Author's Note: Okay so, I see some of you were upset about me, taking Psych out of the story. I'm so very sorry. But I'm glad that a lot of you want to know what will happen know when I put the Reid's in Santa Barbara. A good many of you asked me if I could still have them net Shawn and Gus in some. If I can find a way to do it, I will, but I hold no promises.
"So the meeting is on the twenty-third at three o'clock in the afternoon," Reid confirmed as he sat in the Starbucks across from the BAU.
Reid took a sip of his coffee as the person on the other end of the line spoke.
"Okay, well we can be there," Reid replied and hung up.
Just as Reid was getting ready to leave, Morgan walked into the Starbucks and over to him.
"I thought you were getting the entire team coffee, not sitting at a table talking someone on the phone," Morgan said, jokingly.
"I was scheduling a meeting with the principal at Meitner. Shame it's the day before Allison birthday," Reid replied. "I was really hoping, to throw a small party, with the team and whatever friends she has."
"You still could," Morgan said, before laying out the plan he had in mind.
Later that night:
Reid walked into the apartment after work, to find Allison sitting on the couch, talking on the phone.
He walked over to hear and tapped on her shoulder.
Allison looked up at her dad and nodded, then said, "I'll call you back tomorrow Nikki. My dad just got home."
She ended the call and placed her phone on the coffee table while saying, "What's going on, Dad?"
"Meitner," Reid replied.
"What about it," Allison asked.
"I have arranged the interview with the head of the school. The meeting is the day before your birthday, so I was thinking we just spend the week in Santa Barbara, getting a feel for the city and for us a place to live, if you get accepted," Reid explained. "How does that sound?"
"I think, it sounds like a great plan," Allison replied.
Two weeks later, Meitner:
"It will be a great privilege to have your daughter come to Meitner next year. She has high potential and is very very smart, but she does not have the focus it will take to be a student here," the principal of Meitner said looking at Reid.
"What do you mean, not focused," Reid asked. "She's as well focused as anyone I know."
"She is easily distracted. She can't stay on one topic for very long," the principal replied.
"She has an active mind," Reid defended.
"I'm not saying it's a bad thing," the principal said.
Reid opened up a folder he had in his lap and took out a set of papers that had been stapled together and placed in front of the principal saying, "Allison's active mind is not just a thing. It's a gift. She spends hours in her room writing stories and posting them online. If she was easily distracted then her stories would be all over the place and wouldn't make any sense. Tell me again that my daughter is easily distracted."
The principal read the papers in front him for several moments then said, "She does apply for financial aid and the McKay Scholarship."
"What's a McKay Scholarship," Reid asked.
"It's a scholarship we hand out to students who are mentally disabled. With both the financial aid and scholarship you will pay nothing for her education here," the principal explained.
"She's not mentally disabled though," Reid stated.
"She shows all the signs of having ADHD. Now she either gets the McKay Scholarship or she goes right back to public school and never reaches her full potential in life," the principal replied. "Now is that what you really want for your daughter, Dr. Reid?"
Reid stared at the man before wondering why he thought that Allison had some sort mental disability.
"I want what's best for my daughter and if giving her this scholarship is the only way to get her enrolled for next year, then give it to her," Reid said finally.
Later that night Reid and Allison were standing at the end of the pier watching the water when Reid spoke up and asked, "Is there something you haven't told me about you yet, Allie?"
"What do you mean," Allison asked in return.
"I mean do you have a mental disability, like ADHD or something like that," Reid asked.
Allison stared at her father for a moment then back at the water and said, "No."
"Please don't lie to me," Reid pleaded.
"I'm not lying," Allison replied.
"Allison, I'm profiler, I know when someone is lying," Reid stated.
"I'm not lying," Allison repeated.
"The principal at Meitner said that during your interview, you didn't seem very well focused on some topics but were eager to discuss other topics. Can you explain that to me," Reid asked.
"Nerves, probably," Allison said dismissively.
"I thought the exact same thing, but the more I thought about it the less sense it made, because you're the same way at home, easily distracted and eager to change topics when something becomes to hard," Reid continued pushing.
Allison looked her dad in the eye and said, "I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was when third grade and have never been treated for it."
"How come you never told me this before," Reid asked.
"Because I don't want you to view me as the imperfect daughter that Mom viewed me as," Allison replied.
Reid took hold of his daughter's hands and said, "I don't care if you're perfect or not. I love you for who are, my ever-so talented daughter."
Allison threw her arms around her father and said, "I love you too, Dad.