December 23

"Wow! I know you warned me that there'd be a lot of people here, but your parents house is bursting at the seams," Abby said, as she looked at all the cars that were parked on the street and at the people that were in the front yard.
"This is nothing," Damon snorted. "Between my family and the Rossis that we consider family well, just wait until you get inside and you'll see. This isn't even as many that will show up for dinner on Christmas Eve."
"So you say that your family celebrate for the whole month of December not just on the holiday itself," Abby inquired what remembering what Damon had told her.
"Yeah, we really have to considering that our family is so large and it just keeps getting bigger when more children are born. Not to mention grandchildren and great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins," Damon said. "Well, you get the point I'm sure."
"Yeah, I do," Abby agreed. "You've got to be the largest family in the world, but then, I understand why you are. I also see why you celebrate through the whole month of December and it's too bad we can't be here for all the events that take place, but we're both only off from today until the day after New Year's."
"True and I know we've missed some great food, but still the main dinner is on the 25th and there's another one on New Year's itself," Damon said. "Anyway, let's go inside and say hello to mom and dad and Uncle Dave and Aunt Jazz, as I'm sure they're here."
"You know you have a weird family dynamic," Abby said quietly. "Still, I think it's great at how you're so close to each other and you can't say the same about many families. I'm actually surprised nothing ever happened between one of the Hotchner children and one of the Rossi children."
"You shouldn't be so surprised," Damon said, as he and Abby scrolled up to the front door, ringing the bell.
"Why not?" Abby wanted to know curiously with a eyebrow raised in question.
"Because we're all brought up on tales of how we'll meet our mate someday and we don't want to get seriously involved with anyone else, though that's not to say we don't date, we just don't settle down. Both my family and the Rossis know the score. We are brought up, as basically siblings so there's very little chance of anything romantic happening between either family. Now, if they were mates, that would be a totally different story, but it's never happened and it's not likely to, though I won't say it's not possible."
"Just not likely," Abby said, and Damon nodded just as he door opened.
"Welcome," Aaron said. "I'm glad the two of you could make it."
"I would never miss Christmas unless something came up and I wouldn't want Abby to miss her first Christmas with the family," Damon said, as the three of them into the house and the door automatically behind them.
"I'm glad to see you Abby," Aaron said warmly, as he kissed her cheek. "We're sorry you couldn't make it for Thanksgiving."
"Maybe next year," Abby said, "but Damon and I spent Thanksgiving with my family my parents and Lucas.
"Her parents are very nice and they're also hearing impaired," Damon said. "Abby didn't leave my side all night so she could translate for whatever I said."
"They were very glad to meet Damon and while they can read lips I still translated everything into sign language for them," Abby said.
"Well, I'm glad that didn't happen to you," Aaron said, "as that would've made things difficult if you and Damon had met at all."
"That's true, but I learned once I was an adult that I was adopted as a baby and I have no idea who my mother was," Abby said.
"She doesn't want to explore any old records afraid of the reason her mother gave her up for adoption, but there are a lot of good reasons to do so," Damon said. "It could even be that her mother died, giving birth to her, and I would think it would be better to know the truth then to always wonder where you came from in the back of your mind or in quiet moments."
"It's not your choice son," Aaron told him absorbing the information that Abby was adopted rapidly. "If Abby doesn't want to discover who her birth parents were then that's up to her.
"I know, and I promise not to mention it again," Damon said.
"So if you were adopted, does that mean your brother?" Aaron asked.
"Lucas is their real son and yes, can hear just fine," Abby said. "Only one in five children are born deaf, like the parents, even if both of the parents are hearing impaired."
"Also, sometimes a deaf child is sometimes born into a family that is not hearing impaired," Damon added.
"That's rather fascinating and something I didn't know, which is saying a lot, when you as old as I am, but we can talk about it later, as it's time to get this party started," Aaron said smiling, as he saw all the activity that was taking place, as they wound their way deeper into the house.
"I've started to learn sign language so I can communicate with Abby's parents whenever we visit, but it's going take time," Damon told his father, even as he smiled at all the activity and the noise that was taking place as the three of them walked.
"That's very good son and it's a very good thing you're doing, as it shows you accept her parents disability, because you're going out of your way to learn what is basically another language," Aaron said
"Yes, he's doing very well with learning so far though it will take time," Abby said smiling proudly. "He's so thoughtful and considerate, not something I can say about a lot of people."
"I don't think I'm going out of my way and I wish I'd picked it up a long time ago, as I'm sure it will come in useful in other ways," Damon said blushing at Abby's compliment.
