"Daddy, I have had to kill you.
You died before I had time —
Marble-heavy, a bag full of God"
- Sylvia Plath

"Booboo"
Monica asked her,
"Do you want to say 'bunny'?"
Veronica garbled,
"Bubby"
"Bunny's too big to sit with us, sweetheart. You can have Bunny when we get home"
Veronica made another desperate attempt.
"Bubby!"
Monica tried reasoning with the two-year old. It had the equivalent effect of talking a potato into boiling.
Veronica's eyes rounded into limpid pools. Her lips formed a heartbreaking pout. Any second now, the dam would burst.
"Oh no", Monica muttered.
Before the toddler could launch into a full-blown fit of crying, Spencer Reid saved the day.
"Hey. Veronica, look!"
He showed her his pen, holding it between two of his fingers. With a practised ease, Spencer made the pen disappear. Along with Veronica's pout.
He gasped.
"Where did it go?"
She stared at his outstretched hands in surprise. Her facial expression made him grin. Exclaiming something in baby-speak, Veronica grabbed Spencer's hands and crawled onto his lap from Monica's.
The man sitting next to them on the plane smiled. He said,
"She's a Daddy's girl, isn't she?"
Spencer and Monica shared smiles of their own.
"She definitely is", Monica said.

They were going home. Veronica was busy sitting on Spencer's lap, playing with his pen and its cap. Monica watched them with tired eyes and a pleasant smile. She thought of a new nickname for her boyfriend - the Pied Piper. He had such a way with children.
Veronica had definitely clung to him more in the last two days than she had to Monica. Perhaps, he reminded her of her late father. But Paul had been blonde, had medium height and a beer gut. Spencer, on the other hand, was tall, lean, with golden-brown hair, and abs so hot one could melt butter on them.
How the heck could he look even sexier when he was around children? Some maternal psychological instinct about his suitability as a father, maybe. His warm smile, his soft voice, his encouraging yet not condescending manner... aww! He was letting Veronica draw on his hand. Monica thought,
'I could just eat you up, Spencer Reid'
That had been her original plan on returning from England. She had been away from him for so long, it would have had taken the strength of ten African elephants to keep her from jumping his bones. However, the universe never did give a sheep about her plans.
She had come home to the US three years ago, hoping for a quiet, ordinary life. But then she had listened to Dr. Reid talk about English poetry and blown it. Monica had tried her best to control her feelings for him. She had planned not to fall in love with him until they had been dating for at least a year. And yet again - boom.
"Can we have sex?"
He had asked her that as they lay in her bed. Her mouth had betrayed her before she could think.
"Yes"
He had drawn her close to him and kissed her forehead. Then his lips had reached for hers. He had whispered, like it was the most delightful discovery his hands had ever made.
"You're so soft"
Head over heels, knees over ears - she had fallen for him every which way possible. Life had never been the same since she had met Spencer Reid.
"Do you want to take a nap, Veronica? Oh! Monica, look, look, look", he whispered, "She's yawning!"
And now she was sitting in a plane, with him and a little girl she hadn't birthed, going home to raise her as their own.
The universe was a bastard. She didn't complain anymore though. She had Dr. Reid, and now Veronica too.

Rubbing her eyes and nose with one hand, Veronica let her head fall back against Spencer's chest. She stubbornly refused to close her eyes. That was until he started smoothing her hair across her head. In a minute, the eyes closed and her breathing became slow and relaxed.
Monica said to him,
"You are a professional"
Spencer smiled down at Veronica and then up at Monica.
"I have babysat Henry and Hank on occasion"
"Thank goodness for that. My experience in dealing with kids comes from Harper and Nathan. And they were both over 10 by the time I got a chance to babysit them"
His hand rested on Veronica in a firm yet gentle manner. Monica felt his other hand cupping her own cheek.
Dr. Reid said,
"You look exhausted. You should take a nap too. I got her"
"I will", Monica sighed sleepily, "Did you talk to Derek yet?"
"Yeah. He said he knows a good contractor he sometimes works with. I'm going to see him tomorrow"
"Good. The sooner we get the renovation started, the sooner we can move into my place. I'll get you a plan drawn for the new rooms before you go to see the guy"
She remembered.
"Did you call your super..."
Spencer assured her,
"Yes. I even sent him a picture of your Dad. He said he'll text me when your Dad picks up the key"
"Okay"
He asked,
"How long did your Dad say it would take?"
"Less than an hour. Don't worry. Dad's an expert at baby-proofing now. He did it for our place when I was born, and then twice for Audrey's kids. He will be out of your apartment long before we get there"
"That's not what I meant"
"I know. Just saying"
Her lids began to droop. Her shoulders held so much tension they had begun to slouch. She leaned back against her seat fully. Sleep was just within her reach. Dr. Reid's voice washed over her like a tide in some faraway dream.
"You look adorable when you are tired"

