Through Thick and Thin Chapter 1: Birthday Boy, a criminal minds fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. It is the property of Mark R. Gordon and CBS. I do, however, own the character Sarah Riverson and any original characters involved in her past. Not that I'll ever make any money from that…I also don't own any songs that may pop up throughout. In this chapter – "Tell Me 'About it" by Joss Stone.

Author's Note: The long awaited Part Three of the Sarah Riverson series is here! Hope it lives up to expectations. I'm shooting for updating every week or so, just as a reference. Hopefully my beta reader (Thanks Dassa Mudruffin) and I can manage this story as our final semester of college progresses. I also just wanted to state that the towns of Carterville and West Lake, although loosely based on real places they don't actually exist. They will be showing up soon. Anyway, Enjoy!

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Through Thick and Thin

Chapter One: Birthday Boy

By Ann Parker

Ellen Glasgow once said, "It is lovely, when I forget all birthdays, including my own, to find that somebody remembers me."

Reid rolled over in bed, his senses suddenly being attacked by several different stimuli. The rays of sunshine penetrated his eyelids as he fluttered them open. He glanced at the alarm clock, which flashed 10:15 back at him in bright red. He momentarily freaked out, thinking he overslept, when he remembered it was Sunday. A Sunday he actually had off, well, at least currently. As he continued to regain consciousness, his other senses fired at him. The smell of something heavenly was coming from the doorway and down the stairs, as did the sound of music. And, if he listened carefully, he could hear Sarah's voice singing along to it. He couldn't stop the smile that crept across his face.

He sat up and grabbed a t-shirt and his pajama pants from the floor, quickly throwing them on. Pushing the hair out of his face, he made his way out of the bedroom and down the second story hallway. He stopped at Lucas Jason's (or LJ as they liked to call him) room, but noticed the crib was empty through the half opened door. He headed down the stairway that opened up near the front of the house. Unlocking the front door, he stuck his head out only to not find the morning paper. She had apparently thought of everything. Making his way through the hall that led to the kitchen, he couldn't help but grin at the pictures she had hung up along the wall a few months prior. There was a photo of the two of them with his mother, the two of them dancing, and a group shot of them with the team – all from the wedding. There was a photo of them on the beach from the their honeymoon, where she had forced him to wear a ridiculously hideous Hawaiian shirt. There were photos from the day after LJ's birth and several shots of them together as a family after that. He could hardly believe that he was in those photos some days. Sure, he had always hoped deep down that he might find someone, fall in love and start a family, but he never actually thought it would happen. Not to him.

The grumble from his stomach forced him to focus on why he was in the hallway in the first place and he finished his journey into the kitchen. He leaned against the wall by the dinner table and smiled at the sight before him. LJ was in his playpen playing with the building blocks Hotch had given him. Sarah was making breakfast, but that wasn't why he was smiling. She had her hair pulled back in a messy bun, a few strands lightly grazing her neck, and was dancing and singing to the music in a tank top and a pair of his boxers, all while cooking. It was the simple, silly things like this that he loved the most about her. He watched as she flipped the pancakes she was making and stirred the scrambled eggs. No wonder he had put on some much needed weight since they got married. She, however, had managed to pretty easily get back to her pre-pregnancy weight even with the way she cooked. Although, that probably had more to do with her going to the gym that she tried to drag him to than anything else.

She grabbed some orange juice out of the fridge and poured two glasses before putting it back. She then opened the oven door, pulling out two plates she had warmed up. He couldn't stop himself from watching her as she moved around their kitchen. Last month, around their one year anniversary, Morgan asked him if the "honeymoon" stage had worn off yet. After he explained to him what that was when Reid looked at him with a blank stare, he was glad to simply smile and shake his head. There were many times when he had to keep himself from grabbing her right then and there no matter where they were or what they were doing.

Her voice pulled him back to the present as she grabbed the spatula she was using and sang Joss Stone's "Tell Me 'Bout it" into it like a microphone. Wait, how had he remembered the singer's name? Her education on music appeared to be sticking. Shaking his head, he watched her belt out a part of the song.

"I'll make you feel the way you wanna feel

I love how it's real, we're one in two minds

Maybe it will stick, you'd better be quick

I hope that you heard me right

Tell me, tell me, cause I won't wait, suspense I just hate, so spit it out now

If you're feeling like I do, won't you come and do it to me."

"Okay," he replied and watched as she spun around to see him standing there. Grinning, he walked over to her.

"How long have you standing there?" she asked, slightly embarrassed. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her softly.

"Long enough to get a good show," he teased, kissing her again. "Good morning."

"Morning," she replied with a smile, pulling away from him and turning back to the food. "You're just in time too." She placed two pancakes, a scoop of eggs, and a handful of green grapes on each of the plates. She handed him one and a glass of juice. They walked quietly over to the table and set down their plates.

"What's with the feast?" he asked as she walked back to get silverware and syrup. He noticed that she didn't answer, but just had a confused look on her face when she returned.

"You actually don't remember?" she asked. He noticed a slight amount of sadness in her voice as he shook his head. She sighed softly and walked over to the playpen, picking up LJ and a piece of paper that was in there. She handed LJ the paper and made her way back to him. "Hand it to daddy," she instructed softly. Reid watched as little LJ, now just eight months old and who had clearly inherited some of his brains, nodded at her and cooed slightly, handing him the blue construction paper.

Reid smiled at LJ, messing up his mop of brown hair just like his father's, before looking down at the paper. In Sarah's handwriting it clearly stated, "Happy Birthday Daddy!" The rest was covered with little scribbles by LJ. He sighed, how had be forgotten his own birthday? Sure, he had gone years without celebrating it, but the team had made sure to fix that since he started working at the BAU. How had forgotten it this year? Shaking his head, he looked back up at his family and smiled.

"It's beautiful, LJ. Thank you," he replied. LJ reached out to him and he took him from Sarah's arms and hugged his son. "That's the best present I've ever received." He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Sarah had walked back into the kitchen. He hoped had hadn't hurt her by not remembering his birthday. She had clearly put some thought into this and it had gone right over his head.

She emerged a few seconds later with a small plate of food – some baby food and a few pieces of a pancake – and a sippy cup, pulling up the high chair. "Okay, time to eat you two," she commented. Reid put LJ into the high chair as Sarah set down the food for him. Before she could make her way back to her seat, he pulled her back to him and into his lap. He didn't give her time to respond, kissing her passionately.

"Thank you," he whispered when he pulled back for air. "Sorry I forgot." She tapped his nose.

"That's okay, the day is still young. Happy Birthday Spencer," she replied. He placed his hands on her back and kissed her again. She giggled slightly when they separated. "Okay, stop, the food is going to get cold."

"Who cares," he replied, kissing her again.

"LJ doesn't need to learn how he came to be just yet," she countered again. "Particularly not at the dining room table." He sighed as she climbed off of him and sat down at her seat. "Don't worry, though," she added as they began to eat. She took a quick bite and then turned to LJ to give him some of the pancake. "Garcia and Morgan agreed to baby-sit tonight so we'll have time for that later." He noticed the twinkle in her eyes and laughed. For not remembering his birthday, he was certainly going to have a good one.