"Thank you again for hosting me, Erin. I didn't mean to spend this much time with your family, especially on Christmas."
She smiled at Alex as she pressed a container of leftovers into her hands. "If we hadn't wanted you here, David would have asked you to leave much earlier. And I know that it's still nebulous, still tender, between us, but I am so glad that you were able to set aside your anger for today."
Alex nodded as she took firm hold of the leftovers. "I am glad that I came here, too. Like you said, this is the first steps towards building back what we once had. And I know that you want to, and seeing as how it's Christmas, I'll allow it."
The smile on Erin's lips grew as she nodded before leaning into Alex's space, giving her as long a hug as she dared before stepping back once more and looking at her friend. "Thank you. Enjoy the rest of your holiday break, and I'll see you back in the office in the new year."
"Yes." Alex gave her another soft grin before turning and heading out to her car, waving at Erin before she took off for home. Once she was out of sight, Erin closed the door and leaned back against David's chest, having felt him come up behind her after Alex had started for her car.
"That went much better than I had thought it would when she showed up last night."
"It did. Thank you for allowing her to be part of our Christmas, darling. I know that it wasn't the holiday that we had been expecting, but it was so, so, good."
He nodded before wrapping his arms around her waist. "It was so good to see you so much happier as the day went on. Now if we could only figure out who is bothering the two of you so that we can focus on this jagoff who's replicating our past cases."
"From your lips to God's ears, David," she breathed out before turning in his arms and looking up into his face. "And thank you for the necklace, I cannot wait to wear it to church on Sunday." She leaned up and kissed his cheek softly before taking hold of his arm and gesturing with her head towards the living room. David nodded as he slipped his arm around her waist and brought her back into that room. Catherine and Elise were playing with their new toys, while Bruce was curled up in his chair with the book that David had bought him. "Where are Karen and Tabby?" she asked.
"Up in their bathroom, trying out their new makeup. I think they mentioned something about stealing you away for a makeover once they had played around with everything new."
Erin chuckled a little as she shook her head, sinking down on the sofa before picking up the two packages that had been left unopened. "You want to see what's in there, don't you?" David asked as he took a seat next to her.
"I do. Or, at least, I want to see what Alex was sent. I mean, there's no point in trying to get forensic data off the boxes, since Tabitha touched them and got her fingerprints all over them. Right?"
Her husband nodded as he held out his hand. Hurriedly, Erin shoved her gift into it before settling back in the sofa as she tugged the lid off Alex's package, setting it aside before looking into the box. A small gasp escaped her lips to see what had been included in the box, and she glanced up to look at her littlest daughters. Thankfully, they were oblivious to what was going on around them, for which she was grateful, and Erin looked over at David, shaking her head a little as she shoved the lid back on the box and placed it between them. "Erin?"
"There's nothing good in that package, and I think that we're in danger."
He frowned as he looked into her package, his face quickly losing all color before he copied her movements. "I think so, too. And I don't know if we should take this to Aaron or the Director. But I do know that we are not going to think about this until after our holiday. We owe it to the children to make it a good week for them."
Erin nodded as she let out a long breath. "I think that I'm going to copy Bruce and curl up with a good book to take my mind off this. I just, tell me that's not a stupid idea, darling?"
"No, I completely understand. Stay here, I'll put these in our closet so that little hands don't get curious before bringing down your book."
"Thank you," she murmured as she curled up in the corner of the sofa, pulling her blanket around her waist as she continued to watch the girls play. Once David had returned with books for both of them, she felt a little more settled, and she opened the book where she had left off. She had just managed to get to another good part of the story when she felt little hands pat at her legs, and Erin placed the bookmark to look over and see that Catherine had come over to her side, giving her such a sweet smile that she knew she wouldn't be able to refuse her daughter. "Yes, Cat?"
"Snuggles?"
Erin nodded as she helped her daughter into her lap and letting her stretch out on her chest. Glancing over at her husband, she saw that Elise was similarly curled up in his lap, her head on his chest as they napped together. "I'm not going to nap, sweetie, as I'm in a good part of my book, but if you want to fall asleep, you're more than welcome to."
Catherine nodded against her chest as she snuggled in closer to Erin, her little hand tangling in her sweater as her other thumb made its way into her mouth as she watched Erin carefully. As she began to read once more, Erin started to hum beneath her breath as she turned the pages of her book. It didn't take long for Catherine to fall asleep, and Erin smiled a little as she carefully finagled her blanket over them both, to trap some of the warmth in for her youngest child. By the time she finished her chapter, though, she knew that she was fighting a losing battle against sleep, so she replaced her bookmark and set the book quietly on the floor before pulling the blanket up a little higher and enclosing her arm around Catherine's waist, holding her in place as she stared over at Bruce and the tree, trying to focus on the good of the holiday, and to shut out the one creepy moment.
"Just nap, Mom. I'll come rescue the girls if either of them start to fall off you and Papa Dave," Bruce murmured, never really looking up from his book. She let out a soft chuckle as she nodded and allowed her eyes to slowly close, thinking about how this had been the best Christmas that she had had in a long time. Though seeing as how each one had kept getting better since she had had Karen all those years ago, she could only hope that streak would continue on until the end of her time on Earth.