"Merry Christmas."

The brunette agent in her new red sweater chuckled, shaking her head at the older man as he used the poker to readjust the logs in his fireplace. "It's not Christmas yet," she corrected him in a happy whisper. "We still have a few minutes."

Hotch looked back up to the beautiful woman and watched as the fire lit up her pale face in a golden glow. "Thank you for spending it with me." They had been dating for a little less than four months, and because Jack was spending the holiday with his mother and stepfather, Emily had offered to keep him company.

"Well what else was I going to do?"

The Unit Chief laughed at the wink the younger woman gave once the words were out of her mouth.

Leaning back against the couch, Emily curled her legs underneath her. "So how's my outfit? Holiday appropriate?" Her boyfriend, as the holidays had approached, had told her all the traditions he and his family would do when he was younger that he then passed down to Jack, and wearing Christmas pajamas was one of them.

That left Emily with one question: what the hell did 'Christmas pajamas' mean?

Hotch picked up his own mug from the carpet and let his eyes dance over the white pajamas with little bells printed everywhere. "I think you hit the nail on the head."

Emily shared a smile with her boyfriend before taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

"What are some of the things you did when you were younger for the holidays?" They had been talking about him and his brother's childhood for most of the evening; Hotch knowing how the younger woman felt about her parents and her childhood. But they couldn't continue to just beat around the bush, not if they wanted this relationship to work out.

The brown eyed woman batted her lashes and shook her head. "Come on, I want to know what your mother would make for Christmas dinner."

Hotch let the agent take his hand as she moved closer to him before he shook his head. "Ham and green beans. Now it's your turn."

Emily frowned, keeping her free hand in the older man's. "It wasn't that great," she shrugged, looking up from her cup of hot chocolate and meeting the eyes of the Unit Chief. "You know that."

"But I want to know what happened."

She felt her heart flutter as he kissed her cheek, and looking out to the crackling fire, Emily leaned into Hotch's side. "They were pretty quiet," the brunette woman started off. "The entire month of December was full of preparation for my mother's functions, and once they finally arrived I was to put on the most expensive dress for a little girl they could find and mingle with all the important people before I was sent up to have dinner with my nanny."

Hotch pressed a gentle kiss to Emily's temple and ran his fingers through the ends of her hair.

"On Christmas, I would get to see my daddy. He would come over for the morning while I opened all of my presents and then right after, he'd leave. He would tell me he had business to take care of." The FBI agent bit the inside of her cheek. "Years later, I found out that he would leave me home with my mother so he was able to spend time with the woman who is now my stepmother and her kids." She never understood why she wasn't enough for him.

"What about Christmas dinner?"

Emily gave the older man a dull smile. "What dinner? I'd be on the phone with my grandfather for hours to make myself feel better before mother would have a butler call me down. We would sit silently on either head of the table and wait until the clock stroke eight and then I was off to bed."

Hotch's dimple peeked out. "But you and your mother have been getting better."

"We're as good as we can be," she agreed, tightening her hold on her boyfriend's hand. "But I wish it could be better."

"And your father? Stepmother and siblings?"

Emily rolled her eyes. "My stepsiblings are these two druggie lawyers who get off every time because of their status and it's my father's job to keep their trials quiet," she spit out. "And my stepmother? That bitch is just sucking the money out of my father with every breath he takes."

The father of one looked intently into those beautiful brown eyes of his girlfriend. "How are you and your father?"

She settled her head on Hotch's shoulder. "He's getting better, he is. We're supposed to go to dinner the first of January because he'll be in town for a conference." She pouted and leaned up to kiss Hotch's lips. "I wish I had a childhood like yours."

Hotch took his hand from hers so he could wrap his arm around her shoulders. "We can make new memories. You, me and Jack."

"I'd like that," the woman whispered, letting him press a long kiss to her lips.

"Now look at that."

Emily looked to the clock above the fireplace and saw that it was just after midnight. "It's Christmas," she smiled, her voice whispered as if somehow she'd wake the empty household.

The Unit Chief watched as a smile spread over his girlfriend's beautiful features, and he could feel himself fall more in love with her as her eyes began to twinkle. "Merry Christmas, beautiful."

Giggling, Emily let Hotch cuddle her into his side. "Merry Christmas."