A.N. For those of you reading right through the series, you may have deduced that we should be in February. But, through a magical time warp (which Reid will be happy to explain to you), it's spring!

The Sound of Silence

Chapter 3

The weekend was refreshingly free of work intrusions, allowing the family Reid time to enjoy one another in peace, if not tranquility. Henry was still an early riser, but he'd been given permission to treat himself to Saturday morning cartoons if he was up before his parents. Rosie obligingly slept in until 8 o'clock, somehow knowing that Saturday was a different day. Otherwise she'd have been at Karen's already. It was another one of those traits that made JJ wonder…..how does she know…and after only one week?

JJ and Reid took advantage of the relative peace and quiet to alternate fitting in a run and a walk, respectively. Because of his family responsibilities, Reid's walks were becoming shorter, or taking place at a much faster pace than before. Maybe I should take the hint from JJ, and start running. She'd explained to him a long time ago that her exercise needed to be efficient.

The rest of the morning passed quickly with household errands and chores. Rosie was awake for most of the day now, but still did manage an early afternoon cat nap. Henry mostly amused himself, but by lunchtime, he was antsy. This afternoon marked a big event in his life. He and Reid had been preparing for a while.

"Is it time yet, Daddy?"

"We have another half hour before we have to leave."

Five minutes later. "Is it time yet, Daddy?"

"Twenty-five minutes, little man."

Five minutes later. "When is it going to be time, Daddy?"

Father and mother exchanged a look. Rosie was still asleep.

"Why don't you guys go on ahead, and I'll stay with Rosie."

Reid hesitated. JJ really should be there. As much as he felt toward Henry, he still hadn't let go of the idea that the boy was, really, JJ's son. But she pushed him toward the door, understanding and appreciating the sentiment.

"Go. It's all right."

"Yay! Let's go, Daddy!"

Henry grabbed his father by the hand and pulled him out to the car, his gear already loaded. Their destination was only a short ten minutes away, but it seemed like Henry managed to fit in an hour's worth of chatter as Reid drove.

"I'm gonna play first base! And I'm gonna hit a home run!"

Reid smiled at his son's exuberance. But he also felt the need to protect him by adjusting his expectations. They'd been playing catch and hitting from a tee in the backyard, but Henry had missed his opportunity to play organized tee ball. That was for five year olds. Henry's life had been too turbulent for tee ball when he was five.

"This is just a practice, Henry. And remember, these will be pitched balls. It's harder to hit them, so don't be disappointed if you can't do it at first. You just keep trying, little man."

Reid flashed on his one-time experience playing with the FBI's softball team, and proffered the advice he'd gotten from Morgan. It had worked, after all. "Just feel it, and swing."

They'd arrived. Henry ran ahead of Reid to the baseball diamond, waving at a couple of classmates who were also on his team. "Hey, guys!"

Joey and Toby waved back, wearing their new T shirts. "We're the 'Tree Vers'!" yelled Joey, excitedly.

Henry caught the mistake. He was too smart for that. "No, we're the 'Retrievers! Like Casey!"

JJ had commented on the team name when she'd first heard it. "Why would they give them a name that most of them can't say, let alone spell? Why isn't it something like 'Mud Cats'?"

Reid had gone to the first team meeting with Henry. "I heard the coach joking with one of the other dads that, since most of them can't catch the ball yet, they spend a lot of the game 'retrieving'."

Henry had been happy to hear the name, since it put him on the same team as Casey. "You can be our….our…..our…..'team guy'!"

"You mean your 'mascot', Henry?" Reid offered.

"Yep!"

Reid agreed to oversee the tossing exercise while another dad helped with swinging. As he did, he visited a time in his memory, one he'd managed to suppress ever since the Riley Jenkins nightmares had caused him to falsely accuse his father of the boy's murder. He flashed on that time in his early boyhood when he'd played on a little league team coached by his own father. It was the only pleasant association with his father that his mind would ever grant him.

Despite his 'forgiving' his father last year, Reid knew the process was incomplete. And he was content to leave it so. He realized it was less a 'forgiving' than an understanding and acknowledgement of the man's weaknesses. But it was not a forgetting. And thinking about it enkindled a fear that he might carry some of his father's traits within him. He hadn't shared it with JJ, but he always worried that he would fail as a father, as his own father had failed him. It was one of the most frequent topics of conversation when he visited his church under the night sky.

He'd suppressed the memory of that time in little league until just a few years ago. But when he allowed it to return, his eidetic memory brought with it all of the rules and regulations. He'd actually read the entire little league manual way back when. He may not have been a physically gifted athlete, but he was a knowledgeable athlete.

Having remembered it all, he'd volunteered to teach the kids the rudiments of the game. But, like Henry, all most of them remembered was the idea of the home run'.

Coach Stan saw Reid shaking his head at the kids' disinterest in his lesson. "Don't sweat it. At this level, every game is a practice, and we're thrilled if they make some actual plays by the end of the season. When they ask you, tell them. When it's obvious, tell them. Otherwise….let them pick it up when they're ready."

Pressure off, Reid enjoyed the rest of the father-and-son afternoon together, hoping for many, many more to come.

