"Well, since Thanksgiving was a bust this year, I thought it would be nice if I could help you decorate for Christmas, Erin."
She gave Penelope a small smile as she nodded, welcoming her inside their home. "It must have been difficult to not be able to do anything while you recovered from your wound. Though I still wish that you had taken more time off, since it takes time to get past an injury like yours. I know that everyone in the BAU has a death wish, and are willing to jump back into the fray before you should. It happened with Agent Greenaway, it happened with Jason. I just don't want you to feel like you must be back at work so soon, and if you think that you need more time, just let me know, and I'll arrange that."
Penelope shrugged as she stepped out of her heels. "I think that I'll be fine, but thank you for the concern. Where are the kids?"
"The older ones are out with David, trying to find the perfect tree. Elise should be in the living room, playing." Penelope laughed as she followed Erin into said room, and Erin sighed happily to see that her daughter was curled up on the rug next to the fireplace, singing quietly as she played with her baby doll. "Elise, looks who's here to help us! Can you say hello to Miss Penny?"
"Hi," her daughter said distractedly, giving them a small wave before focusing on what she was doing once more.
"She's starting to look more like you every day, isn't she? Even with that gorgeous black hair."
Erin blushed a little as she nodded. "I was surprised with how much of me I see in her. Now, the fresh garland in on the sofa, I'm going to decorate the bannister if you want to stay in here and work on the mantle?"
"I can do totally do that!" Erin nodded as she picked up a long strand of garland and made her way out to the staircase, easily wrapping the garland around the bannister before returning for another strand. Soon that was done, and just as she affixed the last strand to the bottom of the bannister, the front door opened, and Tabitha bounded in, running over to her side and hugging her fiercely.
"Mama! I think we found the most perfect tree that I've ever seen! Papa Dave thought that you'd love it so much!"
She chuckled as she stood up, returning the embrace before looking at the door to see David, Bruce, and Karen struggling to bring in a humongous tree. "Is that even going to fit in the living room?" she asked, watching David roll his eyes in his too red face.
"That's the hope, but Karen and Bruce insisted that this was the tree for us as a family. Especially since this is our third Christmas as a family."
Erin's heart melted at those words, nodding a little as she led her family into the living room. She wasn't surprised to see that Penelope had gotten the mantle looking perfect, and was currently telling stories to Elise as she cuddled her close. "Well, I hope you're prepared to be here for a good long while, Penelope. It is going to take us quite a while to get this behemoth decorated."
She giggled as she watched Penelope's eyes widen as Bruce and David got the stand attached to the base of the tree before standing it up. Suddenly, Erin was glad that there was a vaulted ceiling in the living room, as it meant that the tree would stand perfectly without having to worry about it bending or tilting to fill the space. "Who's going to get up on the ladder? I don't think that you should, Erin, and I know that my doctor would be furious if she knew that I had decided to do something slightly foolhardy," Penelope said as she cuddled Elise close to her chest.
"Bruce? Do you mind getting up on the stepladder?"
"That will be fine, Mom. Let me go get it from the utility closet." She nodded at her son as she held out her arms to Elise, smiling when her daughter launched herself out of Penelope's embrace to be with her once more.
"What do you say, Ellie? Should we start with the tinsel or the lights?"
"Tinsel!" she replied as she clapped her hands, and Erin nodded as she gestured towards the bags on the floor.
"All right, you heard your baby sister, we're starting with the tinsel first."
Tabitha and Karen nodded as they got the tinsel from the bags. Erin had chosen a neutral gold and silver blend to go with the white lights for the tree. "Are we going to have a lot of lights this year, Mama?" Erin shook her head, watching Karen's shoulders relax as she let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God. I hated Dad's tree last year, there were so many lights that you couldn't see the ornaments, and what's the point of that?"
Erin chuckled as she nodded, pressing her lips against Elise's temple. Her daughter squirmed in her arms, and Erin set her down on the floor, watching her toddle over to the tree and reaching out for a branch to grasp. She knew that her daughter would learn her lesson in order to not touch the tree soon enough, and so didn't say anything as her little hand closed around the branch. Elise's little face scrunched up in pain as she quickly released the branch and stepped away before turning and toddling back over to her side, hugging her leg tightly. "That's why we don't touch the tree, darling. It's spiky and can hurt us. Are we going to be more careful from now on?"
Elise nodded before plopping down on the floor and starting to play with her doll once more, babbling away as they set to work on decorating the tree. "I brought down what few ornaments I saved over the years to add to yours," David said as he entered the room, holding a medium sized box in his hands. "There's even one from James in here."
"Who's James?" Penelope asked as he set the box down on the coffee table, and Erin frowned a little, wondering if her fiancé would feel comfortable sharing his heartbreaking loss with someone who, while a friend, was not close with them.
"He was my son."
Those four words seemed to be all that Penelope needed to hear, as she nodded before giving David a sad smile. "It's good that you have something to remember him with, then." Erin gave her a small nod as she went over to David's side and wrapped her arm around his waist as Bruce rejoined them, stepstool in hand.
"You arrived just in time to help us get the tinsel up the rest of the tree, Bruce!" Tabitha said with a grin as her brother groaned, setting up the stepstool close to the tree.
"This is why I love Christmas," Erin whispered as she rested her head on his chest, watching as Penelope went over and began to help the kids decorate as best she could. "And thank you for asking Penelope over to help with this. I felt badly for her Thanksgiving plans falling through."
"You know that I would do anything for you, stellina," he murmured before kissing her temple. "Sometimes, family is also the sweet, over the top, technical analyst who is determined to find her place in everyone's life so that she doesn't lose a family again. And that's okay."
Erin nodded as she took a deep breath, watching as Elise went over to Tabitha's side and began to copy her movements in hanging ornaments on whatever branches she could reach, and she knew that this is what she had needed in her life in that moment. "It really is, David." He kissed her once more before resting his cheek atop her head as they watched the others get the tree ready for the holiday season.
