Disclaimer: Criminal Minds and all its characters belong to CBS. I own nothing. I do not own anything you recognize.

AN- I am so sorry guys. The last few months have not been kind to me but I'm fighting to get back to where I was.

Previously on Criminal Minds- "I'd love to Handsome." Penny answered. She latched onto the boy's free arm and the three raced off to play.

CM

Sarah ushered Hailey and Spencer into the house, chuckling as the little boy raced over to his stuffed animal filled recliner. "Somebody's in a good mood today." She commented.

"We have his friends to thank for that." Hailey told her. "They spent most of the morning playing with him and acting silly to make him laugh. The older girls even made Spencer their official lemonade taster."

"Lemonade taster?" Sarah inquired, watching as the four year old swiftly began setting up the chess board.

Hailey smiled. "I think it was their way of trying to cheer Spencer up after the horrible therapy experience he had this morning."

Gideon glanced over at the two. "I thought Aaron told me Spencer liked his therapist." He commented.

"He does." Hailey replied, taking a seat beside the injured profiler. "But she wasn't there this morning. She had to take a leave of absence due to a family emergency. She divided her patients between the other therapists so they wouldn't have to miss their appointments. And I know she did that to help the kids but I can't help thinking that Spencer would have been better off just missing the appointment."

"That bad?" Sarah asked.

Hailey nodded. "I've already told the receptionist to cancel his appointments until his regular therapist comes back. She wasn't happy about that at all. She even called the head therapist out to talk to me and try to persuade me to change my mind." She explained.

"I take it the usual missing sessions will be harmful spiel didn't work with you." Sarah said.

Hailey rolled her eyes. "I didn't give him a chance to speak. As soon as he walked up to me I told him that I wasn't going to risk Spencer's recovery by exposing him to a parade of therapists who didn't know him or understand his needs." She proudly recounted. "Then I turned around and walked out the door."

"Good for you" Sarah praised.

"I agreed." Jason seconded. "You can't be too…" A tug on his sleeve had him looking down. "What is it, kiddo?"

"Jay Jay play with Spencer?" Spencer timidly questioned.

Gideon smiled. "Of course I'll play chess with you" he answered. He slowly swiveled his chair around to face the chess board and watched as his tiny opponent made the first move of the game. He smiled at the predictable opening move. While Spencer was good, he hadn't yet learned to think outside the box. They'd have to work on that once the little guy was older and not so afraid of upsetting the adults that is. But for now...Jason pretended to consider the board before selecting a piece and slowly sliding it. "Your mama said you didn't like the therapist you saw this morning." He casually stated, keeping his focus on the chess board. "Is that true?"

"Uh huh" Spencer answered nodding his head. He waited for his uncle to finish and then swiftly made his next move.

Gideon rubbed his chin in thought and then reached for a chess piece. "Can you tell me why?" he asked.

Spencer critically eyed the board. "She was equal parts infuriating and terrifying." He responded before moving another piece.

Jason raised an eyebrow at the statement. "What made her infuriating?" he questioned as he contemplated his next move. He then made his move being careful to keep his eyes on the chess board so as not to upset the boy and end the enlightening conversation.

"She talked in that horrible voice adults use when they talk with infants. And there was a condescending tone to her voice as well as her choice of words." Spencer revealed as he studied the board. "She talked down to me like I was an imbecile. As an adult she should have realized I was four not one."

Gideon had to place a hand over his mouth to hide his grin. The indignant tone coupled with the boy's disgusted expression was just too much. He glanced back at the ladies to see them both smiling. He winked at the two and then turned back to the game. There was one more thing he needed to know. "And she was terrifying because?" he inquired.

Spencer clutched his stuffed snowman to his chest. "She, she never s-s-sat down." He stammered, his expression changing to one of fear. "She was either st-standing and towering over me or leaning down and g-g-getting right in my f-face and, and it reminded me of, of…" The four year old scurried around the chess table, crawled into Jason's lap, and snuggled into his side. "Go night night now" he mumbled before sticking his thumb in his mouth and closing his eyes.

Gideon sighed. He'd gone one step too far. He shouldn't have asked that last question. Rubbing the trembling boy's back, Jason vowed to do everything in his power to make up for his mistake.

CM

Julie poured a cup full of pink lemonade and handed it to the young bike rider. "There you go Gregg." She said. "I hope you enjoy it."

"Thanks for your business" Sarah added, waving as the boy rode off. "Come back again!" Smiling, she put their hard earned change in the lock box and then scanned their supplies. "We only have three cups left."

"That's okay. We can get some more tomorrow with the money we made today." Julie said. "If you want to sell tomorrow, that is."

Sarah's smile widened into an ear splitting grin. "Of course I want to. This is fun!" she replied. "I think we should add something though. Maybe some cookies?"

"Or popsicles" Julie suggested.

"Pops! Pops!" Spencer, Jenny, and Desiree hollered, dancing around the lemonade stand. "We want pops!"

"Pops it is." Sarah announced. "Julie and I will go get some…"

"LEMONADE!" Desiree and Jenny shouted holding up their signs as a blue van approached. "LEMONADE FOR SALE!"

"Fifty cents!" Spencer yelled as he waved his sign.

The van slowed to a stop a few feet from the stand and the doors opened. "That sounds like a fair price to me." the driver said as he walked around the front of the vehicle.

"DADDY!" Spencer squealed.

"Uncle Dave!" Jenny screeched.

Both youngsters raced over to the men and jumped into their arms. "You wanna buy some lemonade?" they chorused.

"I don't know." Rossi hedged. "What do you think Aaron?"

"Hmmm, I'm not sure." Hotch fibbed. "Is this homemade lemonade?"

"Uh huh" Spencer replied. "Sarah and Julie made it."

"And we helped." Jenny proudly stated.

"I'm sold." Dave said.

"It does sound tempting. I think we should buy some." Aaron agreed with a smile. He looked down at Spencer. "And you know what else? I do believe our passenger would enjoy a nice cool glass of lemonade, too. Don't you Dave?"

"I do indeed." Rossi answered. "Why don't you and Spencer go ask him while Jenny and I head on up to the stand?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Aaron stated. He set his son on his feet and took his hand. "Come on buddy. Let's go ask our friend if he wants some lemonade."

"Okay" Spencer responded as they started towards the van. As they walked he curiously gazed at the blue vehicle wondering who could be sitting in the back and why that person hadn't gotten out with his daddy and uncle. Making it to the van, the four year old watched his daddy slid open the back door to reveal… "JACKSON!"