Emily sighed heavily to get her annoyance across as she trailed after her hyperactive boyfriend. He was oblivious to it, a spring in his step and scarf whipping behind him in the wind. It really should be wrapped around his neck or else he'd get a cold. And that wasn't any fun over Christmas. Or ever. But especially around Christmas. It was meant to be a time of Christmas cheer and obnoxious carols not snot filled hankies and bunged up sinuses. She sighed again, completely out of place from all the cheerful people running past her.

Don't get her wrong, she did like decorating the Christmas tree; untangling the lights, setting out the ornaments, she just didn't like getting said Christmas tree. Especially real ones. As someone who basically grew up in the Middle East where fir trees definitely didn't grow, she just didn't see the point in them. A plastic one was just as good and it didn't shed needles all over the floor. That and the constant smell of pine annoyed her after a while.

But she had allowed herself to be persuaded by her over-enthusiastic boyfriend. Actually, he had been talked into it by his, admittedly adorable godsons, who were completely outraged that the two of them didn't have a real tree. Emily didn't know whose puppy eyes were more effective; Henry's or Hank's. All she knew that Spencer could withstand their combined pressure and had in turn turned his own puppy eyes on her. Which she did not appreciate as she had absolutely no defences against them. And everyone knew it.

"I don't even know why we're getting a real tree," Emily whined, deciding that she needed to voice her complaints.

"Tradition, Emily!" Spencer said with an excited wave of his hands around the tree lot, his eyes wide with wonder.

"We're not exactly traditional," Emily pointed out.

It was true, after all. She was a sceptical sort-of Catholic and he was an atheist who believed in magic. Hardly your normal couple.

"Trees are what make Christmas, Christmas!" Jack declared quite seriously. "Where else would Santa put the presents?"

"Don't forget the star," Henry reminded them.

"Yeah, it needs a star on top too," Jack agreed.

Henry looked at all the trees around them. "None of them have stars on top," he complained.

"That's because everyone has their own stars at home, buddy," JJ told her son. "Remember, we have the glittery one?"

"Oh yeah!"

"Me and dad have a gold one," Jack said proudly.

"It was Haley's," Hotch added quietly.

That was kind of sweet and heart-breaking all at the same time. What on earth were you supposed to say to that?

"You can't have your star without a tree, Aunt Emily," Jack told her. "It would get all lonely and sad."

"See, the experts have spoken," Spencer said solemnly as their 'nephews' nodded vigorously.

"Doesn't pine make you sneeze, Spence?" queried JJ, looking amused.

"Well, yes," he reluctantly admitted to the two woman's raised eyebrows. "But not a lot!"

"And you want to be in a confined space with one," JJ retorted, shaking her head.

Emily was glad that someone was seeing the insanity in this.

"You can't not have a tree, Aunt JJ," Jack informed her in a solemn tone. "It's tradition."

"Uncle Spence said tradition is important for holidays," Henry backed him up.

Emily smirked as she saw her blonde friend close her eyes and take a deep breath. No one could withstand the powers of both boys. It was just impossible.

"Okay but no whining if you come into work with red, weeping eyes," she warned Spencer.

He gave her an innocent look and made a cross over his heart as the boys giggled.

"Let's find our tree then," Derek urged them, making the boys cheer.

"Yay!"

The pair of them ran off into the trees, the adults in hot pursuit. Man, how did people with such short legs gain so much speed?

[xxxxxx]

Somehow, they did eventually manage to decide on a number of trees. Emily had thought each household was going to make the decision for their own tree but she had been very, very wrong. She discovered the Garcia had far too many Christmas Tree opinions and Henry and Jack insisted on being involved with every single tree. They were never happy with the size any of them had to get.

Strangely, they had all managed to find their trees close to one another. At most only two trees apart. Which Emily was not questioning because she was more than ready to go home and away from Reid's tree calculations.

JJ looked around the group and frowned. "Did anyone rent an axe?"

A look of horror broke out across each of the adults' faces as the kids exchanged grief-stricken looks.

"Mommy?" Henry asked with a quaver in his voice.

JJ immediately went into soothing mother mode and crouched down to her eldest son and tucked his scarf back around him. "Don't worry, sweetheart, we'll still be getting a tree."

"Promise?"

Oh, God, Emily didn't know how JJ prevented herself from doing whatever that sweet voice asked of her. She knew that she wasn't. Not that she was ever going to admit that she was worse than Garcia when it came to the small people of their oddball family. Nope. No way.

Speaking of Garcia, she was currently cooing over all the "baby trees". Because that was what she did, obviously.

"Garcia, each of us do not need a small Christmas tree on our desks," Hotch was trying to reason with her.

"Especially not me," Emily decided to try and put a stop to it before she ended up with pine needles all over her desk. Something she really didn't want.

Will chose this moment to save the day and return with a solitary axe.

"People are snapping at each other to get one back there," he said, looking more than a little traumatised.

Emily could kiss him.

"Can we get this tree onto the sled? I don't like the manic gleam in that guy's eyes," Reid said quietly, subtly gesturing to a man to the left of them.

It was kind of scary, Emily thought she'd only see that sort of look on serial killers but apparently Christmas Tree shopping did strange and unspeakable things to people's psyche.

"Uh, guys," Derek said, looking around them. "Who has our sled?"

They all looked at him in dismay as they realised that none of them had gotten one. Hotch's eyebrow twitched.