Hey friends! Sorry this is late but real life got in the way. Here you go though. Liz decides to host Christmas for the Ressler's.

A Ressler Christmas

Ressler walked in to his girlfriend's house to find that Christmas had pretty much thrown up all over the place. It wasn't that it was over the top. No, she just had decorations he never knew she owned spread all over the place. Poor Hudson even greeted him at the door wearing a Santa hat he obviously did not want to be wearing. So, without making his furry friend suffer any longer than necessary he took the hat off and received a sloppy dog kiss from Hudson. He scratched his ears before getting up and grabbing his bags from the porch.

Christmas music could be heard in the house and as he turned the corner he found Liz putting together one of those villages on her fireplace mantle. Setting his bags down, he stood back and watched. Liz had purchased this house only a week after they decided they were going to give their relationship a go. She made him go with her to check it out and when he made the comment he could see himself reading the paper with a cup of coffee in the breakfast nook she immediately put an offer in. Reddington sent her on a shopping spree for furniture which she dragged him along on and she listened to his suggestions.

Since moving in, Ressler hadn't spent more than a few nights in his own apartment. Liz's home felt more like home to him now. And he wouldn't have it any other way. Now, Liz had insisted on hosting Christmas for his family as way to say thank you for giving her one of the best Thanksgiving's she ever had. Well, it seemed like she was really trying to Martha Stewart the crap out of it.

"Where did all of this come from?" Ressler finally asked making his presence known.

"Don!" Liz screeched as she whipped around to see him grinning at her. "When did you get here?"

"A minute or so ago. I need to wrap some gifts. You got any paper in this Christmas tornado?"

"Depends. Is there something for me?" She walked around the couch and attempted to peek in his bags.

"Did you want something from Toys R Us?" he laughed as she frowned at the bags. "I have a few more in the car I still need to grab." He noticed the tree was up but not decorated yet. "Want some help with that?"

"I was waiting for you." She shrugged. "Go get the rest of your bags. The paper is in the den. Don't and I repeat don't go in the closet. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am." Ressler mock saluted her and went back outside to finish collecting his purchases. His family would be arriving first thing tomorrow, Christmas Eve and staying the night. Liz was in for a treat. Mason and Dean on Christmas morning was enough to make anyone's head spin. He brought his purchases inside and dropped them off in the den. There were already perfectly wrapped gifts piled by the door. "Santa was busy huh?" he laughed.

"I'm going to see Red tonight. Dembe told me that while he would never ask to see me that he really would appreciate it. You know with what happened and all with his family. I feel like…," she trailed off as she handed Ressler an ornament for the tree.

"Am I welcome to join?" he asked, surprising himself as he placed the bulb on the tree.

"YES!" Liz exclaimed. "I was hoping you'd want to."

It didn't take them long to decorate the tree and Ressler even helped Liz finish up her decorating. She went as far as to change the bathroom towels and décor to match the holiday. The guest rooms where ready for his family and he helped her put some gifts under the tree. Next, he grabbed her gifts for Red and Dembe and carried them to the car. When he returned he found Liz and Hudson ready to go.

"Red is fine with Hudson?"

"He'll have to be," Liz said. She handed Ressler a piece of paper with an address. "This is where we are going."

They drove to the address Liz provided Ressler. It was not what he'd expected. They were in front of an apartment, and not a fancy one. Just a normal one. He followed Liz up a few flights of stairs and stopped when she reached the door that was apparently Reddington's. She knocked and Dembe opened the door smiling.

"Raymond will be pleased to see the two of you. I'm going to pick up some dinner then I'll be back. Let yourself in." Dembe smiled down at Hudson. "Oh, Mr. Catington is going to love you."

"Reddington has a cat?" Ressler whispered as he carried the gifts.

"Dembe? Who is at the door?"

"F.B.I.," Liz called out with a laugh. "Agents Keen and Ressler," she added.

Ressler watched as Red came in to view. He was sitting on a couch reading a book. There was a small tree sitting on top of his end table. But what got him the most was seeing Red in jeans. Jeans and sweater. Far too casual for his typical wardrobe. Was this who Reddington really was? The man behind the fedora.

"Lizzie!" Reddington smiled as he set his book down. "Donald," he said curtly. "Can I trust you to keep this place among us?"

"I don't think anyone would believe me if I tried to tell." Ressler pointed to the door. "Dembe went to pick up your dinner."

"I think our dinner, Donald. I had planned on making soup so I think Dembe had a few tricks up his sleeve." Red looked down to see Hudson and smiled. "I see you brought the little fur ball. Mr. Catington is around here somewhere but don't worry he won't bother you."