"Mommy! Mommy, I hit the ball!" Henry had rapidly lowered his sights from hitting a home run to simply making contact with a pitched ball. "And I made a catch!" He'd run into the house ahead of Reid.

Rosie was up now, sitting on JJ's lap after eating. She was excited to see the men in her family, and even more excited by the tone in Henry's voice. She began to babble expressively.

"I think she's telling you 'good job', Henry." JJ was interpreting.

"Yep. And she wants to come next time." Henry was interpreting as well.

"She said that?"

"Yep. Can she? Can she come?"

JJ shrugged. "If she's awake…I don't see why not. We can watch from the stands."

"Yay!"

To which Rosie added, "Ay!" And her parents looked at each other, once again.

Henry was, blessedly, worn out at the end of the day and went down early. Fortuituously, JJ'd stumbled on a technique to tire Rosie out as well.

"I had her out in the yard with me most of the afternoon, and then took her on a short run around the block in the stroller. I think the fresh air did it." Their daughter was out cold by 8:30.

"You know, I think this is the first time I've outlasted her since…..well, since she was born." Reid loved his daughter, but he also loved his sleep. And he craved time alone with his wife. This discovery just might change his life style significantly….he hoped.

He'd lifted his arm as he was speaking, inviting her into his embrace.

"Mmmmm….this feels good." She settled in, and lifted her face to his, expectantly.

He looked down at her and smiled. "You don't want to talk?"

"Uh-uh."

"No? Isn't this our time for adult conversation?" he teased, but only because he was certain she wouldn't take him up on it.

"Later. Come here." She reached up and put her hand behind his neck, pulling his face down to hers. She didn't have to pull very hard.

Their lips met familiarly, knowing where to touch, how to taste, recognizing each other. When their kisses deepened, they were not so much probing, as with someone new, but caressing, giving and taking what each of them knew the other wanted.

There was certainly something to be said for heated passion. Actually, there was a lot to be said. But JJ also treasured these quiet times together, the kind that led to lovemaking that was deliberate, and gentle….and sweet. There'd been so much uncertainty in their lives together, so much peril and so much hurt, that it felt good to just calmly celebrate being with one another, for one another. They lay together in bed afterward, relaxed, content.

"I love you, you know." Reid stroked her cheek as he told her.

"I do know. You show me every day." She smiled back at him.

"And I plan to continue that for the rest of my life."

She lifted herself up to kiss him again, then settled back against his chest.

"I had a call today, while you were out with Henry." She'd held back from mentioning it in front of the kids. "It was from Bill Downs, Will's old partner. He was making sure I knew about Dave Sanders. He said the ME's calling it a suicide, but Bill's not sure he believes it. Remember I told you we used to double date with Dave and his girlfriend? Well, apparently they were planning to get married, in June. Bill said Dave was happy. He can't think why he would have shot himself."

Reid was reflective. "We never know what things people don't want to share, JJ. There might have been something Bill didn't know about."

"I know, but…..I don't know, it's just weird. I can't help but wonder if Will's dying triggered something in Dave. They'd been pretty close. I think they stayed in touch even after Will went back to New Orleans. I remember Dave sent flowers to the funeral."

She didn't really remember it. She'd been told, afterwards, of the tributes for Will. While JJ had been physically at the ceremony, her heart and her mind had been back in the ICU, with Reid.

"You think that might have triggered a depression?" Reid was acutely aware of the effects of sudden, unexpected loss.

"I don't know. It's just…..I don't know." She shook herself, trying to throw off the feeling. "Anyway, let's not talk about that now. Tell me again about Henry playing ball."

"I think he's a natural, JJ. You should see his swing! And he really did make a great catch!" Reid knew enough not to take credit. "Did Will play ball?"

"Tight end." She saw the look on Reid's face. Baseball was the only sport he'd played as a child.

"Football, Spence. Remember….the Redskins?"

They'd been husband and wife for over a year, they'd been intimate for longer than that. And still, he blushed to think of how embarrassing his ignorance of the sport had been when he'd invited her to that game so long ago. When Gideon had orchestrated the whole thing. Their first, failed, date.

"Oh, right. Tight end."

She laughed. "Anyway, if he comes by his baseball prowess genetically, I'm claiming it. Soccer may have been my ticket to college, but I was a pretty decent softball player in high school."

He gave a comical sigh. "Softball…..that's like baseball, right? Only…..softer?"

She knew he was kidding this time. "C'mere, you." And she proceeded to give him a lesson about first base…and second base…and third base…..and... HOME RUN!

Reid began to think it might be a good idea to learn about a lot of sports...as long as JJ was doing the teaching.

Sunday passed in a blur, as Sundays were wont to do. Weekends, Reid ruminated, were never long enough to get anything done except the disruption of everyone's sleep schedule. Rosie was up when she was usually down, and down when she should be up. Henry grew tired of being told to keep his noise down so he wouldn't wake the baby, and perversely created a racket that roused his sister. Rosie returned the favor by shrieking her displeasure.

"The only thing good about this," shouted Reid to JJ, over the din, "is that it makes it easier to go back to work tomorrow!"

