He woke as the sun rose the next morning and spilled its light through the windows. He smiled, watching her sleep. She'd been right; her hair was a mess, but in the most adorable way possible. He reached out and lightly brushed some off her face and swept it over her bare, freckled shoulder. As soon as he had done so she began to stir, and he immediately wished he hadn't disturbed her. She sighed and yawned and opened her eyes, trying to focus and comprehend. "Good morning, baby doll." Her eyes opened wide and she sat up, holding the blanket up to her neck. Alarmed, he sat up, too. "Is everything alright?"

"You're…you're actually here. Which means that wasn't a dream. Last night really happened." She turned to him. "Didn't it?"

"Yes," he said, resting his chin on her shoulder. "It did." She squirmed a little and laughed. "What's so funny?"

"You. Your face. You're all scruffy and ticklish."

He smiled and pulled her back down. He rubbed his cheek playfully against hers as she squealed and pretended to try and push him away. "Well, I am a man and it's just a normal biological function…" Looking down at her for a moment, he asked more seriously, "Are you happy, baby doll?"

She nodded. "Are you?"

"Supremely happy."

"Well, you know," she said teasingly, "one can never be too happy." She slipped a hand between them and exclaimed, "Would you look at that! Turns out, someone else is happy, too! Do you think he'd like to come out this early to play?"

He moved one knee and then the other between her legs. "I think we both know the answer to that." He pressed his lips to her neck and thrust into her. He didn't think he could ever tire of hearing her cry out happily when he did so, as she'd done several times already throughout the night. Their sex had been at different times vigorously passionate, gently tender, achingly sweet and laughably silly. But each time had been exhilarating, exuberant and exquisitely satisfying. Now that they'd both had a bit of rest, and as he took her harder and harder, she kicked and bucked and clawed at his back like a wildcat, screaming over and over for him to fuck her until it was obvious she was cumming even if she hadn't announced it. He didn't pause to let her recover this time; he'd learned that if he kept up a driving pace he could bring her to another orgasm almost immediately.

"Spencer, I…god! I can't catch my fucking breath! Please, sweetie…give me a minute…" she panted.

"No. You are going to cum for me again, and you're going to cum now. I need you to hurry because…oh, shit! Cum, baby! Cum with me now! Ohhhhh fuuuuuuck…!" He'd never before in his life imagined using such language. But life had changed since last night. She was screaming again now and he surrendered to his own climax with a shout.

As they lay panting side by side afterwards, she said simply, "Goooood morning Dr. Reid!"

"A very good morning, indeed."

"Want some coffee?"

"Always."

With that, she got up, pulled on her panties and his shirt that she'd left wadded up in a ball the night before. He couldn't resist reaching out to slap her bottom as she leaned over to pick it up. She turned around, kissed him hard on the lips, and sauntered out the door.

He sat up in bed, crossed his arms behind his head and smiled to himself. After a few moments he reached over, grabbed the remote off her nightstand and began flipping through the news channels. A short while later she returned with two cups. As she was setting his down on the nightstand next to him, she heard a buzzing by her feet and fished his phone out of the pocket of his pants. He reached for it, but she held it away from him and asked, "So…who's Jennifer?"

"That's just JJ. Come on- I may need to take that."

"Jennifer? Interesting. I wasn't aware JJ was a woman." She handed his phone to him with a dubious look and sat down at her dressing table, ostensibly to deal with her long, tangled hair. It wasn't lost on him that she was watching him in the mirror; she wasn't exactly subtle about it.

He flipped his phone open. "Hey, JJ. What's up?"

"I was calling about the game next weekend. I was thinking that since the game starts at 1:00, we should leave by 10:00 at the latest to make sure we're on time. Unless you'd rather have breakfast before hand…"

"No, it's okay. 10:00 is fine. I can pick you up at your place."

"Oh. Alright. Well…what are you up to today? Would you like to go for brunch maybe?"

"Actually, I'm kinda busy right now," he looked up to see Christine eyeing him in the mirror, comb paused in midair. She pretended to resume attending to her hair.

"You're busy? It's only 8:30 in the morning! How about lunch or dinner, then?"

"No, no…I'm going to be pretty busy the whole day."

"Are you free at all tomorrow?"

He looked up at Christine. She was definitely not pleased with what she was hearing. "Look, JJ, I appreciate the offer, but my schedule's pretty full the whole weekend. But I'll see you on Monday, okay?"

