A/N
Thank you, Hannah .grahamlecter, for your hard work and dedication. You've done a great job as Beta-reader on this and I am extremely grateful. Now that you're finished checking the rest of the chapters, I'm the one catching up!
If you care to leave comments, reviews, or constructive critiques, I'd be grateful. There are better ways to say something, and there are parts of the story that could (and should) be cut out. I get that, but how will I know if the readers don't tell me?
I appreciate those who have given me ideas, praise, and constructive reviews. And I appreciate everyone following this story!
To all, as always, please enjoy the story.
G-Girl
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Chapter 63 - Lullabies and Guardians
Three o'clock in the morning—Spencer sat in the car, parked in the driveway. His eyelids felt like lead, his body; osmium. That thought made him chuckle. He sorely needed sleep. The last three days were spent working a case, and he didn't get nearly enough. He'd close his eyes and think of Susan. Even the flight back from Columbus wasn't long enough for a restorative nap.
"Five more minutes, and I'll be in bed, sleeping," he said out loud, trying to get his feet to move. Slowly, he climbed out of his new charcoal-grey Volvo XC-60, using the key fob to lock it.
As his feet thudded up the front steps, he heard the gears turning, unlocking. Without stopping, he opened the door, went inside, and closed it, asking Betty to lock it and reset the alarm. Holding his hand out, he dropped his keys, hoping they landed at least near the bowl as he turned, crossed the foyer, and headed up to the bedroom.
When he reached the top of the stairs, he could hear Susan singing softly, but didn't recognize the song. Definitely Italian, he thought. He had learned both languages enough to know the distinct differences in accents. As Susan had told him, her grandfather once explained that many words written in Portuguese were the same in Italian but sounded slurred, as if spoken by an intoxicated person. And that he also added with a wink, 'But don't tell your grandmother I said that.'
Spencer leaned against the divider wall and let out a relieved sigh, forgetting for a moment how tired he was. The lamp on the nightstand was on low and Susan sat up in bed, her fingertips gliding lightly over her abdomen. She sang quietly, a sweet expression on her face.
"Dormi, dormi, dormi, Dormite tranquilli, mi amor..."
He smiled; happy tears filled his eyes. He watched his lovely wife sing to their unborn child, translating the song to himself.
"Dormi, Dormi, my love, good night." After a moment, she looked up.
"That was beautiful, Sweetheart. I hope I didn't startle you."
"No, Caro Mio, you didn't. Your daughter was keeping me awake, and I heard the alarm reset, so I knew you were home."
He went over to the bed and kissed her. "I missed you. Need sleep... have to be back at work at ten." He yawned, taking off his watch, and laid it on the nightstand. "Hmm. 'Scuse me… be right back" And he walked to the bathroom, returning with his toothbrush in his mouth, wearing his robe. After hanging up his jacket, he dropped the rest of his clothes in the hamper and went back into the bathroom.
Susan was laying down on her left side, smiling; still humming.
After plugging in his cell phone on the dresser, Spencer turned off the light in the bathroom, went around to the other side of the bed, got in under the covers, and moved over to her.
"Has she settled down? I'm half asleep already, after hearing that song. Did you learn that from your grandfather?"
Susan chuckled. "Yes Well, him and Jerry Lewis." Still humming softly as she reached over and tapped the lamp twice to turn it off.
He snuggled up against her back, gliding his fingers over her abdomen. "Jerry Lewis? Hmm. Sorry I wasn't here for lotion time. You know how much I enjoy that."
Susan yawned in the dark, felt him kissing the back of her shoulder. "No apologies needed, Love, it's just lotion, though I admit it feels better when you help me with it. Get some sleep." She turned slightly and kissed him. "What matters most is you're here, now." As she turned back onto her side, Spencer reached over, tucking the pillow there under her burgeoning belly.
"That's perfect. G'night, my love."
He kissed her shoulder again. "Good night, Sweetheart." Smiling, he closed his eyes, inhaling the scent of her hair, gently caressing her belly. As he relaxed, on the very edge of sleep, he thought to himself, Six more weeks and then I'll be off for four months.
The baby pushed against his hand. Hard.
Spencer tried not to laugh, but Susan chuckled first, and he couldn't help it, even as tired as he was. He let out a laugh, holding his palm over the spot where he felt it, hoping for another kick. "Perhaps that was her way of welcoming me home?"
"Probably. You're going to make it to the birthing class tomorrow? It's the last one."
He lifted his head and leaned over, kissing the corner of her mouth, sliding his arm along her side, settling his hand on her thigh as he once again lay back on the pillow. "I will make it. I told Emily I need to be off in time to pick you up, even if it means staying at the office with Garcia or working from here. How much of the song did I miss?" He yawned again. "Mmm, excuse me."
