peeled!

disclaimer:disclaimed

Chapter 16

It was last thing on a Thursday night when Abby jingled into the squad room, as if there was nothing strange about her outfit. Or at least, that's what she thought. But apparently the world did not share those views.

"What?" Abby said in response to the question that Gibbs didn't ask. He had given her one of those looks, a more affectionate version of the one he normally sent Tony. The one that said "what the hell" loud and clear."

Without giving anyone a chance to say anything, Abby thrust the bag into Gibbs' face.

"Pick one!" she said.

Gibbs gave her another look, before deciding that it was safe to put her hand in their mysterious bag, filled with goodness knows what.

Gibbs unravelled his piece, where he found a name printed on the piece in green and red font. At Gibbs' blank look, Abby rolled her eyes.

"It's secret Santa," and when Gibbs still looked blankly at her she began to explain, "you buy a present for that person, and on Christmas eve we exchange presents, and guess who bought our present, and then we find out!"

Walking over to Tony's desk, Abby offered him the bag of names.

"I put Ziva's name in, do you think she'll mind?" Abby said, for the first time since entering the squad room, she looked more like a hesitant school girl than anything else.

Wordlessly Tony sent her a charming grin, saying everything that he couldn't say in words. That he was sure that Ziva would love to play this game of Abby's. He stuck his hand in, taking two names instead of just the one.

"I'll give it to Ziva tonight."

"No peeking," Abby said.

"But I have to check so she doesn't have herself," Tony said, pretending that there was rational reasoning behind his childish curiosity.

Abby mock glared at him, and it was times like this when Gibbs felt like the father of a few very irritating, very immature children, rather than the leader of a perfectly qualified team of special agents.

Wordlessly he got out of her chair, and motioned at Tony to give him the piece of paper that he and Abby were fighting over. When it landed firmly in his hands, Gibbs sat down and pulled out his glasses to read the name, before handing it back to Tony.

"It's not her," he said.

This seemed to satisfy Abby, but Tony looked a little disgruntled that he could not cheat.

Next Abby reached the front of Timmy's desk. She looked up at him through thick lashes, a look in her eye that was full of promise. Tim looked at her with the same expression, and they stood there intensely making out… with their eyes.

Finally Gibbs had enough of it. Yes, on an average day McGee was barely passable as a mature adult, but he expected a more mature response from at least Tim. Right now, he and Abby were making out like hormonal teenagers, and he didn't like it.

"Eye sex still counts as grab-ass," Gibbs said, glaring at Tim, whose gaze reluctantly left Abby's, and fell to the bag in her hands. Reaching into the bag, he pulled out a name, before looking Abby in the eye one more time, then averting his gaze once again.

"Now where is Ducky…" Abby said, trailing off as she turned the corner and out of sight from the bullpen.

After a few minutes of tapping, Gibbs shut his computer down. Nodding goodnight to the guys, he walked to the elevator and was out of sight. McGee tried to ignore Tony. Until the fact that Tony was leaning so far over his desk, looking towards the elevator became too much.

"What are you doing?"

Tony looked from left to right, before deciding that the coast was clear.

"Who have you got?"

"I'm not telling!" McGee said quickly, indignant that Tony should even insinuate such a thing, "why do you want to know anyway."

But when Tony didn't answer, McGee got his answer already.

"You have Gibbs, don't you."

The statement itself made Tony wince.
"What do you get the man who wants nothing?"

"He probably wants a better Senior Field Agent," McGee shot back, and Tony sent him a "what the hell" look.

"Not helping, McSmart arse," and then thought about it for a moment, "want to trade?"

"No!" McGee replied, his voice going higher than it probably should have, making Tony's head shoot up to check that Gibbs hadn't heard. McGee rolled his eyes at Tony's paranoia.

"McGee, dude, we're buddies right? We are each other's wingman," Tony started.

"Tony, the answer's still no," McGee said firmly, turning back to his computer to shut it down for the night.

"Just think about it," Tony said, still begging. The smile on McGee's face was clearly something to do with the fact that this time it was Tony begging McGee for the favour.

"I don't have to think about it, the answer will always be no," and then a thought dawned on him, "why don't you just swap with Ziva? She would never know."

"Oh, she'd know. And not to mention Gibbs. He would have me for not playing nicely with his favourite daughter."

McGee smiled as he picked up his things. For once, it was Tony in a mess, and not him.

"Good night, Tony."

"Night probie. Have fun," and then he thought about what he just said, "Second thoughts, don't have fun. Because now that you and Abby are dating…" he shuddered at the thought of who McGiggle would be having fun with.

With a cheeky smirk on his face Tim left, leaving Tony alone in the squad room. Twas the season to be jolly, after all…

oooOOOooo

Tali could hear the hammering on the front door that could only mean that Anthony DiNozzo was at the door. She could hear the shower running in the other room, and sighed. This meant she was going to have to get her lazy bum off her bed and to go answer the door.

"Coming," she yelled loudly, despite the fact she knew that Tony could probably not hear her. Padding down the hallway barefoot, she flung open the door.

