Good Will Toward Men
Ahmose Inarus
Written for the Christmas Gift Fic Exchange for Buka2000
Morgan/Reid SLASH, mpreg
Prompts: "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas", Baby Bump's First Xmas maternity shirt, gingerbread men, egg nog, Christmas lights/ decoration competition in neighborhood with outside decor.
"Spencer? You ready to go, babe?"
Spencer Reid looked up from his lunch as his husband entered the room.
"…you're not even dressed!"
"We're all gathering at one, Derek. It's only noon. Now sit down and eat."
Derek Morgan sighed and walked over, pulling out a chair and plopping down. "… You made this?" He asked, looking at the spaghetti and meat balls. Reid nodded and Morgan glared. "You need to stay off your feet."
"It's not the doctor's orders." Reid said lightly, twirling some pasta around his fork.
"I just want you to be careful, pretty boy."
"I'm not on bed rest and I don't need to be wrapped in bubble wrap, Derek." Reid said with a smile.
"In your condition—"
"It's not a CONDITION, Derek. I'm pregnant. Calm down." Reid laughed, eating a meat ball.
"… How many cups of coffee have you had today?"
"That's for me to know and you to find out." Reid said enigmatically, which was code for "more than I'm supposed to". Morgan gave him a look, but Reid kept his amused eyes focused on his spaghetti. After a while, Morgan sighed and shook his head.
"What am I gonna do with you, pretty boy?"
"Love me and cherish me and pamper me because I'm carrying your child." Reid snorted, and Morgan chuckled at the cheeky smirk Reid gave him. He leaned over and gently kissed Reid on the lips. "… Garlic bread?" He asked, licking his own lips afterwards. Reid winked.
"In the oven."
Morgan grinned and headed over to get some, bringing a second piece over for Reid.
"Mmmm.." Reid sighed, crunching into it.
"Where are the veggies, baby boy?"
"Banished to the fridge. I wanted empty carbs this afternoon." Reid said simply, and Morgan chuckled, shaking his head at his mate's eccentricities.
The pair ate their lunch, and then Morgan cleaned up while Reid got dressed.
"Wear that shirt Garcia got for you!"
"… Do I HAVE to?!"
"YES!" Morgan called back. Reid groaned, but was silent. Morgan chuckled as he washed the dishes, glancing out the window to see that the neighbors were gathering. He smiled, pleased that the block was getting together today to decorate for the upcoming holiday…
The neighborhood he and Reid had moved into had a decoration contest every year… and most of the streets competed by working together to come up with a theme. This year was the first year their street would be getting together to do something as a block and not as individual homes. They had all met mid-November to discuss ideas. Morgan himself had tossed out an idea, and everyone had jumped for it… One of their neighbors liked to do wood working, so he had prepared several wooden cut outs… Today, the women would be painting them while the men took care of the hanging of the lights on houses…
Reid walked into the kitchen, zipping up his coat. "Okay. Let's go." He said, and Morgan grinned, kissed him and pulled on his own jacket, and the pair headed outside. Their neighbors greeted them as they headed to the house two doors down and across the street. The garage was filled with the wooden cutouts, all labeled.
"Alright!" Said a man in his mid-fifties everyone called Jay. "Let's get started! Ladies? Can you paint those by the time we're done with our work?"
His wife, Carol, scoffed. "As if you idiots can get any of that done without US telling you how to do it." Now there were shouts going up from the men, and the women, on who needed help to do what and who could finish their job sooner… they sounded more like children than their actual children who were playing down the street a bit.
"Um… isn't this about the fun of it and beating the other blocks? Not, you know… each other?" Everyone turned to stare at Reid.
Morgan sighed, "Sorry guys… there is no competitive bone in his body."
Reid seemed to puff up at that. "There is TOO!"
"Yeah… as long as a chess board is involved." Morgan chuckled.
"Alright, everyone." Carol laughed. "Let's get to work." And the women headed into the garage. Reid followed.
"Aren't you going to help the other men, Spencer?" A woman named Judy asked. Reid smiled and shook his head.
"No. SOMEONE has to paint our pieces… and besides… Derek would never let me."
