You Just Know

"How do you know the difference in your feelings?"

Sarai looked up from where she was chopping vegetables and turned in the direction the question had come from. She saw Spencer Reid sitting at the table performing the task she had set him to. His fingers were shelling the peas automatically and he was looking at her. She put her knife down and ran a hand along her back. "What do you mean, Spencer?"

Reid pulled another pod out of the basket and started shelling it. "Well uh… what it means exactly," he explained, feeling his face heat up.

Sarai smiled at the man that was like a prepubescent boy at times, but still loving him as the brother-in-law he was to her. She massaged her lower back and sighed, thankful that the morning sickness was over. She knew her husband was relieved but she saw the guilty look that haunted his eyes when they had video chats. She turned her focus to the other man that was important in her life and tried to find an answer, "Are you asking like how you know you are angry at someone? That is pretty easy."

Reid had stood up the moment he saw his practically sister-in-law rub her back. He helped her to the more padded of the kitchen chairs and went to get her a glass of water. He held it uncertainly before offering it to her. "Well um…"

Sarai had an idea of what it was about. Like her husband, she pushed enough to get Reid to spit out what was on his mind, insisting that she wasn't a mind reader and if he wanted help he had to voice it. To others it may have sounded mean but it built a special rapport between her and Reid and she didn't baby him or tease him mercilessly. She joked with him and occasionally did so if it was cute enough but for the most part, you could say she was like a mother but not quite. She decided to help him out, "Is this about a certain artist that you have been seeing?"

Reid swallowed slightly and stammered, "Uh… yeah. It's about Gen." He had grown comfortable calling her by her preference though he had another name he called her but in private. "You know she calls me Speedy."

"How could I forget?" Sarai chuckled, content with letting Reid go his own pace. She just pushed the door open. "She called you that and added the rider that you certainly weren't that in other aspects."

"I uh… actually like being called that. By her, I mean."

"How does it make you feel?"

Reid looked at Sarai. As much as he hated when being asked that question since it made him balk at anything related to feelings, he did it on purpose when he spoke to Sarai. He provoked her into asking that since he knew he couldn't get out of evading her. She would let him go but then he felt guilty and eventually say what he wanted to say. He swallowed slightly, "I… I really like her."

"I got that feeling when Mike made his comments at dinner."

"I really… really like her." Reid cleared his throat, knowing that he sounded like he was twelve years old again. He put his hands in his pockets and hunched almost sheepishly. "She makes me smile," he added almost shyly.

"I noticed," Sarai replied as she finished her water before standing back up to finish what she was doing. "You have smiled more after you meet with her but you were still sad. What changed?"

Reid thought about it. He had been seeing Genevieve the past four months while still trying to come to terms with Maeve's death. He knew that he had been selfish in that respect and yet she still came to their spot in the park and she went out with him or came to his place and sat and talked with him. She was the most patient woman he had met and always offering some piece of advice that sounded like it was way out there but there was wisdom and truth in her words. "Rossi," he replied. "After that case in Rapid City in South Dakota… we talked."

"Sometimes the best advice comes from someone you don't always talk to," Sarai offered. "Mike will be glad. He worries about you."

"He shouldn't. He has enough to worry about over there," Reid countered as he grabbed the bowl of peas and brought it to the counter.

Sarai chuckled, "You'd be surprised how much he has to work with in that big brain of his. And you'll always worry him. You're like a little brother to him."

"He's only older by a couple of weeks," Reid retorted in good humor as he held the knife Sarai handed him along with pointing at the raw chicken on the far counter.

"You're still the youngest," Sarai joked, knowing that it didn't mean anything to tease Reid about how close he and Michael were in age. "So there."

Reid gave a smile as he got to work with the chicken. He didn't know how he got roped into helping make dinner but he could do it. Sarai had likened it to chemistry; that certain things went with each other to create a larger whole and Reid got that. It was one of the few things he looked forward to when he was done with work and wasn't on a date with Genevieve. "She showed me her other studio. Did you know that she was the artist La Sombra?"

"No I didn't."

"She called it chasing nightmares," Reid said with some trepidation. "She painted from memory things she had seen around the world and here. Poverty, illness, violence… it was like she gave life to the things that can change everything."