Ressler held in a laugh when the name Mr. Catington slipped past Red's lips. A sharp jab to his side from Liz shut him up quick and Red told them to take a seat. Red moved to a chair while Liz and Ressler took the couch. If he said this whole situation wasn't weird he'd be lying. And his curiosity really got the best of him when he saw a few pictures of Liz on the book shelf.

"So, is it Christmas with the Ressler's tomorrow then?" Red asked he settled in to his seat.

"Yes." Liz smiled. "You should stop by and see the house."

"I'll make a visit after the holidays. This isn't my favorite. But, I appreciate the visit. I have something for you in the bedroom."

Red got up and walked away. Hudson was curled up at Ressler's feet but when Red came back holding a large dog bone he jumped up and wagged his tail. Red set the bone down for Hudson then handed Liz a small box and even handed Ressler one. Ressler put the box to his ear, checking for any ticking noises, which elicited a laugh from Reddington. He slowly opened the box that was handed to him and found a black tie with split bananas on it. Rolling his eyes he showed it to Liz who busted up laughing.

"Oh, Red," she laughed.

"I found it to be perfect for out Donald, don't you?"

Liz just smiled as she opened her gift. Ressler watched as he eyes lit up at the silver ornate frame. There was a picture of the man Ressler knew to be her adoptive father, Sam and a young Liz. There were tears in Liz's eyes. Sam was holding on to the back of a bike as she was riding it. Probably while she was learning to ride two wheels. She traced her fingers on it then looked up at Red.

"I won't ask how you got this but thank you. This means a lot."

"I know. And you are welcome."

"We brought you a gift." Liz handed him the box and beamed when Red opened it. "I know you probably have a million but I just thought this one…," she trailed off.

"It's perfect," Red said as he placed the new brown fedora on his head and grinned.

They made idle chit chat until Dembe returned with their dinner. The four of them enjoyed their meal together with some laughs. Ressler was surprised to actually not mind his time at Red's. The cat…Mr. Catingon…showed up and surprisingly got alone with Hudson. Before it was time to leave they found the two curled up on either end of the couch sleeping. They left Red's later than they expected and by the time they arrived home Ressler was too tired to finish his wrapping.

"Just get up a little early and wrap them before your family shows up. I'm beat let's get some sleep." Liz pulled him up the stairs by the hand.

IIIIIIII

The next morning found Ressler surrounded by paper, gift tags, tape, and scissors. His wrap job was less than perfect but all the gifts were covered so he called that win. He carried them out to the tree and carefully set them down. He had just enough time to get a shower before his family was to arrive.

"Where's Donnie?" his mother said from downstairs. "And, Liz. This place looks fantastic!"

"He should be down in a few. I'll have him take your bags up to your room. Do you need him to get anything else out of the car?"

Ressler was coming down the stairs when he saw what his mother and father were wearing. The ugliest of ugliest Christmas sweaters. He prayed that they were done with that. That the family was done with that. But…apparently not. Well, that was fine because his ugly sweater was at home and he wasn't leaving to get it.

"Andrew is getting the gifts. Later tonight we'll need to get the boys' gifts from Santa however. They are in our car." Lori bent down and fished through here bag and at the same time Andrew came in she produced two matching ugly sweaters. "It's a Ressler tradition Liz. I figured Donnie here wouldn't have his in hopes of protecting his tough guy image. We bought you matching ones."

"I love it! This is amazing!" Liz inspected her sweater. "Do I wear it to church though?"

"No," Andrew chuckled. "We wear them Christmas day. We just wanted to see the look of horror on Donnie's face when he realized this is one tradition that will never die." He pulled his sweater off to reveal a long sleeve t-shirt. Lori did the same. "Our boy is just too easy."

A few hours later Dani and the boys showed up and they scrambled around to get ready for Christmas Eve service. Ressler wasn't a regular attendee at any local church so they just found a nearby one with the same denomination they were and figured any place would be fine. They were going to eat dinner together after. His mother had insisted she prepare Christmas Eve dinner, which was never anything fancy. Last year it was curry. The year before meat pie. This year she was making chili and had already made homemade bread that she brought with her. Liz wanted to try her hand at a Christmas ham for tomorrow. With supervision from his mother and Dani of course.

