A/N: Hello again, everyone!

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. No copyright infringement is intended.

My apologies if I made any mistakes but enjoy the chapter!

This chapter will take place on January 21st, 2012.

"Élise?" Reid knocked on the door of the master bathroom before creaking the door. He saw Élise in the largely white cast iron bathtub surrounded by bubbles, white scented candles, and had a white silk mask over her eyes.

Élise sighed, "Hey, babe."

Reid closed the door behind him, placed one foot over the other, and casually pockets his hands. He guessed, "Pregnancy symptoms?"

"Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding," Élise imitated a game show buzzer. "Along with the workout I had thirty minutes ago, my backaches, I'm swollen everywhere, and I don't think there's enough Epsom salt in the world to soothe it all out." Exhaling, "And they say it's easier the second time around."

"It'll be fine," Reid reminded Élise. "Well, I have something that'll help cheer you up."

Élise lifted the eye mask from her eyes and tossed it beside it. Reid pulled out his cell phone and showed her a recent video of Séraphine playing with the pink-and-white stroller Mr. Micha got her for Christmas and trolled around the baby toy dollies Ethel gave her for Christmas as well.

Élise giggled, "That makes me a little better. That's so adorable."

Reid let out a laugh and looked at his silver watch, "Oh! We better get going. We have our appointment with Dr. Patterson.

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot." Élise groaned as she started to stretch her arms. "I better get changed. Thank you, love, for reminding me."

"What would you do without me?" Reid helped blow out the candles around the tub, handed Élise her white towel before giving her a lip kiss to change in private.

"Hello again, everyone," Dr. Patterson beamed at the sight of the Bastien-Reid family. "How is everyone?"

Séraphine gabbled as she coolly sat on Reid's lap and clapped her hands, "Gah!"

Dr. Patterson gasped, "Oh, my, Séraphine. Look at you talking."

"Yea." Séraphine cheered with spring.

"'Good' and 'yeah' are her favorite words," Élise laughed as she steadily placed her hands over her blooming stomach.

"Yeah, it's so good to see you all again." Dr. Patterson licked her lips as she went over her chart on her pink clipboard. Clicking her pen, "Everything's going well for you, Élise?"

Élise nodded, "Mmm-hmmm, despite my occasional body aching. And they say it's getting easier the second time around."

"Believe me, I know how you feel," Dr. Patterson sympathized with Élise. "Just do what you're supposed to be doing, and you'll be just fine, but if anything, you let me know right away, okay?"

Élise took the doctor's advice, "You got it, doc."

Dr. Patterson continued going through her clipboard, "How's your diet and prenatal vitamin usage?"

"They're both good," answered Élise. "I still crave for the sweet and salty, the occasional savory and sour, but my food choices have been mostly healthy. My sleep patterns are alright."

"You guys ready to know the gender?" Dr. Patterson held her head high, clutching to her clipboard.

"At week 20," Reid replied, using his knee to bounce Séraphine.

"Great. And…I got the latest ultrasound pictures." Dr. Patterson glowed as she gave Reid and Élise the latest ultrasounds.

Élise gasped, "Oh, look, babe."

After Sunday church services, Élise and Maeve have decided to do some shopping.

"Oh," Maeve pulled a polka dot dress from the rack and showed it to Élise. "This will look so cute on you."

Élise observed the dress, "Typically, polka dots are not me, but this one is totes cute." Her eyes caught on this midi-length navy floral kimono knot front dress, "Ooh! This will look so fab on you, Maeve."

Maeve took the dress and flashed a couple of poses in front of the three-way mirror. "This is cute."

Élise took a sip of her bottled water from her bag, exhaled after she took a few gulps, and asked Maeve, "So, what do you and Bobby plan to do for BJ's first birthday?"

"Maybe do something simple," answered Maeve. "Like get the family together watch movies."

Élise wondered, "Why not go big and grand, spectacular even? I mean, this is our babies' first birthdays. Maybe a bouncy house, pony rides, a circus even with a petting zoo." Élise envisioned how to celebrate Séraphine's first birthday as well as BJ's.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," Maeve shook her head.

Élise pouted her face. "Why not?"

"You certainly don't need the stress. Plus, you don't need a petting zoo, or a circus, or any of those unnecessary extravagances to have a good birthday party." Maeve replied as she posed in front of the mirror again with a soft mint dress.

"I never had those kinds of parties going up," Élise sadly admitted. "I often wanted the big and extravagant parties you see on TV. Or even the Sweet 16 when you get a new car, even though I didn't pass my driver's ed test."

Maeve replied, "I never got a car for my Sweet 16; I did, however, get a new microscope."

Élise sighed. "I just want Séraphine to have what I didn't have growing up."

