Note: Thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far: Autxmnal Rain, fistrek, laileyspenstar, Dextolan, Ash59 and Diana.

Reid was still sleeping.

Reid.

Garcia closed her eyes in frustration.

Spencer.

It was Spencer now.

Spencer was still sleeping.

If he was a baby than it wouldn't do to call him anything but his first name.

She stood over the bed, looking down on him.

He was so small, so… so fragile looking.

Garcia had the urge to smooth his bangs back, fluff the pillows and tuck him deeper into the blankets.

She didn't, certain that any uncautious action on her part would wake him up.

She didn't wish to deal with a wailing baby.

She didn't think her neighbors wanted to either.

And so, she decided, the best-and wisest-thing to do would be to let sleeping children lie and go eat her breakfast.

Garcia got the coffee machine going and opened the fridge, pouring over its contents quickly.

Only then did she freeze.

She didn't have any baby food for Re… er, Spencer.

Garcia crouched down, digging deeper through her fridge.

She had some applesauce.

She cast another look at the slumbering form on the bed.

Babies liked applesauce. She was sure of it.

Applesauce would work.

But Spencer was still sleeping.

And so… until then, she sat at the table, breakfast forgotten for the moment, and wondered what on earth they were going to do.

Reid-Spencer now- was a baby!
How were they supposed to hide that?
They may have avoided Strauss the day before but if she found out… Garcia dreaded having to be the one to explain matters to her.

She supposed they could always say Spencer was away visiting his mother.

A small cry from the bed drew Garcia's attention.

The boy was starting to stir.

Her heart rate picked up. He was waking up!

She stood up from the table and hurried over to the bed.

Spencer's eyes were still closed, but he had rolled over. A few curls were plastered to a sweat dampened cheek and his lips were parted.

If any child had ever been an angel, Garcia decided, it was him.

She clasped her hands to her mouth and watched, waiting to see if he would wake up.

The boy shifted in his sleep again and a small mewl escaped.

Garcia couldn't help it.

She squeaked.

He was just too cute.

Another small cry escaped the boy, spurring Garcia into action.

Except… except she had no idea what action to take.

So she hovered, feeling very much like a fly near a piece of cake.

She wrinkled her nose at the analogy.

So not her best one.

Still, undefeatable tech goddess she might be, but she was completely inexperienced when it came to the raising of infants.

Or babies.

Okay… so there had been a few babysitting escapades here and there but… nothing that equaled this.

Garcia had felt so confident the night before.

Now she was worried she might… Oh gosh, what if she broke him?

Or… fed him something wrong?

What if she accidently gave him food poisoning?!

He looked so tiny and fragile.

If she had to hazard a guess, she'd imagine the baby was about a year old.

More or less.

Maybe Hotch would know more.

She made a note to ask him and, once again, her attention was drawn to the bed when the boy stirred.

This time his eyes were opened.

Her mouth dropped open.

But then he started to cry and she was instantly at his side.

"It's okay! It's okay!"

She hesitated.

How exactly did one pick up a baby at this age?

Very carefully, she grasped him gently under the arms, lifting him up until he rested his head on his shoulder.

For a moment, the boy stayed that way.

Then he lifted his head, staring at her with wide, unblinking eyes.

Spencer wasn't crying anymore.

That relieved her.

But she still needed to feed him.

She had no idea if he was able to feed himself or not, so the safest bet, she decided, would be to sit him in her lap as she spooned him applesauce.

The real challenge though, would be to somehow get it into the dish with the baby in her arms.

Garcia sighed, realizing she was going to have to put him down in order to do so.

The bed was too far away and she didn't want to leave him out of her sight.

Not even for a moment.

The couch was far nearer. And it was cozy enough and wide enough that she didn't think Spencer would fall off.

She sat the baby down.

He squealed with displeasure and looked up at her, not at all happy at being put down.

"It's only going to be for a little while," she assured him. She didn't know if he understood her, but… maybe he would? "I'm just getting something for you to eat, okay then, munchkin?"

He sucked on his bottom lip, and then suddenly his arms were outstretched, reaching for her.

"No!" he cried.

"You can speak!" she exclaimed, delighted. Then she realized how ridiculous that sounded.

She didn't care.

She got down on her knees, hands on the edge of the couch, staring at him wide and earnest.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked, applesauce forgotten.

"Noooo!" The boy kicked his feet and let loose a wail. "Uppy!"

"I…" The applesauce! She needed to get the applesauce. "You wait right there!" She didn't tack anything onto the end. The sense of urgency was too great.

She needed to get him food!

And fast!

"I'm going to get you food."

"Uppy!" the boy reiterated, waving his arms in the air.

He was quite the forceful little lad.

She wondered if he had been like this the first time around.

