A/N: Hello again, everyone!
Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.
The chapter starts on November 24th, the last Sunday of the month.
Rose hummed to herself, had her hands on her hips, and stared into her black carry-on luggage on her full-sized bed. Rose needed to make sure she had everything she needed for her weeklong trip to see her family: clothes and shoes, toiletries, documents, electronics, and any other miscellaneous she'll need.
Rose zipped up her luggage just as she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in!" she cried.
She whirled around, and it was Élise, still in her cream cashmere sweater and straight brown pants but switched her heels for her white slippers.
"Ready to head to the airport?" Élise asked and jerked her head out the door.
Rose picked her bag off the bed. "Oh, yeah. And thank you so much again for giving me the week off."
Élise held her arms open and gave Rose a warm hug. "Well, it is Thanksgiving week. I can't wait to see them again; I feel as if it's been far too long."
"Oh, I know that feeling," Élise rolled her neck and massaged the back of it. "This will be the first time the whole family will be here since Ziggy's first birthday."
From William to Diana; from Uncle Gordon and Aunt Ethel; John and his family; Anna and Nathan; Mr. Micha and Ms. Geneva; Arthur and Brenda.
"How much are you willing to bet Ethel will take over the Thanksgiving cooking?" Rose couldn't help but crack a joke.
Élise snorted. "I'd bet a year's worth of Girl Scout Cookies Ethel probably would but considering she'll be a guest in our house, she'll step back a bit."
"Your families will be here tomorrow, right?"
Élise nodded. "Yup," she looked at the time on her phone. "Ooh! You don't wanna be late." Élise led Rose out of her room in the basement and down the hall until they got to the elevator.
Élise had the black and white patterned yoga mat out in front of the king-sized bed and had been doing some stretches for the past five minutes. From lunges to side stretches, from butterfly to child poses, and from chest to knee to spinal twists.
Élise groaned like a great weight lifted off her back, and her body spread out on the floor. She heard the door open, and there was Spencer, already in his sleepwear set and amusingly had his hands on his waist.
"What up with you?" he sloped his head to the side.
Élise did an upward dog stretch and crouched up, laid her hands on her hips, and stretched one last time. "Stretching before bed improves the blood flow and relieves muscle tension; a good aid in recovery and sleep quality," she tapped his head with her fingers. "You should do it, too."
Spencer took her hand and kissed the palm. "I should, huh?"
"Yeah, you should," Élise replied with some wit in her tone.
Spencer took her advice to heart and did some neck stretches.
"You cute…" Élise giggled. "But seriously, I think we're going to need it all week. Cooking the dinner, cleaning the house, our families under one roof for the week, the famous Ethel…"
Before Élise could say something else, Spencer had his finger over her lips. He leaned forward and whispered, "Remember Ethel's secret telepathic hearing?"
Élise snickered.
"Ooh!" Élise hissed when looking at the time on her phone. She noticed she was still dusting the table lamp in the living room. "Where are they?"
Spencer walked into the living room holding Séraphine's hand and collapsed on the couch; he picked her up and sat her on his lap. "They should be here soon."
"Arh granma end granpa comin'?"
"Yes-yes, Fifi." Spencer tickled her, making Séraphine giggle. "Our whole family is going to be here for Thanksgiving dinner."
Isaac wandered out when he heard the door open. "I geet…"
A beaming Élise caught him and led him to Isaac, who Spencer also placed on his lap, while she got the door. Her face radiated with a bright smile when she saw her family.
"Mom! Dad!"
"Lisey!" her father was the first to greet her; he was also the first to give her a loving father-daughter hug and kiss the top of her head. "How are you?" she allowed them into the house.
Her mother answered, "We're good."
Élise pecked her head out the door and turned her head a few times. "Where's the big bro and Bea-Bea?" she asked.
"You didn't think we'd miss this, did you?" Arthur, her brother, came out of the garage with Brenda by his side, holding hands. He pulled his sister into a hug. "Hey…"
Élise hugged him back and then Brenda before letting them into the house and locking the front door behind her.
