Author's Note: I was working on my 25 Days of Christmas Challenge, and decided that I wanted a Christmas oneshot for my Conundrum Shots, so here it is!
Summary: Ben and Parker get holiday pictures done, then Ben has his first visit with Santa.
Spencer and Derek had decided that they were going to get Christmas pictures done for their cards, followed by taking the kids to see Santa. Earlier in the week, Spencer had taken the two of them out shopping to get outfits for the pictures. Parker had chosen a red and green plaid dress, complete with a bow on the front and green leggings, while Ben had picked out an outfit that Spencer was proud of: khaki pants with a shirt and a plaid vest.
"What about you and Papa?" Parker asked, putting a new pair of shoes into the carriage.
"What about us?"
"You gotta do it too," Ben told him, crossing his arms.
He smirked. "Is that so?"
Parker nodded. "I know, we're cute, but we need a family picture."
He clicked his tongue. "Fine, how about you two come with me and pick a shirt for each of us?"
Parker looked at Ben, giving him a thumbs up, before the two of them followed him to the men's department.
When the three of them got home, Spencer hung the clothes up in their closets before walking to his and Derek's room, leaning back on the bed and groaning.
Derek looked over at him, smiling. "I take it you had fun?"
"Dragging a seven-year-old and a three-year-old around the mall, getting them to pick outfits, and then them insisting we needed to be in the pictures? Oh and on top of that? They needed to go to the toy store and show me the toys they put on their Christmas lists, just to be sure I got the right things." He glanced at Derek. "Next year? You're doing the mall trip."
"Or we could just not do one at all?"
Spencer scoffed. "Yeah, and you can tell your mother, my mother, and their aunts and uncles they'll be getting a boring Hallmark card for Christmas."
"Good point." Derek grabbed his hands, pulling him up. "Come on, dinner's almost ready."
Spencer kissed his cheek. "Think you can get your daughter to stop reading long enough to eat dinner?"
"I can try like hell."
Spencer and Ben were sitting at the dinner table for ten minutes before Derek walked out of Parker's room, book in hand.
"I see you found a way to get her to stop," Spencer observed.
Derek nodded and put the book on top of the fridge, turning around to Parker. "You'll get it back once you finish eating."
She groaned, pouting and walking over to the table, taking a seat beside Ben.
"Though I think you could've gone about it better."
Derek shook his head. "I think I did it just fine." He put food on everyone's plates, sitting next to Spencer. "What's this I hear about Daddy and Papa being in the holiday pictures?" he asked, looking across the table.
Parker shrugged. "If everyone needs to see our faces, they need to see yours so they can see who we got what from."
Spencer paused, thinking about it, before looking at Ben. "Aunt Penny?"
He nodded, picking up one of his green beans with his fingers and eating it. "She wants it."
"...Of course she does."
Saturday morning, they managed to get both kids fed, ready, and out of the house in plenty of time to make their picture appointment.
"Remember, Derek, we can't get suckered into all of these packages and prints for the pictures. We just need to get one for the Christmas card, a few to give out to aunts and uncles, and one for around the house. We don't want a repeat of last year."
Derek rolled his eyes. "Once. Once I order too many pictures and you won't let me live it down."
Spencer shook his head. "Absolutely not."
He leaned back in his seat, running a hand through Ben's hair. "What do you say, little man, can Papa do it?"
Ben shook his head. "No way."
He faked insult, turning to Parker. "Do you think Papa can do it?"
She shrugged. "Probably not."
"You all have so much faith in me."
Spencer laughed softly. "We just know better."
After posing for several pictures, Spencer and Derek got out of the picture while the photographer took pictures of the two kids together. Spencer turned to Derek, smiling.
"They get being photogenic from you, you know."
"Really? I thought they'd have gotten it from their father who looks like the Yeti in his FBI ID."
Spencer elbowed him, smirking and looking back at them. "Is your mother still coming after Christmas?" he whispered.
"Mhm, she got a few days off after the holiday to come see her grandkids."
"They're going to love that."
The photographer stood up. "Okay, dads. I'll just need a half hour to upload the images and make a few cards for you to choose from, if you'd like to get some shopping done."
Derek looked at them. "Who wants to go visit Santa?"
