I am so sorry that I don't update regularly at the moment. Its not that I don't want to, or that I have no ideas to write down, I just have much to do at the moment. Last week I also got a bad migraine, Saturday I was on a Christmas party... This week I need to work more then usually.

I have almost the next chapter for Dead Minds finished, for those of you who are following the story. So hopefully I can update it in a few days.

So for all the followers of this story – the chapter is not that long, but I thought better I update a shorter chapter then none at all.

Thank you all for your reviews, your follows and everything. I cant tell you how happy I am when I see a new review, a new follow or a new favorite.

I hope you enjoy and maybe even smile a bit. :)

A good time to laugh is any time you can. ~Linda Ellerbee

"Em, why are you laughing?" JJ asked Emily, already grinning herself. To hear someone laughing like that, it always was contagious. And Emily just wouldn't stop laughing and giggling like she was a teenage girl again

It took Emily a few moments until she had calmed down enough to tell JJ what the conversation with Luke was about.
While Emily told her every detail, JJ started to laugh too.

"But what's with the two bowls?" JJ asked while she was still laughing.

Emily started to laugh all over again, in between she told JJ to unfold the paper pieces from the bowl where Luke had drawn before.
JJ unfolded the first paper and saw Penelope's name on it. She unfolded the next one and again she saw Penelope's name was written on it. She unfolded the rest of them, while Emily was laughing even harder joined by JJ. Every paper piece in the one bowl had Penelope's name written on it.

The rest of the team heard them laughing and went to Emily's office to find out what the laughter was all about. Except for Luke who was sitting at his desk concentrating on his phone, searching, making plans and reservations.
Soon everyone was laughing, the door to Emily's office was open. Penelope came out of her lair, stopping in front of Luke's desk.

"What's with that laughter over there?" Penelope asked Luke pointing a finger to her unit chiefs office.

Luke hadn't noticed that Penelope was standing in front of his desk, too concentrated on his phone, until she started to speak and startled him.

"Huh, what did you just say, Chica?" Luke glanced up at her, smiling. She was wearing a new dress, and she looked beautiful. Of course, in his eyes, she always looked stunning.

Penelope giggled at him, when she saw that she had startled him. "I asked you what's up with all the laughter over there. And why are you sitting here all alone by yourself?"

"No idea why they are laughing." Luke hoped Emily did not tell the others what he had asked her for just minutes ago. "Maybe something about the secret Santa game."

"Oh yes. The secret Santa game. I love it. Why are you not over there?" Penelope clapped her hands when she was reminded of the game.

"I've already got a name." Luke answered her, still smiling.

"You need to tell me who you got. I need to know." Penelope could not hold back her nosiness.

"Peaches, that's a secret. I am not gonna tell you. You will need to wait." Luke told her with a big grin. She was just too sweet when she was being nosy.

"Oh you. Mr. Spoilsport, you are so boring. I promise I will tell no one." Penelope could not stop herself, she wanted to know.

She decided a few months ago that she wanted to be Luke's friend. First she rejected him, because he replaced her hot stuff Derek Morgan. And of course he needed to look hot too, being nice and a gentleman. So hot. Stop it. Penelope forced herself to stop thinking such thoughts.

After she got used to him, in a very short time, she still tried to reject him, because she was attracted to him and she knew that he would not notice her in that way. He was a womanizer, or at least he looked like one, and she tried to persuade herself that he really was one, so that she would not fall for him and getting her heart broken.

So she was her usual self towards him, or tried to be, but she just could not flirt with him like with Derek, or Matt or any other guy. If she would flirt with him, for her it would be serious, and if he would flirt back, thinking she was just flirting with him like with everyone else, that would hurt. Now she was nice and friendly. A friend, a colleague.

"I think it would spoil the game, if I would tell you." Luke answering, not knowing where Penelope's thoughts drifted off to.

"Honey Bunny, I will go now over there. If I should be your secret Santa I will find you a gift as reluctant as you are today." Penelope told him as she began walking towards where the others were gathered.

