Reid gave an awkward half smile before taking a sip of steaming hot coffee. Emily glanced round the cosy living room while subconsciously picking at her fingernails; she could hear a faint padding noise before Mary emerged from behind the kitchen door with freshly baked cookies. "I don't want to impose-" Emily began mumbling but when Mary smiled softly at her she stopped.
"I have to admit, I wasn't expecting any of Elizabeth's children to look for me" Mary said in a crackly voice as she sat down and offered a cookie to Reid.
"well, I'm an only child so you don't need to worry about any more grandchildren popping round" Emily explained with a nervous smile.
"Does your mom know you're visiting?" Mary asked after a small pause.
"No… She, um, she's in Italy on business at the moment" Emily answered.
"Business? She sounds like she's doing well for herself"
"Yeah… She's an ambassador for the US"
"A politician?" Mary said then playfully grimaced "Maybe she can get me a cheaper tax return" She added then giggled. Emily smiled widely and relaxed a little. The older woman flicked her eyes over to Reid who was munching on a cookie and grinned even more.
Emily turned to look at Reid and saw why Mary was smiling so much, the chocolate chips had melted around his lips and crumbs covered his face and fingers. "Reid, you've got something on your lip" Emily spluttered out.
Reid's cheeks turned a rosy red colour and his eyelids subconsciously fluttered from embarrassment. "Is there a bathroom I can, um, clean up in?" He mumbled while rubbing roughly at his lip. Mary nodded and pointed to a door which Reid quickly exited through, leaving the two women alone.
"So, how long have you and Spencer been together" Mary said with a knowing smile.
Emily's cheek turned the same colour as Reid's and her eyes flickered to the floor. "We aren't" She said softly while brushing a few strands of hair out of her face.
"But you do like him, right?" Mary asked with a sly smile which made Emily blush even more.
"We work together… that's all" She said with a small shrug.
"I've worked with men before, Emily. And I never gave them eyes like that"
"The work we do makes us close… but not in that sort of a way" Emily insisted.
"Well, you might want to tell him that because, as far as I can tell, he's as googly eyed over you as you are over him" Mary concluded with a wink. Emily began to object again but Mary was already changing the subject. "So what did you say your job was?"
"Um, I'm a profiler with the behavioural analysis unit of the FBI" Emily answered and started subconsciously picking at her fingernails again; whenever she mentioned her job people put her into the 'workaholic spinster' category and she had taken a liking to Mary.
"With the FBI? Well, you've certainly done well for yourself" Mary said with a distant look. "I wish I had been there to see you grow up… I just… I couldn't give Elizabeth the life she deserved"
"I know, I… I can imagine how hard the decision was" Emily said after swallowing the lump in her throat.
Reid fumbled with the bathroom door handle before bursting back into the living room with an expression that turned from surprise to embarrassment again. "The, uh, handle got stuck" He explained before carefully closing the door and sitting back down next to Emily.
"oh, it does that quite a lot I've been meaning to get it fixed but I haven't had the time recently" Mary said which comforted Reid's embarrassment slightly. After a small pause Mary spoke again. "So where are you two from?"
"Originally I'm from Las Vegas" Reid answered first.
"I moved around a lot, as a kid, but I was born right here in DC while my mom was on a work placement… but we both moved to Virginia when we got our jobs as profilers… I think most the team had to relocate to get a job in Virginia" Emily explained to Mary who listened intently.
"So what's it like in Virginia? I suppose it's similar to DC, only I wouldn't know. I've never been out of the state"
"It's pretty similar. I mean, I live around Quantico so there's a larger police and FBI presence but most the people Reid and I have either worked with or know someone who has" Emily said before another long pause.
"So have you always lived in this neighbourhood? It's just that I was reading about the area on the flight over here and it's had a reputation for being an ideal place for raising families or settling down for retirement for almost a century" Reid stated then took a sip of coffee.
"I lived in the city for most my life but when I retired I figured I was too old for it all and moved here" Mary explained before another period of silence.
"Did you… um, did you have any other children?" Emily asked after what felt like forever, her tongue feeling thick when she mentioned children.
Mary hesitated for a moment then cleared her throat and nodded. "After Elizabeth I promised myself I would never have another child… I didn't think I deserved one. But then I fell in love and Elizabeth was in her teenager years and I thought that she wouldn't want me to spend my whole life punishing myself for one mistake" Mary answered, her voice slightly distant. "I had two children, a boy and a girl" She added with a soft smile.
"What are their names?" Emily asked, obviously more interested than before.
"Eli and Bethany" Neither of the profilers needed to ask whether they had been named after Elizabeth, just from Mary's body language it was obvious. Reid quickly checked his watch after another pause in conversation and cleared his throat.
"I should probably get back to the hotel to check in" He mumbled while standing and subconsciously brushing his hands down his chest.
"I'll come with you" Emily stated then got up and followed him to the door, Mary close behind.
"It was nice to meet you both… I wish I could have given you more answers though"
"You've given me more than enough to think about" Emily said then paused a moment as Reid took a step outside. "If it isn't too much to ask, could Spencer and I come round tomorrow? Our flight back to Virginia isn't until tomorrow evening and I don't know when we'll have another free weekend" Emily explained in a rush of words with her cheeks turning pink.
"That's fine, Emily. More than fine" Mary answered, her eyes gleaming in the half light. "Oh, and a word of advice from an old lady?" She said with a cheeky grin as she checked to see Reid was hoping into the car and out of ear shot. "I might not know either of you as well as I'd liked to, but that Spencer is a keeper" She added then winked before Emily turned and left with a smirk on her face.
This chapter had to be written in a bit of a rush to get it up for today but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I'm not sure where I'm going to be taking it next so suggestions are always welcomed! For anyone wondering about the length of the flight, Emily and Reid flew from Charlottesville to DC which is apparently three hours. Whenever I work out the length of a plane flight I always use expedia to get the rough idea of how long it'll be and Charlottesville is the airport I usually use if they're flying from Quantico. Updates for this story should be every Tuesday from now on! Please favourite or follow if you liked it and review if you've got time. Hope you liked the chapter! :)