Aaron woke to the feeling of being watched. He opened his eyes to see the grinning face of Jack. "Merry Christmas, Daddy!"
"Merry Christmas, Jack." He reached out, wrapped his arms around the boy and pulled him onto the bed. They snuggled for a minute.
"Is Beth awake," Hotch asked quietly.
"Yeah. She went to the bathroom."
"And," Beth cut in from the bathroom door. "I told you to let Daddy sleep for a while."
"I did," Jack said. "I just watched him, and he opened his eyes."
The two adults laughed.
"What time is it," Aaron asked through a yawn.
"Nine thirty," Beth answered.
"Whoa," Aaron yelped as he squeezed and rocked Jack. "You slept in?"
Jack shrugged. "I've been awake for a little while. I knew you would need some extra sleeps."
"I did need some extra sleeps. Thank you. Should we get up and go downstairs quietly?"
"Yeah," Jack agreed.
Jack jumped off the bed and headed for the door.
"Hold on," Aaron said. "Let me get my robe on. Remember, we have to be quiet in case Spencer and Morgan are still sleeping."
"Okay. Can I have hot chocolate instead of juice for breakfast?"
Aaron smiled. "I think that would be okay."
"What do you want for breakfast, Jack?"
"Pancakes!"
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Alex poured herself a cup of coffee as she peered out the back window. It had stopped snowing though it looked to be pretty deep. She startled as her husband, James, walked into the room.
"Good morning," he said.
"Good morning," she replied as she reached for another cup. "Coffee?"
"Yes, please. You get any calls or messages?"
She shook her head. "I was about to call Hotch on the pretense of wishing him a Merry Christmas."
She poured the second cup of coffee and handed it to him. He handed her, her cell phone.
"Call him before it drives you nuts," he said with a smile.
She took the phone and dialed.
"Merry Christmas, Alex," Aaron said.
"Merry Christmas," she replied. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"No. We just got up and are making breakfast," Aaron stated.
"It's almost ten, how did Jack let you sleep so late?"
Aaron chuckled. "We had some late-night visitors."
"Oh?"
Aaron explained the activities of the night before, then invited her and James over for dinner.
"I'm hoping that Dave will be back with JJ, Will and Henry in time," Aaron told her.
"Are you worried?"
"Have you been outside?"
She peered through the back window again. "No. But now that I'm more awake, I can see it is very deep. Hopefully, it will warm up and melt a little."
"Agreed. If you and James don't want to venture out, we completely understand," Aaron said.
"James is from Boston," she reminded him. "This is just a sprinkling of snow to him. Do you want me to bring something?"
"That would be great. We weren't planning on more than four people today."
"Four?"
"We were hoping that Dave would join us."
"Ah, I see," she nodded though he couldn't see her. "I'll fix something and see you this afternoon."
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"You know you want to tell me," Dave murmured to JJ as she watched Will take Henry to the restroom again. The remains of their meal on the table in front of them.
Dave had found a small diner off the main highway that was open. It was pretty empty; a few fellow travelers and the staff were spread out.
"You're not going to drop this are you?"
He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Of course, you're not. What am I thinking? You're the guy who came out of retirement to solve a twenty-year-old double homicide. Speaking of your abilities to solve crimes, if you were paying attention and not being all maudlin, you would know who I was talking about."
Dave sat back in his seat. "So, you are talking about someone specific."
She scrunched her face at him. "Yes. Fine. I'm talking about someone specific."
"Have I met her?"
"Yes."
"Do I like her?"
"We're going to play twenty questions now?"
"We don't have to, you can save us both the trouble by telling me who you are talking about."
JJ moaned and tilted her head back, eyes closed. "Why did I call you?"
"Because, I'm your favorite." He smiled.
She glared at him. "Not at the moment."
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Jack was halfway through his pile of pancakes when Morgan and Spencer stumbled into the kitchen. Penelope sat next to Jack, drinking a cup of coffee with her computer open in front of her.
"Good morning! Merry Christmas," Penelope said.
"Merry Christmas," Morgan replied. He shuffled over to her and kissed her forehead.
"Morning," Spencer yawned. He moved straight to the kitchen to get coffee.
"What are you doing, Baby Girl?" He peered at her computer screen.
"I'm tracking Dave and JJ, I want to make sure they get back okay."
"How far out are they," Aaron asked as he carried in a steaming pile of pancakes, plates and utensils. Spencer followed him out of the kitchen carrying two cups of coffee. He handed one cup to Morgan.
"Thanks, Pretty Boy," Morgan said as he took the cup.
"At least two hours away," Penelope said in reply to Aaron's question.
"Alright. That should put them back here around noon," Aaron mused.
"Can we open presents when Uncle Dave gets here," Jack asked.
"We can probably open presents after breakfast if you want to," Aaron answered.
The little boy shook his head. "I wanna wait for Uncle Dave.