December 25th: The Best Gift

Aaron saw the headlights pull into the driveway, and he frowned. There was no one who was supposed to come to them today. Spencer was up in the bedroom, wrapping the last of the gifts for Aaron, something which Aaron knew hadn’t arrived until today. Aaron had already noticed the other gift under the tree for him that was probably the placeholder, Aaron would end up with two gifts, and he was just fine with that. Spencer never spent a lot of money on things for anyone unless something that they wanted had a price tag added to it. Aaron loved every single gift that Spencer got for him, even if at first, Aaron hadn’t understood most of them.

Walking to the curtain, Aaron looked out and frowned when he saw the car that was in the driveway. It had been almost a year since the last time that Tony had come to them. Aaron and Spencer had been in a relationship since Aaron had signed the papers the first time that Haley wanted him to. It hadn’t been the best every single moment over the years, but they worked everything out. On occasion, they had found someone to take to bed for a night, discreetly. Tony had been the only one who had been invited a second and then more times. Aaron knew that things were not the greatest at NCIS, but he had hoped that if Tony really needed them, he would come around. There was something going on at NCIS, but even the rumors were varied enough that Aaron couldn’t even figure out which one was the closest.

Tony was sitting in the car, the car off, but he didn’t seem to be wanting to get out of it. He dropped his head back to rest on the headrest there. Aaron wasn’t going to bother him. He would come up and knock, use the key he had been given two years ago, or he would leave. Tony had yet to use the key to enter the house unless they were coming back from a date, and he got there first. Aaron knew that the man was a little hesitant about relationships in general but also this one that they were in. Aaron was more than willing to wait him out. He knew that Tony would give him and move in with them at some point. Aaron loved him, Spencer loved him, and Tony loved both of them. Things were going to go somewhere, or they weren’t.

The sound of Spencer’s feet on the stairs was enough to bring Aaron out of his thoughts. He turned away from the window because while Aaron would leave it until Tony made a decision, Spencer would not. Spencer was like a dog who had a bone. He didn’t let things go. Aaron looked at Spencer as he came down the stairs. He was dressed in a pair of jeans that used to be Aaron, so while they were a little big on him, it wasn’t that bad, but Aaron loved seeing him in them. Aaron loved touching him in them. There was something about Spencer wearing his clothes that did something to Aaron on the inside.

“So, how do you feel about a snack before bed?” Aaron asked. He looked at the time. There wasn’t a time that they needed to be in bed by, but dinner felt like so long ago, and while there were cookies, Aaron wanted something a little more filling and less bad for him.

“Sure.” Spencer was carrying four gifts, and Aaron wondered who they were all for. The tree had a lot of presents under it, and while not all of them were for each other, Aaron hadn’t thought that Spencer had that many presents left to get for anyone. In fact, Aaron had no clue of anyone who Spencer didn’t have a gift for in their circle of friends and co-workers.

Aaron snagged Spencer’s arm and pulled him in for a kiss when he got close to him after dropping the presents off in the living room. There was no resistance, even when Aaron wrapped an arm around him, lifting and dropping him down onto the counter beside where Aaron was. Aaron liked having Spencer at his mercy a little when Spencer was soft and happy like he was at the moment. It felt good, probably way too good, to feel Spencer gripping Aaron’s side with his knees and holding him in place just as much as Aaron was trapping him in place.

Spencer was the first to open his lips, darting his tongue out to brush over Aaron’s. Aaron trailed his hands up Spencer’s legs before he gripped him at the thighs and drew him off the counter a little to where Spencer had to really hold onto Aaron or fall off.

“So what has you so worked up?” Spencer asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you were asking about snacks and then kissing me like you want to start a different kind of snack.”

“I liked the look of you with the tree behind you, wearing my jeans and that stupid shirt that Garcia got you for your birthday. It looks great on you, but you only wear it around the house, so I get very inappropriate erections seeing you in it.”

“Since we are home and no one else is around, it’s not inappropriate. We can even strip naked and have sex in front of the tree, and no one can say a damned thing about it. So what kind of snack do you want? Food or my body?”

Aaron chuckled and leaned in to kiss his lover. Spencer had never been shy about sex, at least the liking it part, asking for it was another thing. Aaron enjoyed spreading him out on the bed and kissing him everywhere, getting Spencer so hard he ached with it before letting his own need to fuck take over. They made love often but fucked just as much. There were cases where they just needed to remind themselves that they were alive and sex was always hard and fast and when it was done, they both looked a little worse for the wear with bruises, scratches, and a few time some pretty interesting bite marks but it was always what they needed.