"Forgive me if this seems rude, but… are you considered the… woman in the relationship?" Asked a younger woman named Brittany. Several of the other women winced. But Reid just smiled…
It had been interesting moving to the block, and having their neighbors discover that he and Derek were, in fact, married. Reactions had been mixed. There was shock from most all of them. The younger couples seemed to simply shrug and accept. A few of the older ones had seemed scandalized… most of them had been making every effort to understand and accept the young men as they were, though there was still some occasional awkward situations… The men seemed to take to Derek okay, as Derek was very masculine and dominant and didn't "seem gay", as one of the men had put it, but they weren't quite as at ease around Reid. The women seemed to take to Reid well; only one woman in the group was openly hostile towards him, and her husband was the same, though they both seemed to like Derek okay. Reid just shrugged and got over it, used to people not accepting him.
He smiled at Brittany and said "It's nothing like that. Derek just knows how… well… when it comes to stuff like that," and he pointed outside to the men getting out ladders, setting out PVC pipes and checking strands of Christmas lights, "I'm more of a hindrance than a help. I'm not very coordinated and if I go up a ladder, I'll probably fall off!" The woman laughed at that. "But… he's also gotten very overprotective and would never let me up a ladder anyway, now…"
"Why?" Asked his next door neighbor, April.
Reid unzipped his coat and opened it, revealing his shirt… On the chest were large letters reading "BABY'S FIRST CHRISTMAS" and underneath on the belly was a Christmas wreath… over the swelling baby bump…
"… I'm pregnant." Reid announced.
"Okay, Derek." Jay said. "We have the buckets with the concrete… with the pipes… What are we doing with them?"
"We're going to line the street with lit arches." Morgan said. "We wrap the pipes," he pointed to the long, white plastic pipes, "in the lights and they cross in the middle, here…" And he began to tie two of the pipes together with red duct tape, and then began to spiral the tape down the pipe to make it look like a candy cane. The men all watched, and then began to follow his lead, wrapping the red duct tape around the pipes until they had a dozen of them… They were a small street, with a dozen houses, six on each side. There was one pipe for each house, so each man took one, wrapping it in lights once they were done with the duct tape wrapping. And then they bound two pipes together to make a giant X.
"Okay." Morgan called. "Put a bucket at each corner!" And he trotted over to the corner of yard, and then did the same on the other side of Jay's yard. Then he made his way across the street to Adam's house, and set the buckets on the corners, lining up with Jay's. "Now! I need one man to take an end of the pipe and move it into the street!" They did so. Morgan moved to the middle, where the center of the X was. "Now, pick up the pipes and point them down, and start to walk towards your buckets!" Morgan shouted so everyone could hear. He himself picked up a shorter pipe with a U piece on the end. He grabbed the middle of the X and began to lift it as the men walked the pipes forward, pushing the middle of the X up. Once it was over his head, Derek used his U ended pipe to cup the middle for the X and keep pushing it up as the men moved to their buckets.
"Now! Put your pipe into the slot in the bucket!" Morgan called. Jay moved first, sliding his pipe into the larger pipe in the center of the cement filled bucket. One by one, the other men did so. And then, Morgan lowered his U pipe. Overhead was now a candy cane arch with four legs, towering fifteen feet over the street. The men stared, and then cheered. And then they heard excited shouted, laughter and cheers from the garage. They all turned and looked. The women were all surrounding Reid in excitement, save for Donna, whom Morgan knew did not approve of Reid and himself moving to the block… She had never made any effort to hide that she did not accept their love…
"What's going on in there?" Jay asked, and Morgan grinned.
"… Spencer's pregnant." He announced, proudly. The men all looked stunned, but then handshakes, slaps on the back and congratulations were being offered, even if some of the men DID look a bit shell shocked and thrown off guard by this revelation. Either way, Morgan appreciated that they were all making that effort to accept and understand.
Overall, his neighbors WERE good people…
"Well Darn!" Elaine blurted, and the other women (and Spencer) looked at her. "And here I brought over some egg nog!"
"… With rum?" Asked Carol. Elaine nodded.
"That's fine." Reid laughed. "You all go ahead and enjoy."
