Snow Day

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!"

The excited voice gave him just enough warning to protect vital and tender body parts before thirty-three pounds of excited pre-schooler landed on him with a thud. "Oof, morning Tiana."

"Snowing, it's snowing, Daddy."

It was also only 0600 in the morning, but before Tim could convince Tia to cuddle up with him until at least daybreak, there was woofing and stomping as the side door swung open. "Hey, sleepyheads, it's snowing."

"Papa! Papa's here." Squealing, Tia scrambled off the bed and ran down the hall, Tim slowly following as he tried to wake up. Gibbs was standing in the kitchen with a sled and a pink snowsuit. Tia let out another squeal when she saw what he was holding and started jumping up and down.

Gibbs took pity on the bleary eyed young man. "Tia, how about you and I start breakfast while Daddy takes his shower and wakes up?"

"Cooking with Papa." Tia clapped as Tim gave a wave and turned back towards his bedroom.

Gibbs first job was to get the coffee started, then he turned to Tia. "Okay, Shortstuff, how about oatmeal like my mom used to make for me?"

"Cool."

Coffee finished, Gibbs took a break and poured two cups, Taking a sip from one, he carried the other back to McGee. Gibbs rapped on the bathroom door before opening it enough to slip in to set the cup on the counter. "Here, coffee."

"Thanks." Tim was washing his hair and didn't reach out for it right away, but that gave Gibbs a chance to enjoy the silhouette the younger man made behind the glass.

-NCIS-

Tiana was enjoying Grandma Anne's oatmeal with chocolate syrup when her father walked in. "Daddy, yummy." Tim hid his humor at the idea of Gibbs making chocolate oatmeal behind his cup.

"Looks good, Baby Girl." He sat next to Tiana and Gibbs set a bowl in front of him before sitting on the other side of Tia with his own bowl.

Breakfast finished and snowsuit on, they started in the backyard, throwing snowballs for Jethro to catch. The canine did his best, but most of the snowballs exploded into white powder in his mouth. Five minutes later Tim was peeling the snowsuit off of Tiana so she could go potty. He glared at Gibbs, who was laughing.

"You knew this was going to happen."

"Always does, no matter how many bathroom breaks you give them beforehand. That's why you always start playing at home." Gibbs continued to throw snowballs for the dog, getting him thoroughly worn out before they left to go sledding, the dog happily sleeping at home.

The first stop was the park just down the street. There were no hills but the two men took turns pulling the sled for Tia, getting her used to balancing herself as it moved over the snow.

A group of neighborhood children were building snowmen and they took a break to let Tia join in, the two men finding a place to sit on a park bench. Gibbs took the time to enjoy watching Tim as he watched Tia play and laugh. He couldn't help but marvel at the changes he'd seen in the man over the years, from the shy, bumbling Probie that was terrified of babies to a confident agent and father.

Tia came running back to them, plowing into Tim. "Daddy, I'm hungry."

Several of the other children were returning home and Gibbs checked his watch to discover that it was almost noon already. "Why don't we grab some lunch at the diner and then hit the hills by my place?"

McGee knew exactly which hills he was talking about. Over the years he's seen dozens of kids sledding down a dead end road just a few blocks from Gibbs' house. He didn't even have to ask which diner Gibbs meant. To Gibbs there was only one diner in the area. "Sounds good."

They walked back to the house and loaded the sled in the back of the SUV. Gibbs turned around just in time to get a snowball in the face before Tia ran to hide behind her daddy, giggling. The giggles gave way to squeals as Gibbs gave chase, scooping her up and helping her dump a handful of snow down Tim's jacket.

"Hey, are you two ganging up on me?"

Gibbs grinned at Tia and they answered in unison. "Yep."

Snow brushed off once again, Gibbs buckled Tia into her car seat before climbing into the passenger side of the Lexus. They weren't two blocks from the house before his curiosity got the best of him. "So, how's it handle the snow?"

McGee turned onto the main road without the slightest loss of traction. "Very nice. Certainly makes the Porsche a warm weather car."

