A/N: Hello again, everyone!

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.

The chapter starts off towards the end of the Thanksgiving weekend; I'll figure out a real-life event that happened in early December.

"Mmm…" Spencer hugged both his parents. "I'm so glad I got to see you two again."

Diana hugged him back. "Oh, of course, baby. There's nothing I love more than getting to see you and my wonderful daughter-in-law and grandchildren."

"Mind if we come back again for the holiday season?" asked William.

"Of course," said Spencer. "Plus, Élise is…"

"Oh, we know." William's eyes widened when Élise's potential Attorney General nomination was brought up. "My office has been talking about it, and they all hope she becomes the AG."

Diana had her hands over her chest and beamed with bliss. "You must be so proud of her."

"I am…"

"Okay, everyone…" Élise slid back into the living room, where the Carney and McGee families were, and handed John and Melissa a white bag. "A dozen of delicious chocolate chip cookies."

Melissa took the bag and looked inside. "Mmm…" she inhaled the chocolaty aroma. "Thanks again, Élise." She laid her hands on her knees and asked Samuel, "Did you have a good Thanksgiving?"

Samuel shook his head like a little bobble doll. "Uh-huh…"

"Mmm…" John was on the couch, his head back, and had his hands over his little potbelly gut, prominently displayed in his favorite gray sweater. "I still feel so bloated…"

Gordon massaged his neck. "Ready to go back home?"

"I know I am." Ethel raised her hand; her pocketbook hung by her elbow. "Who's ready to go home?"

"Let it go." Sabrina kept pirouetting and ballet dancing around the living room, listening to the Frozen soundtrack on her mother's iPod with the headphones in, and singing her heart out to the film's signature song. "Let it go…"

John tucked Melissa closer to him and whispered. "We're never going to hear the end of the soundtrack, are we?"

"Not since we saw the movie on Black Friday." Melissa chuckled. "Wait until the DVD and Blu-Ray come out next year…" Now what's making her laugh is the number of times Sabrina will be watching it.

John groaned with amusement and his head back against the couch again. "Oh, Lord…"

Melissa added to give John some ease about Sabrina becoming obsessed with Frozen. "But we can limit to a couple times a day…"

John sighed. "Oh, thank the Lord…let it go…" his eyes grew when he realized he sang a lyric from the song. "Now the song's getting to me…"

Élise went to the guest house and hugged her brother and sister-in-law; she had already said her goodbyes to her parents, and they were in the chaffered car waiting for the two.

"Can't wait to see y'all again at Christmas…"

Arthur pulled back and scratched his chin. "Actually, Lise…Bea and I are thinking about going to St. Croix for the holidays to help out ma and dad with the house and lad there…"

"That's okay," said Élise, nonchalantly waving her hand. "Make sure you take lots of pictures of it for me and say hi to everyone there down. Plus, the President is said to be making his AG announcements this week, so…" she shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not going anywhere for a while."

Arthur got all cheesy with Élise. "Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to be the next AG of this country…"

"I haven't been nominated yet…" Élise reminded her older brother. "There are still other qualified candidates up for the position…"

Arthur patted her shoulders. "But there's a chance you could be. Plus, you'd be making history. Making yourself proud and us proud."

Élise smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I could be…"

All families left the house, and within thirty minutes to an hour, Rose returned; Spencer and Élise welcomed her back with a dinner before getting ready to go see The Joffrey Ballet's The Nutcracker performance at the Kennedy Center.

Monday morning, after breakfast, Élise had an early workout. While allowing her body to cool down, since it was officially December, she decided to change the curtains in the living room.

"Hey, Rose…!" she called out for her, and Rose galloped from the kitchen with a clean white plate.

"Yeah, Élise…?" Rose saw Élise had a bunch of curtain sets on the mahogany coffee table.

Élise held up two thick curtains in her hands. One was icy blue, and the other was a pale blue and cream white with the theme of a frozen tree on a sunny winter morning with the sun rising. "Which curtains do you think would be good for here?"

Rose scratched her cheek; there were a bunch of curtains that she liked, including the ones Élise had in her hands. "I do like this one…" she pointed to the rural but still absolutely beautiful sow scenery.

"I'm not gonna lie; I love this one, too…" Élise unfolded it and took a second look at it. "Yup. I say go with it."

