Authors note: This is my first shot at a Criminal Minds FF. To be honest, I've been trying to suck up enough courage to write something for Criminal Minds for a while but I've been worried about not writing the characters correctly. So with that little confession out of the way, let's hope that this turns out okay. I hope you guys enjoy. P.S. to all those that know me personally, yes I'm aware that I have used some American terms and spelling instead of Australian ones such as 'pacifier' instead of 'dummy' and 'Mommy' instead of 'Mummy' but please do chew me out on it, it's just because that's how I hear the characters talk and I want to be as true to the characters as I possibly can. Also I obviously don't own Criminal Minds or the majority of the poems that I have used. However I do own the poem called "Freedom" which I wrote years ago.
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Reid stood in the living room of his apartment next to Will and a frazzled JJ as he was given a run down on how to look after little baby Henry. Being the boy's Godfather, he knew how to care for him and knew most of his routine and judging by Will's subtle shrug, Will knew that too but they still allowed JJ to ramble on as she rocked the seven month old in her arms.
"Okay so Spence, Henry eats at 6:30, has a bath at 7:00, and assuming he's not being too fussy, will go to sleep at about 7:45" she starts, clearly anxious at the thought of leaving her baby. She prepares to give more information but Reid interrupts.
"He has to be fed at an angle, so that he doesn't get winded and stroking his check with your thumb reduces his fussing as he finds it calming. Henry is starting to become more confident and likes to explore things more, so when he has his bath, you have to talk to him constantly or sing so that you maintain his attention. Although he's grown enough to fit into the shirt and pants sets that Garcia gave, he prefers to be in an onesie and you've found that he sleeps better in them. His favourite toy is the teddy bear that Will bought for him and he always sleeps with it but if he doesn't seem to want to settle, hold him and rock him gently while sitting down. Henry is starting to become interested in books thanks to all the positive stimulation he has received so he is now read to quite frequently so if all else fails, read to him while he has his teddy bear close by" he finishes, looking straight at a sheepish JJ.
"Sorry Spence, I forgot that you've heard and done a lot of this before I just" she sighs and shrugs.
Will rubs her back comfortingly, "no one is blaming you for feeling a little anxious, and we haven't been away from him for that long Spencer knows that."
Nodding, Spencer adds "It will be fine JJ, I know what to do. What could possibly go wrong? Don't answer that" he adds, seeing that she was going to start freaking out. "I know this is the first time that I will be taking care of him but it's not like I've never taken care of him. You should see Garcia with him when you leave the room, she's constantly pointing things out and giving me tips, all of which I have remembered. I'm his Godfather, I promise you that I've been paying attention. Please just try to relax JJ, you and Will know that I will call if anything happens" he reassures.
JJ nods and hands Henry to Will before she could change her mind and cancel the plans. She hugs Spencer while Will says goodbye to Henry. "And you're sure that you don't mind if I ring up? Even if it's late?"
"JJ, I know you. I'm expecting you to call and I don't blame you, you're his mother, if you want to ring up and listen to him breathe for a few minutes than do so." He reminds her gently.
"See now" Will adds, "He knows what to do and how to do it. He's got no problem with us callin' to check up on him and Hotch promised that none of yall will get called in for any reason" he finishes with a quiet look of gratitude towards Spencer, revealing that he too was a little apprehensive about leaving Henry overnight.
Taking a moment to think, Spencer has an idea that might allay all of JJ's fears. With a grin, proud of his idea, he announces to the confused couple in front of him. "How about this, I'll move Henrys' crib to right beside my bed. If you call, I'll have the phone on high vibrate so it'll wake me but not him. If it helps, I'll send you a picture of him every hour to prove that he's just fine. Would that make you feel better?" he asks, hoping that the extra thought will calm their thoughts which are clearly racing.
JJ and Will share a glance and a smile, providing Spencer with the answer he was hoping for.
"You're too good sometimes Spence, thank you" JJ gushes, hugging him again before picking up her bag and kissing Henry again.
Will nods in agreement and hands Henry over to Spencer, who takes him carefully and holds him the way that Garcia showed him, allowing Henry to relax instantly and look up at his Godfather. Looking back down into his Godsons' eyes, Spencer quietly cheers that he was able to hold him so securely and comfortably so quickly. Looking back up to Will and JJ, he sees that they are both smiling at the sight.
"Okay" JJ breathes, "Let's go before I have a chance to freak again" she states.