"It's always good to learn new skills, especially when you're immortal," Aaron said, as they finally reached the kitchen where Shonda was.
"I'll help him keep in practice, since I had to learn years ago," Abby said. "You can forget, if you never use it."
"It's good to see you, Damon," Shonda greeted her son, kissing his cheek before doing the same to Abby and giving her a hug as well. "I'm glad you could make it for at least some of the Christmas celebration."
"We're here until the first of the year, as we're off until the second," Damon said. "We'll have to catch a flight back on the first or even the day before. It depends on when we can get a flight, as it is Christmas, the one time of year that people travel and shuttleports are overloaded with passengers."
"You didn't want to spend Christmas with your parents?" Shonda asked Abby.
"We dropped off our presents for my parents and Lucas, but since we spent Thanksgiving with them, we told them we would be spending Christmas with Damon's family," Abby said. "It's only fair to divide holidays between both our families. I'm not so selfish that I would deny Damon a chance to see his own when he's been so accommodating when it comes to mine."
"We went by yesterday just to wish them a merry Christmas before we caught a flight out here," Damon added.
"We'll probably do Christmas with them for at least part of it next year and Thanksgiving with your family. We will probably switch off every other year," Abby said.
"Seems like a sensible system to me. We will of course, miss you if you can't be here," Shonda said.
"Still, we understand that you need to spend at least sometimes with Abby's family because they won't be around forever," Aaron added.
"True, they won't be," Shonda said.
"Family is very important to us," Damon told his mate. "Considering what we are, family is basically all we have. The only people we don't have to keep our guard up against, watch what we say or how we act."
"True that," Shonda agreed. "Here, both of you have a piece of pie. Jazz, just left it here a few minutes ago."
"Happy to," Damon said enthusiastically, smiling from ear to ear.
"I definitely agree with Damon, as I've been sharing all the treats that his aunt has been sending him and everything I've had has been absolutely scrumptious," Abby added, as she accepted a piece of pie from her soon to be mother-in-law.
Shonda cut several pieces and gave one to Damon, to Aaron and finally cut one for herself.
"Well, there isn't much left," Abby said, looking at the half empty pie plate sitting on the counter.
"Believe me, Jazz knew it would be gone in no time," Shonda said, smiling, as she dug into her piece.
"So to change the subject, Damon did you tell Abby about your ability?" Aaron asked his son.
"If you're talking about his ability to shapeshift, yes, he demonstrated, and I found it absolutely fascinating. The way he can change his appearance," Abby said. "He also explained how you're a powerful telepath," Abby added, looking at Shonda.
"True, I am," Shonda agreed after she had taken a bite of pie and swallowed. "I hardly ever have a reason to use my ability though, but it does come in useful on occasion."
"Remember that time that this guy kept appearing everywhere you went and you thought he was following you?" Aaron related.
"Oh yeah, now that was a rather stressful time," Shonda agreed finishing her pie.
"So what happened?" Damon asked.
"It turned out he was indeed stalking her and was planning on kidnapping her and then killing her," Aaron said his tone turning furious, as he remembered the incident.
"But why would he want to kidnap your wife?" Abby asked. "Did it have something to do with him finding out you were different from other people? That you were immortal or magical?"
"Did you somehow offend him, even if you didn't realize it?" Damon suggested fascinated by the story.
"No, it turned out, I just resembled his former wife who had divorced him, and that had caused a psychic break. He thought that I was his wife playing with him."
"Shonda and Jazz ended up taking that guy's memory of ever having seen her and he ended up in a mental institution instead of prison," Aaron said.
Aaron and Shonda related the whole story while Damon and Abby listened closely.
"That's just messed up," was Abby's opinion.
"It was very stressful and worrying at the time, but it happened a long time ago so that guy is now dead and it's just as well," Aaron said. "I don't normally wish harm on anyone, but that time, if I had gotten my hands own Mr. Bruce Meyerson well, let's just say, it's just as well I didn't."
"I'm right here and that guy is no longer alive to plague us," Shonda told Aaron soothingly patting his arm.
"If anything had happened to you, I would've torn that guy into little tiny pieces and not regretted it in the slightest," Aaron said.
"And what would you have done after that?" Abby wanted to know. She was enthralled by the tone of Aaron's voice as he told about the incident that had happened a long time ago.
"Died, not temporarily, but permanently," Aaron answered simply. "I wouldn't want to survive after Shonda died, so I would've found someone to simply kill me permanently."
