A Perfect Kind of Christmas
Chapter 8
A/N - I apologise for the delay but with the hassle of Christmas and New Year I was unable to get this finished during the hype of the season but I am extended Christmas a little longer and I hope this makes up for the break and I still have two chapters to come. I hope you all had an amazing Christmastime no matter where you are or what you did, thank you for all your support for this little Christmas fic.
Garcia awoke in the soft comfort of Morgan's guest bed, she had slept there before but as she became more aware of her surroundings she realised the last thing she remembered was making decorations downstairs, she didn't remember going to bed. Looking down she saw she was fully clothed, Penelope was relieved that he had had the decency not to change her while she slept but she couldn't help but wonder how she had gotten from downstairs, she was far too heavy for him to have carried all the way up to the guest room.
After having a quick shower in the ensuite bathroom and changing into some fresh clothes Garcia skipped downstairs to find Morgan already cooking breakfast in the kitchen.
"Happy Christmas Eve Baby" he chirped as titled the frying pan he was holding so to allow the Christmas tree shaped pancake to slide onto her plate.
A broad grin spread across Penelope's face as she remembered it was Christmas Eve, the second best day of the holiday season. There was a lot of magic about the day, it seemed like a cliché and something you would only hear in movies but she truly believed it was a day for miracles.
"So…" Morgan began his first piece of syrup covered pancake into his mouth, "what are we going to do today? We can't really do anything outside until it stops snowing so heavily-"
"-Snow!?" Garcia's head snapped up and ran to the window to see that the scene outside was indeed coated in sparkling, fluffy snow and beautiful thick snowflakes were falling from the white sky rapidly, "can we go out later though please?" she begged skipping back to her pancake.
Morgan smiled, "of course we can" he paused momentarily thinking about what he would have been doing with his mother and sister's if he was at home, "are there any sort of traditions that you do on Christmas Eve?" he asked.
"Hm" Garcia pondered the thought, "there are some things that I used to do when I was younger but I haven't done them for years… I haven't really thought about it for a long time, it would be nice to do them again…" she trailed off.
Morgan nodded, "I'd like to do them with you, only if you want to of course, it's just because at home there are some things we've always done and I'd hate to break that tradition"
Penelope placed her hand over his and smiled, "I'd love to share in your traditions and to relive mine" she placed her knife and fork together on her emptied plate and turned fully on her bar stool to face him, "every year me and my Mom used to do Christmas baking, we'd make cookies and gingerbread houses, then we'd save most of them for Christmas Day but put one out specially for Santa by the fire with his milk like most kids do but in the evening whilst she read us 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' we were allowed to eat just one. During the day we would watch 'It's a Wonderful Life' and go to the carol service they would hold in our local park every year, and that was our Christmas Eve. What about your traditions?" she asked raising her eyes to look at him face on, was it possible to even look that beautiful in the morning?
Morgan shrugged, "the tradition was to not really do very much, Mom would prepare the food for Christmas Day, we'd play a few board games, I'd get angry when my sisters beat me" he smiled to himself, "we each have stockings with our names on that Mom knitted us when we were born and in the evening we'd hang them in front of the fireplace and we are always allowed to open one present of our choosing that was under the tree"
"We can do it all!" Garcia grinned broadly, "so we better get started" she cried as she leapt off the barstool and began to roll up the sleeves of her Christmas jumper, "oh do you have any baking things? Sugar? Eggs? Flour? Decorations?"
Morgan also jumped off his seat and walked over to one of the kitchen cupboards, "I don't personally but I think the box labelled 'BG's Baking Box' from the last time you made cupcakes here might be of some use to you"
"You kept it!" Penelope squealed flinging her arms around his neck, with haste she pulled out the box and began spreading the various ingredients and equipment across the worktop. Out the corner of her eye she saw Morgan begin to skull off out of the kitchen, "excuse me big man you're baking too, come on, grab your best pinny"
Derek shook his head, "I've told you before Garcia I will cook but I don't bake"
She narrowed her eyes, "you can bake and you will bake, you were the one who said we were upholding Christmas Eve traditions and we would do it together" she stuck her bottom lip out and batted her eyelashes, "please?" she pouted.
With little persuasion needed after seeing that look on her face Morgan also rolled up his sleeves and began kneading the cookie dough through his hands after a quick demonstration from Garcia. Despite their best efforts both of them, as well as the kitchen, ended up covered in flour and icing sugar but with broad grins on their faces as they created some interestingly shaped Christmas cookies and a lopsided gingerbread house.
They both collapsed onto the couch in the living room exhausted from their morning of baking and from laughing so much at the ordeal still sprinkled head to toe in white powder. Each time they looked at each other they began giggling again, after composing herself Garcia rested her head on Morgan's shoulder, "thank you for that, it means a lot"
"Not at all, I don't really want to know how awful they taste but I actually did have fun making them, especially the precise measurements of the gingerbread house, it was a lot of effort" he laughed.
Penelope smiled, "yeah…" she was ready to fall asleep again but her eyes caught sight of a gift that was not under the tree the previous evening, it was perfectly wrapped and obviously for someone special. Savannah. She brushed the thought away and the heartache away and sat up, "your turn, which tradition do you want to do first? Not the food, I think we should leave the kitchen for now, wait do you even have any food for Christmas dinner? You weren't supposed to be here-"
"Yes yes, I went out yesterday when you were decorating remember, I sorted everything so don't panic. Right, traditions… well it seems as if the snow has gotten lighter, shall we go to the park and embrace the weather and then have hot chocolate? All my traditions are more evening activities anyway" he asked.
