A/N: Thank you for your reviews and a happy new year to you all of you. I'm sorry for the looong wait on this one, but well, Christmas and family happened, a brand new puppy happened, too, so I hardly had any time for myself. Sorry.

Free Sentiments

"Come on, I already hear my dad walking around downstairs."

"But sleepy," Tony replied groggily and Gibbs couldn't help but smile at the bleary eyed man next to him.

"Then go back to sleep, I'm going to make some coffee."

Gibbs got up, quickly dressed and then went downstairs to find his father sitting in the kitchen already nursing a cup of coffee. Gibbs poured one for himself and nodded satisfied as he realized that they still drank it the same way. Black. Strong. Bitter.

They sat in silence for a while, reading yesterday's paper and generally just trying to wake up. They had always done that and it felt oddly normal despite the fact that they hadn't talked to each other in so long. It was only when Gibbs was through with his second cup of coffee that Jackson cleared his throat, causing Gibbs' inner danger sensor to go off.

"Just spit it out, Dad."

"Leroy," Jackson chuckled. "Why are you such a skeptic?"

"Because I'm usually right. And… you are dying to ask me something. I can tell."

"Just trying to wrap my head around this, that's all," Jack replied and actually winked at him.

"You got a problem with the gay part?"

"No, Leroy. You should know me at least that well. I'm just curious how the two of you came to be."

"Already told you. We met on a case, went out a couple of times as friends. You know how these things go."

"What does he see in you?"

"Hey," Gibbs replied vehemently.

"That's not what I meant. It's just… he's that famous movie star and you're a grumpy ex-Marine."

"I don't know either," Gibbs shrugged. "We just clicked from our first conversation on."

"Weird how that happens sometimes," Jackson nodded, looking oddly smug. "So do you think he can get us into movie premieres?"

"Oh, shut up," Gibbs just replied, sighing inwardly even as he realized that while his dad was a nosy bastard, he only meant well.

And he really seemed to be fine with it. Gibbs had just thought that he would have given him a much harder time over it but it didn't seem like Jack was really interested in causing trouble for once. Maybe he really had changed in the twelve years that he hadn't seen his son. Gibbs himself had changed, too, after all. Gone were the days of chasing substitutes for Shannon, gone were the days of believing he'd spend the rest of his life alone.

That thought made him stop dead in his tracks. Was he really already imagining spending the rest of his life with Tony? It was weird that this stray thought didn't have his pulse rushing or adrenalin pumping. It didn't even unsettle him. It was just out there and it didn't scare him one bit.

"Why are you smiling?" Jackson interrupted his train of thought as he looked up from the paper again.

"No reason."

"Just happy, huh?"

Gibbs didn't reply and he apparently didn't even need to because Jack just raised an eyebrow and then subtly shook his head before he took a sip from his coffee.

"Times are a changing."

Tony chose that exact moment to enter the kitchen, his hair sleep-mussed, his eyes still bleary.

"Good morning and merry Christmas," he said, yawning widely as he accepted a cup of coffee from Gibbs.

"Merry Christmas to you, too," Jackson said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Sleep well?"

"Too well," Tony yawned again. "Almost missed Christmas morning."

That earned him a chuckle from both the Gibbs men. He took a sip of coffee and then ran a hand through his hair.

"So what did you guys use to do on this day?"

"Unpack presents, help his mom in the kitchen and then go out for a long snowy walk."

"I guess we can still do that, right?" Tony piped up, smiling softly. "I mean, the presents and taking a walk thing."

"Sure," Gibbs shrugged as if he didn't care either way while deep inside he felt his own happiness almost bubble over.

"And you can help me in the kitchen," Jackson cut in, chuckling. "I hate peeling potatoes."

"I'm the master of that," Tony replied smiling and then let his glance wander towards the Christmas tree in the living room. "So, presents?"

"You sure you're not six still?" Jackson said as he got up from the chair he had been sitting in.

"My Christmases generally sucked," Tony said quietly as he walked over, a fake smile plastered on his face. "Like to make some new memories."

"You got it," Gibbs replied, shortly taking his hand and squeezing it softly.

Tony gave him a small smile and then picked up a present that was lying under the tree to give it to Jackson. The older man took it with a raised eyebrow, apparently not having expected any presents at all, and then unwrapped it. He smiled as he retrieved a white woolen sweater. Tony had picked it up after Gibbs had told he'd come.

"Thank you," Jack said as he ran his hand over the material. "This feels expensive."

"It's nothing," Tony just waved him off as he winked at him.

Gibbs watched his father subtly shake his head as he looked at the sweater again as if it was something he'd never expected. And it only occurred to Gibbs right at that moment that he really hadn't. His dad had never met any of the other wives after Shannon, had never spent Christmas with any of them and it seemed like Gibbs wasn't the only one who had gone out of his way this year. He sat down next to the older man and then squeezed his shoulder as Tony handed him his present. With a smile on his lips, Gibbs took it. It was a small box and as he took off the wrapper, he saw a watch in there.

