(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters)
Thanks to everyone who reviewed.
Time to age Spencer a little.
I skipped Spencer meeting his grandmother, I will go back to it in some chapters but I just couldn't write a whole chapter about them flying out because I wouldn't be moving the story on as I'm supposed to be doing.
So, it is Spencer's third birthday! Woo, can't wait ;)
Please review.
Enjoy!
Previously:
Rossi shook his head affectionally and leaned back to watch the film while the others laughed about their mornings.
As he sat there Dave realised how different his life was from a year before. As he realised that he also knew that he wouldn't change it for the world.
"One, two, three." Garcia speared the round chocolate cake with three candles. She grinned and pulled a big '3' candle from out of its package.
"Technically, it's four now," Aaron pointed out as he dipped into the Cheez-its again. Garcia pouted but didn't replace the candle.
It was a warm August afternoon. The team were all round at Dave's, although they seemed to find themselves there more often than not.
It was Spencer's first birthday with his dad, which also meant it was the first birthday without his mom. There had been tears that morning when Spencer had opened his present from his parents (at least that's what Dave had written on the gift tag.) It was an original copy of poems Diana had owned. They hadn't been recoverable from the house after Diana's death and Spencer had talked Dave's ear off about them.
Obviously, that hadn't been the only present. Dave also gave the boy new books, figurines, and a rather luxurious blanket in the shape of a dinosaur... of course.
It had taken a lot of restraint for Dave not to have spent more on his son, but he didn't want to spoil him silly.
Since Spencer hadn't met anyone new since they'd been to see Nonna in April (which had been a huge success, leading to Spencer's Italian vocabulary expanding even further) Dave decided on keeping the party small and at home. He hoped Spencer would make new friends when he went to kindergarten but for now his cousins would do.
He measured Spencer on the kitchen doorframe after breakfast and chuckled nostalgically at the other lines and remembering that it hadn't been so long ago that Spencer had been so small.
Penelope arrived first of course with new stuffed animals and clothes for Spencer. The others trickled in after that and now Dave was doing his best to keep Aaron and Morgan away from the food table while simultaneously listening out for the boys who were running around the house excitedly.
He walked into the dining room and sighed when he saw Aaron with his hand in a bowl again.
"Ten minutes, Hotchner, you can eat in ten minutes," he said with an exasperated chuckle.
Aaron smiled and stuck the last cheez-its into his mouth.
"Where is the birthday boy? The candles are ready," Aaron said, licking his fingers and making a show of not diving back into the bowl.
"I'll find him, you two bring the others in. And make sure they leave the food until after Spencer's blown out the candles."
Dave found Spencer in his play-room and from the looks of it there was a war between dinosaurs and superheroes in progress.
Spencer looked up from the side of the dinosaurs and he smiled at his dad. His hair was pushed back with gel, though some stray curls had overcome the restraint and stuck up in various places. It was past his ears now and wild; Dave would normally just leave it but he wanted Spencer to look his best on his birthday.
He wore jeans and a plaid white and blue, short-sleeve shirt. There were two big badges on the shirt, one from Dave that was bright orange and read 'Birthday Boy!' The other was blue and glittery with the number '3' in pink glitter in the centre.
He'd grown a couple of inches since Christmas but so had the other boys so he was still the shortest.
"Your cakes ready, kiddo. Come on boys, you can finish this after food and presents," Dave said from the doorway. Spencer's eyes widened and he struggled up to his feet.
"Presents!?" he squeaked as he managed to find his feet and ran toward the door.
Rossi nodded with a smiled, talking Spencer's hand to walk him to the dining room. "Yep, but cake and lunch first."
"Awesome," Hank muttered when they walked into the dining room and saw the candles lit on the cake.
"Here you go, kiddo." Dave heaved Spencer up onto a chair.
"I'll get the lights!" called Garcia, stumbling over to them in her heels.
Spencer knelt on the chair and grinned toothily down at his cake.
"We have to sing now, mummy, shhh!" Michael sent his mother and Savannah a dead-stare and they stopped whispering.
They all started to sing, it was rather reluctantly in Aaron's case but he continued in a more cheerful tone when Spencer beamed and giggled at Michael's attempt to sing in a deep voice.
"-Happy Birthday to you!"
"Blow you the candles," Henry said when they finished and Spencer was still smiling.