"The English verse. It was helping. Maybe that kick was her telling me she wants to hear more?"
"Hmm, I wouldn't mind if you sing it again."
Susan sang quietly in the dark, "Dormi, dormi, dormi, good night and sleep well, my love."
Spencer was asleep by the end of the second line. Susan was too, a few moments later.
/
Mmm, that feels good. It was completely dark in the room when he woke up, and it only took a fraction of a second to realize Susan's hand was on him, stroking him. "Honey, that feels good. I'm awake… and you have my… uh… complete attention. Susan?" She shuddered in her sleep, dreaming. A few more minutes of this and I won't need her to wake up, he thought. Damn, so good. He groaned, and Susan instinctively arched her back, pressing her bottom against him. Spencer sucked in a breath, figured he should enjoy it since she was, even if she was asleep. He was hesitant to wake her, but she was so irresistible. Reaching over, he felt his way under her tank top and caressed her breasts gently; one, then the other. He felt her shudder and arch her back again as he kissed her neck.
Susan murmured as she woke up. "Mmm, that's nice, Love. Ooh, Honey, did I do that? Um… do you want me to stop?"
He answered with a groan and cleared his throat, breathing harder. "I didn't want to wake you, but you're impossible to resist. No, please… don't stop now."
Susan purred. "Lover, you have my permission to wake me any time, especially if I'm doing this. After the baby's born, I'll have to go six weeks without you hip deep inside me. The dream I was having was positively explicit. Oh, the things we were doing…"
"Mm-hmm, okay." He could feel the bed move as she turned over. It was still pitch dark. He felt her lips on his as she dragged the blanket and sheet out of the way. Stuffing another pillow behind him, he laid back at an incline, holding her sides as she moved over, straddling his hips. He wasn't going to complain. Tired or not, it felt amazing.
Susan held the headboard with one hand, her chest against his face. One hand on her hip, he lifted her tank top with the other, caressing and kissing her breasts, making her shudder. Hearing her moan excited him even more as she reached down, guiding him in, settling down onto him slowly, rocking her hips against his. He had his legs bent but kept his hips on the bed, enjoying it, drawing out that intense pleasure. When he could no longer keep still, he groaned, holding her hips, finally pushing up against her. Susan shuddered, hard, and a low guttural growl escaped her throat.
He closed his eyes, tensing up, felt that incredible tightness deep down, and gasped in a breath. Susan bent her head down to kiss him. Spencer shook, still pulling her hips down against his, steadily slowing to a stop. "Wow. You've got me doing that shaking thing now. Mmm, feels good." For a few more minutes they lay there, kissing and whispering; her belly pushing against his.
She reached under her pillow sham for the small towel she had there. Laughing, she told Spencer, "I need to find a tank top I can slip nursing pads into. Honey, I'm leaking." She squeaked out the word.
Even in the dark, he could imagine the look on her face as she said it. After a moment, she moved over next to him.
He was going to say something but could feel her using the towel on him. Of course, that felt pretty damn good, too. His toes curled, and he groaned. Leaning over, he checked the clock, figuring he could still get two hours of sleep before he had to get up. He slid his hand up her arm, felt his way to her face, and kissed her. "Honey, I'll be right back, gotta… go."
By the time he was washing his hands, Susan was walking into the bathroom, wearing a different tank top and a pair of panties, worn low on her hips, under her belly.
As she got back up on the bed next to him, she turned off the lamp and laid on her side. Spencer helped her situate the smaller pillow under her stomach. He smiled, snuggling against her back with his hand protectively against the underside of her abdomen, and closed his eyes.
What felt like ten minutes later, the alarm went off.
/
Leaning against the wall of the elevator, at seven minutes before 10 that morning, Spencer felt as if he were swimming through mud. He shuffled out as the doors slid open on the 6th-floor, made his way through the bullpen, and over to the coffeemaker. He meant to say, Good morning, but it came out as "Gum Ornin."
Luke was pouring a cup, talking with Emily. "Morning Reid. Jeez, it looks like you need a cup… or three… at least. I just made some, so there's plenty. Last night was crazy, huh?"
Spencer took a mug out of the cupboard, holding it out blindly as Luke filled it. "Thanks. Crazy? It felt like my car drove itself home. I sat in the driveway, wondering how I got there." He poured sugar in, stirring it, trying to keep his eyes open.
"Yeah, I get it," Emily groaned. "We should have taken today off. Spence, you're off early, right?"
