hooray! finally, the last chapter, done before the year ends. it's been intense writing two a day; though i had so much fun thinking of ideas.

hope you guys enjoyed reading this & that you still have some Christmas left in you to read this a week after the holiday.

have a happy happy new year, everyone!

December 25th

The team had gathered in the break room on Christmas morning. Since none of them – except Alexx, who was home with her family – had any relatives to visit (Eric's family went to Russia; he couldn't go because a vacation for the CSI team was basically not being called for a murder while on-call), they all agreed to come to their second home celebrate it together. Just because the government wouldn't let them leave their jurisdiction – technically they were working that day – didn't mean they were restricted from enjoying Christmas with a family, even if they weren't blood-related.

Horatio, Eric, Natalia, Frank, Maxine, and Dan opened their presents while sipping hot chocolate and munching on the DNA tech's gingerbread cookies. Every few minutes there would be an excited gasp after the gift was opened or a squeal from both the ladies (Dan shrieked once, but everyone thought it was someone else). Hugs would be exchanged almost twice as much as gifts were.

When the gift-opening frenzy had settled down they all sat around the glass table and casually made small talk. Then Eric had asked what everyone got from Ryan, since he wasn't there. He also wanted to tell everyone how lame his present was for Calleigh.

"He got a second pair of my current sunglasses made for me, and two sunglass cases. I must have told him my other pairs were getting scratched."

"A silver necklace with an 'M' dangling and a silver bracelet with my name engraved since he knew how I was allergic to fake jewelry."

"This purse from my favorite downtown boutique and a set of my favorite Chicken Soup for the Soul books inside. I think it probably slipped out during one of our cases together."

"The thinnest external hard drive out there, and all the Star Wars movies. I'd pretty much hinted about the movies, but I don't know how he knew about the hard drive I've been wanting all year."

"A 100 dollar gift certificate to the best restaurant that serves my all-time favorite Texas ribs and barbecue, and season tickets to all the Florida Gators' home games. Guy seems to know all of us pretty darn well."

"I got running gear and a scuba set in the brand that I always buy from; I don't remember telling him that in my old set the tank leaks. Even if I did, I didn't think he was listening to me."

There was a moment of silence as everyone thought over Ryan's presents to everyone. The Cuban spoke up. "So it looks like he got everyone some decent gifts."

"More than decent, Eric. He gave us all two different types of presents. And none of these were cheap stuff, either," Natalia argued.

"Yeah, and he bought exactly what we wanted or needed."

"You're right, Cooper. My bad. He's more thoughtful than I thought he was. I haven't been giving him much credit because of what he got Calleigh."

"Why? It wasn't that bad," Frank questioned Eric.

"Are you kidding? You don't think a partridge is that bad? It was stuffed bird. He got her a stuffed bird." Eric stood up to refill his mug with more hot chocolate.

He watched the others at the table. One by one their eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What was Eric talking about?

"No… Ryan bought Calleigh three recipe books." Natalia was first to interject.

"Actually, Miss Boa Vista, I believe it was four walkie-talkies. I would know; I lent him the spare keys to unlock Calleigh's Hummer." Horatio could vividly recall tricking his ballistics expert over the phone.

"It was a basket of chocolate the size of goose eggs. She gave me one, so I would know." Frank had taken one of the caramel-filled eggs. It made for a great midnight snack.

"You guys are all wrong. It was a warm lemon-scented bath with seven rubber duckies painted white." Maxine had never been more bemused in her life, but she could still feel her back aching from dragging the tub in the women's shower room.

"No, it was that video recording of us dancing. That was his real present. He told me because he needed my help editing his intro clip with the footage of our dance." Dan covered his mouth with his hand; clearly he wasn't supposed to say that.

"… wait, what? That wasn't a re-enactment of their case?"

"Nothing. Forget I said anything." The A/V tech laughed nervously at the Cuban's question.

"You know what? Forget that. The bigger problem here is, what did Wolfe really get Calleigh?"

As if Eric had summoned the blonde, they saw her walking down the hallway, humming to herself. She looked much happier than usual. Calleigh entered the break room and when she saw them, she laughed.

"Y'all having a nice time gossiping about me and Ryan?"

"How did you…?" Eric took the lead, assigning himself the voice of the group.

She filled a mug with refrigerated water. "Well, all of you staring at me kind of gave it away. That, and Ryan and I are the only ones who aren't here, so it must have been about us."