"Hey Tony!" she greeted, Tony, all wrapped up in his thick winter coat grinned in response. But even though Tony now spent more time at Ziva's apartment than he did at his own, he still was yet to navigate the uncharted waters that were Ziva's family. Her mother, he could handle. Women over the age of forty seemed to respond to his charm, all he had to do was send them a charismatic grin and be on his best behaviour to get into their good books. However, Tali was certainly not over forty. She was a young, twenty-three year old, but acted childishly in a way that could only be described as the baby of the family. Tony didn't know how to act around her. He had bad experiences with this kind of thing, what with his father going through wives like underwear. There was a plethora of attitudes these large-busted women had towards him. When he was younger, one moment they would try and treat him like he was their son, the next telling him that he could talk to them about anything. Which he hated. When he grew older some tried to treat him like a sibling (which was so wrong, on so many different levels), or friends. Which he hated. No-one quite knew how to deal with him. He was like an awkward extra limb to his father, and eventually even the ones with the biggest, whitest smiles learned to ignore him. Which was better than the alternatives, but not enjoyable. He didn't want to have that kind of relationship with Tali. But it was not like he had any experience to draw on when dealing with her.

"Hey Tali, is Ziva around?" Tony said.

"Yeah sure, she's just in the shower. Come in!" she said, and Tony wiped his feet on the mat, before taking his shoes off and putting them neatly on the shoe mat. Tali almost rolled her eyes at his attitude. It was clear that he regarded her as a ticking time bomb. His awkwardness was a little endearingly cute, and the fact that he was hot was not something that went unnoticed by her (she was only human. It didn't matter that he was almost double her age). She didn't want him to feel awkward though. She wanted him to kick off his shoes when he got in, to comfortably slouch on the couch. He just didn't seem to let himself, at least, not when she was around.

Tony followed Tali into the living room, where Tali flopped onto the couch and switched to television on to cover the deafeningly awkward silence.

"Tali, who was at the…" Ziva said, walking into the room in a towel, and towel drying her hair with another. Her statement trailed off when she saw Tony standing awkwardly in the living room. Tali may have been young and naïve, but she could tell the look that Tony was giving Ziva was not so innocent.

"I'm off…" Tali said, but she was pretty sure neither of them heard her. Sighing, she made to walk out of the room.

"Tali."

Tali turned to see that Ziva's eyes had not left Tony's but she still was talking to her.

"You have forgotten something."

Rolling her eyes Tali walked back over to the TV to switch it off, and left the room. She didn't want to know what was going to happen with those two…

When Tali left the room Ziva and Tony stood there for a moment, their eyes never leaving each other's.

"Hey, fiancée," Tony said, and then both of them winced.

"Wow, that was weird," Tony said, voicing both of their opinions.

"That is going to take some getting used to," Ziva said lowly. Silence engulfed the room again, and Ziva became increasingly aware of her state of undress.

"I am wearing a towel," Ziva said.

"I noticed," Tony said, stepping closer to her.

Without a word, Ziva flung the towel in her hands onto the sofa so only the towel wrapped around her body remained and her hands were free. She used these hands to her advantage, and pulled Tony into a hot wet kiss. Tony reached up to bury his hand in her hair, the wet curls still warm from the shower. His lips moved against her, demanding more from her. His other hand moved to run his fingers up and down her bare shoulder, and Ziva shuddered in response.

"Someone's responsive," Tony murmured into her ear, before sucking and biting his way down the long smooth column of her neck.

"And who may that be?" Ziva said, pretending to play dumb before Tony stroked the back of her neck, and she could not help but let out a gasp. Which was followed but a number of sharp intakes of breath as his lips found her other sensitive spots. Ziva felt her knees buckle under the pressure, and she would have fallen, had she not the desire to keep his lips exactly where they were.

Eventually their lips made their way back to each other, and after a final lingering kiss, they withdrew. Catching their breaths, Ziva was the first one to speak.

"I am in a towel," Ziva repeated, but this time her words were softer and heavier. Tony almost didn't register the words, too distracted by looking at her swollen red lips. That red was better than any colour that he had seen on girls anywhere. That combined with her heavy eye lids was more beautiful that any make-up that Ziva could be wearing.

"I noticed," he replied, but his elevator eyes ran up and down her body, saying everything that he hadn't.

"I should, go get out of this towel," Ziva said, her voice dropping lower.

"Can I help?" Tony said, and Ziva smiled.

"If you come and help me, dinner will never happen."

Tony finally let go of her.

"Be right back," Ziva said. And Tony couldn't remember the last time those three words sounded more suggestive and full of promise.

Five minutes and a pair of pyjamas later (with penguins on them), Ziva returned to the living room. But in her defence to Tony's incredulous look, it was the season.

As Ziva pulled out a lasagne from the freezer, Tony filled Ziva in with the latest events at the office.

"… and now I have to find something for Gibbs. Gibbs, of all people. You know, I had a one in seven chance of getting Gibbs. That's less that 15% chance, but still, I got him."

