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Garcia placed the newest addition to her Christmas decorations, front and center on the tree. The tree was real. She hated fake trees. What they made up for in convenience, they lacked in fresh pine smell and that made all the difference to her.
It stood in one corner of her apartment with a white mantle of fake snow beneath it. The golden lights that wrapped around the tree glowed in the low light of the room. The ornaments were a mismatched hodge-podge of colorful souvenirs collected since her parents had died. Her latest acquisition was a gift from Kevin.
She stood back to admire the effect of the lights, the ornaments, and the tinsel. The last ornaments seemed to stand out from the background. They were balls with illustrations and text from "A visit from St Nick." They'd been painted by Thomas Kincaid and were exquisite. They seemed to glow with an inner light as the lights of the tree hit them. She smiled at the effect and made a mental note to be sure to 'thank,' Kevin for the superb addition to her Christmas decorations.
The next job was to place all the wrapped gifts she'd bought and made for her family and friends under the tree. She was just adding the last of them when her phone rang.
"Merry Christmas!" She said brightly.
"Christmas is two weeks away." Her caller retorted.
"So… It never hurts to be cheerful."
"That's great! I need your help."
"What can the Goddess of all things electronic do for you, angel face?"
"We've got a major problem on our hands."
"Problems are my specialty."
"You might not be so chipper after you hear the problem. It has to do with a certain hot genius doctor."
"You came to the right place!"
"Did you know that Dr. Reid asked our friend Emily to marry him?"
"Yes…"
"Did you know she doesn't have a ring yet?'
The kettle of water Garcia was placing on the stove nearly slid out of her hands at the pronouncement.
"You're kidding!"
"No…"
"I can't say I'm surprised."
"We have to do something."
"What do you suggest?"
"I have an idea. I need your help to pull it off."
"Talk to me!"
----
Morgan slammed the door shut that led to his mudroom. Clooney ran ahead of him. The dog began whining and scratching at the door to the kitchen
"Hold on big fella. I need to get rid of these boots."
The dog whined impatiently as his master removed the wet and muddy boots that he'd worn to run in the snow. He took the boots to a sink that was set into the floor near the door and under a rack for coats. He cleaned the boots and left them there to air dry. His coat was removed next and he hung it on the rack over his boots.
Clooney was still scratching eagerly at the door when Morgan opened it for him. "The food's not going anywhere." He called after the dog as Clooney hurried into the kitchen.
He followed the mutt to the pantry. Clooney wagged his tail so hard it was a blur. "Here you go big fella."
Morgan was putting on a sweater with his favorite pair of jeans when his phone rang. "Morgan?"
"Hey hot stuff."
"Baby girl. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Just checking in on my favorite G-man."
"Garcia?"
"What? I can't call just to talk?"
"No! You've got some big secret you're dying to spill. I can hear it in your voice."
"I hate profilers!" She whined.
"Except for me sweetness. You love your hot stuff."
"Be serious Derek. We have a major problem to fix."
"Are you in trouble baby-girl?"
"Don't go all overprotective on me. The problem isn't with me. It's with Reid."
"You're overreacting mama. Reid is great. He's got a home, a beautiful woman and a kid he's over the moon for. Not to mention he's back at work. He's fine."
"I'm not saying he isn't happy Morgan. Just listen for a minute."
He went to his couch and lay down as she laid it all out for him.
"So what do you think?"
"I think we should stay out of it, Garcia."
"How can you say that?"
"Because Reid is a grown man. He doesn't need us to trick him like a fifteen year old kid on his first date."
"But you have to admit that if we leave it to Emily… He'll never get the hints."
Morgan tossed Clooney's bouncy ball up and down, catching it as it arched down to the couch.
"Why do I have to be the one to pull this off?"
"Because he'll know something's up if I talk to him."
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around him getting married."
"Pay attention Derek. I'm going to send you a jpeg of the ring from the shop's website. Memorize it!"
"Shall I burn the evidence when I'm done?"
"Cute…"
"I still don't think we should interfere."
"Morgan!"
"I'm going to help. If it backfires, I'm telling Reid it was your idea."
"My genius junior G-man doesn't scare me."
"Scoff all you like mama, I've seen him pissed."
"He'll thank me!"
"Okay… I'll take care of it."
"Thanks handsome, you won't regret it."
Morgan set his phone aside with a sigh. He looked at the dog who'd found his rawhide bone and chewing enthusiastically.
"I think this idea might come back to bite me in the ass, Clooney."
The dog grinned at his master, and then went back to his rawhide.
"A lot of help you are!"
----
"Lunch finally arrived," JJ, announced.
She entered the conference room with Reid in tow. They carried plastic bags full of fragrant Chinese food. They piled the bags on one end of the table. JJ unloaded the cartons of food while Reid searched the bags.
"Your fork's right here." JJ tossed it at him.
He caught it clumsily. "There are six hundred and four accidents a year involving eating utensils."
"Yeah JJ… It's all good fun till someone loses an eye." Morgan quipped.
"Hey… He's the one that can't use chopsticks!"
"People…" Garcia called. "Can we eat please?"
"Sure thing mama!"
"It took the delivery guy long enough," Rossi complained as he dug out several egg rolls from a carton.
"It's snowing out there," Reid, pointed out.
"I thought delivery guys are like the postmen, "Neither rain, nor snow, or sleet will keep me from my appointed rounds," Morgan asked.
Hotch almost smiled as Dave passed him the paper wrapped chicken. "I don't think delivery guys take their jobs quite that seriously." He said.
"You never know."
