Title: Season's Greetings
By: nebula99
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Rating: PGT
Type: Slash
Permission to archive: Yes
Pairing: Hotch/Reid
Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. At all.
Author's note: Spoilers for Memoriam.
Summary: It's Christmas Eve.

***

Hotch had a key, but he still knocked and waited for Reid to answer it. Letting himself in felt too intrusive and so he stood patiently, listening as Reid came slowly to the door and opened it.

Dumping his bag, Hotch removed his coat and scarf and hung them up by the door. He grinned at Reid who stared back at him unsmiling.

"You have chocolate sauce on your sweater," said Reid, arms folded across his chest.

Hotch looked down and probed the brown patch on his sweater with a forefinger. He lifted it to his mouth and tasted it before nodding at Reid. "I preferred the strawberry, but Jack had other ideas. I think he was actually wearing more than he ate by the end of dinner."

Hotch tugged the sweater over his head and strode into Reid's bedroom with it, tossing it onto the laundry hamper. Then he walked back into the living room of the tiny apartment, puzzled to see Reid still standing there, looking gloomy.

"Have you eaten already?" asked Hotch. "I could fix you something."

"I'm not hungry," said Reid, before slumping onto the couch and putting his feet up on a stool. He still had his arms wrapped across his body and Hotch was concerned by the tension he was giving off.

"Is everything okay?" asked Hotch. "You knew I was going to spend today with Jack and I wanted to at least put him to bed. It is Christmas Eve."

"I don't mind about that," scowled Reid. "Christmas is all about kids and . . ." His voice caught. "You're a good father - Jack's very lucky."

Sitting down next to him, Hotch reached out to caress Reid's hair. "What's up?" he asked, his voice low and gentle.

Reid didn't speak, he just shrugged and then picked up a greetings card and handed it to Hotch. It was large and glossy, with a picture of a snow covered cottage on the front. Hotch opened it up and read it: To Spencer, Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for the New Year, from Dad. He closed the card and replaced it on the table.

"I see," said Hotch, wrapping an arm around Reid's shoulders.

Reid sat stiffly instead of moving into Hotch's embrace, resisting any comfort that his lover might offer. "I'm so pissed off with him for doing that," he said.

"I can understand that," said Hotch.

Reid frowned at the card. "Not one card, or letter, or phone call in seventeen years and now all of a sudden he thinks it's okay to send Christmas cards?"

Hotch didn't answer. Instead he rubbed Reid's shoulder and listened.

"When he left, I was sad – I really missed him and it was hard taking care of Mom. Then I spent a long time being angry with him – it took years to even feel nothing. I'd just managed to put him out of my mind after seeing him again and now I'm mad at him because he's sent me a card and made me have to think about him again."

Reid turned to look at Hotch. "He was so close but he never once let me know where he was. He's known where I am, what I'm doing, but he still couldn't just call, or write me? There was nothing for seventeen years – he may as well have been dead."

Hotch leaned over to plant a kiss on his lover's forehead. "So why didn't you just throw it in the trash?"

Reid shrugged. "I don't know. He's never even said sorry for what he did – I don't want to play happy families with him but I don't know what to do about . . . this." He gestured angrily at the card and then let his body relax a little against Hotch.

"You don't have to do anything," said Hotch. "You can do something if and when you want to. Just because you've gotten the answer to one question, it doesn't mean that you have to forget all the rest."

"Did you see the picture?" asked Reid bitterly. "Nice domestic scene all full of Kodak moments – just how it was at home. The ideal family Christmas where saying you're sorry means everything is okay."

"You're profiling a Christmas card," chided Hotch gently. "It's just a card. I doubt your father thought very hard about the picture – he's a man."

Reid huffed and raised an eyebrow. "Do you think any of his co-workers even know he has a family?"

"I guess they do now," said Hotch.

"Mom told me that he wanted more kids," said Reid sadly. "But he walked out on me. I guess I really didn't turn out like he hoped."

Hotch stroked his lover's hair gently. "Your father is an asshole for leaving and an idiot for staying away. But that's on him – none of it is your fault.

Reid didn't reply but Hotch felt his body soften a little. He decided to move the subject on. "Did you call Bennington?"

"Yeah," nodded Reid. "Mom was pretty sleepy, so I didn't talk to her for long. I told the staff to call me if my father tried to visit."

"Do you really think he would?" said Hotch.

"I don't know," shrugged Reid. "I don't really know him, so it's hard to tell what he'll do."

Hotch pulled him a little closer, encouraging him to relax further. "Does your mom like Christmas?"

"She used to," replied Reid. "It was fun when I was little. Although apparently she had to fight my dad to tell me about Santa Claus."

"What do you mean?" frowned Hotch.

"Mom was all for it, but Dad didn't want them to lie to me," replied Reid with a wry smile. "Which is ironic, given recent events."

Hotch nodded and pressed a kiss to Reid's forehead. "So when did you find out about Santa?"

"When I was six," said Reid, nestling into Hotch's warm body. "I wrote him a secret letter asking for my parents to stop fighting, for my mom to get better and for a Millennium Falcon."

"And what happened?" asked Hotch.

"My parents kept fighting, my mom stayed sick and I got an Ewok," sighed Reid. "I couldn't respect Santa for that."

Hotch smiled. "I was seven and I woke up and saw my mom putting my stocking at the end of my bed. I had my suspicions but that nailed it." He kissed Reid chastely on the lips. "I'm surprised you didn't start doubting the physics of Santa's whole method of delivery."

Reid shook his head with a smile. "I was only six, Aaron. I wanted to believe."

Hotch grinned at him and kissed him again. "So, do we watch the Grinch, or did you have any other plans?"

Reid thought for a moment and then looked at Hotch, an impish smile on his face. "My mom told me that Santa can't come unless you go to bed early."

Hotch smirked at him. "Even if he doesn't exist?"

Reid got up and held a hand out to Hotch. "Especially if he doesn't exist."


end