Work Text:
THE FIRST TIME:
He got the text from her while he was on the phone with his mother. Mother’s Day was always hard for him and while he tried to go down to Vegas to visit her as much as he could, it had been years since they spent the holiday together. Spencer loved his mother, he truly did, but sometimes it was hard for him to look her in the eyes and not see the years of her episodes or her chaos. He loved her, but he resented her. And so he tried to avoid spending Mother’s Day with her as often as he could, sticking to letters and phone calls to try to make up for his absence.
Getting a text from Elle Greenaway on a random Sunday wasn’t odd. They had been keeping in contact since she left the BAU five months ago, the love he had for her and the guilt about her exit keeping him from ever fully cutting ties. He felt better knowing she was safe and sober and happy. Spencer never texted her first, unless it was on her birthday, instead letting the former agent reach out when she wanted. So no, getting a random text from Elle on a Sunday was not odd. But getting a random text from Elle on Mother’s Day asking him to meet her at a park 10 miles from his house was. The last he had heard from her, she had been working in Brooklyn, so what the hell was she doing in Virginia?
He couldn’t say no to her. Never had, never wanted to. She was Elle and he trusted her more than anyone else in his entire life. She could be impulsive, but she would never hurt him. Which is why he found himself getting ready to meet her, stumbling into a pair of jeans and throwing on a sweater. Spencer stopped for coffee on his way, unsure whether it was to give him more time to prepare for seeing her in the flesh for the first time in three months or because he wanted to see her brilliant smile when he handed her her favorite latte.
He found her sitting on a bench, wrapped up in an over-sized sweater that he knew she had stolen out of his locker at the office. Her knees were pulled up to her chest and her hair, which had grown to the top of her chest, flowed in front of her face. She was clearly unsettled, but his heart still swelled at seeing her nonetheless.
“Long time no see,” Spencer said with a smile, extending his hand with her coffee in it. Elle met his eyes with a warm smile as she took it and the touch of their fingers against the styrofoam sent warmth flooding through his body.
“You could say that,” she replied with a small laugh. Her entire body was vibrating with nerves and she couldn’t decide if him sitting next to her, their shoulders pressed together with a familiar comfort, would make it easier or harder for her to tell him the reason why she came. “I wasn’t sure if I was gonna come at all.”
Spencer looked at Elle, trying his absolute hardest not to profile her. He could tell she was anxious, from the way she refused to hold eye contact and the way she kept picking at the black polish on her nails, but he could also tell that his presence seemed to calm her a bit. She had immediately sagged into his body the minute he sat down next to her, as if the weight of her words were too heavy for her to bear.
“Why did you come?” he asked. She blanched at his question and he immediately placed a hand on her thigh to try to calm her. “Not that I’m not beyond excited to see you, it’s just kind of random and you didn’t mention anything and it’s Mother’s Day, so I thought you would be with your family and you seem so tense and… oh.”
His rambling was cut off by Elle sliding her legs down away from her body. His sweater, which had once been loose and bulky on her toned frame now clung to a small, rounded belly. Elle’s small, rounded belly. She was pregnant.
“I’m so sorry, Spencer." Her words flooded out of her. She had been keeping this secret from him for too long and if she didn't tell him now, she wasn't sure she ever would. "I wasn’t even sure if I was going to keep it in the beginning. But then I started thinking and I thought it would be good, you know?” She let out a sniff as she pawed at a stray tear that had escaped down her cheek. “I thought it would be good for me to have something good, that I could love and protect. Something that the world couldn’t hurt or take away. And I thought you should know.”
For the first time in his entire life, Spencer Reid was speechless. Elle’s face was marred with tears, but she was practically beaming as she looked down at her belly, a protective hand resting on it. She looked up expectantly at him and he realized there had been far too much silence on his part since she had spoken.
“Is it… is it mine?” Spencer asked.
For the first time since he had sat down next to her, Elle laughed. She threw her head back and joyously laughed and Spencer swore his heart grew three sizes just by hearing it.