"Oh! And you have to make a wish! But you can't tell anyone," Hank added. Spencer nodded seriously and blew out the candles in two long puffs, missing one of the smaller ones on his first attempt. He then squeezed his eyes shut.
Dave ruffled Spencer's hair and the team cheered, making the younger boy blush deeply.
"Who wants cake?" JJ asked, already plucking the smouldering candles from the cake.
All of the boys shot their arms up into the air alongside a chorus of "me"s. Michael stretched his arm and held onto it with his other hand as he pestered his mother.
"Can I have the first piece? Please please!"
"Spencer's having the first piece."
"Can I have the next then, please!?"
"Then me!" Hank cried.
JJ handed Spencer his slice and he thanked her before getting more comfy on his chair. Michael insisted on sitting on Spencer's right side and Hank argued with Jack until he got to sit on his left side. Dave knelt beside Spencer as he stuffed the cake into his mouth.
"Good?"
"Mmm hummm." Spencer nodded, his mouth full of cake and his lips caked in chocolate. He swallowed and held up the slice for Dave. "You have to twy some too, Daddy," he insisted.
He was a bit too forceful and pressed the cake into Dave's nose.
"Spencer!"
"Oops."
Dave laughed and wiped the icing off his nose before licking it. "Mmmm, you're right, delicious!"
"Gross, uncle Dave!" Michael yelled, sticking his tongue out.
"That's not gross!" Henry called from his place at the table. Aaron was beside him a handful of cheez-its on his plate which he poorly attempted to hide from Dave.
"Michael ate a worm last week!"
"Did not!"
"Did too! I saw you!"
"No I didn't!"
"Boys!" JJ warned as she dished out cake for Morgan. "Stop arguing. And Henry, not at the table, please."
Henry stuck his tongue out at his brother.
"Sit up, Hank."
"Sit down and eat, Will! You wonder why the boys always want to leave the table. Sit!"
"Jack, do you need that many twinkies on your play?"
"Do you need that many cheez-its, dad?" Jack retorted. Aaron furrowed his brows and threw a sandwich onto his plate. He wasn't going to be outsmarted by his own son.
Dave found his own seat across from Aaron and next to Savannah and Will and he listened to the domestic talk around the table. He learnt that Savannah was using a new washing powder and JJ and Will were considering enrolling Henry in piano lessons. While he listened he watched closely as Spencer started to eat the things he'd set out for him, the boy had a habit of getting distracted and leaving his food.
As usual Spencer got distracted; he leaned over Michael's plate to see what he was doing on his tablet.
"Spencer."
"Yep?"
"Eat up, kiddo."
"Michael, tablet off at the table," Will said, reaching over and taking the tablet.
"No!"
"Daddy?"
Dave looked up from his food. Spencer had a half eaten sandwich in his hand and an innocent look on his face. "Well done, keep eating those."
"Can we have ice cweam?"
Dave paused and regretted it when Hank, Jack, and Henry turned to him eagerly.
"Is cake not enough for you kids?!"
After lunch Dave ordered the party into the front room. Spencer sat down on the floor, smiling nervously as the boys sat around him with presents in their hands. He'd observed carefully when his cousins had parties. He'd hung back with his family most of the time because they invited other kids who Spencer didn't know but he had studied how the birthday boy acted so he could play the same role.
He started opening presents when Dave got back with coffees.
He was part way into the presents when Emily laid down a long box in front of him.
"It's so big!"
"You betcha, champ," Emily said.
Morgan leaned into JJ's side and whipered, "I doubt that's what Strauss says to Rossi."
"You're so unbelievable," JJ retorted, screwing her face up in disgust.
Dave shook his head and punched Derek.
"Ow!" Morgan grabbed his shoulder and looked behind him, his angry expression was quickly replaced with embarrassment and he smiled forcefully.
"I heard that."
"Alright, open it from this end," Emily said, pointing to the corner and Spencer grabbed the paper and started tearing.
"What is that?" Dave asked as Spencer fiddled with the long box, talking excitedly to Hank.
Morgan grinned. "I may have convinced Emily to go halves with us on a scooter," he said.
Dave looked down and scowled at him.
"He's three, Derek."
"Look at him, he loves it."
They turned back to the scene before them where Spencer was waiting for Emily to open the box, his hands were clutched together and pressed to his chin.
Spencer glanced their way and smiled.
"Look, Daddy! Look what Hank, aunt Savannah and auntie Emily got me!"
