Chapter 9

Maggie and Cait moved into the kitchen to help them as Leslie got Wyatt's bottle ready. Aaron was holding him, trying to keep him awake for his own dessert. Jarrod sat down next to Jake, working on his second plateful and Jack climbed up in his grandpa's lap. Fran smiled at them. "Same deal as usual?" she smiled. Will and Henry sat in the third chair as Jack nodded his head at Fran.

"Me and daddy too Fran," Henry said. She set the apple pie and ice cream in front of Jarrod and Jack that they would once again share. Fran moved to the blueberry pie and got the LaMontagne boys set up as well.

Cait manned the Cream de Menthe dessert as Maggie handed out the pumpkin pie. Aaron took the bottle from Leslie and fed Wyatt, walking around to keep him awake while he ate. The rest stood around, sat at the nook table or enjoyed the fireplace in the Great Room while enjoying their dessert. Matt and Mike, worked on their desserts as they got the dishwasher emptied for the next batch of dishes.

They looked around the Great Room as the dishwasher churned along for Round Two, with the dessert dishes in the load. Everyone was enjoying a drink, being either coffee, scotch, Bailey's or in Cait, Aaron, Maggie and Jarrod's case, a Tom and Jerry that Mike was waiting for the water to boil in the teapot on the stove. Matt was mixing up the rest of the ingredients for the delicious hot drink. Dave looked at him. "Matt, my boy, I'll have one of them as well." Matt added another mug to the four.

Fran smiled. "Make that six Matt." He smiled and added another mug. The drink had a very northern Midwest connection, mainly in Wisconsin. Maggie and Fran, being Chicago girls and that close to Wisconsin, had remembered them from their younger days. Cait had found a Wisconsin distributor online that would send her a case of the batter. Half of the case was already on its way to California, via FedEx.

Emily and Alex looked over the lunch counter. "The best hot drink invented," Jarrod smiled. Fran nodded her agreement. The ladies watched as Matt added some rum and brandy along with the golden batter mix to the mug for Fran. They looked at each other and shook their heads.

Matt smiled. "Now all I need is the hot water." The teapot whistled on the stove as Sean and Leslie took Wyatt upstairs. Mike grabbed six teaspoons from the drawer and the teapot, shutting the burner down. He poured in the hot water, handing Matt the spoons. Jarrod nearly moaned at the smell. Mike helped Matt mix up the mugs, getting the batter from its thick state of refrigeration to mix in with the alcohol and hot water, giving the drink its frothy concoction. Mike added a touch of nutmeg to the top of each of the mugs and handed one to Fran. She wrapped her hands around the warm mug after dealing with the gallon ice cream bucket.

Matt passed out the rest, the last to his mother. Aaron, taking a sip shook his head. "I might as well sleep on the couch tonight. You'll sleep on top of the bed half the night," he said to Cait.

She smiled. "But my feet will be toasty warm."

"Thank you for that." Everyone laughed. Aaron was a completely different person when he was at home. He wasn't at work Hotch and not afraid to share little details about he and his wife. Alex and Emily shared a smile.

Dave, after taking sip, looked at them. "Either of you want to try it," he asked, holding out his mug. Alex shook her head, but Emily took him up on his offer.

"Mmmmm, that is good. But I'll stick to scotch and Bailey's," she smiled. Alex took another sip of her usual coffee, laced with a bit of Baileys.

Sean and Leslie rejoined the group and Matt fixed them up with their drinks. Cait and Aaron were sitting in the usual place on the piano bench. Sean eyed them. "There's a plot hatching," he smiled. Aaron looked at him with a question. "The boys; the short versions," he smiled nodding towards the upstairs. Cait and Aaron had both heard them go upstairs but thought nothing of it.

"There was a lot of whispering in Jack's room when we walked by," Leslie smiled.

JJ looked at Cait. "Good grief, what can the two of them be up to?"

Jake, shoveling in a piece of blueberry pie with ice cream at the lunch counter smiled. "No good; trust me." He polished his plate off and moved to get one of the last pieces of the Cream de Menthe dessert.

Jarrod looked at him. "You've been there, done that." Everyone laughed.

Just then, the boys appeared at the cusp of the nook just off the foyer. Jack nudged Henry and they started to walk in. Henry stopped and looked at Jack. He whispered something in Jack's ear holding his hand over Jack's ear so no one could hear. Jack, doing the same, whispered something back and nudged Henry again.

Henry walked up to Jarrod. "Grandpa Jarrod," he smiled. Jarrod beamed that Henry called him that. He knew that Henry didn't have either of his grandfathers. He pulled him up on his lap. Jake rubbed Jack's head. "Jack told me somethin' about you; somethin' his mom told him."

Jarrod smiled at Jake and then the boy in his lap. "OK Henry, I'll bite; what did Jack tell you."

Henry balked, looking at his best bud. "Tell him Henry."

