AN: Written as a pinch hit, this story is for Sugarhigh! Merry Christmas!, I hope you enjoy...
Prompts are an angel, a sled, a snowman, and "War is Over."
An Angel for Spencer by KricketWilliams
Whoosh!
The wind whipped over the faces and mussed the hairs of the three people on the wooden toboggan as it shot down Murphy Hill. It was going like a bat out of hell, faster than JJ had thought a woody could go, and she tucked Henry closer to her center while saying a quick prayer. He was giggling, raising his hands in the air while Spencer attempted to steer the rocketing sled.
Yesterday at work, she'd told the godfather of her son that she was taking Henry sledding. They'd had an obscene amount of snow for Virginia this year, and growing up in Pennsylvania, she knew what snow was good for...
"Ah!" Reid had answered, perking up immediately. He'd been speed-reading his way through a rather dry-lookingtome and had been obviously happy to be interrupted. Closing the book, he asked, "Where are you heading?"
"Murphy Hill."
"That's not too far away..." he drawled.
He was biting his bottom lip between his teeth in the way that Spence did when he wanted to say something else but was uncertain of how to proceed.
She decided to save him from himself. "Do you want to come with?"
His big brown eyes sparkled. "I would! There's a physics tangent to sledding. The base area of the hill, multiplied times—"
JJ put her hands up, chuckling. "Spence, whoa. It's not Nascar. We're just taking a little boy up a little hill..."
At the time, she hadn't put together that the man who'd grown up in the desert had never been sledding. And that same man would research everything from the proper wax technique for her old toboggan—blow dry, then paste wax, followed by Pledge©—to the best kind of snow pack for true, near-Alpine slopes.
As they whipped past a blob—was that a snowman?—she realized she should've.
"Lean right!" Spence cried out, and she followed suit as their sled missed a rocky patch and continued down the hill.
They passed another group of teenaged sledders, who cheered at the velocity with which they passed.
Finally, the hill lowered to a rolling knoll and then finally to a flat surface. The sled skidded safely to a halt near a bush at the bottom.
"That was excellent," Reid enthused. "This was a perfect projection for this hill. At a cotangent of thirty, we had enough energy produced to provide a full slide."
"That's good," JJ murmured, not quite sure what he was talking about. Physics and trigonometry had not been her best subjects.
Being in the back, she exited the sled first and then lifted Henry to his feet and removed the bicycle helmet that he'd worn just in case they'd crashed. Spencer had recommended the helmet, citing childhood head injury rates, and she'd jumped at it.
"Um...your hat," Reid commented.
JJ frowned and then tapped her head. Sure enough, the stocking cap she'd worn had flown off in the madcap dash down the hill.
Reid was staring at her, waiting to speak.
She huffed. "Don't say it."
"You should've...um..." Reid gestured under his chin. He'd also recommended a hat that tied on to her, like the one he was wearing.
"Spence!"
"I didn't say it!" he squeaked, but he was grinning broadly.
"I sees it, Momma!" Henry exclaimed, pointing a few feet away. Before she could stop him, he ran in the direction. A moment later, he returned, holding the sodden mess that was her hat.
"Thank you, sweet pea," she replied, cupping her son's cheek.
He grabbed his helmet out of her hand and put it on his head. "Again!"
She sighed and looked at the hat. "Okay..."
"Wait," Spence said, reaching for her hand and stopping her from turning.
She watched as he untied his hat and placed it on her head.
"Here," he said, tying a bow under her chin with the strings. "I'll wear yours."
Her heart warmed. The little considerate things he did every day made him special to her. He treated her better than any man she'd ever known. If he wasn't such a good friend, she would've thought…
She changed her frame of thought. "Spencer, you don't have to do that."
"I want to." He put the wet hat on his head and then turned to Henry. "Sit on the sled. The horsey will take you up the hill."
Enthusiastically, Henry plopped on the sled and shook the rope tied on the sled. "Mush!"
Reid neighed a very non-horselike neigh and reached for the handle, and they began their way up the hill again.
After many more trips down the hill, an exhausted and rather whiny Henry fell asleep in the back of the car on the way home to Quantico. Christmas carols were playing on the radio—currently, the anti-war song, "Happy Christmas."
