A/N: Henry and Michael visit their favourite Uncle Spencer.

Chapter Thirty Seven

Memories with Origami Bears

Luke walked with Roxy back to their house, the happy dog having had a fun time at the park and very popular with other furry friends in the neighbourhood, the beagles especially and she was well tuckered out but cheery. On his way home he had a call with his sister about her and their mom visiting, both to see the new house and as his sister's wedding was approaching. Mariana over the call asking a light "so…hows living together?"

"Amazing" came the automatic answer with a wide smile.

"Really? No hogging the bathroom, weird habits you didn't know the other had, nothing?" she checked as though it couldn't possibly be so perfect.

"Nope…" and then Luke thought about how she was listing things and thought about his sister's own relationship "why? you still love your fiancé right?" as a joke.

"Yes," she said a slight wine but also chuckling "even if he clips his toenails in the shower…I love him" she said the last part like a chore deliberately and they continued to catch up and chat until he reached the house and they said their goodbyes until the woman could visit. Pocketing his phone he entered the house which had come a long way in a short time, there were still some boxes not sorted through entirely but it was a proper home now.

He had little time to think further as he opened his front door and a certain small child toddled around the place heading enthusiastically towards Roxy, and Luke caught him - Michael always very cheery when he got to see a dog. "Whoa, hey buddy" Luke greeted at the unexpected but very welcomed guest, Spencer's godson and general nephew of the BAU a nice sight to see.

"Unco lu'!" Michael got out cheerily, only noticing the man after being blindly giddy towards the dog and Luke happily accepted any term like uncle with a warm heart. After getting Roxy off her leash and letting the child pet the furry friend the boy asked to be picked up and Luke didn't hesitate to lift him onto his hip and walk into the living room where his brother would no doubt be. The cute sight of Spencer and Henry on one of the sofas, evidence of showing magic tricks littered about the place.

"Hey, so to what do we owe the visit?" Luke chimed cheerily before walking closer to the pair and leaning down enough to kiss Spencer's cheek, careful of the lean while holding Michael but he seemed to enjoy just looking about the place at the higher eye line.

Spencer smiled back and said "Will is watching them while JJ's with her mom, he had a bit of car trouble and was near by," he explained "he figured this was more fun for the boys than hanging out as he made phone calls and got things fixed."

"Definitely," Luke agreed and as he got a proper look at the place he also noticed some folded paper and interesting shapes, Spencer was quick to see where the brown eyes had gone to and picked up a few creations to show off.

Spencer held up several origami creatures, one clearly a fish and a crane, but very impressive and done with a large piece of ornately pattered paper was a bear, "check out Henry's new talent" Spencer beamed like the proud godfather he was.

"Whoa, that's really cool, well done Henry…" Luke said and the blonde boy smiled but didn't reply, seeming a little quieter lately, before Luke pointed out the bear to the toddler on his hip "what animal is that Michael?" he asked and the boy just let out a series of growls and it got a laugh from both adults, "that's right, its a bear" he encouraged and the child giggled "…so what you up to?" he opened to the pair on the sofa.

Again Henry remained quiet, but like he was choosing to and curious hazel eyes Luke noticed too, Henry hadn't been so reserved moments ago so the genius kept the mood light by saying playfully "a magician never reveals his secrets, right Henry?"

"Yeah, so don't ask" the boy said, his voice was soft but both detected a little attitude which was very unusual for the sweet kid.

Luke just nodded and held his free hand up in surrender "okay, that's me told" with an airy tone, although his brown eyes did linger on the blonde for a moment trying to figure out what was wrong and just as he was about to speak again he was interrupted by Henry, suddenly talking a little adamantly even though it was a question "Uncle Spence, could you show me again?" referring to a trick and the child wouldn't even look up at the other agent.

"Sure…" Spencer said patiently before glancing up at Luke, silently communicating that he too was at a loss.

