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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-05
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1,617
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1/1
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Family

Summary:

Gibbs and Tony finally alone at last.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

 

Family
by nancy
the_tenth_muse1@yahoo.com

Tony went through his closet for the third time, unable to decide on a tie or no tie. And if he did a tie, should he use one of his holiday ones? Then there were the socks…plain and understated, or bright and cheerful for the holiday? Of course, he could always forgo the tie and match his socks to a pair of suspenders. Jack seemed a suspenders kind of guy. Fortunately, his shirt and pants were already chosen to go with the sweater that Jack had given him on his first and only trip there.

Gibbs' annoyed voice called, "Are you ready yet or not, DiNozzo?"

Tony grimaced and shouted back, "No! Give me five minutes already, would you?"

And then he winced, waiting for the resulting explosion.

Instead, Gibbs just walked up behind him and put his hands on Tony's shoulders, squeezing there and saying, "It doesn't matter what you wear. Jack already likes you, Tony. Now come on. Finished getting dressed and let's go."

Tony sighed and leaned back against his lover for a brief moment before nodding. "Okay. Give me five."

Gibbs kissed the back of his head and said, "You got it. And no tie, DiNozzo. Go with the suspenders."

Perking up at the advice, Tony put the tie back in the closet and changed them for bright red suspenders with green holly imprinted on them. Then he grabbed a pair of matching socks and put on his shoes. He almost reverently pulled out the sweater that Jack had given him, putting it on and smoothing hands over the softness.

It was more than a sweater, after all. Jack had known almost instantly how things were between him and Gibbs. Tony had felt the sharp eyes of the older man on him a lot during the case. And in the end, he'd given the sweater to Tony and said, "Take care of my boy, Tony," giving him a hug and then leaving Tony standing there, stunned.

Smiling, Tony left the bedroom and headed to the living room where, sure enough, Gibbs sat on the sofa watching a game. He rolled his eyes and mused, "Even the infamous Leroy Jethro Gibbs watches sports. If the rest of the world only knew."

Gibbs turned off the tv via remote and stood as he replied easily, "They find out and you don't sit for a month, little boy."

Tony gave him a cheeky grin. "Who, me?"

Snorting, Gibbs asked, "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Tony answered.

He picked up the bag of presents for Jack, mostly chosen by him though there was a planer in there from Gibbs. They were in the car and on the road minutes later, though thankfully Gibbs kept under the speed limit. It was a couple hours before they drove up Stillwater's main street, which looked like a ghost town, albeit with a couple of feet of snow.

Gibbs pulled into the spot in front of the store, which was cheerfully decorated with real garland, classic white lights, and "painted" Santa in a sled on the front window. It was like a Norman Rockwell scene and Tony grinned, practically bouncing in his seat as he took off the seatbelt.

"Down, boy," Gibbs ordered dryly.

Tony made a face at him and climbed out of the car, shivering at the decided bite to the air. The temperature was at least ten degrees colder than in DC, probably closer to fifteen. He grabbed the bag from the backseat and when he turned around, Jack was walking towards them, a broad smile on his face.

"Tony! Leroy! You made good time," Jack greeted.

Gibbs replied, "No accidents."

Tony countered, "Everyone's already where they want to be, I guess."

Jack smiled at him and ordered, "Well come on in, don't stand in the cold."

There were more decorations inside and Tony grinned at Gibbs as he teased, "I see where you get your love of Christmas, Jethro."

Gibbs snorted and put a hand on the back of his neck, squeezing and pulling him in close to say against his ear, "Settle down or no eggnog for you."

Tony chuckled and pulled off his jacket, Gibbs doing the same as they followed Jack through the store to the apartment upstairs. He'd sold the family home a number of years ago since there was no one but him, which Tony still thought was sad. But Gibbs was back in Jackson's life, slowly rebuilding their relationship, so that was something.

Upstairs was warm and smelled like cinnamon. It was an open floor plan, with one main living room area and a kitchen off to the side. There were two bedrooms and a bathroom down the short hall, which was where they deposited the jackets. They would be staying overnight, which was huge in Tony's mind and had him more than a little nervous. It was basically staying with his father-in-law and he'd never done anything like it before in his life. The brief, and violent, time with Jeanne's father definitely didn't count.

