Hi, everyone!

So, fiftyshadeswritergall and I did nt forget Christmas. We have both been very busy, but we have been working on a little story. We hope that you can enjoy it even if it is a little late...!

Let's see Quinta and Abby a week after Thanksgiving...

...

"Quinny, stop complaining about it! I already told you, it is not possible!"

"But I swear that I can still feel my butt tingle from that spanking!" Quinta retorted with conviction.

"No, you can't!" an exasperated Abby replied, rolling her eyes. "That was a week ago, and it wasn't even that hard of a spanking!"

Quinta's eyes narrowed skeptically. "Really? You didn't seem to think so when it was you getting spanked!"

The office support girl was visiting the lab over their lunch break and all she wanted to talk about was their unsuccessful Thanksgiving

Abby frowned. She was rather tired of Quinta bringing up the Thanksgiving spankings yet again. While Quinta - who was suddenly behaving immaculately - was still processing the fact that she had allowed herself to receive an over-the-knee spanking from Gibbs and what that might mean in the future, Abby was just wanting to move on with life. Every time Quinta brought up the tender memory, Abby was forced to remember how embarrassing it had been.

"Besides, it's my bottom and I'm pretty sure that is is still sore," Quinta stated with conviction.

Abby rolled her eyes. "Fine. Great. Mine isn't and I'm tired about talking about how good you will be forever. It's almost Christmas. What do you want to do?"

"Be really good."

That was quite easily the most boring statement that Quinta had ever made in her life. Well, that and the ten dozen similar statements that she had made over the last week. Quinta had seemed fine at Gibbs' house, but once they left she had seemed to get confused about what came next. While Abby was used to being disciplined, forgiven, and sent on her way, Quinta was dealing with some very natural uncertainty. In Abby's eyes, she was not dealing with it very well at all. She was even getting suspicious that Gibbs had spanked all of the fun right out of Quinta. It was time to reignite that spark. However, because of Quinta's constant reminders, Abby was well aware that she did not want to do anything to get on Gibbs' bad side while amping up for Christmas. She reflected morosely that she would then be on Quinta's bad side too. Yes, it was time to get in the Christmas spirit and she wanted to infect all of her friends as well. She had no doubt that Tony, Tim, and even Ziva would be easy. It was Gibbs and - surprisingly - Quinta that she had to work on, and she was convinced that Gibbs would be easier. If she could get him on board, then Quinta would likely eagerly follow.

Think, Abby, think!

A smile crossed Abby's lips and she cut off Quinta's next lament about how strict Gibbs was.

"Stop by after work. I think that I might have a surprise for you then."

...

"Please, Gibbs!"

"Abs ..."

"Please! With cream and sugar and Caf-Pow!s?"

He relented with a smile. He really had not been going to say "no" but it was fun to hear her outlandish plans and pleas to change his mind.

"I'll take you tonight."

"And Quinta?"

"If she wants to."

"And Tony and Tim and Ziva?"

"Tony and Tim are both away right now. They headed out this morning on transport duty with one of our witnesses, but Ziva is still around. She's been a little grumpy today, but you could ask and see if she would like to come."

"Thank you, Gibbs! Thank you! This is really special to me!"

"You and Quinta don't have any tricks up your sleeve, do you?" Gibbs added sternly.

Abby's face fell. "No. She has been really boring since you spanked her!"

Gibbs could not help but smile a little at the despair in Abby's voice.

"I'm sure that you're exaggerating, Abs."

"No, I'm serious! All she does is worry about getting in trouble again. It really does not seem fair!"

"What? That you got in trouble for trying to steal turkeys? Because if that does not seem fair, we could talk about what would have been the alternative if the farmer had called the police ..."

"Not that!" Abby sighed in frustration. "I just wish that Quinta was not so nervous of getting you upset again. Like, I know you really well and even though I hate your spankings, I don't spend every minute around you worry about getting you upset at me. After all, you're a lot nicer than most people realize. But Quinta seems to think that you're going to be annoyed if she doesn't dot her i's and cross her t's correctly!"

Gibbs looked thoughtful for a minute.

"It's a good idea. I should've tried harder to connect with Quinta during the last week to make sure that everything was good with her, but this case had to take priority."

"She's fine," Abby assured him. "Just not herself."

Gibbs smiled and teasingly asked, "But if she's being well behaved, maybe we should leave well enough alone?"

"Gibbs!" The single word was filled with protest and censure.

"Why didn't you ever go through a phase where you wanted to be so good that you would never earn another spanking?"

Abby shrugged, unashamed by such old memories. "I don't know. Now, how about the plan?"

"Don't worry. I'll take you both - or the three of you, if Ziva wants to go - to supper, then we can go to the farm together."

Abby's face lit up with a grin and she kissed his cheek. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Gibbs could not hide his smile at her excitement. He kissed her cheek before gently pushing her back toward the elevator.

"Back to work, Abs."

He watched her skip off, eager to have her next plan go through. He was glad that she had come to him with her suggestion. Besides the joy that he would receive from helping the girls have a fun evening, he was also glad to have a chance to reconnect with Quinta. Now that Abby had mentioned it, he could recall Quinta scurrying off in the opposite direction or shyly peering around giant folders every time he was near her department. He was fairly certain that it was just a healthy nervousness and not fear, but tonight would be a good time to check in and make sure that Quinta was not making it into a bigger deal than it needed to be. After all, as he had told both her and her father, the only time that he would ever consider disciplining her would be if she got into deep trouble with Abby. Other than that, she had not reason to be nervous around him.

Ziva wandered back to her desk, chatting on her phone. A smile had returned to her face.

"It sounds like a lot of fun. I will see you tonight! Bye, Abby!"

He smiled again before turning back to the paperwork. It sounded like Ziva was on board. With the three girls together, he was sure that his evening would be quite amusing.

...

"Abby? I'm heading home," Quinta said, popping her head around the door to the lab.

"Oh, no you don't!" Abby declared, zooming over and capturing her friend. There was no way that Quinta was going to escape from participating in her wonderful plan for the evening. "You are going to come with Gibbs, Ziva, and me!"

"For what?" Quinta asked suspiciously. "I haven't done anything wrong and I don't want to!"

"Relax! It's Gibbs taking us."

Quinta still looked suspicious.

"Look - it'll be fun. Much more fun than your idea about chasing turkeys." Abby had to hide her smile as Quinta put her hands on her hips.

Here comes the rebuttal!

"That wasn't my idea! That was yours and I just went along with it!"

"It doesn't matter who's idea it was." Quinta froze as she heard Gibbs' voice. She spun around.

"Hello!" she said shyly. Gibbs picked up the conversation.

"That's all in the past and that's where it'll stay. Do you want to come get a tree with us, Q? We're going to go get dinner first, then head out to a tree farm owned by any old friend of mine."

"Wait - a tree farm?" Quinta asked, turning to Abby who was delighted to see the excitement in Quinta's eyes.

"Gibbs is going to help us all get Christmas trees!"

Quinta turned to Gibbs, making sure that Abby was not joking. Once she saw his confirming smile, she happily squealed, "Then let's go! I love finding the perfect Christmas trees! This will be a fun winter adventure!"

And with that, the old Quinta Diaz was back at full force!

...

Happy New Year to you all (a little belated!). We wish you a year of wonderful stories (of which we hope this will be one). Please remember to review!