A/N: Luke's mom and sister visit for a day...

Chapter Thirty Eight

If Music Be The Food Of Life

Luke opened the door to his mother and sister, all smiles and hugs before welcoming them inside the house they were only just now laying their eyes on, gazing around and full of compliments before Spencer too joined them and received warm hugs from both ladies. Luke's mother fussed over her son's bullet scar on his arm no matter how much he emphasised it was perfectly fine and that the good doctor was keeping him right. They joined the couple for breakfast which Spencer promptly served up and they would be swinging by the BAU as guests to have a look around after all this time.

"Luke, you lucky man" Mariana teased as she scoffed the delicious breakfast "this is delicious, Spencer" she complimented.

"Thank you" Spencer accepted and then said "Luke managed to make bread the other day" gaining surprised looks from both women.

"Don't look so shocked" the ex-ranger said as though deeply offended but it only made them giggle "sure…it might have been my fourth try, but it worked!"

"It was good" Spencer gave him his dues "fourth time's the charm" he said with a smile "I think you should keep it up."

"I'm still not sure what happened to attempt number two…it was like those slime videos," Luke said as though a joke but he was completely serious as he mimed how much of a sludge the dough had been "I definitely didn't add too much water."

Spencer chuckled "I think it was too much salt…salt can kill the yeast and then it doesn't ferment."

"Huh…I'll remember that next time" Luke said and his mother looked very impressed at both men.

"You? Taking up something in the kitchen?" Lilliana teased but was genuinely quite proud "Spencer you've worked some sort of magic on my boy."

Breakfasts were eaten and plenty of chat, eventually moving onto the wedding as Mariana talked about what a pain it was to plan and how expensive the dress was and the suits for the groomsmen and so on. Luke then asked "so how you coping ma? Another one walking down the aisle?"

"In great Alvez family tradition I will be crying my eyes out in joy" Lilliana said with a smile "and your father with be speaking on my behalf as I struggle to speak I'm so choked up."

Mariana giggled before telling Spencer "ma's not joking, by the way" she warned "so while I'm up there saying my 'I do's and ma asks if her mascara's ruined you tell her she looks beautiful".

The genius smiled at the idea and said "I assure you I will lie about any makeup mishaps due to emotional reactions."

They continued their morning with a house tour, as well as many cuddles with Roxy, and Luke showed photograph after photograph Derek had sent them of just what they'd had to change in the house, the neighbourhood-level famous tacky decor quite the sight and had both ladies howling with laughter, especially as they discussed the further things they'd learned about the place such as the show cat and gnomes. Overall their breakfast get together had been fun and refreshing and both were quite excited to see where their son worked, none of the other family members woking in the FBI and they were equally curious about Spencer's place in the BAU too.

As they visited the BAU the ladies got to meet the team and vice versa, Tara despite her limitless sibling-like teasing and history of 'yo mama' jokes was very respectful and polite when actually meeting the family while Jennifer was the most active in introducing them to the place and informing them of how things worked like a happy tour guide. Penelope had practically leapt at the chance to get to know them and she was pleasantly surprised to hear Luke had spoken of her and that they were excited to meet the bubbly friend and tech goddess.

The easy conversation topic came up about the wedding, Penelope easily excitable over such things and soon enough Mariana was scrolling through her phone and showing all the selected clothing and centrepieces, the cake and venue, hair and makeup and so on. The bubbly blonde was practically squealing at the whole thing meanwhile Lilliana ended up talking to the other agents.

"Mrs Alvez, you look far too young to have a son Luke's age" flattered Rossi.

Emily was quick to joke to the woman "careful or he'll be working on wife number five" in a whisper as though it was secret advice but everyone heard loud and clear earning a giggle.

"Hey, I've only had three wives" Rossi defended and the giggling only got louder at Emily's sheepish expression.

Holding a hand over her heart the unit chief said "my sincerest apologies" but her smirk gave herself away.

Luke's mother just smiled at the group that were clearly good friends despite all the seriousness of the job and said "well regardless thank you, David" with a smile "but actually Luke is the baby of the family," before going to her phone and showing a picture of all four siblings, Luke likely around eight years old in the photograph.