"Why don't you get him a photo album with photographs of the team in it?" Ziva said. In the limited time she had spent with Gibbs by Tony's bedside, she could tell he was not an overly sentimental man. But he did consider the team to be his family, and he was a family man, who would appreciate something small like a photo album.

Thinking about it, Tony began to dream up how good an idea that truly was. He could honour those who had fallen in it, Paula, Jenny, and give Gibbs memories of them in photo form.

"I knew there was a reason why I'm marrying you," Tony said, and this time it was only Ziva who winced at it. Catching his quizzical look, she answered him.

"I am sorry. But it is going to take a little bit getting used to."

"You're not having second thoughts, are you?"

"No, no!" Ziva said shocked, her eyes wide with the mere thought of it, "No, never. It is just something new."

"But something good, right," Tony asked, his head tilted to one side.

"Something very good," Ziva said, her smile growing with every passing second. But it was time for a subject change, "so, where's my name?"

Digging around in his pocket he found the folded name that had tempted him the whole of the way to Ziva's place. But just as he had said to McGee, Ziva would have known if he had looked. Handing her the piece, Ziva did not open it at first, but regarded him with a steely eye. She was clearly checking to see if he had peaked, but eventually she decided that he was innocent. Unrolling the paper, she took a look at the paper and smiled.

"Who did you get?" Tony said, the suspense killing him.

"I thought that the whole point of this was to be secret."

The sigh that Tony gave rivalled the kind she heard from Tali when she was going through her "hormonal teenage years".

Ziva turned to the oven, bending over to switch the oven on and put the name down on the counter. Tony was so tempted to look, but before he could decide whether or not to risk it, he caught sight of Ziva all bent over.

"I think we are missing something…" she muttered under her breath.

"Not from this angle we're not," Tony replied, and Ziva straightened up and glared at him.

"Garlic bread," she said, fully aware of what Tony was saying.

"I don't think Tali likes me," Tony said, and Ziva tilted her head quizzically at this abrupt change in topic. But, going with it, she replied.

"What makes you think that?"

"I don't know, she just doesn't seem to like me…"

"Have you asked her?"

"No…"

"Tony," Ziva said, moving to stand right in front of him, "My little sister is incapable of disliking anyone. She is too loving to do such a thing."

"OK, so she doesn't dislike me. But she does not like me."

Ziva's nose screwed up, something that Tony noticed she did when she got confused with the English language.

"Well, what are you going to do about it?" Ziva asked.

"I don't know! That's why I told you!"

"Well, if it is any consolation," Ziva started, her hands planted on her hips seductively," I like you," and she pulled him into a kiss.

Tali was heading to the kitchen to refill her cup when she heard her name being mentioned in the conversation. So, naturally, she flattened herself against the wall, pretending that she was some super awesome spy, so she could listen in on the conversation.

"I don't think Tali likes me." Tony's voice floated around the corner. Where was he getting this from? Tali thought to herself. She always knew that Tony was nervous around her, but was that because she was his girlfriend/fiancée's kid sister.

"What makes you think that?" Ziva's voice joined the unseen conversation. Ziva was clearly thinking along the same lines as Tali.

"I don't know, she just doesn't seem to like me…"

"Have you asked her?"

"No…" Ha. So she had never said that she didn't like him, he just assumed.

"Tony," Ziva said, moving to stand right in front of him, "My little sister is incapable of disliking anyone. She is too loving to do such a thing." Tali couldn't help thinking that it was kind of cute that Ziva was saying that kind of thing about her.

"OK, so she doesn't dislike me. But she does not like me."

"Well, what are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know! That's why I told you!"

"Well, I like you," Ziva said, and much to Tali's disgust she heard the sound of two people stuck in a very intimate lip-lock. Gross.

Tali was glad she had overheard this conversation. Now she knew about Tony's thoughts, she could do something about it.

The three of them were sat at the dinner table, an awkward silence blanketing the table. Ziva was silent because she appreciated silence, in a way that her sister could never understand. Tali was silent because she was pondering her next move. Tony was silent because his mouth was so full of lasagne.

"So, why do you think I don't like you?" Tali decided that the way to tackle this was head on. After all, she was her mother's daughter.

Tony almost spat out his mouthful. How had she even heard his conversation with Ziva? Mini-Ziva was a chip off the old block.

"Ha!" Tony barked, trying to use humour to diffuse the seriousness of the situation, "when you say that, there isn't anything… well…"

Ziva decided to take pity on her Tony.

"Is he wrong?" she said, reaching under the table to take Tony's hand.

"Yes. I do like him," Tali stated simply.

"Why?" Ziva said.

"He had a cool taste in movies."

To say that Tony was shocked was an understatement.

"I'm glad someone in this house appreciates my good taste," Tony said, and Ziva punched him in the arm, then soothed him.

"I appreciate your taste," Ziva said, and leaned over to kiss him. But before she could Tali spoke.

"OK, keep in PG-13."

"Tali, you're twenty three years old."

"And?"

Tony had to laugh at the sisters' antics. They were a family. And there was no-one he would rather spend Christmas with.