I don't own Criminal Minds or Thanksgiving.

"Santa!" Jack shouted and danced around as "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" played and Santa's float finally made its way onto the screen.

Reid laughed from where he sat on the floor. Jack and he had been working on a Lego replica of the Star Trek Enterprise, though Jack was just having fun crafting his own smaller space ships and running around making vrooming noises.

"Dad!" Jack hurried over to Hotch, who was sleeping on the couch, his long form stretched from end to end. "Dad! Santa's here ."

"Hmm?" Hotch was startled awake, immediately sitting up. "Oh, wow. The parade sure went by fast."

"You've been asleep for almost three hours," Reid smiled.

"Oh," Hotch said, rubbing a hand over his eyes.

"Dinner!" Morgan called from the kitchen.

"If you could all follow me to the dining room." Rossi led Reid, Hotch, and Jack into another room of his house.

The aroma of delicious food wafted over Reid and his stomach growled in anticipation.

Prentiss and Garcia were finishing setting out place settings and Rossi motioned for everyone to take a seat.

Reid sat to the right of the end of the table and Jack plopped on his left. Hotch took a seat next to his son, and Rossi sat at the head of the table, next to Hotch. Prentiss sat across from Hotch and next to Garcia. This left the end of the table empty for Morgan.

"Alright, here comes the turkey." Morgan backed into the room through the swinging door that led to the kitchen. He turned to reveal the turkey on the great platter. He set it down in front of Rossi and moved to his seat.

Rossi stood and began to carve the turkey, but was stopped by Garcia. "We have to say grace!"

Everyone around the table looked at her blankly.

"Come on, guys," she pleaded.

"I'll say it!" Jack volunteered, moving to his knees on the chair and clapped his hands together. He closed his eyes, but peaked between his fingers to make sure everyone else was following suit. "Dear God," he began. "Thank you for today. Thank you for the parade. Thank you for my daddy's friends, they're fun. Thank you for Santa and turkey. Please bless that the food will be good, and that we'll all have fun. And please bless that mommy will have a happy Thanksgiving in heaven. Amen."

"Amen," everyone mumbled. Hotch gave his smiling son a pat on the back.

"Now can I carve the turkey?" Rossi began again, making perfectly even cuts as if he was born to cut the bird. "Pass your plates down and I'll pass it out." Everyone complied, and soon an assembly line of food had started.

Happy chatter filled the room as people asked for certain foods and the clatter of utensils hitting plates emphasized every move. Reid smiled and observed. He had never had a get together with either side of his family. It had always only been him and his mom. Maybe that's why he liked Halloween so much, it was spent with strangers meeting strangers instead of only meeting with the ones you know.

"Sweet potatoes, doctor?" Prentiss asked.

"Oh, uh, sure." Reid furrowed his brow. "What are sweet potatoes?"

"Delicious," Morgan assured as he passed Reid back his plate.

The plate was an assortment of textures, colors, and smells. Reid's stomach growled involuntarily. He had no idea where to start first! After the third start and stop of his fork, he finally went with a safe bet: mashed potatoes and gravy.

"So, Reid, how's your first Thanksgiving going?" Morgan asked in between bites of turkey.

Reid quickly swallowed and assured Morgan it was going great.

"No when I was little," Garcia said. "We made pilgrim and Indian hats to wear during dinner."

Jack suddenly gasped. "Dad! I want a hat!"

Hotch laughed. "Maybe we'll make on later. Eat you dinner and we'll talk about it."

Jack nodded and recommenced shoveling food into his mouth.

"Most of my family lived in Chicago so we always had a big get together," Morgan said.

"Doesn't it feel weird not to be with your family?" Reid asked, again worried that he had ruined everyone else's holiday.

"There's always next year," Morgan assured.

"Hopefully I'll come up with another excuse for next year," Prentiss laughed. "My mom can be quite the handful."

Everyone laughed and began talking all at once about those relatives they couldn't stand.

Reid laughed and chatted as he ate. It was rare that the team all had time to get together just for fun, and he really loved spending time them.

"Try the sweet potatoes," Garcia ordered.

Reid complied and was surprised at how sweet they were. "They taste like candy!"

"Delicious, right?" Garcia smiled.

Suddenly the doorbell rang. Rossi frowned and excused himself.

The table got very quiet as everyone tried to figure out who had come over, but to no avail.

Rossi returned, but managed to block the hallway. "Guys, we have some more guests." He moved over and in the hallway stood JJ, Will, and Henry.

"Hi, guys," JJ said, shifting Henry's diaper bag on her shoulder. "The weather was bad over Pennsylvania and our flight got delayed indefinitely." Will half smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"That's great! Well, bad, but great for us," Prentiss smiled and stood to help move chairs to make room at the large table.

Morgan moved over and squeezed in between Prentiss and Garcia. JJ sat next to Garcia and Henry next to his mother. Will sat next to Reid.

"Hand your plates down," Prentiss said, reaching across Morgan to pick up JJ's plate.

"Thanks," Will nodded as Reid handed him back his plate.

"No problem. Sorry you couldn't fly out."

"Naw, don't tell JJ, but I could do without another family reunion with the in-laws."

Reid laughed and dinner continued where it had left off.

"There is so much food!" Reid exclaimed when it seemed like even after everyone had had two plates there wasn't a dent in the feast.

"That's part of the beauty of Thanksgiving," Morgan laughed. "Leftovers for a week!"

"Amen to that!" Prentiss raised her glass in agreement.

Jack leaned over to Hotch and whispered something in his ear. Hotch nodded and he and Jack disappeared into the kitchen, reappearing moments later with a pumpkin pie.

"Dessert!" Jack said, swinging his arms to present his dad and the pie.

Everyone applauded and received a piece of the homemade pie.

"Do you like it?" Jack asked Reid as he plopped back into his seat.

"It's great!" Reid assured. "Best pie I've ever tasted."

Jack smiled and hugged Reid's arm. "Thanks, Doctor Reid."

Reid was a little taken aback by the affection, and it wasn't missed by the girls at the table who let up a collective "Aww!"

"You sure have a way with kids, Reid," Morgan laughed.

Henry immediately demanded that Reid hold him when he saw Jack paying so much attention to his godfather. Everyone laughed and Reid stood to pick up his godson.

"Hello there, Henry," he smiled. "It's great to see you."

"Uncle Reid." Henry smiled at Reid and leaned back to get a better look at Reid's face.

"That's right."

Henry twisted violently to point at Garcia. "Aunt 'Cia."

"That's right," Garcia beamed.

"My family," Henry smiled at JJ.

"Thanksgiving is a day to spend with your family," Hotch said, taking Jack into his lap.

Reid looked at the smiling faces around the table. They always said that they were like a family, but he'd never realized exactly how close they were. They supported, laughed, and cried with each other. They spent most of their waking hours with each other and were in almost constant contact. This was his family, even if they weren't blood related.

Reid smiled bigger than he had in a long time. "Family," he said to himself.

"Happy Thanksgiving, everyone," Rossi said, raising his glass.

"Happy Thanksgiving!" everyone agreed.

"Especially you, kid," Morgan said with a nod to Reid.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Doctor Reid!" Jack said, raising his own cup of apple cider.

Another big smile spread over Reid's face. "Thanks, for everything."

"In ordinary like we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich." ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The end! I hope you all liked my story. It was fun to write. If you have any more ideas for short stories, message me and I'll see what I can do. : )

I loved your comments, so one last time: Reid and Review

Write to you all later!

~MyDarkAngel710