Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they where the big things." – Robert Brault

o o o o

1 January, 2009

Spencer stretched as he blinked himself awake, his arm bumping against something solid and warm. He rolled over onto his side and smiled sleepily when his eyes fell on Calliope curled in a ball a couple inches away, facing towards him, her arm reaching out and her slim fingers tangled in his hair. Carefully keeping his head still, he slowly reached back, grabbed his phone off the bedside table and checked the time. Shesh, why did he always wake up early even when he didn't have to?

The morning sunrise was flooding through the east-facing window and for the first time Spencer realized how bright the room was. The walls were painted a vivid golden yellow and the curtains framing the windows were a rich dark red that matched the comforter he and Calliope were buried underneath. The hardwood floor, baseboards and crown molding were gleaming and Spencer was sure they were polished with more regularity than anything is his apartment was dusted.

The art on the wall didn't match with the idea of an antebellum plantation house, but they did match with Calliope and he was almost sure the paintings were by her. One painting was of a bunch of children laughing and eating cotton candy on a carousel, bright colours everywhere. The second showed the castle at Disney World and what he could tell was a four or five-year-old Calliope sitting on Dr. Sellers' shoulders while Brenda pushed an empty stroller.

Looking away from the paintings, he saw the bookshelf in the corner by a comfortable looking arm chair in which sat a set of clothing on which he would have bet money that Calliope had bought and set out for him, knowing she was going to trick him into staying at Dahlia. When he reached the top shelf, his mouth fell open and it was all he could do not to jump out of the bed to see those books. The sale of just that top shelf at auction would probably pay more then a decade at the Bureau.

He rolled onto his side and smiled again. She looked so innocent when she was sleeping – he knew better than to actually believe that, but she still looked it. Gently teasing her fingers loose from his hair, he pushed the covers back and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He pushed off only to be pulled back. Confused, he turned back and laughed when he saw Calliope holding the edge of his shirt and her eyes barely opened.

"I have to go to the bathroom, Sweetheart. I'll be right back."

Nodding groggily, she let go and he slide out of the bed. Opening the first door, he came face to face with what looking like an entire couture dress shop that doubtlessly chronicled Calliopes' life. So he closed that door and found success with the other while he was almost positive he heard Calliope laughing sleepily.

Before going back into the bed, he walked over to the bookshelf and carefully took several books from the top shelf. Putting the books next to his phone on the end table, he slipped back into the bed and kissed the top of Calliopes' head as she snuggled into the crook of his arm and rested her head on his chest.

"Go back to sleep, Sweetheart. I'm sorry I woke you up."

Calliope muttered something unintelligible and nestled closer as he starting running his fingers through her hair, coaxing her back to sleep. He picked up a first edition of Englands Helicon, a 230-page collection of Elizabethan lyrical poetry accumulated by John Flasket. He couldn't believe that he was holding a four hundred and nine year old book. For almost half millennia old, the book was in fantastic shape.

"Margaret Sellers brought… England… 1690." Calliope yawned, her eyes half closed and speech slited . "Was favorite. Gift … husband, Henry Sellers."

"Do you mind if I…"

"Naw. Just careful. Fragile."

"Go back to sleep, Calliope. You're exhausted."

"Why up? Seven thirty. Didn't sleep 'til three."

"I'm weird, you know that. Now go back to sleep."

"Kiss."

"Only if you promise to go back to sleep."

"One step 'head you." He kissed her softly and smiled when she tucked her head back, her eyes fluttered closed, and her breathing returning to the evenness of sleep. He brushed the tip of his finger over the writing on the front of the book before opening the cover and greedily pouring over the words.

The sun was high in the sky and he'd taking his time reading through delicate first editions of Englands Helicon, A Divine Looking Glass, Wuthering Heights,The Christian Virtuoso, and the two volumes of Don Quixote before Calliope stirred again. Putting down Don Quixote, Spencer brushed a messy chunk of blue and red hair out of her eyes as she yawned and blinked several times.

