Callen hated hearing anyone knock on his front door. Now that he had a door, it made him paranoid. Not that anyone who really wanted to kill him would knock…though they might, just to lull him into a sense of false security. He'd heard on the grapevine that a LAPD detective had been shot in his own foyer, with his partner and father both near by….

"Hey, Callen, it's Eric, not one of the various and sundry nasty people looking to kill you!"

This was more puzzling than an assassin. Pulling open the door, he found OSP's resident computer guru standing on his porch, looking more than a little nervous. The team was on stand down for the holidays, so he knew he hadn't missed a call in. Besides, Eric was probably the last person they'd send for him if he had.

"Eric," he said curiously, "What are you doing here?" The tech was actually bouncing on his flip flopped toes. "So," he began, "I know this is weird, but what are you doing for the holidays?"

"What?"

Another nervous bounce. "It's a topic of much discussion, started by Nate and fueled by Sam and Kensi," he flicked his head out toward the street and Callen saw Sam and Kensi staring at him from an SUV. "It was decided that you weren't going to spend the holiday alone."

"It was." This was both amusing and news to him.

"The plan was a tactical assault and just dragging you off and depositing you at Sam's or up at Pendleton with Kensi, but I pointed out that could end badly. And Christmas photos suck if you're all bloody and bruised, so I was elected to come and ask where you wanted to go….Of course, they're ready to enact Plan B if you balk."

He looked at Eric, now more amused than anything. "I can't choose to have a quiet day at home."

"Plan B."

Callen sighed, then looked out at the SUV, at the other two agents. Then he smirked. "What are your plans?"

"Mom and Dads, where I'll spend the day surrounded by a dozen screaming, hyper and usually sticky nieces and nephews," Eric said, smiling despite the words. "And after, Mom will grill me as to why I haven't produced any of said screaming devil spawns."

"Is that one of the choices in Plan A?"

Blinking behind his glasses, Eric said, "Uh, sure."

"What time do we leave?"

"Seven am…Want me to tell Sam and Kensi?"

Callen nodded. "Sure. See you in the morning."

He'd never spent the holiday in ha house with a big crazy family. If they were anything like Eric, he supposed he could treat the day like a undercover training exercise. Plus, it might even be a little fun. Not that he'd ever admit that.