"Christmas Without Gibbs (The First)"
--Chapter One--
It was late afternoon at the Gibbs residence in Stillwater, Pennsylvania.
Jackson Gibbs had been slaving away, for hours, getting things ready for Christmas Eve Supper. The dining room table was set, the Christmas tree was up and decorated in the living room, and in the kitchen--the food was cooking.
There came a knock at the front door, and the old man knew that his first guests had finally arrived.
"Coming!" he called, as he hobbled through the kitchen door--cane in hand.
Another knock came a few seconds later, as Jackson played with the top chain-latch and undid the deadbolt. "Hold on." he said, as he unfastened the deadbolt.
He pulled open the door, finally, and found himself staring into the eyes of NCIS Special Agent Kensi Blye.
"Kensi, my dear." the old man said happily, as he stepped aside. "Come in. Come in." he said, motioning her in. "You must be freezing." he chuckled.
Behind Kensi, Jackson Gibbs could see that a light snow had begun to fall over the blanket of white that already covered most of the small town.
"Thank you sir." Kensi nodded, with a small grin as she stepped inside the toasty-warm house clutching a small bundle, securely, to her chest.
Jackson closed the door and re-did the locks behind him. "Please, call me Jackson." he said, as he turned around. "There's no need for 'Sirs' here." he added, with a small chuckle.
"Oh, Callen's right behind-" she started to say, almost forgetting about the man who had accompanied her on this Holiday trip.
"Oomph." came a muffled grunt from outside the door, immediately following what sounded like someone running into a door. "Ouch. Damnit!"
Jackson Gibbs quickly re-opened the door and found G. Callen standing on the other side.
"I'd watch that mouth if I were you, young man." Jackson said, as the younger man filed past him into the house.
"Sorry about that." Callen apologized, as he surveyed the immediate area around him.
Jackson chuckled, as he redid the locks on the door once again.
The younger man was carrying a suitcase, a duffel bag, and a medium-sized baby bag in his arms. It was quite the load for just one man to have to carry. "Nice place." Callen commented.
"Thanks." Jackson replied, as he looked back to Kensi.
"Oh," the old man said, as he noticed the tiny bundle cradled in Kensi's arms. "And, who might this little fella be?" he asked, with a smile.
Kensi smiled as she rocked the slumbering bundle against her chest.
"I'll show you." she said quietly.
Kensi began to gently and carefully unwrap the little bundle until a tiny, little face appeared.
"Jackson, this is my son." she said softly. "You're...grandson." she added.
Jackson stared, with eyes full of wonder, at the slumbering newborn cradled in his mother's arms. He had not been able to attend the baby's birth so this was the first he had seen of his new grandchild.
"May I?" he asked, quietly, holding out his arms.
"Sure." Kensi replied.
She carefully placed the little baby into his grandfather's arms, taking extra care to not wake him prematurely.
"He...He looks a lot like Jethro did when he was a baby." Jackson commented.
Kensi smiled softly.
"What's his name?" Jackson asked, without looking up from the little baby boy.
"Leroy," She said, quietly. "Leroy Jackson...Gibbs." she added, awaiting a sign of his approval before continuing. "I call him Lee, for short."
Jackson chuckled softly, as he held the slumbering infant close. "Suits him...I think." Jackson said, with a grin and a wink at Kensi.
Kensi smiled back at the older man.
"Hey, is there a place I can set these bags down?" Callen asked, quietly.
"Sure." Jackson replied, looking up at the younger man. "Upstairs. Second door down, on the left."
"Up...stairs..." Callen repeated. "Of course." he added, rolling his eyes as he strode off in the direction that the older man had indicated.
Jackson Gibbs handed the tiny newborn back to his mother, as a disturbing smell reached out from the kitchen and invaded his nostrils.
"Be back in a jiff." he said, as he turned on his heels and headed towards the kitchen.
In Kensi's arms, the slumbering newborn began to stir. Kensi tried to rock him gently back to sleep, but to no avail. As the tiny infant whimpered Kensi bent her head and gently kissed him on the forehead.
"Hungry?" she asked, softly.
The crying seemed to intensify at the word.
"Right." Kensi said, chuckling to herself. "Come on little one...lets go eat." she said, as she carried her baby boy off in the direction of the living room.
Kensi remembered the layout of Jackson Gibbs' home from the last time she had come to Stillwater. Nothing had changed between then and now.
