December 2016
Kids' Ages
Jack Hotchner - 11
Henry LaMontagne - 8
Elaine Hotchner - 4
Olivia Garcia - 4
Michael LaMontagne - 11 months
Grace Hotchner - 9 months
Hank Morgan - almost 4 months
Hotchners
For Emily Christmas was never a joyous time. Growing up, half of her Christmas was spent in countries where it wasn't celebrated, or at least not largely so. The other half, she was forced into tight red or green dresses and made to socialize with the country's top diplomats and their equally arrogant but even snobbier children. They certainly weren't filled with matching pajamas, sparkling lights, holiday movies, or writing wishlists to a jolly bearded man in a red suit. She vowed that when she had children, she would do everything in her power to make sure they had the best Christmases imaginable.
It was early evening on Christmas Eve. The family of five was doing some last-minute shopping. The street they were on looked as though it had come straight out of a Hallmark movie. Mechanical Santas waved from almost every store window. Snow covered the rooftops while more fluttered down from the sunset sky. Colorful lights decorated the storefronts.
Aaron pushed Grace in her stroller with one hand and held Emily's hand with the other. Jack and Ellie ran ahead of their parents, pausing to look in the large store windows when they knew they got too far ahead. Emily and Aaron caught up to their children.
"Let's check this place out," Aaron suggested, jabbing his thumb at the sign above the door which read McCallister's. They entered the tiny store that was jam-packed with numerous different knickknacks. Each person goes their separate ways to look around. Emily found herself on the far side of the store in front of a table stocked with different scented candles. Pulling away from the daze she was in, she looked up when Jack approached her.
"Can you distract Ellie for me? I found a gift for her but I don't want her to find out," he asked. He pulled the gift out from his jacket. It was a beautiful ceramic music box. It was mostly white with a delicate pink flowery border and a golden keyhole. When Jack opened the lid, a tiny ballerina figurine twirled in a slow circle as a soft melody played.
"Oh Jack-Jack your sister will love it," Emily cooed, hugging her step-son. "Do you need money?"
Jack shook his head. "I've got my allowance."
"Ok. You can put it at the bottom of Gracie's stroller when you're done so Ellie doesn't see it." Emily told him, taking a moment to pick out a pine cone-scented candle before walking away to find her middle child.
She found her in the back of the store, eyeing a shelf of cheap toys. After helping her pick out the perfect gift for Olivia, they paid and met up with Aaron and Gracie. Gracie was chewing on the ear of a stuffed elephant while clutching the neck of a stuffed giraffe. Emily gave her husband a pointed look.
"You bought our daughter two stuffed animals?"
Aaron shrugged. "She couldn't choose."
Emily couldn't help but smile. Tough as he was at work, it was no secret that Aaron Bradford Hotchner was a huge softie when it came to his children.
The next stop for the Hotchner family was just down the street to an old-fashioned cafe that sold the best hot chocolate. Emily and Aaron had been frequenting the cafe since shortly after they began dating. Unfortunately, because of their busy lives, they hadn't been back in a few years.
The owner, a tall, balding man in his early 70s named Joe, smiled at the couple when they walked in. "I was wonderin' when I might see the two of you again."
"It's been far too long," Aaron agreed.
Joe looked out at the children. "I see ya finally added some Prentiss-Hotchner's to the world. And look at you, las' I saw you, you was just a little lad," He told Jack, who smiled politely. "Anyways, what can I get y'all?"
"Just four small hot chocolates, with extra whipped cream and caramel sauce."
"And sprinkles!" Ellie added excitedly.
"Four small hot cocoas coming up," Joe repeated. "And sprinkles for the little princess," he added, winking at the little girl.
They took a seat at a booth in the front corner with a good view of the outside. Ellie slid in beside her dad on one side while Emily placed Gracie in a plastic booster seat between her and Jack.
Joe came over shortly, expertly carrying all four mugs at one time. "It's on me," he told them. "Merry Christmas." He walked away before they could argue.
In a short time, their drinks were gone and Gracie was fast asleep in Jack's arms. Aaron and Emily gathered the mugs to take back up front. They left a very generous tip before heading back out into the cold to their car.
By the time they made it back home, all three children were passed out in the back seat. Emily was quick to grab a picture and send it to the B.A.U. group chat.
In the driveway, Aaron easily unbuckled both of the girls and carried them inside without waking either one. Jack and Emily made themselves busy carrying in all of the bags. A few minutes later, all of the children were changed into their matching pjs and in bed. Emily and Aaron made their rounds tucking in each child. Once the girls were once again fast asleep, they entered Jack's room.
"I miss Mom," Jack admitted, glancing at the picture of the two of them he kept on his nightstand.
"Do you want to talk to her?" Aaron asked.
Jack nodded his head.
"I'll leave you two be," Emily told them, standing up from the bed.
"You can stay if you want," Jack said.