JJ was singing along, her lovely soprano voice a nice addition to the choir of children vocalizing. It was yet another lovely thing about JJ. She was a wonderful mother, a terrific profiler, a great friend, and she was by far the most beautiful woman Reid had ever seen. Watching her was pure pleasure, her bright blue eyes focused on the road, her golden hair sparkling even in the dim car interior. She was stunning...and far out of his league.
Suddenly, her perfect lips curved into a smile, and she turned her head to glance at him. "You're laughing at my bad British accent, aren't you?"
That surprised him. "What?"
"To the song," she explained and then began again, "'Ave a very merry Christmas...and a 'appy new year..."
He shook his head. "No. Actually, I was thinking about how nice your voice sounded."
As he watched, her fair cheeks colored pink. "Thanks. I don't sing often."
"You should," he replied. "You have a great voice. It's wonderful."
She scoffed in the self-depreciating way only JJ could. "It is not."
"It is!" he argued earnestly. "You're great. You could be a singing star."
She quirked a half a smile. "The next American Idol?"
He wasn't sure what that was, but he nodded. "You could be."
She beamed. "Spencer Reid, you are way too good to me. How is it you're single?"
He shrugged and answered honestly, "No one's wanted me yet."
It was true. Women were not beating the door down to date him. Morgan teased him often that he was a novice with the ladies, and sadly, he wasn't that far off.
JJ reached over and squeezed his hand. "That's because they don't know you like I do."
A warm rush of tingles ran from where her smaller hand joined his, and his heart began to beat erratically. She was divorced...available. Along with the beating, however, was a dull ache. She knew him...and she didn't want him, either. Not really.
Not like he'd always wanted her.
"Thanks, Jayje," he replied, squeezing her hand back. He wasn't the kind to dwell in self-pity.
"What about that girl you were dating before?" she asked.
"It didn't work out."
"Oh," JJ said softly. He thought she'd drop it, but then she asked, "Why?"
Because they're not you...
"She wasn't right for me. I'm...ah...looking for something different, I guess," he said instead.
"Like what?"
"I don't know... Someone grounded," he blurted, answering how he felt for the first time to anyone besides his journal. "Someone who knows what she wants, not just what she theorizes she wants—you really don't want to hear this, do you?"
"Yes, I do. Go ahead." The hand she was holding was beginning to sweat, but she still held on, so he did, too.
"I want someone I can grow old with, someone who will care about me the way I care about her." He took a deep breath. "Someone I am attracted to, in more than a physical way."
"Physical attraction doesn't matter?"
"Oh, it does," he said quickly, rectifying the thought, "but it isn't all that's important."
"What is most important, Spence?"
He closed his eyes and thought of what he wanted...and he smiled. "Someone who knows me—my mind and my heart—and respects them both." He swallowed hard, his heart so full, it overflowed into his mouth, forcing the words, "Someone like you."
They were quiet for the few minutes more of the drive, and Reid could feel cold sweat rolling over his back.
Oh, God...what have I done?
"Sounds wonderful." JJ pulled into her driveway and then turned to face him. "She'd be a very, very lucky woman to have you."
Her expression was soft...curious. Watching her, he couldn't help but think she looked exactly like an angel. A Christmas angel. Their gazes were locked, and for a moment, he was transfixed.
"I don't know about that," he whispered. "I think I'd be the lucky one."
She smiled, her dark pink lips curving into a genuine smile. "Maybe you'd both be lucky?"
"Would we?" he answered, and realizing how it sounded, he tried to correct himself. "I-I...uh...mean she and...and I—"
"Yes, Spencer," she said, putting her hand on his lips to silence him. "We would."
JJ lowered her hand, and Reid began to smile. It matched JJ's, and the two of them began to smile together.
"Momma?" Henry called from the back seat, yawning and breaking the reverie.
"We're home, pumpkin," JJ said, still smiling at him.
Reid had a feeling he was home, too.
Reid winked at her and then turned to the back seat. "Come on, Henry. I'll race you upstairs."
The three of them entered the house and entered a new chapter of their lives, together.