Author's Note: Hello, everyone.
Anyway, thank you very much and a shout-out to tannerose5, ahowell1993, TVHollywoodDiva, and Beachgirl25 for your reviews.
Thank you and a shout-out to mandyem92, Shiny Oshawott King, GudrunXY, and everyone else who has read, followed, favorite story/author alert and visited my story. I really do appreciate it.
Please, do enjoy my story and please review; ideas and constructive criticism are always appreciated.
Chapter 10:
Reid decided to drop Anastasia off at Élise's place today, knowing he will be out of the state. Élise enjoys working with the team, but she also enjoys being Anastasia's nanny. They only agree to leave Anastasia in a daycare facility if they were working and/or assisting in cases around the D.C. area and stayed behind if the team was out-of-state. Arriving at Élise's apartment, he grabbed Anastasia and her stuff out of his car and walked into the large and tall white-brick building, The Langley.
It felt less awkward around Élise ever since they talked about the kiss at the holiday party; they both believed it was the mistletoe and never more than that. But, he kept getting feelings that it wasn't; he wasn't sure what Élise was feeling about it.
Walking into the building, he arrived at her apartment, which was just a couple floors top, "Okay. Here we go, Anastasia."
Élise opened the door and there she was. All dressed in a scarlet red long sleeve hoodie with Rutgers in white letters, black flannel pants, bandana, mismatched socks and cozy slippers. Even dress down and in her comfortable clothes, she stilled looked…
"Dr. Reid."
"Hey, Élise."
"Please. Come on, in."
Walking into her apartment, he took a quick look around as Élise rocked Anastasia. The painted walls were white, ivory, cream, vanilla, but bare of any framed pictures, the floors were dark hardwood with some rugs; the bathroom down the hall was clean and white; the place looked recently cleaned, mopped, and swept. He spotted the small neutral-colored lamp fixtures, the small dining setting, the 30-inch television. The dark-colored modern furniture—looked a bit expensive—but seemed and felt comfortable enough and she had even set up a room with a crib for Anastasia.
What immediately caught his eye was the large bookshelf in the living room. Walking over to see the books she had, "You know, it's surprising how much you can tell about a person by what they choose to read."
"I'm sorry?" Élise was still gently rocked Anastasia in her arms.
"Jane Austen, Stephen King, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain; The Brothers Grimm, Edgar Allan Poe, William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, William Wordsworth."
"Yes. May I ask what my choice of books tend?"
"Merely to make out your character by your book choices."
"Really? And what have you discovered?"
"My profile would probably indicate that you're an open-minded person; you like to read what interests you and your mind. You like the classics, yet you like horror and fairy tales. You like American, but you also like European. You love to read for entertainment, but also want to expand your mind and learn more. You have a wide range of books. I guess you can say it's…puzzling me exceedingly."
Smirking, "Is that what you think, Mr. Darcy?"
"I believe so, Miss. Elizabeth Bennet."
Chuckling, "Well then, I hope to clarity farther in the near future."
"I better get going." Cupping Anastasia's face with his hands as she was squirming around in Élise's arms, "I hope I won't be gone too long, but I'll come back as soon as I can, okay?" He plants a couple of kisses on her forehead, cheeks, and head. "Love you. Don't worry, now. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can. Okay? Be a good girl, alright? Good day to you both."
"You too. And be careful." She said while smiling before taking Anastasia's tiny hands and waves them for her. "Say 'bye-bye' to Daddy, Anastasia. 'Bye-bye, Daddy.'"
Stepping out of the elevator and into the bullpen, he sees the team gathering around the bullpen, whispering to each other. He was wondering if they started without him, which was often a norm.
"Hey."
"Hey…what's up, Doc?" Garcia broke the silence as she slightly jumped.
"Nothing."
"How's Anastasia and Élise?" JJ asked.
"Okay?"
This was starting to feel awkward.
"Good. Let's get to work." Prentiss quickly got everyone to work while Reid felt out of the loop.
In the middle of a case the team was working on in South Carolina, Reid separated himself from the team to make a call to Garcia. He thought she would know what's going on.
"Garcia?"
"Hey, Dr. IQ. What's the 411?"
"What's going on with the team? What were you talking about this morning?"
"Nothing. I can assure you that. I mean, would I ever lie to you?"
"Still. You would let me know if anything, right?"
"Why, of course. I mean, does a bear stand in the woods?"
Reid made an askew face, unsure what to think when Garcia said that. But still, he knew she would tell me if anything happened. When he first told her about his mother, she kept it a secret between the two of them until Reid told the team during a case. "Yeah. You're right. Better get back on the case."
"Kay-kay. Late, Dr. Mate."
After hanging up and walking out, "Does a bear stand in the woods?" He asked himself.
The case was an interesting one; it turned out the Unsub was a long-time career criminal who took a ten-year cooling-off period; he was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer, had six months to live and wanted to recommit his crimes by going after the family members of the victims he attacked in his original crimes before his death and wanted to go out with a bang by doing that. After the case was done, he headed straight to Élise's place early that afternoon.
"Élise!"
"Hey, what's up, doc?" Élise greeted him back as he walked past her. "Anastasia's taking a nap…" Élise followed him into one of the bedrooms, only to find her Élise sleeping in a crib.
"Hello, my little Anastasia." Reid's eyes went wide-eye on sight when he saw Anastasia and sighed. He watched her for a few more seconds before planting a kiss on her forehead and moves a piece of her hair away from her face. "I'm back," He whispered. "I told you I would be back; I meant what I said before. I missed you. I love you."
He and Élise quietly left the room, not wanting her to disturb her from her sleeping any further. They both took a sit on the couch and had a moment together.
"Like an angel."
"I know. Thanks for looking out for her."
"As always." Élise smiled. "I still can't believe you're going to adopt her."
"I can't believe it, either."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"What happened to her parents?"
Author's Note: My apologies this chapter is short…and it ended in a slight cliffhanger; in the future chapters, it'll get lengthy, but it may be a while since I start school again this week.