"That's a good idea" Will agrees, "Thanks again for doin' this on such short notice" he says to Reid, "Although I'm quietly hoping that the whole 'Reid Effect' that I've heard of gets scrapped after tonight."
Reid rolls his eyes, "It looks good so far" he replies, "I'll see you both tomorrow morning at 8:00."
The two parents nod and say one last goodbye to their son and Reid before finally gaining the confidence to leave the apartment, but not after triple checking that everything he could possibly need was in the living room which causes Reid to smile slightly at JJ's mamma bear actions.
Wishing them a pleasant night, he closes and locks the door behind them and turns his attention back to Henry, who had reached up and decided to inspect his Uncle Spencers' tie, causing said Uncle Spencer to chuckle and allow his actions to continue.
"Well Henry, it's just you and me. Did you know that the earliest known predecessor of the tie was over a thousand years ago?" he tells the baby in his arms, curious eyes wondering about the words he was hearing. "I'm tempted to tell you more but I don't think your mother or father will appreciate me telling you about a Chinese army" he says with a smile, which in turn makes Henry smile.
"Now, it is 5:30, so how about we read a book together before dinner time?" he asks the child as he glances at the clock on the wall.
Henry listens to his voice, smiling every so often at the soft tone, which never fails to make Spencer smile at the same time. He carries Henry into his bedroom and carefully places the baby in the middle of the King sized bed in order for him to move the crib to where he promised it would be. It only takes a few minutes to move the crib so it was right beside the bed, which was longer than it should be since Spencer would look up at Henry every few seconds to make sure he hadn't moved. Satisfied with the cribs placement, he picks Henry up again and returns to the living room, ensuring that his phone is in his pocket on vibrate.
Moving towards the Henry's play mat, Spencer once again carefully places the baby down, and watches for a moment while Henry reaches up for the toys of the mobile above him.
"Alright, let's read this one" Spencer says, picking up one of Henry's books before lying down next to his Godson in a protective manner.
Noticing the book, Henry smiles again and coos happily as Spencer starts to read to him in an animated voice while pointing out all the pictures and colours. They get through about four pages, before Spencer feels his phone go off in his pocket. He places the book down and takes out his phone.
"Hello?" he says as he gives Henry his teddy bear and watches as the baby inspects his furry friend.
"Hey Spence, I know its silly ringing so soon but I had to make sure that Henry had his pacifier" JJ replies, sounding as though she was biting her lip.
"Its fine JJ, yes he does, you made sure that I has everything I needed three times before you left 10 minutes ago. Henry is fine, we're just reading a book before dinner."
"Thanks for being so patient Spence."
"It's okay, you and Will enjoy your night and I'll send you guys a picture before Henry has his bath."
He hears JJ sigh over the phone, "Thanks again Spence."
"Bye JJ" he says, smiling as she replies and they hang up.
"Your Mommy is worried about you Henry" he informs the baby, who promptly coos in response. "Let's finish our story."
Godfather and Godson finish their book and have their dinner, all going without a fuss. True to his word, Spencer sends a picture to JJ and Will before he giving Henry a bath and dressing him in his onesie. Reid then places Henry in his playpen, which was also residing within his bedroom, set up the baby monitor and took a quick shower himself, changing into a t-shirt and sleep pants before returning to Henry who was fine as expected.
"Okay Henry, it is 7:40 so why don't we give your Mommy and Daddy a call before we put you into bed. How does that sound?" he says as his picks up Henry and dials Will's number and putting it on speaker, since he knows that if he calls JJ's phone she'll most likely think that something is wrong.
"Hi there Spencer, everything's fine I'm guessin'" Will says in greeting.
"Oh yeah, we're great, I was just wondering if you and JJ wanted to say goodnight to Henry before I tuck him in" Spencer replies.
"That would be great thanks, let me put you two on speaker so JJ can hear too" Will says, his accent clear as ever.
"Spence?" JJ asks confused at not knowing what was happing.
"It's fine JJ, Henry here just wanted to say goodnight to his Mommy and Daddy before he went to sleep" he explains.
"Aww thanks Spence, that's so sweet" JJ coos, making Henry smile at the sound of his mother's voice.
"You're on speaker so he can hear you guys right now."
"Hey Henry, Mommy misses you. Sweet dreams honey, I'll see you in the morning" JJ says first, her smile evident in her voice.
"Hey there lil' man. Good to hear that you're being good for you Uncle Spencer. You have a good sleep now, and like your Mommy said, we'll see you in the morning."