Luke watched her going, a small smile on his face. But soon he concentrated back again on making plans for Penelope's Christmas surprise.

When Penelope came closer to Emily's open office door she could hear her team making a bet. She couldn't hear what the bet was about because as soon as Matt noticed her approach he made a hand signal to the others, not seen by Penelope. When she joined them in the office everyone stopped laughing and talking but smiled at her.

Strange, she thought to herself.

"My lovely team, what is the bet about and what's with all the happy faces and laughter?" Penelope asked them in a sweet voice.

There was a moment of silence as the team looked at each other, while trying to figure out what to tell her. Since the bet and the laughter was about Penelope and Luke they couldn't tell her the truth.

"We, ugh, talked about Luke." JJ said finally, noticing that Luke was not in here with them.

"Oh, I can see why you all laughed then. But what's the bet about?" Penelope wanted to know. A bet about Luke, she wanted to join in of course.

JJ glanced at the others, raising her eyebrows at Emily.

"Uhm, we found out that Luke is an absolutely Christmas Grinch. He, uhm, never heard of the secret Santa game before." Emily started to speak, trying to think of something the bet could be about.

"So we are betting if he is going to buy any gift or something that fits the Christmas spirit. And if you, kitten, will be able to change the way he feels about Christmas." Rossi joined the conversation.

"Well, that's a lame bet. Of course I will be able to do that. No one can not get into the Christmas spirit with me around. I will bet 10$ that before we start our holiday, he will love Christmas and that he will gift a very Christmasy gift." Even if the bet was really lame, Penelope thought, she would still try to win it.

She was not celebrating Christmas herself, because it reminded her too much about her dead parents and off her brothers she haven't seen in years. Every year JJ, Derek, Rossi and others too invited her to their Christmas party but she always declined. That holiday was about love and family. And even if her team was her family, and she knew she would be welcome by any of them, not being an intruder, she just couldn't bring herself to join any of them.

"I think that will be a hard task. Luke said he never liked Christmas. I bet 10$ that he will not change." JJ said.

"Well, he lost his mother very soon, when he was just a child. And his father, as loving as he was, was a military man, not much of a sentimental. Only Luke's grandmother tried to make a nice Christmas Eve for him. But every two years she visits family back in South America, so it's understandable if Luke isn't that much of a fan. This year his grandmother is away, so since he got no family left besides her, he will be alone with Roxy. I tried to invite him, but he declined." Matt joined the conversation, making also his bet with 10$.

The others were making their bet too, luckily Penelope was too deep in her thoughts since the moment she heard Matt's words about Luke's history, that she didn't wonder about why they were still betting when they already had done that before she joined them.

The next day Penelope came fully packed into the office. Going straight to Luke's desk. He wasn't yet there as she opened her bags and started to decorate it. When Luke came a few minutes later with a cup of coffee in his hands he thought that this desk, where Penelope was standing in front off, grinning wildly, could clearly not belong to him. He was just away for not even ten minutes.

"Hey Mr. Grinch. Good Morning. I heard you hated Christmas. So I decided to change that. No one should hate Christmas, especially not a good, sweet guy like you." Penelope was rambling a bit, cursing at herself about that and the last words she had said.

He always made her nervous, that she would start to ramble. That's why she teased him, so that he would hopefully not notice that his presence was different for her then with anyone else. He made her heart beat faster, her belly fluttering and when she looked at him a heat started to rise throughout her entire body.

"So you admit that I am a good guy, finally." Luke gave her his biggest goofy smile. "I wish you a good morning too and it's not that I hate Christmas it's more that I don't really care about it." Inside he was hoping that this year's would change. Celebrating Christmas with a bright, genuine woman like her, would be something real special. But only if his plans would work out.

Isn't it funny that at Christmas something in you gets so lonely for — I don't know what exactly, but it's something that you don't mind so much not having at other times. ~Kate L. Bosher

I am not making a promise that I will update this story when exactly, only that I will. Before Christmas. ;)

Have a good day, a good night and a good week. 3