"Morning," she mumbled and stretched.

"Morning, Sleepyhead."

"Coffee. Need coffee."

The grandfather clock in Charlotte's Ballroom chimed ten forty-five as Spencer followed Calliope into the kitchen and was overwhelmed with onslaught of sugar and dough and chocolate.

"Mmmm… Mammy, you made my favorite…" Calliope mumbled as she stumbled towards the coffee pot and poured two large mugs full. Handing one to Spencer, she moved the sugar bowl in front of him and rolled her eyes as he shoveled in sugar. "Careful, Spencer. You'll become a diabetic."

"Says the woman piling three of those… what are those?"

"Chocolate chip chocobuns." The affect the few sips of coffee she'd taken were already apparent in her speech and she looked far more alert than just a few moments ago.

"What?"

"It's the same concept as cinnamon buns, but better. The dough has hazelnut and chocolate chips, chocolate paste holds it together in the spirals, and then it's topped with chocolate frosting and drizzled with white chocolate and hazelnut. Nom nom nom!" Calliope ripped a chuck of one of the huge sticky buns and shoved it in her mouth happily.

"It's a wonder you're not five-hundred pounds, Callie." Ben Sellers commented as he sipped his coffee and turned the page of the newspaper. Brenda and Spencer laughed as Calliope struggled to swallow the wad of pastry in her mouth to retort.

"I know. It's a medical miracle. I should be studied."

"Sweetheart, you, um, you've got frosting on your nose." Spencer tucked his lips in, trying not to laugh as she went cross-eyed trying to see the frosting before scraping it off and popping it in her mouth.

ooo ooo ooo ooo

"I can't believe it's this cold," Calliope smiled as she itched her nose with her gloved hand and held Spencers' with the other.

"It's January. Of course it's cold, goof. It's snowing and 23 degrees. Where are you taking me?"

"One of my favorite places. Not too much farther, String Bean."

"Is that the original plantation house?" Spencer asked as the red brick colonial house came into view as they breached the hill.

"Yup. That's where Henry and Margaret Sellers lived. Henry was a ridiculously exclusive merchant and a scholar back in England before they came over. They had seven children, James, William, Henry, Sarah, Constance, John and Nan. James became a priest, William died during a fox hut when he was 19. He was thrown off his horse. Henry took over the plantation, John died of small pox as a child, Constance had three children with another plantation owner dude, and Nan was an old maid. Sarah's my favorite. She flamboyantly disgraced the family by marrying a penniless apocrathry. Between you and me, I think I'm her reincarnation. Bringing scandel and shame to the Sellers family name!"

He laughed as she let go of his hand and took an elaborate bow. She looked at him and then looked at the brick building before taking off, screaming "Race you!" at the top of her lungs. The ground was icy and the pair slipped and slid their way down the hill. Calliope was ten feet from the house when she slipped on a patch of ice and skid on her back, laughing hysterically, the rest of the way before crashing into the colonial house.

"Calliope!" Worried, Spencer ran towards where she'd crashed only to slip on the same patch of ice and go skidding after her. He managed to miss colliding with her by a fraction of an inch, but there was no missing the brick wall. He lay on his back next to her trying to catch his breath as he listened to her snort with frenzied laughter.

"You're going to be the death of me, Calliope Sellers," he told her when his lungs had filled with air again. This declaration only seemed to egg on her hysteria and she couldn't seem to catch her breath from laughter. Spencer tried not to, but he soon found himself laughing along with Calliope and before long he was out of breath again.

"You gotta admit," Calliope gasped as she rolled on her side to look at him, "That was fun."

"You're insane," he told her before cupping a gloved hand behind her neck and kissing her.

"Insane or not, you like me," she breathed in a sing-song voice as she wrapped an arm around his waist and kissed him back.

"Yes, I do."

The two were engrossed in each other to the point that neither fully registered the cold from the ground beneath them seeping through their coats or the snow crunching under approaching footsteps.

