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Originally published on ff.net on Dec 13, 2013

A/N: Hey all! Here's a new little Christmas fic from me. This was written for pandorabox82, as part of the Christmas fic Exchange organized by the JJ-Hotch Safe Haven Facebook group. I hope she and everyone else enjoys it! Happy Holidays!


Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.


Chapter 1:




"All right, boys!" JJ called down the small hill. "Time to go home."


She watched her son, Henry, and Jack Hotchner begin to trudge up the sled they'd been using all afternoon. Satisfied that they were heeding her instructions, she took a moment to take in the beauty around her.


The light of day was waning as JJ stood atop the hill behind her home. The air was chilly, fogging before her with every breath, but refreshing at the same time. The sky was turning a lovely shade of blue, deeper than that of a midafternoon day. And there was a glowing line of orange illuminating the few clouds in the sky as the sun continued its descent. It was just a beautiful end to a lovely day.


"Mommy!" Henry exclaimed, laughing as he ran towards her.


She took a deep, calming breath, smiling; it was moments like this that she lived for. Moments of pure happiness.


Her five year old ran-tackled her legs, nearly knocking her off her feet. She laughed heartily as Henry hugged her tight, continuing to giggle. She put her hands on his shoulders, holding him close.


Thank God for my son, she thought blessedly.


When a car accident had taken Will from her a year ago today, God has saw fit to spare her baby, thankfully. Losing Will had been painful enough, but both would have been unbearable. Because of her friends, her son, and Hotch, she'd made it through. She was in a very good place now.


JJ had to smile when she thought of Hotch. He'd become her best friend, her confidant. She had no clue what she would do without him. The problem was because he was so good to her she'd developed this annoyingly intense crush on him. Annoying because she knew he would never feel the same about her as she did him and because she just couldn't shake it. The latter, she totally blamed on him, though. Did he have to be so wonderful?


"Is it time to go home, JJ?" Jack wondered out loud.


She smiled at the little boy of seven, almost eight, actually—which reminded her, she needed to talk to Hotch about planning a birthday party—and held out a hand for him to take.


"I think that's enough sledding for one day."


Taking Henry's hand, the three of them began their trek back to JJ's home, with Jack dragging the sled behind him.


"Besides, there's two cups of hot chocolate with your names on them at home."


"With mush-mellows?" Henry asked enthusiastically.


JJ chuckled. "Yep, with marshmallows."


"Yay!" Jack and Henry declared in unison.




Hotch stomped his snowy feet on JJ's front stoop as he waited for the door to open. He'd just shoveled her walkway for her, knowing she probably hadn't had the chance to all day with taking care of the boys.


He smiled, thinking about how the three of them had spent the day together while he'd been at work, now coming to join them for the evening. It's almost like we're a family, he thought wistfully.


Of course, Rossi and Erin would argue that they were a family. The couple had gotten it into their heads that because they spent so much time together that he and JJ should just get married already. As one could imagine, conversations with 'The Eccentrics,' as he had dubbed them, were always on the frustrating side.


It wasn't that he didn't have feelings for the lovely blonde—who wouldn't? She was beautiful, fun, motherly, yet, could still kick ass, all rolled into one. It was the fact that she'd lost her husband, not too long ago, a man she loved. He just wasn't sure JJ was ready for something new and he really didn't want to pressure her.


In the entire year following Will's death, JJ had never mentioned dating anyone to him. Nor did he hear anything from Garcia, his secondary source when he felt weird about asking JJ these kinds of things. Maybe she really wasn't ready.


There's only one way to find out, a voice in his head—one that sounded suspiciously like Rossi—piped up.


Geez, now his brain was turning on him, too. He sighed just as the door burst open.


Two giggly boys greeted him.


"Dad!"


"Hotch!"


Each one latched onto an arm and pulled him inside, leaving the door ajar. "Hey boys," he returned affectionately.


"Dad, dad! JJ made us Christmas tree shaped pancakes for breakfast; we saved you some!" Jack let him know.


"We put green sprinkles on them; they were so yummy," Henry added.


"Wow, sounds delicious. I can't wait."


Jack let go of his hand suddenly to stand before him. "And look," Jack exclaimed. "Let's show him, Henry."


They lined up in front of him and now he could see that they were wearing matching Christmas sweaters. Bright red, with a cartoonish, goofy looking Rudolf front and center.