Gibbs caught his hand and pulled him in close, saying, "Take a breath, Tony. Relax."

"I'm fine," Tony replied.

Gibbs kissed him lightly and said, "It's just a low-key thing. Me, you, and Dad. Relax."

Finally, Tony admitted, "I can't. It's just…it's huge, Gibbs. I'm here with you and your Dad. That's…"

"Family," Gibbs interrupted, cupping his face. "There will be food and beer and presents. I know this is big for you and I'm glad you're here."

Jack called from the hallway, "Everything okay, boys?"

"Fine, Dad," Gibbs called back. To Tony, he said, "Right?"

Taking hold of his insecurities, Tony nodded and agreed, "Right. Let's go get some of that beer."

Gibbs chuckled and propelled him lightly out of the bedroom with a hand on the small of his back.

Jack stood in the living room waiting and asked, "You boys ready to eat? Food's all ready and waiting."

"Sounds good," Gibbs replied, putting a hand on Tony's shoulder.

Jack carved the turkey while Tony and Gibbs filled up their plates with potatoes, carrots, and some kind of mix of little onions and green beans. They all sat in the living room with the television set to the marathon of A Christmas Story. Tony gave Jack a surprised look and got a wink in return.

"Leroy told me you liked old movies. This isn't as old as some, but it is a classic," Jack explained.

Gibbs talked about me to Jack, Tony thought in further surprise. "Um, thanks."

It wasn't until a couple of beers and a lot of food later that he relaxed for real. He finally lost the stiff posture and leaned against Gibbs on the sofa as Jack went to the tree and pulled out a couple of presents. Tony took Gibbs' plate and snared Jack's on his way to the kitchen. When he got back, Gibbs had taken the presents from Jack and given the bag of presents to his father.

Tony wound up with two more sweaters, one a dark blue and the other a deep brown. He grinned and said, "Thanks, Jack! These are great!"

Jack smiled and replied, "You seemed to like that one so much, I thought maybe a couple more to round out the collection."

Gibbs chuckled and tugged on Tony's ear as he said with obvious fondness, "Tony's a real sweater-hound. Can't get enough of them."

Tony made a face at Gibbs, but repeated to Jack, "Thank you."

Jack seemed pleased with all of his presents too, which made Tony very relieved. He hadn't been too sure about most of them, but Gibbs had said they were fine. Of course, Gibbs thought his haircut was fine, too, so Tony took what he said with a grain of salt sometimes.

Gibbs put an arm over his shoulder, tucking him in along his side, and Tony hesitantly let himself be pulled in. Jack hadn't seemed to mind the other PDAs, but they'd been mild so far. Conversation meandered through cars, movies, and eventually to Gibbs' childhood Christmases. Tony grinned and made mental notes as he soaked in all the information that his lover would never willingly share.

Finally, Jack announced, "Think I'm going to turn in. You boys feel free to stay up, just remember to turn off the lights when you go to bed."

"Night, Dad," Gibbs replied, a faint smile gracing his mouth.

Tony added, "Good night, Jack. Merry Christmas."

Jack gazed at them for a long moment, his face as unreadable as Gibbs' could be, before breaking into a smile and saying, "It is, Tony. It's a very Merry Christmas for me. Night, boys."

He turned off the overhead light on his way down the hall, leaving them with the glow of the television, now down low, and the blinking Christmas tree lights.

Pressing his face into Gibbs' shoulder, Tony let out a deep sigh of both relief and happiness. All the tension leading up to this day slowly faded from him and he yawned, unexpectedly tired.

Gibbs kissed the top of his head and told him, "I'm proud of you, Tony. You did good today."

"I was a menace," Tony retorted, even as he grinned. "But thanks. And…thanks for this. It was…the best Christmas ever, as corny as that sounds."

Gibbs squeezed him briefly and they sat in the dark together, Christmas lights blinking and A Christmas Story still playing on the television. To be known and accepted, to be family to someone at last and not alone anymore…it really was the best Christmas ever.

Tony smiled at the thought.

 

end

Notes:

This orphaned work was originally on Pejas WWOMB posted by author Nancy.
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