There was a fresh blanket of snow on the ground, and Erin smiled as she wrapped her arms around her waist, staring out the window. This would be the first year that she was out of WitSec, her handler having deemed the situation clear, and she couldn't wait to have her children there for the holiday season. Alan hadn't been too pleased to hear about her reemergence, but he knew better than to keep her babies from her, and so agreed to send them up to Clay.
Letting out a contented sigh, she turned from the window and got up, heading out to the kitchen to check her phone. She was expecting a text from Alan, letting her know where they were. She was anxious, of course, and eager to see her children for the first time in five years. Five long, hard, years that had been filled with longing for kith and kin. Picking up her iPhone, she scrolled through her notifications, she noticed only one from Alan, giving her an updated ETA that was still two hours away. Though that wasn't a long time, it was still too long for her liking.
Going to the fridge, she pulled out the carton of eggnog and poured herself a glass before sitting on the table and drinking it. Dave would have yelled at her for doing that, since tables were never meant to be sat on, but she didn't feel like pulling out a chair just to have something to drink. Once she was finished with the eggnog, she slipped off the table and rinsed her glass out before putting it in the washer.
Heading into the living room, she gave a critical onceover of the tree before turning on the Christmas music, smiling when Julie Andrews began to sing. "Baubles, bangles, bright shiny beads," Erin began to sing along as she finished up the last touches on the Christmas tree. There were presents beneath it, one for each of her children, bought using what information she had been able to glean from their public social media posts. Still, she wasn't certain that they would like them, or if they would even want to speak with her when Alan told them that she was still alive. Alcohol had stolen so many moments from them already that this might just be too much for them to accept.
"You will not get maudlin, Erin Strauss," she whispered fiercely to herself. "You need to remain optimistic. They are coming, Alan is bringing them, and you are going to have a wonderful Christmastime, just like Paul McCartney sings!"
Nodding her head firmly, she affixed the angel to the top of the tree and then stepped back to look at the whole thing. The soft white lights accented the tinsel and glass bulbs hanging off the limbs, and though it wasn't quite what her children had once known, it was still hers to share with them. A pleased smile spread across her lips as she collapsed on the sofa and stared into the fireplace, imagining just how this reunion would go. Tabitha would be the first one to cry, she knew, since she had always been sensitive. Bruce would try to have a stiff upper lip, like Alan, and Caroline would give her the silent treatment for about thirty minutes before acting like nothing was out of the ordinary. They wouldn't talk about the years they had lost together unless she brought it up, and she didn't know if that would happen during the holiday season, since she wanted to have a few happy memories before things became difficult.
Sighing a little, she turned onto her side and picked up her tablet, picking up where she had left off on her current book. Thankfully, it was a trashy pulp fiction story, so she didn't need to keep her full attention on it to understand what was happening, and she forced herself to read slowly, in order to draw out the time.
Finally, her phone dinged, and she placed a bookmark in her spot before setting the tablet aside and picking up her phone. The message on her screen was not from Alan, and she frowned a little as she read it one more time. We're about five minutes away. Make certain you turn the porch light on.
Still frowning, she got up and went to the front door, flipping the switch on for the porchlight. Knowing that her family was close at hand, she found that she didn't want to leave the doorway, since a part of her was fearful that if she did, the universe would snatch this reunion away from her. Pacing the short hallway, she listened carefully for a car pulling into the drive, wanting to open the door the moment she heard them.
Finally, she heard the sound of tires on gravel, and she pulled back the curtain on the window by the front door, frowning a little when she saw a very familiar car in the drive. As it came to a stop, Bruce was the first out of the vehicle, loping up the walkway, and she threw open the door as a tremulous smile spread across her lips. "Brucie!" she cried out as she opened her arms.
Her son crushed her in a tight hug, lifting her off her feet as he held her close. "Mom! I, we, this…it's a Christmas miracle!"