"That's okay. Good night, Jack-Jack. I love you."
"Night, Emmy."
Emily headed back downstairs and lit the candle she bought. She settled on the couch with a blanket. A few minutes later, Aaron joined her and they spent the rest of the night wrapping presents, stuffing stockings, and preparing for their children to have the best Christmas."
LaMontagne Household
Christmases in the LaMontagne household meant simplicity. They typically spent the whole day indoors. Starting with opening presents practically the second Henry opened his eyes in the morning. Then they would have cinnamon rolls for breakfast and watch a movie. Afterwards, they would bundle up and head outside to build a snowman. This year would be no different.
It was Christmas morning and all of the presents were unwrapped. They had filled their stomachs with the doughy confections. Now it was JJ's favorite time of the day. Each year they rotated between who got to pick the movie and this year it was Henry's turn although technically it was Michael's turn since he was the youngest.
JJ and Will, wrapped up in a blanket together, watched as Henry took every Christmas movie they owned off of the shelf and placed it on the floor. Then he called for Michael.
"What movie should we watch?" He asked his brother. "Pick a movie, Mikey."
Michael seemed to actually study the DVDs before messily spreading them out with his chubby hands. He grabbed one and waved it around, narrowly missing his brother's head. Henry grabbed it from him and placed the disc in the DVD player. As the movie began playing the commercials, Henry picked up his brother and plopped him in Will's lap before coming to lay beside JJ. JJ ran her hand through his white blonde hair while the movie started. The Grinch Who Stole Christmas had been Micheal's movie of choice and JJ couldn't be happier. It was her all-time favorite Christmas movie. In truth she didn't care a bit which movie had been picked, all she cared about was being able to share Christmas with her three favorite boys.
Morgan Household
Derek had never really been a Christmas guy. He just never really got the fuss. But now that he had a son and a wife, all bets were off. He went all out for the season to make sure they had the best holiday.
"Don't you think this is a bit excessive," Savannah said, shielding her eyes and grimacing as Derek turned on the ring light.
"No. Pen said that this will give us the proper lighting for the best pictures and we need the best pictures. It's Hank's first Christmas. It's got to be perfect."
"Honey, he's three months old. He's not going to remember this."
"But we will, Sav. Now, I just got to set this… perfect. Ok, come on."
Derek pulled his wife gently by the arm back toward the fireplace. He picked Hank up and handed him to Savannah. He posed the three of them as the self-timer took numerous pictures on his phone which was set up on a trifold.
After the pictures, he zeroed his sights in on the Christmas tree brimming with presents they had yet to open. "Do you think we got him enough presents?"
Savannah sighed. "Derek, honey. Yes. He has enough presents. Please stop stressing."
Derek kissed her on the forehead and then leaned down to stroke Hank's cheek. "I just want it to be perfect for him."
"It is. Stop worrying."
Derek kissed her on the lips this time. "I'm sorry. Let's open presents."
Garcia-Reid
If there was one word to describe the house of Penelope Garcia and Spencer Reid at Christmas time it would be colorful. They both loved Christmas so much, coming in second place in holiday rankings for both of them. Having so much more room since moving out of the apartment over a year ago, they packed every nook and cranny with color and decorations. Probably close to fifty Santa statues adorned the halls and tops of cabinets. Sting lights raced across the border of every room. The branches of the tree were almost invisible underneath all of the mismatched mostly homemade ornaments.
Since they had begun living together, Spencer and Penelope started a tradition of coming up with the weirdest traditions such as watching The Nightmare Before Christmas, buying each other funky socks, or playing Scrabble after breakfast. One of their favorite traditions however was going to the Christmas light parade.
The parade wasn't much of a parade, but actually just a field that a local farmer put various extravagant light sculptures in for civilians to walk through. It was Olivia's favorite part of the holiday, except for the party at Rossi's where she got to see all of her friends and aunts and uncles.
"Look at that one!" Olivia shouted, pointing at a light display of Frosty the Snowman which, due to blinking lights, looked as though it was waving. "That one is my favorite," she announced.
Throughout the rest of the walk, they each took turns pointing out different displays, debating whether it was better than the last person's pick. It was decided that a ten-foot display of the Polar Express was the overall best.
At the end of the walk, there was a display board that gave the best opportunity for a picture. Spencer, held Olivia while Penelope tried her best to angle her phone camera to get both the three of them and the sign above their heads in the frame.
"Would you like me to take the picture?" An older woman asked, approaching them?"
"Would you? That would be perfect, thank you!" Penelope gushed, handing the woman her phone.
The woman took several pictures before giving the phone back.
"You have a beautiful family," she said.
"Oh. We're not-" Spencer started before Penelope cut him off.
"Thank you!" After all, they were a family, weren't they? She and Spencer may not have been in a relationship and he may not be Olivia's dad but they were still a family and that was all that mattered.