His right shoulder ached. No. It didn't ache, it was asleep, he amended as he awoke fully and found himself next to Hélène who had turned in her sleep during the night and was now lying curled up against him, with her head resting on his shoulder. His right arm lay beneath her and he curled his right hand along her waist, hugging her against him. The move felt bold to him. Bold yet right, he thought as a smile stretched across his face and he sighed happily and shut his eyes.
He felt her weight shift off his shoulder and opened his eyes to find her propped up on one elbow gazing down at him.
"Bonjour mon amour," she bent down and kissed him; touching her lips lightly against his and then moving along his jaw towards his neck and down against his throat. He moaned in response and brought his left hand up to the back of her head, stroking her long dark hair.
She lifted her face from his neck, kissed the tip of his nose and told him,
"It's almost ten o'clock. I'm sure the others must be wondering what have I done to you by now."
He gasped. "Ten o'clock! I never sleep this late!" He moved to get up but Hélène pushed him back down onto the bed and pulled the cover up to his thighs.
"You have another ten minutes or so to sleep. I'm going to take a shower," she paused and met his eyes. "Alone this time, but next time," she deliberately left the sentence unfinished as she rose from the bed. She let one hand trail lightly down his chest and abdomen stopping just south of his waistband giving his lower belly the very slightest squeeze as she stood up and made her way to the bathroom.
He took several deep breaths in succession and threw back the blankets so he could sit up. Hearing her singing in the shower seemed immensely intimate and the ramifications threw shivers up Spencer's spine. Excitement coursed through his veins and he tempered it with more deep breathing.
The water stopped running, the singing ceased and several minutes later, Hélène emerged from the bathroom dressed in dark green pants and a Christmas themed sweater. She held a cosmetics bag in one hand and her hairbrush in the other and motioned to Spencer that the bathroom was his. He retrieved clean clothes from his go bag and made his way into the bathroom, surprised to find that she had apparently toweled the shower down. In all the years he'd shared a bathroom on the road with someone—usually Morgan and occasionally Hotch—no one had ever toweled down the shower before. He wondered if it was a French or European custom or if Hélène was just that considerate.
Half an hour later, they joined the others who were all sitting around the table in Rossi's formal dining room nursing coffee. After greeting everyone and seating Hélène at one of the empty spots, Spencer poured two mugs of coffee, adding half a cup of milk to one of them and his usual six sugars and some cream to the other. He served Hélène hers, set his down at the place next to her then returned to the side table where Rossi had set up breakfast. He fixed plates for both of them and sat down beside her after setting her bacon, eggs and toast before her. As they ate, Rossi asked if anyone had any plans for the day.
"The reason I ask, it's Christmas Eve, and I will be attending Mass this afternoon. Anyone who wants is welcome to come with me. And once service is done I will be serving cena in stile italiano tradizionale vigilia di Natale. Traditional Christmas Eve dinner, Italian style."
"That sounds wonderful Dave," Tara enthused, "And I'll be going to Mass with you."
"As will I," Hélène added and Spencer knew immediately that he'd be accompanying them as well.
"Me too," Garcia piped up.
Begging off church, Prentiss and Alvez promised to keep an eye on whatever meal accoutrements Rossi deemed necessary and were tasked with setting the table and any last minute preparations. Alvez assured Rossi that he'd make any last minute runs to the grocery store as required and Rossi's jaw dropped in amazement when Prentiss asked him where he kept the vacuum cleaner.
"Pet hair. We could at least clean that up," she explained, to much laughter.
"Mr. Rossi," Hélène began, "Do you have any Grand Marnier or Courvoisier in the house?"
"I believe I do," he replied, rising to his feet, "And it's Dave, please." He made his way to the cabinet where he kept the liqueurs and called back over his shoulder, "Both."
Bringing the two bottles back with him, he set them on the table before her and with a teasing twinkle in his eye asked,
"I don't recall there being a custom of drinking either of these for breakfast in France."
She laughed lightly and said, "No, Mr.—Dave—I wish to make truffles for the Christmas dinner table."
"Oh that sounds awesome," Garcia gushed.
"You will help me?" she addressed Spencer, and he nodded.
After breakfast, which Emily and Penelope insisted on cleaning up, Luke took Roxy for a long walk. Once the breakfast dishes were dealt with, Emily and Penelope relinquished the kitchen to Spencer and Hélène.
They spent the rest of the morning making traditional French chocolate truffles—Hélène decided to do half in Courvoisier and half in Grand Marnier—then they placed the two containers in the fridge to cool. She explained that the mixture would have to cool for most of the day, and that after church they would form the truffles into the familiar ball shape and coat them in cocoa or sprinkles.
"Right now, I would like very much if we, too, could go for a nice long walk. I saw the park and the woods as Emily and I drove in yesterday."
They dressed warmly and set out for their walk as Garcia, Lewis and Prentiss watched from the living room window.
"Aren't they adorable?" Garcia gushed.
"I don't think Reid would appreciate being called adorable," Lewis pointed out.
"No, he's adorkable actually," Prentiss replied, "Spoken as a fellow nerd of course."
"Whatever works," Garcia smiled. "I'm just thrilled to see him so happy. If anyone deserves to be happy, it's our Boy Wonder."
"Can't argue with that," Lewis agreed. "Hélène is a gem. An absolute doll. And it's pretty apparent that she adores him."
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Emily put away the vacuum cleaner and surveyed her work. Satisfied that the floors were sufficiently clean, she did a walkthrough to make sure she hadn't missed anything, and picked up a few stray glasses in the living room. She'd sent Luke shopping for more wine, as Rossi had perhaps not noticed they'd almost drained the supply of red wine.
Although cooking had never been her strong suit she felt capable enough to chop up garlic and set it to meld in a dish of butter. She found parsley in the spice cupboard and added that to the butter.
"Oh crap," she realised. There was no bread in the breadbox on the counter. Rossi would never have put it in the refrigerator. She wondered if there was somewhere else in the kitchen he'd store bread and a quick search of all the cupboards and drawers turned up only a loaf of whole wheat bread for toast. Prentiss whipped out her cell phone and sent Alvez another text.
Sorry to bug you again. Need bread. Please get a couple loaves of good crusty Italian bread and two dozen dinner rolls.
On it boss came the reply moments later.
Satisfied she'd taken care of everything, Emily poured herself a glass of wine and made her way to the living room to enjoy it. Sergio came out from behind the sofa and joined her for some serious affection. Roxy padded by on her way to the back room where Luke had left a bowl of water for her. The pets, Emily was happy to note, seemed to tolerate each other.
"Cheers" she said as she raised her glass in the air for a moment before sitting back comfortably on the sofa.
A short time later, Dave and the others returned from the church service.
"The priest, he spoke so well. He was very engaging," Hélène remarked as she stepped through the threshold into Rossi's front foyer. "It was very different from the church service I am used to. Everybody singing. Such an atmosphere of love."
"Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver," Rossi quoted, holding the door open for Reid and Lewis as he spoke.
"Second Corinthians chapter nine verse seven," Reid attributed.
"Perfect," Lewis smiled as they closed the door to the cold outside.
"I'll make coffee," Prentiss greeted them in the foyer.
"Perfect!" Reid and Rossi chorused.
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