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 is intended.

A/N: Shout out to Fashionista7, fishtrek, criminalmindsrocks, AlexCurtis, and Daisyangel for reviewing chapter 10.

When I was writing chapter two of the prequel to Promised Love: The Beginning, I decided to come up with a back story on the reason why Olivia and her older brother have an over decade-long age difference.

When it comes to the topic of shoes in this chapter, I found out that in October of 2011 a prosthetic foot for high-heel shoes hasn't been invented yet while a prosthesis hasn't made me Ankle Foot Orthotics that are molded to fit high-heeled shoes for me.

Spencer walked over to Olivia who was looking through a photo album that consisted of pictures of her would be older sister, "Are you OK?" asked Spencer.

Olivia looked at a picture of her parents with a six-year-old Edmund and Edmund's late twin-sister Alice who died from an allergic reaction to anti-venom after being bitten by a western diamondback rattlesnake four years before her birth, "Today is extremely hard on Edmund more than me since it's also the 24th anniversary of the day Alice was bitten by a western diamondback rattlesnake and died from an allergic reaction to the anti-venom. If she had survived and my parents still decided to plan having me or I ended up being an accident instead, we would be having more nieces and nephews to spoil."

"I know, Livy," said Spencer just as his phone vibrated causing him to see a text message from Garcia.

MISSING CHILD IN ST. LOUIS. EVERYONE IS NEEDED IN ASAP. ~ PG

"A case?" asked Olivia.

Spencer nodded, "Missing child in St. Louis," said Spencer before taking a deep breath, "Can you ask Edmund and Danielle to send me multiple pictures of Abigail, Brayden, and baby Spencer while we babysit them for an evening after I get home?" asked Spencer.

"I can," said Olivia before looking into her husband's eyes, "Even though you've been cleared to be a full field agent again, please stay safe."

"I promise, Livy," said Spencer as he kissed his wife, "I love you."

"I love you too," said Olivia.

A few minutes later Spencer was getting into his car and driving to Quantico.

A few hours later Spencer and Morgan entered the house where Bobby Smith resided with his mother causing Morgan to notice the darkness and the mess around the living room, "Cheerful," said Morgan as he opened up the curtains to let in some sunlight.

Spencer felt his heart clench as he flashed back to his own childhood home looking like the Smiths, "Depression is a vicious cycle. It frequently manifests itself in the degradation of one's personal living environment, which in turn fuels the depression, which then worsens the living environment," said Spencer as he watched Morgan open up another curtain.

Morgan thought about Spencer telling him about the bad times he had with his mother after his father left, "All right, I'll take a look around in here. Why don't you check out the kitchen?" asked Morgan.

Spencer thought about how he would come home from CalTech to the smell of rotting food if his Aunt Ethel and Uncle Gordon weren't able to help his mom clean the house before he came home as he mumbled, "Ah, the kitchen."

Morgan gave Spencer a concerned look as he watched the younger man walk away, "Is that a problem?" asked Morgan.

Spencer continued walking as he turned his head, "Frankly, I'm not too anxious to see the perishable food version of this room."

A minute later Spencer was checking the refrigerator and freezer to find everything done neatly while no food looked to be spoiled before he then noticed some keys hanging at a level that Bobby could reach before he entered Mrs. Smith's bedroom.

Morgan who was looking through Mrs. Smith's closet looked at Spencer, "Four pairs of shoes."

Spencer tilted his head, "Why exactly is that relevant?" asked Spencer.

Morgan thought about knowing that his female teammates own more than four pairs of shoes, "Come on, Reid, how many pairs of shoes does Olivia have?" asked Morgan.

Spencer quickly flashed back to Olivia's side of the closet while knowing that the turquoise blue western boots that she wore on their wedding day were her newest pair of western boots, "She has four pairs of western boots in the colors brown, black, white, and turquoise. She has a pair of riding boots for horseback riding. She also owns a pair of cross-training shoes for when she exercises even though she has a blade running prosthetic leg for when she goes running."

"Not even high-heeled shoes or sandals?" asked Morgan.

Spencer shook his head, "Olivia was never into high-heeled shoes before she became an amputee while there is no prosthetic foot designed for high-heeled shoes while she prefers to wear shoes that are stable and don't expose any skin ever since she was bitten by that Mojave rattlesnake."

"Even though it's 2011, don't forget that prosthetic legs are getting more advanced every day. One of these days, a prosthetic foot will be made so female amputees can easily wear high-heeled shoes," said Morgan.

Spencer nodded, "I know," said Spencer as they entered Bobby's bedroom.