"Yall are gonna freeze ta death if yall don't get up, Callie, Dr. Reid," the deep baritone voice had profoundly different effects on the two prone figures. The taller of the two jerked back and scrambled upright, while his companion rolled onto her back and fell once again into a fit of laughter.

"Afternoon, Spencer."

"G-Good afternoon, Joseph," He shook the mans hand and knew his face was flushed as brightly red as was physically possible. Calliope pushed herself off the ground and stood up, stumbling a bit before finding her footing.

"What are you doing here, Uncle Joseph? I thought you had the day off."

"I do, but Ben always forgets to feed the animals when Dahlia's closed, so it's just easier for me to come feed 'em myself."

"Dahlia would burn down without you, Uncle Joseph." Calliope laughed as she hugged the man.

"Have you introduced him to Esther yet?"

"Not yet. Saving that for later."

"Mmkay, Ima go feed them horses."

"Bye, Uncle Joseph!"

"Remember what I said, boy."

"Uncle Joseph! Be nice!" Calliope shook her head and rolled her eyes as she took Spencers' hand in hers and led him into the house. "Close the door, Spencer. Don't wanna let all this nice, warm bought air out."

"He's not really going to kill me, is he?" Spencer asked as he closed the door behind him, tossing his jacket and gloves on top of where she had tossed hers.

"I dunno. I've never had a boyfriend before, so you're the first one to test out that particular threat." Calliope flipped the light switch and Spencer couldn't help but feel a swell of pride as he tugged her into his arms and kissed the top of her head, enjoying the way she leaned back against his chest as his arms encircled her slim shoulders.

"Never had a boyfriend? You? I find that hard to believe."

"All the guys just wanted to date me for my name, not for me. They didn't care to get to know me or anything. I guess they just assumed I was some easy heiress floosy. Hah! They had another think comin' and I had a shit-ton of fun givin' it to them. What about you? I can't be your first girlfriend."

"Calliope, I graduated high school before I hit puberty. "

"Yeah, well you've grown up a lot since then, Dr. Reid," she said slyly, snagging a kiss, "That, I can most definitely attest to."

"Calliope!"

"What?" she asked, widening her eyes and looking up at him innocently.

"Joseph wants to kill me and you're –"

"No one can hear us in here, Mr. Magician. These thick, old walls are awesome like that. See yes, hear no."

"See?"

"Cameras. We're in a museum, can't you tell?"

For the first time, Spencer looked around and was amazed to realize she was right. Slipping out of his arms, Calliope pulled him over to the display nearest.

ooo ooo ooo ooo

"Calliope, I'm really, really not good around horses." Spencer stood his back against the stall wall as Calliope fed the chestnut thoroughbred a carrot.

"Calm down, Spencer. She knows your scared."

"Of course she knows I'm scared. Pheromones have already told her that."

"Maybe. You know, a lot of scienists have proven that pheromone communication is only achievable within the same species. It's impossible for Esther to interpret your fear through smell because you're not a horse. She knows your afraid because of the way you're acting. What they see and hear are more important in prompting behavioral responses in horses. Horses are smart – she's picked up the fact that you're scared because you're acting scared. C'mere, String Bean, she's not going to hurt you. Esther's really just a big sweetie."

Spencer cautiously edged away from the wall and very slowly made his way to stop next to her.

"Spencer, my love, you are the biggest baby I know." She rolled her eyes kissed Esther's nose and rubbed her neck. "Yeah, he's such a big baby, isn't he, Esther? Imagine, someone being afraid of you. You're just a big ole teddybear aren't you? Yeah, you are."

"You don't understand. Animal's don't like me, Calliope."

"Well then, you're in luck, String Bean, Esther doesn't realize she's a horse. She thinks she's a human."

"Human's don't like me much either."

"Psht. Shut up and give me your hand."

"Why?"

"Because you're going to give Esther an apple. Now just hold your hand out flat like this."