"Thanks," he mumbled, wondering how Tony had even remembered.

He'd told him all the way back in September that his watch had been acting up, had sometimes lost an hour just because it could. He'd said it like it didn't matter much and he idly wondered just how closely Tony was paying attention to him if he remembered the little things like that. Gibbs got up from the couch now and placed a chaste kiss on Tony's lips.

"You like it?"

"Love it," Gibbs nodded as he swapped the old watch with his new one.

He knew that it wasn't likely to be cheap but for once he didn't really care. He knew that Tony didn't care about the money, never bragged about it or insisted to buy him something, so Gibbs didn't even try to argue. It wasn't like Tony would expect much from him anyway.

Gibbs got his own presents from under the tree and handed his dad the first one. He couldn't help but smirk as Jackson unwrapped it, revealing a pocket watch that had already belonged to him. It had stopped working around the time Gibbs had gone off to the Marines and he had taken it with him to repair it in his free time but never got around it. He had found it in the attic earlier this year and had finally managed to have it running. Weird, how Jackson had chosen this exact year to try to reconnect with him. Gibbs watched his father run a trembling finger over the watch before he looked up to meet his son's eyes.

"I didn't know you had it all this time."

"I forgot about it, too," Gibbs replied quietly. "Found it earlier this year. Thought I'd give it another try. I hope it'll keep on working from now on."

"Me, too," Jackson replied thoughtfully and with a sinking sensation in his stomach, Gibbs realized that he wasn't only talking about the pocket watch.

There was much more to it than that and Gibbs suddenly knew that Jackson was thinking the same thing. It was all about them. They hadn't worked for years, not since his mother had died all these years ago, and maybe it was time to make amends. It wouldn't be easy, that much was for sure, but Gibbs realized that he really wanted to try. With a subtle nod of his head, Jackson looked away, so Gibbs did the same but not without a slightly warm feeling in his stomach as he handed the remaining present to Tony. The youngest man had apparently not been oblivious to what had been going on between the two Gibbses because he was smiling broadly at the both of them as he took the present.

Tony carefully unwrapped it and Gibbs felt his heart pick up pace as he realized that he really wanted Tony to understand what had motivated him to give it to him. The younger man looked up as he retracted the dog tags from the small box that Jethro had given him. He turned them over in his hand, reading Gibbs' name and military branch. Gibbs held his breath when Tony looked closer as he saw a date engraved. It was the date when he had decided to fly over to DC after Abby's call for help. It also marked the beginning of their relationship and Gibbs hoped that it would mean just as much to Tony as it did to him. When Tony looked up, Gibbs immediately knew that he'd given him the right thing. The younger man's eyes were brighter than before and they shone with untold thankfulness. He didn't say anything, just enveloped Gibbs in a tight hug.

Gibbs wanted to say how much it had meant to him that he had just come to him like that, how that date marked the last day he had had any alcohol and how his life had become indefinitely better since then. But he didn't say any of it. Partly because his dad was still there after all and partly because Tony seemed to understand anyway.

"Thank you," he just whispered and for some reason it was enough.

#

"You sure your dad will be alright alone?" Tony asked a couple of hours later as they were walking on a narrow path that lead through the snow and into a forest.

"Yeah," Gibbs just nodded as he took Tony's gloved hand into his own. "You miss him already?"

"Nah," Tony chuckled. "I just mean, it's Christmas. And Christmas is about family."

"It is," Gibbs relented. "But he knows we need some alone time."

"Do we?"

"Yeah," the older man just gave back as he poked Tony's side. "I haven't said thank you properly for the watch."

With that, Gibbs pulled Tony closer and then planted a kiss on his lips. He felt the younger man melt into it as his own arms came to a rest on Gibbs' hips. They stayed like that for a while, just savoring in each other's touch before Tony broke the kiss in order to look into Gibbs' eyes.

"Actually," he then said barely above a whisper. "I've got another present. I just wanted to give it to you in private."

He rummaged through the inner pocket of his coat and then retrieved two folded pieces of paper. Unceremoniously he handed them over and Gibbs opened them. It seemed to be a letter from a realtor. Gibbs skimmed over it quickly and then looked up at Tony with a questioning gaze.

"You sold your house in LA?"

"Yup," Tony nodded, taking Gibbs' hand again.

"Why?"

"Why?" Tony laughed out loud at that. "Because I want the center of my life to be here. With you."

"Are you sure?" Gibbs asked incredulously, wondering if he had talked about the distance between for too many times. "You don't need to."

"I know," Tony smiled again. "But I want to. I'm not talking about moving in together or anything. Not for now. But I've got this awesome apartment here, and I want to be around you more. I'm cutting back on filming as it is anyway, so there's no reason to hang around LA all the time. I can easily catch a plane anyway. So what do you say?"

He had spoken very quickly as if he was releasing nervous energy and it was only when Gibbs squeezed his hand again that he breathed out.

"It's a great present, Tony. Thank you."