Sarai listened to Reid talk about his sort of girlfriend. She could tell he liked the woman and he wanted to move on from Maeve but he felt guilty. She figured he must have been struggling with it for some time and just didn't know how to address it. She long concluded that Genevieve was special and different. She was now seeing that he must have come to a few conclusions. She finished her vegetable chopping and went to mix and let them soften in her stock and water mixture heating on the stove. "Sounds like she is letting you in on a part of her life and a part that she may feel ashamed of."

"But she shouldn't," Reid replied looking up. "She painted the truth, as it is and while it is hard to look at, you can't deny it."

"Sounds like something she should hear from you."

"I did tell her that. A couple of times. She said she'd think about it." Reid finished what he was doing and put the chicken to cook with the butter and herb mixture in the sauté pan. "Her chasing dreams as she calls it. It also is the truth."

"Sounds like you know what you're feeling." Sarai turned and looked at Reid as she went to take care of something else for dinner.

Reid thought about it some. "I guess. I mean it became clearer when I talked to Rossi about Maeve. I was able to sleep again."

"That's great, Spencer," Sarai replied with a serious look, meaning every word. She pulled out the prepackaged rolls and popped the tube, giggling because she always made it pop and loud. She started lining them on the tray. "Have you thought about what you're going to say to her?"

Reid paid attention to the chicken so it didn't burn. Sarai had grilled him in the art of cooking chicken and wouldn't hesitate to smack his hands with a wooden spoon. When she gave the analogy that it was like chemistry, he paid attention. He stirred the chicken in the pan and replied, "I… don't know how to say it. But I want to say that I want to… make it official."

Sarai studied Reid for a moment. Reid didn't squirm. It wasn't the look like a shrink would give. It was the look of someone who cared about his thoughts and feelings. A family member. He was lucky that his best friend's family accepted him as he was. Sophia was an overprotective sister who would offer to go out to DC and beat up Morgan if he made him cry. Sarai was the one that just picked him up out of the dirt, dusted him off and covered the scraped knee with a Band-Aid while giving hugs and kisses. Then there was the team…

Sarai was aware that the team was a family to him too and she was glad he had the people he did. "You want to take the next step?" She asked the question just to be sure.

"Yeah. I know that maybe she'll say no but… I have to tell her and if she needs time I'll give it. I really like her Sarai."

Sarai smiled at the rambling as she finished the rolls. "Then I think you should tell her after dinner tonight."

Normally it was fun to watch Reid's facial expressions when he was hit with new territory. At least for his teammates. For Sarai, she was amused but she calmed him down, "You know that it is better to get out in front of things. At least that is what Mike would say."

"I know but…"

"It's only between you two and a friend who would more than likely be dishing up dessert for herself and going to her room to wallow." Sarai grinned at him, making light of the fact that she had taken out her hormone induced tantrums on him when he was there at the house. "It'll be okay, Spencer."

Reid looked at Sarai as she put the rolls ready to pop in the oven before heading to the fridge to pull out a head of lettuce to make a salad. He didn't doubt that but he was still nervous as hell about it. He turned his attention back to the chicken and stirred it. It was almost ready to add to the pot of soup she was making.

"You know Mike and I met in a village in the Kandahar region. He was doing his job with his team of escorting medical supplies to us. It became a regular thing with his team since the goal was to make nice with the locals." Sarai pulled out the other vegetables to make her salad. She started cutting and mixing. "He was a lot like you: all thumbs about talking to me and missing cues all over the place."

Reid made sound at that, "Not Mike."

"Oh yes." Sarai turned to smile at Reid. "He's a lot like you. He's just had more experience mustering up courage in things. But I think it's a universal constant that all men find it torturous and hard to ask the girl they like out. It's cute at times."

Reid blushed at that. "Seriously?"

Sarai nodded while smiling, "Anyway, Mike eventually asked me out or rather showed his interest by giving me a red poppy every time they came. I kept them and you've seen them in that frame in the entry way."

Reid couldn't forget that. It answered a few questions since they were perfectly preserved but one or two looked like they had been scorched. He had hesitated asking because of where they were from. Michael still didn't like to talk about it much.