"I'll go make you a hot chocolate in my Keurig, dear." Carol said, walking into her house while the others finally began to settle down. Some old folding tables were set up, and Elaine turned on the radio, and soon, the men outside were chuckling at the chorus of "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" floating out of the garage as the women began to drink their nog and set out the paints.
Carol brought Reid his hot chocolate, with a bit of mint extract in it, and he sighed in contentment.
"That's great, Carol, thank you." Reid said, and moved over to where his cutouts were. The block had decided to go with a unique theme for the neighborhood. While other blocks were doing a Charlie Brown Christmas or a How the Grinch Stole Christmas theme and what-not, they had chosen "Merry Christmas to Those Who Serve"… It turned out that many people on the block fit into that category.
They had houses representing the Police Department (Gary, who lived at the end of the block), the Fire Department (Adam), the Marines (Jay and Carol's youngest son), the Army (Donna's father in World War II), the Air Force (Elaine's daughter), the Coast Guard (old Reggie down the street, when he was young), the Navy (Martha's uncles), the Secret Service (young Mark down the block, also new to the neighborhood, just joined them), the National Guard (Andrew, who was Tech support for the local school district), the Army Reserve (Allen's uncle and cousins), and the FBI (Derek and Spencer, of course). There was one younger couple who both came from money at the corner of the block… they had never had family members in any service… they were dedicating their yard to the block with a representation of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Reid happily grabbed the black paint, and began to paint in the flak jackets that the cutouts were wearing. Then he paused. "Hey! Is this us?!" He blurted, and Carol grinned.
"Yes. I drew them to look like you!" At this, all the women looked down at their cutouts.
"Hey! It IS Adam!"
"Oh, and my Emily!" Elaine gushed, realizing that her Air Force soldier was indeed her daughter.
"And Allen's Uncle! Oh my gosh!"
"That's my daddy…" Donna gasped, tearing up a bit.
Laughter went around the garage now as they all recognized the people on their cutouts, and got back to painting them while singing along with the Christmas music on the radio, even Andrew's wife, Liz, who was an atheist, sang along the words that she knew, explaining that while she was atheist, her mother had been Presbyterian and her father Methodist. She and Reid fell into a conversation about religious upbringings and the faith, or lack of, that people tended to have as adults, because of, or in spite of, said religious upbringings. Liz seemed delighted with the conversation, if not a bit overwhelmed when Reid really started talking. In fact, he drew several eyes of amazement, from those neighbors who didn't know him well.
After a bit, when Reid actually reached a pause I his talking, Elaine butted in.
"Spencer?"
"Hmm?"
"Tell us about the baby!" And the women all looked up eagerly, making Reid blush. "Do you know what you're having yet?!"
Reid smiled. "We want to be surprised." He said, beaming in pride, and then looking startled when all the women squealed.
"Have you picked any names?"
"Well… If it's a girl, I want to name her after my mother… Diana Alexandra… I don't know whether we're going with Diana or Alexandra, though. Both are good, strong names… Diana was the Roman Goddess of the Wild, and was also the unmarried virgin Goddess, and therefore the Goddess of women, and oddly enough, childbirth, though Juno was also viewed sometimes as the Goddess of Childbirth… Alexandra of course derives from Alexander, as in Alexander the Great. But we were also thinking about Francine, after Derek's mother, and Elizabeth, Ceiridwyn, who was a warrior queen in the middle ages, Rowan and Katherine…"
"And if it's a boy?" Asked Martha.
"Jason, for a very dear friend…" Reid said. "David or Aaron, after the potential Godfathers… Derek's dad was Sam… Sampson Albert Morgan. And we also like Michael, Alexander, Joseph…"
"Have you started planning the nursery yet?" Asked Brittany.
"We've discussed a few ideas." Reid nodded. "For a girl… Our friend, Penelope Garcia," the ladies grinned, knowing the couple's eccentric friend well, "came up with the idea of an enchanted forest with fairies and unicorns… JJ though butterflies would be good… For a boy, dinosaurs, dragons or a jungle was discussed. But Derek and I were thinking of doing an ocean theme… under the sea. It's not gender specific, so the nursery can be done without any worry as to whether we bring home a boy, or a girl."
"Under the sea, huh?" Asked Liz. "Not something more… baby-ish? Duckies, froggies, things like that?"
