Note: It's a short chapter. Sorry for that. My excuse is that it was getting late and I was tired and I wanted to publish. Okay, so... that's excuses. Make that plural.
Anyways, I hope that you enjoy this chapter!
My thanks to ahowell1993, Hippiechic81, Novll, Diana, Dextolan, fishtrek, Sherryola and Pechika for reviewing! I've responded to most of you, I think, and if you haven't heard from me, I apologize. I appreciate all of your reviews and I'll see about finishing up with responses. :)
"Can I tell you a secret?"
Hotch glanced at the toddler sitting by his side on the couch. He was experienced enough with Jack to know not to let his surprise at the request show.
The boy was looking at him earnestly. Hotch was sure that whatever it was was important… at least in Spencer's mind.
"Go ahead, buddy," he told him.
Spencer glanced at Garcia. She was across the room, unloading the dishwasher. Morning chores were morning chores, it seemed, de-aged coworker or not.
His eyes shifted to Morgan, who was sitting a few paces away, legs crossed.
Spencer pointed at him accusingly. "Go away!" he ordered.
Morgan looked shocked. "What?" he asked.
"Go away!" Spencer repeated firmly.
"You're not going to tell me?"
Spencer hesitated. Then he said, "I'll tell you later." There was a finality in his tone. One Morgan wasn't going to argue with.
"You're the boss, kid," he said, getting up. "Hey, Baby Girl, you need a hand?"
Hotch watched him go, before his attention returned to Spencer.
Spencer clambered to his feet, gripping Hotch's shoulder to steady himself.
Hotch's hand flew out to catch him automatically-three years with Jack have honed his reflexes after all.
Spencer's tiny fingers gripped his shirt tightly, but he kept his balance. He leaned over Hotch's shoulder, trying to reach his ear. Hotch leaned to the side to make it easier for him.
"Do you…" The boy suddenly pulled back. Hotch glanced at him to check that everything was all right.
Spencer stared back at him sheepishly.
"You can tell me anything, buddy," Hotch told him seriously.
"Um… Do you know I have…" his brow crinkled for a moment, before he plowed bravely onward, "a… godmother?"
Hotch blinked at him. That was the secret?
Somehow it seemed… anticlimactic. But then he felt immediately foolish for expecting much from a two year old.
"Really?" he asked, with just enough awe to humor the child.
Spencer nodded, eyes bright with what could only be excitement.
"A fairy godmother."
A what now?
Maybe Spencer had seen his doubt. Which wouldn't surprise him. Not with how smart he was. Or maybe he just wanted to continue telling Hotch about something that excited him. Which wouldn't surprise him either. The boy was, after all, somewhere around two years old.
He continued, "She come in," he looked at Hotch seriously to ensure he was following his words," and then she goes POOF!" Spencer threw his arms in the air to emphasize. He was no longer speaking quietly.
Both Morgan and Garcia had stopped what they were doing.
Now Spencer was no longer speaking. Instead, he stared at Hotch expectantly.
Hotch realized he was meant to draw his own conclusion from this.
"And she…" he almost choked on the words as he gestured to Spencer's tiny body, "did this to you?"
For the first time, Spencer looked uncertain. "I… think so?" he offered.
"No," Morgan said vehemently. He shook his head. "Nope. No. I agree we need to find out what caused this and, more importantly, how to reverse, but that does not include believing it was his fairy godmother."
Garcia punched him lightly in the arm. "Stop it," she scolded gently.
Hotch rubbed a hand over his face again for what had to have been the fifth time. "I know a fairy godmother sounds ridiculous, Morgan," he looked back up, "but we have a colleague who's been… de-aged, for lack of a better word. I think we can forget about explanations that make any sort of sense."
Morgan bit the inside of his cheek as his eyes shifted over to the toddler. He studied him, before letting out a sigh and holding out his hands. "You're right. You're right," he conceded. "So what are we going to do?"
"About getting him back to his normal age? At this point, I don't think there's anything we can do. Not until we know more." Hotch took a deep breath and let it out. "Right now, I think all we can do is take care of him. Make sure he feels loved. And safe." He looked at the two of them. "He seems happy with the two of you. I think until we find a solution, he can stay with you."
Garcia perked up at that.
Morgan nodded solemnly.
"We should see about setting up a playdate with Jack," Hotch continued. "It will be good for him to have a friend his own age. And I know Haley would be open to the idea." He looked them both in the eyes. "But I want to know what you think."
Garcia nodded, her eyes aglow. "We can see about getting those two little cutie pies together immediately."
Morgan chuckled, amused, and shook his head fondly. "Works for me," he said.
Hotch nodded, acknowledging their answers.
"There's… one other thing," he added. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, clearly embarrassed. "Haley expects you both to be married. I'm sorry. I wasn't exactly clear on that, so… you might have to pretend to be. Or think of a way around that."
Morgan tried hard to hide his surprise. He didn't think he succeeded. "Oh?"
"I'm sorry." Hotch flushed, something Morgan didn't think he had ever seen their unit chief do. "I know that's… awfully forward."
"No, no… that makes sense. I mean…" he shrugged weakly. "If we had a kid and all…"
"I… think we can… find a way to make things work," Penelope offered weakly.
"It was still… I didn't mean to make it sound… quite that way." It certainly didn't help that there wasn't any other way that Hotch could think of.
There was a pause in the conversation, broken only by Spencer saying, "I think you made him mad."
Garcia couldn't quite hold back the laugh that burst forth at that, bringing a hand to her mouth a moment too late.
"We're… going to have to hold a meeting," Hotch finally said, with no little amount of relief at the subject change. "I don't think it needs to be said that… certain things have… changed. And more than just a little bit. We need to discuss as a team how we're going to address these changes. I think it's obvious that Spencer needs to stay with one of us for as long as he's like this." His eyes found Penelope's. "As I said before, Spencer seems quite happy with you Garcia and I don't think that has to change." He was speaking more quickly and with more conviction now. "However, there's still going to be a need for our team. I'm going to have a need for you both." He looked to both of them now.
"We'll think of something," Garcia said without hesitation.
Hotch allowed himself to smile again. "I know that," he told her, "and I know Spencer is in the best hands possible under the circumstances, but we function best as a team. Inevitably, Reid's absence is going to be noticed. Sooner rather than later. We need to be prepared for when that does happen. And we need to be prepared as a team."
Note: So... some sort of explanation has presented itself. If it doesn't make sense... well... I didn't really expect it to make all that much sense, but consider this: the explanation did just come from a two year old. A... definitely-smarter-than-your-average-two-year-old two year old, but a two year old nonetheless. Rest assured that this is not the last you will hear of Spencer's alleged "fairy godmother."
IMPORTANT! As of 5/28/2018, I did some serious editing to this chapter, so the ending is a lot different from the original.