Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

A/N: Shout out to OhSnapItsMadison, tannerose5, and southernbeauty13 for reviewing chapter 36.

Hotch is back in this chapter, and I hope you readers love the AU twist I made when it comes to Hotch's future.

Spencer and Olivia entered Albert's bedroom with Daniel on Olivia's hip, and Spencer gently shook his oldest son awake.

"Albert, its time to wake up, buddy." said Spencer.

Albert woke up, and a few seconds later he had his glasses on while allowing his mommy and daddy to give him each a kiss.

"Happy birthday, buckaroo." said Spencer.

"I am now four now?" asked Albert.

"Yes you are." said Spencer.

"Let's get you dressed for school while daddy wakes up your sisters." said Olivia.

"OK." said Albert.

A minute later Spencer was turning on the light in his daughter's bedrooms.

"Its time to wake up for school." said Spencer.

A few seconds later Piper was putting on her glasses while Spencer looked at his youngest daughter.

"Happy birthday, Ava." said Spencer.

"I four now?" asked Ava.

"Yes you are, birdie." said Spencer.

Piper gave her little sister a hug.

"Happy birthday, Ava." said Piper.

"Thank you." said Ava.

A few minutes later Spencer was focusing on getting his daughter's ready for school, and 15 minutes later Spencer entered the kitchen with Piper and Ava where Piper ran to her little brother.

"Happy birthday, Albert." said Piper as she hugged Albert.

"Thank you." said Albert before turning to his twin sister and hugged Ava, "Happy birthday, Ava." said Albert.

"Happy birthday, Albert." said Ava.

A few minutes later the family of six were sitting down for breakfast that consisted of chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon.

"When is our party?" asked Albert.

"On Saturday, buddy." said Spencer.

"And your friends from school will be at the party." said Olivia.

"Yay!" cheered Albert and Ava.

Over an hour later Spencer entered the bull pen with Luke, JJ, and Tara.

"I'm dead serious." said Luke.

"There's no way." said JJ.

"The probability of that happening to you more than once is astounding." said Spencer.

"I know. I know. But I was there, OK, and I'm telling you, it was crazy." said Luke just as Garcia approached them.

"Thank God you guys are here. What do you know?" asked Garcia.

"Nothing than Hotch telling us he'll see us this morning." said JJ.

"OK. Rossi got here crazy early, and then right when Prentiss came in he pulled her in there." whispered Garcia.

Rossi and Emily came out.

"We need to talk." said Rossi.

A minute later Spencer was smiling when he saw Hotch in the conference room.

"Your back." said Garcia.

After Hotch either hugged or shook hands with his teammates, he looked at his teammates.

"I'm leaving the BAU." said Hotch.

"Why?" asked Garcia.

"Since Jack's getting older and Jessica can't take care of Jack anymore, I've accepted a promotion to become unit chief for White Collar Crimes Division in this building, and I start this morning." said Hotch.

"Your really leaving?" asked Garcia.

"I am, but I'll still consult with you guys." said Hotch.

"Its OK, Hotch." said Spencer causing JJ, Tara, and Luke to nod in agreement.

"What about your replacement?" asked Garcia.

"Not me because I'm allergic to paperwork." smirked Rossi.

Everyone chuckled.

"Then who?" asked Garcia.

Hotch looked at Spencer.

"Since you have a total of 13 and a half years of experience as a profiler, the Director was hoping that you would be my replacement." said Hotch.

JJ, Emily, Tara, Luke, and Rossi all smiled at the thought about Spencer being unit chief before Spencer took a deep breath.

"As much as I would love to be unit chief for this unit, but I can't." said Spencer.

"Why?" asked Garcia.

"With my mom getting worse and the kids getting older, I know that my days working working for this unit are going to be over soon." said Spencer before JJ and Garcia gave him hugs.

"And I told him that you wouldn't accept the offer to be unit chief here, but I told him that I would only accept the transfer to White Collar Crimes if your my co-unit chief." said Hotch.

Before Spencer could respond, Hotch spoke up again.