"Nope." Reid smiled, moving on to paint Morgan's blue jeans, now that both figures' flak jackets were done.
"I think it fits your personality, Dr. Reid." April said with a grin.
They all glanced out the garage door when one of the men bellowed "WHERE'S THE BEER?!" The woman all watched as Roy pointed to the house, and all the men hurried towards it.
"Oh, for heaven's sake… he must have told them about the nog." Elaine huffed. "Anyone want seconds before it's gone?!"
"Are they going to climb on the roof after drinking to put up the lights?!" Reid blurted.
"They're MEN, Dr. Reid." April snorted. "Not that you aren't… but you have more intelligence than the average male of the species." And Martha cried "Hear, hear!" raising her glass and tossing it back before scurrying inside to refill before the men got there. The other women laughed, and started singing again.
The men polished off the nog and headed back outside, and by hours' end, they had finished putting up all six arches lining the street, and began to help one another put up the Christmas lights on their homes. A few of the older children began to help, wanting to be included, running back and forth with strands of lights and the Christmas Wreathes that were bought in bulk to hang in every window. The decision had been made that the houses would all be uniform, elegantly lit with simple white lights, wreathes and candles in every window. The front walks were lined with candy canes with lit garland draped between them. Every mailbox had a wreath hanging on it as well.
As the afternoon grew later the children began to get cold. Donna and Brittany herded them all into Carol's living room and got them all hot chocolate that Carol had prepared in the crock pot, and parked them in front of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", and then Brittany passed out the gingerbread men for the noisy little ones to stuff into their faces.
She then returned to the garage. Reid, at this point, was painting his character's purple scarf, having just finished Derek's sunglasses. He was smiling and humming along with the music with April.
"Are we almost done? Everyone's moved on to the logos?" Carol called, and the women chorused affirmatives. "Spencer?"
"Almost." Reid smiled, carefully painting the white letters FBI on the figures flak jackets. Then he set them aside to dry and got to work on the large FBI Seal.
"Mama, mama!" The ladies and Reid all turned and looked when a little girl came running out to the garage in tears. "Bryan bit the head off of my gingerbread man!" Reid snickered with some of the women as Donna comforted her daughter and took her inside to get another gingerbread man, and to scold her son for being mean to his sister.
"Hey Pretty Boy." Everyone looked up when Derek walked into the garage, then. Reid smiled up at him.
"Hi!"
"How's everything going in here?"
"Fine!"
"Hey! It's us!" Morgan laughed, looking at the wood figures that Reid had painted, then turned and kissing Reid's cheek. "You warm enough out here, pretty boy?"
"Yes, Derek," Reid said, grinning as he humored his mate.
"Hungry?"
"I'm fine, Derek." Reid sighed, and the other women were grinning now, watching Morgan hover around his mate.
"How's your back?"
"Derek!" Reid laughed.
"What?!"
"I'm FINE! Go put our wreath on the front door, please!"
"… Are you sure you're—"
"GO!" Reid cried, and Derek hurried away, hands in the air defensively. The women laughed.
"It's so cute how devoted he is to you, Spencer." April said, grinning.
"He drives me MAD." Reid snorted, and the women laughed again.
After a few more interruptions from children, and one more from Morgan, the wood cutouts were all finally dry and the women (and Reid) were all standing around admiring them.
"And the boys should have the banners hung, too." Elaine was saying.
"Banners?" Brittany asked.
"We made banners to hang from the arches on either end of the street." Elaine explained. "Happy Holidays to Those Who Serve."
"Oh, that's great!" Martha said with a grin.
"Hey. You ladies did a good job." Jay said as the men headed into the garage.
"Are you boys done out there?" Carol said to her husband.
"I think so. All the wreaths are in the windows, front walks lined in candy canes and the houses are all lit."
The women, exclaiming in delight, hurried outside to see and to 'ooh' and 'ahh' over the lights. Reid smiled at Morgan, who was grinning at the painting job Reid had done.
"Awww… you're even wearing your purple scarf." Morgan was laughing, and Reid smiled. Morgan put an arm around him and kissed his cheek, then patted his belly. "And how's the little one behaving?"