"Oh. Okay…" she said slowly. "See you then. Sorry to bother you. Bye…"

"Bye, JJ." He closed his phone and braced himself for the impending storm he knew was about to hit. Picking up his coffee he took a sip. "It's sweet, baby doll. You know just the way I like it." He smiled hopefully.

She turned around slowly. "Now, I knew you work with JJ, but I find it strange how you skillfully avoided disclosing the fact that she's a woman."

"Because it doesn't matter, dear. We're just colleagues."

"Oh, no. You're not just colleagues. You made a date with her."

"It's not like that."

"It is exactly like that. Look me in the eye and tell me to my face that you think I'm too stupid to know what I heard. I dare you."

He sighed. "It's no big deal. She wanted to grab some breakfast or brunch. We do it all the time." He regretted those last words as soon as they came out of his mouth. Good job, genius. You just found a way to make it sound even more incriminating!

"All…the time. I see. Interesting."

"It's not as if we go out alone. We're usually with Morgan and Garcia, too."

"Three women? Oh, because that's much better!"

"What? No!" He laughed, remembering he'd once told her Garcia's first name was Penelope, but he'd only ever called Morgan by his surname. "No, see, Morgan is not…" he couldn't stop laughing, "…Morgan's not a woman! Morgan's first name is Derek! Do you get it now?"

"So you four go out on double dates. Because yeah, of course. It makes more sense."

"Yes! I mean no. I mean…were just two men accompanying two women that we work with and there is nothing romantic between any of us, except for maybe potentially between Garcia and Morgan because she seems to want something to go on between them but…"

"Fascinating." She turned back around and continued dealing with her hair. Now she wasn't looking back at him, and this disturbed him more.

He sighed. He'd tried to hide the truth of Gideon's gift from her but clearly that had backfired. So he came clean. "Look, Gideon gave me a birthday present- some tickets to a football game- and he suggested I invite JJ to go with because she loves football. So I did. That's it."

She turned back around. "Football? I love football! You know that!"

"No, you love the Bears. And maybe whoever defeats the Packers. These are Redskins vs. Kansas City Chiefs tickets."

"Oh. 'Skins suck. Those fuckers beat the Bears this year."

"Which exactly what I thought you'd say. And the game is next Sunday, when you're supposed to have a show in Austin. I was fairly certain you wouldn't want to come all the way back to see a game in Maryland played by a team you hate. Was I wrong?"

"No…" She looked at him for a moment and asked, "Is she pretty?" He opened his mouth then closed it and looked down at his coffee. "Ah. I get it. She's not just pretty. She's gorgeous, isn't she? Blonde, I'm guessing?"

"Chris, what difference does it make?"

"Nah, I just know you've always had an eye for blondes."

"What? No…why would you say that?"

"Dude- I've got eyes, and I'm not stupid."

He went over to her and leaned over to kiss the top of her head. "Baby doll, maybe that was the case, but now I think the most beautiful woman in the world is a redhead. Look at me. I'm with you. I love you. Do you believe me?"

She sighed. "Yes…"

"Then why would you think I'd risk being with the woman I love just for the sake of pancakes and a football game I'm not even interested in?"

"Because…because I've always sort of felt like…in a way, I've always thought you were just settling for me. That someday it would dawn on you what an amazing guy you are and that when that happened, you'd realize you could do better than me. And then you would."

"Would…what, exactly?"

"Would find someone better."

"Baby doll, there's no one better than you. You're brilliant, you're beautiful…"

"There are a lot of smart women in this world, Spencer. Most of them far prettier than me."

"Chris, there is no one quite like you in this world. And every day of my life, I wake up thankful that I'm lucky enough to be the man with you."

He kissed her again, this time on the cheek. "Aw, you charmer," she smiled, somewhat grudgingly. "Flattery will get you everywhere."

"Good to know. Though I'm pretty sure you're the only person in the world who would characterize me as 'charming'." He straightened up and stretched. "Now, may I have my shirt back? I need to run outside and grab my suitcase from the car. I could use a shower and a fresh change of clothes."

"Oh, alright," she said, pulling off the shirt and handing it to him. "Though I don't see why you need clothes at all."

"Then I need my toothbrush, okay? Good oral hygiene is important too, you know."

