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By the time Henry was five, he was bilingual - he was adept in English, knew selected spoken words in French but understood conversational French wonderfully, and he had become nearly fluent in ASL. JJ thanked Will and Spencer for massively; his openness to language seemed to radiate into every aspect of his learning and he was two levels ahead in his reading and writing skills.
She also thanked Spencer, oddly, for how accepting of her job Henry was - with what small understanding of it he had. Spencer dedicated his full attention to Henry at every moment he was around, fully living up to his Godfather status, and has immersed Henry into a world she and Will couldn't offer with more gusto than any school teacher could promise.
It was Spencer's total dedication to Henry that made JJ comfortable with having her son at her workplace. When she knew her workday consisted mostly of office work, she would sometimes have Henry with her and knew that Reid would immediately sweep him off to fill his mind with wonderful stories and she wouldn't have to worry about him for the entire day.
As she returned calls and comprised files at her desk, she smiled to herself at the sound of her son's laughter outside, on the floor below her, where she knew Spencer, Mac and Derek were showering him with affection, attention and love. But her focus on work was hard to keep as she began to feel like she was missing out on the fun. At the sound of a delighted squeal of laughter from her son, followed by cheering and applause, she got up from her desk and left her office to peer over the mezzanine to see what joy had flooded her baby's heart.
She saw he Henry sitting on Spencer's lap at his desk, which had been cleared of his paperwork and personal effects to make way for rows of toy dinosaurs, and noticed Mac, Derek and Emily crouching behind it to create a puppet show with the figures. As the three puppet masters told a story, Henry's small hands made remarkably accurate signs for Spencer to follow the plot while he giggled loudly and cheered the story on.
"Terry the T-Rex growled loudly at the dopey Diplodocus and it echoed through the forest?" Mac said with an over exaggerated voice and Henry laughed again.
"Wait!" He called out in his tiny voice. "What's the sign for T-Rex?"
Mac popped his head up and smiled, "Dinosaur," he said roundedly and proceeded to show Henry the sign, walking his hand forward in three bumps, arm raised and finger pointed.
But Henry wasn't satisfied. "Not dinosaur," he said, shaking his blonde head. "The T-Rex on its own!" He insisted.
"Fingerspell?" Morgan suggested, popping up like a wound jack-in-a-box a moment later. Henry's eyes lit up and he nodded, turning awkwardly on Spencer's knee to sign "T-R-E-X" into his face.
Spencer gave a deep giggle in his throat, "Got it," he vocalised as he pushed his hair from his face.
Henry dropped back around and looked at his puppeteers, "OK, more story!" He demanded, clapping his hands together. JJ couldn't hold back her laughter and everyone turned to look at her.
"Busy, I see." Emily quipped as she got to her feet and rubbed life back into her numb bottom. At the turn of heads, Spencer looked up.
JJ smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "I was missing the fun."
As Mac kept Spencer in the conversation, he waved off her comment. "Come join in." He called to her.
"Terry is about to eat Dopey!" Henry called to his mom excitedly. "Roar!" Laughing, JJ descended the stairs and joined her team.
"Which one is Terry?" She asked as she approached Spencer's desk. Henry shuffled from Spencer's lap and grabbed the dinosaur from the desk.
He walked to his mom and presented her with the toy. "This one, silly."
JJ examined the scary beast, "I bet Dopey is terrified!"
"Oh he is," Henry nodded enthusiastically as he took the dinosaur from her and placed it back onto the desk with the sea of other toys. "Finish the story!" He begged gleefully as he clambered back onto Spencer's knee.
Retaking their places, the team adopted voices for their respective roles and played out a fantastical show before the child. Henry stayed engaged, forgetting after a while that he had been signing the story for Spencer, and watched the toys dancing across the wooden table, back and forth, eating one another in a fluffy of Emily and Derek's chomping and growling noises.
When the show was over, Henry clapped his hands and demanded the actors take a bow but when Derek got to his feet and pretended it was a great task to fulfil his request, the boy laughed hysterically and shook his head.
"Not you, silly!" He said through gasps for air. "The dinosaurs!"
Suitably embarrassed, Derek picked up Dopey and made the long-necked dinosaur bow and thank his audience as Emily and Mac did the same with the rest of the toys on the desk.
"Thanks, guys. That's sweet." JJ grinned as Henry shook their hands like a proper little gentleman.
"Did you see it, Spencer? Did you see when Terry ate Dopey but Tracey tried to save him?" Henry giggled, tugging on Spencer's arm. "Munch munch munch!" Spencer frowned, unable to see Henry's face to work out his words and looked to Mac and Derek questioningly.
Derek laughed as he interpreted the childish giggles for Spencer and earned a chuckle from him. Henry tugged on Spencer's sleeve again. Spencer crouched down and looked directly at his smiling face, "Can we go to the pizza place for lunch? Me and you and Derek?"
"And your mom." Derek added quickly.
Henry repeated Derek's sign for mom and turned it on his mother, "Mom please!"
"We could order lunch in, Hotch won't mind." Emily suggested, "Pizza sounds pretty good to me."
Henry's eyes widened considerably. "Spencer likes pizza, don't you Spencer? So we should get pizza for me and for Spencer!" He fought hard to cement the deal.
JJ couldn't help smiling. "OK!" She threw up her hands, "Pizza takeout it is. But you, young man, have to give Uncle Spence some breathing space." She crouched down and hoisted her growing boy up into her arms.
He immediately swung his head around to find Spencer. "You can breathe, right?" He asked, in earnest.
Spencer's smile grew wider as he began to laugh. "I'm fine, buddy." He promised. "What toppings do you want on your pizzas - my treat." He addressed everyone as he drew his phone from his pocket to order.
As orders piled in, and Henry wriggled free to sit with Spencer and make the orders up, JJ watched them interact, a mirror of signs and efforts to speak, they met halfway and taught one another so much. For Spencer, Henry drew out those social skills the doctor had struggled with throughout his life while Henry grew richer and smarter with every moment in Spencer's presence. Best friends for life, JJ considered, with a smile on her face.