Work Text:
The Christmas Gift
by Starbucks Sue
It was two days before Christmas. Gibbs' team had been working a case for the past two days and were anxious to wrap it up before the holiday. They were close to solving the murder, and had their suspect in custody, but had yet to tie up a couple of loose ends which had brought them back to their victim's house. On this occasion they discovered that they were not alone as a pretty and heavily pregnant calico cat padded into the living room to meet them on their arrival.
"Hey sweetie, what are you doing here, is this your home, were you abandoned when your master died?" Kate moved towards the small cat but stopped when the animal started backing off and hissing at her.
"She doesn't think much of you Katie or your baby talk," Tony remarked teasingly, keeping his voice low in deference to the distressed animal.
The cat stopped hissing as soon as Tony spoke, staring at the agent before looking carefully around the room and then moving tentatively forward again towards the bemused man. She stopped about two feet in front of him and sat down, staring up at him as she meowed silently.
"She seems to have taken a liking to you, Tony. That famous DiNozzo charm never fails to pull the females does it?" Kate grinned in amusement, catching Tim's eye and making him snicker as he disappeared to start searching the bedroom. Tony just glared.
"Don't just stand there, DiNozzo, catch her, we can't leave her here." Gibbs shook his head, turning his back quickly so he didn't laugh outright at the terrified look on his senior field agent's face.
"How do I pick up a pregnant cat?" Tony asked in dismay.
"One hand behind the front legs and then support her rear with your other hand as you pick her up," Kate said with glee, seeing the look of disgust on Tony's face.
"Oh come on, Kate, you pick her up, you're much better at this kind of thing than I am," he pleaded.
"DiNozzo!" Gibbs warned quietly.
"On it, Boss." Resigned to his fate, Tony pulled a pained face and crouched down, chewing on his lip as he slowly held out his hands towards the small animal. To his surprise she padded closer without hesitation, pushing her head against his hand as she started to purr loudly.
Tony tentatively moved his hand to stroke her, feeling somewhat pleased at being the one she'd chosen to trust. He'd never been allowed a pet as a child, apart from the ill fated sea monkeys which his mother had accidentally drunk during one of her alcoholic binges, and for some reason animals had never liked him. He was, therefore, somewhat awed and overwhelmed by the little cat's reaction. Sliding his hands slowly around her body he picked her up carefully, nestling her gently against his chest where she rubbed her head against his chin and closed her eyes, still
purring loudly.
A few minutes later Tim walked back into the room, an envelope in his hand. "I think I've found what we're looking for, Boss, we obviously overlooked it last time as it didn't seem significant at the time. This has all the information that Penfold needed, Richards must have called his bluff and
that's when he killed him. I guess he was hoping to come and find it himself but we got to him first."
"Well done McGee. Keep looking though, let's make sure we haven't overlooked anything else." Gibbs turned back to where he was searching through the kitchen.
"What do you want me to do, Boss, the cat's beginning to get restless." Tony followed the senior agent into the kitchen.
"She's female and pregnant, DiNozzo, she probably needs to pee," he chuckled at Tony's look of horror. "Take her outside and put her down, let her do her business and bring her back in again. Don't lose her!" He rolled his eyes in amusement as the younger agent quickly made his way out into the yard.
Half an hour later they had finished searching the small house. Gibbs discovered his senior field agent sitting on the couch in the living room, eyes shut and feet resting on the coffee table in front of him, the cat was curled up fast asleep on his lap and one of his hands was scratching
unconsciously over her head. Unusually for Tony he was paying no heed to the white fur which was clinging to the front of his expensive black woollen coat.
"You comfortable there, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked with a grin.
"Just looking after the cat like you told me to, Boss. She sure loves being petted, I can stroke her, rub her belly, scratch her head and she just lays here as if she's fast asleep but if I stop her eyes open straight away and she just glares at me. I think she's been taking lessons from you, Gibbs,"
Tony replied cheekily looking up at the senior agent.
"Who does that really remind you of, Tony?" Gibbs retorted with a grin, knowing how much his partner loved being touched and having his hair stroked. Tony was a tactile person and Gibbs had very quickly come to realize that his partner revelled in the loving and comforting touches that he'd been starved of as a child, so much so that even a gentle headslap was enough to settle him in stressful situations.
Tony just glared at him but there was nothing he could say in his defense, knowing that Gibbs was right. Gibbs just grinned, reaching over to ruffle Tony's hair, much to Tony's annoyance.
"Gibbs!" Tony whined, but Gibbs had gone and only Kate heard his complaint.
"Interesting, Tony. I've got used to the puppy dog eyes but do you meow for him too when he scratches your head and rubs your belly?" She teased.
"Kate!" Tony hissed in embarrassment.
"Okay, that's enough, let's go." Gibbs swept back into the room with McGee. "DiNozzo you'll need to keep the cat restrained in the car so hold on to her."
"What if she needs to pee?" Tony asked in dismay.
"Just make sure it doesn't get on the seats or carpet," Gibbs shot back.
"Eew, or on me, DiNozzo, otherwise you're paying my dry cleaning bill," Kate warned him pulling a disgusted face.
"Boss!" Tony's expression was a mixture of pleading and horror.
"For goodness sake Tony just grab a blanket or towel or something for her to sit on." Kate shook her head as she picked up the afghan off the back of the couch. "Here, this should do."
Tony took the afghan from her with a glare and followed Gibbs out to the car without saying anything further. Kate tried to suppress her mirth but unfortunately caught Tim's eye and they both burst into laughter as they left the house.
