It was a rare Saturday when the BAU team was not only at home, but also not on call. On this particular sunny Saturday in late April, it was Ladies' Day Out. JJ, Garcia, and Blake had invited Christine to join them on an extended shopping trip, followed by a late lunch at an outside café.

"This has been great!" Blake enthused as she speared another piece of lettuce in her salad. "Christine, we so rarely get to see you!"

"That's right," JJ added. "You live and work so far out in the suburbs, it's hard to get together."

"Well, that's about to change," Christine told them, smiling happily as she dug into her salad.

"Okay, what's going on?" Garcia noticed Christine's excitement. "Do tell!"

"Let me guess – Our resident genius has finally seen the light and asked you to make it permanent!" Ever since she had gotten married, JJ was advocating it for everyone.

"Definitely Not That!" Christine announced emphatically. "However, I am about to make a major life change!"

"Go On," Blake encouraged her.

"Well, first, The Institute is being sold," Christine told them. "The new owner has asked me to stay on, but I have received a much better offer. I've accepted a post-doc position at The University Hospital. That means I'll be moving to the area around the University."

"Post-doc?" Blake picked up on the terminology. "That means you've had your doctoral thesis accepted! Wonderful! When?

"A while back," Christine admitted. "I was going to tell Spencer on Valentine's Day, but Garcia and Strauss got abducted, and everyone got called out to rescue them. When Aaron and Dave brought him back, poor Spencer was so tired he fell asleep on the couch before I got around to it."

"That means you are now officially 'Dr. Nielson' and Spence doesn't know it?" JJ was scandalized. "He knew you were working on your dissertation!"

"I've never had the chance to tell him," Christine explained. "Every time we get together, other things just seem to get in the way. Like, at Jack's soccer game and the cookout afterwards. After Jack's team won the tournament, it just didn't seem right for me to steal some of his thunder."

"And, Rossi drove you home later," Blake remembered.

"Yes, Spencer wanted to spend some more time with Henry, so Dave volunteered," Christine replied. "Things like that seem to happen all the time."

"Okay," Garcia got right to the point. "When is Commencement? I am definitely going to be there and, if I have to, I will drag our resident not-so-genius with me!"

"It was two weeks ago," Blake looked at Christine. "And, you weren't there."

"No, I didn't participate," Christine admitted. "It's not like I have family or anything."

"No family?" Blake questioned.

"Well, my parents don't travel," Christine explained. "At least not for me. As for my brother, I really like him, but he comes with my sister-in-law. She's a real piece of work! Her favorite maneuver is to insult you and then smirk and say 'I'm just kidding', like that makes it all right. So, that eliminates them. Other than some cousins I really don't keep in touch with, that's it."

"I still think that stinks!" Garcia declared. "Reid should have done something!"

"Spencer didn't know," Christine reminded her.

"Well, here he is," JJ observed as Morgan, Reid, and Will strolled up. "Someone should tell him!"

"Tell Who – What?" Morgan asked, smiling at the women.

"Oh, Oh!" Will recognized the look in JJ's eyes. "Someone's in trouble!"

"You are in trouble, Mister!" Garcia burst out, glaring at Reid.

"Penelope!" Christine interrupted her. "It's not his fault - I never told him!"

"He should have asked!" Garcia insisted.

Reid looked at the women, clearly confused. "Is this about me?" he asked puzzled. "Should I leave?"

"Spencer, dear," Blake decided to intervene. "Have you kept up on Christine's activities?"

"Ah – Anything in particular?" Reid was trying to stall.

"Educational activities," Blake specified, glaring at Garcia.

"She's in school? Classes? Lectures?" Reid was floundering.

"Spence, her work for her PhD was accepted months ago," JJ told him. "She has her degree. Didn't you notice she was no longer going to classes?"

Reid looked at Christine. "What? When?"

"Just before Valentine's Day," she admitted. "You got called out to chase down Strauss and Garcia's abductors, and I never got around to saying anything."

"You should have noticed," Garcia erupted. "You have got to be the worst boyfriend ever!"

"Garcia!" JJ and Christine chimed together.

"Congratulations, Christine!" Morgan decided he had better +head off the upcoming row. "What are your plans now that you are officially our latest 'Doctor' "?

"I've accepted a post-doc position," Christine shot him a grateful smile. "It's at The University Hospital, so I'll be able to see all your smiling faces a little more often."

"I remember my post-doc position," Blake reminisced. "It involved working in a small, basement lab with a group of monkeys. Today, I suspect that place wouldn't even begin to pass an OSHA inspection. Not to mention what the animal rights people would say!"

By the time Blake was through telling her story, everyone was laughing and lunch proceeded without any further confrontations.

Later, as Reid walked Christine to her Metro station, he stopped and turned to look at her. "I am really sorry," he said. "I had no idea you had completed your studies."

"Well," Christine replied, "There is always the question whether anyone ever really stops studying. We are always learning. And, yes, you are forgiven."

"It wasn't intentional, you know." Reid assured her. Then he asked the question he really had on his mind. "Am I your boyfriend? I mean, you wear your shooting star necklace all the time, but I really don't know - "

"Well, as far as I know, you are a boy," Christine pointed out. "Of course, I never personally checked that out. And, you are definitely my friend. So, I guess, technically, you are my boyfriend."

Christine then surprised Reid by stretching up and licking the left-hand side of his mouth. "You had a little bit of whipped cream left there from dessert," she told him coyly.

As she turned to go down the stairs into the Metro station, Christine stopped and looked back over her shoulder to comment, "You might want to think about verifying my assumption." With that enigmatic comment, she left Reid standing on the street corner with his mouth hanging open.