Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. The occasional scenes from episodes of Criminal Minds in this story belong to the writers of Criminal Minds and CBS. No copyright infringement intended.
A/N: Shout out to Fashionista7, lolyncut, criminalmindsrocks, fishtrek for reviewing chapter 17.
Maeve's 33-weeks pregnant and done with her week of bed rest, so we're getting closer to Violet's and Arthur's births!
Spencer looked at his 33-week pregnant wife as they walked Zoey around two blocks in their neighborhood, "Is your Achilles hurting you right now?" asked Spencer.
"No pain right now," said Maeve.
Spencer smiled a bit, "That's good."
Maeve rubbed her 33-week baby bump, "After Violet and Arthur are born, how soon do you want to try for another baby?" asked Maeve.
"Despite the high chance of us having a second set of twins?" asked Spencer.
Maeve nodded, "Yes."
"It's your call on when you want to get pregnant again since it's your body who will be doing all the hard work and its physically impossible for me to get pregnant," said Spencer.
Maeve smiled, "I was thinking that we can start trying again when Violet and Arthur are about a year and a half so they would be two-years-old and potty-trained when we give Violet and Arthur another sibling or two."
Spencer smiled a bit, "Perfect," said Spencer before thinking about some mail he opened earlier, "I got letters from Georgetown University, George Washington University, Cal-tech, M.I.T., various Think Tanks, pharmaceutical companies, research labs, the NSA, the CIA, and Homeland Security today."
"More job offers?" asked Maeve.
Spencer nodded, "Is it bad that I feel flattered about getting more job offers than bills in my mailbox?" asked Spencer.
Maeve shook her head, "You're one of the smartest men in the country, so I'm not surprised that you're wanted by everyone," said Maeve before thinking about why her husband would talk about job offers, "Are you thinking about leaving the F.B.I.?" asked Maeve.
"Part of me is since I was technically dead for a few minutes in February," said Spencer.
Before Maeve could respond, Spencer's work phone rang causing Spencer to answer it, "Dr. Reid."
"We have a case. I'm leaving home to pick you up," said Hotch.
"Maeve and I are taking Zoey for a walk right now," said Spencer.
"Where are you two? I can pick you up and drive you three home so you can grab everything you need," said Hotch.
Spencer gave the street name and the house number he was by before hanging up.
"A case?" asked Maeve.
Spencer nodded, "Hotch is going to pick us up and take us home so I can grab what I need before I carpool with him to Quantico."
"I hope you know that we'll be talking about what you just told me when you get home," said Maeve firmly.
Spencer sighed, "I understand."
A minute later Hotch was pulling up causing Spencer to help Maeve get into the front passenger seat of Hotch's SUV while he got into the backseat with Zoey.
Nearly three hours later, the team was flying to New Orleans when Morgan noticed a thoughtful look on Spencer's face.
"Hey, Reid. What's goin' on up there?" asked Morgan.
Spencer who was thinking about his childhood best friend who was supposed to survive the academy with him and Maeve telling him to track him down when he called Maeve and told her that he was going to New Orleans, "I was just thinking of an old friend of mine from Las Vegas, Ethan. I'm pretty sure he lives in New Orleans now."
Morgan thought about how little Spencer talked about his childhood, "Really? Gonna give him a call and tell him that you got married and you're going to be a dad to twins next month?" asked Morgan.
"We grew up competing against each other in absolutely everything. Spelling bees, science fairs," said Spencer before sighing, "We also both had our hearts set on joining the Bureau, but... the first day at Quantico he backed out."
Emily looked up from her file, "He probably just couldn't take the heat."
Spencer gave Emily a look that he's been using when he and Maeve would babysit Jack when Jack would get into something he shouldn't be touching, "It's not really for us to judge, is it?" chided Spencer.
Emily realized that she shouldn't be judging friends of Spencer's that she hadn't met yet, "Right. My bad."
Morgan looked at Spencer before JJ got serious.
After figuring out the Jack the Ripper connection, Spencer was getting himself a cup of coffee when a Detective walked over to him.
