Dec 12, Dec 15, Dec 16, Criminal Minds, Gen, Play Along & A Santa Miracle & Chestnuts
Title: Play Along Author: alti_angel Fandom: Criminal Minds Characters: The whole crew Rating: G Word Count: 740 Disclaimer: Not mine Prompt: dec 12 flying reindeer A/N: not beta read
Before the team Christmas party (families included) started Hotch and JJ both pulled Reid aside and laid down the law.
1. Santa was real. Jolly old man, white beard, red suit, black boots, bag of toys, good girls and boys, ho-ho-ho and all that good stuff. Nothing more needed to be said.
2. If anyone asked about the nativity at Dave’s house, he was to answer with Mary and Joseph, a donkey to a stable, baby in the manger and shepherds and angels and wise men.
3. Whatever he said about trees, wreaths, green and red, stars, candles, angels, and anything else had better be concise and simple and sticking with the traditional…more modern, not pre 1800 traditional…versions the boys might have heard before or might hear later.
Reid sighed and agreed. The eye twitching didn’t start until later. Of course, they hadn’t counted on Reid having issues before the children even started asking questions.
Morgan’s current girlfriend was ‘into’ Christmas. And seemed to know all the legends of Christmas that plagued the internet, and were for the most part fabricated and false. Garcia just encouraged her and Morgan, having over heard the ‘law’ being set down, refused to allow Reid to refute any of the tales…rule 3.
So by the time dinner was over, and everyone was relaxing in the living room by the huge tree that Dave had had someone come in and decorate for him, Spencer was already a bit stressed. The boys, seeing Spencer on the floor, ran over to join him and started asking for Reid to tell them about things. It started out non-Christmassy, ice age creatures and comic books, but soon turned to Santa.
“How old is Santa?” Henry asked.
“He is old, he has a white beard remember?” Reid answered.
“Did he have a white beard when Mommy was little?”
“Yes.”
“How can he still deliver toys then? If he was old when mommy was little, then he should be way to old now. How long has he been delivering toys?”
“A long time.” Reid answered, with the first twitch.
“But how long of a long time?”
A full face twitch and a reprieve from answering as Jack decided Henry was monopolizing the conversation.
“Since he’s old how does he get all the toys everywhere?”
“His sleigh.”
“Like the one we went on earlier this month, with Aunt Jessica?” Jack asked.
Reid looked to Hotch. “Sort of, but the one we went on was pulled by horses.” Hotch answered. “Santa’s is pulled by Reindeer.”
“What’s a reindeer look like?” Jack asked.
“We saw some at the zoo, remember?” Reid answered.
Jack did. He looked at Reid and snorted.
“Those were smaller than horses.”
“They are.”
“And they pull a big sleigh?” Jack asked.
And Reid eyes twitched and nose twitched and neck twitched and his face was getting scrunched up.
“Yes.” Reid answered, in a strained voice.
“How?”
“Well, there are eight of them.”
Jack looked at him.
“And they fly.” Reid rushed out and then hung his head down on his chest, as if in shame.
“Santa has flying reindeer? Are you sure?”
“Uh-huh.”
Jack was about to ask more when Reid promptly stood up. “I have to go….brush my teeth.” He said, then left to the kitchen.
The boys looked at him confused, but shrugged their shoulders and went off to bug Garcia, who was sure to tell them more about Santa and his flying reindeer.
Hotch followed.
“I can’t do it anymore!” Reid shouted, loud enough for everyone to turn and look their way. Hotch led him to the back doors and out onto the patio.
“Santa as we know him was created in 1800, primarily by Clement Moore and Thomas Nast…”and Reid was off. He covered Santa and the 12 days of Christmas song which Morgan’s girl had spouted off about. He covered Christmas trees, the day of the Christ child’s birth - if the lad even ever existed, and candy canes. He spoke of all the other little legends Morgan’s girl gleeful shared and holly and ivy and mistletoe and finally yelled “And Reindeer do not fly!”
Reid’s nose was red and his ears were red.
“Ok, we can go back in now.” Reid said to Hotch. “When did you get your coat on?”
“Somewhere around Odin, or perhaps Mithras. I suspect we’ll be ready for gifts when we get in. Hopefully they saved us dessert.”
Title: A Santa Miracle Author: alti_angel Fandom: Criminal Minds Characters: The team Rating: PG Word Count: 950 Disclaimer: Not Mine Prompt: Dec 15 Christmas morning A/N: not beta read
Spencer Reid rolled over and the shot right into a sitting position. The jostling woke Spencer’s bed mates, two smaller beings who answered to Henry and Jack.
All three looked around them in wonder and delight.
“Santa made it.” Henry whispered in awe.
