Silent Night
Chapter 6
Pulling up to the house, Gibbs noted that the inside lights were off, only the front porch light illuminate the way. Glancing over at Tony he saw the disappointment in the younger man's eyes, their first Christmas together was not as they had planned, the tree picked with love, was now lost, the clock counting down the last minutes of Christmas Eve.
Giving Tony a little smile Gibbs opened his door and went around to help his partner/lover out. Agent Velazquez came around the car, Gibbs handed him the keys. Gibbs shaking the young agents hand, "Thanks for your help."
"No worries Agent Gibbs, I was already scheduled to work tonight, and my family is in Texas." The Mexican-American agent responded. "I'll make sure these two get home safe." On the ride from the hospital to Gibbs house, it has been decided that Tim and Abby would go stay at Abby's house and come back about noon to help get Christmas dinner ready, Abby had wanted to stay as originally planned but with the accident, Gibbs wanted to make sure they were all able to get some rest. If the team stayed over, he knew that would be impossible. Abby finally conceded when Tim not so subtly poked her in the side.
Gently taking Tony's right arm as the SUV pulled away, Gibbs guided his lover up the front steps. Opening the door he flipped the light switch, as the room was bathed in light, Gibbs heard a gasp as Tony came to stand beside him.
The room was filled with the wonderful aroma of roasted beef but they barely noticed as they stared at the beautifully decorated Christmas tree, Gibbs saw disappointment replaced with joy on Tony's face.
"Oh my God, how, who did this…how?" Tony stumbled over his words in excitement.
"I have no idea," Gibbs answered looking at the festively decorated room. The dinning room and kitchen lights were out, but Gibbs could see that the dinning room table was set, looking around at the empty room he was surprised that the elderly Medical Examiner had not waited up. Ducky usually wanted to check for himself that the emergency room doctors did not miss anything.
Leading Tony to the sofa, he made sure the younger man was comfortable before he went over to inspect the tree. Sitting on a branch were it could not be missed was an envelope addressed to them.
From his position on the sofa, Tony carefully looked over the tree, "Jethro, I think this is our tree, the one we picked out today," he was pretty sure he had seen this tree before, "How the hell did it get here and how did Ducky get this all done?"
Coming back and sitting next to Tony, Gibbs waved the envelope in his hand, "I have no idea, I was out looking for you all evening and then at the hospital, maybe this will tell us." Ripping open the envelope he pulled a letter written in a beautiful flowing script that they both recognized as Ducky's handwriting.
Dear Anthony and Jethro,
A very Merry Christmas to the both of you. Anthony I will expect a full report on your injuries in the morning and I expect that you will be taking your medications as ordered and adhering to the Doctors treatment plan.
I am sure that you are both wondering how this beautiful tree found it's way into your home. Surrounded all year long with the horror man can instill on his fellow man; it is refreshing to see that all the goodness is not gone from the world. I will relay the tale of this beautiful tree and how it came to be over breakfast in the morning.
Now I would like for both of you to get something to eat. There are two plates of roast beef in the refrigerator and I expect Anthony to be in bed right after he eats.
Merry Christmas my dear friends.
Fondly yours,
Ducky
Placing a gentle kiss on Tony's cheek, Gibbs stood, "I'll go heat some food, are you up to eating." Gibbs knew from experience that with a concussion, food did not always sit well, but Tony had not had a lot to eat except energy bars since breakfast yesterday and he had refused food at the hospital.
"Just heat one plate, I'll pick off of yours, not sure I can eat that much and sleep well."
After eating, Gibbs returned the plate to the kitchen, "Ok, Tony lets get up to bed."
"Not yet, Jethro, sit with me."
Sitting together on sofa, Tony leaned into Gibbs, a protective arm wrapped around him and a warm kiss was pressed to the side of his head.
"I love you Jethro."
"Love you too, Tony."
"You know Jethro, this may not be how I envisioned our first Christmas but right now it feels really good." Sighing, he snuggled in as close as his battered body allowed.
Ducky quietly crept back to his room with a smile on his face, his friends were safe and who knew, that these two men would find in each other, what had evaded them for so long. It had been hard for some of the agents at NCIS to accept the relationship, but he had lived long enough to see that Love is a rare gift that comes in many forms. These two were now ready to receive and nurture this gift. Tomorrow he would examine is young friend's injuries. Tomorrow he would tell the tale of the Christmas tree. Tonight he would leave them to share the magic of the night alone.