-NCIS-

At the diner Gibbs scooped Tia up and set her on his hip before leading McGee inside. Elaine waved at him, but he surprised her by heading to a booth instead of his usual stool at the counter. Smiling at the family, she brought over two coffees and a hot chocolate. "Looks like somebody's been out playing in the snow."

"Yep." Tia answered before either of the two men could say a word. "Papa and I got Daddy good."

That raised a few eyebrows among the regulars, but Gibbs didn't bat an eye as he tapped his mug against hers. "We sure did, Shortstuff."

Elaine was just offering to make Tia a peanut butter sandwich with the crusts cut off when one of the other waitresses walked by with a platter of hot turkey sandwiches.

"Ooh, can I have one of those, Daddy?"

"You sure can. In fact, I'll have the same thing."

Gibbs smiled at his old friend. "Let's just make it three."

"Good enough. Half size order for the little lady?"

"That'll be perfect, thank you." Tim smiled down at his daughter. "That way somebody will have room for a second cup of hot chocolate."

From her spot behind the counter, Elaine watched her long time customer with his family. She'd never seen him this open and relaxed before and it did her heart good to hear him laughing with the little girl. When they were almost done with their food, she returned with the promised second cup of hot chocolate and the pot to refill their coffees. "Here we go. So, what's the plan for this afternoon?"

Tiana looked up from slurping her whipped cream. "Sledding."

"Sounds like fun. Now, you tell your daddy and your papa to bring you here more often, all right?"

"Yeppers." Tia grinned, whipped cream covering her lips before she licked it off.

-NCIS-

When they left the diner, Tim tossed the keys to Gibbs, who looked both surprised and pleased. "You sure?"

"You've been itching to drive it in the snow, haven't you?"

Gibbs couldn't quite contain the grin as he climbed behind the wheel. "Well, yeah." He pressed the button to automatically change from driver one to driver two, returning the seat and mirrors to the settings he'd chosen the day he'd taken it for Chinese food.

Once everyone was set he pulled out of the parking lot, gunning it a bit as they hit the road. "Nice, very nice."

Tim smiled as he settled back in his seat, remembering how frightened he'd been of Gibbs' driving when he'd first joined the team. Now he felt totally content and comfortable, knowing that Gibbs would keep them safe, no matter what.

Gibbs pulled into his own driveway and shut off the engine. "We're not going to be able to get any closer, and at least here, it's off the road."

Tim had already come to the same conclusion, looking at the crowd at the hill. "That's fine, it's not that far."

"Is this your house, Papa?" Tia was looking around, eyes wide.

"It sure is. How about one more trip to the bathroom before we start sledding? We don't want to have to stop in the middle of our fun, now do we?" Gibbs led them into the house, stopping in the hall as McGee continued on to the bathroom with Tiana to help her out of her snowsuit. A few seconds later he heard her voice. "Look, Daddy, Papa has a stool in here, just for me."

Tim joined him in the hall a few minutes later. "Thank you."

Gibbs just shrugged. "I want her to be as safe here as she is at home."

While Tiana finished up, Tim casually looked around. He'd already noticed that Gibbs was now locking his front door, but there were new locks on the windows now, too.

-NCIS-

Once Tia was bundled up again, they locked the house and headed out with the sled. It was a short walk and a few minutes later, they were looking up at the snow covered hill and all the children playing on it.

"Wow." Wide-eyed and a little frightened, Tia looked up at the top of the hill. From her perspective it was huge and the sleds coming down were moving very fast.

Gibbs remembered having a similar conversation with Kelly many years ago. He looked around and spotted a father and daughter coming down together, the little girl about Tia's age and riding on the sled in front of her father as he controlled it. Pointing, he turned her so she could watch them. "See, we're going to ride like that. Daddy and I will take turns riding with you."