"That was his way of saying that he was serious. But his true feelings came out when they came."

"You don't have to, Sarai," Reid interrupted. He sensed where this was going and didn't want her to become traumatized or anything like that. Michael would kill him and Garcia would beat him up.

"It's okay, Heydar," Sarai replied using the pet name she gave Reid when she first met him. "You know that Mike was tortured by the enemy. He was forced to watch them have their way with me and a few of the girls from the orphan school. But not before he stood in the way of them getting to us. He was angry at them and… he did kill a few of them."

Reid swallowed at that. He knew Michael's job was that of a soldier. He never asked for details because the nature of that job. To hear what happened… "And what happened?"

"While watching him get tortured, during a shock therapy session, I saw the look in his eyes as he refused to give them what they wanted. Other members of his team were dead and it hurt him but looking at me… it was different and that was when I knew that I would walk into hell with him." Sarai turned to look at Reid. "It's like you just know and it's hard to explain. If that is what you feel… you should go for it." She then gave a smile, "Besides, from the way you described her and how she reacts to your jokes… I think she feels the same and is just as shy as you."

"I'm not shy. I was… grieving and not being fair about it." Reid put his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground.

"But you were willing to try when you met and she's still going out with you. She said yes to this meet the parents dinner." Sarai grinned when Reid looked at her. "Allow me some fun Heydar."

"Could you not call me that?"

"Ashamed that it's true my little lion?"

"No just… she'll hold on and not let go." Reid made a slight cough as his cheeks went red. The sad thing was that he would enjoy it but he valued that pet name Sarai gave him. "And it's one you gave me."

Sarai nodded, understanding. Even though they had met at a trying time, they bonded right then and there. She never blamed him or the team for Michael being taken by the unsub. Rather she thanked them and gave him an especial hug while inviting them to dinner before they headed back to Quantico. The team accepted since Sarai was not the type of person you said no to. Reid liked her right off and had a friendly exchange with Michael that ended in their version of a scuffling match and him asking if he was trying to take his girl. She prompted, "So will you consider it?"

Reid knew she was giving him space by asking that. What she really was after was if he was going to do it tonight. He nodded, "I'll do it."

"Good," Sarai replied with a smile. "Time to add the chicken."

Reid pulled his hands out of his pocket and wiped them off before removing the chicken from the flames. He put the chopped pieces into the pot while managing to joke, "Couldn't you have picked something less kid like? Chicken soup?"

"New rule. Everyone eats how the pregnant lady is to eat," Sarai teased as she placed a hand on her rounded abdomen. "Besides you need to know how to make it the next time you get a cold."

Reid pouted, "But I like it when you come over."

"Then I will when you decide that working is better than staying home to rest."

Reid groaned at that. The last time he had a cold, which was a few weeks ago, he went to work and said it was nothing. Of course Sarai dropped in and she had a thermos of the soup which she wielded like it was a weapon. Morgan teased him for three days afterwards. "That was nothing, Sarai," he whined.

"Then chalk it up to the pregnant lady going hormonal."

"I can't win with this can I?" Reid set the pan in the sink. He would rinse and set it in the dishwasher later.

"I think you can. You are a genius. Get creative." Sarai stirred the soup as she smiled at him. "Now set the table and straighten that collar. Can't have you looking like a ruffian."

Reid made a face. She always did that but it never rankled. He could just imagine what she did with Michael and he could imagine what it would be like when the little one came along. He went to straighten himself after checking his wristwatch and noting the time. He felt bad that he didn't go to pick Genevieve up but he had promised. Genevieve though was understanding and said that she would be able to find the place.

He was just finishing arranging his hair when the doorbell rang and he stiffened. It rang again and Sarai called to him to get the door. He knew that she was setting the scene and while he was ready to bolt, he was appreciative of it. He knew she would champion him and he felt bolstered. He could do this. He repeated that mantra in his head as he went to the door and opened it to reveal Genevieve standing there. He offered, "Hi."

"Hi, Speedy."

A/N: Couldn't resist and people seemed to like Gen. So here is Reid talking with his best friend's wife about the big question of "how do you know?" Set after Alchemy. Enjoy.