Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Here is my CCOAC Gift Exchange piece written for Daisyangel! This will likely be more than a oneshot. May you all have a Happy Holidays/Christmas/Hanukkah/whatever you celebrate :) Reviews are appreciated and I hope you enjoy it!
Pairing: JJ/Hotch Romance
Song: Away In A Manger
Prompts: Ringing Bells, A Favorite Christmas Dish, Decorating A Tree, and Falling Snow
"JJ, are you going to take the boys to the pageant practice at the center?" Hotch called from the living room where he, Jack, and Henry were decorating their family's Christmas tree. Currently, the rainbow lights were up, and he and the boys were adding ornaments to the spaces between them. They were having the time of their lives, both of them giggling and chasing each other around the tree.
Jack stood up on the stool they were using to get up higher on the tree and he was putting a gingerbread ornament on a pine branch. He turned to look at his father and grinned toothily. "Look how I high I got it, Daddy!" he said proudly. "See?" He pointed at the small felt gingerbread figure that he had made in art class the week before.
Hotch smiled back and gave him a thumbs up. "Nice job, Jack," he said. But then he returned his attention to the doorway where he waited for his wife to appear.
She did a few moments later, waddling in with her seven month pregnant stomach. Two years ago after they had gotten married, and now they were expecting their first child. He couldn't have been happier to now have JJ in his life. She was the only one aside from Haley he'd loved. So after her marriage with Will had fizzled, they'd eventually gotten together, and then one year later they'd gotten married. Smiling radiantly, she shook her head. "Nope," she said. "Garcia's picking them up. Morgan's meeting her there with Drea."
Both Henry and Jack were in the community center's Christmas pageant, Jack as one of the Wise Men and Henry as one of the sheep. Morgan and Garcia's baby daughter, Drea was the Baby Jesus. With Christmas Eve a mere four days away, they were now in their costumes doing full dress rehearsals.
"Sounds good," he said. "We'll have a little while to ourselves it sounds like." He winked at her, and she smiled again.
Henry went over to JJ and started tugging on her long sweater. He pointed to the tree and said, "Mommy, check out how good Jack and I are at the tree! It's pretty, right?"
"Very," she cooed, ruffling his hair. She wanted to lean down and kiss the top of his head, but her belly was too big to lean down. "You guys are doing an awesome job! You almost ready to go to practice? Auntie P will be here in just a little bit to pick you guys up."
"Is Drea gonna be with her?" Henry asked excitedly. He loved seeing his godmother's little girl.
JJ shook her head. "No, sweetie," she said. "Uncle Derek is gonna have her at the practice, though. You'll see her there. Sound good?"
Henry sighed, but then nodded. "Okay," he said sullenly.
A knock on the door alerted JJ to the arrival of Garcia, and she went to answer. "Hey Garcie!" she said as she opened the door. Her friend was grinning and wearing a brightly colored Christmas sweater with flashing bulbs. She smiled brightly. "You ready to pick up the little monsters?"
"Jayje!" Penelope said happily. Atop her head sat a Santa hat with little bells that jingled as she waved happily at JJ. She entered the house and nodded, shaking snow flakes out of her blonde curls. "All set to pick up the boys," she said, giving JJ a thumbs up. "Some snow is starting to fall, so we'd better get going."
JJ nodded. "Boys! Come get your coats…Auntie P is here to pick you up!" Turning back to Penelope, she added, "Hey, what do you want on Christmas for dinner? I'm taking requests from everyone on their favorite dishes, and so far the only one I've gotten to answer me is Strauss. And she wants cranberry sauce, so make sure you pick something other than that."
Penelope bit her lip and looked up at the ceiling, contemplating her choices. Snapping her fingers, she said, "Yams with the tiny marshmallows on top! Please." She grinned.
JJ laughed. "Alright, sounds good."
Both the boys came thundering into the atrium of the house and were grinning the whole time. "Hi Aunt Penelope!" they both said happily.
She smiled back at them and ruffled Henry's hair. "Hey, you two," she said. "You boys ready to go to play practice?"
Jack saluted her and Henry nodded vigorously. "Ready!" Jack said, starting to put his coat, hat, and gloves on.
Penelope looked back up at JJ and said, "Alrighty then. We're gonna get going. We'll see you when practice is over. You and Hotch still planning on picking them up?"
"Yep. We'll be there at seven o'clock," JJ said. "And thanks again for agreeing to take them. Aaron and I have a little bit of last minute Christmas shopping for these boys." She winked down at Jack and Henry.
"Ooh, sounds fun. Well, let's go boys! We're gonna be late otherwise." Penelope started to usher the boys back out the door.
As they were going, Henry started asking Penelope, "Is Drea doing okay today?"