“Food.” Aaron didn’t have a chance to say anything else because as soon as he finished the word, his stomach growled, telling Spencer unequivocally that he was hungry. Spencer laughed and pulled Aaron for a chaste kiss. It felt good to have Spencer smiling into the kiss before letting go of Aaron all of the way. “I’ll get that you can just settle in the living room. Wine?”

“That bottle you opened last night, I think there was about a glass left each before I sealed it and put it in the fridge.”

“Sure.”

Aaron busied himself with getting the wine poured and the food made up. He had just finished pouring the wine into the third glass when the sound f the front door opening told Aaron that Tony had made up his mind to use the key for the first time. Aaron waited to hear if Spencer came out of the living room to find who was there.

“Come into the living room, Tony,” Spencer called out.

Aaron shook his head. Spencer had to have seen him out there and for once had let the man make his own decision on what he was going to do. Aaron picked up the glasses with ease and headed to the living room with them in one hand and the meat, cheese, and cracker plate in the other. The plate had been made up for a late afternoon snack for the two of them, but Aaron knew they had enough to make up another if they wanted.

“Here,” Aaron said as he handed over the first glass to Tony. Tony gave him a smile, but it wasn’t exactly a happy one. Aaron watched him as he settled into the chair that he usually sat in, even though it was moved to make room for the tree. It made Tony face them both a little more when Aaron settled on the couch, and Spencer leaned over into him, his feet on the third cushion on the couch. It was a normal position for both of them when they were at home and settled in for the night. Though now, it was a little later than usual.

“Thanks, Aaron,” Tony said, and his voice cracked a little on the words. It seemed like it was overused.

“You want some hot tea?” Spencer asked as he sat upright again and looked at Tony with worry on his face.

“No, it’s fine. I had a case two days ago, and my throat’s still a little raw. I just got out of the hospital, actually.”

“Tony,” Aaron said.

“I’m fine. I wasn’t able to talk for the first day, and there were minor cuts. I mainly stayed as a protective measure. I no longer work at NCIS, and I’ve accepted a position in the FBI as of a few hours ago. Fornell is pissed that I didn’t join his unit, but I’m going to go the long way through the Academy and then see what team I best want to be on with the few divisions that want me. I was made aware that I have a standing invitation to join the BAU, but I don’t…I don’t want to be on your guys’ team, and if I join a different one, I’ll not get to see you guys. I just think a different unit would be better. I have my pick, though.”

“What happened?”

“I didn’t get back-up when I should have, and I was kidnapped on something totally unrelated to what I was doing at the time. I was undercover, of sorts, in an area taking voiceprints. Hence the throat. Then I was tortured for information that I didn’t have about a case for the FBI that I knew nothing about. However, one of the lines was tapped, and when they were talking on it, I was heard, and the person knew who I was, and they came in busted it all up and saved me. I was able to give my statement, which was enough to get a warrant to take down the operation. I’ve had an FBI guard right up until I pulled in here. Then I was left alone. I won’t be shocked if you have a confirmation that I’m here and fine.”

Spencer looked at the coffee table before he looked around. He was looking for their phones.

“Kitchen by the stove.”

“Oh, right, we were working on lists.” Spencer drained his wine and stood up. He disappeared, and Tony’s eyes watched him the entire time.

Aaron watched Tony’s face as he watched Spencer, and he saw longing there, but it didn’t seem to be just for Spencer as Tony darted his eyes to look at Aaron as well, and the look was still there as well. Aaron wondered if Spencer and Aaron were going to get a gift this year that they had wanted for a while but never hoped they would get. It would be a wonderful thing, in Aaron’s eyes.

Spencer came back in with both of their phones.

“We were both messaged when you didn’t answer. I texted back everyone, including Fornell, and I have no clue how he got my personal number and let them know that Tony is just fine and that security is about to be engaged. Though I have no clue why. Everyone was caught according to what this message says.”

“Yes, everyone who was part of the ring that the FBI took down was caught. The terrorist that my team and I was taken care of the day I was kidnapped. There is, however, a Mossad agent who escaped custody where she was taken in after attacking three FBI agents who were coming to check on them as I assumed since I was not given back-up that my two agents who were supposed to be watching my back were killed or injured. When the FBI got to the car, Ziva attacked the first agent who demanded her to give up her identification to prove who she was. She was shot once but escaped on foot.”

“Aaron,” Spencer said as he looked at him.

