A Perfect Kind of Christmas
Chapter 3

It was Friday, the team had been gone for four days and were very close to catching their unsub. Garcia stifled a yawn with the back of her hand as she entered her office that morning, she had had only 3 hours sleep after working long into the night to find the link between the families that were being murdered. She sipped her coffee and began typing frantically, she needed to do everything in her power to catch this man, no family should be taken so early in life, especially not at Christmas. She would make sure he didn't hurt another person.

At midday she was no closer to finding the missing link and she was becoming more and more impatient and frustrated, the sharp ring of her phone burst her bubble of fury,

"Hello?" she snapped slamming her finger on the answer button.

"Garcia are you ok?" J.J.'s voice called down the phone.

She sighed, "yes, I'm just grumpy from lack of sleep and I need to catch this guy because it's not fair, these families shouldn't be killed like this…"

"I know, listen I don't have any further information for you but I need to take you up on your offer, I promised Henry I'd take him to the Santa's Grotto tomorrow but it doesn't look like we'll be finished on the case so would you take him?"

Penelope smiled for the first time that day, "of course I will Jayje, he'll be fine, we'll have a great time at the Grotto…" she trailed off, a thought suddenly occurred to her, what if that bastard was a Santa? "I'll call you right back I've got to go!" she cried pressing the end button sharply.

After several hours of digging and phone calls to extended family members Garcia was able to collate information which shown the pattern that each of the children had visited the Santa situated in the local mall over the past month. She was unable to access the name of the murderer in a red suit who was supposed to be the epitome of happiness and joy as he was employed on a seasonal basis and they had made the decision to pay him in cash rather than with a monthly cheque.

There was nothing further Garcia could do but go home and sleep, in the morning she received a text from J.J. explaining they had caught the man responsible before he could cause anymore destruction. She smiled at the text and lay back against the soft pillow, her text also said that they hadn't finished everything so she still wouldn't make it back to take Henry to the Grotto but of course she would fulfill her Godmotherly duties..

She reluctantly pulled herself out of the warm solace of her cosy bed and wrapped herself in her fluffy winter dressing gown and slippers before pushing through her beaded curtain to get to the kitchen. As she waited for her morning coffee to brew she admired the decorations in her apartment, to distract her from her bad thoughts she may have gone slightly over the top but that was how she liked it. She had gone for a pink and green theme keeping with her original lifestyle, in the living room there were twinkling multi-coloured lights around a green garland over her mantelpiece and mirror with her childhood 'Penelope' stocking hanging from it and jolly, smiling Santas sat in front of the electric fire. Matching garlands were hanging around the top of her walls and there were strategically placed pieces of ribbon to hang the Christmas cards she had received from, then on each table there were ornaments of reindeers or snowmen that she had collected over time. The centre piece of the room though was her white and pink tree which she had taken the most care over. She poured out her coffee and glanced around and though the warm, fuzzy feeling of Christmas was filling her heart, underneath their was still a sadness that she couldn't discard no matter how hard she tried. She just had to push it as far away as she could and enjoy the day with her Godson.

"Auntie Penelope look! Look! Look!" Henry cried tugging on her arm, pulling her across the car park to the magical world that lay behind the overly decorated door.

Garcia couldn't help but smile, "I see it, I see it! I think Santa is waiting in there just for you"

His little face lit up, his cheeks were flushed from the cold air despite being wrapped in hat, scarf, coat and gloves to shield him from the frosty morning, "you really think so?"

She nodded, "I know so, I happen to know Santa personally"

His mouth dropped open, "how do you know Santa Auntie Penelope?"

"Why, do I not look like an elf to you?" she said putting her hands on her hips in mock horror, she looked down at her seasonal red and green attire, personally she did think she would pass as an elf but her Godson frowned and tilted his head to the side in deep thought.

"Kinda" he said finally screwing up his nose, "but you can't be an elf, you work with Mommy and Mommy doesn't work at the North Pole"

She crouched down to his level and held his hand, "that is very true but Santa needs his own computer genius to help him fly around the world on Christmas Eve" she stood back up and pointed at the door, "now come on, I know how much you want to get inside!"

Through the doors, the whole room glowed. Fairy lights shone from every tree and every garland as they joined the back of the queue of excited children and their equally as excited parents. At the front there stood a lady dressed as an elf with a badge on which revealed her name was 'Claire', she smiled broadly at each child as she handed them their golden ticket which let them into see Santa and get their own photo with him and receive a special present.

Once they reached the front Claire the elf grinned down at Henry, "why hello!" she chirped resting her hands on her knees as she bent down to his level, "what's your name?"

"Henry, Henry LaMontagne" he replied quietly looking up to his Godmother for reassurance.

She continued to smile, "well Henry, have you been a good little boy this year?"

He nodded giving her a half smile, gaining a little confidence in the overly enthusiastic woman in his face.

"You should have no worries then! Santa can't wait to meet all the good children and reward them with presents" she explained nodded her head so the bell at the end of her hat began to jingle, "now your Mommy just has to pay and then you will get your extra special golden ticket to see Father Christmas"

Henry let out a small giggle and looked up at Garcia, "that's not my Mommy, she's my Auntie Penelope, my Mommy is fight bad guys"

Claire smiled sympathetically at Penelope to apologise for the misunderstanding which she immediately returned but inside her heart began to ache. There were times that she wished she had her own son just like Henry, she loved the bones of him but she would only be Auntie Penelope and she was pushing forty, babies wouldn't be an option for much longer, and she didn't have the means to have one with her current situation anyway.