After church they all sat around Liz's very large dining room table in their pajamas eating chili. Dean and Mason had to sit on either side of Liz so Ressler sat across from her. They just talked about what had been going on the past few weeks and he heard more about the wine tasting Liz and Dani took part of and more about the lunch his mother and Liz had. Dean and Mason were over the moon that Santa would still come to Liz's house.

"Now, you promise he will know we are here?" Dean asked.

"I sent him a letter myself to tell him I had two very good boys here tonight so he needed to stop here. I think we're covered." Liz grabbed her bowl and walked it towards the kitchen. "If you boys want to come here I have some cookies you can set out for him. And carrots for the reindeer!"

Ressler laughed as the boys scrambled from their seats and raced in to the kitchen with Liz. Dani slid her chair out and followed.

"She's really a wonderful girl, Donnie. She fits with us perfectly. Please keep this one. I want more grandbabies," Lori said before leaving the table.

"She makes you happy," Andrew stated when they were alone.

"Very happy."

"Hold on to it with everything you have. You hear me son?"

"Yes, dad."

"Good." He relaxed in to his chair. "Now, what time do you think those little monsters are going to wake us up?"

IIIIIIII

Christmas morning it wasn't Dean or Mason who woke Ressler up. No. It was the feeling someone was watching him. Opening one eye he found Liz staring at him. He rolled over to see the clock only showed 5 am. He groaned and told Liz to go back to bed.

"I can hear Mason at the top of stairs. They are awake. I want to watch them. If Uncle Donnie gives them the ok they will go wake up Dani and your parents and we can get this show on the road."

Her excitement was adorable so unable to tell her no he simply threw her ugly sweater at her, slipped his on as well and opened the door to find his nephews were in fact at the top of the stairs. Wearing their sweaters over their pajamas.

"Go. Wake up the house," Ressler said from behind the boys who simply scrambled to get their mom and grandparents. "I'm going to get the coffee on." When he was done in the kitchen he came out with five cups of coffee and two juice cups on a tray and found everyone in the living room.

"How does this work? Do you distribute them all first? One at a time?" Liz asked.

"We all make our piles and let the boys have it at first, "Dani answered as she started to pass out gifts.

It took a good 10 minutes to get everyone's gifts out from under the tree then the boys went nuts. Liz was taking pictures as well as Dani as the boys went crazy on their gifts. They opened their gifts from Santa first then from the family. When they got to Liz's gifts they jumped up and gave her big hugs.

"Thank you Aunt Liz," Mason said innocently as he pulled away from his hug. "I really wanted this."

"Your uncle told me. I'm glad you liked it." She smiled as a tear threatened to spill. She leaned back up against Ressler who just put his hand on her shoulders. Looking up at him she gave him a small smile. "Aunt Liz?"

"Go with it, sweetie." He bent down and gave her a kiss.

The boys were done with their gifts and wanted to watch the adults open the ones from them first. They made Liz wait for last and when she opened her gift she began to cry. Ressler wasn't sure what they got her but whatever it was made her cry again. She scooped them both up in big hugs and kissed the tops of their heads.

"They picked it out all on their own. They saw it and said it was perfect for their Aunt Liz." Dani sat next to her boys. "I know you and Donnie have only been together for a month but these boys fell in love with you on day one."

"Will you always be our Aunt Liz?" Dean asked.

"For as long as you'll have me," Liz answered then showed Ressler the ornament they gave her. It read 'family isn't always blood, it's the people we choose'.

Ressler wasn't sure how any gift could top that. And he was thankful Liz was so accepting of his family and their habit of being over the top. Once all the grownups exchanged gifts Ressler went to the kitchen to make breakfast for the family. Christmas music playing in the living room while the boys played with their toys.

"Promise me," Liz said from behind him.

"Promise you what?" He stopped mixing the waffle batter.

"Promise me that if we don't work we'll always be friends and I'll always have this?" She was looking at her hands.

"If we don't work?" Ressler took her chin and made her look at him. "Liz, sweetie. I'm in this for however long you'll have me. I'm hoping its forever."

"Really?"

"Really. Now, the question is…are you?" He was nervous now to know the answer. They'd never really talked about long term future before.

"Forever sounds really nice." Liz pulled his face down to her and kissed him on the lips. "Now, get back to work. I'm hungry."

"Yes, ma'am."

Ressler shoed her away back to the living room while he continued his quest to make waffles for his family. He knew how the rest of the day would play out. Breakfast. Board games. Food. And some kind of family Christmas movie. Tomorrow they'd have the house back to themselves but today he'd enjoy the first Ressler family Christmas to include Elizabeth Keen. And what a Christmas it was turning out to be.