“I’ll move Tony’s car into the garage after getting yours out. That will make it harder to see if from the road and come here. Does she know about us?”

“No. Not even Gibbs knew about who it was I was hooking up with on occasion.”

Aaron got up and did as he said he was going to. He made sure that no one was around that he could see while he played musical vehicles. Spencer parked his outside a good bit, so it wasn’t that strange to see it, even though they had a three-car garage. The third slot was full of junk, so Aaron would work on that during the week of his break before heading back after the first of the year. It wouldn’t be that hard as most of it was there for Aaron to donate to places as it was things that had been set aside when Spencer had moved in with him. At least, as long as that was what Tony was there for, starting a full-on relationship with the two of them. It would be the best Christmas present ever to Aaron and probably Spencer as well. Aaron grabbed Tony’s go-bag from the back seat of the car and slipped back inside of the house through the kitchen. He hung the bag off of the staircase that led up to the second floor so it could be grabbed easily. The second floor had two guest rooms and two offices. Tony used one of the guest rooms on occasion, and Aaron knew that Spencer was all for turning that into a room for him. The top floor, a converted attic held the master bedroom. It was a good space and got the afternoon sun but no the evening or morning, so it didn’t wake them up early or make them want to stay up late. There was a balcony off of it as well that had two huge sliding glass doors that led out onto it, but there were blackout curtains stopping that light from getting in no matter the time of day if they were closed.

Spencer loved to eat breakfast on the balcony when the weather permitted, so when it was too cold outside, he ate it in the kitchen. Aaron loved to see him out there on the balcony on the mornings that he woke up first and grabbed breakfast for both of them.

“FBI went over my car to make sure there was no tracker on it, and I ditched go-bags that I kept in my car for packing a new one in my apartment before heading here.” Tony’s voice was soft and full of emotion, barely held on emotion that Aaron knew he needed to get a grip on or let them out. It was always a crapshoot on which one Tony did. Aaron figured that it would come once they were all three in bed, Aaron and Spencer wrapped around Tony.

“Well, finish off your wine, and we can head up and get comfortable. I want to see your release papers.”

“Spencer,” Tony protested.

“Ah, don’t even. You know that I don’t settle until I see that kind of stuff. You were here for the epic fight that I got into with Aaron after New York. You know I am going to win, so it’s just better to just give in.”

Tony laughed, and there was a rustle. Spencer started to hum non-sense. Aaron had to see what they were doing, so he stepped into the living room. Tony was draining his wine and leaned back in the chair, his eyes searching out Aaron unerringly. It was nice to see that Tony was that relaxed in their house.

“Why don’t we head up. I’ll lock up all the way and check everything. Spencer and I have our guns in the safe upstairs. You know the code, Tony.”

Tony nodded his head and pushed to stand right there for a moment, his eyes on Spencer before he walked over to where Aaron was and kissed him on the lips before going up. Aaron watched Spencer out of the corner of his eye while he walked to check the alarm before he started a walk around the house to check the windows and the door to the backyard. Spencer was heading up the stairs with the papers in hand when Aaron got back to the living room area. Aaron followed behind him. Spencer took the two offices and checked them while Aaron took the guest rooms before they went up to the master bedroom.

Aaron reached out and pulled Spencer back into his arms as he took in the sight of Tony asleep in their bed. He was dressed only in a pair of boxers, his body looked like a giant bruise, and there were a few bandages.

“Well?” Aaron asked.

“He’s fine. His muscles are bruised, but he’s taking stuff for helping them to not tighten up that much. He said he took his last dose in the car before coming inside. I have the pills in the kitchen. To be taken with food. So I figured that one of us can cook breakfast in the morning and the other can make sure that he sleeps. You know that he doesn’t sleep well in hospitals. With the stress of everything else, well, I’m sure that he slept for shit.”

“I’m glad he came to us, but he’s not agreed to this yet, Spencer. Don’t get too attached.”

“That ship has sailed a long time ago.”

Aaron nodded his head because he knew that it had for both of them. Now there was only dealing with it all.

XxXxXxX

Aaron felt the bed move, and he groaned as it meant Spencer was more awake than Aaron wanted him to be. He looked around, to see that the sun was filtering into the room, it was a little later than he thought. The bed moved again, but Aaron just froze as Spencer was sitting at the table that had been dragged in from the balcony, eating. Aaron looked to the side to see that it was Tony moving in the bed. He was looking at Aaron with a soft smile on his face. His eyes were a little weird looking, but Aaron knew well the feeling of muscle relaxers in the system and how that could make one feel.