"I'm so glad you're all here."
Élise helped her family get set up in the guest house.
Spencer meticulously googled his eyes on his watch, knowing his Las Vegas family would be arriving at the house soon. "Countdown in three…two…one…"
Knock-knock-knock!
He pushed the curtain aside a bit, and he could see a crowd of people at the door. There was a slight smug smirk on his face.
"Just as I predicted…" he opened the door and allowed the family to come in. First, Aunt Ethel came in with her giant tote bag, following Sabrina and Melissa carrying Sammy, Diana, and Anna; Gordon, John, William, and Nathan carrying the luggage.
Spencer folded his arms. "I knew you arrived on time."
"Oh, my baby…" Diana excused herself from everyone's way as they made room for her, so she could hug her only child. "Mmm…I'm so glad to see you again."
"Same here, son," William palmed his son's shoulders.
Ethel buffed her hands together with such eagerness. "Ooh, I can't wait to help with this Thanksgiving dinner. I watched Top Chef, and they did a couple of Thanksgiving episodes, so…"
John kindly interrupted her. "Mother, as much as I know they'll appreciate our help, we're guests…"
"…meaning, you need to keep it to a minimum," Anna opened and closed her hand, mimicking the level her mother had to be in.
"You already know I'm a Thanksgiving Jedi…" she looked so focused and would have continued rambling on had it not been for the looks on everyone's faces. "But for you, I'm willing to…" she gulped. "Tone it down a bit."
"I'd bet a month's worth of my salary she'll turn up the volume." Nathan couldn't help but crack a joke, making Anna, John, and Melissa laugh.
Ethel flagged her twisted fist from behind, making him look the other way and act confused. "I heard that, Nathan."
Spencer was in his bedroom, packing up his go-bag on the bed, when he heard the door open and close. It was Élise.
"Hey, you…" Élise immediately knew, "You got called in on a case..."
Spencer had just finished zipping his bag. "Missing child case in St. Louis; police need our help."
Élise hissed through her teeth. "Ooh…hopefully, you'll be back in time for Thanksgiving."
"Same here." Spencer had his bag by its strap and pecked Élise's cheek. "I love you."
They kissed again.
The team had a quick meeting about the case and realized it was related to a cold case Gideon had worked on fifteen years prior involving another murdered boy.
Élise got a text from Spencer saying that he and the team were on their way to St. Louis. a link from an acquaintance there about the news of the missing boy. The video banner read MISSING ST. LOUIS BOY. An elementary school-aged boy with short blond hair and blue eyes flashed on her screen. The caption also reads ANDREW TAFFERT.
Fidgets rushed around Élise's body; she had to turn off her phone. Had either Séraphine or Isaac been missing, to say she'd lose her mind would be an understatement.
Discoursing more on the cases on the plane, Hotch gave everyone their assignments when they got to the Taffert house and talked to the first victim's father.
Reid and JJ figured that since there were no signs of forced entry and a missing pair of sneakers suggested that the Taffert son was coaxed out of the house.
Élise wanted to make sure John, Melissa, and their children had a good time in D.C., so she treated them to trips to a couple of Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo.
"We're home!" cried Élise after entering the house with the Carney family.
"Hello…?" Anna's voice echoed off the walls a bit, and when she appeared, she was drying off her hands. Her smile flaunted her perfect white pearls. "How was the museum?"
Sabrina could barely contain her excitement. "Great! We went to the American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. And then we went to the Kids Farm at the National Zoo."
"Mooo…!" Isaac and Samuel imitated the cows.
Anna giggled. "Looks like someone had a good time."
Élise chuckled along until her eyes fixed on her white gauze-bound left hand. "What happened to your hand?" she pointed.
Anna looked at it for a few seconds. "Oh, I cut myself while helping with the desserts for tonight's dinner," she shrugged it off with a light laugh. "Clumsy me…"
"Is that the same reason with your other hand?" Élise adverted to Anna's right hand.
