~~~~~CM~~~~~
Last weeks of summer were filled with change and that made Emily nervous. They were dealing with Anna heading back to Las Vegas for grad school, back to school shopping for clothes and supplies, doctor appointments, and haircuts. They had been working so hard to establish a routine and avoid disruptions.
But as they progressed with the adoption, Emily and Aaron watched in horror as their family imploded.
Robert had discussed Spencer's adoption with Diana before signing the consent forms and while she had given her permission wholeheartedly, the reality of the situation was harsh. Even though she legally did not have a claim on her child, she told Emily that felt like she was giving up her son and any future they had together. The emotional stress weighed on her and Diana fell into a severe delusion that has been going for eleven days and counting.
Emily and Aaron wanted to give Diana the opportunity to talk about the adoption with Spencer as she had when they took custody earlier in the year but their visits were canceled as Diana fought a battle with her mind.
Two skipped visits had been accepted quietly but when they weren't allowed to visit for the third time, Spencer lost his patience. He was furious at the sanitarium and his mother's doctors. The five year old ranted and railed against the system at from the moment he woke up until he fell asleep, emotionally exhausted.
His therapist suggested they keep to their normal routines as he raged and scheduled an additional session but it didn't seem to work. For several days, Anna struggled to keep his attention for more than a few minutes, leaving both her and Jack frustrated. This prompted Aaron and Emily to take turns, scheduling days off to spend at home with their family. Spencer's anger didn't wane.
At her wit's end, Emily called Diana's previous doctor at Bennington, "Dr. Norman, this is Emily Prentiss. We met when…"
"I remember you, Emily," he interrupted, "How is Spencer? And your family?"
She updated the doctor on their situation and asked for advice.
"As you know, Diana is no longer my patient, however, I will give her doctor a call to chat. I will also recommend a visit with Spencer. He has seen her hallucinations so he won't be shocked by her behavior. She may lash out violently so I will suggest a no-contact visit," Dr. Norman paused, "Spencer has accepted that her condition will improve and worsen for the rest of her life but I believe that he needs to see her so it doesn't feel like he has lost her."
A few hours later Spencer was granted a supervised visit with his mother for the next day.
~~~~~CM~~~~~
A text alert caught Aaron's attention as Penelope presented their current case in the conference room; Diana's doctors were going to allow Spencer to visit his mother. Making a split second decision, he quickly replied to Emily, "Staying behind, I will take him in am."
Focusing on the case, Aaron listened to the team's thoughts on the unsub and added his own. At the conclusion of the meeting, he informed them that he would not be joining them on this trip.
"Derek, you can run point on this. I have a personal matter to address."
Aware of his family situation, JJ and Penelope gave him tight smiles as they gathered up their folders. Dave clapped him on the back before he left the room with the women.
Never one to mince words, Derek leaned back in his chair, "The time off last week and now you are not coming with us to Omaha. Things have gone to shit?"
"Diana isn't doing well and Spencer is struggling," Aaron left out the details of the situation, "but we have an appointment in the morning and I'm hopeful it will help."
"I'm happy to help out; handle reports and Strauss," Derek offered.
Grateful for the support, Aaron nodded stiffly, "I appreciate it, Morgan."
Watching his team leave for the case without him was sobering, Aaron wondered if this was just one case he would be missing or this was the beginning of a pattern. Packing up his briefcase, he considered his options. He could always transfer to a desk job in another unit or he could always promote Derek to SSAIC and accept a demotion to SSA, requesting that he no longer travel on cases. Maybe it was time for him to take early retirement.
As a headache build up behind his eyes, Aaron dreaded going home as it was only going to get worse. Sighing dejectedly, Aaron punched the down button for the elevator.
~~~~~CM~~~~~
Jack greeted him as he entered the kitchen through the garage door, "Dad! You are home early!"
After hugging Jack, Aaron stole a carrot stick from his plate. As Jack screeched, he held up his own carrot stick and they pretended to sword fight until their carrots broke.
"Where are Spencer and Anna?" Aaron asked.
Jack ducked his head and shrugged.
"Jack?"
"Spencer got mad and threw Captain America's plane and the Legos went everywhere," Jack bit his lip, "he didn't mean to, Dad. He just misses his mom."
Pulling his son into a hug, Aaron rubbed circles on his back, "I know he's angry, Jack. But there are better ways to deal with anger, right?"
"Yeah, I know," Jack kicked his feet out nervously, "Anna said I shouldn't clean up; that it was Spencer's responsibility."
"She's right. Spencer needs to handle the consequences of his actions," Aaron kissed Jack on the top of his head, "you finish up your snack while I go check on them, okay?"