"She's not going to bite me, is she?"

"Not if you do what I tell you to. For a federal agent, you sure are a chicken, Dr. Reid. Esther's not going to hurt you. Hold out your hand like I showed you. No, uncurl your fingers, Spencer. Your hand needs to be flat. Like this.

"Ok, good. I'm going to put the apple in your hand. All you need to do is keep your hand still and flat and not freak out. Esther will do the rest." She placed the apple in his hand and Esther took a few steps towards him and started eating the apple out of his hand. "See, she likes you, String Bean."

Esther chomped happily on the apple and nuzzled Spencers' shoulder with her nose.

"Call – Calliope, why is she licking my face?"

"She's thinking, Spencer. Esther licks when she's thinking. Um… it's kind of like the way you fiddle your fingers when you're thinking."

"I don't fiddle my fingers."

"Of course you don't, Mr. Magician. I'll be right back."

"Be right back? No, Calliope, don't leave me alone with her."

"You'll be fine, goof. I'm just going to get her saddle."

"Saddle? Saddle? Calliope, please don't make me…"

"Hush up and pet the pretty pony, you big wuss."

"You mean the gigantic death machine?"

"She is no more a death machine than I am. Shut up, Spencer!" He was still laughing when she returned and chucked the bit at him. Calliope arranged the emerald green saddle pad over the horses' back before slinging the saddle over. By the time Calliope had finished getting the saddle adjusted and the bit and bridle in place, Spencer was tentatively rubbing Esthers' nose. "See, hun? She's not so scary. C'mon. Do you want to lead her out of the stall?"

Spencer shook his head frantically and followed her as she led Esther through the barn and out into the open air. He watched in amazement as Calliope put one hand on the horn and vaulted herself into the saddle.

"How did you do that?"

"Lots of practice. Stand on the steps there. Yes, those."

"I'm not getting on that horse."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, trust me, I'm not."

"Spencer, we both know which of us has the stronger will. You're getting on Esther. Ohh, dirty." Calliope giggled as she grabbed the shoulder of Spencers' jacket and slowly eased Esther forwards, effectively dragging the poor man over to the steps. "You have to face your fears sometime, String Bean. Today's the day. Esther's perfectly safe; you'll be fine."

"It's safer on the ground."

"Every time we choose safety, we reinforce fear."

"Cheri Huber."

"Yup."

"Calliope, the first and last time I was on a horse, I was six. My mom, she, uh, she decided that she was going to take me horse back riding. The man said that the horse I was on, Buttercup, was one of the most docile animals alive. Wouldn't hurt a fly. Halfway through the trailride, Buttercup paniced, over what I don't know, and threw me off. I flew, hit a tree and broke my arm and needed twenty-three stitches in my forehead. I am not getting on that horse."

Smiling softly, Calliope swung her leg over and dropped to the ground. She took his hand and walked him over to the patiently waiting equine. Pressing his palm against the neck, she guided his hand down to the shoulderblades.

"She's strong. Feel her muscles."

"Yeah, it's those muscles I'm afraid of."

"Shhh, close your eyes, Spencer. Concentrate on what you feel."

"What am I supposed to feel?"

"Spencer, hush." Calliope chuckled and smoothed his hair back. "You talk more than any man I've ever met."

"And yet you like me."

"Yes, I do." She kissed him before continuing, "But I'd like you more if you'd be quiet and close your eyes."

"Ok, ok." Spencer closed his eyes and let her guide his hand over the horse.

"Her flank, these pull the hind legs forward, these move them back, tensor muscles, hamstrings, these help her front legs move back, these move them forward, chest muscles. You can feel her strength, these muscles have a lot of power. Her back is short, but her neck is long. Up here, feel, that's the withers – the ridge between her shoulderblades – hers are high. She has a deep chest and right there… do you feel that, Spencer? That's her heart."

"Should we really be this close to her legs? What if she –"

"String Bean, stop worrying. She hasn't moved and she's not going to. She's quite happy chewing on my hair."