Both of their hands shot up and they got up, running over and grabbing their hands.
Spencer laughed, thanking the photographer and walking out.
"So, Parker, what are you going to ask Santa for?" Derek asked, rubbing her back.
She put a finger to her chin, thinking. "Another little brother or sister?"
Spencer coughed slightly, shaking his head. "I think you should change your request, because Santa definitely can't do that."
She hummed to herself. "Books! Definitely more books!"
Derek smiled. "Good answer." he looked down at Ben. "What about you, little man?"
"Dinosaurs!" he answered quickly.
"Why would it be anything else, Papa?" Spencer asked, giving him a look.
"Good point."
They finally made it to the front of the line and Parker ran up to Santa.
"Ben, are you going to go with her?" Spencer asked.
Ben's eyes widened and he quickly shook his head, taking off under the velvet ropes and running.
Spencer looked at Derek. "Get him, I'll stay here with Parker."
Derek nodded, kissing his cheek and jumping over the ropes, running after Ben. He finally found him sitting on a bench under the stairs, his knees pulled up to his chest. Exhaling, he walked over, sitting next to him and rubbing his arm.
"Ben, you scared us. You can't just run away like that," Derek told him, pulling him into a hug and kissing his forehead.
Ben sniffed, wiping his eyes. "I got scared."
He paused, raising an eyebrow. "You were scared of Santa?"
Nodding, Ben sniffed again. "What if Santa don't like me? Or he thinks I'm bad?"
Derek kissed the top of his head. "Much like everybody else on the planet, Santa will have no problem liking you. And why would he think you were bad?"
He shrugged, swallowing. "I don't know."
"A child of Daddy not knowing something?" Derek gasped. "Let me call the news."
Ben smiled slightly. "Papa!"
He took out his phone, pretending to dial and putting a finger up. "Hold on, this is major. Hello, Channel 4? Yeah, Benjamin Morgan doesn't know something."
"Papa!" Ben said, swatting at the phone.
Derek hung up, chuckling and kissing Ben's forehead and pulling him into his lap. "What do you say, little man, are you up for a take two? I'm sure Santa wants to know what you want for Christmas."
"...Does he like me?"
"I bet he does, but there's only one way to find out." Ben still looked worried, so Derek thought of something to ease the nerves. "If it helps, your older sister didn't handle Santa for the first time all that well either," Derek reasoned.
"How?"
Derek laughed to himself. "She screamed, cried, and ended up kicking Santa. They had to have a nurse look at his leg."
Ben eyed the makeshift North Pole in the mall, looking up at Derek uneasily.
"...I'll go with you and be right there the whole time."
"Is Daddy mad?"
He shook his head. "Definitely not, he's just worried about you."
"I'm sorry," he said softly, hugging Derek.
Derek smiled, hugging him back and kissing his cheek. "Come on, I'm sure if we ask really nice, we can get our spot back."
Luckily, the people who had been behind them were very understanding and let them go right ahead. Spencer turned to them, looking at Ben. "Is everything okay?"
He nodded, cautiously tiptoeing toward Santa, keeping a tight grip on Derek's hand.
"He got a little scared," Derek whispered. "The guy in the red suit is kind of intimidating to a three year old."
"Yeah, I remember Parker."
Derek smiled, setting Ben in Santa's lap.
"...I won't hurt you, Santa," Ben assured him while patting his cheek, which got a chuckle out of both of his fathers.
Parker mimicked him, sitting on his other leg.
After the two of them both told Santa what they wanted for Christmas, they took the pictures, and each of them got a candy cane. They looked at the pictures, and after picking out the favorite, had it printed out.
"What do you say, Ben, was it that bad?" Derek asked.
Ben shook his head, sucking on his candy cane. "He liked me!"
Spencer gave Derek a look, but Derek put up a hand, an indication that he'd tell him the story later.
Going back to the department store, they were able to look through several pictures.
"Come on, do we really need the two of us on the Christmas card?" Spencer tried to reason. "People know what we look like. They just need to look at the two of them."
Derek shrugged. "I'm with you, but the little Morgans object to it."
Spencer looked at the two of them. "Do we need to be on it?"
"Yes!" they said in unison, both pointing to one of the cards that had a picture of the four of them and then three separate pictures of Parker and Ben.