Spencer stood in the shower for a while with his eyes closed, reveling in the invigorating sensation of water flowing over his body as the memories they'd made over the previous 12 hours played like a movie in his mind. He started at the sound of the shower door opening and instinctively turned away, blushing. He knew it was foolish to do so- what hadn't she seen of him already that he thought he needed to hide? She slapped him nonchalantly on the hip saying, "Move over, you. Make a little room."

He obliged and, turning back towards her teased, "Is this how it's going to be? Can't I even bathe in peace?"

"Dude, if you wanted peace in your life, you've hooked up with the wrong chick."

"Clearly."

She put her arms around his waist. "I don't know why you feel the need to be so bashful around me of all people."

"You know, I have to confess, that before last night I was afraid of you seeing me naked."

"Good lord, what for? Look at you! You're gorgeous. You should be walking runways and posing for magazines."

He laughed and shook his head. "I'm glad you think so, though I sure don't see it. I was afraid you'd think I was too skinny or pale, and I was almost certain that when we finally did try and have sex that I'd do something so awkward or clumsy that I'd turn you off for good."

"I have to tell you, I thought it would be…I don't know…weirder than it was, or maybe somehow kind of gross. There are just a lot of things that end up getting shoved in unfamiliar places and all sorts of bodily fluids that wind up where they've never been before. But it all worked out, didn't it? And when it finally happened, it all seemed to come perfectly naturally, you know? There was nothing strange about it. Well…except for that one time when you tried to-"

"Let's not talk about that," he said quickly. "It was a mistake! I told you. It was dark, I got a little carried away…"

"I thought we weren't talking about it?"

"Yeah. That's probably for the best."

"But hey, it's cool. Better that we're honest with one another about what we each like, don't like, and what just flat out ain't gonna fly, right?"

"You're right," he replied with a chuckle. "Live and learn, I guess."

"Exactly. Like last night I learned you prefer to be on top and in charge, correct?"

"Well, I don't know if that's entirely true…"

"Hey, it's fine with me. It's kind of nice to have a little role reversal now and then. You told me a while back that I liked bossing you around. I'm not gonna lie. I like getting my own way. But it can be exhausting sometimes. It's kinda nice to be able to be vulnerable with someone whom I can implicitly trust to not just serve his own interests, but mine as well." She paused thoughtfully for a moment. "I found that…beautiful. Really lovely."

He kissed her softly. "I'm glad you feel that way- that you trust me like that. It wouldn't have meant anything to me if I didn't make you as happy as you make me."

They held one another quietly under the falling water until she felt herself being poked in the belly in that now-familiar manner. "So, I take it you're hoping for shower sex this morning?"

He gave her a little lopsided grin. "Why? Was there another reason you got in here with me?"

"Who, me? I was just thinking that if we doubled up, we could save water, that's all. It's called being environmentally conscious, Spencer. You really should try it some time."

"Yeah, sure. That's the reason," he teased, lifting her one leg to his side.

They tried with great difficulty to maneuver themselves into position despite their significant differences in height. After it quickly became apparent that wasn't going to work as long as they both had their feet on the ground, he suggested he should try and lift her. They abandoned that idea because they deemed the risk of sustaining a slip and fall injury to be too great. "Nah, this ain't gonna work," Christine said. "I've already had one concussion recently. We don't need either of us winding up with another…"

She then proceeded to get down on her knees. "Baby doll," he said, "really, it's okay. You don't need to- oh my god! What…what on earth are you doing?" It was a stupid question. He knew exactly what she was doing. He grasped the handle on the inside of the shower door to steady himself and closed his eyes. His other hand came to rest on her head. "Chris…oh! Yes! Oh god, I…I think I'm going to…ohhhh…"

Suddenly she stopped and stood up. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I just can't do this. It's this hard surface. My knees are killing me. I couldn't take it any more!"

He was breathing heavily. "I understand. It's okay. Maybe…maybe we could try laying down?"

That didn't work either. She hit her head on the back wall of the shower a few times once they started to move together and then started coughing uncontrollably after accidentally catching a mouthful of water. "Christ, it's like being fucking water boarded!"

He stood and offered her a hand up. As she stood, he pulled his arm back and hit it painfully on the shower handle. Rubbing it he told her, "Chris, I don't think this is going to work. What do you want to do now?"