"Remember what we talked about feeling like half your soul had been ripped out," Damon reminded Abby. "If anything were to happen to you believe me, I would've felt exactly the same as dad does and would seek help to end my life. Now consider the fact that we haven't been making love that long, but my parents who have been together for centuries, so imagine how deep their bond goes because of that. If I feel like taking my life if I lost, you, imagine how my dad would feel if my mother permanently died."
"That seems rather drastic, but then I know I haven't known about immortals for very long," Abby said.
"The bond between you and my son will deepen to the point that you know you can't live without him," Aaron said, and Shonda nodded in complete agreement.
"Right now, your bond is still new and shiny, but by the time that incident happened, me and Aaron had been together for a very long time, which meant our bond was old and deep, as Damon just explained. When you've been together for awhile, you'll realize we're right," Shonda added. "You're also not immortal yet, which means you can't feel the bond that Damon has with you. Once you are, you'll realize that you love him so deeply that you simply don't want to live without him if he were to die. While in my case, my death wouldn't have been permanent unless he cut off my head or cut out my heart that is definitely a possibility of what could have happened, which is why Aaron is still so furious about the incident, even though it was a very long time ago."
"Let's stop talking about the past. I'm sorry I brought it up," Aaron said. "That incident was a long time ago and nothing happened to Shonda thank God. If anything had, Damon and a lot of his siblings never would've been born."
"Even if I had died, that stalker knew nothing about immortality and I doubt he would've killed me permanently. Yes, I know I mentioned the possibility of him cutting off my head or cutting out my heart and while I won't deny it possible it's not too likely," Shonda said. "I likely would've come back to life in a few hours."
"That's certainly a very strong possibility, but then, Meyerson likely just would've come after you thinking you were some kind of demon in the shape of his wife," Aaron said.
"Anyway, it's the holiday, a time for joyous celebration," Shonda said, changing the subject. "When stockings are hung above the fireplace only to be filled with treats and toys come Christmas morning. Where Aaron and I and some of the family that was here, bought a tree, and decorated it and put numerous packages underneath, so many that the pile of presents looked like a miniature mountain range with a tree in the middle."
"Christmas is the time for family to gather around the tree and open presents," Aaron added smiling. "It is the time for families to come together to celebrate, feast, drink and be merry."
"It is a time for mulled cider and sitting in front of the fireplace as a family with a fire blazing," Damon added looking nostalgic for Christmases past. "A time to forget arguments and grudges and simply enjoy time as a family away from your busy life."
"It sounds great," Abby said smiling as the three Hotchners were remembering Christmases of the past.
"We'll be doing the same come next Christmas and when we have children, we'll go to a tree farm and get a live tree to put in our living room," Damon said. "We'll buy lights and tinsel and ornaments to hang and have stockings made with each of our children's names at the top."
"Now that really does sound right up my alley," Abby said looking wishful. "We never had a live tree when I was growing up, as it was and is the fake kind. Still, we put it up and decorated it with homemade ornaments and some bought. We decorated it with a string of white lights with gold and silver tinsel. We never had a blazing fire, though as my parents fireplace is gas, but still, it really does sound very nice."
"We've always had a live tree," Shonda said smiling, "and a lot of years we had little ones to rip open their packages on Christmas morning."
"They made quite the mess," Aaron said his tone fond, as he remembered having children ripping into the paper the presents were wrapped in and creating an avalanche of paper and bows.
"I can't, wait to have children," Abby said. "To see the excitement on their faces come Christmas morning as they run into where the tree is and see all the presents under it all bearing their names. I remember when Lucas and I were young and we would rush into the living room where the presents were and we could hardly wait for our parents to finally rise for the day.
"How Lucas and I would insist we open the presents before we even had breakfast. Our parents were nice enough to indulge us and so we would rip into that paper to discover what was in the packages and only then would mom fix us breakfast while dad would clean up all the shreds of paper we had caused from our enthusiasm. We would all sit down together to enjoy a long, leisurely breakfast and give thanks for a great year. We always had homemade waffles every year and it wasn't a breakfast that mom made very often as it was usually pancakes or waffles bought in the grocery store that just had to be put in the toaster."
"Sounds like Christmas was an exciting time for you and Lucas," Shonda said smiling at the story of Abby's childhood.
"It was and now Damon and I will celebrate Christmas with his family and also mine," Abby said.
"That was a really nice story Abby," Damon said, kissing her cheek. "I'm glad your parents made Christmas so great for you. Even though you were adopted by them, I'm glad they treated you as a daughter."