"You get a lot of job offers from White Collar Crimes, and the Director accepted my request because the FBI doesn't want to lose an agent like you." said Hotch.

"How would we handle sharing unit chief duties?" asked Spencer.

"Other than having the same work load, we would be taking turns attending meetings, and eventually this team will be your own to lead." said Hotch.

Spencer's eyes went wide at the thought about eventually leading his own team.

"As much as this job offer is tempting, I want to talk to Olivia before I make my final decision." said Spencer.

"Even if you still want to stay here for a bit longer, I don't mind waiting for you to join me until your ready." said Hotch.

"OK." said Spencer.

"So if Reid's not going to be our new chief, who's your replacement?" asked Garcia.

Hotch smiled at Emily.

"I requested that Emily becomes the BAU's new bureau chief." said Hotch.

"Thank the universe for silver linings." said Garcia.

Emily sighed.

"OK, I just heard about all of this myself a few minutes ago." said Emily.

"Congratulations, Emily." said Luke.

"This'll be good, right?" asked Spencer as he thought about Emily getting to be closer to Daniel.

"You kidding me? This'll be great." smiled JJ.

"I am really happy for you." said Tara.

"Thank you, guys, but I haven't exactly signed on yet." said Emily.

Hotch looked at Emily.

"Everyone knows you have a lot to consider, but the brass needs an answer by tomorrow." said Hotch.

"Understood." said Emily.

"I need to go finish packing up my office, so we'll talk later" said Hotch before leaving the room.

Garcia's cellphone beeped.

"I hate to interrupt with bad news, but we've got 3 missing kids in Delaware." said Garcia.

A minute later Spencer was sending Olivia a text message.

HEADING TO DELAWARE DUE TO THREE MISSING KIDS, AND WHEN I GET HOME I NEED TO TALK TO YOU. I LOVE YOU AND I PROMISE TO STAY SAFE. ~ SR

JJ looked at Spencer as she poured Spencer a cup of coffee.

"That was a lot to process before my first cup." said JJ.

"Thank you." said Spencer.

"With us both being parents, we know that he's making the right choice." said JJ.

"I don't blame him." said Spencer.

"So your really thinking about taking that job offer?" asked JJ.

"Half of me wants to take Hotch's offer and the other half of me wants to stay with you guys." said Spencer.

"Like you said earlier, before you make any final decisions, talk to Olivia first." said JJ.

"I'm planning on talking to her." said Spencer.

"And I'll support your decision." said JJ.

"Thank you." said Spencer.

A minute later Spencer and JJ were sitting down with Emily, Rossi, Luke, and Tara when Rossi looked at Emily.

"Are you ready to take this for a test drive?" asked Rossi.

"Sure. It's a quick flight. We should get started." said Emily.

"OK, my brain's a little lunky from that intel earlier today. Is that just me? No? Good. Not good, but you know. Anyway, if you all follow along on your, uh, what-you-call-it, your tablets. Uh, 3 missing teenage Clayton, Delaware, boys are Bones Jarvis, Josh Harmon, and PK. Riggins." said Garcia.

"Did you say "Bones"?" asked Luke.

"Yeah. Coolest name ever, huh? Technically it's William, but the Police chief says everyone calls him Bones." said Garcia.

"When were they last seen?" asked Tara.

"Around 9 PM." said Garcia.

"That was over 12 hours ago. That gives the unsub a massive head start." said Luke.

"Yeah. And we've got like a barrel of nothing. The boys took off on their bikes, but they left their cell phones at home, so there's no way to track them." said Garcia.

"Any prior history with these kids?" asked Tara.

"No, nothing. They've never even been gone overnight. And apparently they spend every weekend together either making or watching movies." said Garcia.

"There's a bit of a haunted history in Clayton. Years ago a mental institution burned down and inmates escaped. Legend has it those that were never found moved into abandoned houses. Garcia, you should locate some of those properties. Maybe the boys were looking for inspiration." said Spencer.