Two Days Later
Gibbs came awake with a start, realizing he was alone in bed. Tony rarely woke up before him and it was even less likely that the younger man would actually get up before he did but it was Christmas Day and, despite the nonchalant act, Tony still couldn't suppress his childish delight over the holiday so Gibbs wasn't surprised to find his partner already up and about.
"Jethro," Tony shouted as he burst into the bedroom and landed with a bounce onto the bed, eyes shining with excitement.
"Has Santa been, kiddo?" Gibbs asked with a laugh ruffling Tony's hair.
"Gibbs, be serious, come on," he grabbed Gibbs' hand and pulled him out of the bed. "Come on!" He tugged again and Gibbs followed him out of the bedroom and down the stairs, knowing it was futile to resist.
"Shh," Tony held his finger over his mouth as he dropped to his knees in front of the Christmas Tree, pulling Gibbs down beside him. "Look," he whispered pointing to the cat bed he had placed in Holly's favorite place right under the Christmas Tree and next to the pile of presents.
Gibbs blinked as his eyes adjusted to the dim light under the tree, smiling as he saw the cat looking back at him from where she lay on her side to allow several tiny kittens to feed.
"How many are there?" He asked Tony quietly.
"Six I think. It's difficult to tell, they're all curled up there together but I'm sure there are six feeding," Tony replied with a sniff.
Gibbs looked at his partner, just in time to see one of the tears in Tony's eyes spill over.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked softly, reaching out with one hand to brush away the trail of moisture on Tony's face.
Tony leaned into his touch. "Nothing's wrong it's just...no it's silly, I'm just being a sentimental sap." Tony dropped his head to rest it on his partner's shoulder. Gibbs slipped an arm around him, pulling him close.
"It's not silly, Tony. Come on, tell me," Gibbs encouraged gently.
"Thank you for letting me keep her." Tony whispered. "I was just thinking that she could still be out there, abandoned, starving and all alone spending Christmas in that cold house, trying to look after herself and her kittens. Or stuck in a cage in a shelter, where she may not even have been allowed to keep her babies. But thanks to you she's been made welcome here. She has food, warmth and love. You've opened your heart and home to her, just like you did for me, and this is her Christmas present to us." He broke off, embarrassed, and buried his head once again in Gibbs' shoulder. "I told you it was silly," he finished in a muffled voice.
"It's not silly, Tony, and you're allowed to be a little sentimental today," Gibbs replied with a smile. "You know that she wouldn't know Monday from Friday let alone Christmas Day. It's you she needs to thank, though, I wouldn't even have suggested keeping her if it wasn't for you."
"So you think it's just coincidence that she gave birth to her kittens today." He raised his head to look into his partner's eyes, tears still sparkling on his lashes.
Gibbs just smiled as he kissed Tony gently. "Merry Christmas, Tony." He said softly.
Two Weeks Later
They spent New Year alone...all nine of them, but neither Tony nor Gibbs begrudged sharing the holiday with Holly and her six kittens. However, it wasn't long before Abby and Kate started hounding them for visiting rights so when the kittens were two weeks old and their eyes began to open Gibbs invited the team over for dinner.
Holly had been particularly accommodating, especially after being given her own dish of cooled roasted chicken. It was obvious that she was always going to be Tony's cat but now that she was happily settled in her new home she didn't hiss or spit at any of the strangers who had invaded it for the day.
As Abby and Kate sat in the middle of the living room floor fussing over the kittens she sat proudly watching them, still wary of the other humans in the room but trusting the fact that Tony was there and looking out for them.
"It's a good job she has stopped the hissing and spitting," Abby remarked. "You can't allow her to use language like that in front of the children you know, Tony."
He shook his head at her. "I think they're a bit young to pick up on it yet Abs." He replied with a grin.
"So what are you going to call them, you have to name them, Tony."
"Yeah, what are you going to call them, knowing you I guess you've sexed them already?" Kate smirked as she asked the question. Despite the team having known for some time about Tony and Gibbs' relationship, Tony still tended to play the part of a womanizer at the office and at crime scenes, just to keep up appearances.
"I think I know but they're still pretty young so I've gone with names that can mostly fit either sex just in case," he nodded confidently.
"So what have you called them? Come on Tony answer the question," Abby asked impatiently.
Tony looked over his shoulder at Gibbs in the chair behind him, who was already grinning in amusement, and then to Ducky and Tim who were on the couch before turning back to where Abby and Kate were sitting on the floor with him and the kittens.
"Well, the little white one with grey patches is Blitzen, the black and white is Cupid, the other gray and white is Comet, the calico is Vixen, the dark one is Donner, I think she's going to be a tabby by the faint markings on her fur, and the marmalade is Rudolph, or Rudi for short. I think he's definitely a boy and the book said that marmalades are usually boys and calicos are girls." He broke off, looking affronted as he saw the laughter bubbling up in his friends faces.
"Only you would think of naming them after Santa's reindeer, DiNozzo," Tim laughed.
"Well, they were born on Christmas Day, Tim, I had to keep with the season and Rudi does have a red nose...well sort of pinkish red." He finished with a pout.
"Well I think they're very appropriately named Anthony," Ducky said with a smile. "You've obviously made Holly here very happy, she's a very good little mother and is obviously very proud of her babies. If it hadn't been for you, my boy, things could have been very different for her and her little family." He finished with an affectionate look at the little cat.
"Yeah, you've done good DiNozzo," Gibbs agreed with a fond look at his partner. In Gibbs' opinion, the delighted smile on Tony's face made it all worthwhile.
end