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A/n this takes place this year close to Christmas. Please enjoy
Advent: From the Latin word adventus meaning "coming."Advent also means a time of expectant waiting!
"I don't think this is a good idea." Reid insisted as he followed Garcia and Emily to Hotch's SUV.
"Come on baby cakes… You promised Henry you'd go."
Reid wanted to cry foul at Garcia's using Henry to shut him up, but he couldn't quite come up with a retort that wouldn't make him sound like an ungrateful wretch, and he knew that Garcia knew it.
Emily smirked at him as he opened the door for them. He smiled back, even though he still felt a twinge of irritation over her deception. What made him happy was that these twinges were beginning to lessen and trust was beginning to return.
"You'll do fine." She was assuring him.
"You know I'm not good with the physical stuff." He reminded her as if it were needed.
"You keep using that as an excuse." Garcia said as she buckled on her seat belt.
"Stop thinking about it." Hotch advised from the driver's seat. "It's been a long time since all of us have done this."
"Don't worry Uncle Reid." Jack reached over and tapped his arm. "I only went skating once with my friend Dennis, so I'm not very good. Don't worry about it." He said brightly as if knowing Reid was worse at something than him was the best news he'd had all day.
Instead of making him feel better, Jack's reassurances only served to make him feel worse especially when Morgan turned back from the front seat and grinned at him. "Yeah Uncle Reid, don't worry about it."
"Shut up Morgan."
Emily and Garcia smirked at each other. Reid didn't see the smiles because he was busy glowering at Morgan who was still grinning at him.
"Let's talk about something else." Hotch said.
On anyone else, the statement would have been a suggestion, but they all knew better by his tone. Morgan turned back to face the windshield and Reid turned his attention to the scene outside his window. It appeared to him that the SUV was inside a snow globe that had been shaken and turned upside down. The snow that softly fell in swirls like dust devils didn't stick to the road so their journey wasn't hampered.
"Do you like Christmas Uncle Reid?" Jack asked.
Reid jumped a little at this unexpected question. "Um, well I -"
He caught Hotch looking at him in the rearview mirror and readjusted his thought process. "Yeah, I like Christmas."
"What did you ask Santa to bring for you?"
Again, Reid jumped a little from shock. How to answer? Hotch wasn't looking at him, but Reid could feel his concern over Jack's question.
"I - um I didn't ask Santa for a present."
Morgan glanced back at him and he could feel Garcia and Emily staring at the back of his head. Jack was staring at him with questions in his eyes. He thought hard about how to continue his answer.
"I told Santa that I wanted him to give you and Henry presents instead of me."
Jack's eyes grew round. "You did?"
Reid swallowed hard against tears. "Yeah… you've both been very good so I think you deserve it." He said faintly.
"Thank you Uncle Reid."
"You're welcome."
No one broke the silence that descended on the truck as it moved through snow, surrounded by grey skies that no longer seemed stormy for some reason.
After a few minutes, Jack went back to playing with a toy car and someone touched Reid's shoulder. He looked back to see Garcia with shining eyes. "Way to go sweet cheeks." She whispered.
Emily nodded and favored him with such a warm smile, his cheeks got hot. He turned back to see Morgan looking back at him with a smart-ass grin again. He rolled his eyes and reached for his messenger bag. He could read a book he brought and finish it before they arrived at the little skating pond. Then maybe he wouldn't be subjected to more awkward questions.
Hotch parked behind Rossi's car that held Kevin, JJ, Will and Henry. They all piled out of the vehicles just as the sun began to attempt to punch through the clouds. The snow still fell, but it was so light, it reminded Reid of confectioner's sugar on cake.
He noticed that the two boys were holding out their tongues to try to catch the snow, as they played while the adults removed equipment from the truck. He'd often seen other children do this and he wondered why. There hadn't been a lot of snow in Las Vegas when he'd been growing up so he didn't really know why kids did things like try to eat snow from the air.
"Stop gaping and help us." Morgan nudged him.
"Right, um sorry." He went around to the back of Hotch's truck and removed a couple of pairs of skates.
"It's okay man. I was just wondering why you were standing there staring at Jack and Henry." Morgan asked as they walked down to a large tree that had fallen across the edge of the pond and made for a convenient seat.
"Hurry up Mommy," Henry ran, nearly slipping on a patch of snow. He grabbed his mother's gloved hand and she smiled down at him.