"Also check into any history of criminal activity focusing on crimes against children." said Emily.

"OK. But for the record, I prefer getting spooked doing research on ghost stories." said Garcia.

"We all know the stats. If we don't find these kids within the next 24 hours, we could be looking at body recovery. We can't let that happen." said Emily.

Spencer followed his teammates and Chief Cooper into the police station.

"Thanks for coming. And, please, call me Coop. Everybody here does." said Chief Cooper.

"Tell us about your town, Coop." said Rossi.

"Mm, good people, hard-working. I gotta tell you, it's a quiet place." said Chief Cooper.

"It looks like we're just a few miles from the old Oxen Hill Mental Asylum." said Spencer.

"Well, you know, that place burned down in 1956. Ghosts are long gone. There's a Wal-mart there now." said Chief Cooper.

"Let me ask you this. Do you think it's possible the boys were following the legend of what happened to all the inmates?" asked Spencer.

"It could be. The parents told me that the boys were into scary movies. My officers are taking statements right now." said Chief Cooper.

"Have your officers ever dealt with a missing children's investigation before?" asked Tara.

"I'm the only one that's been here long enough. The last time anything like this happened was back in 1983. That's when the Henson twins went missing." said Chief Cooper.

JJ, Luke, Rossi, Emily, and Tara all gave Spencer worried looks.

"How'd that turn out?" asked Luke.

"We found some clothes. There were traces of blood. Um, we never found the bodies." said Chief Cooper.

Spencer instantly thought about Albert and Ava and the brief birthday celebration they had for Albert and Ava during breakfast.

"How old were they when they disappeared?" asked Spencer.

"13." said Chief Cooper.

"Is it possible this is the same offender 33 years later?" asked Tara.

"I thought the same thing. But all the suspects I had back in '83 are dead." said Chief Cooper.

"Yes, but two children were abducted back then, 3 now, in the same town? It's too similar to dismiss." said Emily.

"The question is, if it is the same offender, would he be strong enough to kidnap 3 young boys?" asked JJ.

"Maybe he has help. Or he could have been a young offender when he struck before and he's just not as old as we think." said Luke.

"Where were the Henson twins last seen?" asked Spencer.

"Off Route 7. I'll take you there, but somebody's gotta stay here with the parents. They haven't left since I called you." said Chief Cooper.

"Lewis and I will talk to them." said Rossi.

A few minutes later Spencer was getting into a vehicle with Emily and Chief Cooper.

"You OK, Reid?" asked Emily.

"Yeah." said Spencer.

"You have kids." said Chief Cooper.

"Two boys and two girls." said Spencer.

"That's a lot of kids." said Chief Cooper.

"My oldest son and youngest daughter are fraternal twins, and they just turned four today." said Spencer.

Spencer and Emily stood in a corn field with Chief Cooper.

"Well, the story is that the twins were racing their big brother home. And they split up and the twins just vanished. And, uh, we searched this whole area until winter. You know, a blizzard's the only thing that could stop the diehards from looking. This town can't afford another heartbreak." said Chief Cooper just as a man rode up on his bike.

"What's goin' on?" asked Deeley.

"There are 3 missing kids." said Emily.

"We don't want any trouble." said Chief Cooper.

"Looks like you got it anyhow." said Deeley.

"You need a ride home?" asked Chief Cooper.

"No, sir, I do not need a ride home. I've been getting plenty of exercise since you took away my license." said Deeley before looking at Spencer and Emily, "What are you guys, are you FBI or something?" asked Deeley.

"Yeah." said Emily.

Deeley looked at the police chief.

"Coop, why didn't you bring them in before? Oh, that's right. Because you were too cocky back then. Now you're just lazy." said Deeley with sarcasm sinking in his voice.

"Go home, Deeley." said Chief Cooper.

"Deeley Henson?" asked Spencer.

"Yes." said Deeley.

"You were with your siblings that night." said Spencer.

"Sure was." said Deeley.

"Could we possibly ask you a few questions?" asked Spencer.