He turned to Emily who had gotten a handle bar free and he bounced on his knees before turning back to Derek.
"And uncle Beaw," he added with a smug little smile.
Derek huffed as Dave chuckled to himself.
"I thought you were working on that."
"On what?"
"You know what."
"It's cute, what are you gonna do."
Dave left Morgan grumbling on the couch as he got up to inspect the scooter.
"It's just like mine," Hank said as Emily unwrapped the whole scooter and Spencer got to his feet and touched the orange metal.
"Woah..."
"Cool right, handsome?" Emily unfolded it and started to tighten the bolts.
Spencer glanced up to see his father looking down at them and he grabbed his father's hand. "Can I go on it, Daddy?"
Dave shot Emily a quick look that said something along the lines of 'you should've warned me.' He nodded at Spencer after a moment.
"Just wait for auntie Em to set it up and then you can take it outside with Hank."
Hank nodded enthusiastically. "That's why I brought mine, Spencer! But I wasn't allowed to tell you. We can race now!"
"Yea!"
Savannah who was watching from the side, cringed. "You both have to be careful."
"Okay," Hank promised. He ran off to grab his scooter while Spencer waited with anxious excitement.
"Can you hold onto it so I don't fall off?" he mumbled to Emily.
"You won't fall off, it's got four wheels, Spencer."
"I know the pwobability is low... but I might... um... wobble," Spencer said.
"I can hold it, kiddo," Dave offered and Spencer sent him a grateful smile. "Open the rest of your presents first then we'll test it out."
"Yea, this could take a minute," Emily muttered, screwing in some bolts for the wheels.
Spencer finished opening presents and everyone got a hug off him. Garcia held him the longest which she deemed to be fair considering the size of her pile of presents to Spencer.
Hank ran to the hallway to grab his scooter and Spencer pulled his to the door with Emily's help.
"I'm so fast!" Hank said as they got onto the back patio. Hank hopped on his scooter and shot off to the other end of the concrete.
"Hank, please go slower."
"I can't help it, mommy!"
Spencer looked doubtfully at his own scooter and he put his foot on it. It didn't move so he put his other one on, holding his arms out awkwardly for balance.
"Daddy, I'm wobbly," Spencer said, grasping onto the handles as he tried to stay on the scooter.
Rossi, who had been close by, held his hands over Spencer's on the handle bars while he placed his other hand on a Spencer's back to push.
"I gotcha."
"Daddy," Spencer whispered anxiously, biting his lip hard when they started to move.
"You're fine," Dave promised, turning the handle bar so they made a circle. Spencer clutched on tightly, keeping his eyes on the ground below him.
"Look at me!" Hank looked around them, spooking Spencer so bad that he nearly tripped off the scooter.
"I-I... can I get off now, daddy?" he asked. There was a hint of desperation in his voice and Dave stopped pushing.
Spencer hopped off shakily and grabbed his father's leg.
"He'll get used to it when he gets older," Emily called from the doorway, not fazed by Spencer's reaction.
"I weally like it, auntie em... it's a bit scawy though..."
Dave perched the scooter on the porch beside Hank's as Spencer trudged apologetically toward Emily. She just laughed and scooped Spencer up.
"Don't worry, handsome. You gave it a go and if you ask me I'd say you were pretty brave."
"Weally?"
"Positive. Come on, I heard that Uncle Aaron was looking for someone to take him on in a game of chess."
The late afternoon trickled by and soon it was evening and the board games were coming to an end.
Dave caught Spencer yawning and he decided it was time for bed. He'd let the boy stay up late as well as having an early morning and he was all too familiar with grumpy morning Spencer.
Michael was showing Spencer something on his tablet when Dave grabbed him for a bath. Savannah came too with Hank and a pair of pyjamas.
The boys were deposited in the bath with an array of toys and bubbles which Spencer was happy to share.
"My duck had supewpowews and gills so he can bweath undewwatew," Spencer announced, dropping his duck under the bubbles as Dave stroked shampoo through his hair.
"My frog can be friends with your duck! He is really really sticky and... and he grabs things with his tongue, see." Hank stuck his own tongue out and Spencer giggled.
Dave and Savannah exchanged an amused look as the boys played in their make-believe world.
"Not in my eyes, mommy," Hank mumbled when Savannh tipped his head back to rinse it.
"I'm trying, honey, but you need to tilt your head back more."