Penelope giggled. "Don't you worry about Drea," she said, opening the door. "She's doing just fine…" Her voice faded as they closed the door behind them. JJ put her hands on her belly and sighed happily. She was having a great holiday so far, spending it with Aaron, Jack, and her son. There was a light blanket of snow outside, their tree was decorated and lit up, and she was planning the Christmas dinner they would be sharing with the whole team. She started to head back into the living room where Hotch was hanging stockings up over the mantle.
"Hey, honey," she said, going in to sit down on the couch. She needed to rest her tired feet before they went to go shop for the remaining gifts for Henry and Jack.
Hotch turned to face her, and he smiled. "Hey back." He moved to go sit by her on the couch and put his arm around shoulders, kissing the side of her head. "How are you feeling? You look a little tired."
She nodded and rested her head against his chest. "Yeah, I am a little tired. It's been a long day. First, I had all those reports to file and finish up, then I had to find out what everyone's favorite Christmas dishes are for the dinner. It's just a little too stressful to handle, especially with this little one kicking up a storm." She pointed to her belly.
"Just two more months," he said. "Then we get to meet the little one. Henry and Jack will have a new brother or sister."
She laughed. "Oh, I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to that…and not just because I want to meet the baby."
Giving her a quick squeeze and another kiss on the top of her head, Hotch rose to his feet and helped pull his wife up to hers. "Let's get going to the mall before all the good spots in the parking lot get taken."
"Who are you kidding?" she said. "They'll all be taken and we'll have to trek across the frozen wasteland that is the lot!"
He winked at her. "You've got me to keep you warm," he said huskily.
XXXXX
Christmas Eve - The Night Of The Pageant
JJ and Penelope were sitting in the front row in the outside community center shell where the pageant was being held. The snow had been cleared away for it to be safe for the parents and family members to sit, but the weather was still relatively nippy. Penelope was nervously wringing her gloved hands together. JJ put her hand on her arm to try and quell whatever her nerves were about. "PG, what are you worrying about?"
"I just hope my baby's okay," she said, nervously biting her lip and crossing her arms more tightly across her chest. "Derek's with her right now, but I just —"
Shaking her head, JJ put her arms around Penelope's shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze. "You need to stop worrying so much," she said. "I used to do it with Henry, but what I found out was it does no good to do that. Your little girl is going to be just fine." She gave her a soft smile.
"You're right," Penelope relented. "I just have to stop worrying so much."
JJ nodded. "Yep. Exactly that." Looking up from her worrying best friend, she then caught sight of Hotch and Derek heading towards them. Hotch sat down next to JJ and kissed her cheek, while Derek sat down next to Penelope and wrapped an arm around her waist.
"How's she doing?" Hotch whispered in JJ's ear, glancing in the direction of the anxious Penelope. His voice had an amused tone to it.
"New Mom jitters," she responded back quietly. "Sort of like the ones I had when Henry was first starting to be with other kids. But the girl playing Mary is sixteen; she'll take good care of my goddaughter."
He nodded. "You know, something tells me those are normal for mothers," he said. "Maternal instinct goes into over drive." He allowed her to lean her head against his shoulder and sighed as she snuggled up to him to keep warm in the chilly night air. He looked around at the brightly decorated outdoor shell where the community pageant was being held. Lights were twinkling on the railings of the fence surrounding the space, and small snow flakes were starting to drift down from the sky. People were all settling into their seats and starting to quiet down so the show could begin soon. The lights dimmed, and the lights on the stage lit up brightly. JJ took hold of Hotch's hand and shot him a quick look before the kids started filtering onto the stage.
As the play progressed, a broad grin stretched across JJ's face when she saw Henry and then Jack appear on stage. Beside her, a proud smile played upon Hotch's lips. Throughout the play, different musical numbers were performed. Jack and his fellow Wise Men were walking across the stage at a slow pace to "We Three Kings", and JJ noticed her husband was beginning to grin, something he so rarely did. She squeezed his hand.
The scenes progressed through the story until eventually Drea appeared on stage, looking around the stage with wonder. Hotch looked over at Penelope and Derek who were smiling, and his heart warmed even more than it already had. He remembered those new parent feelings, and he could hardly wait to have another child with JJ and give Jack yet another sibling to have in his life.
"And now we would like to invite the people in the audience to sing with us 'Away In A Manger'," Alex, the graduate student who worked at the community center with the kids, said. She smiled brightly and urged the audience to sing along with the children on stage. Without hesitation, both JJ and Hotch joined in. As they sang, the baby inside JJ began to kick slightly as if he or she loved the sound of the song being sung by her family. Hotch smiled when she put his hand on her belly. Everything about this moment was perfect. He couldn't have been more thrilled about life than he was then. He had his family around him, and he was filled with a feeling he hadn't felt since he'd been with Haley, then with JJ years later when he'd healed from the wounds of losing her.
Pulling her against him, he kissed the top of her head and stopped singing momentarily to murmur in her ear, "I love you."
She, too, stopped singing, and turned her head to look at him. A soft smile lit up her face and she touched his cheek. "I love you, too," she said back.