"Nope. I'm done talkin'. Johnny and Allie are gone. Nothing's gonna change that." said Deeley as he turned himself around on his bike.

"If this case has anything to do with your brother and sister, you could really help us." said Spencer.

"Sorry, I just got nothin' left." said Deeley before riding away on his bike.

"That's the downside of living in a small town. You know, rumors flew, people accused Deeley of killing them. He became an outcast, dropped out of school, started drinking to cover up the guilt. Surprised he's still standing." said Chief Cooper.

Spencer watched the security camera footage of the three missing boys with his teammates.

"This was the boys last night. Security camera across from the cornfield picked it up." said JJ.

"If they were moving in that direction, it probably means they were tracking the Henson twins' disappearance. It's kind of a local legend." said Chief Cooper.

"Anyone else see them?" asked Tara.

"It's hard to say, but about two minutes later this pickup truck drove by." said Luke as as a pick up truck appeared.

Chief Cooper recognized the truck.

"That's Jimmy Ridley." said Chief Cooper.

"He's in a film the kids were making." said Rossi.

"What's his story?" asked Emily.

"A hermit, mostly. Has a few run-ins now and then." said Chief Cooper.

"We need to find out what he was doing on that road last night." said JJ.

Luke pounded on the door.

"FBI! Open up!" shouted Luke.

When there was no answer, Luke opened up the unlocked door.

"Small town." said Luke.

Spencer started going through the house before he heard Emily.

"Guys." called out Emily.

A minute later Spencer was looking at a tree that contained pictures before hearing some glass break causing everyone to head to the kitchen where Spencer and JJ knelt down in front of the kitchen sink with their guns out. Spencer and JJ exchanged glances before opening up the cabinet doors to find a whimpering Jim Ridley.

Spencer was going through a drawer while JJ and Emily were looking at the pictures.

"He's been stalking these kids. It shows a lot of patience." said Emily.

"And intent to do harm. He has a lot of weapons at his disposal." said Spencer.

"Add extreme isolation to that and we've got ourselves a time bomb." said JJ.

"Looks like he was raised in this house." said Emily.

"Yeah. By a hoarder." said JJ.

Emily grabbed a picture.

"There are old photos of the Henson twins, too. He could be involved in the first abduction." said Emily.

"He would have been 15 when the Henson twins disappeared, the same exact age as their brother Deeley. I wonder if the two of them were friends back then." said Spencer.

"You think that brother's ever gonna talk to us?" asked Emily.

"I don't know. Look at this." said Spencer as he held ups Bones's helmet.

"His house is a puzzle, but other than the bicycle helmet, we couldn't find any sign of the kids." said Emily.

"I think this guy's too simple to be who we're looking for." said Luke.

"We should take a closer look at the Henson case. Who called it in back then?" asked JJ.

"Their mom did, but she died a few years ago. Their older brother Deeley was with them that night." said Spencer as he held up a picture of the Henson siblings.

"Yeah, we met him on the roadside. According to Coop, he lives across town and he went out of his way to find us on Route 7." said Emily.

"Sounds like he's trying to insert himself into our investigation." said Rossi.

"Except when we asked him to talk, he refused." said Spencer.

"Maybe it's time to give it another try." said Emily.

Luke looked at Spencer.

"You want to take a ride?" asked Luke.

"Sure." said Spencer.

A few minutes later Spencer was in the front passenger seat of an SUV, and Luke looked at Spencer.

"Are you thinking about accepting Hotch's job offer?" asked Luke.

"I'm going to be talking to Olivia in a child free setting before I make my decision." said Spencer.

"Even though I don't know well like Prentiss, Rossi, JJ, and Garcia all do, I'll support your decision." said Luke.

"Thanks." said Spencer.

"I can't wait to see Albert's and Ava's faces when they open up their birthday presents from me on Saturday." said Luke.

"My kids are sure spoiled." laughed Spencer.

Spencer and Luke headed towards Deeley.

"Mr. Henson? Hi, we met earlier. My name is Dr. Spencer Reid. This is SSA Luke Alvez." said Spencer.