Aaron crossed through the family room, stepping around the scattered red, white, and blue bricks, and up the stairs to Spencer's room. Sitting on his bed, Anna was wiping Spencer's tear-streaked face with a tissue as they spoke in hushed voices. Knocking on the doorframe, he got their attention.
Spencer pulled away from Anna and ran into Aaron's outstretched arms while mumbling "I'm sorry" over and over again.
After cuddling for several minutes, Spencer announced that he needed to apologize to Jack and clean up the Legos leaving Anna and Aaron behind.
"He was in zombie mode all day, just reading quietly," Anna said sadly, "then I told them it was snack time and he grabbed the plane out of Jack's hand and threw it across the room. He was hysterical after that."
Aaron nodded knowingly at her, "I'm sorry you had to deal with that."
Anna tried to smile but she couldn't as tears welled up in her eyes. She sniffed in an attempt to hold back the tears but it didn't work. Aaron hugged her tightly until she stopped crying.
Sending Anna and Jack out to run errands, Aaron and Spencer settled in the kitchen. They scrolled through the tablet to find the recipe for dinner. Putting the little boy in charge of gathering ingredients, they made small talk.
Eventually, Spencer told Aaron about getting so angry and lashing out, "I told Jack I was sorry and I cleaned it up but his plane is broken now."
"What do you suggest we do to fix his plane?"
"Jack doesn't have the book of instructions anymore but I think I can figure it out."
Instructing Spencer to double the spice measurements from the recipe, Aaron began chopping vegetables. "I believe you can figure out but if you run into a problem, we can look up instructions online."
"Aaron, um, Jack isn't mad at me but I think he should be."
Making appropriate noises, Aaron encouraged Spencer to continue.
"I've been mad and sad all week and today I wasn't nice and I broke his toy."
Turning to face the little boy, he nodded, "I am glad you are thinking about your behavior and how it affects others. What do you think is the best way to handle this?"
Biting his lip to keep from smiling, Aaron watched as Spencer's face scrunched in concentration.
"I should apologize to Jack again but I have to stop getting angry."
"Anger is an emotion that we all experience. You don't have to stop getting angry, buddy. You have to find a way to let it out safely. Without hurting yourself or others," Aaron explained.
"Yeah, that's what Dr. Beck says," Spencer lined up his measuring spoons by size, "I need to talk about my feelings or write in my journal or I can color. Because that is a healthy way to express how I am feeling."
They continued cooking and chatting until the rest of the family joined them for dinner.
~~~~~CM~~~~~
Holding Spencer's hand, Aaron led him to the observation window on the medical side the sanitarium. With Diana's current condition, she was not allowed to stay in her own room in the residential ward.
Her doctor, who had begrudgingly agreed to the visit, gave them an update, "She has not been sedated in 18 hours. She is still hallucinating however she has not been violent so we removed the restraints earlier this morning."
Crouching down, Aaron caressed Spencer's cheek lightly, "Are you ready?"
Nodding frantically, Spencer held up his arms to be carried. Lifting the boy up, Aaron stepped up to the window. Diana Reid was lying in bed, staring blankly at the wall. Her arms were bandaged, her face covered in red scratches.
Spencer assessed his mother for several minutes, "We need to read to her, Aaron."
The doctor agreed, "Dr. Norman explained that this helps when she is having a particularly bad episode but several of our staff had been reading to her but it didn't seem to help."
Dipping his head towards the window, Aaron asked, "What have they been reading to her?"
"I don't know," the doctor shrugged.
Narrowing his eyes at the doctor, Spencer informed him of acceptable reading material, "She likes specific works when she is sick; The Book of Margery Kempe, Le Morte d'Arthur or Tristan and Isolt. It's in her medical records."
The doctor looked uncomfortable as Aaron agreed with the five year old, "I realize that I am not her guardian but Robert Nelson had very specific instructions for her care including visits with her son."
"Ah, well," trailing off the doctor stopped and squared his shoulders, "You are right. No excuses, we should have reviewed her case thoroughly when she came here. I will schedule a meeting with Mr. Nelson and our staff to ensure this does not happen again. In the meantime, I will have Mrs. Reid's books brought over from her room."
Nodding curtly at the doctor, Spencer placed his small hands on Aaron's cheeks and looked him in the eye, "Will you read to my mom?"
"Yes, shall we start with Tristan and Isolt?"
The next few hours, Aaron, with Spencer in his lap, sat on the couch across from Diana's bed, his deep baritone voice flowing softly over the room.
~~~~~CM~~~~~
A/N: This was supposed to be the final chapter with Spencer's adoption but as I started writing it, the story wasn't ready to be done. I think we have one more chapter plus an epilogue in this story.