It was minutes until noon, and Élise was in her chambers at the Courthouse, finishing up on some last-minute paperwork and heading out for a late lunch, when she heard her phone vibrate behind her while it was charging. She picked it up, and it was a blocked number. Still wary of them, she pressed the answer button on her phone, held it to her right ear, and breathed hello.

It was not much Spencer did at work since all the team did was paperwork and after-action reports, especially coming back from Thanksgiving weekend. The only "interesting" thing that's happened all day was whispering hush-hush about JJ and Cruz, though he ignored it, and talks about the President making a special announcement on the evening news about his nomination for the next Attorney General. Spencer even overheard some bets on their picks.

All Spencer wanted to do was go home, kiss the wife, kids, and dog, eat dinner, take a long hot shower, and go to bed.

When he got home, he planned on doing that, only the distance noise from the living room caught his attention. When he strolled in, he saw Rose's eyes were completely glued to the television.

"Rose…?"

Rose just simply pointed to the television, and he couldn't close his mouth once he saw the picture of Élise on the screen with the BREAKING NEWS banner and a female reporter's voice.

"…Élise Bastien has been picked as the nomination for the Attorney General by…"

Spencer could still not keep his mouth close and stammered when he walked up the stairs.

"L-Lise…!?" he almost tripped when he got to the bedroom. His rather hasty entrance nearly broke the door off its hinge. But instead, he saw Élise sit coolly upright in bed, watching the same news report Rose was watching. "L-Lise…"

"…scheduled a press conference in the Roosevelt Room Tuesday morning at noon to meet…" said the male reporter overhead.

"I can't believe this is actually happening…" Élise had a tear fall from her eye. "A chance for me to become the next Attorney General."

Spencer joined her on the bed and watched the President give a speech on his reasoning for making Élise the next potential Attorney General.

"…I have complete confidence that the Senate Judiciary Committee with confirm Ms. Bastien and approve by our Senate…

Élise had to turn off the television for a moment and collapsed her head against her pillow. "No matter how many times I keep saying it…"

Spencer joined her on the bed. "What makes you think you won't be the next AG?"

Élise massaged her temples in soothing circles with her fingers. "I was up against some serious competition who had years of experience, far more than me, babe. And, of course, the confirmation could take weeks or months…"

Spencer shrugged. "Maybe he saw potential in you…"

"The potential to do good and be good. Not just potential but drive and passion for the law and for justice," she finished the sentence for him. "You sound like a schoolteacher." Élise joked. "But seriously, of course, there are the hearings from the SCJ and Senate, the media, haters, strange random…"

"Look, Lise..." Spencer took her hand. "No matter what, we're gonna stand beside you. And by 'we,' that also means our families, the team, our friends, and last but certainly not the very least, me." he pulled her chin closer to him for him to kiss her lips.

Élise smiled.

Rose was getting breakfast ready just as the white household phone rang on the kitchen countertop. She picked it up and answered it; it was the security at the gate.

"Uh…" Rose lowered her eyes a bit just as the pajamaed Bastien-Reid family walked into the kitchen. "Hold on one second, please."

Rose lowered the phone and whispered, "Élise, there's a Ge-li-la Zoy and a Liam Elias at the gate. Security wants to know if they can pass in."

"Gelila…" Élise's brain was still asleep. "Gelila Zo…" when her mind came to it, her jaw dropped, and her dark eyes widened. "Y-y-yeah-yeah, let them it."

Rose was on the phone with security again. "Let them in." she hung up, set the phone down again, and got the plates from the cabinets.

Spencer led the children to the breakfast nook and asked, while putting Isaac in his chair, "I take it you know them?"

"Gelila, yes but Liam…" Élise fanned herself. "I haven't seen her since graduating from Rutgers; we were in a few English classes together. Last I heard from her…" a rhythmic knock on the front door prompted Élise to get it.

She opened it, and her mouth fell open again. There was this woman with flawless sable skin, long dark hair, and clad in a black coat over a suit and kitten heels and a bag by her elbow; someone behind her carried a garment bag. There was also an umber-complexioned and barrel-chested middle-aged man with square frames and in an impeccably tailored suit; there was a young man behind him carrying a square bag.

"Gelilia!"

Gelila flashed a smile. "Hey, Lise!"