"Are you from the B.A.U.?" asked the Detective.
Spencer nodded, "I'm Dr. Spencer Reid."
"Detective William LaMontagne Jr.," said Will before noticing Spencer's left hand and saw a wedding band, "You're married?" asked Will.
Spencer nodded, "Yes."
"To Agent Jareau?" asked Will.
Spencer shook his head, "I'm married to a geneticist."
Will sighed in relief, "Do you know if Agent Jareau single?" asked Will.
"I don't know if she's dating anyone right now since I broke her heart last summer," said Spencer.
"How did you break her heart?" asked Will.
Spencer looked around before he spoke quietly, "I asked JJ on a date a year and a half ago, but she brought our technical analyst along since she thought that we were going to a Redskins game as friends and the three youngest members of the team should get to know each other better. Even though I forgave her, I chose not to ask her out again since her actions reminded me of the girls who bullied me when I was a child. A week after I started to date my wife, JJ started to ask me out on a date causing me to turn her down since I wasn't going to break Maeve's heart," said Spencer quietly just as his phone rang causing him to see that it was Maeve as he answered, "Is everything OK, Maeve?" asked Spencer.
"If you have time, can you please pick me up some praline and a PO' boy while you're in New Orleans?" asked Maeve.
Spencer softly chuckled, "I'll see what I can do to satisfy you, Maeve. Even though I already figured out the motive, I don't know when the unsub will be found and I can't use my badge to force a restaurant or store to open if it's in the middle of the night or breakfast time when this case is over."
"I'll let you get back to work. Please stay safe and I love you," said Maeve.
"I promise to stay safe and I love you too," said Spencer before hanging up and looked at Will, "My wife is 33-weeks pregnant with fraternal twins we chose to name Violet Guinevere Reid and Arthur Nathaniel Reid and she's craving praline and PO' boy and hopes that I can bring it home."
"Congratulations on the upcoming additions," said Will before he grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down a few stores and restaurant names and passed it to Spencer, "Here are some places where you can pick up praline and PO' boy for your wife."
Spencer sighed in relief, "Thank you for your help."
"Its the least I can do to help you satisfy your pregnant wife's needs," said Will before thinking about how young Spencer is, "How old are you?" asked Will.
"25," said Spencer.
"Your parents must be proud of you for accomplishing so much at a young age," said Will.
"My mom is, but my dad abandoned my mom and me when I was 10," said Spencer.
"I don't know what's worse, your daddy abandoning you at a young age or mine dying during Hurricane Katrina a year and a half ago," said Will.
Later on that night Spencer and Hotch were in their shared hotel room when Spencer's cell phone vibrated causing him to see a text message from Ethan.
IF YOU'RE STILL IN NEW ORLEANS TOMORROW, CAN WE MEET UP AT 5 PM FOR DINNER? ~ ES
Hotch who was working on paperwork looked at Spencer, "Heard from your friend?" asked Hotch.
Spencer nodded, "Ethan wants to meet up at 5 PM tomorrow."
"If we haven't found the unsub yet, you can take tomorrow evening off as long as you let me pick you up when you're done," said Hotch.
"What about working the case?" asked Spencer.
"After what you went through two months ago and you're still trying to find your footing, you're allowed to take a break from the case," said Hotch before he stood up and walked towards Spencer and sat down on the bed by him and rested a hand on his shoulder, "After hearing you talk about your friend who backed out after one day in the academy on the jet, I know that you're wondering if you can no longer handle working this job and you want to know why your friend backed out one day after training."
Spencer sighed, "You're right."
"Just remember that you were the one to figure out the Jack the Ripper angle earlier," said Hotch.
The next day at 4:30 P.M., Spencer was packing up his messenger bag when he looked at Hotch, "I'll let you know when I'm ready for you to pick me up," said Spencer.
"OK, and I'll keep you updated on the case," said Hotch.
As soon as Spencer left the station, Gideon looked at Hotch, "Where is Reid going when he should be focusing on the case?" asked Gideon.
