"You don't have Christmas off, do you?"

Spencer blinked at the random question and gave Anthea a questioning look. "Off?"

"Holidays," Anthea chewed the end of her pen thoughtfully as she looked up from the paper she had been writing on, presumably an essay that required marking. "You guys get called in over Christmas and stuff, right?"

"We try to spend at least Christmas day out of the office, and sometimes people on the team take an extra few days," Spencer shrugged. "Hotch tries to keep the cases local around that time too, unless there's an emergency."

"I see," Anthea turned back to whatever she was doing, but Spencer curiosity was piqued. Marking the page in his book, he put it away and stood up, careful not to disturb Zeus, who had fallen asleep with a paw on his knee as he had begged for scraps from the sandwich Spencer had been eating. Anthea's apartment was dim, the only light coming from the setting sun outside and the various lamps lit around the living-room as they both worked on opposite ends of it, her marking essays scattered on the coffee-table while sitting cross-legged on the floor, and him refreshing his French history on the sofa.

Anthea looked up and gave him a smile as he sat down next to her and kissed her temple. "Hi," she murmured, leaning against his shoulder. "Finished your book?"

"Mostly," Spencer reached for her hand, and she gave it to him immediately. "Zeus likes me now."

"Because you feed him scraps whenever he asks," Anthea smiled and gave her sleeping dog a fond look before turning back to Spencer expectantly. "You hungry? I can order in."

"Later," Spencer raised his eyebrows when he saw what she had been doing. "I thought you were working."

"I tried," Anthea laughed quietly and closed the leather-bound diary, where she had been marking dates in the small calendar. She turned to face him and brushed his hair out of his eyes gently. "Can we talk?"

Spencer tried not to display how worried her words had made him. There was no reason to be: she was still smiling, still sitting close to him, and her body language indicated that, while the topic concerned her, it didn't distress her. So, she wasn't breaking up with him, at least. "Sure. What's on your mind?"

"Okay, first of all I want you to know that there is no pressure here and I don't expect you to say yes or no to anything right away," said Anthea. Nervously, she tucked her hair behind her ears and began to tap her fingers against her thigh. Automatically, Spencer reached forward to grasp her hand, stilling her movements. It was something he had learned that Anthea needed. The tapping was a nervous habit that she had developed as a child, and it came up often, when she was anxious or in social situations when she didn't know what to do. If it ever came up when she was with Spencer, however, he stopped it immediately, finding that it was then easier for her to speak about whatever was on her mind. They had never actually discussed it; it was one of the few times Anthea had been glad of his ability to profile her, he knew that.

"Go on," he encouraged. Anthea smiled nervously.

"Well, Robbie called the other day and told me that our parents are hosting a big Christmas party this year, because my dad is finally retiring," she bit her lip. "Of course, my mom will call and tell me all about it soon, but he wanted to give me the heads-up because they want to meet you. So, the invitation will be for both of us."

Meeting the parents. It wasn't as bad as Spencer had expected. They had been dating for well over four months, and he knew the appropriate time to tell family members wasn't set in stone: it depended on the people involved. Anthea hadn't been reluctant to tell friends and family about them, but he had been, and that had obviously impeded her decision as well. Now that his team knew and had met her, however, it was unfair to expect her to keep him a secret.

"I don't –" he began to speak, wanting to tell her it wasn't a problem, but Anthea held up a hand, asking for silence.

"Before you say anything, I just want to explain," her large green eyes bore into his relentlessly. "I told you I'm adopted, and you know my parents and Robbie love me. You've met Robbie, you know how close we are. The fact that we're not biologically related has never come up, and I'm really, really lucky to have them. But the Graysons are also a very old-fashioned, very wealthy family. And some of them aren't as nice as Robbie, or my mom and dad. I've learned to deal with it and accept it, but you shouldn't have to."

"Families are rarely perfect, Thea," said Spencer gently. "If you're not okay with it –"

"No, that's not it," she tucked her hair behind her ears again. "I want you to meet my family, all of them. I also want you to go to their Christmas party with me. But I just really want you to meet my parents without any of the fancy stuff that comes along with it," she sighed. "I was going to go to Chicago for Thanksgiving weekend. I know there's no guarantee you'll have the time off, but do you think you could manage to spend at least part of the holidays with me over there? It'll be much more low-pressure, for both of us, and I do really want them to get to know you."

Spencer blinked. "You want me to spend two sets of holidays with your family?"

"Of course I do!" Anthea looked surprised at his confusion. "I don't want to spend any free time we might have away from you, and I know you rarely have plans over the holidays. Or would you like to go see your mom instead?" she was backpedalling now, because he was still silent, too dumbstruck by her willingness to put up with him for so long. "Of course, I don't want to impose if you'd already decided that was what you wanted to do, and I don't want you to feel like you have to take me along because I –"

Spencer knew that kissing Anthea to make her stop talking wasn't the most healthy way for their relationship to progress, but he was realizing more and more how easy it was to get her to stop rambling if he offered up a suitable distraction. So far, physical affection was the best way to accomplish that, and it also made her smile. He couldn't put into words how much he appreciated everything she did, and how sorry he was that she had to do it, but gestures like this seemed to be a good way to express himself. The fact that he enjoyed kissing her was, of course, simply a bonus.

Anthea pushed him back slightly after a few seconds, her lips curved upwards in a smile. "You're making a habit of this."

"Sorry," said Spencer unapologetically. He tucked a loose curl behind her ear. "This is what I meant to say: I'd love to spend the holidays with you. And the next time I can go see my mom, I want you to come with me."

Anthea beamed, and Spencer smiled back, because she looked so happy and it made his heart fill with joy, as if all the clichés were true after all. "I love you, Dr. Reid."

"I love you too," and saying it had never been easier.