"We just have a question for you."

"Shoot."

"What did Wolfe get you for Christmas?"

Calleigh froze. Uh oh. What was she supposed to say now? She couldn't tell them he got her enough presents to satisfy every giftless child in the world. And she couldn't just lie and tell them one present, because every person in the room knew of a different gift than everyone else.

"Um. Well, you see… that's a bit complicated." She tried to stall as long as she could. Every person reiterated what they thought he had given her. She was in deep trouble now.

Ryan came walking; he was seen clearly through the glass walls. He was making his way to the break room. Calleigh tried to capture his attention and inform him not to enter, but he thought she was trying to wink at him.

He smiled a winked at her, then opened the door to the break room. She hung her head; all hope was lost. They were busted now.

"Mr. Wolfe. Help us clarify some stuff, please."

He turned to the redhead, nodding. "Sure thing, H."

"We're all just a little bit confused as to what you gave to Calleigh for Christmas. Everyone seems to have a different take on your present."

Ryan sighed. He made eye contact with Calleigh, who could offer him no help.

"Guess this is the part where I tell you the truth, huh?"

"The truth would be nice, yes."

"I got her all of the stuff you think she got. And probably more."

Countless pairs of eyes widened and mouths matched the circular shape of their eyes. Nobody moved or said anything for several minutes.

Calleigh took this as her cue. "See, I told Ryan that I could never remember the lyrics to the song 12 Days of Christmas. So he helped me out a little, and went above and beyond with the presents."

Eric was the first of the group to find his voice. "So you got her something for every day, for twelve days. And for each day, the present had something to do with the verse."

"Yup."

"One more question. Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would you do it? You could have asked me; I don't remember the lyrics!"

"Tough luck, Delko, that nobody asked you. I guess you'll just have to stick with the waterproof running gear and new scuba set that I got you. And I did it because I love her… and you guys? Not so much."

He earned a glare from his boss. "Except maybe for H. I hope you know I love you, H. Oh, and Alexx, who's not here. And Natalia, of course. Frank, you know my true feelings for you. And Maxine, who could forget Maxine? And, on occasion, even you, Cooper. So I guess that just leaves you, Delko."

The others were still speechless. Ryan decided now was better to drop the surprise.

"All right. How does everyone feel about a brunch at that restaurant downtown we've all been dying to get into? I finally got us some reservations. My treat."

"You mean that four-star fancy restaurant that's booked for the next five months? How'd you manage to get us in there?" Natalia's eyes twinkled in her excitement.

"Well, for one thing, they're Jewish. For another, when I told the owner he was going to get a generous tip if he let ten people from the Crime Lab eat at his place on Christmas morning, he told me his restaurant was open to us whenever we feel like eating there. And it's going to be empty, so we don't have to worry about being considerate to other people."

They still sat there, unable to move or speak. Ryan may have just given them the greatest Christmas presents they have ever received their whole lives. The brunch at the restaurant almost makes up for the twelve days of gifts they didn't get.

Ryan told them to stand up and get ready to pack up their things and leave, because the reservation was set in the next hour and it took forty-five minutes to get downtown. Eric was the last to leave, with the exception of Ryan.

"You know, Wolfe. Everyone's pretty pleased with what you got 'em. You're a great listener, buddy. I can't believe you were on the dot with everybody's presents."

Ryan shrugged. "One of the many perks of OCD."

"Haha. Thanks, man, for the gift." Eric patted Ryan on the shoulder. A couple seconds passed and they decided to embrace each other in a manly hug.

"Oh, and just a heads up. I don't know the Christmas alphabet song, by the way."

"Right, that song. How does that go again?"

"You know, it's like, C is for the candy cane upon the Christmas tree. H is for the happiness with all the family. R is for the reindeer… you know, that one."

"Oh, you mean the song that you pretended not to know just so you could mooch off presents from me? The song that you just sang?"

"Damn. I gotta hand that one to you, that was good, Wolfe."

They chuckled in unison.

"Merry Christmas, man."

thank you in advance for reviews you might leave, & thanks a bunch now for already giving me some. it's nice to know there are people who like how i write. :]

if i've moved you to the dark CaRWash side of the CSI:Miami world, welcome! i've got more Calleigh/Ryan stories in my profile. check 'em out, leave reviews there too, & recommend 'em to others. but only if you want to.