“Good morning, Aaron,” Tony said.

“Good morning. Merry Christmas.”

Spencer made a noise, and Aaron looked over to see that he was reading.

“I forgot to grab the gifts for both of you before I came over, so Spencer said when he went to pick up something, he would stop by and grab them. However, I did have a book for Spencer in my bag. I grabbed it as I hadn’t got to wrap it yet.”

“You didn’t have to get us anything at all.”

“Well, I thought that maybe my first gift could be given now, well outside of Spencer’s book.” Tony pushed up to where he was on his knees before he moved over to straddle Aaron. Aaron noticed that he was naked. His cock was half hard.

Aaron couldn’t help grabbing Tony’s hips when he got settled on top of Aaron. Tony leaned down to kiss him.

“Merry Christmas, Aaron,” Tony breathed. He pressed his lips to Aaron’s and did back down at all, instead, his lips parted, and Aaron willingly gave into the kiss. It felt damned good to be holding Tony in his and Spencer’s bed.

Aaron knew that Spencer would be drawn over at some point; the sound of kissing and probably more might take a while to draw him out, though. If the book was that good, he might not come up at all.

There was no need to worry as the bed dipped behind Tony, and then there were hands on Aaron’s legs, ghosting up only to disappear and then grab Tony and pull him away from Aaron. Spencer tugged Tony’s face around to where they could kiss. The angle was awkward as hell, but it still looked fucking wonderful to Aaron. Aaron loved watching them kiss, it was better when it was all of them trading kisses and taking turns. Aaron sat up and grabbed at Spencer’s hand to pull him around to where he was closer to him. He waited for Spencer to break the kiss with Tony before he dove in for a kiss.

Aaron lost track of time as he reminded himself of the feel of his lovers.

Tony stopped the kissing first, he looked at Aaron’s face with a smile on his. He cupped the sides of Aaron’s face and drew him close. “I love you.”

“I love you,” Aaron said back to him. He looked behind Tony to see that Spencer was wrapping his arms around Tony’s body. “He loves you too.”

“I know. I’ve known for a long time that you both love me. Even before you offered to add me to your relationship. I knew that since you loved me, you would never hurt me. I just took a long time to figure out what I wanted in everything. Then I was laying there in a hospital bed, and the only place that I wanted to be was here. I wanted to be here between the two of you. You two make me feel like I can do this. I can leave NCIS, and no matter what, I’ll be fine.”

Tony looked at Aaron like he was drowning, and Aaron was the only way to safety.

“I want to stay here. Stay with you both, more than today, I want to just stay forever.”

“We want you to stay forever as well,” Spencer said. He laid his chin on Tony’s shoulder and smiled down at Aaron. They were nearly side by side now.

“I’ve never known you to be that patient,” Tony said with a laugh.

Aaron watched as they both stared at each other. They both seemed to enjoy looking down at Aaron when they finally turned to look at him. Aaron, though tugged at Tony to pull him close again. Spencer was the only one that was dressed in more than a pair of boxers. He slipped off of the bed to grab the lube. He cleared his throat and held up a pack of condoms, his eyes on Tony. Tony shook his head no. Aaron and Spencer didn’t use them, but when they were with Tony, they did.

“How do you want to do this, Tony?” Spencer asked.

“I just want,” was all that Tony said.

Spencer nodded his head and tossed the lube to Aaron before he slipped into bed behind Tony again. Aaron watched as Spencer stripped him. Aaron worked his own off while he watched the two of them kiss again.

“What if you take Aaron, and then after while you are slumped over him, I’ll do you?” Spencer asked.

Aaron watched Tony’s eye bug at that, but he nodded. Aaron loved it when Spencer shocked Tony sexually. It wasn’t that hard of a thing to do, so many saw Spencer and thought him some prudish, virginal man. Aaron had never seen him that way. Awkward? Yes. Virginal? No. Aaron loved him like that was nothing else in the world that mattered, and slowly Tony had slipped himself into his heart as well. It was going to take a while to get Tony back on a good path. Aaron understood the betrayal that he was harboring under, and Aaron hated it.

Hours later, Aaron slipped out of bed with Tony and Spencer dozing. Breakfast had been devoured by Aaron between rounds in bed and then a quick call for delivery for lunch that was too late in the day. The remains of it were still scattered on the table by the balcony doors. It was pretty outside with a light dusting of snow that had fallen while they were in bed.

