December 4, 2013

She whittles the day away.

There's not much she can do, not that she cares. The whole point of vacation is to relax, to do nothing. And she's reminded why, with a very distinct clarity, why she'd never taken these vacation days while she'd been in England.

Dear God, it's boring.

She all but leaps for her phone when it rings that evening and her eyes light up when it's Hotch's name on the display. She can't seem to help herself and it feels so much more acute this time around. "Hey."

"Hi. Jack and I are confused."

"Okay…"

"Your little family?"

The lightbulb goes on over her head and she laughs. Jack's calendar produced a tiny little caroling family for today's gift. "I'll make you a deal. Spring me from this boredom and I'll decipher Jack's gift."

He agrees easily and twenty minutes later is pulling up outside JJ's front door.

"Have fun!" the blond calls. "Remember your curfew."

She only offers a blinding smile when Emily glares.

"Hello, gentlemen," she greets, sliding into the passenger's seat of Hotch's SUV. "Closest Savers, please."

Hotch arches an eyebrow, but pulls smoothly into traffic. "You were bored?"

"So bored," she agrees, bouncing her head against the back of the chair. "Hotch, you have no idea."

He laughs.

"Why are you bored? What is bored?

Ah, the innocence of youth, she thinks. "When you feel like you don't have anything to do."

"Like work? Cause you're on vacation?"

"Exactly." She grins at Jack in the rearview mirror. Instead of grinning back in the reflection, Jack's brow furrows.

"Are the bad guys getting away now?"

"Someone else is just taking my place for a bit. Same as Daddy," she explains. "We can't have all sorts of bad guys running around at Christmas."

"Speaking of," Hotch says. "Today's door?"

Emily's grin turns just a little bit evil. "Have you ever owned an ugly Christmas sweater?"

Hotch groans, entirely impulsively and reactionary. There are no barriers to this after-hours Hotch she's seeing and she is infinitely glad. At the same time, it is most definitely not doing wonders for her heart and emotions. In fact, it's killing her a little bit. But she swallows down the emotion. After all, she made a promise to Jack.

Savers is, on the outside, a massive warehouse. Inside, it's a second-hand clothing store. In Emily's experience, it is the best place to find hilarious and utterly atrocious sweaters. She and Reid had made a game out of it if they had time while away on cases. The genius has some absolutely horrid ones in his collection.

Emily looks at the store, the chaotic layout of things, and feels a little bit like a general leading her troops into battle. And it is, to a certain extent. There's so much stuff to weed through and a divide and conquer approach won't work with a child.

"So," she says, rubbing her hands together. "Where should we start?"

They start with Jack. It honestly makes sense. He doesn't have the patience and better to catch him before the kid gets tired. Savers is full of fantastic options, as Emily had known it would be. She and Jack flip through the options side by side, Hotch standing a few steps down the aisle. It makes Emily roll her eyes as she grips his hand.

"The fun's over here, Hotch," she says, winking at Jack just to see him giggle. Some things, despite time and events never change. In a strange way, it's comforting.

They find families of snowmen and gaudy reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh. They find sweaters in a rainbow of colours with giant Santa faces across the front of them. Candy canes, pompoms, the choices seem endless. It's Hotch that finds the perfect sweater. The thing is solid red, emblazoned with a giant rocking horse across the front. Emily outright gasps when she sees it and yanks it off the hanger. Jack, bless him, stands perfectly still while she pulls the abomination over his head.

Emily, the pro, takes all of five minutes to find hers. It's covered in red, white and green pompoms, obviously supposed to represent decorations on the tree that dominates the front. She immediately pulls it over her head with a grin.

"So?" she asks, arching an eyebrow.

Jack breaks into giggles immediately. Hotch arches an eyebrow but reaches out. Emily freezes. His hands slide along her neck, lifting her hair from the catch of the sweater. She shivers at the touch, looking up to meet his gaze. There's something there, in with the gratitude and amusement she can't quite make out.

"Perfect."

They're having a moment, she's pretty sure, and it's broken by Jack.

"Come on, Daddy. We have to find yours!"

There are so many options, so very many options. Emily bites her lip as she searches through the racks, trying to forget the feeling of his palms against her skin. God, this was a bad idea. But then she looks up, sees Hotch and Jack, heads bent together over a bunch of hangars. It makes her smile because this was the point, always the point. Jack and Hotch, celebrating Christmas. Traditions and memories and ugly Christmas sweaters.

"We found it," Jack exclaims, startling her from her thoughts. Her head comes up, surprise all over her face. Hotch is already pulling the sweater over his head, a smile on his face and those dimples that make him look about ten years younger. His sweater isn't ugly so much as tacky, but it still fits the bill. In fact, it takes the cake. It's plastered with Christmas themed things, cats hugging Christmas balls, snowflakes, garlands, candy canes and Christmas bells. It's almost a mess.

"Perfect," she agrees, echoing her own earlier sentiment. She sees that look flit over his face – longing? No way – and finds herself turning away with a blush.

The two of them are remarkably subdued as they wait to check out. Jack hops around their legs, perfectly entertained and grinning about his impending new sweater. He even pouts when they have to tug it over his head.

"Emily, why do we need Christmas sweaters?"

"Do we need a reason? It's Christmas!" she replies with a grin, taking his hand and leaving Hotch to get the bag as they wander back to the parking lot. But as Jack climbs into the backseat, Emily leans in. "Ask me tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Jack asks curious.

"Mmhmm," she agrees. "After you open the calendar door. "

They drive back to JJ's, singing along to the radio – Hotch included which takes her entirely by surprise – and she turns to him with a grin. He arches an eyebrow.

"So. Tomorrow?"

She pushes open the door with a nod. "Tomorrow."

I might actually get caught up today! This one's up earlier than all but the prologue in terms of time of day. Could be fun.

Cross your fingers!