Élise allowed everyone in the house; Gelila gave her a double air kiss hug. "Long time no see…"

"I haven't seen you since the Women in our Element event in Los Angeles a few months ago…" Élise closed the door behind her. "So, are you still…?"

"Actually, I'm still stylizing; Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, V, W, Grazia, L'Officiel; both in the country and around the world: New York, London, Paris, Milan, Australia. But rumor has it I am up for an overseas position for the fashion director with British Dernier Cri."

"Kudos, girl!" Élise congratulated her and asked, "So, what are you doing in D.C.?"

Gelila shoved her hands in her pockets. "New clients, including the very exclusives of the elite here, if you know what I mean…"

Élise snickered.

"And I heard you are going to be meeting with the President today, so…" Gelila presented the garment bag. "I brought some fabulous options."

Élise blushed. "You didn't have to."

"I wanted to, fellow Douglass sister," Gelila smiled back. "Which is why I wanted to introduce you to Liam Elias. Liam, Élise. Élise, Liam."

"A pleasure to meet you, Élise," Liam said in a smooth, rich voice.

"To call this man a beauty master would be an underestimate," Gelila complimented Liam. "Liam's works have been included in major magazines and campaigns, Carol's Daughter, Amal Beauty; I actually met him when I was interning at Vogue."

Liam up and down Élise in her sleep and, with her permission, rang his fingers through her hair. "Ooh…you're in good hands with me."

Élise chuckled and introduced them to Rose, Spencer, and the children.

After breakfast, Élise took a shower, washed her face, brushed her teeth, and went down to the basement to the recently converted home salon; Liam did her hair and makeup and even offered to do a little bit of Spencer's hair.

Spencer adjusted the tie and dusted off any lint that was on his tailored Jeffery Banks suit Élise got him earlier this year.

Élise walked out of the bathroom, clad in a pinstripe suit from the legendary Stephen Burrows and black Christian Louboutin pumps; her makeup was natural and fresh, her hair in a sleek blunt cut to her chin, allowing her to show off her small gold earrings, necklace, bracelet, and her 18th yellow gold Cartier Tank Françoise watch.

"You look like you're ready to be the Attorney General already." Spencer smiled with pride.

Élise had her left hand over her mouth and her right on her stomach. "I feel like I'm gonna puke…"

"That's just the nerves psyching you out," said Spencer, pulling Élise closer to him. "It'll be fine."

Élise swallowed whatever air was in her and exhaled just as a knock came at the door.

"Are you ready?" said Gelila.

Spencer held his elbow out; Élise looped her around his arm after getting her bag, and they walked out of the bedroom.

"Let's do this."

Spencer and Élise were unsurprisingly driven through a heavy media crowd outside their gated community. To say the press was having a field day about Élise potentially becoming the country's next AG would be an understatement. Reporters kept shouting and asking the same questions relating to the nomination.

The two arrived at the West Wing of the White House within about fifteen to twenty minutes. After making their way through the rigorous security detail by the Secret Service, they waited in the West Wing lobby until they were escorted to the Oval Office. They met the President and the current Attorney General and had a quick chat before being escorted to the Roosevelt Room, met with the media.

Recollections from history and social studies class, the Roosevelt Room serves as a meeting room, originally for F.D. Roosevelt to display his aquarium and fishing mementos. Nixon renamed it in honor of both T.R. and F.D. Roosevelt, and Carter held breakfasts and lunches. Now, it's still known to be used for staff meetings and, in recent years, to announce new staff members' appointments and/or nominations.

Spencer took his seat up front and watched with pride as the President gave his speech ad introduced Élise as his next nomination for Attorney General before allowing her to take the podium and share her gratitude. After she was done, the room applauded again before stepping off; Spencer stood beside her again.

A few days have passed, and since her appearance, Élise has been trending on Twitter, even more so than when she was announced as one of the President's nominees. She's been asked to do interviews with major networks and magazines.

Élise had tears fall from her face, watching tributes to the recently passed Nelson Mandela, South Africa's former President.

Spencer strolled in and sat next to her, comforting her. "Hey…you okay?"

"So many great people leaving this world," said Élise with her head on his shoulder. "Did I ever tell you about the time I decided to go to South Africa with some old friends and actually met him and his family?"

"Actually, no…" Spencer listened to Élise recap her time in South Africa.