He blew on his coffee; already his third cup that morning. "Yeah. Last childbirth class later. I've been lucky enough to make it to all of them." He grinned, even as his eyelids drooped.
She smiled at him. "Still hard to believe you're going to be a father."
"I'm already a father, Emily. The baby is still my daughter, even though she hasn't been born yet. Susan sings lullabies, and we both read to her." He set his coffee down on the counter and yawned, rubbing his eyes with one hand, covering his mouth with the other. "Um… 'scuse me."
"So, besides not getting enough sleep, are you freaking out yet?"
He picked up his mug, "Abso-fuckin'-lutely", then looked up and grinned sheepishly. "Oops. Sorry."
She gasped in shock. The corners of her mouth turned up. "I've never heard anything like that from you before."
"People change. I know I have. I'm not the same person I was fifteen years ago, or... even a year ago, for that matter." He willed his legs to move in the direction of his desk. "I didn't mean my car actually drove itself. That's a psychological quirk; the brain doesn't process an action you've done hundreds of times as a new memory each time. It's almost like being on auto-pilot."
She followed him, taking the long way to her office. "Mmm, you have changed… mostly for the better."
He turned around, eyebrows arched, to see her grinning. "Mostly? You have no idea."
"Susan has had a... positive effect on you."
"I know she has. She's my bridge to normal. She would never ask me to change, but I find myself wanting to be a better person. At least a better version of me."
Garcia walked in the side door, holding her yellow Miracle Worker mug with a paper towel under it. "I was lonely… all alone… in my lair. We don't have a case yet? I haven't heard about any today."
Emily shook her head. "No case. I was told to keep the team in-house today, to get caught up on paperwork. We've got a couple of agents coming in for field training on Monday. Hotch and Tara are going over old case files with them until noon. With Spencer off for four months shortly, we'll be cycling through several agents. So… did everyone get enough sleep last night?" She received groans from the other agents. So, in other words, no, she thought.
Staring down at his coffee, Spencer added, "Not nearly enough, due to a… um... weird dream." He looked up, pressing his lips together to keep from grinning. Better to tell them that than what really happened earlier that morning.
JJ leaned against the partition next to Spencer's desk, holding her coffee mug. "Oh, the dreams. Yeah, I had those… with both boys."
"I mean weird, or as Susan says, weird with a beard dreams. I had one recently… the baby was born blue." He saw the look of shock on their faces. "Oh… no, no, not blue from the lack of oxygen, but painted… blue… like the Blue Man Group."
Garcia had taken a drink of her tea and burst out laughing so hard, she sputtered, choking and coughing. "A Blue Man Group baby? Priceless. With the turtleneck, or without?" She used the paper towel in her hand to blot tea off her grey knit sweater vest. JJ wordlessly pulled several paper towels out of her desk drawer, handing them to her.
"With. And the wide eyes. Weird, but not the weirdest dream I've had. Actually, one recently was more terrifying than weird." He sat down at his desk; brows furrowed as he blew on his coffee.
"Terrifying? Do you want to talk about it?" Emily stood beside him and lightly squeezed his shoulder; concerned as his supervisor, yet curious and sympathetic as his friend.
Spencer set his mug down and told her about the dream of still being in prison and Susan saying she was leaving with the baby.
"Bad dreams go with the job, no doubt worsened expecting a baby. That's a rough one, but you know that would never happen, right?"
"I know... Emily, but it seemed… real. It had that smell; a combination of hopelessness, guilt… and fear."
Luke chuckled. "Perhaps it's your subconscious saying you're afraid of losing that last shred of freedom?"
Emily rolled her eyes, turning her attention back to Spencer. "What about Susan? What kind of dreams does she have?"
"Luke, I might be inclined to believe that, if I had never been in prison, but it felt more like I was still there. As if I had lost my mind in that cell. It felt real." He looked up at Emily. "Susan has the usual baby gets taken dreams and uses those to find and fix any gaps in the security system, and then there's… the other dreams." He grinned sheepishly, pursed his lips, rubbing his hand over his mouth, then picked up his mug and took a sip.
"Ohh, see what he did there?" Luke pointed at Reid. "Other dreams? Those are usually the best ones." He propped his elbows on his desk, grinning, his chin in his hands. "Do tell."
Garcia beamed; her eyes lit up. She went over to Spencer's desk. "Sex dreams? Am I right?" She poked his arm with her fuzzy pen. "Huh?"
He snapped his head toward the doors of the bullpen, "Uh-oh, look out, here comes Rhonda, from HR, with another compulsory Sexual Harassment training… this one featuring Penelope Garcia!" He took another sip of his coffee and set it back down.