The other good thing about it was that it exhausted them. Both kids tired out early Sunday evening, leaving Reid and JJ to themselves.

He saw that she'd taken out her journal, and was writing. She'd started the practice after the example of his mother. When Diana died, Reid had been left with her books and journals, and had come to know his mother through the writing she'd done since she was a teen. JJ had been his sounding board as he'd read through the ups and downs of Diana's life, and read 'between the lines' to see the devastating effect of her illness.

"That reminds me….I think you gave me homework." He'd not had time to think about it before this.

"I think the journals are in the box in the bedroom closet."

He retrieved the box and rummaged through the books until he found the one that should contain the details of his infancy. He sat on the bed and began to page through it. Diana had already been ill, but had gone off her meds for the sake of her unborn baby. Her symptoms had been nearly overpowering by the time he was delivered. She was paranoid, angry, fearful of almost everything. Including, he noticed, her baby.

"He can see inside me. He's inside my head. I can tell. He knows what I'm thinking. Maybe he's putting thoughts there. But he smiles at me. And it's not an evil smile. He likes me, I think. Could he love me? He calls for his father, but William is never home. Little Spencer calls "da-da, da-da" all the time. He never calls for me. Never "ma-ma"! Does he love his father more than me?"

Reid put the journal down, shaken. He'd not processed this before, not with the first reading. Perhaps it had been too close to the time of his mother's death. But it seemed she'd been frightened of him, on some level. Frightened of her own infant son! He thought about how much in love he was with Rosie, and mourned his mother's loss of that particular treasure of life. That damn disease!

He remembered why he'd pulled out the journal in the first place. When did I start to talk?

The entry had been from when he was three months old. He'd been babbling even earlier than had Rosie. But had it turned into anything more? He flipped forward through the pages, and carried his search over into the next year's journal. Finished, he went back to the living room. JJ was still writing.

"Lot to talk about?"

She looked up at him. "Long first week back at work. Lots of 'mommy emotions', you know? It just helps to write them down."

He understood. JJ didn't particularly like public displays of emotion, so she always sought another outlet. Sometimes it was exercise, which helped her to put it out of her mind. But, especially since she'd been a mother, she'd felt the desire to remember, to remain mindful. The journal was the perfect vehicle for that.

"Well, I found the right journals."

"And? Did my Baby Genius talk early?"

"There's not that much from that time….at least not that much that's coherent….because she was so ill then."

A look of realization came over JJ. She'd forgotten the sacrifice Diana had made for her son.

Reid continued. "But, yes. I think I was a month or two ahead of Rosie. But only with the verbal stuff. Left brain stuff, I guess. My motor development was pretty normal."

"Hmm. You'd think everything would be advanced, wouldn't you?"

"Not necessarily. Motor development depends on myelinating the connection from head to toe. That's its own process. Language skills, knowledge, IQ….they have more to do with the brain alone. So you can have a kid who's a genius but who can trip over his own feet. Like me."

"You're hardly uncoordinated, Spence. Look at how you do magic."

"Learned at an older age. I'm hoping Rosie takes after you as far as her physical skills go. But, to answer the question at hand…..yes, it sounds like she's taking after me with her language. Now we just have to figure out what to do about it."

"Nothing, tonight. Let's just enjoy the fact that our kids are finding their talents, and are happy and healthy. And sleeping soundly, at the moment. Want to watch a movie?"

He let her pick. It wasn't of interest to him. But cuddling on the sofa was.

Monday morning was more hectic than Friday had been. Can things really become so unraveled over a weekend? Reid was sure they'd be late for the morning meeting by the time he got Henry to school. JJ would drop Rosie and Casey at Karen's.

They arrived within five minutes of one another, and met up at the coffee machine. Emily watched from her desk and laughed as she saw the couple high-five each other at having made it to work. As they returned to their desks, she teased them about it.

"I guess the good thing about having kids is that you feel like you've already accomplished something in your day, just having gotten to work."

"Tell me about it. I could take the rest of the day off," said the less-experienced Reid.

"Are you kidding? This was an easy morning." JJ flashed a look at Emily as both of the women enjoyed the panicked look on Reid's face.

Morgan stopped by on his way to the coffee bay. "Did you guys see the news this morning?"

Reid harrumphed. "The news? Only if you're talking about diapers, and spit up, and car seats, and spelling quizzes."

"Okay, Pretty Boy, I take it you were busy this morning. Well, do you remember when we did that case with the CIA? I couldn't place the face, but I remember hearing the name. Alan Greenly. He was one of the agents who'd been suspected, but cleared. Anyway, apparently he ate his gun yesterday. His body was found last night."

None of them had been in the field on that case, except Morgan. The name didn't ring a bell.

"Do you think he might have been involved? Did we miss him?" Emily was concerned.

"I don't know. But I wouldn't be surprised if it came up at this morning's meeting. I wouldn't be surprised if we were asked to investigate."

Reid had mixed feelings. Was this the case that would keep him in DC? But it meant that the BAU had made an error in that past case. And it had already cost a fellow law enforcement officer his life. Be careful what you pray for, Reid.