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“Hey, Spence? Is that you?” You called out from the kitchen. You were just finishing slicing up some fresh lemons to make a pitcher of lemonade to sit outside in the sun with when you heard the front door creak open.
Your husband had been called out on a case in Las Vegas two days prior and since the team managed to solve it so quickly, Spencer decided to use the opportunity to visit his mom. You had gotten a quick text to say he was back on the jet to come home but apart from that, you had no idea how the visit had gone.
However, seeing his crestfallen face as soon as he entered the kitchen, you had a pretty good idea.
“Hey,” You murmured quietly, taking a cautious step towards him. If he was upset you weren’t entirely sure whether he would feel comfortable with contact or not.
Within seconds, he closed the gap between you and practically collapsed into your arms, giving you one of the tightest hugs he could muster. You quickly reciprocated it, wrapping your arms around his waist and then pressing a soft kiss to the exposed piece of skin on his neck.
Silence in the kitchen fell again as you stood in each other’s arms, your breathing now synchronised.
“She had no idea who I was.”
It was quiet, barely audible. The words though were so heavy and broken that it seemed to fill the entire room.
“It was the first time that I saw such a big change in her, there was just…no signs of her past self. Of my mom.” Spencer continued quietly.
Your heart shattered. What were you meant to say to that? There were no comforting words which would be able to patch up these emotional wounds.
Instead, you slowly extracted yourself from his embrace so that you could see his face. With gentle hands, you thumbed away the tears running down his cheeks then pressed another soft kiss to the top of his cheekbone.
“I’m so sorry, darling. It’s so hard and I’m so sorry.” You told him sadly, “She will always be your mom though. Even though today was hard, you have to hold onto all those good memories you have with her.”
Spencer gave a minute nod, his glassy eyes looking at you as if you had all the answers. Sadly, you didn’t, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t help him to realise how much he was truly loved.
“How about we go upstairs? I can run us a bath? Or if you’re tired we can cuddle in bed for a while.” You offered quietly as you began to run your fingers through his hair.
“A bath…a bath would be good.” Spencer replied after a moment of consideration.
“Okay, good choice.” You slowly entwined your fingers together and began to lead him up the stairs. After a quick glance behind you, you noticed that your husband’s eyes were still slightly glazed over and his brow was furrowed as the events of the previous day continued to play on his mind. Curse of an eidetic memory.
After depositing him on the bed with a swift kiss on the forehead and a promise that you’ll be back in a moment, you went into the bathroom to run the bath. When you both first viewed this house, the large, claw-foot bathtub was definitely one of the things that drew you both to this house the most.
A good glug of bubble bath was poured in and then a couple of drops of lavender oil, something you know would soothe Spencer.
“Hey, it’s ready when you are my love.” You said to him as the bubbles continued to pile up.
He had begun to undo his tie with his nimble fingers however you noticed they were uncharacteristically shaking so you decided to give him a hand. Unlike the majority of times you undressed each other, this was so different.
His cardigan was slowly peeled from his body, followed by his shirt. Spencer did seem to snap out of it enough to remove his own trousers and underwear.
It took a few moments but Spencer eventually got settled amongst the bubbles, the lavender scented steam swirling around him. His head fell back and eyes shut, making him look more relaxed than he had in a while.
“Are you coming in?” He questioned, his eyes still closed.
You had been kneeling on the tiled floor next to the bathtub, your hand running through his hair. Like earlier, you had wanted to give him his own space and wait for him to decide how close you wanted to get.
“If that’s what you want.”
“Of course it is.”
Within seconds, you pulled off your own clothes and slipped into the bath in front of him, allowing his arms to pull you closer to him.
“Does the team know?” You asked after a moment, your fingers trailing up and down his arm.
“I didn’t tell them specifically but it didn’t take a profiler to work out that I was upset.” Spencer sighed. “Hotch told us to all take the weekend off, I’m pretty sure that was mainly for my benefit.”
“That was nice.” You hummed.
“Yeah it was. I know I have a lot of people around me, to support and love me, it's just sometimes…”
“You want your mom.” You finished softly.
You felt Spencer give a small nod in response and then a couple of drops of water landed on your shoulder which you knew hadn’t come from the bath water.
It was hard from your position in the bath but you managed to turn around slightly and wrap one arm around his shoulders, the other cradling his head close.
“This water is getting cold, do you want to get out?” You murmured into his hair.
With another nod, you began to carefully get both of you out of the bath with the intention of crawling straight into the bed together. A large fluffy towel was wrapped around yourself and another was passed to Spencer who took it gratefully.
You were so thankful that you had only washed the sheets the previous day as when you both collapsed into bed, the scent of fresh linen embraced you both.
“Thank you.” Spencer mumbled as he looked at you through half-lidded eyes. He hadn’t realised how tired he was until he had actually climbed into bed, the events of the case and then his visit to his mom catching up to him.
“You don’t have to thank me, I’m your wife.” You smiled softly.
“I know but…thanks anyway.”
“Don’t mention it baby, you can make me breakfast in bed tomorrow if you really want to thank me.” You joked.
“Consider it done.” Spencer slurred, his blinks getting longer as his eyes grew heavier.
“Stop fighting it, Spence. Go to sleep. I’ll be here. I’ll always be here.”