"I was wondering why kids try to catch snow on their tongues. It just seems like a useless pursuit. The odds of actually catching a snowflake -"
"Hey," Morgan held up a hand. "Kids don't care about the odds. They just want to have fun."
Reid pondered that statement. He couldn't remember ever playing or just having fun. He liked books and learning, but did that really constitute having fun? He hadn't had any friends until he went to graduate school and fell in with other gifted people who better understood the burden of his genius, but they were too old to have fun like kids, he thought. Kids didn't have to worry about the things adults worried about like, jobs, money, relationships. They were free just to be themselves for a short while. He found he suddenly envied Jack and Henry with all his soul.
Garcia came up beside him and took his arm. "What are you thinking about in that big brain of yours," She said seriously.
"I never got to do anything a normal kid gets to do." He said as the snowfall finally stopped.
"That's why you're here today." She smiled up at him. "Come one Dr. Reid. Let's find a pair of skates to fit you."
Everyone was gathering down at the edge of the pond. They all wore brightly colored snow gear, especially Garcia who was decked on in neon pink with matching flat-heeled boots. Morgan and Hotch wore black, JJ royal blue and Emily red. He looked down at the dark purple outfit Garcia and Emily had helped him pick out and felt ridiculous. Will didn't look ridiculous in grey and neither did Rossi in green. The boys looked good in their little red and blue suits. He even thought Kevin looked all right wearing dark brown. He shouldn't be here. He should go -
"I can see you getting ready to bolt." Garcia said as she pulled him through the snow that lay over everything, with some high yellow grass sticking out in places, some grey and brown stones and fallen leaves from the trees. "Don't even think about it," she warned.
He let her lead him down to big log where everyone including Kevin was strapping on ice skates. "I don't think I should do this." He insisted. "If I fall on my knee…"
He shivered under his snowsuit and stamped his feet in the snow, listening to it crunch as they walked.
"Don't worry; I'll make sure you don't fall." Morgan said, grabbing onto his arm.
"I don't need a babysitter."
"No one is going anywhere until we determine it's safe." Hotch ordered.
"I came out here yesterday." Will said. "I checked it out. The temperature hasn't changed more than a couple of degrees. We'll be okay as long as we don't go near the south edge. It gets the most sun and has the most vegetation so the ice is thinner there."
"You sound like Reid." Morgan joked while Reid glared at him.
JJ pushed away from the shore and glided away like a swan over calm waters.
"Can I go with mommy?" Henry said impatiently as Will tied on his little skates.
"As soon as I get your skates tied, then we'll go out."
They headed out onto the ice as the clouds broke up and more sunlight poured down over them. Will and Kevin were talking about getting a little hockey game together which got approval from Morgan and Hotch.
Garcia had hold of Reid and was trying to teach him the basics of ice-skating. He stumbled when his ankles wavered a little.
Garcia managed to hold him up, she was much stronger than she looked, he thought, wondering how that had gotten past him.
"So how are you?" She asked him, her breath puffing out around her face.
He wavered on his skates. The ice of the pond was opaque and white with a skimming of snow and he didn't like to think of the cold water underneath it. If one of them fell in -
"Hey, earth to Reid." Garcia waved a hand in front of his face as she led him into a turn that took them a safe distance from the edge of the pond.
"I'm fine."
"You know what I mean."
"Hey Garcia, Spence?" JJ was waving at them.
Reid almost smiled back at her for interrupting because he knew exactly what Garcia wanted to know and he didn't know how to answer the question these days.
"What's up my dove?" Garcia asked when they finally made it over to the rest of the team.
Reid's ankles were burning and he felt like a newborn horse trying out its legs, but at least he wasn't that cold anymore. His legs trembled, and he felt ridiculous, but the boys were happy and that was good with him.
"Can you guys please watch the boys for a minute? The guys want to play a little hockey. Emily and I decided to play too."
"Yeah sure…"
Reid decided that since they needed to watch the boys that meant he could just stand there for a minute. Unfortunately, Garcia had other ideas for him. She pulled him along on his skates to where the boys were playing. He stumbled, nearly fell to one knee and almost took Garcia down with him.
"Oww…" She cried out, pulling her hand away from him.
"I'm sorry," he grabbed onto her waist to try and steady himself, but he finally fell, smacking his butt good on the ice."
"Ouch, damn it," he yelled.
The hockey teams were about to drop the puck as Reid tried to stand. Garcia was turning to find the boys when a sharp crack, almost like the report of rifle arose. There was a splash that froze his heart and a little boy screamed. "Daddy…"