Aaron made his way down to get started on dinner. The meal was easy to do, the worst part was reheating the ham and cooking the broccoli and cheese casserole that Spencer had prepared the day before. Aaron added the crackers to the top before he shoved it into the oven to start to warm up. The ham had been cooked prior and then added to a glaze where it had been sitting in it since the day before. Spencer had spent most of the day in the kitchen while Aaron worked on housework. They so rarely got to do things like that, and they enjoyed them, so their present to the lady who came over to clean for them was not coming over, as well as a nice bonus.

The mulled wine was the only other thing that Aaron needed to make that evening, and he added everything to the crockpot and started to warm it up. He added a second bottle to the pot from their wine selection as it had been just two, and now it was three. It was three for a long time.

Aaron jumped when his cellphone rang. He frowned at it and really hoped it wasn’t a case. He really didn’t want to head out and work on a case on Christmas Day, even if he would because it was needed. He saw the number and frowned. It was the batch of numbers that were assigned to NCIS internal phones.

“Hotchner,” Aaron answered.

“Hotch,” Gibbs said. He sounded worn out and something else that Aaron was pretty sure that he never thought he would hear from his mouth. “Where is he?”

“Is who where?” Aaron asked.

“Fuck,” Gibbs said.

“Gibbs.”

“This is secure. I made sure of that. Vance told me that I’m not to seek him out. I’m fucking pissed about all of this, and the only person that I give a fuck about in life right now is missing, and the FBI is refusing to tell me where he is. I have his badge and his gun here on my desk. I just need to know that he is fine.”

“I can’t answer that. I’m not in that division, Gibbs. I work for the BAU, as you know. We butt heads enough over cases.”

“I’ve known for a long time that he has a pair of lovers. He keeps it on the down-low, and I made sure that no one else ever knew. Is he safe?”

“You know that I have no clue what you are talking about, right?” Aaron asked. He had no clue what Tony thought about Gibbs knowing any of this. Tony thought that no one knew about them at all, but it seemed that Gibbs had been paying a lot of attention to something in Tony’s life to make sure that he was safe.

“I know that Tony had lovers and have for a while. I never thought that he would tell anyone, so I made sure that he was safe with them. I followed him home one night and then over to your place. I watched him laugh and smile and be happy in a way that he hadn’t here in a while. I went back to work the next day and watched him as he talked about things that I knew he hadn’t done. I never realized he had been lying for a while. I watched him with Ziva and McGee as well.”

“Then, before you could do a thing about it, this happened?” Aaron asked.

“No. I had started to do something about it, and I have to assume that this is the retaliation for it. He could have died.”

“Are you able to go down to Tony’s desk?” Aaron asked.

“Yes.”

“Locked drawer. FBI file with the BAU confidential on it. Go and grab it.” Aaron wondered if Gibbs was going to fight him on it. He was a functional, depending on the definition of that word, mute at the best of times. That he was worked up enough to talk like that, Aaron knew that he was freaked out.

There was the sound of steps on the stairs, and Aaron waited to see who was coming down. The ruffled rat’s nest that came in first told Aaron who it was before seeing his face. Spencer looked fucked out and pleased all at the same time. Aaron liked watching him walk over to where the coffee pot was. He poured out a mug full and moved to microwave it. Spencer needed it as he almost never did that unless he was desperate or just wanted a single cup, and it was as late as it was.

The sound of paper over the phone told Aaron that Gibbs was back and was looking through the file. Aaron had built a profile on a person based on everything except for her name, and then he had been given her name. Aaron had laid it all out, and he had been debating what to do with it. He had given it to Tony to keep in his desk, just to be safe. Given that Ziva David was on the run at the moment for attacking an FBI agent and what Gibbs told him, it was time for it to come out.

“You compiled this?”

“For a team in the local terrorism unit, yes. I gave Tony that copy to have on hand in case he needed it. I was given permission to give it to him to save his own fucking ass.”

Spencer turned around after taking a sip of his coffee and walked over to Aaron. He had a frown on his face. Aaron leaned in to give him a kiss, and when he pulled back, his phone was in Spencer’s hand, and he was hitting the speaker button on the screen.

“I need to give this to Gibbs and the FBI team looking for her.”

“I’m sure that the FBI guys already have it. The profile is on her file attached.”

“What was going to happen?”

“They were looking for a good reason to take her into custody on base. They were nearly there with enough proof to make her disappear into GITMO.”

“Or I was going to shoot her,” Spencer said.

“Who is that?”

“Reid, Gibbs, Gibbs, Doctor Spencer Reid.”

“Ah, the pretty boy genius. I heard about how you shoot people who you love,” Gibbs said.