“Spencer, if a guy in Brooklyn knocked me up, do you really think I’d come all the way here to tell you that?” Elle slid her hand into his and he watched as the joy that had just been on her face slowly fade. “I know this is a lot. And I know you might not want this because you’re still young and you’re getting so important at work and I know a kid isn’t what you asked for and I promise I won’t ever ask you for anything if you don’t want-“
She had a way of talking herself into things, regardless of whether they were true or not. She could convince herself that just about anything was true and her superpower seemed to be telling herself things that were destined to break her own heart. Spencer was incapable of sitting and listening to her talk herself into the idea of him not wanting her or this baby for a second longer. So he did the only thing that he knew would be able to shut her up immediately: he kissed her. His lips were gentle against hers, but he tangled a possessive hand in her hair and let the other one rest on her belly.
“Elle Greenaway, I want this and I want you,” he murmured as he pulled away from her. “It’s not how imagined becoming a dad, but it doesn’t mean I want it any less. You know how I feel about you and you might not be ready to say it, but I know you feel the same. So,” he intertwined their hands and pulled them to his lips, kissing the tops of her fingers. “We’re gonna do this. Together. You can come move in with me if you want to stay in Virginia. I make enough at the BAU to take care of the both of us if you don’t want to get a job right now. Whatever you want is what I want.”
Elle smiled and let out a choked sob, tears streaming mascara across her face. She loved Spencer, with every fiber in her being, and even if she wasn’t ready to tell him, he knew, and it was enough for him. She reached into her purse and pulled out the small black and white photo she’d been wanting to show him since he walked into the park.
“I went to my four month checkup before I came down and I brought you something.” Elle handed him the photo, smiling as she watched Spencer break out into a grin. “That’s our daughter, Spencer.”
Spencer stared in awe at the grainy photo in his hands. This was his daughter. His and Elle’s daughter. He wasn’t even aware he was crying until he felt Elle reach a gentle finger up to wipe at his eyes. The agent laughed and arose from the bench.
“Let’s go home before the whole park sees us breakdown.”
They made the transition from long distance friends to two people who woke up in the same bed every day fairly seamlessly. Sure, Elle would sometimes scream in Spanish if they ran out of the vanilla pudding she’d been craving twice a day and Spencer would spend an extra hour or two doing paperwork at the office if he knew he had forgotten to buy more of said pudding, but over all, they were happy. Except for one nagging thought that Spencer couldn’t let go of: they hadn’t told the team.
They knew Elle was back in town and they knew the two of them were in a relationship now. He’s been coming up with excuses for her lack of presence by explaining that she was still adjusting from her move back or that she wasn’t ready to face the team yet. Spencer didn’t want to make Elle feel uncomfortable if she didn’t want to tell everyone, but he couldn't deny that he wanted her to. The team missed her and he wanted to be able to tell them all about their baby name search and the color of his daughter’s nursery. He wanted Derek to crack jokes about him not being the blushing virgin he always joked he was. He wanted JJ and Penelope to adoringly fuss over Elle. He wanted Emily and Hotch to be protective of him in the field because he now had a baby to think about. He wanted Gideon to smile knowing that her middle name was for him. He wanted his family to know about their newest member.
Spencer was sitting with the team in the conference room debriefing a case when a commotion from the bullpen drew everyone’s attention away from JJ’s presentation. A kind, but sharp “Anderson, I’m okay, I promise, I just need to give something to Spencer.” made everyone turn to look at the man mentioned. And before he could say a single word, Elle Greenaway, in all of her five months pregnant glory, was standing in the room with her boyfriend’s badge clutched in her fingers.
There was an uncomfortable silence stirring in the air as the team began to register Elle’s presence. He longed to reach his hand out to hold her when he saw her fidget nervously, but he knew she would stubbornly shoo him away. Spencer opened his mouth to speak when Derek took it upon himself to break the silence, patting him on the back and proclaiming with a wide grin, “Damn Reid, you knocked Greenaway up! No wonder you’ve been hiding her away.”
And with that, it was like whatever dam had been holding everyone back broke. Elle whacked Derek in the back of the head and told him to shut up. Derek moaned to JJ that Elle was abusing him, which made the blonde laugh and shake her head, proclaiming that if they didn’t both behave, she’d put them in timeout. Emily laughed and asked JJ if she would put her in a timeout with a particularly salacious wiggle of her eyebrows. Hotch rolled his eyes at the chaos, but the wide smile painted on his face betrayed his fake annoyance. Penelope, who had just entered the room with a croissant, crushed Elle in a fierce hug that from the genuine smile on Elle’s face meant more to her than she would ever admit.
