TR: Another chapter done! This one was being quite a pain but I finally got it out. Once again, if you know it I don't own it. I also don't own the poem The Duel by Eugene Fields.

Lunch had been a quick affair; the team had stopped in at a local Wendy's to grab burgers and fries before heading to the airport they had come in at. Much to Reid's relief, Liam and Mariah were both immune to motion sickness since they had never flown before. He could tell that they both wanted to change their clothes, so as soon as the seatbelt light turned off he stood and grabbed the suitcases they had brought along. Reid told the twins to take off their shoes before going to change so that he could put them back in the slots inside the garment bag. After pulling off the dress shoes that had given her so much trouble earlier, Mariah practically dove into her suitcase in search of clothes. Once she had pulled out everything she would need but shoes, the little girl raced to the small bathroom on board. Putting her clothes down, Mariah walked out and stopped next to Hotch, who just happened to have the closest seat. Tapping his arm, she used her best puppy face to help get the serious man's attention.

"What do you need Mariah?" Hotch asked kindly.

"Could you help me with my zipper? I can reach the sash but that's about it."

Closing the file he had been looking at, Hotch turned to Mariah. "Two conditions first. One is that I would like for you and your brother to call me Uncle Aaron."

"Ok. What's the second one?"

With a spark of mischief in his eyes, Hotch gently tapped her on the nose. "Never practice that look on your dad. The last thing you need is advice on how to improve it." That made Mariah giggle a bit as she turned. Once the zipper on her dress was down, the little girl thanked her uncle and dashed back into the bathroom.

In no time at all Mariah emerged with her dress over one arm and the tights she had been wearing balled up in the other hand. After handing her dress to Reid and putting the tights away, Mariah pulled out her teddy bear and a pair of sneakers before zipping the suitcase. Looking further down the length of the couch that the small family had commandeered, she saw Liam had done the same before heading to change. As Mariah shifted in her seat to tie her shoes, she heard Morgan chuckle. Looking at the bald black man, her face was a mask of confusion.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothin' princess, just wondering if you raided your dad's sock collection."

Looking at her feet, Mariah wondered what exactly he meant. She had on one orange sock and one maroon striped sock; did her dad have a pair the same color as hers? With an almost imperceptible shrug, Mariah decided that it didn't matter. By the time she had gotten her shoes tied, Liam had finished changing.

As he stood between the kids sitting on the couch, Reid got the last of the clothes into the garment bag and stowed the three pieces of luggage his children had brought. Sitting down between Liam and Mariah, Reid wasn't sure what to do. Should he try to do some work, or should he take the time to learn more about his kids? This dilemma was solved very quickly as the twins each huddled up to his sides. Moving his arms to hold his son and daughter, Reid looked down at them in concern. He wasn't entirely sure how he knew it, but something was bothering his kids, and the dad in him wanted nothing more than to make all of Liam and Mariah's problems disappear. Pushing all his knowledge of statistics and facts as far from conscious thought as possible, Reid pulled the twins a little closer and spoke softly to them.

"I know I'm pretty new at this whole dad thing, but you know you can talk to me right? I want to be here for you and make things better, but I don't want to force you to talk. And at the same time, I can't fix things if I don't know why they broke in the first place. Does that make any sense?"

Against his ribs, Reid felt Mariah nod, while Liam gave a deep and weary sigh. Looking up at his dad, the boy thought for a second before trying to explain. "We're just going through a weird emotional cycle right now. It's no fun to be stuck in an endless repetition of hurt, anger, and guilt."

Running his hands through Liam's short hair, Reid asked the boy to elaborate. Surprisingly, Mariah spoke up and beat him to it.

"We're hurting because we needed you and mom wouldn't let you be there. So we're angry at her for keeping you away, but then we feel guilty for being mad at mom since she's gone. But then the guilt just leads to more anger at ourselves because we deserve to be mad at her. I've spent years imagining what you would be like, but you're so much better. You've accepted us without question, gone out of your way to keep us from feeling like we're a burden, you even offered to quit your job for us!"

