Derek wedged a bottle of wine into his already full fridge. His sisters had insisted on doing the cooking, but he had to do the shopping. It was fair enough. They couldn't really bring a turkey as their carryon on the flight. There was a sharp knock at the door, which opened directly afterwards.
"Derek?" With a grin he headed to the stairs and stepped quickly down to the front door.
"Ma!" He grabbed her in a hug and she let out a laugh.
"Easy now, you're going to break my fragile old bones." Derek let go and Fran reached up to pat his cheek. "How's my baby doing?"
"Good. I've got everything ready in the kitchen. Sarah. Des" He hugged his sisters and started ushering them up the stairs to the main floor.
"When is dinner around here?" Sarah asked, looking around the open kitchen and living space.Derek was putting their coats away in the closet.
"I told Reid and Garcia to show up around five, so I figured six? Maybe seven?"
"So Reid is coming?" Sarah grinned from a seat on the leather couch.
"Yes, Reid is coming." Derek mocked. "What, you got a crush on him Sarah?" He laughed. Fran tapped him on the side of his head.
"You be nice Derek James Morgan. He's a sweet boy."
"Don't you be worrying Ma. The kid's learning to hold his own" Fran sat down next to Sarah, patting her on the knee.
"I'm sure, but it must be difficult for him. Sometimes I think he needs some mothering."
"Or loving." Derek said to Desiree under his breath. She laughed.
"And what about you Der? Any special ones in the line up of ladies at your door?"
"Hey Des, you should get a start on that turkey, don't you think?" Derek replied, grinning.
"Avoiding the question!" Sarah called from the couch.
"Ma! Come on, Help me out." Derek pleaded, sitting on the arm of the couch next to her.
"Sorry baby, but I'm going to have to side with the girls on this on."
"Grandbabies." Sarah and Des replied, laughingly.
"And you wonder why I can never make it to Chicago for Christmas." Derek said, but he moved over beside his mother, throwing his arm around her shoulder.
Penelope put a bottle of wine into her bag, next to a container that held the pulla. She had made the sweet bread the night before. All that she needed to do now was change out of her pyjamas into something presentable. And do something about her hair. It was still damp from the shower, looking darker then usual and leaving spots of water on her t-shirt.
She put on music from her computer, deciding against Christmas carols. The sounds filled up the living room and drifted into her bedroom. She was pretty sure that this wasn't going to be a formal affair, but Penelope had no idea what to put on. She sat down on the end of her bed and braided her hair, thinking how she needed to get it cut. The ends she tied with thin green ribbon after pulling the braids tight and straightening out her bangs. Green was a start. Festive, but not overwhelming. And there was a black sweater around, probably in a drawer, and Penelope knew she had a pair of clean jeans around. Simple, but with some accessories, socks, shoes, it would be fine. Maybe even acceptable.
Reid was waiting at his front door when Garcia pulled up infront. She rolled down the window and yelled out to him.
"Merry Christmas sweetheart! Now get in the car. It's freezing out." Reid shifted his shoulder bag and moved down the walk, climbing into the car as quickly as possible. "How was your day hun?" Garcia asked, noting a bit of nervous tension from Spencer. He looked over at her and tried to give her a grin, but it was a little wobbly in the corners.
"Fine Garcia, thanks for asking." She raised an eyebrow, keeping her sight on the snow slicked roads.
"Good. Now how was your day hun?" It was teasing, but Reid knew what she was doing. And it was effective. As always.
"I don't know why I would have expected it to be special just because it was Christmas. I thought maybe not a Christmas miracle, maybe just some good luck." Reid picked at the cuticle of his left hand thumb. Garcia glanced over.
"You called your mom?"
"Yeah. Well, I tried. The nurse said that she wasn't in a way to speak with me today. Which I took to mean that she doesn't want to take phone calls from people she doesn't know. Today I guess I'm one of them."
Garcia frowned.
"Well, at least you might have a chance to see Morgan in an apron today." That actually brought a reaction from Reid.
"I brought my digital camera just in case." He replied. Garcia laughed.
"Me too."
Morgan rubbed a hand over his chin, deciding the five o'clock shadow look was fine for the day. The mint taste of toothpaste was still fresh around his gums.
"Derek! Der!" Sarah was calling from the living room. "I think your guests are here." He shut the door behind him on the way out of the bathroom.
"Coming. You just keep your eyes on those potatoes you got boiling-over." Sarah flicked a piece of carrot at him as he went down the stairs. Clooney was down at the door, letting out weak whines.
"I see you finally got up from your nap Cloon." Morgan rubbed his knuckles over the dog's head, grasping onto his collar as he opened the door.
Penelope grabbed her bag from the backseat and shut the door with a slam.
"Wait up Dr. Reid." She called after him, catching up with a few quick steps. "So, just to check- I always do this- Fran, mother, Sarah and Desiree, sisters, Clooney, dog, and Morgan, Derek."
"Are we ready?" Penelope smirked at Reid's comment and knocked on the door.
"I hope so."
"Reid, buddy." Morgan shook his hand and pulled him into a hug.
"Hey. Merry Christmas." Reid replied, smiling. " Thanks for inviting us over."