"See what JJ got us, aren't they cool?"


"They are, son," he agreed wholeheartedly.


"I'm glad you think so. There's one for you, too."


Hotch looked up to see JJ watching them from her stance in the doorway to the back of the house. Arms crossed over her chest, a smile on her face that lit up her beautiful blue eyes, she looked completely at ease. She was a wonder to look at. And if he wasn't careful he could lose time doing so.


"Great," he managed to get out.


She pushed off the wall and joined them in the foyer. He could see that she, too, was wearing the same sweater as they boys. Who knew Rudolf could look so sexy, he mused.


"You're right on time; we were just about to take our hot chocolates to the den to watch Anastasia." She paused, waiting for him to take off his coat. "Boys, why don't you go set up the movie while I get Hotch a drink…"


"Ok, mommy."


The rambunctious ones dashed for the den, leaving the two of them alone.


"Hi," she said sweetly, coming to stand before him.


"Hey," he replied, almost giddily.


They stood there for a moment, just smiling at each other. Come to think of it, they'd been doing that a lot lately…


Abruptly, JJ broke the gaze, taking his jacket from his hands. "I hope you don't mind staying," she said, now moving to hang his jacket in the closet. "I sort of promised Jack the movie. Oh, and pizza! I promised him pizza, too… I should get on that."


He stepped behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "JJ, since when do I mind hanging out with you and Henry?"


She chuckled, turning around, she said, "Just checking, you know…" Once again, she moved away, this time towards the open door. She seemed antsy; making him wonder what was up. "… we love hanging out with you and Jack, too, by the—Oh!" She glanced back at him with a look of delighted surprise on her face. "You shoveled the sidewalk for me!"


She looked too happy for words at the simple gesture, making him blush a bit. "Yeah, well, it was the least I could do… you know, for watching Jack for me today."


JJ's vacation had begun two days before his and she'd helped him today by watching Jack. With Jessica out of town, it was good to have the help.


She took a few steps towards him, closing the distance between them. He was quite surprised when she leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek, lingering there. It was the most perfectly sweet kiss he'd ever received.


Her lips moved to hover near his ear for a moment. Her breath tickled at his earlobe and it took every ounce of willpower to stave off his pleasure-filled shiver.


"Thank you," she murmured.


She pulled back and he could see a twinkle in her eye. A twinkle of possibility…




JJ sighed happily as the credits began to roll. She loved that movie. Ever since learning about the Romanov family and the tragedy that had befallen them while she was in school, she'd always been fascinated by them. Especially by the occasional stories that either Alexei or Anastasia had survived. That's probably why she liked Anastasia, the movie, so much. It took a tragic event and spun it into a 'happily ever after' fairytale. If only fairytales were real, she mused.


She looked down to the floor, to the makeshift bed her son and Jack had created before the movie started. They'd called it 'the cozy zone.' Her little one was fast asleep and Jack seemed pretty out of it as well.


Ok, so life wasn't going exactly according to plan. But, things were going pretty well for her these days. She was healthy, so was Henry. And her son seemed to be coping pretty well since his dad's death. She had a great job. And, consequently, even greater friends. And one of them just so happened to be sitting by her side.


JJ picked up the remote and turned down the volume before turning in her seat to face her companion. She was surprised when she saw that Hotch was watching her with a serene, almost tender look on his face. She fought the urge to blush in case she was reading him all wrong.


"Good movie," he commented lightly.


"The best," she agreed.


They both went silent once again, just watching each other. And, just when the silence was about to become too weighty for words, he spoke again, "JJ, can I ask you a question?"


She could have made a 'you just did' joke just then, but the moment seemed too serious, too heavy, to make light of. "Of course, you can ask me anything, Aaron."


He opened his mouth to say it, but stopped. Closing his mouth, he looked down and away as if losing his resolve. And, suddenly, she would give anything to hear what he had to ask.


Carefully, she put a hand over top of his that lay between them on the couch, and gave a light squeeze. He looked up then; she could see her simple touch had helped. She waited for him to say what he needed to say.


"If I were to ask you," he began slowly, "out, what would you say?"




That's it for this chapter. This will be a two chapter fic, the second will come tomorrow.


Again, I really hope you all liked this first chapter. And if you've got a second, I hope you'll let me know what you think. Thanks!

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