Maeve reasoned, "Sometimes it's not about what you don't have but rather of what you do have. And like I said, you don't need the bouncy houses or the circuses to give Séraphine a great first birthday. Plus, she won't even remember it, so you don't go through all that trouble during the second trimester, so…." Maeve shrugged her shoulders and flapped her hands.

Élise took a moment to think about what Maeve said. "Yeah, true. Guess it's better to plan something simple."

"Exactly." Maeve winked. "Plus, I know some places that if you buy a sheet cake for the first birthday, you get a free smash cake."

"Ooh! Tell me more!" Élise insisted as she and Maeve continued looking through racks of clothes—bought some—before grabbing a quick snack and headed home.

"Ah," Reid closed the door behind him and got into bed with Élise. "I finally got Séraphine to bed."

Élise laughed as she flipped through another page on Parents magazine, "Ooh! Check this out." Reid leaned over to see what Élise wanted to show him. "A ball pit. Won't that look like fun?"

Reid nodded his head and pushed out his lips, "I'm not going to lie, that does look like fun."

"It does," Élise agreed and chuckled. "At first, I wanted it all for her: ponies, circuses, a petting zoo, maybe an aquarium." She mutters aquarium.

Reid twitched his mouth to the side, "Huh?"

Élise closed the magazine and tossed it on the bedside. "I wanted to give her a super extravagant first birthday, but Maeve talked me down into giving her something simpler."

"You do know Séraphine won't remember her first birthday, huh?" Reid reminded her.

Élise sighed, "I know. I never had the big and lavish birthdays growing up, mostly because I've seen them on TV, and I guess you can say I want to give Séraphine what I didn't have."

"As long as you give her love, that's all that matters."

"Yeah," Élise took his chin and pulled him into a kiss. "Plus, Maeve sent me some videos of those parents going all out for their children and…no. That completely changed my mind."

Reid laughed and pulled Élise into another kiss before heading off to bed.

Reid was rereading through a book of baby names and was just reaching the H names after finishing up on the G columns as the elevator doors opened on him. After walking into the bullpen, he got to his desk and placed his satchel to the side before taking a seat. He was already halfway through the H names when he saw Prentiss walking in and sitting at her desk.

Closing the book, Reid observed Prentiss and saw her picking her fingers.

He remembered her doing that when she was waiting for him and Élise to come out to testify about the team's actions regarding Foyet.

But more notably, her drama involving Doyle.

Reid flashed back to that time…

"You've been picking your fingernails again." Reid looked down at her fingers.

"Yeah."

Reid noted, "You only do that when you're stressed."

"It's just a bad habit." Prentiss excused.

Reid knew there was no doubt that Doyle was still on Prentiss' mind.

This almost was reminding him about Tobias Hankel and his addiction to Dilaudid.

"Hotch."

Hotch looked up before looking down to focus on what he was writing, "Reid."

Reid huddled himself into the front seat, almost knocking it down before surprisingly managed to catch it. Hotch's eyes averted, and he would already sense Reid's nervousness. He was unable to sit still. He kept twiddling with his fingernails and tapping his foot. He even observes Reid flinching out when gently setting his pen down.

"Are you okay?" Hotch asked with concern.

Reid exhaled, "No." Admitting, "No, I'm not." Looking at his drumming fingers, "I just…." Reid wipes his nose and sniffs, "I'm feeling the cravings."

"Dilaudid." Hotch knew what he was trying to say but even knew Reid was still too ashamed to say it.

Reid silently nodded his downturn head; the tense muscles around his closed mouth made it too hard for him to talk right now.

Hotch sighed; sometimes, he wished he could have done more or helped him when he first knew about his problem. "Have you been going to meetings?"

Reid rapidly replied, "Yes."

"It's okay if you're feeling this way." Hotch sympathized. "I get it..."

"No, it's not." Reid blurted before whispering, "It's not. I…" Reid winced through his teeth and began scratching his nails. "I don't want to feel like a failure."

Hotch narrowed his eyes, "You're not going to let your behavior affect your job, right?"

"No, sir," Reid answered.

"I'll make you a deal: You're gonna go weeks, months even, feeling fine. And then you're gonna have a bad day. Just let me know when you do." said Hotch.

Reid moves his shoulders again, "And that's it?"

"That's it." Hotch simply said.

Reid hoped that Hotch had that same talk with Prentiss, even though she was the reason he nearly broke his sobriety.

Élise rested her hand on her cheek and under her chin. She reviewed her old, copied questionnaire of possible nominees for the D.C. Cir. from a couple of years ago when someone knocked on her office door.

"Come in," she said as she put her form in his desk drawer. It was her distinguished boss, "Mr. Wilmington." She calmly folds her fingers together and relaxes them on her desk. "What can I do for you?"

"Nothing much; just wanted to drop this case file for you," Mr. Wilmington hands Élise a plain folder for her.

Élise took a quick look inside, "I'll get right on it."