"Three, five, what's the difference. If you've having guests you might as well bring in everyone. Head on up. You can throw your jacket in the closet." Morgan patted Reid's shoulder as he climbed up the first steps, and turned back to the door. He stood for a moment and glanced over Garcia's face and form.
"Merry Christmas baby." He took a half step forwards and wrapped her in a quick hug. Penelope lightly rubbed her hand across his back.
"Merry Christmas gorgeous." She pulled back. "I brought your gift with me. I had it last night, but it wasn't wrapped yet." Derek waved her comment away.
"Presents later. Right now I just need someone up there who will be on my side."
"You being picked on?" Garcia teased. Morgan tugged on the end of one of her braids lightly.
"Come on." He guided her to the stairs with a soft touch to her back, and followed her up.
"I brought wine, and pulla. It's Scandinavian. Sweet bread. It's really good with coffee." Penelope stated, pulling the two out of her bag.
"Dessert and wine." Desiree observed from the kitchen. "I definitely like this one Derek." Derek shot her a look and avoided Garcia as he dug through a drawer to find a whisk.
"Do you need any help?" Reid offered, standing on the other side of the kitchen island.
"I should be fine Dr. Reid." Desiree smiled at him. "I've got as much help as I can handle from this one as it is." She nodded towards her brother.
"Come take a seat and relax, sweetheart." Fran instructed him. Reid sat down on the couch, stretching out his excessively long legs. She smiled softly at her children, Derek and Des squabbling in the kitchen, and Sarah, who was standing with Penelope, laughing as they opened up the bottle of wine. She turned slightly to look at Reid.
"How are you doing Dr. Reid." She felt vaguely ridiculous calling a boy several years junior to her youngest doctor. But she didn't want to overstep her bounds.
She was interested in this young man. Derek's friends tended to be athletic, ambitious, sometimes impulsive men who charmed his sisters if they visited, with wide smiles and surreptitious winks.
Dr. Reid was lanky and cerebral, and while he had a good sense of humour, that at times still made him seem very much a child, he was almost paralytic around any woman he admired. Morgan had told him stories when they had started out, where he questioned the suitability of Dr. Reid on the team. But after some time, the stern assessment of capability was overtaken by hints of admiration, interest, and camaraderie.
"I'm fine. Better than most probably. Christmas Day has one of the highest rates of stress related cardiovascular complications. That, and Thanksgiving."
"So anything with a turkey involved?"
"Pretty much, yes. Some people try to blame the higher rate of emergency room visits per capita to the turkey as well. They say that the tryptophan in the turkey supposedly makes people drowsy and therefore more prone to accidental injury. In actuality, the amount of tryptophan in the turkey has a negligible effect. Feeling tired is usually a combination of the emotional strain of family and holidays and the build up of stress hormones, and the increased volume of food consumed at these dinners."
Fran just smiled in response.
"You're a good man." She gently patted one of his hands, and he glanced down at it. With a quick squeeze, Reid's glance followed back to Fran. He looked faintly flustered.
"Thank you Ms. Morgan."
Desiree and Morgan were slicing up vegetables on the island, fighting over technique and the size of the pieces.
"No, you cut the carrots in half. When you roast them, do it in halves." Desiree swatted her brother's hand.
"I like circles." Derek retorted.
"You don't know what you're talking about." He scowled and looked to the other end of the island.
"Garcia. Give me a hand here. Circles or halves."
"Circles?" She guessed, looking at Sarah.
"Oh she would be on your side." Desiree scoffed, grinning at him. "Sarah likes halves. And so does Mom."
"I'm not getting in the middle of this." Fran called from the couch. "Anyways, it looks like we're going to have both either way." The two piles of carrots were divided among halves and circled slices. Both Derek and Des rolled there eyes.
"I saw that." Fran retorted, pointing at them. They dropped the carrots into a bowl and Des pushed him out of the kitchen, calling on Sarah to start helping her with potatoes.
Sarah and Penelope were pouring out glasses of wine for everyone.
"So how long have you and Derek been working together?" Sarah inquired, twisting the corkscrew into the bottle of white from the fridge.
"Oh, about….I suppose it must be five years? Maybe a little longer. I started a couple of months after him apparently."
"How long have you been friends?" Sarah continued. "Red or white?"
"We….um….white, for now. I guess….I don't really know."
"He talks about you a lot." Sarah smiled. She had always loved to tease Derek about girls, ever since his first girlfriend in junior high. But she was also genuinely interested in seeing him happy. And he always sounded happy when he talked about this girl.
"He talks a big game, but don't believe everything he says." Penelope replied. Sarah noticed her glance over at Derek, who was poking Des in the side and fighting with her over carrots.
"They used to do this every year as kids." Sarah confided. They both watched for a moment. "When he went undercover, we didn't hear from him for months. Des forbade carrots for Christmas, Thanksgiving, everything." She laughed, but it wasn't perfect. Garcia recognized it. It was the note that she remembered from talking about when she was a kid, before her parents were killed and she separated herself from her brothers.
"It's hard." She said, taking a sip from her wine glass. "Waiting for them to come back."
"Yeah." Sarah said with a smile. "It is."
Derek suddenly called out to them, breaking into the conversation with a question about carrot pieces.
