Mutt was amazed by the football game and Spencer grew concerned about losing his grip on the boy's hand. He lifted Mutt up into his arms as they found great seats at the fifty yard line, front row. Mutt wiggled his way between Morgan and Reid and started kicking his legs and bouncing.

Morgan glanced at Mutt and laughed. "Save all that energy. It hasn't even started yet."

Mutt grinned at Morgan and then suddenly slid off the bench and grabbed a woman's skirt. She jumped and pressed her hand to her heart before she realized who it was. "Hey, little buddy. What are you doing here?" Dr. Adele said with a smile.

Mutt blushed a little and said, "I'm going to see football."

Spencer slid over on the bench to allow Dr. Adele to take a seat so she wouldn't block the flow of traffic. Mutt climbed up onto Spencer's lap and stared at the popcorn in Dr. Adele's hands. She squinted at him and he giggled. "I think I could share with you," she said.

Spencer watched Mutt take a fistful of popcorn and then the boy attempted to put all of in his mouth. "Careful, Mutt," Spencer said. "You could choke on that."

Mutt coughed a little, but managed to get the popcorn down. "I'm OK, Daddy. You worry lots."

Dr. Adele smiled at Mutt's statement, but agreed with Spencer. "Listen to your dad, he's right."

Spencer glanced up at Morgan, who had been trying to get Reid's attention ever since Dr. Adele had sat down. "Oh, I'm sorry," Spencer said. "Dr. Adele, this is my colleague, Derek Morgan."

"Hello, Dr. Adele," Morgan said, looking at the pretty pediatrician appreciatively.

Dr. Adele shook his hand. "Nice to meet you. And please, you can call me Ava out among the general population."

"She's Mutt's pediatrician," Spencer explained to stop the teasing looks Morgan was giving him.

The home team ran through a paper sign to the sound of the school's fight song. Mutt glanced around, looking for the source of the music, but didn't find it. He shrugged and eased his way from Spencer's lap, settling on Ava's for better access to the popcorn. Ava smiled at him and mussed his hair a little. "He's so cute," she said, but her voice was drowned out by the crowd cheering the impending kick off.

Spencer had expected Morgan to be the one that was most into the game, but it was Ava that was coaching from the bleachers. Spencer gathered from the announcer's commentary that Ava had two brothers on the team. "Oh, come on!" she groaned. "Seriously? No flag? That was holding!"

::::::::::::::::::::

Mutt looked up at Ava, wondering who she was talking to. He wondered if she was a little crazy, but stayed in her lap because of the popcorn and also because she smelled like flowers. He poked Spencer's arm and pointed to the girls dancing around on the sidelines. "Who are they?"

Spencer leaned down. "Those are cheerleaders."

"What do they do?"

"They do cheers so their team will win."

"Who is winning? Which team is their team? Why do those guys wear those funny clothes? What's that stripey guy for? Can I have some water?"

Spencer chuckled. "Ask Morgan."

Mutt sighed and turned to Morgan, repeating his list of questions. Morgan explained the game while Ava reached into her purse for a bottle of water. Mutt drank it down gratefully. The popcorn had made him very thirsty. Ava took the empty bottle from him and he laid his head against her chest while he listened to Morgan talk about football.

::::::::::::::::

Spencer was glad that Mutt seemed to be content, but it worried him a little how attached the boy was getting to the young doctor. Spencer wasn't sure that Mutt understood that Ava was a medical professional, albeit a friendly one, and that she may not have the time or desire to be a permanent part of his life. He didn't want Mutt to get his feelings hurt if he didn't see her for long periods of time.

The first half went by quickly and the home team was trailing behind by 10 points, despite Ava's coaching from the stands. Most of the crowd started a slow moving shuffle to the concession stands.

There was the tap of a snare drum, and then a percussion cadence grew from that. The sound caught Mutt's attention and he watched raptly as the high school marching band went onto the field. "Who are they?" he asked breathlessly.