"She's chewing on your hair?"

"Yeah, I don't know why she does it. She's done it since she was a foal. Concentrate."

"On what? You're making me feel a horse."

"Ha, dirty."

"You're five."

"And you refuse to let yourself believe in anything that cannot be scientifically or logically explained. You're too scared to let something be explain solely by emotion and feeling."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Calliope, I…" Spencer turned to look at her, confused and a little hurt.

She vaulted back onto Esthers back and looked down at him. "You can't learn everything from books, String Bean. Not even you. Some things have to be experienced. You gonna face your fear today or not?"

He bit his lip and hesitated, but then he climbed the few steps next to him and awkwardly swung his leg over and and gripped her jacket tightly. He let her wrap his arms around her waist and listened when she told him where to keep his feet.

"You're… you're sure she's not going to do something weird?"

"You're going to be fine, Spencer. I promise." She nudged Esther forward and lead her out into the fields. Calliope laid her hand over where his connected around her waist and smiled as he tightened his grip. "We're only walking, Spencer. You're ok."

Calliope let Esther walked for a long time, silently letting Spencer face his fear. She could feel him slowly beginning to relax and his Vulcan Death Grip on her waist was loosening. They reached the top of a hill and Spencer leaned his cheek against the top of her head.

"How you holding up, String Bean?" Calliope asked, pulling Esther to a stop. "As bad as you thought?"

"No. It's not. What did you mean when you said I'm too scared to let anything be explained through emotions?"

Calliope turned around in the saddle and smiled at him. "I'm sorry, Spencer. I shouldn't have said that."

"What did you mean, Sweetheart? I, uh, I really want to know."

Slidding off of Esthers' back, Calliope held a hand out and helped Spencer down. She wrapped the reins around the saddle horn and let Esther wander, before sitting in the snow. Spencer sat down next to her and took her hand in his.

"I shouldn't have said scared. That wasn't the right word. Everything I said came out wrong. I'm sorry. I forget to think before I speak. You're not scared, I know that. I do. Spencer, you're incredibly smart. Hush, you. I know you know you're smart. Let me finish.

"You're brilliant. You have this amazing ability to learn and remember things and obtain knowledge. But because you've learned so much from books and school and educational medians, I don't think you've ever learned to learn any other way. And that's really sad.

"Don't get me wrong, education is great. I wouldn't have gotten my masters if I didn't think academic education was important. But there are so many other ways to learn, Spencer.

"Take Esther. If you weren't terrified of her, I would be willing to bet money on the fact that you would have been thinking about everything you've ever read about horses, thinking about horse statistics and facts. You would have been thinking about what traditional education had taught you about horses. But you never would have thought about what Esther could teach you."

Spencer was silence, pensive, as Calliope pulled her hand from his and stood up. She put her thumb and middle finger in her mouth and let out a piercing series of whistles. Esthers' head rose from where she'd been munching on the bit of exposed grass she'd found and she let out a snort before trotting over and butting her nose against Calliopes' shoulder.

"Hey, Sweet Girl. Oh my gosh, you must have found the last living dandilion, Miss Esther. Well, it's been a good day for you then, hasn't it?" Calliope vaulted herself onto Esthers' back and nudged her forward with her heels as she unwound the reins and held them loosely in her hand, giving the horse as much room as she wanted. Leaning forward, Calliope bent her knees and lifted herself off the saddle.

Spencer watched her as she rubbed Esthers' neck and talk to her in a low voice he couldn't make out. He watched as she quickly went from trotting to cantering into a full out gallop with Calliope giving her more and more encouragement. As they ran it was almost hard to tell where one ended and the other began and impossible for him to distinguish who was making the decisions about where to run or how fast for how long.

Eventually, Calliope slowed Esther and brought her to a halt in front of Spencer. Responding to a pattern of clicks Calliope made with her mouth, Esther slowly lowered herself to the ground until she was lying in front of Spencer and Calliope shifted off, tugging a handful of sugar cubes out of her pocket and held them out.