Spencer felt warm seeing his family together again. He felt an arm wrap around him in a half hug and he looked up to see Gideon. He put down his coffee mug and looked up at his mentor.
“I wanted to tell you that her middle name is going to be Jay after you. Robin, her first name, is for Elle’s dad and Jay for you,” Spencer explained. “Elle and I both agreed. We’d have never met if it wasn’t for you and you’ve taught us both so much. It just felt right.”
“I’m honored, kid,” Gideon replied warmly, giving Spencer’s shoulder a final squeeze before he let his arm drop. “She’s going to be one lucky little girl.”
Gideon and Hotch took their leave after proclaiming wheels up in thirty. The younger members stayed congregated in the room, a warm excitement buzzing in the air. Spencer walked over to Elle, grabbing his badge from her and placing a chaste kiss on her forehead. He smiled as she leaned into his chest and snuck an arm around his waist, tucking herself comfortably under his chin.
“Alright, I gotta ask the question we’re all thinking,” Derek said with a troublesome smirk. Elle raised a warning eyebrow at her former partner, practically daring him to annoy her.
“Oh yes!” Penelope exclaimed with a clap of her hands. “Is it a boy or a girl?”
“No, not that,” Derek waved his left hand at the blonde and pointed at Elle’s belly with his right. “When the hell did that even happen?”
Spencer and Elle caught each other’s eyes, a warm blush creeping up the agent’s neck as he remembered how this had happened. It had been the night before she shot Lee. He’d gone to check in on her, which had somehow turned into them drinking nips of gin as she reluctantly opened up to him. Spencer had told her that she had won against the Fischer King and Elle had flashed him a small smile before impulsively throwing off her shirt, exposing the large scar that ran down her chest. She’d looked him dead in the eyes and made some snarky comment about her victory prize, but Spencer had been so enamored with the miles of new tanned skin she had exposed to him that he had absolutely no idea what the comment was. It had happened fast: him pulling her into his lap, their mouths frantically clashing together as clothes disappeared, the way she had shoved him into the bed, the tangle of hands in hair as they struck up an explosive rhythm, how beautiful she looked when she come undone above him, the fact that she let him hold her after they were done, and never asked him to leave. It was the first of what wound up being many times spent together and he could tell from the playful glint in his girlfriend’s eye that she remembered it just as well as he did.
Elle turned back to Derek with a defiant glare before letting her face soften as she turned to Penelope. “To answer your question, it’s a girl.”
They were almost positive the entirety of Quantico heard the technical analyst’s screech of joy.
1 YEAR LATER:
They had made their return to what Elle had dubbed ‘The Mother’s Day Bench.’ This time, however, they had a third member tag along with them. Spencer was sitting on the bench, running a gentle finger up and down the tiny leg of the baby in the stroller next to him. The child let out a cry of frustration and the agent sighed, rocking the stroller gently.
“I know, Ro, I miss her too. But she’ll be back from breakfast with Auntie JJ, Auntie Penelope, and Auntie Emily so soon, princess.”
He looked up and smiled when he saw Elle walking towards him and Robin, two cups of coffee in her hand and a bright smile on her face.
“How are my two favorite people?”
“Good,” Spencer replied, grabbing both cups so Elle could pick up Robin, who was desperately grabbing for her. “As you can see, the little miss missed you. So did I.”
Elle smiled at his comment, squeezing his hand as she bounced her daughter gently on her hip. Days like this were rare for the family. Spencer was still as busy as ever at the BAU, though he had been making more of an effort to work from the Quantico office when he could. Elle had locked down a job as an FBI agent once again, returning to her roots by working in the Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking division. It kept her close to home for the most part and her boss was flexible with her hours, so she could still spend enough time with Robin to not feel like a neglectful mother. It wasn’t easy, but there wasn’t anything in the world Spencer and Elle wouldn’t do for their family.
“The girls say hi. I’m sorry it took so long though. Emily might have had a mimosa or two too many.”