"You two planned this, didn't you?"
Parker shrugged. "Maybe."
They ended up ordering all of the pictures, though Spencer was as much to blame as Derek. They also got a CD with all of them, so they could show it to Grandma, print them to show to Nana, and the aunts and uncles could pick their favorites.
That night, Derek had sent the pictures to everyone and the four of them were sitting on the couch watching cartoons together. The phone rang and Spencer reached over, checking the caller ID. Groaning, he answered it.
"Hotch, you said I still had my weekends," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing. "Please tell me you remember this?"
"Trust me, I do. The last thing I want on my hands is a pissed off Spencer Reid. Having seen it before, I don't want to again."
He smiled slightly. "In that case, how are you doing tonight?"
"Great, I just had a look at the pictures Derek sent out," he said, clicking through on his laptop.
"Amazing that two kids that are that photogenic can be mine, isn't it?" he asked.
"They definitely take after Morgan in that aspect. When can I expect copies?"
"Just let Derek know which ones you want, he's in charge of ordering, printing, and things of the such." He saw Parker looking at him and pouting. "You've got a goddaughter who won't stop pouting on me. I think it's her way of saying 'can I please talk to Uncle Aaron?'."
Hotch laughed. "Put her on."
Spencer handed the phone to Parker, and she went on to explain their entire day, including Ben's embarrassing moment.
"Hey!" Ben snapped.
"Parker, should we bring up your first trip to see Santa when you were three?" Derek asked.
"No!"
"Then don't make fun of your brother."
She sighed dramatically. "Sorry, Ben. So, Uncle Aaron, I'm pretty in my pictures, right?"
Spencer rested his hand against his forehead, shaking his head. "She gets that from you."
Shortly after getting off the phone with Hotch, JJ had called to give her input, as did Ben's godparents. When Garcia finally called, both of the kids were in bed for story time, but she insisted that she wanted a copy of every single picture. Spencer finished reading the story and put it up on Ben's bookshelf, turning to Parker.
"Can Papa go tuck you in while I talk to Ben?"
She nodded, kissing Ben's forehead, before getting up and running over, wrapping her arms around Spencer's waist. He smiled, bending his head down and kissing her forehead.
"Love you, Daddy," she mumbled.
"Love you too, Princess. See you in the morning."
She ran to her room and he sat down beside Ben, rubbing his back.
"I'm sorry I ran, Daddy," Ben said softly, looking up at him.
Spencer shook his head. "It's not okay that you ran, but it's okay that you were scared." He tucked Ben in, handing him his dinosaur and smiling when he clung to it. "It's a natural response and it's nothing you can help. Now, what did you ask Santa for?"
He looked up at Spencer. "You and Papa home for Christmas."
Spencer smiled. "Come on, not even dinosaurs?"
He shook his head. "You and Papa."
He leaned over, kissing Ben's forehead. "I'll have a talk with Santa, and we'll make it happen."
Ben smiled appreciatively. "Night, Daddy. I love you too."
"Night, Ben. I love you too," Spencer whispered, fixing the blankets around him and turning on his nightlight, walking out.
Derek walked into their bedroom a few minutes later, lying down beside Spencer and kissing his cheek. "It's been a long ass day."
Spencer nodded, moving over and resting his head on Derek's chest. "Indeed."
"Little man doing okay?"
"Mhm, though he did tell me what he told Santa he wants for Christmas."
He exhaled, raising his eyebrows. "How much is this going to cost us? Because Parker named off at least four book series that she asked him for."
Spencer shook his head. "Just a vacation day. He wants us both home for Christmas."
Derek paused before raising an eyebrow. "You're serious?"
"Yeah. He didn't ask for toys or anything else. He just wants the two of us home on Christmas."
"Then would you like to send out a memo to the villains of the world that we need a holiday?"
Spencer laughed softly. "We can make it happen."
Luckily, nothing came up around Christmas, and the two of them were able to spend the holiday, as well as a few other days, home with the kids. They watched as they opened their presents, saying a million 'thank you's with every single one, giving several hugs and kisses with them. The kids enjoyed all the new toys and books, but what they enjoyed more than anything was Ben's request to Santa coming true.
