TR: If you recognize it, I don't own it. I do own Mrs. Colt and the twins though, so if you want to borrow them ask me first.
Pulling up in front of a cookies cutter home in what looked to be a very nice suburban neighborhood, Reid could hardly contain his nervous energy. He was about to meet his children for the first time. He had no idea how to be a dad, and knowing that they had just lost the only parent they had ever known made him shift nervously in his seat in thought. Climbing out of the car, Reid tried desperately to figure out what to say to his kids. His planning time was cut short by Elle knocking on the door of the picturesque dwelling. In mere moments, a woman who looked to be in her early fifties answered the door. Smiling warmly, she greeted her guests.
"Miss Greenaway, how good to see you. I take it this is Dr. Reid? My goodness you and Liam look a lot alike. The children are in the living room right now, so Miss Greenaway and I will just go wait in the kitchen while you talk. I should warn you though, they are extremely bright so don't let them intimidate you. I believe that when Amber, God rest her, took them to be tested, Liam and Mariah both scored IQs of 160."
Reid sighed when he heard that, his face betraying far more sorrow than he should have felt for his children. Elle and Mrs. Colt looked confused, not understanding why he was upset to hear how intelligent his children are. Stopping just outside the living room, Mrs. Colt asked him about his reaction.
"I lived through the hell of being a child prodigy in the public school system. I would never wish that on anyone, least of all my own children." Without looking back to see the faces of the women in the hall, he walked into the room where his children were.
Liam and Mariah were curled up together on a beige suede love seat, each clutching tightly to a stuffed animal. Seeing them in person, the resemblances were so much more startling and obvious. Both children had chocolately brown hair, but only Mariah had inherited his curls. She also had the same circles under her eyes that Reid knew from experience never went away. Both kids had their mother's vibrant green eyes, the color made more brilliant by the redness and swelling caused by the tears they had shed. Reid sat on the sturdy coffee table in front of the love seat, clearing his throat as he tried to find the words to apologize for his absence up to now. Before he could open his mouth, Liam looked him dead in the eyes and spoke.
"Would you have been there? If you had known, I mean?" His voice was soft and timid, and Reid's hands twitched with the urge to hold and comfort the hurting children. Taking a breath to sooth his ragged emotions, Reid answered his son.
"God yes, of course I would have been around for you anytime you needed me. I know what it's like to grow up without a dad, mine left when I wasn't much older than you. I swear to you both that I will always be here for you from now on. Always."
With a bit of a sniffle, Mariah's eyes snapped to his face. Reid could see shock and a hint of fear in the green orbs, and that confused him greatly. She shifted just a bit, sitting a little straighter as she cried out. "No! You can't quit just for us! Liam and I know what you do for a living and you can't stop that now. You catch bad guys and you save people, do you know how bad we would feel if you gave that up now? If you stopped saving people just because of us? We couldn't stand it, don't quit."
Liam nodded vehemently, picking up where she left off. "We looked you up a few years ago because we wanted to contact you, but mom wouldn't let us. We could never figure out why she didn't want you know. Eventually we stopped asking her to help us find you because we know we'll be going to college in a few years and she can't control the mail then. Mom always made sure we knew how proud she was that we took after you in school. Do you know if there are any schools in Virginia for kids that are smart like us?"
"We're tired of getting picked on and bullied all the time." Mariah commented sadly, her face buried against the head of her teddy bear. Liam broke eye contact at her comment, picking at the fur on his own bear nervously.
Blinking rapidly to avoid crying, Reid leaned forward and wrapped an arm around each child. Pulling them close, he felt his voice break as he tried to comfort them. "I don't know about that, but I will find out. You have to know that I would never have wished this on you. Maybe it's stupid, maybe it's cruel, but I wish like hell you two had normal IQs just so that you could be spared the torment that I went through everyday. Just don't ever think for a second that I love you any less because of your intelligence."
Liam and Mariah both pulled back in shock, not really believing what they were hearing. Liam blinked owlishly, his voice just barely above a whisper. "You love us? But you don't even know us! How can you be sure?"
Reid sighed, thinking about how to explain his feelings for a moment. Leaning back a bit to look at them, he cupped both their faces in his palms and smiled as he replied. "I don't know. I can't explain in logical terms why I love you so much so soon, but I don't think it's something that can be quantified to be honest. I just know that you two are very important to me now and I am going to do everything in my power to take care of you."
The children seemed surprised to hear that, though they accepted the reasoning without further questioning. With one more pathetic sounding sniffle, Mariah did her best to sound confident. "So, um, can we come stay with you? Like tonight? Mom's funeral is tomorrow morning, and everything we're keeping is already boxed up. We have our funeral clothes together and suitcases with clothes in them that we can take with us. Please?"
"Well, I am sharing a room with one of my team mates, but I doubt Morgan will mind. There's a chance that the team will want to be at the service tomorrow so I hope you don't mind." Reid smiled slightly; thrilled beyond words that Liam and Mariah wanted to be so near him so soon. "Go get your bags and bring something to do with you since I'm pretty sure that I'll have some paperwork to do. I'm going to go talk to Mrs. Colt and let her know so that Elle can give us a ride back to the hotel."
Smiling as brightly as they could manage, Liam and Mariah clambered off of the love seat and took off upstairs. Shaking his head, Reid stood up from his perch on the coffee table. With a slight wince form the pain of his knee, he headed toward the kitchen in an effort to find Elle and Mrs. Colt. Entering the room, Reid sighted the two women sitting at the table in the center of the room, two thick folders lying off to one side. Leaning against the counter, he scrubbed his face with one hand before beginning to speak.
"Do you, um, do you know who is going to be responsible for shipping their possessions to Virginia? I need to get their number for when I get a place big enough for all three of us. Also, I'm taking them with me to the hotel tonight. They asked, and I could really use their support just to make sure I'm not going crazy. What grade are they in by the way?"
Mrs. Colt gave him a reassuring smile, pleased to see the young man take to his children so quickly. "I have all of their things, and my number is in both of their files. All of their paperwork is here and ready for you. The children are in eighth grade and for some reason they just love reading true crime books. I'm not sure that they're really old enough for those books, but Amber never seemed to have any problems with it. Their favorite author is a man named David Rossi, have you heard of him?"
Biting his lip, Reid nodded as his shoulders shook with silent laughter. Tilting his head to listen for the children, he leaned forward and spoke in a stage whisper. "I work with him, but don't tell the kids. I want to surprise them." Elle and Mrs. Colt both grinned at him, highly amused by the man in front of them.
Picking up the folders from the table and stuffing them in his tan satchel, Reid followed Elle out of the kitchen and to the front door. Waiting for Liam and Mariah didn't take long, and soon the four of them were saying goodbye to Mrs. Colt and climbing into Elle's car.
TR: Well we have now seen the last of Elle; she has served her purpose for me. Up next, the twins meet the team.