Spencer held the phone a little closer to Henry to make sure JJ and Will could hear his babbles and coos and hearing their voices.
"Aww how sweet" JJ says in response to hearing her baby. "Thanks for calling Spence."
"Anytime guys, see you tomorrow" he replies and hangs up once JJ and Will have a chance to say goodbye as well.
"Okay Henry, bedtime" Spencer informs the child as he lowers him into his crib just like he saw JJ and Garcia do many times.
He leaves the room momentarily to get another book, this time one of the poetry books that JJ left. Returning to his room he hands Henry his teddy bear, gets comfortable in his own bed before beginning to read out loud.
Untitled
The waves wash away leaving history on stone,
The seagulls scatter,
My love stands alone.
The sun is gone; the moon is yet to rise,
His love for me fades with the vanilla skies.
Freedom
The feel of the wind through my hair,
The sun warming my skin.
The thrill of escaping the dreaded lair,
The fact that no one can win.
The freedom of moving at a fast pace,
The feel of the strength in my hands.
The knowledge that it can't be a race,
Feeling each step as it lands.
The feeling is better on a winter's morning,
It's true I cannot lie.
It's impossible to be classed as boring,
So don't even think to try.
I love horse riding.
Monday's Child
Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace.
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go.
Friday's child is caring and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living.
But the child that is born on the Sabbath day,
Is Bonny and Blyth and good and gay.
Spencer stops reading and looks over at Henry, pleased to see the young child sleeping peacefully. With that, he turns off the main light in favour of his bedside lamp, puts the book down, has his phone right next to his pillow and reaches for one of his books to read. There's no sound apart from Henry's occasional coos as he dreams and the gentle 'swoosh' as Spencer turns the pages in his book. Due to being able to read 20,000 words per minute, he soon finishes the book and decides to read another since it's only 8:15.
By the time Spencer finishes his second book, it's 8:30 and he quietly takes a photo of the sleeping Henry, sending it to the boys' parents and receiving a text back.
Thanks so much Spenceā¦again. We'll see you tomorrow, sleep well.
With a little smile, he thinks about his own Mother and decides that it's not too late to give her a call, so long as he's quiet he won't have any worries about waking Henry. So he dials the number and waits for his Mother to come to the phone.
"Spencer?" his Mother asks.
"Hey Mom, how are you feeling?" he greets.
"I'm fine, some new patients found my discussion of Valentine to be fascinating. It's nice to know that some still appreciate those kinds of literature. What has your day been like baby?"
"My day has been great Mom, do you remember my Godson Henry?"
"Oh yes, I do. From the photos you sent, he looks like such a sweet baby. Reminded me of when you were that age. Tell me, do you think he will become an intellect?" she queries.
"He definitely has the potential, he loves having books read to him. I'm looking after him now actually, JJ and Will deserve a night together so I'm looking after Henry for the night."
"Oh, wonderful. Which books?"
"We read a colour and shape book before dinner but I read him poetry as he fell asleep about 40 minutes ago. You would adore him Mom, the second he sees a book he smiles and reaches for it. Even when you read to him, if he can see the page he will touch the words and he never stops cooing and smiling."
"How precious, he sounds so lovely just like you. Oh you were much the same, never could go wrong with reading to you, no matter what the material. We would spend hours reading and it was so wonderful that you never lost your love for reading."
"Yeah, did you enjoy the book I sent you yesterday? I was reading it in my spare time and it reminded me of the literature that we would read together when I was young."
"You know what, it reminded me of that too. I did enjoy it, it was a little slow to start but the language was magnificent" she states passionately.
"Oh I'm so happy you liked it" he says smiling.
"Oh drat, a nurse is saying that I have to go. No manners, only been here for a week and she thinks she can go bossing people around" she says, now irritated.
"I'm sure she will learn quickly to improve her manner Mom. I should go too, I want to go to sleep early in case Henry wakes in the middle of the night" he replies, hoping to ease her irritation somewhat.
"Of course sweetheart it sounds like you're doing a marvellous job with Henry, goodnight Spencer, I love you" she says, her voice once again calm and loving.
"I love you too Mom, sweet dreams."
Hanging up, he notices that Henry is still sleeping soundly and decides to do as he said and try to sleep.