Garcia nodded excitedly, "ooh yes please" and in a flash all the tiredness had gone, she had cleaned herself off, was dressed in her thick coat, boots, hat, scarf and gloves and standing by the door waiting.
It was another five minutes until Morgan joined her equally as wrapped up, "ok I'm coming" he shook his head at the impatience on her face and they left the warmth of his house to the enter the winter wonderland which awaited outside the front door.
Garcia linked her arm through his as the wandered down the empty snow-covered streets to the park at the end of his road, everything was so beautiful coated in thick white fluff. The air was so still as the snow had stopped falling and there was no sound except the crunch beneath their feet. They did a full circuit of the park and chatted as they observed children playing happily in the snow and couples walking hand-in-hand embracing the beauty of the day. Suddenly the sound of singing could be heard and they began to head towards the noise and there in the centre of the park was a carol concert.
Garcia turned to Morgan with her mouth open, "did you organise this?"
He laughed and shook his head, "how the hell could I organise this? I've been with you the entire morning since you told me, I did however know that they held a carol concert here on Christmas Eve every year and I may have suggested this particular park so you could relive another of your traditions"
Penelope hugged his arm tightly, "thank you"
"Stop thanking me silly girl" he muttered kissing the top of her head.
They listened to the carol concert and enjoyed singing along merrily with the rest of the audience before it came to a close. The pair walked slowly back to the house with the anticipation of the hot chocolate which awaited them.
"That's perfect" sighed Garcia as she took the first sip of the hot liquid from her mug, "time for your tradition now" she said as he sat beside her, "what board games do you have?"
Morgan looked at her sheepishly, "I don't actually have any"
Penelope placed her mug on the table and shook her head, "don't worry we'll fix this" she pulled out two pieces of paper and a pen and scribbled on one of them before taping it to Morgan's forehead, "we're playing 'Who Am I?' so you have to write someone for me"
He grinned and copied her actions and placed the other piece of paper on her head. After what seemed like endless pointless questions neither of them had realised that they had both had the same thoughts as Garcia had the name 'David Rossi' on her head and Morgan had 'Aaron Hotchner'.
"Right!" she sighed exasperatedly, "I am a man, relatively old, intelligent, a celebrity of sorts, of foreign origin with facial hair and I am generally liked but not by everybody in society" she paused before glancing at Morgan's head, "oh for goodness sake! I'm Rossi aren't I?"
Morgan grinned, "yes!" he paused as the answers to his questions ran through his head and the light bulb went off in his brain, "a man who's serious, a workaholic, tall, intelligent, a family man but a good leader, damn I'm supposed to be a profiler how the hell did I not get Hotch?" he cried pulling the paper off his head.
"No need to get angry baby, great minds think alike and all that" Garcia smiled leaning against him, Morgan stifled a yawn, "time for 'It's a Wonderful Life' then?"
Morgan nodded but as soon as the film began to play he was already snoring lightly, Penelope grinned, she knew whilst she was watching her movie he would fall asleep and it gave her the perfect opportunity to finish his smaller present.
When end credits began to roll not only had she finished his present but it was also wrapped and all without him fluttering an eyelid. Garcia wiped the tears from her eyes and shook his leg gently, "hey sleepyhead, the film's finished and it's getting late, time to finish our Christmas Eve?"
His eyes flickered open and he glanced at his watch, it was almost ten o'clock, the day had flown by, "yeah we better try one of those cookies". He headed to the kitchen and slid two Christmas tree shaped cookies onto a plate and made a fresh mug of hot chocolate each, "right on the count of three… one, two, three"
They both bit into their cookies and were pleasantly surprised to find that they tasted nice, "well done kind sir, I shall now be asking your assistance on all my culinary ventures" Penelope giggled.
"Only because I had such a great teacher! Now story first then presents I think"
Garcia nodded, "ok, this is my Mom's copy, I always kept it and read it to myself every Christmas Eve" she explained pulling a tattered book with simplistic cartoon drawings on the front from the side of the couch.
She began to hand it to him but Morgan held his hand up, "this is your book Baby Girl, you should read it"
"Alright" she cleared her throat slightly and opened the first pages which revealed the drawing of a sleeping mouse in its hole whilst children slept in their beds, "Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…"
"…But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, Happy Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!" Garcia concluded closing the book.
Morgan just looked at her, "that was beautiful" he whispered, "it's been a long time since I've heard that story, so simple but so iconic"
Penelope nodded and picked up the gift she had previously wrapped, "can I give you part of my present first please? You kind of need it now so it makes sense that that's the one you open but if you want to open something else I understand-"
"Don't be silly baby of course I'll open yours" he took the wrapped parcel she handed him, he felt through the paper that it was something small and soft, he was intrigued to see what it was. He carefully tore the red shiny paper off and beneath it was a small deep blue knitted stocking, Morgan's heart began to race a little faster as he turned it over slowly in his hand and saw the word 'Derek' stitched across the front, "Baby Girl…" he whispered at a loss for words.
"I know I couldn't get your real stocking and it doesn't really make up for you not having your real one but I knitted while you were asleep and I hope it is a good alternative for just this year at least-"
She was then stopped by Morgan placing her hand on the back of her neck and kissing her fiercely with as much passion and love he could muster into one kiss, he had been waiting so long for that kiss that he was going to kiss her as he had never kissed another girl before because she meant so much more to him than any other girl.
After seconds of pure elation and shock, Penelope's head won over her heart and broke them apart, "Derek!" she gasped.
"That Baby Girl, is the present I have been waiting a lifetime to give to you. Merry Christmas!"