If he had been, than his parents certainly had had their hands full.

Likely their whole arms too.

Maybe their feet for good measure.

His angry cries followed her to the kitchen.

Penelope cringed. She didn't want to keep him waiting any longer than she had to.

She hurriedly unscrewed the top to the applesauce, spooning it out into a bowl.

She dropped the spoon on the counter, ignoring the splatter it made.

She would clean it later.

Garcia left the bowl on the table and ran back to the baby.

He was on his back, kicking his legs in the air.

"Hey! Hey! Shhh!" Garcia said, rushing back to his side. "It's okay! I'm back! I"m back! Are you hungry?"

Spencer blinked at her, tears still shining in his eyes.

"Uppy," he said again, more forcefully.

If that was possible.

Garcia didn't hesitate a moment longer and scooped him up into her arms.

He sniffed, rubbing a hand across his nose.

"You hungry, little man?" she asked him.

He stared at her, before nodding slowly. "Mmhmm."

He still looked ready to cry at the drop of a pin.

She grinned, hoping he would smile back. "Good, because I have just the thing for you, honey."

Garcia sat down at the table, sitting the boy down on her knee.

The bowl was in front of her. She just needed…

...the spoon.

She glanced back at the counter.

She had left it there.

Garcia didn't want to get up, not when it risked shattering Spencer's currently fragile calm.

But the counter was out of reach and she had to decide that there was no other option.

She was going to have to get up.

A thick glob of something landed in her lap before she could move and she yelped, looking down to see what it was.

Spencer, it seemed, had taken matters into his own hands.

Literally.

Both his hands were covered in applesauce. He'd plunged them both into his bowl.

One was stuffed in his mouth and he tilted his head to look up at Penelope innocently.

The other hand was dripping and this was the source of the now several globs that had landed on her clothes.

For a moment, all she could do was stare at him in horror. Finally, she found words.

Or rather, a word. "...oh."

Spencer took the hand from his mouth.

His face was streaked with applesauce.

Then he grinned, delighted by her befuddlement.

He plunged his hand back into the bowl and Garcia gasped. "Spencer, no!"

She wrapped her arm around his waist and stood up quickly, seeking to get him out of reach of that accursed bowl as soon as possible.

The child shrieked with laughter and waved his hands in the air.

Gobs of applesauce flew everywhere.

Some splattered across her face and she felt several lumps land in her hair.

No. No. Nononononono.

This was not going well.

Why did she think she could do this?

She should have just handed him over to Hotch.

Hotch!

Of course!

She could just call Hotch!

He would know what to do!

After all, he had Jack and… maybe Jack was like this too.

It would do her heart good to know she wasn't alone.

Still holding onto the squirming child, she went for her cell phone.

It took some skillful maneuvering, but she was finally able to dial the number and get the phone up to her ear.

Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.

He picked up.

"Gar…?"

"Hotch!" She didn't even let him get the word out of his mouth. "Hotch, this is a disaster. There's applesauce everywhere. It's in my hair. It's on my clothes. It's on the floor. It's all over him!"
She finished, breathless. She hadn't intended to say that. Any of that.

But she was overwhelmed.

Not something she was very often.

There was a pause at the other end.

Then, very slowly, Hotch said, "Reid got into applesauce?"
"It's Spencer now. And he didn't get into it, I gave it to him! He was hungry!"

A soft chuckle sounded on the other end.

Garcia's brow furrowed in consternation.

Was Hotch… was he laughing at her?

He was.

Garcia frowned. "It's not funny, Hotch!"

"I know. It's a disaster."

"Hotch!"

He cleared his throat. "Sorry. What do you need?"

"An extra set of hands for starters. This cinnamon wafer is a handful."

"An extra set of hands won't be a problem. Morgan's already on his way there."
"What?!"
Her heart did a little leap in her chest.

Morgan- Derek Morgan- was on his way here?

"Are there any other Morgans you know?" Hotch asked and Garcia realized she had spoken aloud.

"N-no," she stammered, embarrassed. She could hear the eyebrow in his voice. How the heck did he do that? "Why… why is he coming here?"

She didn't mind. In fact, she would be grateful for the help.

But that didn't change the fact that this was Morgan and she had applesauce in her hair and on her face and on her clothes.

And the laughing child in her arms was still content to wave his arms around, getting still more gobs of it everywhere.

"Is that Spencer?" Hotch asked. "He sounds happy."

"He is happy," Penelope groused. "He's happily getting applesauce all over my house!"

"Babies do that," Hotch explained patiently. "Haley could tell you about the time Jack broke several tomato sauce jars in the house on spaghetti night. Or the time he smeared his diaper cream all over the couch because he thought it was sick."

That sounded… adorable.

But also horrifying.

