Epilogue

(Spring 2021.)

"Isla Rosemary Reid, please get off your brother's head!"

Delilah shook her head, trying not to laugh as she watched her adorably rough and tumble four and a half year old climb off of her brother. As much as those two fought, they were also surprisingly close. Delilah sat back and laughed, watching as her youngest child toddled towards the older children and pushed them to the ground, causing the chaos once again. Five years ago she would have never dared to hope this was possible. It was amazing to think of the events that has transpired in that short period of time.

After having a long heart to heart conversation with each other, Spencer and Delilah decided it was in the best interest of their marriage to seek couple's therapy. Dr. Fletcher recommended a wonderful marriage counselor and even offered to provide separate counseling for Delilah as well. Spencer and Delilah continued their therapy for over a year and it was the best thing that ever happened to them. Well, other than their three energetic, naughty, adorable children of course.

Delilah's first pregnancy was an exciting, yet nerve racking event. They didn't know what, if any, damage the fetus had sustained from the medication Delilah had taken, so the next couple of months were wrought with nervous anticipation. Although all the ultrasounds and amniocentesis came back normal, the couple wouldn't breathe a sigh of relief until their baby was born.

Isla Rosemary Reid was born three weeks early on December 24, 2016. Delilah's OB, Dr. Sarver, decided to induce labor since Delilah was developing pre eclampsia. Despite the drama surrounding the pregnancy and delivery, which wound up being an emergency cesarean section, all the stress and worrying was well worth it when their daughter was placed in their arms. Isla looked exactly like the child Delilah envisioned in her dreams, albeit much healthier.

Isla was a perfect combination of her parents: she had Delilah's copper hair and freckles and her parents' pale skin. Her eyes were large and round like Delilah's, but the coloring and expression was all Spencer. Delilah and Spencer both had brown eyes, but Spencer's had a depth and warmth to them that Delilah's didn't. Isla was their miracle baby, in more ways than one. Despite the medication Delilah took, Isla was perfectly healthy and developementally normal.

At four and a half, she was the light of her parents' lives and the greatest possible fun. From the moment she could walk, she was a tomboy, shunning Barbie Dolls in favor of mud puddles and GI Joes. Nothing made her happier than to plop herself into an enormous mud puddle and make herself as muddy and filthy as possible, much to feminine Deliah's mock chagrin. Her daughter may have been her polar opposite in every possible way, but Delilah adored her. She couldn't imagine life getting any better until Spencer suggested having a second baby.

Considering what they had been through to have Isla, Spencer's request came as a bit of a surprise to Delilah. She was all too happy to comply, however, and Zane Paxton Reid was born on October 31, 2018. Baby Zane, or "Zaney" as he was known, was the perfect addition to their family, and ideal playmate for Isla. Zaney was just as rough and tumble as his sister and their relationship went from one extreme to another.

One moment they were contentedly sharing GI Joe's and building mud castles side by side: the next Zane was hitting Isla with a GI Joe as she shoved his face into the mud. They were quite a pair, and an endless source of amusement for both their parents. Just when Spencer and Delilah thought their lives couldn't get anymore exciting, a third baby Reid entered their lives.

Phoebe Alexandra Reid was born May 29, 2020 and was the perfect addition to the Reid household. Although she was spritely and spunky like her siblings, she was also soft, cuddly, and incredibly affectionate. Quickly dubbed "snuggle buddy" by both parents, she was quite content to sit on either Mommy or Daddy's lap and soak up their love and attention. Delilah joked that Isla and Zane's personalities were pulled somewhere from the stratesphere, but Phoebe was a mini Delilah. Like her mother, "Phoes" was soft, sweet, and feminine, already a doll fanatic at her age. Isla was a perfect combination of both parents, Zane looked just like his Daddy, and Phoes looked exactly like her mother.

"Uh-oh, I sure hope my babies are behaving themselves because only good children get to have birthday cake," Spencer joked, entering the dining room with the cake in hand. It was a lovely pink, floral confection, ladden down with enough sugar to keep the Reid children awake for a long, long time.

"We good, we good!" Zane shouted, running towards his Daddy.

"We are perfect angels," Isla assured him, hot on her brother's heels.

"I'm sure you are," Spencer said with a laugh, setting the cake on the table and gathering his "angels" into his arms.

Phoebe raised her arms expectantly into the air and Delilah happily gathered her into her arms. She kissed the birthday girl on her adorably chubby cheek and walked towards the table. Isla and Zane wiggled excitedly in Spencer's arms, eager for their sister to blow out her candle so they could have a sugar overload. Spencer smiled at the birthday girl and kissed her cheek as her playfully rumpled her curly hair.

"Happy birthday, sweetheart," he said to her.

Phoebe cooed and happily babbled to him, shoving her hand into her mouth. Both parents laughed and Delilah looked at her husband affectionately.

"Where is my kiss?" she teased.

"Is it your birthday?" Spencer joked back.

Delilah feigned a look of offense, which didn't last long since Spencer's lips immedately descended upon hers. She relished the kiss, losing herself in his embrace. As happy as their marriage had been before, the addition of the children had made things so much better. The act of childrearing was so incredibly intimate and added a layer of intimacy and bonding they hadn't thought possible. They didn't think it was possible, but they found themselves falling more and more in love with each other every day.

