Spencer was picking at the skin around his fingers. He knew he should stop but it was a nervous habit. He was wearing his favorite purple button-up, his nicest black slacks, miss matched socks, and his black converse. He stood in front of the Thai restaurant waiting for Gabrielle. He was five minutes early but he was starting to get nervous that she wouldn't show. That's when he saw her, walking fast towards the restaurant. She was wearing a blue floral tea-length skirt and a light blue turtle neck with white sneakers.
"Hi," Gabrielle said slightly out of breath. "Sorry I'm late."
"You are not late," Spencer said and checked his watch unnecessarily, "You're five minutes early."
"Well, you know what they say," Gabrielle said and when Spencer just looked at her lost she continued. "Five minutes early is ten minutes late."
Spencer chuckled, "Who says that?" he asked.
"Well I have only ever heard my dad say it, but it is a rule I have lived by my whole life," Gabrielle explained.
"That's good to know," Spencer said then motioned his arm to the front of the restaurant. "Shall we?" He says.
Gabrielle smiled up at him and nodded her head. "We shall,"
Spencer could not believe how much he has laughed in the past two hours. Gabrielle was so witty and funny and she doesn't mind his rants or random facts, in fact, it looked from her face that she enjoyed it when he rambled or spat off random facts.
They walked out together from the restaurant.
"I had a really good night tonight," Gabrielle said.
"Me too," Spencer said as they stopped outside the restaurant.
"I don't really want this night to be over just yet, but I know you have to go back to your daughter," Gabrielle said looking down at her feet but at the end looking up into Spencer's eyes.
"I have a little bit longer," Spencer said. "Do you want to go get ice cream?"
"I would love to get ice cream," Gabrielle said with a huge smile on her face. She grabbed Spencer's hand and started leading him down the street.
"What do you mean you don't like mint chip ice cream!" Gabrielle exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air.
"I find it equivalent to brushing your teeth after eating a chocolate bar," Spencer stated matter-of-factly leaning forward in his chair and placing his head in his hands.
"What is not to love about that," Gabrielle joked. Spencer laughed as well, picking up his spoon to eat another bite of ice cream.
"So, tell me about her," Gabrielle said.
Spencer's mind short-circuited, how did she know about Cat, is she a long-lost accomplice here to tear him and his daughter down? His mind raced with thoughts for what felt like forever but was only a few seconds.
"Eleanor is a beautiful name," Gabrielle continued. "is it a family name?"
Spencer sighed in relief, she wasn't talking about Cat, she was talking about Eleanor, he couldn't believe how quick he was to jump to conclusions.
"No," Spencer said finally, "her middle name is though, it's Diana, like my mother's name,"
"Eleanor Diana Reid," Gabrielle said. "That's a beautiful name,"
"Thank you," Spencer said.
"What's her favorite color?" Gabrielle asks.
Spencer smiled, he loved talking about his daughter. Before he knew it he had been talking about her for who knows how long. Only an incoming call coming from his phone stopped him.
"Hello," He said as he picked up his phone.
"Hey, are you okay," Derek said on the other line. Spencer checked the time on his watch, it was 9:30 PM.
"Oh my goodness Derek I am so sorry, I didn't realize how late it was," Spencer said in a rushed tone already starting to grab his things.
"It's okay," Derek said, "are you having a good time?" Spencer could just tell that Derek was smirking.
Spencer glanced up at Gabrielle from the other side of the table. "Yes," He said a small smile gracing his face. "I can be there in twenty minutes morgan, I'm so sorry,"
Derek chuckled, "You know Eleanor can spend the night at mine and Savannah's if you need,"
Spencer's face blushed red, "No, that's not necessary," He said. "I'll be there in twenty minutes." Then he hung up the phone.
"I am so sorry Gabrielle," Spencer said as he stood up from the table, Gabrielle stood up with him. "I have to go pick up my daughter,"
"I totally understand," she said smiling back up at him, "Don't worry about it"
"Okay," Spencer said, "thank you so much for understanding." He looked down at Gabrielle and smiled. "Text me when you get home?" he asked.
"I will if you will," She said bumping her arm up against his as they walked out of the ice cream shop.
"It's a deal," he said.
Spencer checked his phone when he parked in Derek's driveway, Gabrielle hadn't messaged him yet. He walked to the front of the house and knocked on the door. Derek opened the door with a huge smirk on his face.
"Pretty. Boy." Derek dragged out.
Spencer ignored him, "Can I see my daughter," he said trying to get out of this conversation. Morgan opened the door wider and waved Spencer in. Right at that moment, Spencer's phone chimed.
"Who is that Reid?" Morgan asked with a knowing smirk.
Spencer looked at his phone and saw that Gabrielle had messaged him that she arrived home safely. He looked up at Morgan and then back down at his phone. He quickly typed a quick reply to her that he was glad that she made it home safe and that he was picking up Eleanor now.
"So," Morgan said expectantly.
"Daddy?" Eleanor asked half asleep from her spot on the couch.
"Hey baby," Spencer said grateful for her interruption. He walked over to her and picked her up from the couch and placed her on his hip. "Did you have a good time with uncle Derek tonight,"
"Yeah, it was so fun," Eleanor said perking up a little bit from her sleepy state. "We had a bubble war," Spencer gave Derek a questioning look at that but Derek just raised his hands up in surrender.
"Okay, well let's get you home," Spencer said and grabbed Eleanor's bag from the coffee table.
"Thank you again, Derek," Spencer said as he walked towards the door.
"Anytime Reid," Derek said giving Spencer a small smile.
"See you later," Spencer said walking out the door.
"Bye Reid," Derek said waving at the pair as they left. Eleanor waved her arm sleepily from where she lay on Spencer's shoulder.
Spencer carefully carried a sleeping Eleanor from the car to their house. It was only because of practice he was able to open the front door without waking up Eleanor. He carried her to her bed and laid her down, thankfully she had already been changed into her pajamas at Derek's house. He turned on her night light and gently closed her door.
He pulled out his phone and messaged Gabrielle that he and Eleanor made it home safe. He set his phone down on his nightstand and got ready for bed. Crawling into bed he checked his phone one last time and saw he had gotten a text back from Gabrielle.
Gabrielle: I'm so glad you guys made it back. I really enjoyed tonight, we should do it again sometime.
Spencer stared at the message from Gabrielle for a little bit unsure of how to respond.
Spencer: Me too. As long as nothing comes up maybe we could meet again on Friday night?
Spencer quickly sent the message before he could change his mind and anxiously waited for her reply. Would she think he was being too forward, or would she just "ghost him," he thought. That was a new term he learned from his many talks with Penelope. Before he could spiral even more his phone chimed.
Gabrielle: I would love that! What did you have in mind?
Spencer: My class gets out at four that day, maybe we could get an early dinner at five and then go to a museum?
Gabrielle: That sounds perfect, Where should I meet you?
Spencer: I could just pick you up.
Gabrielle: Well, I am usually at school until 4:30 getting next week's stuff together for my kids and cleaning up from the past week, you could just pick me up at the school.
Spencer: That works, just send me the address.
Gabrielle: I will, I have to be up early for school tomorrow. I'll talk to you later, goodnight!
Spencer: Good night!
AN: So sorry guys for the long wait. But I make no promises about how fast this gets made. My course load is almost doubling next semester so I am going to be very busy.