Erin nodded against his shoulder as they went inside, her girls actually the reticent ones, which surprised her greatly. "I never thought that this would be possible, either. But who brought you here? That's not your father's car."
"Observant as always, Erin."
It felt like every molecule of oxygen had been stripped from her lungs when that very familiar voice spoke. Turning her head to look at the doorway, her eyes filled with tears as she saw Dave standing there, a roguish grin on his lips, his hands filled with gifts. She nodded a little as she stepped away from her son to go over to Dave's side, her hands cupping his face as she studied his eyes, finding them just as wet as hers. "That's what I was trained to be. Why don't you put those under the tree, while I say hello to my girls." He nodded before leaning in and kissing her softly.
The touch was what she needed, and Erin sighed a little as she pulled away from him to move over to her daughters' side. "Mama!" Tabitha cried out as she took two slow steps forward before starting to jog at her before wrapping Erin in a tight hug. "I didn't believe it when Daddy said that you were alive, but then he showed us recent pictures, and said that Dave would be bringing us up to your new home, and you're alive!"
It was a little difficult to make out her baby's words between the sobs, but she understood the gist of them as she rubbed her hands up and down Tabitha's back, marveling in the fact that her baby had grown so much in five years. Oh, not in height or weight, but in presence, and she swallowed thickly as she tried to not let her sobs get the best of her.
A soft tap on her shoulder had her looking over, seeing the pensive, calculating, look on Caroline's face. As she had expected, there were no tears there, and her features were set in a flat mask, so as to conceal what she was feeling, but it was still so good to look into her oldest child's eyes once more. "It is so good to see you, Mom," she said evenly.
"And it's good to see you, Caro. Come here." Lifting an arm, she beckoned Caroline close, hugging her tightly as she pressed her lips to her daughter's forehead. Her family was here, reunited, and she was so overwhelmingly happy. "How long are you staying, Dave?" she asked as she led her girls over to the sofa, motioning for them to sit.
"For as long as you'll have me. I think the kids are planning on staying for two weeks, because of their classes starting back up, but I can take an extended leave from the BAU, if you'd like."
"I would like that very much, David," she murmured as they closed the distance between each other once more. She had always wondered just how it felt to be the proverbial moth drawn to the flame, and here she was, in that very position. "I assumed that you would have moved on by now."
"You're kinda hard to forget, bella. I tried dating other women, but it didn't work out for me. Your memory haunted me, and when I heard through the grapevine that you were still alive and coming out of protection, I knew that I had to come and see you. I am so very glad that I did."
She nodded slowly as his head descended and his lips covered hers in a tender, yearning, kiss. Her kids giggled in the background, and Erin couldn't help but smile against his mouth as the kiss lingered on. "Are you going to be this mushy all night, Mom?" Bruce asked, and she pulled away from Dave to arch her eyebrow at her son, fixing her gaze on him.
"I think that I'll be mushy for a long while, Brucie. Because after five years of being apart from you all, I am going to hold on to you all tightly. Great glad tidings, and all that."
Bruce nodded, and Erin snuggled in close to Dave once more, relishing in the feel of his arms around her waist, the smell of his cologne, the sound of his breathing. It was familiar and new all at once, and she sighed a little before burying her face in the crook of his neck, giving in to her tears once more.
"Mama, do you and Dave want some alone time? Because we can let him have you tonight, but he'll have to share the rest of the time we're here. After all, you are our mother." Trust Tabitha to be the frank one, and she chuckled lightly as she shrugged a little. "Go upstairs and become reacquainted. That will allow us time to add our own personal touches to the decorations. Okay?"
"My babies grew up," she murmured as she stroked her Dave's face. "Can you forgive me my selfishness, darlings?"
"As long as it keeps that smile on your face, it is perfectly all right, Mom. The great glad tidings of Christmas have brought you back to us, and the happiness of the season is going to last the years through. Of that, I'm certain." Caroline smiled widely at her and Erin nodded, contentment filling her heart as she realized she was surrounded by everything she could ever want in this world.