"No looking" Henry said directly to Luke and deciding to let the pair figure it out between them rather than call it out while the boy was a bit moody.

Leaving them to work things out he kept a positive tone and replied "you two have fun" before giving Spencer one more paused glance before turning to the youngest of Jennifer's sons and said "you want to play with Roxy in the garden?" and the boy nodded happily and he called for Roxy adorably as Luke headed outside leaving Spencer and Henry alone.

As Henry started setting the cards up for the trick he'd been practicing moments before he was watched by the good doctor's curious and gentle hazel eyes for a moment, Henry had been so happy and carefree minutes ago and now he looked so in his own head and distanced. "Henry?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" Spencer asked softly.

"Uh huh" the boy said without thinking before he suddenly moved to hug around his godfather's middle affectionately "you're so much fun Uncle Spencer, so I'm great" he complimented and before he could unwrap his little arms Reid decided to be direct.

"That's great…and what about Uncle Luke?" he asked with a smile, keeping the mood relaxed.

The boy stilled at the question and he shrugged "he's fine, I guess…"

"What's the matter?"

Instantly the boy whined "nothing" and was being very unlike himself and it was such a sudden change and given that Luke had very few interactions with the boys where the genius wasn't also in attendance or JJ was the whole thing was very puzzling and out of nowhere. Spencer put his arms around his godson and rubbed kindly over his back and said calmly "you can tell me if somethings bothering you…Luke's super important to me and so are you, I really want you guys to get along."

Then the boy said mumbled something unexpected and asked "why does he have to be so important?"

Answering honestly "he's my boyfriend, we live together Henry…and he's my friend" came the sweet answer, it wasn't just about their romantic relationship but in general Spencer would have been curious anyway.

The boy grew a bit pouty and pressed "can we do magic now?" a little down in his mood.

"Okay,…" Spencer said as his mind rattled through just what could be making Henry feel so low, and by his odd question he had an idea so decided to address it in a way he might appreciate "how about you give me a minute and I'll show you something new okay?" referring to magic tricks and the boy smiled with a nod. Spencer then nipped upstairs for only a moment to grab a couple of items and returned seemingly empty handed.

Henry bounced a little on the sofa glad to be getting on with some fun with his favourite uncle again as the man sat next to him said "okay, check the coffee table, it's proper wood, solid right? Nothing underneath it?" he said in good showmanship and the boy played along with a confirming "yup." Spencer showed both his palms and placed one on the table, totally flat. "Now put yours on mine" he instructed and Henry put his much smaller hand on top of Spencer's.

Using this moment to press further into the previous issue he said calmly "okay, so tell me what's bothering you" with understanding eyes ever watchful as the blonde realised what he'd said. Rejecting at first Henry started to pull his hand away and say "what? uncle spencer, nothings bothering m-" but was interrupted by his godfather's still soft tone saying "keep your hand on mine for the trick to work" and after a moment he did as told. "Now, you're clearly bothered by me and Uncle Luke, did he say something? He'd never intentionally hurt your feelings, you know?"

Henry just pouted but didn't react and so Reid could assume it wasn't some accidental insult and switched it up a little "is it because we're a couple? before now I remember you thought he was cool" and the boy looked away, this line of questioning getting him somewhere "is something different now? since we moved in together..?" and the boy looked about to say something, a little frazzled and he knew he'd figured it out.

Spencer then lifted his hand with Henry's on top to reveal a photograph sitting on the table where the hands had been and the boy looked at it, the image taken a short few months ago at Garcia's New Years part and all of them there, including Spencer and Henry looking real cute. "How did you do that?" the boy asked, focusing on the trick rather than dwell on the contents of the picture. "Oh, it would have been in your sleeve" he said unimpressed so the genius in response rolled the sleeves up to his elbow and then clapped his two hands together, keeping the palms flat against each other and said "place yours over mine again."

Again the boy did so, and while he knew what the end goal of the trick would be he couldn't figure out how he was doing it but got distracted by his favourite uncle asking "so, when me and Luke moved in together…why did that upset you?"