--Chapter Two--
Callen reached the bottom of the stairs once again, and looked around for Kensi or Jackson, but found no one.
A sound reached his ear(s) and carried him, on his search, in the direction of the living room.
"Kens-" he started to say, but stopped when he reached the doorway to the living room.
Inside the living room was dimly-lit, mostly by a single fire burning in the fireplace, and was decorated with photographs and such all around.
Callen stood in silence, and watched as Kensi breast-fed her baby boy on the sofa. He noticed that she was also humming very softly as well.
A sudden range of emotions invaded his entire body as he stood there watching her. It was strange.
Callen had always felt 'attracted' to Kensi, but the feelings that he was experiencing right then were so much more powerful than anything he'd previously felt before this.
Of these emotions, one of the most powerful was how protective, he suddenly felt, of Kensi and her newborn baby son.
"Callen," Kensi's voice suddenly cut through the dense haze of his thoughts, and snapped him back to reality.
"Hunh...what?" Callen said, looking around, his eyes eventually refocusing back on Kensi and Lee.
"You...were staring." she pointed out, quietly.
"Oh," Callen said, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck, nervously. "Sorry, about that."
"Were you watching me-"
"Hunh...no, no," Callen stammered, straightening up where he stood. "I-I was just--looking for you." he added, hoping that his words would go over better than they had sounded in his head.
"Well, you found me--obviously." Kensi replied, as she re-fastened her bra, and pulled her shirt back down.
Callen thought quickly, as he watched Kensi stand-up, cradling the baby boy against her, as she headed in his direction. Time to change the subject, and pour on the ol' charm, he thought to himself.
"So," he said casually, as Kensi walked past him. He turned and followed after her. "Sleeping arrangements."
"Sleeping arrangements?" Kensi repeated as she began climbing the stairs at the end of the hall(way).
"Yeah, you know--'sleeping arrangements'. We are sharing a room, remember?" Callen said, as he climbed up the stairs behind Kensi.
"Yeah, I remember." she replied, rolling her eyes, though she knew Callen would not be able to see her perform the action.
"So?" Callen inquired, arching an eyebrow.
"So?" Kensi repeated, as they stepped off of the stairs and onto the second floor landing.
"So...do we share the bed, or-"
"Only in your dreams Callen." Kensi remarked at the thought of HER sharing a bed with HIM.
"So you've seen my dreams then." Callen joked, as they neared the bedroom where they were to sleep/bed down for the night.
"HA. HA."
Kensi pushed open the door, and started to walk into the small room. "Stay." she commanded, rounding on Callen to make sure that he did not follow her in.
"Oh, I see--so now I'm 'Man's Best Friend'?" Callen snorted, as he halted just outside the door.
Kensi chuckled quietly. "I don't think you really wanna watch me change a diaper, right?"
"Yeah...guess not." Callen replied, quietly, as he rubbed the back of his neck again.
After that she disappeared into the room, and did not come back out for several minutes. When she did finally reappear, baby Lee (Leroy) still in her arms, she wasted no time handing the soiled diaper off to Callen.
"Callen, be a dear and get rid of this for me. Thanks." she said with a smile, and then danced away as new voices were heard coming from back downstairs.
Callen rolled his eyes in disgust as he held the soiled diaper between his thumb and forefinger.
"You so owe me for this." he muttered.
Downstairs...
"Abigail!" Jackson Gibbs greeted the pig-tailed Goth Forensic Specialist gleefully, as he held the door open for her, Eric, and their two kids.
Abby wrapped her arms around the shorter, older man and hugged him tight. "Oh, Jackson," she said, as she hugged the older man. "Don't ever call me Abigail." she whispered into his ear, just before pulling away from him.
They both laughed at each other as they stood there in the doorway.
"Sir." Eric said, extending his hand to Jackson.
The two men shook hands. "Eric. Merry Christmas."
"Well, aren't you just the cutest thing." Jackson said, with a smile, to the little girl straddled against Eric's hip. The little girl giggled in response.
Eric held little baby Kelly in his other arm/hand, and 5 year old D.J. walked in behind his parents.
"Heya kiddo." Jackson said, stooping over and thrusting his hand towards the 5 year old little boy. "Put her there." The two of them shook hands and laughed.
"The others should be right behind us." Abby told Jackson, as the older man started to close the front door once again.