Deeley headed towards Spencer and Luke with a can of beer in his hands.

"Ah, pleasure to meet you, amigos." laughed Deeley before sitting down and kicking a container full of empty cans.

"How much have you had to drink today?" asked Luke.

"A free man in my own house. Why does that matter?" asked Deeley.

"I'm just thinking now is not a great time to talk. I mean, you might not be yourself." said Luke.

Deeley set down his can and stood up, and a few seconds later he was holding his hands out to Spencer and Luke to show that they're not shaking.

"What do you want to know?" asked Deeley.

"Tell us about 1983." said Luke.

Deeley scoffed.

"What the hell does that matter now?" asked Deeley.

"It might help us figure out who took those kids last night." said Luke.

"It wasn't me. The factory's got cameras. I work graveyard." said Deeley.

"We're not saying you did it." said Luke.

"Well... You'd be the first. I mean, everyone in this place thought I killed Johnny and Allie. Killed them. Just 'cause I got in trouble sometimes. And then, uh... My folks, they blamed me for losing them that night. Never said I hurt 'em. But it was my fault that they were gone. You know what that does to a kid? It does this." said Deeley before sitting down.

"When you rode by us earlier, we thought maybe you wanted to help. Let me ask you this... what way did Allie and Johnny go that night?" asked Spencer.

"They cut through the corn and past the Ridley farm. But I found them that night and Elliott's pond. And I told Coop that back then. They dragged it. They never found them. Then it froze over that winter." said Deeley.

Spencer looked at Deeley.

"Thank you." said Spencer before turning away.

"Appreciate your help." said Luke.

A short while later Spencer and Luke got out of an SUV while Spencer thought about how he and Luke talked about anything when they're paired together.

"That was the quietest car ride we've ever had." said Spencer.

Luke inwardly agreed as he thought about how they gotten along since he's only three years older than Spencer.

"I can't stop thinking about that guy, you know? I don't know what I would have done if I was him. All that guilt. How do you deal with that?" asked Luke.

"He obviously never did." said Spencer before looking around the pond, "It's going to be dark soon. There's a lot of area to cover. We might want to call in a search party." said Spencer.

"Yeah, that's before anybody knew we had to search the pond again." said Luke before he saw an orange backpack causing him to run towards that backpack, "Hey. Look at this. This can't be good." said Luke.

Later on that night Spencer and Luke were holding a map together as they briefed their search party.

"So if you guys want to go over to the sort of white lake area." said Spencer as he pointed at a map.

"Can I help you?" asked Deeley.

"I don't know. Uh, are you in any condition to do that?" asked Luke.

"I switched to coffee. At this rate, I won't sleep for days." said Deeley.

"OK. We found one of the boys' bags in a hunting trap, no other signs of them yet." said Luke.

"Old man Clements used to have hunting traps out here." said Deeley.

"Who's he?" asked Spencer.

"Geezer who got himself off the grid long time ago. Survivalist type." said Deeley just as they heard a trap snap and a man scream causing all three men to run towards the screaming.

"Aah. Help me. Help me. Ohh!" shouted the man.

Deeley worked on getting the trap off the man.

"Son of a bitch! Aah!" shouted the man as his leg got free.

"This is fresh bait. Someone set this recently." said Deeley.

Luke picked up a dart.

"Yeah, look. Somebody tried to fire some tranquilizer darts and missed." said Luke.

A few minutes later Spencer, Luke, JJ, and Emily were briefing Rossi and Tara on the phone.

"This Clements guy used to hunt out here and someone still using his traps." said Luke.

"I'll patch in Garcia." said Rossi.

"I was feeling forgotten." said Garcia.

"Never. What do you have on a local man named Reginald Clements?" asked Tara.

"Uh, Reginald Clements. Uh... He's lived there all his life. He, uh, appears to be, I think the words for it are "off his rocker." Lot of bats in the belfry. B-a-n-a-n-a-s. I am going to send you what I find as I find it so you can follow along at home. He's from one of the founding families, but this Reginald has quite the past. He did time at that mental hospital that burned down, but he was there before the fire." said Garcia.