"I'm not upset" the boy denied, but under the gaze of those kind hazel eyes he let himself vent "just…why did you have to move in together?"

"So…it's the fact we moved in together? Not that me and Uncle Luke are a couple…or Luke himself?"

The boy sighed and he'd likely have slumped into the couch cushions if he wasn't keeping his hands in place for the trick. Knowing he wasn't getting out of this without talking Henry sighed and confessed "mommy and daddy were talking and they didn't think I was listening…" before trailing off and avoiding eye contact.

"…and?" Spencer pressed, a patient expression letting the boy take his time and know he wasn't in any trouble.

"They were talking about how much you love Uncle Luke…" Henry started before taking a deep breath and sharing the rest "and they were thinking about when you'll get married and have babies. I didn't know moving in together meant all that stuff and...it makes me sad…"

Hearing that was actually rather sweet and he wasn't surprised to hear that JJ had been musing about his future, it was usually with the team to have a little jokey gossip just like anyone else might about other members of the BAU. She had gently asked about the prospect of tiny genius' one day long before Spencer was ever with Luke so he barely blinked at that, but to hear the boy concerned with Spencer's life moving on made him ask "why does it make you sad?"

The young kid went quiet again so Spencer opened his palms and another photograph of them, Spencer and Henry together but years ago back to when Henry had dressed up as Spencer for Hallowe'en to 'keep the bad guys away' as his favourite FBI agent. As the picture was revealed he handed it to Henry to hold "are you worried I won't want to hang out with you anymore if those things happen?" Spencer asked.

"You won't," Henry said, his big eyes suddenly more open as he spoke honestly "you'll want to be with you're own family, you'll forget me."

"Henry, I would never," he replied "I'd never stop being your uncle and godfather, we're buddies" he said with a warm smile and his tone sincere as he really tried to get through to the little guy "and you are super cool and I love being your friend."

"But it's different now…" the boy mumbled as he looked at the photograph in his hands.

Spencer nodded with a small smile and agreed "you're right, it is different now, but in a great way."

"Huh?" the blonde said before his uncle moved to hold his hand flat as though for a high five but he read the situation and flattened his own smaller hand against it for another part of the trick, in some disbelief that it would work this time but he did it anyway.

Spencer smiled before saying "you know who was the first baby I ever held in my whole life?" The boy shook his head and Reid answered "you" and watched those big blue eyes brighten at the information. "You know when you were in your mommy's tummy and you were kicking?" and again he nodded before the genius continued "she let me feel it, and it was the first time I ever experienced anything like that…and you know the first and only person to like me so much they dressed up like me?"

"Me?" the boy followed and finally he cracked a smile again uncontrollably.

"That's right, you know how happy that made me?" Spencer asked rhetorically and was relieved to finally have brought up his godson's mood. "Now, me and Luke, the stuff your mom was talking about - it's all just possible future stuff right now" Spencer started to explain but decided to be much more direct too "but even if we were to have kids of our own one day - that will never change what you mean to me," he said in pure honesty and looking into those youthful eyes that greatly resembled the boy's mother "I love you to bits…and you know what else?"

The boy almost looked bashful for having been so grumpy earlier, now that he felt better and was hearing such affectionate words and replied "what?"

"If me and Luke…in the future" he emphasised given that the relationship was still relatively early for where the boy's concerns lay "if we ever have a child of our own, I'm gonna need you to be an awesome friend to them, okay? Like how you're a good big brother to Michael" Spencer said so softly and the boy beamed at that, always glad to hear he was a strong older sibling "…I can't imagine having a kid that doesn't know just how cool you are."

"I suppose…" and the boy was definitely turning a little sheepish now, feeling really silly but relieved to hear his uncle cared so much "that sounds fun" he admitted.

"It does, doesn't it? and you know who already thinks you're cool?" Spencer added.

