A/N: Happy Advent, everybody! This year I have decided to try to do an CM Advent calendar. Every day until Christmas I will (hopefully) post a small drabble or scene or something like that. Some will be Christmas teamed, but not all. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

And I know I should be working on Memories You Share and I am. Not just all the time. It will be finished, in not too long.

This chapter is just a small intro of sorts, but I hope you enjoy it.

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?

Dr Seuss, American writer

Hotch looked deep in thought, almost glaring at the desk in front of him. Not that that was unusual in itself; it was only that Rossi couldn't quite figure out why the younger man seemed so concerned. There was no case going on, he had no problems with Jack that Rossi knew of and the team was fine.

So it was more out curiosity than worry that Rossi knocked on Hotch's office door to check on his friend. Mysteries were always intriguing.

"Hey," he greeted the younger man, taking a seat across from him, "What's up?"

Hotch looked up from the desk, raising his eyebrows questioningly. "What do you mean?"

Rossi shrugged. "You looked thoughtful. Just wondered what has you thinking so intently."

"Intra-team profiling isn't allowed," Hotch retorted with a small smile, before he neatly closed the folder in front of him and looked up at Rossi again, this time completely earnest. "I want to give Jack an advent calendar."

Raising his eyebrows in surprise, Rossi gave Hotch an evaluating look. That was a good idea, Rossi supposed, and he could see why Hotch would want to make Jack's Christmas experience as rich as possible, but that didn't explain what the problem was.

"All right…" he said, "What's the problem?"

"What do I get him?" Hotch asked, shrugging dejectedly, "I mean… I want him to enjoy it, but I don't want to spoil him."

Rossi nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "Not a gift a day, then? What about those when you get a piece of chocolate?"

Hotch shook his head. "I don't think so. He only gets candy once a week, you know."

"Probably sensible," Rossi agreed. He didn't have that much experience with kids, but he had managed to gather that you shouldn't feed them sugar all the time. "So… what about the standard ones with pictures?"

Sighing, Hotch gave a small shrug. "Somehow I don't think he'd enjoy that all that much. I mean… one inch pictures aren't that exciting for little boys."

"I guess not…" Rossi agreed, frowning thoughtfully. When he was a kid they had had an advent calendar each every year, and now that he thought about it he remembered that he absolutely loved it.

"You know," he said, "I had an advent calendar when I was a kid."

"Really?" Hotch asked, not seeming very surprised, "What was it?"

"It was like a board of small cards and every day we turned one and it had a small verse and a picture," Rossi explained, smiling widely. He hadn't thought about that calendar in years. "This woman Mamma knew had made them and we all had one each. We used to argue about whose was the best. Anyways, it was the Christmas gospel, basically."

"You sound like you enjoyed it," Hotch remarked. Rossi nodded.

"Well, yeah. It was in rhyme and it was really colorful and there were lots of pictures of animals. My mom probably still has it, you know."

Hotch's face lit up at that, probably guessing where Rossi was going with this, but he made no reply but a small humming sound.

"I could ask my mom to find it if you think Jack would enjoy it," Rossi offered and Hotch's smile widened.

"That'd be great," he said, before his smile faltered slightly, "Your mother won't mind?"

"Are you kidding? She adores Jack. And you."

His smile widening again, Hotch inclined his head. "Thanks, Dave. Really."

"Anytime."

A/N2: Hope you all enjoyed that! Again, if you have any suggestions, please let me know.