"This is not going to be as easy as you think"
Monica had warned him.
Well no shit, Dr. Knight.
Spencer was certain his body hated him. He was sore and tired. Oh god so tired.
"I'm home", he called.
The first few times, saying that had filled him with incomparable joy. That one sentence would bring Monica into the drawing room. Her presence had only enriched their life in his apartment. She didn't change a thing, brought with her no feminine touches. He hadn't shut up lately when talking about her to his friends. They were finally living together!
And now he didn't even wait for her welcome-home kiss.
He dropped his satchel on the table and then dropped himself on the couch. Monica walked into the drawing room from within, holding the phone to her ear.
"I talked to Bob and he said we can drill a..."
She was talking to someone from the renovation crew at her old place. She stopped by the couch long enough to plant a quick kiss on Spencer's forehead and moved away before he could grab her. Her jeans were a perfect fit for those lithe legs and that magnificent butt. Monica bent to pick up some toy from the floor, exposing her bite-able waist hidden under the short top. Spencer thought,
'How is it possible to be so aroused by so little when I'm so tired?'
Between work and Veronica, and the renovation sometimes, he was exhausted to the core. He had begun to fall asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.
Monica still looked tantalising at a few feet of distance from him.
'We haven't had sex since she came back to the US. Forty-seven days'
If he had had it in him, he would have gotten off the couch and pulled her down to the carpet right there.
'Maybe some other time'
Chasing serial killers and a toddler who loved sharp, shiny things didn't leave much room for a compelling libido. He was grateful to Monica though, for managing everything so efficiently. She was doing even more than he was.
Cooking, cleaning, all the chores, checking the renovation process, looking after Veronica all the time, looking for a job. And when he crawled into his bed at night, she was there every time to take him in her arms. In his eyes, his girlfriend put superheroes to shame.
When it came to Veronica, Monica's parents had been a big help as well.
'It does take a village'

Spencer was about to fall asleep on the couch. Monica's voice, as she talked on the phone, served as a sweet lullaby. His shoulders sagged and his eyes closed.
"Boo!"
The voice he had come to treasure over the last nine days roused him immediately. He opened his eyes and saw his heart's delight hugging his knees. Veronica was grinning up at him. She looked like a different child from the one he had seen in the apartment in Seattle. Now there was a cute little barrette in her neatly combed hair. She wore her bunny t-shirt and shorts, hopping by his feet. The colour in her cheeks, the growing plumpness in her arms and thighs - she wasn't an ignored toddler anymore. In fact, in so little time, she had become the centre of their world.
"Boo!"
She tried to scare him again. All his fatigue, all of his sleep, all of his woes - Spencer was drained of them in an instant. He pretended to be scared, drawing back from her. Veronica threw her head back and laughed. Though he knew it was impossible, he feared he would burst with all the love he was feeling.
"Hi"
Spencer lifted her up into his arms.
"Hi, Veronica. Did you miss me? Did you miss Spencer?"
He held her close to him, kissing her cheek. Her only reply was a smitten grin. It made him grin too. His attention turned to Monica, who couldn't help smiling at them even when she was on the phone. Spencer turned to Veronica again. He asked,
"Were you a good girl while I was gone?"
"Gone"
That was her first lucid word he had ever heard. Overjoyed, he asked her to repeat it again. Veronica played with the buttons on his sweater vest.
"Daddy gone", she said.
Without his knowing, his gaze turned to the framed picture Monica had put up on the mantle. A smiling man with blonde hair, and a beautiful brunette in his arms - Veronica's parents. He was almost overcome with pity.
Spencer told her,
"Your Daddy loved you very much, Nica"
She poked him in the chest, grinning.
"Daddy"
His heart sunk.
No. It couldn't be. He wouldn't let himself believe it. She couldn't possibly be calling him Daddy.
Then why was hearing that one word from her enough to make him choke back a sob?
"No", Spencer whispered.
He pointed to Paul and Nicole's picture.
"There's Daddy"
"Daddy?", Veronica said.
"Yeah, look. That's him. That's Daddy"
As if it was her favourite word in the world, Veronica grabbed his shirt and bounced on his arm, saying,
"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"
Spencer set her down on the couch. He hadn't noticed Monica standing by them until she spoke. She was looking at his face as she asked,
"What's wrong?"
He said, with a pang of regret,
"Tell her she can't call me Daddy"
Monica smiled.
"Why not?"
"What do you mean 'why not'? Her father is..."
He couldn't finish the sentence in Veronica's presence. Monica reasoned with him.
"Maybe she will stop when she's older, when we tell her about her parents"
"But..."
"Wait"
Monica crouched down by the couch and asked Veronica,
"Veronica, where is Daddy?"
The little girl promptly pointed at Spencer, saying,
"Daddy"
He wasn't bothered by the look Monica gave him. Veronica rapidly climbed onto his lap and then his shoulder. Guilt-ridden, he sighed.
"It's not fair to her actual father"
"Would it be fair to her to make her stop calling you Daddy when she loves you so much?"
Monica and her sound reasoning. Sometimes he wondered why she had to be so smart.
Giving his girlfriend a begrudging smile, he turned to Veronica. She had one leg thrown over the couch and the other over his shoulder.
"Is that true, Veronica? You love me?"
She tugged at a fistful of his hair in answer. It induced a sharp pain but Spencer laughed.
"Ouch!"
He turned to Monica. She was grinning too as she said,
"That means - deal with it"

A/N: Leave me a review if you please. Thanks for reading!