Chapter 4

Spencer woke up in the morning and found himself looking up at the fluffy lambs hanging above him again. Emily came over and smiled down at him.

"Good morning sweetie, you had mummy worried, you slept all night" Emily said quietly as she reached for him and kissed him on the cheek. She quickly changed him and then climbed back into bed next to a still sleeping Aaron.

Aaron woke up to see his gorgeous wife feeding their beautiful baby boy. He sat up and kissed the back of Spencers head and then kissed Emily. "So did I sleep really heavily or did Spencer sleep through the night?" he asked sleepily

"He slept all night and now he's starving!" Emily replied

"That's my boy!" Hotch said proudly "So what do you have planned for today?"

"I think we should go shopping, Jack needs new shoes, we need more diapers and I could always use some new clothes" Emily said smiling at her husband.

"Sounds good honey, and of course you can get whatever you want"

"Can I get something new too dad?" Jack asked as he jumped on the bed.

"Sure buddy, why not" Hotch replied.

Emily had finally finished feeding Spencer and she passed him to Hotch "I'm going to have a shower" she announced "Ok, save me some hot water" Aaron replied laying Spencer on his chest.

Spencer had a full belly and was warm and comfortable laying on Hotch listening to Jack talking about all the new things he wanted to get. As he lay there he started making soft sounds and he didn't even realise that he was doing it at first until Hotch held him up to look into his face and said "Is that right Spencer?"

"I think he's saying that he wants a new toy as well" Jack laughed

"Well then you can pick out something for him too ok?" Hotch said smiling.

When they arrived at the mall Emily tucked Spencer into his stroller and started pushing him, he couldn't see much from the inside of the stroller and he soon found himself falling asleep as they went from shop to shop looking for shoes for Jack.

When he woke up he felt hungry and uncomfortable, he looked up to see Hotch pushing him and started crying to get his attention.

"I'll take him and feed him and get him changed" he heard Emily say "I'll call you when I'm finished and see where you are" She put the diaper bag on her shoulder and picked up her crying baby. As soon as he was in her arms he started to calm down and a feeling of being safe and cared for washed over him.

Once he was fed and changed he felt much better and he was happy being carried in Emily's arms because he could see a lot more than he could from the stroller. She found Aaron and Jack sitting down at a small restaurant ready to order lunch, she tried to put Spencer back in the stroller but when she leaned down to put him in he started crying. He wasn't ready to be put back down yet he just wanted to be cuddled. "This is weird" Reid thought "I never liked being touched before, the baby part of my brain is obviously starting to take control" he wondered how long before he lost his adult mind altogether?

"He just wants you to hold him mum" Jack said

"Yeah it would seem so" she replied "That's ok I'll order something I can eat one handed. I should have brought the sling with us"

When the food arrived Reid was happily looking around over Emily's shoulder as she ate her chicken salad. When Hotch had finished eating, he reached for Spencer so Emily could drink her coffee.

Spencer started crying as he felt himself being taken away from Emily but once he realised that Hotch had him, he started to calm down and he stopped crying. "Don't you want Daddy today?" he asked "someone's clingy this afternoon" he said to Emily.

When they were ready to start shopping again, Reid forced himself to take control of his emotions as Hotch laid him back in the stroller. "I'm an adult, and I will not cry to be picked up again" he said to himself. Hotch noticed Spencers bottom lip starting to quiver as he laid him down so he quickly gave him his pacifier and was happy when Spencer took it and started sucking.

Spencer laid back in the stroller and looked around at everything he could see from his point of view as they went from shop to shop. Emily picked out some overalls for him and some new pyjamas then went to look at some new clothes for herself. Jack was looking at a new video game and Aaron stepped to the side of the stroller to get a better look when a woman's face suddenly appeared above him,

"Isn't he adorable!" She squealed scaring Spencer who started screaming. Hotch was there instantly, picking him up and holding him to his chest and patting his back.