Spencer laughed, the notion of Emily having too much drink not surprising him in the slightest. He was so glad Elle had been able to rekindle her friendships with the team. The girls had been especially helpful throughout Elle’s pregnancy and even now there was always a volunteer to babysit if needed.
“I want to make this a tradition,” Elle announced after a quiet minute. “I want to come back every year to this bench on Mother’s Day, all three of us. I think it would be nice to have something just for us.”
Spencer tugged on her hand, tucked her into his side as she sat with Robin in her lap. “I think that sounds perfect,” he murmured as he placed a kiss into her hair. “Just the three of us. Our perfect little family.”
They sat like that for what seemed like hours, but Robin quickly got fussy and Spencer frantically located a bottle before his daughter had a full blown meltdown. She had what must have been the biggest pair of lungs to have ever existed within a one year old’s body, a trait he had no doubt she had gotten from her mother. He had just finished feeding her when his phone rang and he passed her off to Elle to be burped as he answered.
“Reid, we have a case. I know it’s Mother’s Day and you’re probably with Elle and Robin. We’ll be okay if you decide not to come in, but I knew you’d be mad if I didn’t let you know,” Hotch’s voice explained through his phone. “So, what are you thinking? You coming in?”
Spencer looked over at his girlfriend and daughter. Elle had buckled Robin back into her stroller and was leaning over her with a bright smile on her face. Her long hair was tickling the baby’s nose and she was letting out soft giggles that absolutely melted his heart. The answer was easy.
For the first time since he had joined the BAU, he told Hotch no.
THREE YEARS LATER:
“I’m sorry I’m late!”
Elle looked up from her daughter to see her boyfriend jogging towards them, his purple scarf flapping in the wind.
“We got back late from the case and I needed to take a shower and then I made the mistake of sitting down on the bed to get dressed and I fell asleep and I am so, so sorry,” Spencer rambled as he leaned down in front of his two girls. “Hi princess,” he said to his daughter, placing a chaste kiss on her head.
“Daddy, did you get the bad guy?” Robin asked him, her little fingers playing with the ends of his scarf.
Spencer and Elle both laughed at their daughter’s question. There was no good way to explain to her what they did and had settled for explaining that they “caught bad guys.” Anytime either of them left for a case, it was a guarantee that she would ask them if the bad guy had been caught.
“He sure was, sweetheart,” Spencer said as he picked her up. He sat down on the spot on the bench next to Elle she had been occupying and placed her in his lap. “And because Daddy did such a good job, he got the whole week off to spend with his favorite girl.”
Elle smiled at Robin’s shriek of joy, running her fingers through the end of her hair. She had impulsively chopped it to her chin a few days ago after having been promoted to chief of her division. The change felt good and as she watched Spencer and Robin laugh together, it felt like all the pieces of her once messy life were falling perfectly into place.
She was jolted from her thoughts by Spencer poking her in the side. Elle raised an eyebrow at him in fake annoyance, but her expression quickly changed when her daughter handed her a small blue box.
“This is from Daddy,” she explained. “He asked me to give it to you.”
The brunette sat up on the bench before opening the box, smiling at the note in Spencer’s chicken scratch that had been placed on top. It simply read ‘I love you forever — S.’ The true surprise laid underneath the note, however, and Elle almost dropped the velvet box in shock.
“Spencer…” she gasped. Sitting in the box was a ring. It was simple, made of opal and diamond in a gold band, but it was so beautiful and so… Elle. “Are you asking what I think you’re asking?”
“If you think I’m asking you to make me the happiest person on this earth by becoming my wife, then yeah, that’s what I’m asking,” Spencer replied with a grin.
She slipped the ring onto her finger before giving Spencer a passionate kiss, nearly knocking Robin off of his lap.
“That was a yes, in case you couldn’t tell," Elle said with a brilliant smile.
“You hear that, princess?” Spencer exclaimed, giving the girl perched on his lap a gentle squeeze. “Mommy and Daddy are getting married!”
Robin grinned and gave a clap of her hands, pulling Elle down to join her and Spencer’s cuddle. The three of them sat together, surrounded by joy, on the bench where four years ago it all began.