"Aww look at him" cooed Jennifer, "is that you Mariana?" she asked pointing to the smallest girl in the picture to which the woman stopped talking about wedding things and confirmed with a nod and smile. "You really took after your mom" JJ complimented.

Spencer was quick to add "you should see how much Luke looks like his dad" and quick enough Lilliana was searching through her phone again to show the most recent picture she had of the two and everyone looked surprised by the uncanny resemblance. Tara was quick to point out "well at least we know what you'll look like…"

Penelope quick to flatter "yeah, go you Mrs Alvez with a hubby looking like that" she said in her usual cheekiness and a wink as the laughter grew, the tech goddess quick to establish enough rapport with the ladies they were happy to accept her fun personality.

"Why thank you" Lilliana said with a quirked brow playing along and then said to Spencer "I think we can both agree we've got good taste" and if Spencer hadn't been laughing at Luke's slight blush he might have too but as the lady held out her fist for a silly fist bump he returned it. The whole morning was filled with chat and fun teasing, Luke happily taking everything with pride and overall both of the important women in his life were getting a good glimpse into the people in his life.

They were shown around and eventually shown to Luke's desk, a few cute items on it courtesy of Penelope who had insisted it not be bare including a couple of framed photographs and a toy dog that looked similar to Roxy. Then as they spied another desk with a considerable amount of reading materials on it Lilliana said "and I presume the one with the most reading material is yours, Spencer?"

"Yeah" the genius nodded as she also spied a couple of his photographs that he had on the table.

Mariana looked at the short distance between their desks and said "aw you guys are too cute, it's like being in school" she teased and the girls of the BAU exchanged a knowing glance that she was very much right "I guess you're always passing little love notes and glances" she giggled.

"Can you blame us?" Luke shamelessly admitted and people chuckled.

Emily then got a call and took it in her office, the team watching on as Jennifer mused "what's the bet we're getting a case?" and that's when the pair suggested they could go shopping and look around and if anything comes up Luke could call them, but that they were already more than happy with having come by for breakfast and getting to see both the house and the couple's place of work. After a few hugs and waves the ladies made their way out and thanking both boys for having them over and in return they were thanked for making the journey.

It turned out that they had a local case, a series of murders and posting videos online, they'd managed to pick up on a trend in the comments related to the crimes committed but everything was in code that the local authorities couldn't solve so naturally the task was given to the good doctor. If Luke's mom and sister had thought his desk was full of materials before they'd be really impressed now with all sorts of notes and things to try out except for the fact that nothing was working and making coherent sentences.

Luke had called his mom to let her know the team was still local but had to work on a case so they'd decided to have lunch together before the pair headed back to New York. When the ladies arrived complete with a few shopping bags they saw Spencer's busy desk with wowed eyes as well as numerous boards with writing and numbers on them. Part of the work done so far was just interpreting what parts of the messages were even codes to be solved before trying to decipher the numbers and words.

Spencer was in such deep thought he didn't notice the returned company until Mariana placed a hand on his shoulder saying hello "wow, this must be really tricky to get you stumped" the sister said with a soft smile.

Returning the smile Spencer sighed a little "I've managed to pick out what appear to be codes, it's just solving it now…"

And that's when Lilliana chimed "well I'm sure you'll get it, like you said, most things are math, like how you played piano with my mother" she said the last part with a fondness, truly loving that memory.

"Yeah I…" Spencer was about to reply but trailed off as his mind linked a few things together and he started working through areas of the code with a fresh thought.

Luke smiled at his boyfriend and asked "I can hear the cogs in your brain screeching trying to work that big IQ around," which made his family giggle "what's going on in there?"

"The code…it's music notation" Spencer realised fully and quickly noted down a key to solve it and applied it to several of the messages with ease after that "of course" he muttered like he should have got it sooner but if anything it only made everything feel more theatrical or like crime solving in the movies.

"Wow, like a real life Sherlock Holmes" Luke's mother said with genuine glee.

Luke smiled proudly and said "yes he is" practically beaming at his incredible boyfriend.

After their visit and both women headed home the BAU closed the case pretty quickly and found themselves having a bit of down time in the office as they wrote up different accounts and pieced evidence and reports together. Penelope had left her den and for a moment they'd feared she was going to inform of a case but none came, instead she just wanted a little gossip about the day and was quick to say to Luke "your family is so nice, and great fashion sense by the way."

