Disclaimer: see my profile
a/n this was written in answer to a challenge from lolyncut. The song is The Breath You Take from George Strait. Please enjoy!
This was going right to the top of his best day ever list. Reid decided as he watched his tiny son sleeping peacefully in his arms.
The little boy, only a few hours old, claimed Reid's entire attention as the profiler slowly rocked the infant back and forth.
"You're perfect." Reid said to the sleeping baby.
The infant squirmed a bit under his father's praise as though he didn't know what to make of it. He snuffled a little bit, and then burrowed further into Reid's arms.
"Mommy says you look like me." Spencer said softly. "I don't see it."
He thought the baby might have the same shape around his eyes and his hair was curly too. He couldn't see any other resemblance though. He thought the little guy looked more like Emily. He definitely had her nose.
Reid had been walking around, bouncing and rocking the baby because he read that babies liked rocking. The books said it reminded them of the womb. He was getting very tired though. He looked over at Emily sleeping in the narrow hospital bed. He shouldn't complain because she'd been through twenty hours of labor and all he'd had to do was be there for her.
He decided that sitting down in the easy chair the hospital provided for fathers in the Women's Center was a good idea. He'd take a short rest. The baby didn't show any signs of waking up despite Reid's stillness. Reid pushed the chair back so that he lay back a little and picked up one of little William's hands to look at. The fingers were long and very slim. His hands were smooth on the back like butter, but they curled tightly around Reid's finger. He settled the boy on his chest and held out one of his hands to compare to his son's fingers. In the middle of the comparison, he fell asleep.
The light of the sun would be blinding, but for his sunglasses. He sat at the very back of the bleachers so he could see everything that happened unhampered by others around him.
The crack of the bat against the bleachers brought half the crowd out of their seats. He watched the ball, a hard line to right field, fly toward number 12. The young boy with wavy dark brown hair and large puppy dog brown eyes reached out and caught the ball. His surprise was evident when he hesitated for just a second.
"Throw it back," Reid yelled through hands cupped around his mouth. "You can do it."
He cheered wildly when the boy threw the ball toward first base with just enough time to out the batter. It was the final play of the game. The little boy's team, victorious and ecstatic, ran out to meet him and lift him up to their shoulders. Reid left the stands with the parents of his son's team mates, but he held back while his son got the accolades of one who'd saved a win by just one run.
After several minutes, his son noticed him waiting outside the celebration and tore over to him. "You came Daddy. I thought Uncle Hotch said you had to get on the plane again."
The seven year old William spoke with a tone of disapproval that made Reid laugh.
"I told him I couldn't miss your game. I said you'd be going to the finals and you are."
"Will you come next week Daddy?"
"Yes… and mommy too." Reid promised.
Different sunlight, like that of the setting sun captured his attention. He sat in the same stadium in a folding chair. A large group of teens sat in front of them wearing black gowns with caps on their heads.
A voice called out a name, "William Spencer Reid."
He craned his long neck over the heads of other parents as William's classmates and friends cheered for him.
"I'm so proud of him." Emily said next to him.
"He's a hell of a kid." Reid answered.
"He's eighteen Spencer. He's a young man now." She reminded him as William accepted his diploma and went back to his seat.
"I don't know if I'll ever see him as an adult, even though logically I know I have to." He told her.
Her dark eyes, as lovely as they'd been when he'd married her more than twenty years ago, smiled at him. His eyes cut back to the students. He realized that William had turned in his chair and was giving him an enthusiastic thumbs up.
"He wants to borrow the car for their graduation party." Emily hissed at him over the cheers of the crowd.
Spencer laughed. "Over my dead body."
"Come on, you know he's responsible." She grabbed his arm and laid her head on his shoulder as the sun dropped below the horizon in a riot of gold and pink.
He sighed. "Tell him I said he has to be home by 1:00 am or he's grounded till he goes to Dartmouth in the fall."
She laughed. "You're an old softie Spencer Reid."
Flowers burst over his vision along with more golden sunlight and green grass. He hugged his son's wife as Emily made a fuss over their new grandson.
"He looks like you." Spencer said to William.
"That's what Lori says, but I don't see it."
"I didn't see it when you were a baby, but you'll see when he's six months old and he looks at you in a certain way you recognize."
William took little Aaron in his arms. "I'm scared to death Dad."
Reid smiled. "I'm glad."
William gaped at him. "Thanks a lot Dad."
Reid wrapped an arm around his son's shoulders as they walked down the front lawn to the chairs Emily had helped William set up for Aaron's welcome home barbecue. The summer sun was high overhead, but they had a large elm to sit under.
"I just mean that fear is good, because it keeps us from getting cocky." Reid reached over and took Aaron's hand. He examined it as he once had examined William's hand.
"I think I understand." William said as his wavy hair ruffled like his father's in the breeze that blew perfume from the roses to their places under the big tree.
"It will get easier." Reid said. "Just believe in yourself and you'll do fine."
The dog William bought six weeks ago jumped up into Reid's lap and began to lick his face. "Stop it!" He laughed as William chocked back a chortle.
"Stop what, I can't kiss my husband." Emily said.
He blinked up at her in the low light of the hospitalroom. "I think I was dreaming, but it was a good one for a change." He yawned and noticed that the baby now resided in Emily's arms. She was kissing his little forehead and cooing at him.
"Hey… What are you doing out of bed?" He inquired as he stretched and sat up. His arms felt empty without his son.
"I had to go to the bathroom. That is allowed." She reminded him. "I saw you over here and you two were so cute."
She leaned in and kissed him again on the lips this time which had his whole head tingling.
"Go back to bed." He admonished her. "I'll take William."
She went back to bed, but only sat on the edge. She eyed him and the baby very seriously. "Are you sure you want to name him William. If you want to honor your dad, we can make it his middle name."
Reid looked down at his sleeping son. "I'm sure. I'm not afraid anymore. I know what my father did wasn't easy, that it ripped him apart. I want to remember that no father is perfect. None of us have the answers."
"You don't have to give the baby his name to remember that. You don't have to be perfect."
"I know that Emily." He went to the bed and sat next to her. "Don't you understand? It's going to be different with him," he indicated the baby. "Every breath I take is for him and for you." He nudged her with his elbow. "I'm not going to forget that, no matter what happens. You both take my breath away so how would I forget?"
"You better not or I'll have to get out my gun." She teased.
"I do love you Emily Prentiss and I love our son. His name doesn't matter because I'm going to make new memories with him and with you."
"See… When you say things like that I know you're just about perfect." She teased.
"Just about," he squeaked.
"Yeah… You desperately need a haircut." She reached up and pushed his bangs out of his eyes.
"I'll worry about that tomorrow." He promised.