She swiftly pushed the thought to the back of her mind along with her worries of loneliness in the near future and opened up her large sparkling handbag and pulled out her purse, "how much are you costing me this time trouble?" she laughed, she would never begrudge paying for anything for Henry, it wasn't as if she had anyone else to spend her money on.

The little boy soon began tugging on his Godmother's arm again as Claire handed him his 'extra special golden ticket', "have fun Henry, follow the snowflakes on the ground to get to Santa's house" she cried behind him as he dragged Penelope into the artificially created winter wonderland.

"Wow!" he cried as he walked along the large snowflake stickers beneath his feet, there were animatronic elves, reindeers, polar bears and penguins all with moving heads and bodies which sat in reams of fluffy cotton wool which acted as snow in the scene. He placed his hands on the barriers and the grin would not leave his little face as every turn of a corner would be "look at this Auntie Penelope!" or "have you seen this?" or "it's really moving Auntie Penelope, isn't that clever?"

Garcia simply enjoyed seeing him so happy and as they reached the sign that read 'Santa's House, only nice children allowed', underneath there was a notice which said 'please check Santa's electronic nice list to see if you are can come into his magical home'. Henry looked down at the screen below and concentrated hard before he gasped.

"Auntie Penelope! That's my name! I'm really on Santa's nice list!"

She smiled back at him, 'the wonders of technology' she thought, there was a reason that computers were her best friend. Several years ago this would not have been possible but now Claire Elf learns the child's name upon entry, she types it into her computer so it appears on the 'nice list', and that simple idea makes a lot of children incredibly happy.

The queue in front of them moved rather quickly and soon they were next to enter Santa's house, a man wearing the same attire as Claire looked at Henry and smiled, "hey there, my name's Billy and I'm one of Santa's elves" he looked at his iPad which had the same list as on the screen, "well you must be Henry! What are you going to ask Santa for for Christmas Henry?"

He furrowed his tiny brow in thought, "when I wrote my letter to Santa I asked him for a bike…" Garcia let out an internal sigh of relief as that was what J.J. and Will had bought him several weeks earlier, "but…" he began but the tinkling of bells cut him off.

"Sorry Henry but you'll have to save it for Santa Clause cause it's your turn to see him next" elf Billy explained ushering them both through the door. Inside was a scene imitating the inside of a cottage was portrayed with a picture of a roaring fire on the wall, a beautifully decorated Christmas tree with presents wrapped in coloured paper sitting underneath in one corner and in a red furnished armchair in the opposite corner sat Father Christmas complete with the thick red suit, black shiny boots and long, white beard. Naturally, the 'elves' on the other side of the room with a camera ready to make a further $10 a photo were ignored.

"Ho ho ho! You must be Henry, I've heard a lot about you little man. Come along, don't be shy, come and speak to Santa" the old man chuckled, Henry looked back to Penelope who nodded encouragingly before he shuffled towards him and allowed him to pick him up and place him on his knee. "So Henry, you've come with your Auntie Penelope today?"

He nodded slowly, "yes she said she's one of your computer elves"

Santa chuckled again giving Garcia a wink, "well yes she is, but we don't want everyone to know, only the most special people get to know Santa's secrets! Now Henry, why don't you tell me what you want for Christmas"

"I wrote you a letter asking you for a bike but I don't mind if I don't get that anymore" he replied, Penelope's ears pricked up, 'uh oh, what would his parents have to buy now with such little time before Christmas?' she thought with worry slowly edging its way back into the forefront of her mind. The little boy lowered his voice to not much more than a whisper, "what I would really like for Christmas please Santa is for there not to be anymore bad guys in the world. My Mommy and Daddy catch bad guys cause if there wasn't anymore bad guys they wouldn't need to be gone lots then my Mommy and Daddy can be home with me when I'm not at school or at soccer"

Garcia heard every word and her heart broke. Not just for Henry but for J.J. too. She knew how much her best friend tried to be there for her son but with her job it just wasn't possible. Hopefully as she knew J.J. wanted to make the most of the Christmas season when she is away from work then both Henry and his Mom would be satisfied without her feeling guilty.

Santa looked at the boy and nodded, "I don't know if I can remove all the bad guys but I will do all I can to make you happy this Christmas Henry" Garcia smiled, he didn't know the position that the child sat on his knee was in with both parents in in law enforcement but still he utilised his position and made Henry trust in him which is what a Santa should do, "now because you've been such a good boy you're going to get a special gift from my sack under the tree and we're going to get a photo together which you can keep forever, ok?"

Henry nodded and smiled for the camera and as the photo developed he jumped down off Santa's lap and picked a green wrapped package from the sack. After Penelope had collected the photograph Henry waved his little hand, "Merry Christmas Santa" he called as they were leaving.

Santa looked quite taken back, it was probably very rare to hear a child wish him a Merry Christmas amongst the greedy, selfish children that can come through the door but Henry LaMontagne was one of the genuinely kind ones, "Merry Christmas Henry and have a very Happy New Year"