"Okay." Her enthusiasm was back along with her grin. That decided, Gibbs took her hand and they started the walk up the hill. Tim would wait down below to greet them and take pictures and then the two men could swap out. The advantage was that they would each get a break from walking up the hill each time and Tia got both her daddy and her papa.

Tim pulled out his phone, taking his first picture of Jethro and Tia walking hand in hand, Gibbs pulling the sled and Tia chattering away at him, another when Gibbs picked her up to carry her. He waited, and when the sled was about halfway down the hill, Tim captured a few more images as Tia squealed and laughed. Behind her, Gibbs had the wide smile that Tim was seeing more and more.

"That was fun. Your turn, Daddy." Tia hugged Gibbs and immediately started tugging Tim to start the trek up to the top of the hill. Tim laughed and Gibbs made her wait long enough for Tim to show Gibbs the camera settings on the phone.

They fell into a pattern and the three of them spent the next few hours sledding down the hill. When the shadows started growing long and the older kids became the majority on the hill, the adults called a halt to the fun. "One last time down the hill and then it'll be time to go. What do you think, will Daddy let us cook hot dogs and marshmallows in the fireplace?"

Tia's head bounced up and down. "We gotta have a vegetable, too."

Gibbs didn't bat an eye. "We'll have baked beans. Beans are a vegetable, right?"

Behind them, Tim just chuckled, in too much of a good mood to argue. "Baked beans and hot dogs it is. All right, you two, one last run." He watched as Gibbs carried Tia up the hill, setting her down to race the last few feet, just letting her beat him by a few inches. She waved down at Tim as Gibbs settled behind her on the sled and pushed off. This time he used the video option to record the entire trip down the hill.

They were almost to the bottom of the hill when a teenager burst through the trees on his snowboard, totally out of control. With no way to avoid the upcoming collision, Gibbs tucked himself around Tia before the impact sent them flying.

"No!" Tim watched in horror as the teen collided with them, the snowboard hitting Gibbs across the back. He was already running and reached them just as they rolled to a stop, unmoving. "Jethro? Tia?"

Tim carefully touched them and Gibbs opened his eyes. "I'm okay, take care of Tia."

Judging from the pained look on Gibbs' face, fine was a relative term, but Tim was already checking on his daughter. Tia burst into tears and tried to reach for him as they both held her still. "Easy, sweetheart, let's make sure you're okay. All right?" Tim ran his hands down her arms and legs before checking her head. Several of the adults in the group arrived, including the nurse that lived down the block from Gibbs.

Tia had wiggled into Tim's arms and was clinging to him, so the nurse focused her attention on Gibbs. Eventually, she let him sit up. "You're darn lucky, Jethro, but you might have a cracked rib or two."

Gibbs carefully turned and flexed his back. "Nah, I don't think so, just bruised."

Tim knew what Gibbs' answer would be, so he asked the nurse instead. "X-rays?"

"I'd certainly recommend it, even if he is a stubborn son of a gun."

"I am right here and I'm fine."

"Can you stay here with them while I get the car? I'm Tim, by the way."

"Of course. I'm Lydia, my husband and I have known Jethro for years. I know how obstinate and stubborn he can be."

Gibbs glared, but it did no good. Before he could complain again, Tim lifted Tiana onto his lap. "Sweetie, you stay right here with Papa while I get the car. I'll be right back."

Before McGee stood, Gibbs tried one more time. "I'm fine, I don't need a doctor to tell me all I've got a bruise."

"No, but I do."

Really looking, Gibbs saw the fear still in Tim's eyes and caved. "Okay, if it will make you feel better."

Tim nodded, turning as he stood, and snapped his fingers at the nervous looking teen still standing there with his snowboard. "You, stay with them. Don't even think about moving before I get back." He gave one more worried look at Gibbs and Tiana before leaving.

The changes between frightened and alpha were almost dizzying, but Gibbs didn't dare shake his head. He did hurt worse than he'd admitted, but it had been a long time since anybody had fussed over him. It was going to take some getting used to. Tia tugged at his jacket.

"We scared Daddy."

"Yeah, Squirt, we did."