For the Christmas Exchange on Chit Chat on Author's Corner. My prompts were Baby It's Cold Outside (which seems to be a theme for Derek and Spencer as I wrote a fic with the same song last year, but for myself), mistletoe, snow angels, and hot chocolate. Happy holidays to Eternal Soldier, who this is written for.

"The Eskimos had fifty-two names for snow because it was important to them: there ought to be as many for love."
~ Margaret Atwood

Spencer stood outside on the front porch, staring down at the snow covered lawn and pathway. The snow was at least a foot deep, which was the accumulation of the past few days since neither he nor Derek had wanted to leave the warmth of their house and shovel when they didn't have to leave at all.

"What you looking at?" Derek wrapped his arms around Spencer's waist.

"Just the snow. And how I'm not looking forward to going out in it."

"Well we don't have to-"

"We do though. Food is kind of important, Derek."

"There's enough food in the kitchen to last a few more days. At least until we get called out to work and then we can shop on the way home."

"Yes, but we don't have milk." He paused. "Or coffee."

Derek chuckled and kissed Spencer's cheek. "Right. Coffee."

"And milk. Or else I could just work with hot chocolate."

"Milk and coffee. The staples of our diet." He let go of Spencer and grabbed the snow shovel from the corner. Pushing aside the top layer of fluffy white snow off of the stairs he stepped down and continued to move aside the light snow that sat on top of the pathway. The snow that had already hardened beneath it he simply walked on, his boots crunching down and leaving imprints. Spencer stuffed his hands into his pockets and stepped in Derek's footprints as he headed to the car. Once there, Derek stored the shovel in the trunk and turned to face his husband, smiling all the while. "There we go. We've shoveled."

Spencer laughed and looked behind him. "Yes. We've shoveled."

Derek unlocked the car and Spencer got into the passenger seat. "Coffee, milk, and gingerbread cookies."

Derek looked over as he started the ignition. "Gingerbread cookies?"

"I just had a craving for them, plus aren't they a holiday staple? At least that's what Garcia told me."

Derek smiled. "Of course she told you that. Alright, we'll get gingerbread."

"And then the rest of the stuff. Those are just the important items."

Derek's smile widened and he nodded. "Yes, and the rest of the stuff." He laughed a little as he pulled out of the driveway.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, and if there's no place to go, let it snow let it snow let it snow..." Spencer sang quietly along with the radio on the way home from the grocery store.

"How about singing that once we get inside, pretty boy." Derek glanced up at the sky, which was slowly darkening despite it only being mid-afternoon.

"Sorry."

"No no, don't apologize. I was just thinking that it would be nice to get inside before it actually does become frightful outside." He flashed Spencer a smile, and Spencer gave him a small one back. A few minutes later they pulled up into the driveway and got out, each taking a few grocery bags with them. They got inside and had just finished unloading the groceries when the sky opened up and flurries descended. Going to the living room and pulling back the drapes on the curtains he couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"Your hard work didn't pay off," he called over his shoulder.

"That's not surprising..." Derek came over and wrapped an arm over Spencer's shoulders, joining him in staring out the window as the snow drifted down to cover the areas that he had semi-cleared away earlier. "Snow has this habit of creating its own agenda, and rearranging ours." He kissed Spencer's cheek. "Though not so much in our case, huh kid? It's just giving us a better excuse to stay in."

"Oh the weather outside is frightful..."

Derek laughed and turned his husband around, hugging him tightly against him. "I love you Spencer."

Spencer hugged him back with a soft smile. "I love you too Derek"

They kissed and when they broke apart Spencer asked, "Can we make hot chocolate?"

"You mean can I make hot chocolate."

"Yes. But only because you make the best."

Derek laughed quietly and kissed Spencer's forehead. "Curl up with a book, I'll be back in a minute."

They kissed again and Derek went back to the kitchen. Spencer walked over to one of their large bookshelves in the living room and started to run his finger over the spines of the books. On the second shelf he stopped at where he had set up Henry's books for when he came over. Pulling out one at random he couldn't help but smile at the cover: a child lay sprawled out in the snow, a robin beside him and a snow man in the background. Snow angel's wings surrounded the boy, and for once Spencer really did think that it looked like an angel.

Putting the book away he went to the closet and began rummaging through it.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Derek came out into the living room a few moments later carrying two mugs of hot chocolate and a plate of the gingerbread that they had bought. Putting them on the coffee table he glanced around, wondering where his genius boy was if not in his worn down armchair beside the bookshelves. "Spencer?" he called. Going upstairs he looked into the bathroom and their bedroom. "Spencer...?" Coming back downstairs he ran a hand over his head and glanced around. Movement outside finally caught his eye and he stepped up to the window. There, outside sprawled in the snow, was Spencer, his face covered with a dusting of the white powder. Derek wasn't sure whether to be worried or to laugh, so he chuckled a little to himself and smiled as he grabbed his jacket. Pulling it on he went outside.

"What you up to pretty boy?"

"Making a snow angel."

Derek looked for the wings and the skirt.

"I haven't started yet," Spencer explained. "The sky distracted me."

"The sky distracted you..." Derek smiled and walked up to him, squatting next to him on their lawn. Tilting his head up he stared at the grey clouds and the way that the snowflakes spiraled down from them; he understood now why Spencer got distracted.

Spencer raised a glove covered hand to take Derek's. Derek took the hint and lay down beside him, despite that he wasn't done up like the other male and would surely be freaking in seconds.