Frankly, Spencer was just as astonished. Because everyone was still at Hotch’s house after a blizzard started the evening before during their team Christmas party, a full six hours ahead of what the news reports had predicted. It had been cloudy and nasty looking when everyone had gathered at the Hotchner’s house after work (their team had had thanksgiving off but not the Christmas holidays…even today they were on call but Strauss had agreed that they would only have to go in if they had a case come in…however she wanted them in office the 24th and the 26th, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.), but by the time they’d finished dinner an hour and half later there were already eight inches of snow and Hotch called to see what the conditions were for traveling and then informed everyone they were all sitting tight. Henry was beside himself when he realized all his presents were at home, and Will even went out to try to dig out their car, but came back in and informed JJ they wouldn’t be leaving afterall…he had had trouble even seeing as he tried to get to the car.
Rossi and Hotch had looked at each other after that and soon had camp gear and stuff pulled in from the garage. Rossi had Hotch pulled up his grill, praising him for listening to Rossi and buying the kind of gas grill that could be used year round and not have had put it away for the winter. JJ set up a camp stove so they could use it for water and such if the power went out. Garcia and Morgan filled coolers with water for drinking and set about making sure there were snacks and such made ahead of time that could be eaten if the power went out.
Hotch charged up all the devices everyone had and filled up air mattresses so everyone would end up with somewhere to sleep. They located flashlights and candles, board and card games and books to read. Everyone decided that all gift opening would be done the next morning, on Christmas morning, even if Santa didn’t manage to find his way. The power had gone out before it even got past 8pm.
Santa had somehow made it, though. The power didn’t seem to be back on, but the lights on the tree sparkled. Stockings, loads of them, hung around the room, filled to the brim and the tree was piled with gifts beneath it.
Sitting front and center before the fireplace, which was lit and cheer and radiating heat, were two sleds and two snow fort kits and new boots and gloves for each boy. A train set had Jack’s name on it and sitting with Henry’s name was a set of wooden blocks.
“Spencer, how did Santa get here if we couldn’t get home?” Henry asked.
Spencer had no answer, because he was pretty darn certain the things sitting beneath the stocking which had his name on it hadn’t been there the night before, not when JJ was in tears worrying that Henry would be upset in the morning, nor when Hotch received the call from Jessica that Jack’s Santa gift was going to be stuck at her place until at least the next afternoon…long past time for Santa to come. Furthermore he wasn’t sure when the stuff could have gotten where it was because he and the boys had been asleep on the air mattress all night and Spencer wasn’t a sound sleeper.
“I guess because he’s Santa.” Spencer finally answered.
Jack laughed and hugged Henry and Spencer and got off the bed. He took off up the stairs yelling at the top of his lungs that Santa had come.
Spencer watched as everyone came into the living room and became more certain with each look of wonder and awe that Hotch and JJ and Will had not been the ones to create the Christmas Morning Miracle. It hadn’t been Rossi, nor Morgan or Blake. Then Spencer thought to look towards the one person who slept in the living room with him and the boys and he knew who their Christmas Miracle worker was. Garcia shared the same look of wonder as they rest of them, but hers was at watching the faces of her loved ones as they entered into the room.
The morning was spent dumping out stockings, one for each person in the house and each filled with oranges and apples, candy and pencils and pens and other little tidbits and opening the gifts that had been placed for each of them under each stocking. Each person had received a different card game and some sort of stuffed animal and some other little item, things which had included mouse pads and music cards or books.
Then Morgan got the boys all decked out in their gear and himself dressed as warm as he could and took the boys out to the back yard to play in the snow and Rossi and JJ cooked breakfast using the camp stove.
Garcia went over and cranked some more on the small hand crank generator that she had the tree lights plugged into and Spencer followed.
“How?” he asked
Garcia laughed.
“It’s Christmas, baby boy.” She said and tweaked Reid’s nose. She’d known Reid would be the first to figure out she’d been the one to manage it. Hotch was still so relieved he hadn’t started to worry yet.
Title: Chestnuts Author: alti_angel Fandom: criminal minds Characters: the whole crew Rating: PG Word Count: 190 Disclaimer: not mine Prompt: dec 16 chestnuts roasting on an open fire A/N: not beta read
Rossi brought the first batch to the office. They were in a brown paper bag and everyone showed up in his office to come and try a few, following the scent as it spread.
Hotch brought in the second and third rounds. Garcia bugged them both until they told her where they’d bought them, and founds four through seven were brought into the building by Garcia.
Reid was the surprise though. He didn’t bring them into the office, he hand delivered an invitation to a team get together, held in Hotch’s backyard. Jessica provided the fire bowl. Reid taught them all how to roast their own chestnuts over an open fire. He gave histories and cited works other than ‘the song’ featuring chestnuts (and other nuts). He helped the boys learn the Christmas Song and told tales about other parts in the song.
And Hotch had to call back Jack’s school to ease the tension between Jack and his teacher after Jack told her he’d roasted chestnuts over his weekend and she didn’t believe him and promise to bring a batch of roasted chestnuts by the school the next day.