She narrowed her eyes and threw the balled-up paper towel at him, which he swatted away. "So sex dreams, right? Why else would you react like that?" She poked his arm again. "Come on, Lover Boy, tell."
Spencer shrugged, trying not to laugh. "It was dark, I couldn't see anything." He closed his mouth, miming zipping his lips, locking it, and tossing an imaginary key over his shoulder.
"Chicken," Garcia said. She took a sip of her tea and poked him again. "Mmm. Talk. I can do this all day."
He ignored her incessant poking. "Speaking of chicken, lunch is on me today. Henry's Barbeque and bibs for everyone. Don't worry, Pen, I ordered veg-friendly dishes, as well."
"I'm not going to argue with that," Emily started for the stairs. "I'll be in my office if anyone needs me. Files, people." She sighed, shaking her head on the way to her office; she had her own reports to finish and a preliminary budget to work on.
Spencer picked up a file from the stack, opened the folder, and started in, then looked up after a moment. "Hey, Garcia? There's some missing information on this file. Can you look it up for me?"
She grinned. "Quid pro quo. Tell me what I want—"
Luke turned back around, laughing, cutting her off. "Hey, Reid, what time is that Sexual Harassment training scheduled for?"
"Oh, man, it feels nice not being the butt of jokes around here." Spencer chuckled. It was going to be a long day. Maybe he could lie down on the couch in the conference room later for a brief nap.
Garcia poked his arm again. "Well, in six weeks, your butt will be off for four months." She narrowed her eyes. "I'll bide my time, my pretty, and after the baby's born, when you've gone without sleep a couple of weeks, you'll tell me what I want to know."
He arched an eyebrow and crooked his finger, beckoning her closer and whispered in her ear.
Her eyes went wide as her mouth dropped open. When he finished, she smiled at him, hooking her pinky finger around his. "To the grave, mon ami. I'll get you that information, tout de suite." She headed to her office with an energetic spring in her steps.
Spencer turned his attention back to the file on his desk. After logging into his computer and writing in the file for a few minutes, he put it down and went to Emily's office, knocking on the door.
He heard Emily's weary voice inside.
"Come in."
Opening the door, he went in and closed it behind him. "I need to talk to you about something… important."
"Do you want to sit down?"
He shook his head, standing with his fingers in his pockets. "If I sit down right now, I'll probably fall asleep."
"What's going on? Is everything okay?"
"Oh, yeah. It's just that Susan and I talked about godparents. She's Tiana's godmother, so Lizette's going to be our baby's godmother. I told Garcia she gets to be the baby's Fairy Godmother, which Susan said would make her happy." He nodded. "Anyway, I get to pick the baby's godfather, and I was thinking of asking Morgan or Hotch. If something happens to us—by law, unless we designate otherwise—custody of our daughter would go to either my father, Phil or Ellen, to be raised. My dad would have enough to deal with, with his wife and my mom; Phil got married a few months ago and his wife is pregnant. And we all know Susan's aunt is a psychopath. So we were wondering if something were to happen to us, would you and Hotch raise her? As her legal guardians? We would have the papers drawn up."
Emily was speechless—for a long second. "I'm flattered that you and Susan would trust us with your daughter. I'll talk to Aaron, but I'm sure he would be more than happy to agree."
"Thanks, now I won't worry so much. It would mean helping to oversee her education and her trust fund… and it comes with monthly allotments until she turns eighteen."
"First, let me say, I want you both to live long, healthy lives. It's a generous offer and I hope we never have to raise her for you. I'd be happy enough babysitting. Have you two decided on a name yet? Please tell me you're not seriously going to name her Electa."
A grin spread across his face. "No. That was a joke. We decided on Diana, after my mom, and Emily, after hers."
"Diana Emily? Or Emily Diana? Personally, I think you should name her Emily Diana." She smiled, giving him a wink.
"We're still talking about that part, but yeah, so is Susan." He sighed, still grinning, "I'll have those files finished before I go on paternity leave…" and stopped in front of the door. Chuckling, he turned around to face her. "…it's odd hearing myself say that. I mean, I've thought about children over the years, but now it's... imminent." He smiled thoughtfully. "Susan's going to be a wonderful mother… and I want to be the best father I can."
"I swear, you're going to make me cry. It's still strange to think of you married with a baby on the way…"
"I know, right? Me. Who knew?" He shrugged, laughing as he opened the door and went back to his desk, picking up another file to work on. While drinking his coffee, he felt the caffeine from his second cup starting to kick in… finally.
/
A/N
Coming up next: Someone's out... to get Susan.