"Well, I definitely want to write very strongly worded letters to every filmmaker and writer who's ever depicted shower sex as a romantic possibility denouncing them as liars, for one…" He laughed and put his arms around her. "But first," she said, "I think I'll just take a shower. So go on-git!"

"Hey, I was here first!"

"And I own the place! Outta my way, sparky."

"I've already finished half my shower!"

"There's another one down the hall. Just go use Alex's."

"No!"

"Why? It's not like she's in it."

"You're being ridiculous. Hand me that shampoo. I'm finishing my damn shower here. You go down the hall."

She narrowed her eyes. "Counter proposal. We take turns under the water. One can lather while the other one rinses, then we switch places."

He sighed. "Alright. That sounds reasonable."

"Good. Now get out of my way. I need to get my hair wet."

As they toweled off afterwards, they laughed and debated which one was the clumsiest. "You know," Christine concluded, "I think wet-and-wild-sexy-fun-time just wasn't intended for dorks like us."

"There may be something to that."

Moments later, Christine stood in her closet and called out, "So, what should I wear today? And don't say nothing- there's nothing that's put on that can't be taken back off."

"I don't care as long as it's something nice." His voice had come from directly behind her, and she turned to see him standing in the doorway to the closet, buttoning up his shirt. "I want to take you out tonight. I was thinking maybe we could celebrate this new stage in our relationship. Besides, I like showing you off."

"You're ridiculous." She turned back to her wardrobe, which had few dressy offerings.

"That may be true, but it doesn't mean you're not beautiful." Sensing her indecision he suggested, "Maybe you could wear the dress with the yellow flowers that you wore on our first date?"

"That? That's a spring dress. Light colors aren't appropriate this time of year."

"Since when have you cared about propriety and social conventions? Well, wear what you please. I only have one request."

"What's that?"

"Wear it with some of that new lingerie."

She got dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and they went out for lunch first. By the time they were leaving to return home it had started to rain. Rain meant an afternoon spent indoors and another fire in the fireplace. It also meant an afternoon in bed with hot tea, newspapers, giggling and lovemaking. After a long nap, she roused herself and shook his shoulder. "Hey, sweet cheeks. You still thinking of going out tonight, or would you rather I just grab something from the store and cook here?"

He yawned and noticed the last rays of sunlight were disappearing from the windows. "What time is it?"

"About 6:30."

"Already? Wow. No, I definitely still want to go out."

"If you insist…"

She got up and went over to her dressing table. He watched with mild fascination as she applied makeup- she seldom wore it except when performing under stage lights- and pulled her hair back from her face, securing it with pins and a yellow bow so that it flowed down her back. It stirred a memory in him from his early childhood, from a happy time before his parents split up. He would lay on the bed and watch his mother ready herself for a special night out just like that. When she stood and found him watching her she asked, "What are you smiling at?"

He shrugged slightly and said, "Just you. You're very pretty. And you make me very, very happy."

"You're being silly," she said as she walked to her closet. She came out again as he was tying his tie. "Zip me up?"

"Of course." He kissed her neck as she held up her hair. "I love you, baby doll."

"I love you, too."

"Thanks for wearing that. It's a lovely dress."

"Well, I figured you were right. To hell with social conventions. Yellow flowers are always nice."

After a lull in their dinner conversation, she asked, "I was wondering- did you have any plans for Thanksgiving?"

"No. I haven't really celebrated Thanksgiving in years. I usually just get take out and spend the evening reading."

"Well, I've decided not to go home this year. Back to Illinois, I mean. So Alex and I were going to be alone together. Joe and Laurie are still deciding where they should go. They might come. You should come to my place, too. It could be fun."

"I'd like that. But I do have to wonder why you wouldn't want to go home, especially after your mother's diagnosis. How is she?"

"Pfft. She's fine. Everything went fine. Radiation was the worst of it- it feels like a bad sunburn, you know? But I've concluded that she's so terrifying that the cancer was more scared of her than she was of it. And she and I can only take one another in small doses. I didn't tell you about the fight we had at Easter, did I?"

"No…"

"It was over the stupidest thing in the world. Check it out- she was hosting dinner, just for our family, but by the time you add in all my siblings, their spouses and the kids, it's up to 18 people already."

"Whoa. That many?"

"Yeah. It's mostly Wes' fault- he and Jenny have six kids."

"Why so many? I mean, I'm not judging or anything, but that's a lot, particularly for a family with one parent who's on active duty."