"Good." Jackson said. "Supper's almost ready." he added.
"Abby?" Kensi said, as she reached the bottom of the stairs.
Abby turned around to see her friend coming towards her, followed by G. Callen (who had disposed of the soiled diaper he'd been carrying in the upstairs bathroom trash can.
"Kensi!" Abby cried, happily, as she rushed towards her friend.
They hugged each other, careful not to squish little baby Lee between them.
"I am so ready for you to come back to work." Abby said, stepping back a bit.
"I know." Kensi replied, with a chuckle. "Maybe it won't be too much longer." she added.
"Aww," Abby cooed, looking down at baby Lee cradled in his mother's arms. "There he is," she added quietly, with a smile.
Kensi handed the newborn over to Abby for a minute or two, while Jackson, Callen, and Eric laughed about something in the background.
A little joke that they had between them was how Abby sometimes referred to Lee as 'her little brother'--because Gibbs had always been like a surrogate father to her the title just seemed 'fitting' in her mind.
"How's my baby brother?" she cooed, nudging his tiny nose, gently, with her own.
"I fed him not too long ago, and I just changed his diaper." Kensi pointed out. "So I'm hoping that that'll hold him for at least a little while." she added.
"It will--for a while anyway." Abby assured her, with a chuckle. She let out a long sigh, as she stared down at the newborn in her arms. "Gosh, he reminds me so much of Gibbs." she added.
Kensi nodded, rubbing her shoulders as a chill ran down the length of her spine at her thoughts about her deceased lover.
"Hey Babe," Eric called from across the room.
"Whatcha ne-" Abby started to ask, as she turned around.
Abby turned to face her husband who was struggling to keep baby Kelly in his arms.
"Oh-" Abby raced to her husband's aid.
"Yeah," Eric chuckled, as Abby pulled baby Kelly into her (own) arms. "This one's gettin' a little antsy." he told her.
"Aw, come here precious." Abby cooed, as she pulled her daughter up into her embrace.
As the group formed up near Abby, there came a third knock at the front door. Jackson Gibbs pushed himself away from the small crowd and began unfastening the locks on the door once again.
When he finally got the door open, once again, he was greeted by the rest of the gang.
"Merry Christmas!" Tony exclaimed, cheerfully, as he stepped through the door with Ziva following close behind. Ziva also greeted Jackson with a 'Merry Christmas' and a warm hug.
Their children also greeted the older man with hugs and 'Merry Christmas's' as well.
McGee and Alicia were directly behind Tony and Ziva (with little Maxie in tow), and they too greeted Jackson with hugs and a big 'Merry Christmas'.
--Chapter Three--
Everyone sat around the dinner table, hopelessly stuffed from the huge Christmas Eve dinner that Jackson Gibbs had spent hours preparing.
"That...was...great." Tony said, patting his stomach as he leaned back in his chair.
"I agree," Ziva added. "I think you really out did yourself Jackson." she told him, with a smile.
Jackson Gibbs, who sat at the head of the table, nodded at Ziva and Tony with a smile, as everyone else agreed that the food had been extremely delicious.
"Thank you all." Jackson said.
Sitting to Jackson's right was Kensi. The whole time that they were eating she couldn't help but notice Callen staring at her every few minutes it seemed like.
"I can't tell ya how much it means to me that all of you could come." Jackson said, looking around at everyone.
"Christmas just wouldn't feel right without a Gibbs." Tony remarked.
Everyone agreed with chuckles.
"Leroy spoke very fondly of each of you before his..." Jackson started to say. "He called you all his 'family'".
Tony, at this point, was very quiet sitting at the dinner table. Old memories of the last moments he'd spent with his former boss flashed through his mind, and began to stir up a mixture of emotions.
........To Be Continued........
Author's Chapter Notes:
This is a little short story that I recently devised as part of the 'New Nightmare' story line. This is the Christmas that everyone spent with Jackson Gibbs--the one that Abby referenced in 'New Nightmare, Chapter...". I just thought that it would be interesting to kind of explore the events and emotions surrounding the joyous holiday season...Enjoy, You Guys!!!!!
Chapter End Notes:
Some of you guys, I know, are probably wondering why I've jumped into this new story while I'm still in the middle of another one...the answer is simple: I'm currently battling against 'Writer's Block' on the other story. All of that aside I will eventually finish that other story...