She looked at Spencer.

Spencer looked back at her.

Suddenly, he reached up, grabbing her face with both grubby hands and planting a wet kiss on her nose.

"Down!" he demanded and, so stunned was she, Garcia complied.

He wobbled on his seat for a moment before falling with an oof on his backside.

"Oh!" Dismayed, Garcia was on her knees instantly, forgetting Hotch. "Are you okay?"

One look into his eyes was enough for her to forget the applesauce too.

The boy nodded. "Boom!" He stretched his arms wide in the air. "Go boom!"

"Penelope?" Hotch's voice sounded uncertain.

"He just want ah-boom." She flushed. "I mean… he lost his balance."

To his credit, Hotch did not comment on her first choice of words.

"Hotch," the question she hadn't asked came to the forefront of her mind, "why is Morgan coming over?"

There was a pause.

"Hotch?"

"I had to tell him. He was wondering where you were."

She suspected that wondering was an understatement.

"Oh. How… how did he take it?"

"He didn't believe me."
"You didn't believe me either," she pointed out. "And it's not like there's an explanation handy."

And it wasn't like things like this happened every other day.

How had this happened?

Maybe if they checked her office…

She suddenly had a vision of JJ looking for her in her office.

"Hotch," she said, "maybe it would be best if you told JJ to keep out of my office. For now at least."

"You think something in there caused… this?"

"I don't know! I don't know anything at this point! And I hate not knowing anything!"

Garcia brought a hand up to her hair, feeling at the sticky clumps.

She pulled her finger away and glared at it before wiping it off on her shirt. She was already dirty. What would it matter?

Spencer blinked at her, then he rolled over onto his hands and knees and began crawling away.

"No!"

Garcia lunged after him.

He was still covered in applesauce. She didn't want him tracking it all over the place.

Spencer shrieked as she grabbed him, wrapping her arm around his tummy and dragging him back.

She stood, even as he squirmed, and bounced him against her hip, hoping that maybe the motion would keep him happy.

It didn't.

He wanted down… and he didn't mind letting her know.

Loudly.

"Is everything alright?" Hotch asked.

"No. Yes!" Garcia grunted into the phone. Her eyes widened. "Look, I… I'm going to need diapers. I don't have any..." She stopped. She didn't need to say that. Of course she didn't have diapers. Why on earth would she have diapers?
"I can get you diapers," Hotch said smoothly.

Spencer squiggled some more and Garcia was forced to let him down or risk dropping him.

"And a car seat," she added. "I'm not sure my apartment will survive the two of us staying cooped up in here for too long."
"I can give you Jack's old car seat."
Garcia smiled, relieved. "You're a lifesaver." She caught sight of him using the chair to hold himself up, reaching for the bowl which she had left precariously on the edge of the table.

His chubby fingers had already found the edge of the bowl.

"Spencer! No! Hotch, I need to let you go!"

With that, she hung up and made a grab for Spencer.

Too late.

The bowl clattered to the floor, splattering applesauce everywhere.

Garcia groaned, and Spencer grinned at her, sucking at his hand again.

"Look at this mess!" she cried, dismayed.

Spencer didn't take his eyes off her face.

"You're lucky you're so cute," Garcia told him. "Otherwise, I'd…" She broke off when she realized she didn't have the heart to carry out any threats, even in jest.

A knock sounded at the door.

Her head jerked up.

Morgan was here.

She got up.

"Stay there," she told Spencer sternly, before hurrying to the door.

Hand on the doorknob, Garcia started talking before she even opened the door.

"Morgan, I don't want to hear a word about the state of things and…"

She flung the door all the way open.

Morgan stood in the hallway outside, his hand still raised for another knock.

His eyes widened comically, taking in her applesauce stained clothes and hair.

"Uh…"

"Not a word," she warned him, grabbing the front of his shirt and dragging him inside. He was too startled to protest.

She shut the door behind him.

"You look…" He gazed at her searchingly. She put her hands on her hips, daring him to say something he might regret.

Before he had the chance to say anything, however, a delighted voice rang out.

"Morgan!"

Note: I expected to get a bit more done this chapter, such as bringing in JJ and Emily, but then it sort of... wrote itself. So if any of you were hoping for those two to find out this chapter, I hope that the Reid and Garcia applesauce fluff was an acceptable substitute.

They'll all find out though. Don't worry.

Also, as for Reid's age... he's somewhere between one and two. Maybe a little closer to one, although I'm going to be basing some of his behavior on my two year old sister.

And no explanation for how he came to be this way... yet. I do know exactly how this happened, but you guys are all going to have to wait a little longer. They can't find out right away. I would be interested to hear guesses though. ;)

And Reid recognizes Morgan! That should be... interesting.

Thanks for reading!