Spencer snorted and shook his head before he tucked into drinking his coffee again. He looked pissed off but at least not at Aaron.

“I put bullets into the heads of anyone who pisses me off. Just when they got after my friends and family, they find that it gets put there a lot earlier. So you have your work to do to make sure that she’s caught before she comes after mine. I will kill her the first time I see her. Good evening Gibbs, and have a merry Christmas.” Spencer reached out and jabbed the button for ending the call and then looked up at Aaron.

“He called me.”

“I know. I was listening from the stairs. Tony’s still dead to the world. I figure that he didn’t sleep a lot at the hospital, so he’s making up for it now, especially with his body healing from a lot of small but varied injuries. We can tell him about this tomorrow. Let’s at least have tonight without Gibbs butting in.”

“You’d really kill her, wouldn’t you?”

“Aaron, she’s on the FBI’s wanted list at the moment. Considered to be armed and very dangerous. There is no detain alive order at all. I wouldn’t be able to take her in a fight, so yes, I would shoot her before allowing her to escape. Depending on what part of the body is closest, it tells me which one I am going to shoot.”

Aaron laughed, and he knew that it wasn’t exactly the best noise to make, at least for mental wellness sake, at least, it was the only one. He knew that Spencer considered Tony his. He had heard the way that Spencer talked about Tony for a lot longer than he had heard Spencer talk about Aaron. Aaron knew that Spencer had two modes with love, it was a friendly love where he worried a little or a love that going to last until the stars in the universe burned out and that kind of love meant that he would do anything in the world to make sure that they were happy and safe. The team, his mother, and now Tony fit into that first category.

“So how do you feel about going up and rousing him up while I get the rest of dinner ready?” Aaron asked.

“More coffee, or as soon as I drink that glass of wine, I’m going to sleep. Having two lovers is tiring,” Spencer said with a grin on his face. He leaned in for a kiss before he walked away to get Tony.

Aaron watched him go and tried not to think about how much he just wanted to go back up and get back into bed with the two of them. The draw was there, but Aaron needed to finish the food. He was starved, and Tony and Spencer would be in the same boat. Lunch was so long ago and thoroughly worked off at this point. Aaron knew that Spencer would be fine with something else, but it wasn’t like it was hard to do, it was just long.

The sweet potato casserole was next, marshmallows added to the top so that they got all nice and melty. The pan of mashed potatoes was next. Spencer had made the day before so that today could be a relaxing day. Spencer was good at that kind of stuff, so Aaron left him to do that while he had cleaned. It had been good, and while they weren’t around each other that much, when they crossed paths, they touched. And kissed. There were several minutes of kisses at several points in the day. It allowed for a relaxing day today, which Aaron was all for, even before Tony had come over.

“Hey,” Tony said as he entered the kitchen. He was dressed in a pair of sweats that Aaron recognized as his and one of Spencer’s T-shirts. The shirt in question was old as hell and stretched out from sleeping in it, so it fit Tony’s slightly more filled out form. Aaron thought he looked fucking sexy like that.

Tony walked right over to Aaron and started to kiss him before going to make coffee. Aaron had been too busy thinking about other things.

Spencer didn’t come down until minutes later, he was dressed in jeans and a shirt and had clothes for Aaron in his hand. Aaron looked down at his sleep clothes to see that he had got a few things on them. Tony was holding his coffee cup under the drip and filled it halfway before putting the carafe back. He added a little sugar and a splash of milk before drinking it all down in one go.

“I’m going to go and shower. I have time, right?”

“Oh, yeah. Food’s going to take a little while to finish warming back up. The only thing that needs to be done is the corn needs put on the stove.”

“I can do that,” Spencer said as he walked over to grab the bag of frozen corn from the freezer.

An hour later, when all of the food was cooked, and they were halfway through eating it, sitting at the bar in the kitchen on stools and just being normal, Aaron realized just how domestic it all was. Tony had always known where everything was, but he didn’t have an issue grabbing what was needed or just doing what he wanted. It wasn’t going to be hard to just have him there all of the time. The only issue was going to be bathroom time, but that would be easy to take care of.

They were already a family, a loving and nice family that might be a little different than average, but it was them, and it was enough.

Tony coming over was the best gift that Aaron could ever say he got, outside of when Spencer had kissed him that first time.

The End

Profilers for Christmas is an anonymous crime drama Advent Calendar featuring both art and stories. Author/Artist reveal is on the 25th. Additional information about the challenge can be found here.