"Like me?" Spencer asked, pushing his head back so Dave could pour water over the suds.
"Yea, like Spencer."
When both boys were out of the bath Dave towelled Spencer's hair. When he'd finished the wet brown hair had sprung out in curls and wisps all over his head. Hank's was more contained in his soft little Afro but some defined curls had popped up in different places.
When they were both in their pyjamas they made a dash for the door. But Spencer came back and grabbed his teddy bear from the floor.
"Go pick a story, Spencer," Dave called after him and the teddy dragged along with him.
"Wow, look at those pyjamas!" Garcia gasped, holding her hands out as Spencer skipped over to her, holding his bear to his chest. He was wearing Paddington bear pyjamas that Garcia had picked up after a trip to London with Kevin.
"You got them me," Spencer said as he barrelled into her arms. Garcia pulled him up into her lap and pressed a kiss to the side of his head.
Dave walked in with his sleeves rolled up.
"Spencer, you were meant to be picking a story," he said.
Spencer pressed his face into his sodden teddy bear. Dave raised an eyebrow at Garcia, silently asking her not to encourage Spencer.
"Looks like it's someone's bedtime," Morgan said in a teasing voice. Spencer ignored him and sat up in Penelope's lap. He yawned and rubbed at his eyes before he blinked at Penelope and gave her a lopsided smile.
"Can you wead to me, Opie?"
"Spencer," Dave warned.
"It's okay, I'll read to him. What story do you want?"
Spencer grinned and shimmied off Garcia's lap. He dodged around Jack and Henry racing his new toy cars and grabbed a dvd off the floor. He scampered back to Garcia while Dave looked on in dismay.
"That's not a book, Spencer."
Spencer stuck his bottom lip out and looked at Dave with his best puppy-dog eyes.
"Please, Daddy?"
"Bed, Spencer."
"Aw, come on, man, it's his birthday!"
"Not helping, Derek."
"It's my biwthday, Daddy," Spencer chimed in and Dave sighed. He glanced down at his watch, it was already 8.
"No, bed, kiddo. If you go now I'll read you a book."
Spencer huffed and stomped across the room. Dave watched him with his hands on his hips.
"Say goodnight, Spencer."
Spencer smiled and hopped over to Aaron for a hug and a kiss goodnight. It took five minutes for him to get around everyone before he walked back toward the hallway.
"I'll be back in ten minutes," Dave muttered before following Spencer.
When he walked into Spencer's room the boy was sat up in his bed, now clad in a Doctor Who duvet. He had a book in his hands and an apprehensive smile on his face.
"Whatcha got for me, kiddo?"
Spencer held out the book to Dave as he sat on the edge of the bed.
"Ah," Dave said as he got comfy and took the book. He turned it around and let out a sigh. "Spencer, what have I said about these books?"
Spencer craned his neck at the cover. It was one of Dave's novels. Spencer had asked to read it several times and Dave thought it was due to the fact that the cover looked like something from Doctor Who.
"B-but I wanna see what you wite," Spencer mumbled weakly. Dave shook his head and set the book down.
"It's too scary for you, Spencer. We had a deal. You can start reading them when you're ten."
"But-"
"It'll upset you, buddy, believe me. It scares me sometimes. Pick another story," he said. He cocked an eyebrow at Spencer when he went to open his mouth. "A children's story this time, young man."
Spencer sighed and didn't move for a moment. Dave was about to pick one himself when Spencer reached under his pillow and slid out an old, red book.
Dave recognised it and smiled.
"Ah, Proust, beautiful choice."
"Mmm hmm."
Dave knew it reminded Spencer of his mother. He shuffled closer to the toddler and wrapped an arm around him.
He pulled the book open to a bookmarked page.
He could feel Spencer's eyes on him as he cleared his throat and the boy slotted himself to his father's side.
"'For a long time I used to go to bed early'."
Dave looked at Spencer as he stared at him with wonder. He chuckled before continuing.
"Sometimes, when I put out my candle, my eyes would close so quickly that I hadn't even time to say to myself, I'm falling asleep..."
Yes... it's Friday, I apologise, I only had 1,000 words done by yesterday due to assignments I've been doing alongside so I had to give myself a bit more time. Also I have a few personal issues and I'm not feeling up to writing so I apologise if posts get later.
Please review. I will try and update again for next Wednesday.
Thanks for reading, see you soon.
