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“It is Christmas, right?” Aaron asks suspiciously, inching his eyes open.
It’s 6am.
Not a peep has come out of Saskia or Jack.
Usually they’re manically whispering at 4am about how they can only get up at 5.
And you think, for a minute, it’s because of how crazy the last couple of years has been. Maybe today is the first time in a long time there’s not the pressure of you and Aaron running off to work, or someone calling you in for work, or the fact that everyone managed to sleep all night.
All.
Night.
Without a baby crying.
“Where’s my Sweetness?” you ask suspiciously, eyes falling to her empty bedside bassinet.
Sure, under normal circumstances you’d freak out, if you didn’t know that Aaron, Jack and Saskia are partial to sneaking her out while you, finally, sleep.
“I don’t know,” Aaron says in a suspiciously sing-song voice and you turn to him, finding him with her nestled against his chest, tiny hands pulsating against his finger that it’s wrapped around.
“Hello,” you breathe, snuggling into his side and running the back of your finger softly over her face. “Has she eaten?”
“Mhmm,” Aaron says, kissing your hair. “Eaten, slept, breathed, pooped, the whole checklist.”
“And did you do the full checklist?”
Aaron rolls his eyes. “That’s asking a bit too much of me, isn’t it?” he teases before “yes.”
“And you didn’t hear Jack and Sas get up?”
“No,” he says but he’s completely enthralled in your daughter’s face that it’s a miracle he’s noticed anything. Including the fact that it’s weird that Jack and Saskia aren’t bouncing on your bed telling you to hurry up and get up because presents aren’t going to wait forever.
“Mom?” Saskia whispers. She doesn’t knock on the door, she just kind of slinks in.
Fully dressed.
“What’s up, Sassy?” you ask softly, half rising yourself.
She’s never dressed on Christmas.
“Are you guys awake?” Saskia says.
“Nope, sleeping,” Aaron says and Saskia rolls her eyes.
“Uncle Dave’s coming over at seven. Me and Jack owe him a bottle of whiskey and pancakes but I told him we can’t get him whiskey so pancakes it is. You guys both gotta be dressed when he gets here.”
“Sassy, it’s Christmas,” Aaron groans. “I love Dave but I don’t want to see him on my day off.”
“He has the same opinion of you, time to get up,” and she flicks the lights on before closing the door.
“I wish I never taught her that,” Aaron groans.
“Can I have my baby?” you coo, reaching out for her. Aaron reluctantly nods and passes her to you. She wakes a little, then nestles against your chest.
“Merry Christmas,” Aaron says, kissing you lightly.
“Merry Christmas,” you respond.
****
“You’re late,” Saskia says when Dave arrives.
You’ve already done presents, and pancakes, and extra pancakes, then Jack and Saskia decided to draw together with their new art supplies. It didn’t last long, though, because the fact that it’s 10 and not 7 when Dave turns up.
“Alright, alright, Merry Christmas to you too,” Dave teases.
“Did you bring them?”
“Are you two raising the next BAU agent? She doesn’t mess around.” And yet, Dave kisses both her cheeks and she lets him, holding out her hands. Dave hands her two wrapped presents.
“Thanks Uncle Dave!” Jack says, clapping his hands. “I’m super excited.”
“Where’s the little angel?” Dave asks. “You two are going to want both hands for these.”
You reluctantly hand her over, frowning lightly as Dave sits across from the two of you in the armchair, cooing at your daughter.
“Do you want to do yours first, Sassy?” Jack asks as he sways.
“We could do them together?” Sas offers.
Jack nods far too eagerly.
“What have you two been organising?” you say, shuffling in your seat. “Do you know what they’ve been planning?” you ask, turning to Aaron.
He’s got his full profiler face on, but it’s still drawing up a blank. Jack and Saskia look way too proud of themselves as they hand you the wrapped boxes. Jack hands you his, Saskia hands hers to Aaron.
“Uncle Dave and Gramps and Spence helped,” Saskia says. “And you both helped too.”
“Sassy you’re going to tell them what it is!” Jack squeaks. “Open it, open it, open it.” He’s jumping up and down excitedly, and you’ve got no idea where he’s gotten his impatience from.
“Together,” Jack says quickly when Aaron pulls the wrapping paper before you.
“Okay, okay, together,” Aaron says, nodding to you.
So you both pull the wrapping paper back--gingerly, at first, until Jack and Saskia tell you to “hurry up, hurry up, hurry up” and you just rip them, opening the boxes inside. Your breath catches with a small smile.
“Are these the adoption papers?” you say, raising an eyebrow. “The ones we couldn’t get until the new year?”
“Yeah!” Jack says, launching himself at you into a hug. “It all got mixed up in court and Sassy and I got everyone to help.”
You kiss his cheek as he squeezes you really, really tight.
Aaron hasn’t said anything.
Neither has Saskia.
When you look to Dave he’s looking suspiciously happy with tears in his eyes. Which is when you turn to fifteen-year-old Saskia, cradled in Aaron’s lap, as he tries very, very hard not to cry.
“I didn’t mean to make you cry,” Saskia says as she wraps her arms around his head.
Okay so maybe he’s not trying not to cry. He really is crying.
“Those are good tears, right?” Jack says, poking Aaron with his foot.
“Yeah, Bud,” Aaron responds wetly. “These are good tears.”
You laugh but it’s choked off with tears, shifting so you can pull Aaron and Saskia into you. From there you’re all just a big ball of laughter and smiling and tears.
Dave somehow manages to get a picture of the four of you without anyone noticing, and it goes right on the mantelpiece never to a picture of all of you with Haley, and a shadow box of your rings from Vegas. Right with the picture of the five of you at the hospital right after the baby was born.
“Merry Christmas,” Jack says, followed by the tiniest: “I’m squashed.”
Which is probably what he’ll feel like for the rest of his life.
But at least he knows the people squashing him do it because they love him.