25 Days of Ficmas 2023

Day One: Letters to Santa (Hotch x Reader)

Aaron Hotchner x GN!Reader

Y/N Hotchner absolutely LOVED to celebrate everything. Jack poured his milk all by himself without spilling? Celebratory dance party. Aaron and his team caught the 'bad guy' before lunch? Taking them all out to dinner. The class of third graders Y/N teaches nailed the midterm evals given by the principal? Pizza and ice cream for everyone.

Holidays were, therefor, very important in the Hotchner Household. Valentines day was host to the most delicate handmade gifts. Easter to a giant feast and about a thousand plastic eggs of all sizes, stuffed with more goodies than one could even imagine, hidden all around the four bedroom home the family shared. Don't even get me started on the rest. And, Birthdays were out of this world. Y/N was already working on the plans for Jack's next one, thought it was about as far off as can be currently.

But, if there was ever a holiday that got Y/N going more than the rest, It was Christmas. As soon as dinner was a wrap on Thanksgiving night, They would start lugging up crate after crate of decor from the basement while friends and family alike waited with nervous energy to lend a hand. Now, as is to be expected when tiny humans help out, the decor was never really perfect. It never quite made it to the caliper that Y/N was able to achieve when they were the one calling the shots and micro managing every centimeter of wall space. Wrinkles in the embroidered white table cloth were more common than not now adays. The nutcrackers always seemed to disappear from the coffee table, instead being used as weapons as tiny little finders and baby toes got 'nibbled' by the wooden soldiers. And, by the time the tree was dressed, there was more tinsel on the floor surrounding the tree than actually on it. And they wouldn't have it any other way.

Christmas was also host to the most elaborate feast of all. Were talking enough food to feed an army and enough love in said food to make the grinch into saint nick himself. Thanks to Y/N's own influence, as well as the amazing job Aaron and Haley did when he was little, Jack was more interested in giving and sharing at Christmas than anything else. He would much rather spend his time singing carols to the elders in the nursing home than siting in front of a computer or Xbox. He would rather take his time to get the Christmas stuff just how he like instead of rushing off to play and complaining when he wasn't allowed to. He would rather cuddle up with a movie and some popcorn than pretty much anything else. He was a sweet boy, and a 'Y/N Magnet'. Aaron often jokes that Jack likes Y/N more than him. But he couldn't care either way. He loves his little buddy and so does Y/N. Their family might not be normal, but it was theirs and no one was too eager to 'fix it'

The 'tree fiasco' was over a week past at this point. And, the official countdown was now underway. Y/N had even set up the elf on the shelf for her classroom the night before, so he was ready when the kids came in from breakfast. The Hotchner family's own elf, Sprinkles, had been hanging out since the morning of the 25th, arriving a bit too early due to being 'excited to be back' for her second year at the home.

Y/N had brought in handmade hats and mittens, which she had wrapped with the skill and ease that only comes from repeated practice over years, for each of their 34 students. The class was a big one. And most of the kids were lucky to have a winter coat, let alone all the other cold weather accessories needed to brave the harsh winter to come. You see, Y/N worked at a 'title nine school'. Which is a moniker given to schools were the students live way under the poverty line. Y/N always knew they wanted to give back anyway they could, leading them to only ever except teaching contracts at schools that were in need. And, also why the Hotchers kept one of the two spare rooms always set. And why the house had an open door policy for any child, adult, or family unit who needed a warm place to lay their head at night or a warm meal... or twelve.

That's where Y/N currently found themself. Welcoming one of their students, Viktor, his three-year-old sister, Grace, and their grandmother, Gram, into the house after the three had walked from the other side of town, their electric having been shut off while the Grandma was working a double at the hospital. The poor dears were shivering so hard they were vibrating. Despite their Gram giving them her only coat over top of all their own layers, their poor little fingers were frozen from UNDER their gloves. Their little noses were all red and snotty from the wind attacking their faces. And Y/N themself could hear Little Grace's tummy growling form where the trio were slowly shuffling closer to the hot fire. After getting everyone settled in the living room with some warm blankets and hot cocoa near the fire, Y/N set to popping the prepped pasta bake into the oven.

Aaron walked in the door just as Jack finished placing silverware at everyone's spot. Viktor was carefully bringing the glasses, two at ta time, in to set. Even Grace had asked to help set the table, being given the most important job, making sure everyone got two napkins. The fire in the hearth crackled as the group chowed down. Viktor was so very hungry that he had three whole servings to himself. That was saying something since he was so tiny in build. Grace had focused more on eating every bit of plain salad greens she could. And Jack, being so excited that a big kid had come to stay the night, had hardly touched his meal. It took a promise of Letters to Santa to get the little just-turned-six year-old to finally focus on the meal in front of him.

As promised, as soon as everyone was done eating both dinner and pudding, and the dishes were loaded into the dishwasher, Aaron ushered the kids onto the living room floor (close enough to the now dying fire to be able to use its light but far enough away the the crackling and popping of the wood wouldn't end up popping on them) while Y/N got all the things they would need to make the perfect Santa letter. They even broke out their wax seal kit and all the wax stamps they had, trying to make this night the best kickoff to the Christmas countdown they've ever hosted.

Vik was quick to set to making his letter. Y/N beamed with jot at seeing that. Vik had expressed not but two days prior that he was only pretending to believe so he wouldn't hurt Grace's feelings. He knew money was tight with them having to live with their Gram. So, hew as ready to act bad in the days leading up the Christmas just so Grace could get the good gifts.

But, Y/N wouldn't stand for that. They were going to have Vik play along with this, write down what he really wanted, then make sure it was under the tree at the home of whatever family was lucky enough to host him on Christmas morning, Even if they had to go three towns away to make it happen, they would.

"What's that?" Grace's loud, excited voice asked as Y/N started heating up a couple different colours of wax for the 'munchkins' to choose from when sealing their letters. "Well ya see" Y/n said as they got down to Grace's eye level. "These are fancy envelopes. And fancy envelopes down have the sticky glue that you can lick to seal on them. You have to use this wax to seal it up good. So the litter Gram helped you write doesn't fall out on its way to the north pole." "Wow!!" Grace chirped excitedly, followed only a few seconds later by "I want shiny." Y/N looked at the optioned they had laid out. the only shiny one was an off white that they usually used by adding it to other colors that offered a richer saturation.

"If that's really what you want, Princess. That's what you can have." Y/N offered. "Gram and Mummy call me princess." Grace admits excitedly. "How did you know that?" The three year old wondered aloud, despite her Gram calling out to her that way since the trio arrived. Y/N smiled wide as the boys' sealed envelopes lay, in all their messy joyful glory, right next to where they were pressing Grace's seal into the cooling wax. They offered the only explanation that they could without breaking the happy feeling of the night.

"I guess it was just a bit of Christmas Magic."