"Shh Spencer, it's ok daddy's here, you're safe, it's ok, shhh" He said in a soothing voice as he glared at the woman. The woman took one look Hotch's glare and mumbled a quick sorry before hurrying off. Spencer buried his head into Hotch's chest and started to calm down now that he was safe with Hotch.

"Is he ok dad?" Jack inquired

"Yeah he's fine buddy, that woman just scared him that's all" Hotch answered still patting Spencers back in a soothing way. Spencer soon fell asleep in the safety of his father's arms.

Aaron didn't put Spencer down until they were getting in the car and headed home. As soon as the car stopped Spencer woke up and Emily carried him inside and changed his diaper and then tried to put him down on his play mat so she could put the shopping away but Spencer started crying as soon as she tried to leave him. As soon as she picked him up he stopped crying, "Well this isn't going to work" she said as she went back to the nursery to get the sling, she put it on and then laid Spencer in it while she unpacked the shopping.

Reid knew that it was irrational to want to be held all the time and he had no idea why he felt like this but the baby part of his brain just needed the physical contact of his parents.

"Is that better baby?" she cooed at him as she looked down at him and he gave her a small smile in return.

"Aaron, he just smiled at me!" She said excitedly as he entered the room.

"Really? Let's see if he can smile for me too" he said going over to his wife and son. He leaned over the sling and with a big smile on his face said "hi buddy, can you smile for daddy?" Spencer smiled up at him return.

"Hey he did it! Let me get the camera" Hotch said as he grabbed his phone. Emily laid him on the floor on his play mat and the three of them leaned over him and started talking to him and making funny faces trying to get him to smile.

"This is pretty amusing" Reid thought as his normally serious boss started blowing raspberries on his small stomach and was tallking in baby talk while trying to get a cute photo of him. Hotch finally got a beautiful photo of Emily leaning over Spencer as he smiled up at her. He saved it as his screen saver and sent it off to his team with the caption, "first smiles".

The replies from the team quickly came back,

"That is toooo cute" Garcia

"What a beautiful picture!" JJ

"'Wow I guess he takes after Emily then, lol" Morgan

"You have a beautiful family Aaron" Rossi

After a while of playing with his family Spencer felt himself wetting his diaper for what felt the millionth time that day and started crying. "Daddy's turn" Emily said "come on Jack, let's go and start dinner, what do you feel like?"

"Hotdogs!" Jack said excitedly.

Laying a still crying Spencer on the change table Aaron started to undress him, "What happened to daddy's happy little man?" he asked "maybe a nice warm bath will help" Aaron quickly got everything ready and gave him bath before putting his pyjamas on him and taking him back downstairs.

By now Spencer was starving again and he wanted Emily so he started crying. "Do you want me to give him a bottle?" Hotch asked walking into the kitchen

"No, I'll feed him if you guys can finish dinner without my help?" she said smiling

"I think I'm capable of cooking hotdogs and chips, thank you very much!" he said trying to sound annoyed but ruining it by smiling.

Spencer was nearly finished when Aaron and Jack walked in with a tray of hotdogs and chips and a stack of plates. "Dad said that we could eat dinner tonight while watching a movie" Jack said happily

"Sounds good" Emily replied while she burped Spencer. "What are we watching?"

"Star wars!" Jack said as he flopped on the couch

"Excellent choice" Emily said as Aaron handed her a plate with a hotdog and chips on it.

Not long after they had finished eating Jack fell asleep leaning against Aaron and he carried him up to bed. "Can you bring down a blanket for Spencer?" Emily asked quietly as walked up the stairs.

"Daddy's turn for cuddles" Aaron said as he walked back into the room and took Spencer from Emily. He swaddled Spencer in the blanket then sat back on the couch with Spencer in one arm and the other wrapped around his wife. Emily put Spencer's pacifier in his mouth and leaned down to give him a kiss on his tiny cheek before putting her head on Aarons shoulder. Hotch kissed Emily's head and then leaned down and kissed Spencer.

"Goodnight son" Hotch said, and as Reid looked up at his parents he couldn't remember ever feeling more loved than he was right now. That was the last thought that Spencer had before he fell into a deep sleep.