"You are adopted?" Shonda asked.
"I didn't find out until I was an adult that they had adopted me, because they were having trouble having children and then a few years later they had Lucas," Abby said. "Lucas was born on Christmas so it was like a Christmas miracle for mom and dad."
"That was a really great true story," Shonda said with a tear in her eye. "And it's a tale as old as time, that a couple has trouble having children and then they adopt, and then the mother gets pregnant after that. All the stress and expectation to get pregnant in a certain amount of time can stop a woman from conceiving."
"Yes, it was a really sweet tale," Aaron agreed, even as he hugged his wife close to him, kissing her on the cheek, as they sat there with empty pie plates in front of them.
"That pie was spectacular," Abby said. "What kind did you say it was? I tasted chocolate and marshmallow and something else, I can't quite identify."
"Chocolate marshmallow pie is the name. Jazz knows it's one of my favorites," Shonda said. "It also has nutmeg in it, which is probably what you tasted, but couldn't identify."
"Shonda, is a chocoholic," Aaron chuckled. His tone, affectionate and loving.
"Considering you have such a great baker in the family, it wouldn't be surprising if the whole family are chocoholics," Abby said. "I know you must exercise on a regular basis to maintain yourselves or, you'd probably all be as fat as pigs."
"That is so true," Shonda laughed lightheartedly not taking offense Abby's comment. "Getting fat wouldn't kill us, it won't give us diabetes, or heart attacks, which are two diseases caused by being too much overweight, so yes, we do exercise so we don't gain too much weight from all the sweets we consume."
"We definitely do, as Jazz's treats are too good to resist. Shonda is also very right, we can't get diabetes or any other disease that comes from being overweight," Aaron agreed, smiling at the light banter.
"I've been enjoying Jazz's desserts ever since I was a kid. Even when she was just learning they were always really good and she's gotten a lot better since, but then, she's had centuries of practice, so it's not surprising."
"Yeah, you said something when we first met that you've been enjoying Jazz's treats ever since you were a teenager," Abby remembered.
"That's true, I have," Shonda agreed smiling brilliantly. "I am one lucky woman to not only have a best friend that is such a talented baker, but to have Aaron and my family. The only sad part is my parents can't be here to celebrate with us, as they died a very long time ago. I still miss them sometimes. This is the season to count your blessings, not to dwell on bad or at least sad memories though."
"Of course you do, and there's nothing wrong with being a little nostalgic, because you miss your mom and dad on occasion. Christmas especially, is a time for family," Aaron said.
"Did you ever meet them?" Abby asked Aaron.
"Just the father, Mike Walters, as Shonda's mother was dead and had been for a few years when we met in Houston, Texas," Aaron answered. "I am really sad, I never got to meet Shonda's mother, as from all Shonda and Jazz have said about her, she was a wonderful woman who loved her family. Unfortunately, she was ill so died younger then most people did back then."
"Mom lived just long enough to see Jazz marry Dave, and died soon afterwards. She was very happy for Jazz, as she was practically another daughter to both my parents just like I was to Jazz's parents."
"Unfortunately, Mike was also ill, so he died soon after Shonda and I married, and had our first son who we named Michael by the way, in honor of him."
"He was very happy that I had met my mate and knew what Aaron was, so knew I would be around for a very long time," Shonda added look in the nostalgic all over again. "After my mother passed, it was like he was giving up on life, which is one reason he died way before his time, as he stopped eating properly because he didn't feel hungry. Also, I was doing well on my own running Walters Antiques, which is one reason he was giving up on life, as he knew I didn't really need him, even if I wanted him to live. He also missed my mother a whole lot and since I was doing so well, and he knew I was settled down with a good man he didn't see any point of hanging on."
"That's what grief does to you. It can affect your appetite," Abby said feeling, sorry for what happened to both of her future mother-in-law's parents. Yes, it had happened centuries ago, but that didn't mean she couldn't feel sympathy for Shonda's loss.
"True, it does. Still that's in the past and it happened centuries ago and since this is Christmas, let's not dwell on sad memories, as it will only make me feel melancholy. This is supposed to be a joyous and happy season," Shonda said. "My parents loved Christmas and we always had a live tree during the season, at least until my mother died and Aaron and I have just been continuing that tradition from my childhood."
Everybody was silent for a moment as they thought about all the blessings they had received before they all rose to head out to enjoy the party that was going on.

~~~Damon and Abby~~~