October 1, 2024
"Hey, Hannie, have you seen my-"
Johanna Reid interrupted her sister mid-sentence. "Top drawer in the bathroom cabinet, left side. I put it up for you last night."
"Thanks." Nellie answered, vying for a spot in front of the bathroom mirror alongside Johanna's other sisters, Emilia and Andi.
Johanna rolled her eyes and grabbed her backpack as Nellie found her lip gloss. As the official plain Jane of the family, Johanna was usually ready in half the time her sisters were.
She rocketed out of the huge bedroom she shared with her sisters and down the stairs. As usual, Ross was in the kitchen making breakfast for the family. Ashton was sitting at the bar, reading a book – no, an encyclopedia. Johanna rolled her eyes for the second time that morning when Ricky darted through the room and stuffed a pancake into his mouth from the plate Ross had prepared.
Then her three sisters tumbled down the stairs in age order - Emilia, Nellie, and Andi - and the noise level spiked. Johanna watched as her trio of sisters skidded to a stop in the kitchen, each lining up to get in on Ross's breakfast offerings. She waited until they had migrated to the dining room before she even attempted to speak.
"Morning, Ash."
No answer from her blonde brother.
"Goood moorning, Ashton..."
No response.
Geez, Johanna wondered. Not even Emilia zones out on an encyclopedia.
"Hey." Ross flipped Ashton in the forehead as he sat a plate of pancakes down in front of him.
Ashton's head jerked up, eyes wide behind his glasses. Ross nodded towards Johanna.
"What?" Ashton asked, turning to her.
"I said 'good morning', like, twice." She answered, taking a seat at the bar beside him.
"Oh, sorry. Good morning." And he went back to his encyclopedia.
"I don't get you." Ross told his brother. "You're graduating this year. Graduating! And all you do is sit around and read impossibly large books."
Ashton raised his eyes to look over the rims of his glasses. "Do you think, just possibly, that the two might be connected somehow? Because, you know, there's this thing called studying, and it's been proven to work miracles in "kids' grade levels."
Ross smirked. "Save it for Ricky. Or Jenney. Aren't you going to start tutoring her this week?"
Pretty, blonde-haired, blue-eyed Jenney Curtis, seven months younger than the septuplets. Younger daughter of Caleb and Jennifer Curtis nee Jareau. She had a twin sister named Tabitha Cathleen, known to her half-brother Danny and to Ross as "Tabby Cat."
This sounded promising.
"Yeah," Ashton answered. " In math. And don't get that look in your eye."
The order was directed towards Johanna, who returned his gaze innocently. "What?"
"I don't want, need, and/or appreciate the idea of having a girlfriend, so do not try to set me up with her. No."
Johanna looked past Ashton to her three sisters, who had all heard the last comment. Johanna knew that they had used very selective hearing while listening to that statement. Want, need, girlfriend, try to set me up with her.
"Why not?" Andi asked. "I'm sort of with Henry."
"I've got Danny." Johanna pointed out.
"Ross and Tabby have been together practically since kindergarten.'" Ricky added, getting in on the conversation as he came into the kitchen.
"It's true." Ross supported. "Jenney's a great girl. And really easy on the eyes."
"And a cheerleader." Ashton said firmly.
"That's your argument?" Emilia asked. "Seriously? That's stupid and we all know it. Jenney's not like that and we all know that too."
"As the Gideon of this family, I feel it is my duty to say this: you should ask her out." Ross stated.
Ashton snorted.
"Seriously, Ash," Johanna coaxed. "Even Ricky has a girlfriend."
Ricky glared at her.
"Ricky had Uncle Derek to teach him how to get a girl. The best thing I have is Aunt Ashley."
Johanna shook her head. "Ricky's with Fay. She knows all of the tricks her dad taught Ricky, I'm sure. And then there's Nellie and Rich. Even Emilia and Jack are going to get together eventually."
"I object!" Emilia screeched. "He's nineteen! And, whenever either Grandma or Grandpa quits the BAU, they're going to marry each other, which will make him our uncle."
"Only by marriage, nothing by blood." Johanna pointed out. "Em, they've been engaged since we before we were born. That's a stale argument."
"But an argument nonetheless." Emilia told her pointing a finger in her direction.
"Speaking of Jack..." Leah Prentiss-Reid, the proud mother of the crazy brood, came into the kitchen. "He's coming up the block."
The seven kids scrambled to get their things. In a half a minute, a van horn honked in front of their house.
"'Bye, Mom!" The twelve year olds chorused, heading out the door.
Leah watched them through a window as Spencer came up behind her, paying attention to who sat where, and by whom. The "BAU Bus", driven by Jack, now held every child born to any member of Agent Hotchner's BAU team, save for Leah herself, Emily's daughter.
Emilia, the oldest of the seven and an exact replica of Leah at that age, took the passenger seat in the "BAU Bus", beside Jack.
It was interesting to note that the other team members' children had taken seats according to who they paired themselves with, by the order of the septuplets.
Ross, the second oldest, took a seat in the second row, sitting next to red-headed Tabby Curtis.
Johanna took a seat across the aisle next to Daniel "Danny" Curtis, Caleb's son from a relationship while he had still lived in Texas - years before he'd been recruited into the BAU.
Next came Ashton, who was always interesting to watch. He always looked for a place to sit, and, at least recently, Jenney Curtis always waved him over to sit by her, by the looks of it, citing a homework question.
Nellie flopped down unceremoniously by Rich Lynch, Garcia's son from her brief and unpleasant marriage to the long deceased Kevin Lynch.
Ricky plunked himself down beside Derek and Penelope's eleven year old daughter, Faith Francesca Morgan.
Andi, the youngest and one of the feistiest of Leah and Spencer's children, right up there with Ricky, sat down right beside Henry LaMontagne, Jack's right hand man.
And Rachel Hotchner, Aaron and Emily's eleven year old daughter, apparently the only singleton in the group, glanced up from her iPod long enough to roll her eyes before delving back into her music.
Leah felt a little melancholy as she watched the easy interaction between the pairs. before the sixteen passenger van disappeared.
"Ah, don't worry." Spencer said, picking up on her mood. "They just turned twelve. Nothing is going to become of that. They're just first crushes, that's all. Over and gone by the end of the year, guaranteed."
"Maybe." Leah looked up into her husband's hazel eyes. "Maybe not. I got my first crush was when I was twelve, and it became something very serious."
Spencer smiled, understanding that she was making a reference to him, and he kissed her.
"I don't know, Spencer, something about those seating arrangements just seems very prophetic."
This is my 50th story, and as such I felt like going back to what started it all: my Leah/Reid series. Yes, I sound sappy, but that's the way my mind decided to go today. Please review! Thanks!