Mr. Wilmington sat across from Élise, "So. I just wanted to congratulate you again for being nominated by the President himself for a seat on the D.C. Cir."

Élise chuckled and smirked to herself, "Thank you again, sir. Sometimes I wonder how I got this far myself."

"You do know that potential nominees are often recommended by senators or even the House members of the President's political party, and the Senate Judiciary Committee conducts each nominee's hearing."

Élise agreed, "Well, yeah. I'm still nervous, though." Hearing the word senator made her think back to testifying in front of Senator Cramer.

"Don't be," Mr. Wilmington advised. "You've come this far, haven't you?"

"Even the Silent Eliminating Enforcer can get nervous," sighed Élise. "You should have seen me during my school years. Or at least until I got to high school. I was such a painfully shy and awkward wallflower."

"As I said, you made it this far," Mr. Wilmington replied before looking at his watch. "My apologies, Élise, but I have to get to a meeting with the Virginia Attorney General." He fixed his lapels and cuff links.

"Anytime, and I'll work on the case," Élise picked up the files and started rereading them as Mr. Wilmington left, and Élise got a message on her phone.

It was from Reid.

Heading to Houston to investigate a serial rapist attacking his old victims. ~ SR

Élise shivered in disgust and replied.

Go get them, tiger. And please bring me some Texas barbecue, or I'll do something bad to you. ~ EBR

Élise chuckled to herself before getting another text from him again.

Yes, Élise. ~ SR

The following day, after news reached that the fifth victim of the Piano Man had been killed, the team immediately got back to work. After looking over Vanessa Campbell's body, Reid and Hotch could deduce that the Piano Man has a latex allergy after a piece from a neoprene glove was found in Vanessa's throat.

Now Reid, Morgan, and JJ were at a suspect's house going through the suspect's CDs, causing them to deduce the age of The Piano Man.

The team was now on the flight back home after finishing the case. Reid's phone vibrates when he fixes up the bags of food he'd promised he get her in the kitchenette. Clicking on the video messages, he smiles at the video of Séraphine banging pots and pans with wooden spoons. He texts to Élise,

Thanks for the video. I needed that. PS: I got your food, so please don't hurt me when I get home. ~ SR

After thirty-four seconds, he finally fixed it and wiped his hands after washing them for a minute and three seconds. Throwing the white napkin in the nearby trash can, his phone vibrated again.

You're welcome; I love sending you videos of Fifi. PS: You have better! ~ EBR

Reid chuckled and put his phone away. Reid saw Hotch doing the after-action report from afar, Rossi looking out the window, Morgan having his headphones on, and JJ munching on Cheetos and staring at her phone. But then he sees Prentiss by herself with this empty stare on her face.

Exhaling, Reid made his way and sat across with Prentiss.

Prentiss noticed Reid simply waving to her before finally saying, "Hey."

"Hey."

Prentiss licked her lips and gulped, "I'm…having a bad day."

Soon she and Reid became chatting about her bad day.

"Mmm…" Élise munched on the beef rib Reid got her from The Salt Lick. "I love me the Texas barbeque."

"Glad you like it," Reid chuckled and reminded her, "No pork." Just the thought of pork or even saying pork still gave him the shudder. "It's good, huh?"

"Mmm-hmm," Élise cleaned her mouth. "It's so delicious." She takes the lid off the coleslaw container and pours some for Reid before eating a spoonful, "Mmm. So good."

Reid sighed, "Hey, Élise. You'd tell me if you were having a bad day, right?"

Élise nodded, "Of course." She shakingly exhaled, "Are you okay, babe? What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's not me," Reid pointed to himself. "It's, uh…it's Prentiss."

Élise shook her shoulders, "What about Prentiss?"

"Ian Doyle."

"It's hitting back at her, huh?" Élise heaved a sigh even though she was still a bit upset that Prentiss didn't tell the team about him in the first place. That resulted in what Reid wanted to do when he found out Prentiss was still alive and was in hiding. But the strange thing was that Élise still understood why Prentiss did what she did. Prentiss was trying to protect everyone because they were her family more so than her own family; even more than her own mother.

"Yeah," Reid scratched his thumb. "I get it. Despite…what almost happened with…."

Élise rested her hand over Reid's. "I know. And regardless of those events, a part of us dies, and we'll never be the same as we were before. We change every day."

"Scars remind us where we've been. They don't have to dictate where we're going," Reid recited Rossi.

Élise sighed again as she grabbed some plates from the cabinet. "I just love that quote." She swiftly cleaned a sharp knife with a washcloth and napkin before asking Reid, "Want some blackberry cobbler?"

"With a big scoop of dairy-free ice cream, please?" Reid politely asked.

Élise cut him a big slice and two scoops of dairy-free ice cream; same for herself and began discussing plans for Séraphine's birthday.