"You?"

"Well of course," the genius chuckled "but Uncle Luke does too…" he brought the topic back to the boys resistance to the ex-ranger, Henry had found Luke to be very much like an action hero when they'd got to know each other before and he hoped they could get back to something similar.

"Really?" the boy looked surprised.

"Yeah, he thinks you're so smart and fun to be around, and you are always welcome in our home," Spencer made sure to say clearly "no matter how old you get or what happens in my family…because you're part of my family too."

It was then Spencer pulled away from Henry's hand and true enough a photograph had 'magically' appeared between their palms and the boy looked amazed at the trick before realising just what the picture contained as it hit the cushions between them. Depicted in the image was JJ in hospital and Spencer holding a very young baby Henry. He'd been shown that before and recognised it and both smiled at each other.

"I keep these photos in the family album that I share with Luke," Reid explained "he has photos of his nieces and nephews, sisters and parents in there…do you see now that we would never leave you behind?"

Henry picked up the picture and looked at his uncle in it and appreciated it for a few moments before handing it back to the genius with an apologetic smile "I should say sorry to Uncle Luke, huh?" feeling a bit guilty for having been so cold to him when he'd only ever been nice to him.

"Sounds like a plan… but one more thing before you do that" Spencer said, the boy saying a curious "yeah?" before the genius moved over to pull his godson into a gentle hug with the slightest reassuring squeeze and Henry giggled. Both now very confident that they were true buddies they just smiled at each other until Spencer was sure Henry had got the message loud and clear "now let's go find Uncle Luke and Michael and you can play with Roxy" he chimed and instantly the boy was excited.

A while after Will had picked up Michael and Henry, the merry sounds of children leaving their home leaving the only sounds to be the television and Roxy padding about. Upstairs Spencer was placing the three photographs he'd used earlier back in their places and adding a few he hadn't gotten round to yet including the one JJ had insisted on after they bought the house of the couple and Roxy in front of their first home together. He was greeted by his boyfriend who came up behind him, encircling his arms around his waist and resting that handsome jaw on Spencer's shoulder.

"We'll get another nice photo soon I'd imagine, Mari and ma are visiting and the wedding will be soon, but it'll be first time they get to see the house" Luke said and kissed his boyfriend's messy hair as he continued to hug him sweetly and look over his shoulder at the album that grew more and more.

"That'll be nice," Spencer smiled.

Luke then watched as Spencer held in his hand the origami bear Henry had made earlier, by design it could be appreciated as a flat piece and he couldn't keep the smile from his face as he saw it added to the pages, a definite part to their lives just how proud Reid was of his godsons. "They're great kids, Henry really cheered up after you talked with him too" Luke said softly and nuzzled against his boyfriends neck.

After Spencer's talk with the boy Henry had hugged Luke and apologised for being mean but otherwise it had all been fun and games after that and the ex-ranger didn't want to drag up what had already been fixed and just enjoy the babysitting. But it meant that he had no idea just why there had been an issue in the first place so Spencer filled him in. "Yeah, Henry was worried that us moving in together meant that we'd do couple-type things and forget about him, I just had to talk him through it."

"Aw, that explains it," Luke said sympathetically and hugged his partner from behind even closer "poor guy must have been scared."

Closing the album the genius turned in his lover's arms and pressed a brief kiss to his lips, moving his own arms around broad shoulders before parting, resting their foreheads together holding a warm gaze. "Thanks for being understanding about him."

"Any kid of the BAU and especially your godson gets a free pass, at least until he's a moody teenager" Luke joked at the end and both giggled "but then he'll need someone to go to that isn't his parents sometimes."

Spencer thought about it "if he needs us…otherwise we can leave that to Penelope" Spencer also joked and both just enjoyed the moment, Luke also appreciating just what a sweet relationship his boyfriend and the boy had and it warmed his heart to think about.

Quote: "There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends.
I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature."

― Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey