Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or anything else you recognize. It's a shame, really.
A/N: Okay so here's a Christmas JJ/Hotch one shot. I hope you like it! Let me know what you think in a review if you can! :)
Family
"JJ, I'm Home!" Aaron shouted as he came in the front door, and shrugged off his snow covered coat. "It's freezing outside!"
Slipping off his shoes, his feet barely made it back down to the ground before something with a mass of loose dark brown curls attached itself to his leg, "Daddy!"
A rare chuckle escaped his lips as he reached down to pick up his almost four year old daughter, "Hey baby. Did you have fun with Mommy today?"
"Yep! We made cookies for Santa and all the elves, and I learned the names of all the reindeers..." Abbey Hotchner said with a speed that could rival Penelope Garcia as she wiped some of her loose curls from her face.
"Is that so? I heard that you watched a movie too?" He prodded as he carried her towards the living room in search of his wife.
"Oh yea!" she said with a enthusiastic smile on her face, "We watched the Grinch! That Grinch is so crazy, Daddy. I just love him!"
"Really?" he asked, tickling her sides a little, "Where's Mommy?"
"Silly, she and Katie are in the living room with bubba and Jack. We got yous a surprise!" she squealed as she leaned in to whisper in his ear, "It's a secret so you gotta close your eyes!"
"Now who's being silly? I can't close my eyes while I'm carrying you can I? When did Jack get here?"
"Ms. Hailey drops him off a long time ago, I think before nap. Okay now put me down so you can close those eyes mister!" Abbey said, every bit as bossy as her mother, "And no peaking!"
"Yes ma'am!" he said obediently and then did as she said while covering his eyes with his hand. She never noticed his barely separated fingers, so he could see, as she lead him into the living room, miraculously not running him into anything.
Biting back a smile as she tried to get him to turn a little to his left, he faintly registared Christmas music playing in the background, "Can I open my eyes yet, Abs?"
"Nope...okay...no wait!...Okay now!" she yelled happily as she slipped her little hand in his.
Opening his eyes slowly he took in the sight before him in awe. The entire living room had been converted into a Christmas wonderland, complete with a train running around the ceiling and a hand made construction paper garland around the tree. The only thing missing were the ornaments on the tree. "So Daddy what do you thinks of our surprise?" Abbey asked as Jack and Henry looked up at him from where they were making ornaments on the coffee table.
"I love it guys. Thank you!" he said thoughtfully and smiled. A soft "dada" from behind him made him turn around as Abbey joined her brothers to make her own ornament, and he turned around to see his wife and 18 month old daughter leaning against the door frame behind him.
"So? What do you think? We wanted to wait for you before we put on the ornaments, but Jack and I put the lights on while they were napping." JJ said as she moved to stand next to him and put Katie down on the floor, but that didn't last long as she grabbed her father's pants screeching, "Up Daddy! Hold me up!"
"Hey, Hey! Calm down Katie pie!" he soothed as he picked her up, "Why are you so fussy tonight, baby?"
"Oh she's just mad because I just woke her up from her nap." JJ said shaking her head at her daughters actions, "So do you like it?"
"I love it, sweetheart. It really is beautiful" he answered, handing over a reluctant Katie to her mother, "Let Daddy go change and we can put on the ornaments."
" 'Kay dada." Katie chirped as JJ tried to fix her messy pony tail with one hand. "Hurrwy!"
"Okay, Okay! You guys sure are bossy tonight!" he said as he held his hands up in mock surrender as he backed his way out of the room.
"Yea, but you like it!" JJ teased warmly just before he made it out of sight.
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Many hours and ornaments later the tree was fully decorated with both homemade ornaments and store bought ones. Katie had barely managed to stay awake through the first half of decorating and was fast asleep by 8:30pm when Hailey arrived to get Jack, with Will showing up not long after to pick up Henry for the weekend. Abbey stayed awake long enough to say good bye to both of her brothers, but she could barely keep her bright blue eyes open as she brushed her teeth. She was asleep before her head hit her pillow on her Dora themed bed.
"Hey, has the movie started yet?" Aaron asked as he sat down on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and wrapped his arm around his wife. Watching old Christmas movies together was a tradition they began when they had only just started dating, each night with its own designated movie.
"Yea...ssh! This is a good part!" JJ whispered as she snuggled into his shoulder while "It's A Wonderful Life" played on the TV in front of them.
"Is this the ear you can't hear on?" A young Mary Hatch whispered into George's left ear. Getting no response she continued, "Oh George Bailey I'll love you til the day I die."
"...Oh Aaron Hotchner I'll love you til the day I die." JJ whispered in her husband's ear that, after all these years, still hadn't healed completely since New York. That had been a bad case for the team, and while she had still been with Will then her heart still subconsciously belonged to the dark haired man next to her, which was the main reason she and Will never made it to the altar. With Will she had always been looking for the side door in the relationship, the "Get out of Jail Free" card that she could use to get out of the relationship if it became more than she could handle, but with Aaron it was nothing like that. They had been through dark times of their own with Katie being born three months early, and Jack being diagnosed with a blood clotting disorder, but never during that did she ever wish to be anywhere else but with her husband. Sometimes being with the right person just makes all the difference.
A/N 2: Okay...so if you guys like this fairly well I was thinking of posting a few more Christmas one shots with JJ/Hotch as the main pairing. I only started on one more for right now because I wanted to see what the response to this was. I wasn't planning on doing anything Holiday themed, BUT I started to feel a little sad when everyone else started to post their holiday stories...lol. So here you go! Anyways let me know if you want another one of these! And as ever...Please Review!