The Christmas List

Disclaimer: I do not own anything connecting to this show.

Summary: Emily has never written a Christmas list before... Morgan is about to change that… Will she get what she wants? Written for the Gone Country Challenge.

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"When you said yesterday that it's nearly Christmas, what did I want? And I thought, just love me... That's what I want for Christmas." - Nancy Wilson(That's What I Want For Christmas)

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Chapter 1: Christmas Is Almost Here

Derek Morgan was sitting in his seat staring out of the window watching the clouds go by. He didn't notice it but he was humming. What's more, he was humming a Christmas song while his fingers were beating the rhythm on the small table in front of him. He was snapped out of his thoughts by a, though unexpected, not at all unwelcome feeling. He looked down his now still hand, which was covered by Emily's smaller one, and when he looked up at the woman sitting across from him, he could see that she was somewhat annoyed.

"What?" He asked confused not missing the fact that Emily's hand was still on his own. He didn't complain, though.

"What do you mean what?" She asked him with raised eyebrows as if he had wanted to know if Santa really existed. "My head is killing me and while I can live with your humming, your drumming is really driving me crazy. So…" She told him in a low voice and gave his hand a gentle squeeze before she leant back in her seat placing her hands into her lap. "…stop it. Please."

"Alright…" Morgan told her slowly, thinking very hard what she could have talked about. "But I wasn't humming." Or was he?

"Oh, you definitely were." Emily smiled at him.

"Oh…" Now he felt really embarrassed about being caught humming. "Hey, Christmas is almost here. Have you written your Christmas list?" He inquired eager to change the subject.

Emily's smile vanished from her face and she quickly turned her head to look out of the window. Morgan frowned at her sudden change of mood and fidgeted a little before he would have spoken up again.

"Come on, Emily." He smiled at her somewhat nervously not really knowing what had changed her mood so fast. "Tell me. What do you have on your Christmas list?"

"I don't have any Christmas list. I never had." She told him sharply, which surprised Morgan in a great deal. However, he wasn't about to give up his inquiring.

"You never had one? Not even as a kid?" Emily just shook her head without looking at him. Apparently she didn't feel like talking about the upcoming holiday. "You're lying. Every kid's writing letters to Santa…"

"Well, I was not every kid…" This time when she snapped, she looked at Morgan straight in the eye daring him to continue with the topic.

Morgan was taken aback by her demeanor. The woman in front of him wasn't the Emily he considered one of his best friends… or the woman he had fallen in love with. No. She was the Emily who was dealing with cold blooded killers on a daily basis. She was distant and cold. And Morgan didn't like it one bit. He took a deep breath regretting all of his prying.

"I'm sorry." He told her solemnly. "I didn't mean to make you snap. I just thought…"

"No…" Emily cut in, her face softened. "You didn't do anything." She looked down into her lap. "It's just that I… I've never really had a real Christmas. And to answer your question, I never wrote a Christmas list because there was nobody to read it. Not even an imaginary Santa Claus." She confessed sadly and Morgan leant in closer.

"Emily…" He began compassion written all over his face. "I'm…" He wanted to say how sorry he was that she had never had the chance to believe in Santa Claus or to experience the excitement of trying to get him while he was putting the gifts under the tree, but he changed his mind. Emily probably didn't want to hear any of it. "What do you want for Christmas?" He asked her at last and was given a grateful smile in return. It must have been the first time that somebody had asked her that.

"Well, even Santa can't get me what I want for Christmas." She answered with a sad smile then stood up and with an "Excuse me." She quickly left Morgan and the conversation, too.

Morgan leant back in his seat with a deep frown on his face, which disappeared after a while, though. Emily told him that she had never really had a real Christmas. Well, this year he would show her what real Christmas was about. After all, it was the least he could give to the woman he loved…

TBC

Well, here is my contribution to this year's Christmas! I hope you like it so far!