"For what?" asked JJ.

"Assault with a deadly weapon. But it was the bodily harm he did to himself that put him away. He claimed he needed protection from aliens. His delusions ranged from the world ending to major conspiracies, caused him to live entirely off the grid. And, you know, I'm all for solar panels and making your own kombucha, but this guy took it to the extreme. And when he was 18, he got in trouble for abduction of a minor. And get this. His defense was loneliness." said Garcia.

"When was he released?" asked Spencer.

"Winter of 1982." said Garcia.

"So if it was him, he was out for a year before the Hensons disappeared. It could have been for a dual purpose... Survival and companionship." said Emily.

"Is Clements dead, Garcia?" asked Rossi.

"I don't have a death certificate, but if he's alive, he'd be 82." said Garcia.

"Could he have been strong enough to hold the boys and set hunting traps?" asked Luke.

"Doubtful. What are you thinking, Luke?" asked Rossi.

"I'm thinking the next logical step... He didn't kill the Hensons. He's had them this whole time." said Luke.

"How would he maintain control, especially once they were strong enough to escape?" asked Tara.

"He's already got them isolated, and their home life wasn't great. He believes that the world is coming to an end. He could have convinced them of his own delusions." said Luke.

"So one paranoid survivalist bred two more." said JJ.

"And if the Henson twins have taken our 3 boys, who knows what they're gonna do with them." said Spencer.

Spencer was heading towards Clement's house with JJ, Emily, and Luke.

"Someone with Clements' delusions would have gone all in. He could have built a bomb shelter to hide the Hensons." said Emily.

"And that's where the boys would be now." said JJ.

"Well, we found those tranquilizer darts. They could have been dosed and dragged back to the house. They couldn't be too far from where P.K.'s bag was." said Luke.

"The boys were looking for adventure. My gut tells me they'll keep the unsubs talking so they can work on a plan to escape." said Spencer.

"That isn't what worries me. We don't know if the Hensons would want to hurt them, but if they've been isolated and tortured this whole time, who knows what they'll do." said Emily.

Spencer and Luke sighed with relief when they saw P.K. and Bill in the basement.

"Hey. You guys ok? You guys ok?" asked Luke.

"Yeah." said one of the boys.

"Let's go. Let's get you out of here. Let's go. Come on. Watch it." said Luke.

Spencer smiled with his teammates as they watched the three boys hug their parents, and Spencer burst out laughing when P.K.'s mother handed her sons snacks.

"Seeing those boys hug their parents makes me want to go hug and kiss my kids." said Spencer.

"Then let's get home." said Emily.

As they were flying back to Quantico, Spencer and JJ approached Emily.

"You, OK?" asked JJ.

Emily looked at the two young parents of the group.

"Yeah, I'm just glad we found those kids." said Emily.

JJ sat down across from Emily.

"Oh, yeah, me, too. But, uh, I was talking about that other thing." said JJ.

"I haven't had a chance to talk to you guys. What do you think?" asked Emily.

"I think we've been through a lot of changes and we always figure it out, you know? Morgan left, and now Hotch, but if you stay, it'll be OK." said Spencer.

"Well, I talked to Mark." said Emily.

"And?" asked JJ.

"He's gonna be here next week for a visit." said Emily.

"Well, that's a good start. But they need an answer in the morning, right?" asked JJ.

"I know." said Emily.

"Here's the truth." said Spencer as he crouched down a bit, "If you don't take the position, they're gonna bring in some stranger to be the Unit Chief. And I don't know how that'll turn out, but the learning curve could be brutal." said Spencer.

"It'll probably stink for us, but... Look, we're your friends and we'll support you no matter what you decide." said JJ.

"I'm gonna stay." said Emily.

"Oh, thank God!" said JJ.

"Are you serious?" asked Spencer.

Emily laughed.

"Yes. I love being here, and I've really missed you guys and I want to be closer to both of your kids." said Emily.