Spencer relished his job as FBI instructor. He taught classes in Victimology and Criminology. Although he hadn't been much of a public speaker at first, in time he became more and more comfortable with the position. The best part about his job, other than the raise in salary, was his new work schedule. He didn't have to leave town for days on end anymore, unless he accepted the occassional public speaking engagement, and he was home at a reasonable time.

For Spencer, there was nothing better than coming home and having Isla and Zane rushing towards him, competing to see who would reach him first and claim the leg of their choosing. As the two older children grasped his legs for all they were worth, Phoebe would come crawling or toddling behind, with Delilah holding her by the hands. After kiss his wife, he would scoop all three children into his arms and ask about their day. The late afternoon/early evening portion of the day was always the most hectic, but definately the most fun.

After dinner, the happy family of five would play some games before it was time for bed. Delilah would stay behind and tidy up the kitchen, which left Spencer with bath duty. Spencer loved that part of the day, since it gave him alone time with the children. After giving them their bathes and dressing them in their nightclothes, he would read them a bedtime story before tucking them into their beds. Once the children were drifting off to dreamland, he would sneak downstairs to spend time with his wonderful wife.

Delilah fully intended to return to work after Isla was born, at least part time. However, when her maternity leave was over four months later, she just couldn't bear the thought of strangers raising her precious baby. She and Spencer didn't really have to discuss the idea of her being a stay at home mother for very long: it was such a natural decision to make. Delilah loved being home with the children, who gave her so much joy. She smiled over at Spencer, who was trying to keep Isla from mutilating Phoebe's cake.

After singing Happy Birthday, they blew out Phoebe's candle and proceeded to cut pieces of cake for the children. As the happy family sat down to enjoy the sugary confection, as we as French Vanilla ice cream, Delilah rested her hand on Spencer's.

"Can you believe how quickly time has flown by? It seems like only yesterday Isla was born, and now here we are, five years later with two more children."

"I know what you mean, Dee Dee. The years have gone by much too quickly," Spencer agreed, helping Zane with his cake.

"It seems hard to believe Phoes is already a year old," Delilah mused, helping the birthday girl with her treat.

"Or that Isla is starting school this year," Spencer replied, finding it hard to believe that his sweet little angel was already a kindergartner. As proud as he was of his firstborn and her accomplishments, he didn't like the idea of her growing up too quickly.

"I'm just happy Zane is showing an interest in potty training," Delilah joked, pressing a kiss on her son's head. Zane didn't seem to notice, much too enthralled with his cake to care about something as unimportant as maternal affection.

Both parents shared a laugh and tucked into their cake, enjoying the comfortable silence. Finally, Spencer was the one to break the silence.

"Dee Dee, how would you feel about having one more child?" he asked, his warm brown eyes casting a loving glow over her.

"Oh my goodness, I can't believe it," Delilah said with a giggle. "the man who five years ago wanted absolutely nothing to do with children all of a sudden has baby fever."

"Yes well, in my defense if I had known how amazing they are I would have agreed to it sooner," Spencer said, his cheeks turning an adorable shade of red.

"Well then sweetie, I think this is a good time to share my news with you: I'm pregnant," Delilah said, her eyes twinkling with excitement.

"Y...your...really?" Spencer asked, his gorgeous face breaking out into an adorably sexy smile.

Delilah nodded, walking over to her husband and wrapping her arms around him. He pulled her onto his lap and ran his fingers through her hair.

"I didn't even suspect anything until Dr. Johnson told me today during my physical," Delilah said, in between receiving passionate kisses from her husband. "she felt something during the exam and ordered bloodwork. I was surprised of course, since I thought Phoes was our last child, but I'm nontheless pleased. Four is such a nice, even number. Who knows-we may even give our Zaney a brother to play with."

"Brother, sister, it doesn't make a difference to me. I'm just so happy," Spencer said, kissing her again.

"Eww! Mommy and Daddy kissing!" Isla squeeled, covering her face in a dramatic fashion.

"Aww, I'm sorry: am I emotionally scarring you by showing affection to your mommy?" Spencer teased.

"Yes!" Isla exclaimed, not knowing what her father meant exactly, but wanting to respond nontheless.

"'Motley scahring!" Zane chimed in, his mouth filled to the brim with food.

"Zane Paxton, please don't shove so much food into your mouth," Spencer said, worried his son might choke.

Zane immediately spit his food onto his plate, causing a deafening 'EWWWWW!' to burst from his older sister's mouth. Zane promptly glared at her and threw the chewed contents in her direction, causing Isla to rip a handful of cake out of mostly intact treat sitting innocently on the table. As the children flung pink biuttercream and vanilla goodness at each other, their parents exchanged glances.

"Are you sure you want another one?" Delilah asked.

"Absolutely my love: as long as our baby is happy and healthy and...you are certain we are only having one, correct?"

"I won't be certain of anything until the first ultrasound, but Dr. Johnson didn't see anything abnormal in my bloodwork," Delilah said, giggling at the panic in her husband's eyes.

Spencer grinned and they finally decided to step in and put a stop to their childrens' confectionary foodfight. As they wiped the icing from their childrens' faces and hid the rest of the cake from their little warriors' sight, they couldn't imagine life getting any better than it was at that moment.

**Author's Note: Life did become better for the Reids when their son Jason Spencer Reid entered the world on December 20, 2021. Now the proud, ecstastic parents of four healthy, beautiful children, the Reids decided that four was definately enough.

~Fin~