Chapter 38

Through the Window

--

JJ was ridiculously happy Emily and Hotch had planned their party for Christmas Eve. It was her first Christmas married to Spencer and as much as she adored the team, she felt it was more important to spend time with her husband. And JJ knew he didn't have too many happy Christmas memories to begin with.

So she'd pulled out all of the stops, from tree hunting and decorating to skiing and skating. Whenever they'd both had a spare moment, JJ had filled it with something to do with the holiday season. She joked with Spencer that he'd be Christmas-ed out by the time the twenty-fifth came around, but he hadn't batted an eyelash at a single one of JJ's requests.

As her eyes fluttered open on Christmas day, she wondered if he'd kill her now. It was six in the morning, but JJ's Christmas spirit had been up for hours. Excitement flooded her veins with adrenaline, so much so that there was no way she was going to get back to sleep. "Spence."

He shifted, but didn't wake.

She shook him slightly, her voice a little more insistent, "Spence."

"Huh?"

JJ giggled. Spencer was usually quick to wake, but over the holidays, he seemed harder and harder to wake. "Wake up."

"Wha? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she replied, leaning up to kiss him. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," he replied. "What time is it?"

"Early," she replied. "Come on. It's Christmas."

"And it will be Christmas for the rest of the day, Jenn. We can sleep for a few more hours."

"I don't want to sleep," JJ whined with a smile. "Christmas only comes once a year."

"JJ, go back to sleep."

"No." She threw the blankets off both of them.

Spencer curled into a little ball. "Jenn!"

But JJ was already up and moving. She ripped open the curtains and gasped. "Spence! Spence, honey, you need to look at this!"

Snow was falling almost in sheets outside of the window and JJ's eyes opened wide at the beauty of it all. She felt his elegant hands wrap around her waist and threaded her fingers through his. Leaning her body back against him, JJ just stood there, watching the snow and basking in her husband's arms.

"You're right," he finally said. "It is beautiful."

"Merry Christmas," she whispered, tilting and turning her head so she could look at him.

He smiled down at her. "Merry Christmas."

He kissed her.

Emily woke alone in bed, something she wasn't terribly used to, and frowned. The alarm close said it was well past nine on Christmas morning. So where on earth were her boys? She shivered as she got out of bed and pulled the blanket off of the end before wandering down the hall way. Jack's bedroom was empty which meant they could only be two other places. They weren't in the living room as she made her way down the stairs, but the smell of bacon assaulted her nostrils. Grimacing slightly – bacon hadn't been a friend of hers since Baby started controlling what she ate – she made her way to the kitchen, grinning at Jack up on a stool while his father flipped bacon strips on the griddle.

"Merry Christmas," she greeted softly, watching Aaron's face light up when he saw her.

"Merry Christmas," he answered coming over to kiss her soundly.

"Merry Christmas!" Jack exclaimed, sliding down from the stool to come hug her side. "We were going to wake you up when breakfast was done."

"Presents after breakfast then?" Emily asked, running a hand through Jack's hair. She wasn't completely awake yet.

"We had to make an executive decision," Aaron explained. "I have to take Jack back to Haley-"

"For noon, I know, sweetheart," Emily said, shaking her head.

He grinned at her over his shoulder. "Of course you do. Jack, why don't you and Emily go open your stockings?"

"But Daddy! You have to open yours too!"

"I will," he promised. "I'm just going to put this bacon in the oven, then I'm going to put the first batch of pancakes on and I'll be right out."

"Good morning, Princess," Derek greeted his little girl as he walked into her room. Gabi had been gurgling for a little over twenty minutes so finally, he pulled himself out of bed. "It's Christmas."

"Sanna!"

He chuckled. "That's right, Ellie. Santa. Should we go wake up Mama and see what Santa brought you?"

Gabi giggled happily, bouncing against her father's grip and Derek had to shift her slightly so he could continue to carry her back down the hall to the bedroom he shared with Penelope. Settling his little girl on the bed, he watched her carefully crawl to her mother's side.

"Mama! Sanna, Mama, Sanna!"

Penelope's eyes were bleary as she took in her daughter. She turned on her back, pulling Gabi to sit on her stomach. "Yes, ma'am! Did you go see if Santa came last night?"

"Sanna!"

Both parents laughed as Derek reached out to take the bouncing baby girl back into his arms. Penelope pulled herself out of bed, hugging both of them. "Merry Christmas."

Derek kissed her. "Merry Christmas."

"Derek? Penelope? Are you two up?"

Derek rolled his eyes as he pulled away from Penelope. "Yeah, Ma! We're on our way down."

Short and useless. Gotta love it. I had to get Christmas out of the way. This was meant to be a chapter all about JJ and Reid... but it didn't happen. It's odd to write about JJ and Reid when I'm writing another story that revolves around JJ and Rossi in a relationship.

Baby Hotchner should be making an appearance soon! Unfortunately, that really means that it's getting close to the end of this story. Fortunately, it means that we're going to get oneshots that are glimpses into the lives of our favourite team members for the next eighteen fictional years. And I do have some ideas for that!