The next morning, Spencer woke up by the sound of Henry who was beginning to fuss, wanting his breakfast. He looked at his phone to see that it was 4:30 and that there were no missed calls or texts from JJ. Happy that both he and Henry had a well-rested night, he had only woken up once, he yawned and made his bed. Lifting Henry into his arms, he bounces his godson gently, making him laugh before changing him, dressing him in a fresh onesie and feeding him. He quickly changed himself and brushed his teeth once Henry was engrossed with his teddy bear on his play mat.
Coming back out to the living room with the poetry book from the previous night, he made sure that everything was okay before making himself a healthy breakfast and having his first cup of coffee for the day, all the while keeping an eye on Henry. As he makes his second cup of coffee, his phone buzzes in his pocket.
"6:00 in the morning, I hope Will and JJ managed to relax" he murmurs as he pulls out his phone to check the caller ID which, sure enough, was JJ. "Morning JJ" he greets, taking his coffee to the couch so he could watch Henry more closely. The young boy was alternating between rolling onto his belly and rolling onto his back.
"Morning Spence, I didn't wake you did i?" she greets with a hint of potential guilt.
"No you didn't, Henry and I have been up since 4:30. He's rolling around on his play mat at the moment" he replies easily.
"How was he last night? Did he let you sleep, I mean you don't sound tired or anything but still" she asks, ever the protective Mother.
"He woke up once at 10:00 but went back to sleep after a few minutes of rocking. He slept well so I did too but I am on my second cup of coffee so that may be helping somewhat" he laughs softly.
"That's great to hear Spence" JJ says happily.
"Did you two manage to have a relaxing evening?" he asks as he places his cup on the coffee table and goes to help Henry reach one of his toys.
"Yeah we did, we really needed this and we can't thank you enough" she replies, sounding as relaxed as her words.
"The fact that you trusted me to look after Henry overnight is enough, and the 'Reid Effect' doesn't apply to Henry."
JJ laughs, causing Spencer to smile. "Oh Spence! Well, I'll let you go and we will see you in a couple of hours."
"Okay JJ, say hi to Will for me, bye."
Hanging up, he goes and tickles Henry a little, making the baby gurgle happily.
"Why don't we read some more books huh?" he asks, smiling at his Godson.
They managed to read almost all the books that JJ had packed when there was a knock at the door. Picking up Henry, Spencer made his way over and checked the peephole. He opens the door, mindful of the child in his arms and lets JJ and Will inside.
"Hey guys, come on in" he greets, stepping back a little to let them in.
"Hey Spencer" Will greets.
"Hey Spence and hi you!" JJ greets before her attention is stolen by her son.
He hands Henry to his Mother and puts his hands inside his pockets while he watches the family reunion in front of him, mainly JJ fussing over Henry which causes Will and Spencer to share a look and shrug. Spencer and Will leave JJ and Henry for a moment while they put everything into Will's car. By the time they finish, JJ is on the couch cuddling Henry.
"Would you guys like some coffee?" Spencer asks.
"That'd be great, thanks" Will replies.
"Sure, thanks Spence" adds JJ.
Will makes his way to the couch to be with JJ and Henry and gets a turn at cuddling his son. Spencer lets them have their family moment and takes his coffee into the kitchenette while he makes their respective coffees. However he deliberately takes a lot longer than he should've needed to but he doesn't get any comments as he brings out the drinks.
Once the coffee has been consumed, JJ and Will decide that it's time for their little family unit to head home.
"Thanks yet again Spence" JJ says, not feeling as though Spencer knew just how much she truly did appreciate him looking after Henry.
Picking up on her mood, Spencer chuckles, "It was no problem JJ, we had fun didn't we Henry" he adds to the child in Will's arms and is given a smile and coo in response.
Both Will and JJ smile at the interaction before getting their stuff and heading off. It was a relatively quick goodbye as Spencer was probably going to see JJ at work today. Once he had seen them off, Spencer went back inside and gathered all his things, and decided to drive to work.
"Hey Reid!" greets Garcia as he settles into his desk, "How was Henry last night?"
"He was great, the 'Reid Effect' doesn't affect him at all" he replies, laughing along with Garcia and the entire team. Even Hotch chuckled, which was almost as big an achievement as Reid being totally comfortable around Henry, almost.
Authors note: There we go, my first Criminal Mind FF. I hope you were able to imagine Reid, JJ, Will and Henry as I did (which is mainly hearing and seeing the actors in my head). Please review and tell me what you think! See you guys next time. Oh and before I forget, I have recently decided to try writing requests so if anyone has a story idea that they think I could work with please let me know