"Grandpa Jarrod, one of my all-time favorite DVD's," he said. Jake slightly laughed at the terminology that didn't work with his father. In his dad's world, they were still movies. "Ummmm," Henry continued, "well Grandpa Jarrod is Jungle Book." Jake beamed, knowing what was coming next. Maggie winked at Cait.

"Spit it out Henry," Jake smiled. Cait turned on the piano bench to face the keys as Aaron joined her, rubbing her back.

"Jack told me that his mom told him…" Henry looked deeply into his eyes. "You can sing Bare Essentials like Baloo." Jake pointed at his dad.

"Henry, Grandpa Jarrod has Baloo down," he smiled. Henry looked with anticipation in Jarrod's eyes. Cait played some intro notes of the song on the piano with Aaron beaming.

"Please grandpa," Jack begged.

Derek wrapped an arm around his mother, as Jake looked at his dad. "You're toast; give it up."

Jarrod shook his head as the older boys wrapped their arms around their grandmother with the three of them smiling. "Hit it Cait," he smiled, rubbing Henry's head. Cait played a lively version of the song as an intro and Jarrod looked at Henry. "Now it's like this little britches," he smiled, lightly tapping Henry's knee. "All you have to do is…."

Look for the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities. Forget about your worries and your strife…. he sang. Henry and Jack beamed. Jake pulled Jack up into his lap as well as Jarrod sang on. The team all looked at each other. They all knew that Maggie had a music background, which Cait had inherited. Maggie had starred in some musical productions at Harvard. They had no idea that Jarrod was a part of that as well.

As Jarrod finished, Matt and Mike winked at Maggie and walked up to the piano behind their parents. Cait and Aaron turned to look at them with a smile, as Mike put his arm around Matt. "Hakuna Matata; what a wonderful phrase," Mike said.

"Hakuna Matata; ain't no passin' craze," Matt added with a smile. Cait played a few notes and the older boys, in perfect harmony, sang the younger boys favorite song. Jack and Henry scrambled off laps to sit with Cait and Aaron as the older boys sang on with the younger ones joining them. Aaron pulled Jack into his lap as Matt, still singing, put Henry in Cait's.

It's our worry free; philosophy….

Mike, walking to the side of the piano, put his finger to his lips. Hakuna Matata they all softly sang.

When they finished Penelope absolutely bubbled over with her spirit as only she could. "I don't what brought this on, but I love it!"

"You did Pumpkin," Jake said, pointing at her. Garcia looked at him. "Well you and the Big Dog," he pointed at Dave, "and your merry band of cohorts," he said waving his finger at Reid, JJ and Morgan. "You butchered a classic."

"Jake," Dave asked with question.

Jake smiled at him, pointing at Aaron. "Bro sent me the video; you five should be ashamed of yourselves to what you did to that song." Dave shot Aaron a dirty look.

"It's already viral Dave," Aaron said with a straight face. The older boys nodded their heads.

"I heard from one of my friends," Matt said. "The message; you call him Uncle Dave?"

Mike looked at him. "You too bro?" Matt nodded his head. Sean and Leslie burst out laughing.

The rest of the group roared with laughter.

Cait played the opening strains of Piano Man. Jake rubbed Dave's shoulder. "Let me show you how it's supposed to be done old man." Jake was no slouch in the music department as well singing the song the way Billy Joel would have been proud of. He pulled out his always present harmonica from his pocket to play along with his sister on parts of the song.

Kevin looked over Penelope's shoulder as she tapped a message into her cell. Take poll of team before this next yr. Buy sheet music for Cait.

Kevin smiled and kissed her cheek. When Jake finished, all three Hotchner boys begged their grandma to sing something. Henry joined in, with Reid wrapping his arm around Maggie's waist, whispering into her ear using the same method as the boys. He wanted no one else to hear. Maggie smiled at him. "Just for you Spencer," she whispered, rubbing his chest. Reid hugged her.

Cait already figured out the request and started playing the intro. Reid smiled.

As the strains of The Sound of Music lightly went through the house with Maggie's beautiful voice, the warmth, laughter, friendship and most importantly love radiated out the windows of the home on Deer Valley Road into the crisp, cold Thanksgiving night.

###

A/N: Sorry gang; I'm gonna bail again on the explanation of a Tom and Jerry. As I always say, Goggle it; do the search by keywords Tom and Jerry drink. Wiki has a great explanation, complete with a picture. Just know their explanation/recipe calls for rum. The brandy addition is purely a Wisconsin thing; trust me. You go to any other state in the US and order a mixed drink with brandy an experienced bartender will look you in the eye and ask: "you're from Wisconsin, aren't you?" Yup, I am.

And yes, we've come to another end. Since I just got done posting another story, I'm not going to repeat my usual end of story shout-outs. All of you very special people know who you are, how much I appreciate your support and how much I truly love you.

*Knightly bow*