JJ sighed.

"We have missed you, too." said JJ.

"Honestly, you have no idea how much." said Spencer causing a laughing Emily to slightly hit him.

A short while later Garcia looked at her teammates.

"We need to talk." said Garcia seriously as she thought about the surprise party she arranged with Hotch.

A few minutes later Spencer, Rossi, JJ, Emily, Luke, and Tara saw Hotch and Garcia pouring glasses of champagne.

"Surprise!" exclaimed Garcia.

"Ha ha! News travels fast." said Emily.

Garcia started passing out glasses with Hotch.

"Oh, good news does. I'm so happy you're here. We all are." said Garcia.

"And I've got some big shoes to fill." said Emily.

"Well, I'm not worried. Besides, you'd never let us all down." said Rossi.

Emily laughed.

"Oh, great. No pressure." said Emily.

"Well, let me just say something to everyone. I, um... I've been in and out of here since 1978, but I know this is where I belong. I've seen a lot of great agents pass through those doors, and a lot of them have moved on. Now, most of this team has been together for over a decade. But I promise you, that doesn't happen often. Now, I've heard the rumblings about how lucky we are, and it's true, but the truth is, it's what happens... When we're not on a case that has defined who we are. We stand beside one another, through good, through bad, because we're family." said Rossi as he held up his glass causing everyone to follow suit, "To Aaron's new job. And to Emily, our friend and new Unit Chief. Welcome home." said Rossi.

"Cheers." chorused everyone as they clinked their glasses together before taking a drink.

The next evening Spencer let Hotch and Jack into his house.

"Thank you for agreeing to watch the kids while Olivia and I go out for a few hours." said Spencer.

"I missed your kids while I was away, so I don't mind babysitting so you and Olivia can have a child free evening." said Hotch just as Piper, Albert, and Ava ran down the stairs.

"Uncle Aaron!" cried Piper, Albert, and Ava.

Hotch hugged the three older Reid children before Hotch scooped up his nearly five year old goddaughter.

"I missed you, uncle Aaron." said Piper as she hugged her godfather tightly.

"I missed you too, Piper." said Hotch before smiling at Piper, "I'll be seeing you more often since I'm going to be working a desk job now." said Hotch.

Piper looked at her daddy.

"What about you, daddy?" asked Piper.

"I'm going to talk to mommy about that while mommy and I have a date night." said Spencer just as Olivia came down the stairs with Daniel on her hip.

"Who is that?" asked Olivia.

Daniel happily squealed when he saw his godfather, and a minute later Hotch was holding his godson.

"You definitely got bigger while I was away." said Hotch before looking at Spencer and Olivia, "You two should get going so you don't miss your reservations." said Hotch.

Spencer looked at his three older children.

"You three behave while we're away." said Spencer.

"OK, daddy." chorused Piper, Albert, and Ava.

A half hour later Spencer and Olivia were sitting across from each other at one of their favorite Italian restaurants.

"So what did you want to talk about?" asked Olivia.

"Hotch is the new unit chief for the White Collar Crimes Division at Quantico, and he ended up asking me if I wanted to be his co-unit chief since he told the Director that he wanted a co unit chief of his choice." said Spencer.

"Your thinking about taking that position?" asked Olivia.

"If I take that position, I'll be working a 9 to 5 job while not having to travel." said Spencer.

"That's one of the pros." said Olivia.

"I know, and my pay grade would go up to a GS15 instead of a GS14 so I would be making more money." said Spencer as he and Olivia started throwing pros and cons at each other before Spencer made his decision, "I guess I'll stay where I am until the end of the year." said Spencer.

"But if you decide to leave the BAU sooner, I'll support your decision." said Olivia just as their food arrived.

A few days later Albert and Ava were blowing out their birthday candles together while everyone cheered.

A/N: Mirror Image won't be happening since Peter Lewis is dead, so the next chapter deals with a lot of family fluff due to Piper turning five and a few time jumps before I get to the chapters that will require tissues.