Liam's voice shook with unshed tears as he cut in. "Mom always tried to give us the impression that you didn't want kids and wouldn't want anything to do with us. She could never understand what it was like. Last year I got a black eye when one of the boys on the basketball team shoved me into a sink in the locker room. He told the teachers that I tripped and they all believed him, so did mom. She believed a stranger over me, she even told me to be more careful in the future. Mom never understood what it was like for us to be so much younger than everyone else, but you would have. We needed you around but she wouldn't let us find you."

Choking back his own tears, Reid pulled both children into his lap. Liam and Mariah each had a death grip on their bears as they tried to burrow into his chest. No one on the jet could even speak, they were all too busy trying to process the new information they had learned. From his seat opposite the couch, Rossi felt his blood burn in his veins. Had that woman ever even met Spencer Reid? To think that the young man would refuse to be involved in the lives of his own children was absolutely ridiculous. Glancing around, Rossi saw that the rest of the team seemed to echo his sentiment.

Desperately trying to find a way to lighten the mood, Morgan remembered a poem from his childhood. He didn't know all the words, but the story in it had been cute. Pulling out the laptop, Derek booted it up and emailed Garcia, knowing that his baby girl would have the text to him in mere moments. Sure enough, the bubbly red head had a link to the poem on his screen in seconds. Clearing his throat, Derek looked over to the couch to see how the twins were doing. Chuckling internally at the wide eyed stares he was receiving, he realized that Liam and Mariah must have thought he was trying to get their attention.

"Have you two ever heard of a poem called The Duel? It was my favorite when I was your age."

"You actually read poetry willingly?" Emily snarked at him.

Shooting a glare and sticking out his tongue at the brunette, Morgan turned back to the kids. When they indicated that the poem was not something they knew, he decided to read it to them.

"The gingham dog and the calico cat

Side by side on the table sat;

'Twas half-past twelve, and (what do you think!)

Nor one nor t' other had slept a wink!

The old Dutch clock and the Chinese plate

Appeared to know as sure as fate

There was going to be a terrible spat.

(I wasn't there; I simply state

What was told to me by the Chinese plate!)

The gingham dog went 'bow-wow-wow!'

And the calico cat replied 'mee-ow!'

The air was littered, an hour or so,

With bits of gingham and calico,

While the old Dutch clock in the chimney-place

Up with its hands before its face,

For it always dreaded a family row!

(Never mind: I'm only telling you

What the old Dutch clock declares is true!)

The Chinese plate looked very blue

And wailed 'Oh Dear! What shall we do!'

But the gingham dog and the calico cat

Wallowed this way and tumbled that,

Employing every tooth and claw

In the awfullest way you ever saw-

And, oh! How the gingham and calico flew!

(Don't fancy I exaggerate-

I got my news from the Chinese plate!)

Next morning where the two had sat

They found no trace of dog or cat;

And some folks think unto this day

That burglars stole that pair away!

But the truth about the cat and pup

Is this: they ate each other up!

Now what do you really think of that!

(The old Dutch clock it told me so,

And that is how I came to know.)"

Sitting and listening to Morgan read this poem from the screen of the laptop; Reid realized that his friend was a natural born story teller. The older man had a light and cheery tone to his voice, but used great inflection with his words. If Morgan could ever get past his phobia of commitment, Reid thought that he would make an excellent father. Smiling just a bit at the sliver of happiness that had seeped back into the atmosphere, he noticed that even Mariah and Liam had relaxed some.

Reid was beginning to wonder how long the twins would continue to stay awake during the flight with how draining the last few days had been. As if on cue, Mariah leaned away from her father just enough to let out a jaw-cracking yawn. Life was catching up to her. Looking at her brother, Mariah saw that Liam was rubbing his eyes in an attempt to stay awake. Leaning back into her dad, she felt Reid lean down to drop a gentle kiss on the crown of her head before leaning the other direction to presumably do the same for Liam.

"Go to sleep, I'll wake you when we land." Reid spoke softly to his children. Looking up at the team as he felt two small bodies relax into his sides, Reid knew the he would be able to handle fatherhood. His family would be there to help him every step of the way.

TR: Ok, that almost sounds like an ending. I promise that it's not, so don't panic on me guys! In the next installment, the twins meet Grandpa Jason and Aunt Penny, and Reid suspect Morgan of devious plotting. Stay tuned!