"I've never done this before," Spencer told him after a few long moments of silence. "My mom never let me lie out in the snow, she thought I would catch pneumonia and die, or that I would fall asleep and a snowstorm would come by and bury me alive."

"Well baby, it's cold outside." He smiled. "I can understand about your mother being worried about the pneumonia. Knowing you you'd lie outside for hours just studying the world and not realize how cold you had become."

Spencer pouted a little. "I think I'd notice when I lost all feeling in my limbs. The worst I would have gotten would have been frost bite."

"Well how about you make your snow angel and we'll go inside before you get something even close." He got up and brushed snow off his jacket, then off his pants but his jeans were already soaked and his butt was numb. Spencer stayed on the lawn not moving for a moment, but then he swept his arms and legs out. He continued the motions until he had pushed aside quite a bit of snow.

"You're an angel," Derek remarked at one point when Spencer's arms and legs had gotten out of sync and his legs were closed while his arms were open. He smiled down at him, his hands in his pockets, but Spencer didn't say anything. He continued his sweeping motions for a few more seconds before closing his legs and reaching his arms up.

"Help me up?" he asked.

"Gladly." He stepped over to the bottom of the snow angel and took Spencer's snowy hands in his cold ones and pulled him up. Spencer stumbled a step forward into his chest and Derek held him close, laughing quietly. "Easy there. And you haven't even had anything to drink."

Spencer rolled his eyes and rested his hands on Derek's shoulders as he looked over his own shoulder at his snow angel. "It looks like the one on the book cover," he said.

"The book cover?"

"One of Henry's books has a cover where a boy is making a snow angel."

"Let me guess: that's what inspired you to come out here?"

Spencer nodded and Derek broke into a smile, kissing his genius on the cheek. Spencer smiled softly and looked back at his husband. "It really does look like an angel."

"It does."

Spencer's smile grew and he looked like a child who had just learned how to add properly. Derek laughed quietly and kissed his forehead. "Now about we go inside."

"Because baby, it's cold outside."

"Quoting me quoting a song? You're learning some humour, kid." Derek smiled. He led Spencer back into the house and helped him to strip himself of his soaking winter accessories.

After telling him to go change he tossed all their wet clothes, including his own pants, into the dryer and started the cycle. Going upstairs in just his boxers and long sleeve black shirt he went into their bedroom where Spencer was in the middle of pulling on his pajamas. Derek stepped past him on his way to his side of the bed and brushed his hand down Spencer's back as he did. Spencer shivered and met his eyes across the bed as Derek pulled off his shirt and got his pajamas out from under his pillow. Pulling them on he raised an eyebrow in Spencer's direction, who was watching him. "Yes?"

"Nothing," Spencer replied. He shook his head. "Nothing." Turning around he went downstairs. Derek laughed to himself and followed after him. When he got downstairs Spencer wasn't in the living room and the only thing on the coffee table was the plate of gingerbread.

"Spencer?"

"In here."

Derek followed his voice to the kitchen where he was heating up their hot chocolates in the microwave. Turning around he smiled and Derek stepped up to him. "Why're you so happy?"

"Why shouldn't I be. It's the holidays. Aren't I supposed to be happy during the holidays?"

"Yes..." Derek rested his hands on Spencer's hips. "But you're even happier than usual."

Spencer didn't say anything, but his eyes glanced upwards and Derek followed his gaze. Above them, taped to the ceiling, hung a sprig of mistletoe. Derek looked back to his husband. "Did you put that up?"

Spencer shrugged a shoulder and Derek laughed; he loved it when Spencer tried to play coy. He brought their their lips together and Spencer wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling him closer to him. They kissed long past when the microwave beeped, and when they finally parted Spencer's cheeked were flushed. Derek smiled and kissed him gently again. "Gosh your lips are delicious..." he sang softly.

Spencer laughed. "Mind if I move closer...?"

Derek smiled and pulled Spencer right to him, so that they could feel their heartbeats against each others' chest. "Your eyes are like star light..."

Spencer smiled and kissed his husband. Unwrapping his arms from Derek's neck he reached a hand back to press the button on the microwave to make it open. "Put some music on while I pour."

Derek went over to the small CD player that sat in the corner of the kitchen and pressed the NEXT button until it was on the number he wanted. When he pressed PLAY Spencer laughed as he took the hot chocolates out of the microwave.

"I really can't stay - Baby it's cold outside
I've got to go away - Baby it's cold outside
This evening has been - Been hoping that you'd drop in
So very nice - I'll hold your hands, they're just like ice
My mother will start to worry - Beautiful, what's your hurry
My father will be pacing the floor - Listen to the fireplace roar
So really I'd better scurry - Beautiful, please don't hurry..."

They both went to the living room, Derek singing along and resting his hands on Spencer's shoulders on the line, "Beautiful, please don't hurry..." He wrapped his arms around his waist from behind once Spencer had put the hot chocolates down, still singing in his ear as he moved them back and forth in time with the music. "I wish I knew how - Your eyes are like starlight, To break the spell - I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell..."

Spencer gently moved out from Derek's arms and sat down on the couch, but then Derek sat beside him, leaning against the armrest, and pulled Spencer to him. Wrapping his arms around his genius he kissed his cheek. Smiling, he sang quietly, "Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, and since we've no place to go, let it snow let it snow let it snow."