"Yeah; same with the rolls." Anna opened her hands and waved her shoulders up, chuckling again. "Again, clumsy me."
Élise smiled back, but for some reason, though there was a heartiness in her laughter, there was a certain…sadness in her eyes that couldn't be masked. And the one thing she's always learned from her mother is that there's something going on with her, but she knew she had to traipse lightly.
Reid and JJ had a talk with Mrs. Taffert to get more information about her son and played a tape recording from the cold case; Rossi joined in.
Mrs. Taffert concluded it was the same recording the family had been getting for the past couple of weeks...
It also means it's the same unsub.
Unfortunately…
"Mrs. Taffert…"
"Ms. Bastien," said a voice in her ear. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this…but your child…"
"Whoa!"
Élise soared from her dream—more of a nightmare, really, since it started from a dream and turned into a nightmare—and that deep voice figure was not there anymore. She wiped her face, which was drenched in sweat, and panted until she calmed herself.
She got her phone from the bedside, and it was two o'clock, obviously AM since it was dark outside. This was the second time tonight she woke up like this—she woke up minutes after midnight. She couldn't help it; since that message she got from Spencer about what happened to the Taffert kid…
Kids.
Her mind alerted her that she needed to check on the children. Again, to the point where she almost tripped on her toes and nearly woke up everyone and collapsed on the flooring. She was at ease when she saw Séraphine and Isaac sleeping.
Reid brushed off the lint from his blazer jacket. His eyes looked exhausted, reflecting on the lack of sleep he got. The way Mrs. Taffert collapsed into JJ's arms when they had to tell her that her only child was dead before he was even reported missing. Since becoming a father, telling the parents of deceased children became the hardest part of the job; it was the one thing he actually now dreads to do.
According to Morgan and Rossi, they could barely hold Mr. Taffert back, and when he saw his son's corpse, the two described it as that scene from Mystic Falls with Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, and wailed like a banhee.
He had to give home a call, and the first thing he asked when if the children were awake and to hear from them. He almost cried when he listened to their voices and hoped the case would end soon, so he could be with them for Thanksgiving.
Nevertheless, there was still a job to do, and that was to bring the unsub to justice.
"So…" John and Melissa were in the main house living room with Sabrina and Samuel. "What do you two wanna do today?"
Sabrina and Samuel both had their legs crossed and shrugged their shoulders.
"We don't know…" said Sabrina with innocence.
Samuel cocked his mouth. "Mmm-hmm…"
Soon came Élise strode in Séraphine and Opal dashing in front of her; she held Isaac's hand.
"Hello…" Élise waved. "What's everybody up to?"
"Well, we've been hanging out here," John now had Sabrina on his lap, who started giving him kisses on his cheek.
Melissa sighed. "Anna's in the kitchen, helping Ethel with the prepping, and Nathan and Gordon are sampling mocktails. What about your family?" she asked back.
"My dad and bro are boxing in the gym together, and my mom and sis-in-law went on a walk," said Élise.
Élise suggested, "Since it's a good day, how about getting the kids out of the house again and taking them to Rock Creek Park?" she pulled out some brochures she got from her back jeans pocket and gave them to the Carney couple.
John and Melissa had a quick look at it. "Ooh…this sounds good…"
Melissa gasped. "Yeah, and they even have horseback riding. Makes you feel right at home and…"
"Mama, look…" Séraphine got everyone's attention and pointed to the flatscreen television.
Sabrina gasped. "Uncle Spencer's on TV."
"Ma…!" John used the remote to up the volume a bit; Reid and JJ led a press conference to the St. Louis media outlets in front of the caution-taped Taffert house. Their names were captioned under their faces.
"What can you tell us?" reports asked the two agents.
The screen appeared on JJ's face. "We're considering all suspects, but we're focusing outside the household at this time, so please respect the Tafferts' privacy and allow them to grieve."