"My horse's feet are as swift as rolling thunder. She carries me away from all my fears and, when the world threatens to fall asunder, her mane is there to wipe away my tears." Calliope sat in Spencers' last and leaned back against his chest, smiling contentedly as he enveloped her in his long arms and kissed her temple. "Bonnie Lewis. The poem's always been one of my favorite."

"She loves you. Esther, I mean," Spencer said, struggling to put his thoughts into accurate words.

"She better love me," Calliope giggled as Esther licked her boot. "I've raised her since she was born. Fifteen years this girl has gotten spoiled rotten. What are you thinking, String Bean?"

"I… I'm not sure. A lot of things. Kind of hard to decifer."

"You'll tell me when you do?"

"Sure, Sweetheart. If you want." Spencer held her as he watched her interact with the horse. I love you. "Calliope."

"What?"

"How do you… how do you do that?"

"Do what, String Bean?"

"Communicate with her. It's like she understands what you're saying."

"She does." Calliope turned her head back to look at him, smiling at him. "You're underestimating her again, Spencer. This is one of those things you can't learn from a book. Try something. Just go with me on this one. Say something to me and then say the next sentence to her. Don't use names, don't turn your head towards her, don't give any indication that you're switching targets."

"Ok… Um, you look beautiful today. I liked watching you run." Spencer jerked when Esther raised her head to look at him when he said the second sentence. "What the hell…"

"She knows, Spencer. She's just as smart as you ar – ok, maybe not you in particular, but Esther's just as smart as a human. She's just smart in different ways. Esther's worth about eighty or ninty thousand dollars as a broodmare. Maybe more. It's ridiculous how many guests try to talk me into selling her. Think that if they offer me enough money I'd get rid of my best friend. Her worth isn't in her lineage or her foals. It's in her heart.

"You can't learn about the heart in a text book. That's something you can only learn by experience, by doing, by feeling. A person can study all the equine textbooks in the world, but if that's all they know, if that's all they learn, they'd never be able to tell Esther from Chip. They have their own personailities, their own feelings, their own beings.

"It'd be like you reading a strictly factual autobiography of my life, String Bean. You'd know all about me – every scar, what I excelled at in school, my favorite flower – but you'd know nothing about who I am. To know me, you'd have to look beyond the facts. To fall in love with me, you have to learn what's inside me, not outside. You have to know my heart. The same with Esther. To know Esther, fall in love with her, you have to know her inside, not just that she's 17 hands tall or that she's a thoroughbred – you have to know her heart."

Spencers mind raced as he processed what Calliope said, remembering things Gideon had told him about needing to understand the internal of the unsub before they external behavior would fulling make sense, remembering his mother and mothers know.

He was thinking. She could tell. His fingers were fiddling with the button on his jacket sleeve. Spencer denied that he fiddled when he thought, but she'd seen him think enough in the past four months to know he rarely realized what his limbs were doing when his brain was preoccupied. She'd lost count of the cups of coffee she'd quickly saved from being knocked over, the number of magazines and newspapers she'd picked up off the floor and books she'd restacked. Sometimes she felt like she was following around an adorable, bumbling hurricane cleaning up the destruction left in its' wake.

"Spencer?" Calliope leaned back, resting her head on his shoulderblade and relaxed fully against him.

"Hmmm?" Spencer drew himself out of his thoughts and looked down at the muse resting in his arms.

"Don't let go, kay?"

"Never." Spencer tightened his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her temple, and two sat next to the horse and watched quietly as the sun turned the sky orange and pink and red as it sunk lower over the hills, illuminating all of Dahlia beyond them.

A/N:

Woah, so yeah, this is late. Sorry guys! In my defense, I got crazy sick. It was not a happy time.

Anyways, I really, really hope you like it!

Thanks for reading!!

Love, Thalia