"Reid got hold of his friend Ethan who asked him if they could meet up this evening," said Hotch.
"And you allowed him to take time off during the middle of a case?" asked Gideon.
Hotch nodded, "He asked for permission instead of just going out to meet with his friend without telling anyone, so I was willing to give him tonight off," said Hotch before sighing at the look on Gideon's face, "After what happened in February, I decided to allow him to take tonight off since he's doubting his ability to do this job and talking to a friend he hasn't seen since he was 21 would help with his recovery."
Gideon's eyes went wide, "He's struggling?" asked Gideon.
Hotch looked around before he spoke in a quiet and firm voice, "You would have known that Reid has been struggling if you haven't been ignoring him since the night Reid rescued himself from Hankel. Even though you were the one to convince Reid to join the F.B.I., you should be lucky that the Bureau hasn't lost Reid yet since Maeve, Chief Strauss, and I refused to let him build walls or run circles around the psychologist that has been assigned to him."
Gideon sighed as he realized how much he has messed up, "I should go talk to him."
"Just wait with talking to Reid until after the case is over," said Hotch before walking away.
Meanwhile, in another part of the French Quarter, Ethan looked at Spencer as they headed to one of his favorite restaurants that he wanted to show Spencer, "Is that a wedding band on your left ring finger?" asked Ethan.
Spencer nodded, "I married a geneticist last August."
"Even though your mother is a schizophrenic, are you going to have some kids with your wife?" asked Ethan.
Spencer's lips twitched up a bit, "Apparently my mom became a schizophrenic from a drug addiction she dealt with in the 60s and 70s and there were no other cases of schizophrenia in my mom's side of the family."
"That's great. Since you got married before I can, should I expect the news about you becoming a father before me too?" asked Ethan.
Spencer grinned, "Maeve's currently 33-weeks pregnant with fraternal twins that we decided to Violet Guinevere Reid and Arthur Nathaniel Reid."
Ethan grinned, "Congratulations."
After going out to eat at a restaurant that served PO' boy and picking up a few bags of praline for Maeve, Spencer and Ethan were at the bar where Ethan played the piano at waiting for their drinks when Spencer looked at Ethan, "Why did you quit after only one day of FBI training?" asked Spencer.
Ethan looked at Spencer as he picked up his drink, "Well... I'm sure you've considered the evidence, analyzed the signs."
Spencer thought about how much Ethan liked to drink, "You were battling what's your own demons. You didn't have time to analyze someone else's."
"Not bad. Not bad. Those days, I did prefer Jack Daniel's to Jeff Dahmer. They both weigh on your soul eventually," said Ethan.
"Let me ask you this, Ethan. Do you ever regret it?" asked Spencer softly.
"You know, I may not be changing the world, but... my music makes me happy. It doesn't take a profiler to see that you're not happy with your job," said Ethan.
Spencer took his mug of coffee he pulled some money out of his pocket and placed it onto the counter he followed Ethan, "It's not easy," said Spencer as he sat down, "And it's not... I... don't think you'd believe some of the things that I've seen."
"John Coltrane. He was a genius, too. Died of cancer. But most people think it was the booze and heroin that did him in." said Ethan.
"What are you trying to say?" asked Spencer.
Ethan looked at Spencer who looked too thin for his liking while there were dark circles underneath his eyes while his hands shook from the excessive amount of coffee that he was drinking, "You look like hell."
Spencer looked at Ethan, "I've been going to therapy for P.T.S.D."
"What the hell happened to you?" asked Ethan.
For the next hour, Spencer told Ethan about the Hankel case and the aftermath.
After telling Ethan about the Hankel case, Ethan looked at Spencer, "I'm glad that you've been cooperating with your therapists while you're not shutting your wife or your boss out," said Ethan.
"Hotch has a younger brother who is about a year older than me, so he's refusing to let me ruin the bright future I have since his own brother dropped out of law school to become a chef while Maeve keeps on reciting her wedding vows and her favorite E.E. Cummings poem to remind me that she's not leaving me while I can beat the post-traumatic stress disorder I'm living with," said Spencer.