Luke just chuckled as the team all started talking about how lovely the ladies had been, even a few talking Spencer how much of a relief that must be. Matt with a smirk said "when I met Kristy's parents her dad said my name wrong the whole night, found out later he did it on purpose to see if I'd be polite."

"Seriously?" Reid replied, the pair such a happy couple it seemed very unexpected that he might have had that experience.

"Yeah, to be fair she'd dated a real jerk before me who was just really disrespectful to her parents so it was testing the waters, after that things were fine" he shrugged "but that first meeting, I was already shaky 'cause I liked her so much then I just felt watched and really awkward repeating my name" and Tara laughed quite strongly at that.

"My ex's parents were a nightmare" Lewis admitted about her previous husband and the team by now knew he had been an addict and things les that happy after a while "well, they were divorced so his dad's side was really nice, his mom's side and new hubby were grilling me the moment I got in the door."

"Guess I got off easy" Spencer chimed, immediately very grateful for the welcoming Alvez family "what do you mean they grilled you? Like work or…?"

"Let's see" Tara called the night of a thousand questions and listed "work, family, whether I could cook, if I wanted babies, his sister said I 'looked athletic and slim and asked if that affected my fertility'…"

"Whoa" Luke said appalled "that's insane."

"I'll say…" Jennifer chimed in "Will's mom is real sweet, but I definitely got the vibe that I had to be really good for her son especially since his dad passed" and people nodded sympathetically "I think she was a little wary up until we had Henry."

"It took that long?" Spencer said in disbelief "but you're awesome" he also complimented his dear friend.

"Aw," she reacted but emphasised "partner's parents are people too, they're just as complicated and have their own issues, I don't think it had anything to do with me to be honest."

And thus began the series of 'meeting the parents' stories, from Penelope's time meeting her ex Sam's and how she accidentally ripped her dress and had to change into his grandmothers clothes which got everyone shamelessly laughing. Tara's horror story continued as she explained how the family practically hated her and she was asked to apologise to the dog for creating a negative energy after she had called out some bull going on. Emily didn't have as serious relationships to go off but she mentioned an early boyfriend's parents seeing her goth look at the time and thinking she was a satanist and hid the knives from her. Rossi topped it off with multiple stories about having far too many parents angling for cash in increasingly creative and overbearing ways and overall Spencer and Luke felt rather happy with their experiences.

Spencer had been welcomed by a large family and aspects of who he was were embraced, sure there was the incident with Uncle Jaime but if anything it proved just how comfortable the rest of them were around their relationship. And as for Luke while his boyfriend's family largely consisted of the shared friends and his mother, Diana was a cool lady, despite her illness she could be sharp and witty sometimes and had been very accepting of him.

Eventually the conversation faded out as people started to head home for the day and Spencer found himself flipping through a catalogue on the drive home, it was one Luke's mom had picked up while shopping and had thought of the genius in a thoughtful gesture. It was for a music store, and while it included many vinyl records the man could add to his collection it was the instruments that she had her mind on when she picked it up.

"So you thinking of getting something?" Luke asked as he drove, although he had an idea of what the intent was, just a gentle encouragement to give something a go.

"Maybe…the store says it has new instruments but also has a section for second hand or collector pieces, might be best to check it out in person" Spencer answered "I've never actually studied music beyond a few modules in history and appreciating the classics, taking up piano might be fun."

"We haven't done much to the sunroom, it just has a table and chairs in it so far…" Luke said, planning where it could be in the house "I think it'd be a good spot for a piano and calm enough for you to practice." Spencer smiled and slowly started to nod, coming around to the idea and Luke was smiling too, his endlessly genius boyfriend going to turn his hand to yet another venture and he looked forward to the sound of gentle piano playing in the house. "We could go now?" Luke offered as they had time before picking up Roxy and it wasn't too far out their way.

"Sure…let's get a piano" Spencer said, slowly his shy purchase decision becoming something he was getting a bit excited by.

Quote: "I tell you a secret about Chopin- Piano is his best friend.
More. He tells [the] Piano all his secrets."

― Anna Goldsworthy, Piano Lessons: A Memoir