Morgan noticed the neatness in Bobby's bedroom, "Well..."

Spencer noticed the desk while he thought about how his childhood bedroom always looked neat while his niece and nephew just do their homework at the dining room table at his brother-in-law's house or his and Olivia's house, "She even set up a separate area so he could do his homework."

Morgan quickly realized that Mrs. Smith chooses to spend the little money she has on Bobby instead of herself, "Mom has serious financial issues, denies herself even the smallest luxury, and yet..."

Spencer looked at a framed photo of Bobby with his mother in front of a roller coaster while Bobby held a lollypop, "Splurges to take her son to an expensive theme park and then buys a pricey picture frame so he can remember the experience."

Morgan noticed the sadness in Spencer's eyes, "Was your childhood home a lot like this house?" asked Morgan.

Spencer nodded, "Yes, but what matters is that I survived even though my mother had tried to kill herself when she was depressed."

A few minutes later Spencer and Morgan were in an SUV when Spencer looked at Morgan, "Can you please not tell our female teammates about how many shoes Olivia owns? Even though Olivia and I are not hurting on money, she wants to save every penny she put into our joint savings account for our future kids' education while we're going to buy a ranch when we retire."

"Your secret is safe with me because I find it refreshing that your wife isn't a shopaholic like our female teammates are," said Morgan before tilting his head, "Why a ranch?" asked Morgan.

"When it comes to being the nephew of the owners of a popular ranch that provides therapy horses for disabled children and the times I spent at the dude ranch Olivia grew up on, there were times that I dreamed of being a cowboy. Olivia agrees about buying a ranch since she loved being surrounded by nature while she was able to ride her horse Eleanor when she wasn't studying," said Spencer before smiling a bit, "Olivia and I talked about getting a couple of horses to ride with our grown-up children and our grandchildren when they come over to visit while we'll have cattle to pet."

"You two already planned all of that out?" asked Morgan.

Spencer nodded, "Yes."

Later on that afternoon in Washington D.C., Olivia was taking Lafayette for a walk when her cell phone rang causing her to smile when she saw that it was Marissa, "Hello, Marissa," said Olivia.

"Are you home right now?" asked Marissa.

"I'm out taking Lafayette for a walk right now, why?" asked Olivia.

"Can we please meet in person because I have some exciting news," said Marissa.

"How about we go out for dinner tonight?" asked Olivia.

"What about Spencer?" asked Marissa.

"He's currently in St. Louis, Missouri because of a child abduction, so I can use a good distraction tonight since he's finally cleared to participate in raids," said Olivia.

"How about we get dinner at the mall before I help you pick out some lingerie to knock off your husband's mismatched socks?" asked Marissa.

Olivia chuckled, "OK. I'll see you at 6 P.M. then."

"See you then, Olivia," said Marissa before hanging up.

Olivia looked at Lafayette who had went flat Basset as she talked on the phone, "Really, Lafayette?" asked Olivia.

Lafayette let out a groan.

"I know that you're tired, but how about we go home and I cook you up some SPAM?" asked Olivia.

Lafayette quickly stood up and started walking.

A few hours later Olivia and Marissa were sitting across from each other at the food court and had eaten half of their dinner when Olivia looked at her best friend, "So what's the good news you have for me?" asked Olivia.

"You know that I've been slowly reconnecting with Will ever since yours and Spencer's wedding?" asked Marissa.

Olivia nodded, "Yes."

"Will has finally asked me out on a date for this Saturday," said Marissa.

Olivia raised a skeptical eye at her best friend, "Are you sure that Jennifer will approve of Will dating you since your my best friend and you were Will's neighbor up until you were 15?" asked Olivia.

"It's been over five months since his breakup with Jennifer and Will doesn't need permission from JJ to start dating again," said Marissa.

"You really want to date Will, don't you?" asked Olivia.

Marissa nodded, "I've always been in love with him and I was devastated when I was forced to move to Pasadena, finding out that a 20-year-old Will thought that I was too young for him as soon as I turned 18 while we both dated other people despite Will having a nearly three-year-old son who's part of the package deal and me becoming a childless widow when you were in the Peace Corps. So I'm grateful that he's finally going to give me a chance to be more than the friends we were before I moved to Pasadena," said Marissa.

Olivia thought about the pact that she and Marissa made on being godmothers to each other's firstborn kids, "So when should I expect a godchild from you?" asked Olivia.

"I'm probably not going to get pregnant for a few years since Will told me that even though he can never regret Henry, he wants to try to take everything slowly with me even though we're no longer virgins while he wants to make sure that Henry and I get along great. So I won't be surprised if we don't sleep together until we're husband and wife."

Olivia nodded, "Even though Spencer and I waited until we were married, I don't regret the wait."

Marissa grinned, "Speaking of children, have you and Spencer tried for a baby yet?" asked Marissa.

Olivia nodded, "We spent the week between October 2nd and Spencer's 30th birthday trying for a baby, so I'm praying that I'll find out that we've been successful by Thanksgiving at the earliest and or by Christmas at the latest so our first Thanksgiving or Christmas as a married couple can be more special for us."

"I'll pray that you and Spencer are successful," said Marissa.

"Thank you," said Olivia before taking a deep breath, "If we're not successful we'll be trying again next year since I want to give birth during the first few weeks of summer break since I don't want to disappoint my students by having to go on a sabbatical for an entire semester because of the due date happening during the fall or spring semester."

"Well hopefully you're successful because I've been dealing with baby fever ever since I got to hold your new nephew during Spencer's birthday dinner," said Marissa.

After Olivia and Marissa were done eating their dinner, they went off to find an outfit for Marissa's date before Marissa helped Olivia pick out some new lingerie to surprise Spencer with.

The next morning Spencer and Morgan were standing across from Mrs. Tanner who had reported her four-year-old son Timmy missing.

"I was sitting on the bench, and he was playing right there," said Mrs. Tanner frantically as she pointed towards the playground equipment before looking at Spencer and Morgan, "I looked away for two seconds."

"Were you by yourself?" asked Morgan.

Mrs. Tanner nodded as she smoothed her hair back.

A skeptical Spencer thought about where Mrs. Tanner and her son lived, "You told the police you live in McKinley Heights. That's almost an hour away. You drove your son all the way out here to play?" asked Spencer.

"I was doing things. Shopping," said Mrs. Tanner as she noticed the glances that Spencer and Morgan gave each other, "Why are they looking here? My son isn't here," said Mrs. Tanner frantically.

Spencer thought about seeing the drug dealers dealing drugs in the park while noticing the dilated pupils and sweaty skin causing him to be grateful that Hotch kept him from getting addicted to Dilaudid by asking him to think about what drug addictions do to someone's body as a chemist while he knew that Olivia was devastated when Edmund was an alcoholic for a while, "Mrs. Tanner, please don't take this the wrong way, but exactly what drug are you addicted to? You're displaying symptoms of withdrawal."

"Are you crazy?" asked Mrs. Tanner.

Morgan decided to back Spencer up as he spoke firmly, "Ma'am, we saw two deals going down on the other side of the park when we arrived. You were here to buy, weren't you? That's what had you distracted."

"I can't believe that you actually think I would-," said Mrs. Tanner.

"Your child is missing, Ms. Tanner. Every minute, every half-minute counts. You need to tell us the truth and you need to tell us now," said Morgan firmly.

Spencer looked at Mrs. Tanner, "Even though my wife and I aren't parents yet, we're a doting aunt and uncle to 11-year-old fraternal twins and an eight-week baby boy and we never turn our backs on them for one second when we take them on outings when we're babysitting our niece and nephews so my brother-in-law and sister-in-law can take a break."

Mrs. Tanner gulped as she started to tell the truth.

Later on that night, Spencer was sitting in the backseat of the SUV that Hotch was driving as he, Hotch, and JJ who were heading to the foster home that their unsub 27-year-old George Kelling who works as a 911 operator was holding Bobby and his new victims Connie and her daughter Shannon Barton hostage.

JJ who was sitting in the front seat looked at Hotch, "So what happened to the foster parents?" asked JJ.

"The father died years ago. The mother just died last month-heart attack," said Hotch.

Spencer leaned forward so he would be between Hotch and JJ, "That must have been the trigger. The last person who rescued the unsub was gone. He assumed the mantle."

"And now he suddenly has a house to take these kids to," said JJ.

Spencer realized what could have happened with George's mother, "Wait. Garcia said the mother jumped off of a bridge, right?" asked Spencer.

"Yeah. Why? What are you thinking?" asked JJ.

Spencer briefly closed his eyes as he thought about the suicide attempts his mother did while he was taken to the hospital before he could harm himself while he was on his honeymoon, "Musicology is an imperfect science, but it's uncommon for women to kill themselves so violently. For lack of a better word, they tend to choose more feminine ways to die. Men shoot themselves, jump off of buildings onto the pavement. Women are less messy. They take pills and drown themselves."

After a moment of silence, Hotch looked at Spencer, "So you're thinking that George killed his own mother?" asked Hotch.

Spencer nodded, "Yes."

As he was flying home from St. Louis, Spencer who was sitting away from his teammates was sitting alone as he was thinking about Bobby, Timmy, Timmy's mother, Shannon, and Shannon's mother Connie all being safe while George Kelling will be in prison for a long time when Hotch joined him.

"I know that this case wasn't easy for you since you found out that Bobby is a younger version of you while you spent your teenage years in a foster home so you can attend CalTech safely as a minor," said Hotch.

"Even though Aunt Ethel and Uncle Gordon helped me out as much as they could after my dad walked away, my childhood house was just like the house that Bobby lived in," said Spencer before sighing, "When I first came home for the first time to my mother after I started attending CalTech, I felt selfish that I got to live in a stable home with foster parents who provided me the essentials I needed with either the allowance they were given or their own earned money until I was old enough to work a part-time job, taught me how to drive so I could get my driver's license, while they took me on vacations to theme parks, on vacations outside the state of California since they had notarized paperwork that allowed them to cross state lines with me, and camping trips when I wasn't able to go home to my mom."

Hotch thought about getting to meet Professor Donaldson and her husband when they attended Spencer's graduation from the F.B.I. Academy while they also came to the hospital to be with Spencer after Hankel since Spencer's Aunt Ethel and Uncle Gordon were unreachable at the time, "You don't need to feel selfish about getting to live with foster parents who took better care of you than your own parents did. We both know that your father should have institutionalized your mother and raise you himself or sign away his paternal rights and have your aunt and uncle raise you instead, Reid."

"Even though my parents and I have started over as a family, I know," said Spencer.

"With the way, you're with Jack, Henry, your niece, and nephews and the few magic tricks you did for Bobby while the paramedics looked him over; you're going to be a great father when you and Olivia finally become parents," said Hotch.

"I know because I promised my father and you that I won't make the same mistakes you two made and I have over 20 job offers that I can pursue if the time of me having to pick my family over my job in the B.A.U. comes," said Spencer.

After completing his paperwork, Spencer was leaving to go home to Olivia and get a few hours of sleep before he helped Olivia get any household chores that needed to be done before he possibly joins Olivia for a few hours at Georgetown University and help her assist her students during her office hours on his given day off he was given to rest looked at JJ, Emily, and Garcia who got on to him about his comment about Bobby's mom only having four pairs of shoes, "How about 10 pairs of shoes? I mean, that has to be enough, right? 10?" asked Spencer.

"Ah, Spence, it's different with the ladies. We need them to match our belts, our handbags, our skirts, and the fashions change with the seasons," said JJ.

"Yes. Boys are so boring. Pants, shoes, out the door," said Garcia.

"Although it's not like men don't have their things," said Emily as they reached the elevator, "I dated a golfer once. He had 12 putters in his closet. But this conversation is reminding me I need new boots."

Garcia gasped, "They're having a sale at DeMille's on those tall-shaft kitty heels. You like those. Do you want to go?" asked Garcia.

"Yeah," said Emily.

Morgan wrapped a friendly arm around Spencer's shoulder Spencer as they entered the elevator, "Even though you're the only male teammate who's married right now, are you getting all this, kid?" asked Morgan.

"I'm just glad that my wife isn't big on going shopping since she just likes dressing simple unless we're having a date night," said Spencer.

Emily looked at Spencer, "Speaking of Olivia, can she join Garcia, JJ, and me this afternoon?" asked Emily.

"She has office hours at Georgetown University this afternoon," said Spencer.

"What about this evening?" asked Garcia.

"Olivia already promised to her brother and our sister-in-law that we'll babysit our niece and nephews so they can have a child-free evening," said Spencer.

Over an hour later Spencer took a quick shower before getting a few hours of sleep while knowing that Olivia will let him sleep in for a few hours before they spent the morning cleaning.

A few hours later Spencer and Olivia were working on cleaning a few rooms in their house as Spencer told Olivia about the childhood memories that were brought up causing them to debate about nature vs. nurture before they spent the afternoon at Georgetown University and the evening babysitting Abigail, Brayden, and baby Spencer while Edmund and Danielle went on a date night.

A/N: As someone who wears hinged ankle-foot orthotics to help me walk, I can't wear high-heeled shoes or even sandals since I'm required to wear shoes that have good support and fit my braces. I only own a pair of tennis shoes for everyday use, another pair of tennis shoes that fits my braces for when I go to the gym, flats for when I have to dress up, and a pair of winter boots to wear outside in the winter because I have dealt with snowstorms that bring over 14 inches of snow.