Kristen couldn't sleep.

It was after eleven pm. Andy had retired to bed a while ago, but Kristen, far too restless, had yet to join him. She'd gotten a curious text from David a couple hours ago, informing her that the team was to meet at a school the next day to discuss their next case. It was all very vague and odd – she'd come to dread those kinds of cases. "Mysterious" had become synonymous with "disturbing". Something told her this case would be no different, and the fact it involved a school made her blood run cold.

So Kristen did what she often did whenever she struggled to sleep – she cleaned. She wiped down the kitchen counters, she picked up the toys and coats scattered around the living room, she folded blankets and draped them over chairs or the back of the couch. Anything to keep her mind occupied.

Even with her efforts, however, her mind continued to wander as she made her way up the stairs. She straightened up the pillows on the little couch in the hall, and turned to check the window at the other end.

"Hehehe."

She whipped her head towards the source of the sound. It was coming from her daughters' room. Kristen frowned as she glanced at her watch – the little stinkers! They'd gone to bed a couple hours ago!

She crept to the door, leaning against it to listen further.

"Don't forget to add a lot of blue. He wears a lot of blue."

Her eyes widened, and she could feel her heart starting to race just a little. "He"? Who was this "he"? She pressed even closer, cupping her ear with her hand.

"You're making his face look too weird."

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

That was her cue. "Hey, girls," she greeted upon entering the room. They all immediately fell silent, exchanging guilty looks. "Whatcha doing?"

"Nothing!" Lila started to say, but she was cut off by Lynn.

"We were trying to draw a picture," she admitted. Leave it to her to not beat around the bush.

"Ah. Well, that sounds fun, but did you forget what time it is?" She folded her arms, eyeing each daughter in turn. "It's well past your bedtime, remember? So you'll have to save the drawings for later."

The girls instantly began to protest, but Kristen stood firm. "Nope, sorry. Back to bed. All of you. C'mon." She gestured at them, and they reluctantly did as they were told. As Lexis crawled into her bed, she dropped the paper that contained the picture. Kristen stooped to pick it up, confused at the half-drawn figure she saw.

"Who are you trying to draw, anyway?" she asked, glancing up.

"Ben the Magnificent!" Laura shouted, bouncing on her bed. She flashed a big, toothy grin.

"We were drawing funny pictures -" Lila began.

Lexis jumped in at that point. "- and Laura suggested we try drawing a funny picture of Ben, because he's so funny." She paused. "But we're having a bit of trouble with it."

"'Cause he's so tall." Laura folded her arms, as if to express her frustration.

"And Lexis keeps drawing his face weird," Lynn teased, trying to hide a snicker.

"I do not!" Lexis whined, slamming a hand down on her blanket as she glared at her sister.

Kristen waved her hands to settle the chatter, lest another argument break out. "Okay, okay! Well," She glanced back at the drawing. "that's a very sweet idea, so I tell you what, you can try working on the drawing again tomorrow when you get home from school. Maybe I can help you. Does that sound good?"

The girls looked at each other, and nodded in agreement.

"Great. All right, now, it's time to go to sleep, okay?" She walked to the door, stopping to make sure everyone was settled in and comfortable. "Good night. Love you," she said, blowing them a kiss.

"Love you, too! Night, Mom!" came the chorus of voices. Lights out, and Kristen closed the door. She stopped to take another look at the drawing, her mouth twitching in amusement. Ben would get such a kick out of this.

Hm. She tapped a finger against the back of the paper. Yes. Yes, this would be perfect.

ooo

Maybe I was wrong. Maybe this case won't be so bad after all.

Kristen relaxed at the thought. It'd been some time since a case had ended on a happy note, it was about time they got another win, with no loose ends. A Christmas miracle, as it were.

Sure was a strange case, though. Some sort of song spreading among a group of girls at a local school, a persistent ear worm. Even she had it stuck in her head now. It was definitely annoying, Kristen couldn't deny that, but it seemed harmless enough, and there were ways to combat those kinds of ear worms, so there was hope.

Still, she figured, it's probably wise to keep the girls from hearing about the song. She'd already had enough weird stuff from her job follow her home, last thing she needed was this music lingering around the house and driving everyone nuts.

She pushed the case to the back of her mind as she pulled up to her home. At least this little gift for Ben would be a welcome distraction.

When Kristen entered the house, however, she found her daughters all gathered around the dining room table, already hard at work on the picture. And if the crayons and crumpled pieces of paper scattered everywhere were any indication, they'd been at it for a while.

"Hello," Kristen said pointedly.

Lynn turned to look at her. "Hi. Sorry we didn't wait for you."

"Eh, that's okay." She came over to take a peek. "How's the project coming along?" Thus far, they'd managed to draw a general outline of Ben's body, and were currently working on his face. "Hm. Pretty good. Needs a little more of the curly hair there, I think." She pointed to a spot atop his head.

"Thanks. I think we're finally getting there," Lynn said proudly.

"Excellent. Well, I'll get started on dinner, then," She held up the grocery bag in her hand. "and you can let me know when you're finished and we'll go from there." She headed into the kitchen, listening in on occasion as she busied herself with the food. There were the occasional giggles, a suggestion here and there, but otherwise, this was perhaps the quietest she'd ever seen her daughters. As she snuck a peek into the room, a small smile tugged at her lips. The girls seemed almost studious in their concentration and focus, they were taking this so seriously. Her heart warmed at the image.

Some time later, she heard Lynn, sounding triumphant. "It's perfect!"

"You really think so?" Lila's voice, hopeful.

"Yeah. Hey, Mom?" Lynn called. "Can you come look at this?"

Kristen exited the kitchen and stopped at the table. The girls backed up to allow her to better see their efforts. "I think we've finally got it," Lynn continued. "What do you think?"

She looked at the picture and grinned. There was Ben, decked out in a blue jacket, shirt, and pants, and sporting blue shoes that looked kinda like slip-ons. He had big, slightly wonky, round eyes, which, to Kristen, looked more like a pair of glasses, and a big smile (and she chose to ignore how red his lips seemed). His head was almost rectangular, his neck tiny and thin, and his hair seemed a bit Elvis-esque.

So it wasn't an exact replica. But the big eyes, the blue outfit, the friendly smile – that was all Ben.Now I have an idea of what he'd look like as a cartoon. "I think it looks great," she said as she gave the drawing another look. Adorable, actually.

"Really?" Lexis asked.

"Absolutely. And you know what else?" She stretched out her arms and pulled her daughters in close, whispering conspiratorially. "I think Ben would like this picture, too. I think it'd make a nice little Christmas gift for him."

"Yeah!" The girls' eyes lit up at the thought, and they all began talking excitedly about the idea.

"We're in luck, then." Kristen grabbed a bag and pulled out the picture frame that she'd brought earlier that day, setting it on the table. "Just sign the picture, and I'll put it together."

After a brief argument, it was decided that Lexis would sign the drawing on their behalf, as the "4 Ls",. She also added Ben's nickname, at Laura's suggestion. Kristen then put together the picture, satisfied at how perfectly it all fit.

"Can we wrap it?" Laura asked, jumping up and down.

Kristen hesitated. "You know, maybe I should do that part," she said gently. "Wrapping presents isn't easy sometimes. But," she continued, "you can help me find a box to put it in." She put her hands on her hips, looking between all of them. "Ready? And...go!"

At that, the girls took off to find the right box, giving Kristen another chance to admire the picture. She chuckled upon reading Ben's special nickname. It really was sweet how much her daughters had come to adore him. They brought out a silly side to him that was quite charming – the story he'd told her a while back about how he'd wound up getting his height measured on their height chart made her laugh even now.

He'd had a hard time containing a smile, too, she'd noticed, when he shared that story. For all of Ben's aloof, sarcastic tendencies, it was clear he'd developed a soft spot for the girls.

Wonder if he's ever considered having kids of his own? The image of him as a dad, with his own kid to play with and hold...yeah. She could definitely see it.

Her reverie was interrupted by the clatter of footsteps. "We found it!" Lila's voice carried as she and her sisters stampeded down the stairs. She held the box to her chest. "Well, actually, I found it."

"No, we all found it!" Lexis shot back. "Stop hogging everything."

"I'm not hogging anything!"

"Girls!" Kristen cut in, taking the box from Lila and setting it on the table. "Thank you all for helping, okay? This box will work just fine. Now," She went to the closet where the wrapping paper was stashed and brought out a couple rolls, one gold and one blue. "Which one do you think works best?" She held them out for the girls to observe.

"That one!" Laura said, pointing to the blue paper. "It matches the picture!"

Kristen gave a firm nod. "I agree. Good choice." The blue roll wasn't as showy or flashy. Just right for him. She wrapped the gift, added a bow, and looked it over, feeling rather pleased with herself.

All set.

Ben rocked back and forth in his chair, his thumb hovering over his phone. He glanced at the clock. Already a little after nine pm.

What's the worst that can happen? I have to leave a message? He went ahead and hit Kristen's number on his phone, tapping his fingers on the desk as he listened to the continuous bzzz.

Maybe this wasn't a good time. Maybe she was busy with family stuff, or trying, like he was, to de-stress from the craziness of this recent case. And who thanks someone over the phone for a gift, anyway? Should've just waited until tomorrow.

He was about to hang up when he finally heard her voice. "Hello?"

"Hey, Kristen!" He kept his voice bright, jovial. "Hope this isn't a bad time? You sound a little rushed."

"No, I was digging around trying to find my phone," she explained. "You're awfully peppy for this time of night, though. You having a little 'Christmas cheer' or something?"

He chuckled at her theory. "No, actually, I'm sitting here in my room, and it occurred to me that I never got the chance to thank you for my Christmas gift." He glanced at the corner of his desk, where said gift was prominently displayed. "So I figured I should fix that."

"Ah. You like it?" He could just imagine her beaming on the other end.

"I do." He picked up the picture. "After all, it's not every day you get artwork of yourself."

"So they captured you well, then?"

"Oh, I mean, it's like looking in a mirror." he teased, pleased to hear Kristen laugh in response. "No, honestly, it's actually a pretty good recreation of me." He leaned back in his chair as he continued to examine the drawing. "I especially love all the blue in my outfit." He glanced down at the outfit he was currently wearing, which was, indeed, chock full of denim blue.

"They're very observant," she agreed. "So you really like it?"

"Yeah." Ben's voice was softer now. "I really do. Those kids of yours, they're all right." He set the picture back in its rightful spot.

Now it was Kristen's turn to tease a little. "Yeah, I guess I did pretty good," A pause. "Seriously, thanks,"

The mood seemed to shift then, as the brief silence that followed felt quite weighty. "How's Lila doing, anyway?" he asked hesitantly. "She feeling better?"

He could hear Kristen's heavy sigh on the other end. "She's fine. Her ear's healing pretty good so far. It's almost like nothing happened."

The unspoken "But..." lingered. "I wish I'd been able to figure out the connection with that song and the voice sooner," he admitted.

"It's not your fault. I already broke my promise not to play that song around the girls. One would think I would've learned from that and not played that stupid video."

Her frustration was palpable, and Ben's heart went out to her. Whatever guilt he'd been feeling about this case, it clearly didn't come close to matching Kristen's. "If you hadn't done it, they likely would've discovered the video some other way," he assured her. "That's the internet for you."

"I suppose," she said reluctantly.

Another quiet moment passed, before Ben cleared his throat and spoke again. "Anyway, good to hear Lila's doing okay. What about the others?"

"They're fine." Kristen sounded a little happier now. "Lynn's taken to hovering over Lila a bit more, though."

That didn't surprise him. Lynn always seemed like the responsible type. Must be an older sibling thing. "Like I said, they're all right." He let out an audible sigh of his own before continuing. "Anyway, sorry for bringing the mood down. I really just wanted to call and say thanks, to both you and the girls."

"Oh, that's all right, don't worry about it," Kristen reassured him. "But you're welcome – and hey, while we're on the subject of gifts, thank you for the earrings."

His face heated slightly, and he reached back to scratch his neck. "Yeah, that was mainly David's idea. We weren't entirely sure what to get you, but we wanted to get you something, so..."

"Well, I like them. They're beautiful. And they're from you two. That alone makes them special."

Ben shifted in his seat. She was way too good at tapping into his sentimental side. "All right, enough of this mushy stuff," he muttered. "You're a bad influence, you know that?"

He could hear her trying to stifle her laughter. "You can't fool me, you old softie."

Damn.

Before he could figure out a response, she continued. "Well, I suppose I should go now. It's been a long day, and I'm ready to get some sleep."

"Sleep is good." He was starting to feel a little drowsy himself. "All right, so, I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

"Yep. Tomorrow." Another pause. "Night, Ben. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Kristen. G'night."

After hanging up, Ben picked up the picture again. Strange how much things had changed in such a short amount of time. He'd always been neutral on kids in the past. They could be cute, sure, but he'd never really given much thought to them beyond that. Never really considered having kids of his own, didn't really know a lot of people who did have kids. He was okay with his life as it was – a loner sort, getting to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, not having to be responsible for anyone other than himself.

Then somehow, Kristen's four daughters managed to worm their way into his life...and yeah, he'd admit it, his heart. They were funny, they were energetic, they were smart, clever, a little mischievous. Kinda like myself as a kid, he thought, amused.

And they wanted to let him know he was loved, a welcome member of the Bouchard family. It was kind of overwhelming, but in a good way. Between the team and Kristen's family, Ben felt he belonged somewhere again, with people who understood and accepted him.

He suspected, or at least hoped, they knew he felt the same towards them. Still, he figured, it wouldn't hurt to let them know that, anyway. Something to plan on next time he saw them.

Ben smiled as he set the picture back on the desk. He stood, stretching, the pull of sleep even stronger now. The last few days had taken quite their toll, and he welcomed a good night's rest.

Tonight, for the first time in a good, long while, he truly felt at peace.