"What's happening?" asked Anna and Ethel when they paced out of the kitchen and came into the living room just as the screen switched Reid's face; William and Diana crept up from behind.
William wondered what was going on, "What's goin' on?"
"We believe the same person who kill Andy Taffert kill Frankie Clayvin of Memphis 15 years ago…"
Séraphine waved to the screen. "Hi, daddy!"
Élise laughed; she had to record this moment. "Daddy can't see you, Fifi."
"Aw…" now Séraphine had her head down.
Diana gushed. "But he looks so handsome!"
"That's because he doesn't have that long hippie hair anymore," Ethel commented with lower eyes, causing Diana to give her the stink eye.
"…Although we only know of one other murder 15 years ago, he may have been overseas, incarcerated, or incapacitated during that time," said JJ.
"So, families with young sons should remain vigilant, and we ask that if anybody saw Andy Taffert late at night—or anytime—with someone fitting the suspect's description, we ask that you call St. Louis FBI immediately. Thank you." Reid concluded.
John turned off the television. "It's not every day you see your cousin on TV."
A deep voice came upon the group. "What's going on?" it was Gordon and Nathan, who had drinks in their head.
"Uncle Spencer was on TV…," said Sabrina.
Nathan had a sip. "Yeah, we saw on my iPhone on YouTube; there was a live stream."
After the press conference, Reid and JJ met up with Blake, who broke down the unsub's taunting recording, which led to them getting info from a pimp about a certain Brazilian prostitute, who led them to another potential victim.
Élise took the Carney family to Rock Creek Park for a quick hike and a picnic. She watched John and Melissa teach Sabrina and Samuel how to skip rocks in the pond while Séraphine and Isaac played with the sticks that were lying around.
She couldn't help but take pictures of it.
Now the team is called into Mrs. Taffert's abduction at a local motel since the family didn't tell anyone where they were, figuring out if the unsub's actual targets are the fathers.
Garcia discovered some links and connected them to Daniel Milworth, whose Romanian mother committed suicide and was incarcerated years ago; now under the identity of Burt Soloman, one of the Taffert son's teachers and the first victim's teacher.
"Hey, ma…" Élise knocked on one of the bedrooms of the guest house. Her mother was on her tablet and took off one of her earbuds when she saw Élise.
Ms. Geneva greeted her back. "Hey, Lise…"
Élise sat on the edge of the bed. "Where's everyone else?"
"They went on another walk before dinner," said Ms. Geneva, showing her a recipe on her tablet. "Take a look at this."
Élise read from it. "Low sodium and herb-rubbed turkey?"
"There's also another low sodium turkey recipe but with an apricot mustard glaze and one where you don't have to brine the turkey, and there's a garlic herb compound butter."
"As long as it tastes good, any turkey recipe you do is fine by me," said Élise.
Reid, Rossi, and Black got to Milworth's place, found his recordings and Lida Taffert alive, and Reid put a bullet in Milworth's back when he attempted to kill Blake with his handgun.
They watched Malcolm Taffert reunite with his wife and thanked them for saving them, again offering their condolences for the loss of their son.
The team was in the air on their way back to D.C. Almost everyone was in separate corners on the jet; Reid was reading when he heard someone saying to him.
"Hey…"
He looked up, and there was Blake, who sat across from his seat. "Tough case, huh?"
"When it involves a child, yeah." Reid had his hand on his cheek. "Every case that involves a parent outliving their child…" he sighed heavily. "The worst feeling in the world."
Blake sniffed. "Yeah. Yeah, it sure is."
As always, Spencer was glad to be home. Little did he know, he found Élise sitting on the front steps of the house with a glass goblet in her hands.
"Hey…" he set his bags down, sat next to her, and kissed her cheek. "You okay?"
Élise had her head on his shoulder. "I'm just so glad you're home."
Spencer kissed the top of her head. "Yeah."
A/N: It'll be all about Thanksgiving!
Warning: make sure you have your tissues on you.