"Fine." Reid said. "Slept most of the time." And he followed Derek outside. "Wow. The houses look great!" He said, smiling. Their home was all lit up. The roof was lined in white Christmas lights, as was the porch. There was a wreath and candle in every window, and a larger wreath on the front door. The lit candy cane arches lining the street were already attracting the attention of the rest of the neighborhood, and so everyone began to work on getting their cutouts on the lawn.
Reid carried the FBI seal over to their house, and Morgan carried the figures of Reid and himself under his arm, and the pair carefully set the up with small lights shining on them to illuminate them at night. Once set up, they stepped back and admired their home, then turned around and watched their neighbors. Everything was soon set up, and the entire block was now admiring their work.
Neighbors from other blocks were drifting on foot and by car to see the tributes… the Police Department, the Fire Department, the Marines, the Army, the Air Force, the Coast Guard, the Navy, the Secret Service, the National Guard, the Army Reserve, the FBI, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Morgan put his arm around Reid, grinning at their house. "Looks great, Pretty Boy."
"It does." Reid nodded. "Good job, Derek." And he turned and kissed his husband.
"Are you two going to join us for dinner?" Andy called, waving. "I'm grilling!"
"I don't think so, Andy, but thank you!" Derek called back. "Spencer looks like he's getting tired."
There was some cooing coming from the women as they watched Morgan fawn over his mate. Reid just grinned at them and let Morgan guide him into the house. Morgan waved at the neighbors, who were being uncharacteristically nosy, and closed the door. Immediately, he had enveloped his lover in his arms, planting a deep kiss onto his lips.
"… You're cold." He chuckled, and Reid grinned.
"Your nose is freezing, get away from me." Reid shot back, pushing away and moving further into the house. Morgan laughed and followed, making Reid squeal and run back to the bedroom, slamming the door as if that would stop Morgan. It burst open only a moment later, and Reid slammed the bathroom door in response, giggling as he started the hot water in the bath tub. Morgan pushed the door open and stepped in.
"YOU are being naughty." He observed, moving to stand by Reid.
"Your point?"
"… Am I gonna have to spank you?"
"Try it and you're not getting any until the baby is potty trained." Reid snorted.
"Ouch." Morgan winced, unbuckling his belt and pushing his jeans down his legs, stepping out of them and his boxers both. "You think our block will win?" He asked, pulling off his shirts and dropping them to the floor.
"Hamper, please." Reid scolded, and Morgan obediently gathered his clothes and put them into the hamper, then began to undress his mate, diligently placing HIS clothes into the hamper, too.
Reid smiled and kissed him. "Will our block win?" He restated Morgan's question. "… Do you want the odds?"
"… No. I'm good." Morgan said, and the pair slid into the hot bath together. "Spencer?"
"Hmm?"
"I love you."
"Hmm. You had better." Reid said with a grin. Morgan just smiled, nuzzling him.
"… Derek?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm craving gingerbread men."
"… where am I gonna get that?!"
"Freshly baked."
"What?!"
"Ingredients are in the pantry. Recipe is in the cook book in the cabinet over the stove."
"Reid!"
"Am I carrying your child?"
"Yes!"
"Then you're making me ginger bread men." Reid said with an air of finality. Then he reached out and flicked on the little radio Morgan had set out by the bathtub and started to sing along. "I'm… dreaming off a whiiiiite… christmaaaaas… Just like the ones I used to know!"
Morgan sighed, and resigned himself to baking as soon as their bath was over… anything for his pretty boy.
"Where the tree tops glisten, and children listen, to hear sleigh bells in the snoooow!" Reid continued to sing, one leg draped over the side of the tub, toes wiggling in the air.
Morgan smiled and leaned over, kissing the top of his lover's head as he ran his hand over Reid's belly under the water, and then joined him in singing along with the radio…
"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, with every Christmas- Oh! I forgot to mail the Christmas cards!" Reid exclaimed.
"I'll do it." Morgan soothed and then sang, "May your days be merry and bright…"
Reid blinked and relaxed against Morgan's chest again, smiling up at him and singing along.
"And may all your Christmases be white."
A late Merry Christmas to Buka, and thank you to all those who serve our country!