"What's Maeve's favorite poem?" asked Ethan.
"Whenever you think or you believe or you know, you're a lot of other people: but the moment you feel, you're nobody but yourself. To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight and never stop fighting," recited Spencer.
"Seems like Maeve's a keeper, so never let her go," said Ethan.
Spencer smiled a bit, "I'm planning on not letting her go."
A minute later Spencer ended up updating Ethan on his family members until Hotch called him to let him know that he was ready to head to the hotel for the night and he wants to pick him up.
An hour later at another bar, JJ who just learned that the unsub is a woman looked at Will, "The reason why I haven't married yet is that I'm waiting for Spence to come back to me so I can marry him," said JJ.
Will realized that JJ was talking about Dr. Spencer Reid, "Are you talking about Dr. Spencer Reid?" asked Will.
JJ nodded, "I'm in love with him."
"Isn't he married and about to become a father to twins next month?" asked Will.
"You've been talking to him?" asked JJ.
Will nodded, "We briefly talked about our daddies leaving us by either death or abandonment, so I doubt that Dr. Reid would be the type of person who would divorce his wife and abandon his unborn twins to be with you. I once had a bad break up, and my daddy told me that there's many fish in the sea to fall in love with, so you should think about moving on from him," said Will before he got up and walked away leaving JJ to her thoughts.
After their unsub was arrested, Spencer was listening to Ethan play the piano one last time when Gideon took a seat next to him.
"How'd you find me?" asked Spencer.
"You're not all that hard to profile," said Gideon as he listened to Ethan play while thinking about the times he had listened to Spencer play the piano, "Your friend is good."
Spencer took a deep breath, "I'm struggling."
Gideon thought about having to witness Spencer being tortured by Tobias Hankel, "Well... anybody who's been through what you've been through recently... Would."
Spencer thought about joining the F.B.I. as soon as he earned his third Ph. D., "This is all I was groomed for. I never even... I never even considered another option."
"Now you're questioning whether or not you're strong enough to be here?" asked Gideon.
Spencer nodded, "Yeah."
"I have been playing at this job in one way or another for almost 30 years. I've felt lost. I've felt great. I have felt scared, sick, and insane. I don't know. I guess the day this job stops gnawing at your soul and hands. Tour hands stop feeling cold... Maybe that's the time to leave," said Gideon.
"I guess I just needed to try to figure out if I could step away from this job," said Spencer.
"And?" asked Gideon.
Spencer pulled out his wallet and looked at the latest ultrasound photo he slipped in there as he thought about Maeve's favorite poem, "I can't stop being the fighter I am and quit this job."
"Hotch said something about you needing to pick up a PO' boy sandwich for Maeve, so let's go find one for Maeve before flying home within the next two hours," said Gideon.
A few minutes later Spencer was saying goodbye to Ethan who promised to fly up to D.C. and visit him after Violet and Arthur were born before he went to pick up a PO' boy sandwich for Maeve.
A few hours later, Spencer was sitting at the breakfast nook with Maeve who was enjoying her PO' boy sandwich and pralines, "I think that JJ is finally going to move on from me," said Spencer.
"How do you know?" asked Maeve.
"The detective who called us in is two years older than JJ and he has been flirting with her during the entire case while he asked me if JJ was single or not. Before I went to listen to Ethan play the piano one last time, I saw JJ give Detective LaMontagne her personal cell phone number, said Spencer.
"Hopefully this potential relationship works out," said Maeve.
"I hope so too," said Spencer before smiling, "I'm staying in the B.A.U."
Maeve kissed her husband, "I knew that you wouldn't stop fighting and give up what you loved doing before Hankel."
A few minutes later Spencer and Maeve were in their bedroom having sex for the first time in 10 weeks while knowing that it would be one of their last times having sex until Maeve would get the all-clear after Violet's and Arthur's births.