"That's the band," Ava replied. "I used to be in that. They're going to do a show for us."

Mutt craned his neck for a better view as the drum majors saluted and one rushed to the podium. The band had his undivided attention from the moment the music started until well after they had left the field. He still seemed to be in awe as half time dwindled to a close.

Ava smiled and glanced at Spencer quickly before she said, "Maybe, if your dad doesn't mind, I can take you to meet them during the fourth quarter."

Mutt nearly flew from Ava's lap to Spencer's and started to pull at Spencer's tie. "Please, can I? Please? I'll be good, I promise. I'll show you how good I will be." Mutt folded his hands and remained still for a few seconds before resuming his bouncing and pulling at Spencer's tie. "See how good I was? I can be that good forever if I get to go see the band!"

Spencer held back his laughter and nodded. "I guess you can go."

"Is it time now?" Mutt asked Ava.

"I'll tell you when, OK?"

Mutt nodded and then whispered to Spencer, "I gotta go." The boy was louder than he intended to be and Morgan overheard.

"I'll take him. I was ordered by Garcia to get him hopped up on sugar anyway, so we need to make a concession stand run anyway."

Spencer reached into his pocket for his wallet, but Morgan held up a hand. "Let Uncle Derek take care of this. You kids don't get too crazy now."

Spencer shifted uncomfortably, not sure how he was supposed to carry on a conversation now that Mutt wasn't with them. He looked over at Ava and commented on the first thing he noticed. "Your ear piercing is unique for a doctor."

Ava unconsciously touched the metal bar in her ear. "Oh, yeah, this. Well, I just decided I wanted to be different and could never decide on a tattoo, so I had a bar shoved through my ear instead."

Spencer laughed at her joke and then tried to move the conversation along. "Mutt seems to like you a lot."

"He's a sweet kid," she said with a smile. "But I have to ask…what's with that awful name? I mean…it's just mean almost."

Spencer smoothed his tie and scraped at a smear of popcorn butter left by his son as he answered. "I adopted him and he said that was his name. I've offered to change it, but he doesn't realize yet the connotations of a name like that."

"Well, hopefully he realizes it before he starts school."

Spencer nodded in agreement. "That will be interesting."

"Are you nervous for that?"

"It's still a year away, but yes," Spencer said. "Children can be so cruel."

Ava laughed. "You don't have to tell me." She slid her sleeve up her slender forearm. "This bruise is courtesy of a two-year-old who was not pleased with getting a shot."

Spencer looked at the mark and winced in sympathy, noting the absence of a ring. He wasn't sure why he was so observant of that fact, but decided it was alright. Mutt returned and settled into Ava's lap with a bag of M&M candies. "I'll share with you," he said.

:::::::::::::::::

Ava smiled at the endearing way the small child offered to share, but had to refuse. "I'm allergic," she said.

"What's that?"

"It means my body doesn't like chocolate and it makes me very sick."

Mutt nodded slowly in understanding and then started to eat his candy one piece at a time. He leaned over and offered to share with his father and his father's friend.

Ava couldn't resist giving him a quick hug. She was growing very attached to him, more than she really should have considering he was a patient. Ava loved children, even the ones who bit, kicked, scratched, or otherwise injured her. She was twenty-eight now and all of her friends had husbands and children. It was something she had always dreamed about and she felt the pangs of a familiar pain over the fact that she wasn't sure she could have that dream. Even if she did find a good man, she wouldn't be able to have children.

She shifted her eyes away from the field, trying not to let the wave of emotions get the best of her. She tried to focus on just enjoying her time with the sweet child who sat in her lap after only meeting her once before.

She noticed a flash of sorts and before she could even register her thoughts she leapt up, practically throwing Mutt into his father's arms. The pain was so intense that she couldn't locate its origin and the only real thought she could grasp on to was that she couldn't believe she had been shot.

A/N So, what does everyone think of Ava? Should she and Spencer get together or remain friends?