"So how's Christmas shopping for Henry," Garcia changed the subject.
"Will's gone crazy with the toys." JJ said. Hotch just raised an eyebrow at her. She flushed a pretty pink color. "Okay, so I went a bit overboard too."
"I only know because I do the same thing every year with Jack. I promise myself I won't spoil him and every year I break that promise."
"Kids are too cute to resist," Garcia sighed.
"Some of them aren't," Rossi said ominously.
They all looked at Reid who was happily disposing of his cashew chicken with an actual fork. "What?" He said, swallowing a mouthful.
"What did you buy for my little sweetheart?" Garcia asked.
"Oh… Um, I found a book that said babies should have toys that stimulate the brain and motor skills. So I was thinking I -"
"Hold on man… You're over thinking this way too much."
"Yeah… Kids don't care about things like manual dexterity or brainpower. At that age, they mostly want something to stick in their mouths."
"What have you got so far?" Rossi asked.
"Um… Do I have to answer that?'
"What about Emily?" JJ asked.
Reid only looked at her with pink ears.
"Ah man, you need help. You and I are going shopping after work today."
"I don't need help Morgan!"
"No arguments!"
"Actually," Hotch began. "We're finished with all the consults JJ had for us today. We don't have anything pressing, so why don't we all take off early?"
"But -"
"Come on kid. Let's go find some killer gifts for that family of yours."
----
The mall was even more crowded than the day Emily and Mai had shopped together. People milled around kiosks set up in the center of the wide hallway. The vendors sold everything from cell phone accessories, to Green Tea, to solid silver jewelry.
A small boy in a green coat with blond hair nearly knocked Reid over as he pushed past them. A harried looking blond woman carrying several shopping bags in both hands followed him.
"Jerry…" She yelled, "I said no more video games. You have enough."
The kid stopped and scowled at his mother. "Aw mom…"
"I said no! It's not up for discussion or negotiation."
Morgan watched them disappear into the crowd. "See what you get to look forward to." Morgan said loudly over the noise of the crowd.
Reid observed the people moving around him with the air of a scientist watching the results of a particularly interesting experiment. "Yeah…" He said. "Shopping this close to Christmas with a child should be discouraged. Look at how easy it would be for a child to be separated from a parent. It's a security nightmare."
Morgan stared at his young friend. "I'm not talking about that!" He steered Reid around the corner and down a new, marginally less crowded hallway. "I was talking about you dealing with a child that wants something you don't want them to have."
"Aaron's two months old. I don't think I have to worry about that yet."
"I didn't say you had to." Morgan shook his head.
"I'm sure by the time Aaron is that boy's age, we will have established the kind of relationship that will make it easy to say no because Aaron will understand the logic of his parents decisions." Reid said proudly.
"Kid… Didn't your mother every tell you no?'
"Why would she?'
Morgan pinched the bridge of his nose. "Did you ever ask for toys that she didn't want to buy for you?"
"No… I liked books. Mom never said no to books."
"Right… No dinosaur toys for you."
"You don't have to be so sarcastic."
"Yes I do! Here's the store I was looking for."
Morgan pulled Reid into the shop. Reid looked around, then at his friend. "Why are we in a jewelry store?"
"It's for Emily!"
Reid went pink. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Come on man… Garcia told me about your proposal. I'm hurt that you didn't tell me." Morgan faked a hurt face.
"We were going to tell everyone together."
"You already told Garcia!" Morgan pointed out as he led the young man to the display that had the ring Emily wanted.
"Yeah… um, I told JJ too. "
"Wow, you really can't keep a secret."
"It wasn't my fault!"
"Sure, now look at this one."
Morgan pointed to the ring next to the one Emily wanted. Reid looked at it and shook his head. "It's too big."
"I thought girls liked big," Morgan said, playing devils' advocate."
"Not Emily, she hates anything that makes her look like she came from a lot of money."
"Okay… How about that one?" Morgan asked, pointing to one at the opposite end of the case."
"Emily doesn't like rubies."
"Every woman likes rubies!'
"Not Emily, and besides, you don't put rubies on a wedding ring. It's too gaudy."
"Since when did you become an expert?"
"Since I thought about asking her to marry me."
"Okay, which one do you like?"
Reid pointed to the ring Emily had chosen without hesitation, "That one."
"Naw… It's too small and plain."
"I know what she likes," Reid insisted.
"Okay man… Don't have an aneurysm."
A man in a charcoal grey suite and gold tie approached them. "My name is Dominic. May I assist you gentlemen?"
"Yeah, my friend is getting married."
"I can speak for myself Morgan."
The man looked Reid up and down. "Yes sir… Did you have something in mind?"
"I want that one. " He pointed at Emily's favorite.
"Ah yes… There has been a bit of interest in that ring in the last days. You are lucky it hasn't been sold."
"Really?" Reid said in a knowing tone. "How much is it?"
Dominic named the price and Reid nodded. "I'll take it."
"Very good sir." The man bowed and unlocked the display cabinet. "Shall I gift wrap it for you?"
"Um… Yeah."
Morgan watched the clerk wrap the gift. Reid was fidgeting with the edge of his collar. "You said she'd love it and she will love it." Morgan said. "Trust me!" He said to Reid's stare.
Dominic handed Reid a dark blue bag with the name of the store in silver letters on the side. "I'm sure your lady will love this. Good luck!" He said condescendingly.
"She better," Reid muttered to Morgan.
"Don't worry Reid… It'll be the best Christmas ever." He led the young man away. "Now, lets go find my mama something. I need to get it in the mail today or it won't get to Chicago."