"There's a set of triplets in there. Identical boys, all gingers. And no, they weren't taking fertility meds or anything. I'm pretty sure it wasn't even a planned pregnancy, because she got pregnant two months after the birth of their first one. She delivered at 31 weeks, so they had four kids before their second anniversary. And he shipped out six weeks after that. How Jenny remained sane boggles my mind."

"I can't even fathom it."

"No shit. So anyway, mom's hosting dinner for a crowd, right? And I'm the only one in the kitchen to help her and she puts me in charge of the potatoes. Among other things. So when the potatoes are done boiling, she tells me to put the colander in the sink to drain them. And I'm like, 'It's cool, Mom. I got this.' And I do this move where I leave the lid on the pot and just slide it back so I can tip it and get the water off them. I figured that way I'd save us from having to wash the colander. That's one less dirty dish, so yay me, right? Wrong. My mother loses her fucking mind and starts yelling at me for not using the stupid colander. I'm like, 'Mom, look. See that? The water is off them, and I didn't lose a single potato down the sink, so what's the problem?' And I swear to God, she starts screaming at me, and I mean seriously screaming at the top of her lungs, 'The problem is, you can't follow directions! You always have to do everything your own way just to spite me! For once in your life, just do what I tell you to do, the way I tell you to do it!' All this over potatoes, Spencer. Boiled fucking potatoes. So I told her, 'You know what, Mother? Fine. If you honestly think that I, a 25-year-old grown woman with at least half a functioning brain in my skull, am incapable of boiling a potato properly, well then, that's just dandy. There's nothing more I can do to help you here. Enjoy making the rest of the entire stinking dinner all by yourself. I'm done.' And I marched my happy little ass right out the door, grabbed a beer at the bar, and didn't come back until dinner was being set on the table. All because she couldn't deal with the fact that I drain water off of boiled potatoes differently than her. Goddamned simple-ass motherfucking potatoes."

"I'm sorry that happened to you. I can kind of understand now why you're not eager to go home." He smiled shyly. "I must say, I'm a little relieved, though. Part of me was nervous that you might ask me to go meet your family, and I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet."

"Yeah, well, you've got an extra month to prepare before you have to do that. Because you are coming with me for Christmas, you know."

"I am?"

"You are. And don't worry. Everyone will love you. Except Cori. She's just a bitch who doesn't like anyone, but it's cool because no one likes her, either. Except Mom. She's Mom's favorite. But my parents and Wes will absolutely adore you, primarily because you're everything they always hoped I would grow up to be. You know- respectful, responsible, gainfully employed in a respectable profession that doesn't involve making fun of them in front of strangers, and which provides you with good insurance and a proper retirement plan. In other words, you're the opposite of me. Also, it'll help to dispel the notion they've gotten into their heads that I'm going to hell because I must be a lesbian since I've never brought a guy home to meet them. Meeting you will totally blow their minds."

He had to laugh. "I'm sure that they don't think that of you."

"Oh, I'm sure they do. Joe even told me they discussed it at dinner once when he was there. It was before you and I started dating. The very thought of it had my mother in tears. They're so repressed that to this day, I think my parents have never actually acknowledged to themselves that my uncle Russ is gay. I truly think that they believe that after he and his wife divorced, that the guy he moved in with was just his 'roommate'. Never mind that he and Mike have been together for 14 years and now own a home together. As far as my folks are concerned, they're still just roommates."

Spencer picked up his wine and took a long sip. He'd spent most of his life wishing he'd had a family to spend time with. Holidays were particularly lonely for him. And though he still longed to someday have a family of his own, he sincerely hoped that when that day came they wouldn't bring with them the chaos that seemed to swirl around these people. Setting his glass down, he tried to change the subject. "So anyway, I was thinking that since I have to work on Monday, that maybe tomorrow night you should spend the night at my place. I mean…well…not to say that you should or that should you feel you need to…I just thought…I thought, if you'd like to spend the night together, well…if we did spend Sunday night together, doing so at my place would be more convenient for me. If you want to, that is."

"You're so cute when you're flustered. Sure. I'd love to. Provided I don't have to sleep on the couch this time."

He blushed and smiled. "No, not this time. I'd definitely prefer you not take the couch." He reached his hand across the table and took hers. When their waiter came to talk to them about desert, he didn't even listen to the offerings. He was too busy wondering how he would get through Christmas with the Arcangelis.