(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters)

Today's chapter comes from Eris's idea. The boys find a stray.

Thanks for the support on the last chapter.

If you haven't already head over to my profile and vote on the poll to have a say in what story I write next. This will be closing VERY SOON.

Enjoy.

Previously:

"I-I'll nevew t'ean again," he promised. Aaron raised and eyebrow in amusement.

"Not exactly the lesson you should learn from this, buddy."

"No, Jack."

"Please please!"

"No! We can't."

"Why not?"

"Because its a dog!"

Aaron leaned forward on the kitchen counter and let out a long and exasperated sigh.

He'd got home from work an hour ago. JJ was picking Spencer up from nursery so he was in charge or Henry and Jack. And of course, while under his supervision they'd found a mangy stray off the streets.

"But we named her!" Henry cried. Aaron shut his mouth and pinched the bridge of his nose hard.

They've named her, he thought, they've named her!

Jack nodded proudly and stood up, taking the small dog with him and holding her forward proudly. She just sat there dumbly, probably just thankful to be inside.

"This is Rosie," Jack announced.

Rosie licked her nose and panted in Jack's arms. She was smiling, if a dog could smile, and she was looking right at Aaron. She was a sandy ginger colour. Probably soft if she were washed. Her ears were short and matted and her legs stumpy and brown with mud. They would later discover that Rosie was a Norfolk terrier.

Something inside Aaron clenched and he tried to rationalise with his beating heart.

No, you have three kids, no... he thought. But she seems sweet.

Fleas, Aaron, worms, did you think of that? We could take her to the vets... vet bills, and what about when she dies? Think of the boys.

"Dad? Please? We'll take good care of her," Jack said. Rosie was still in his arms and Henry started to pet her head roughly. The dog just closed her eyes and panted through it happily.

"She might be a lost dog," Aaron said finally. He saw the boys slump, their hopeful smiles falling.

"We'll have to make posters in case someone's looking for her," he added.

The boys nodded, Jack putting Rosie on the floor. Her tail wagged excitedly as she padded around their feet.

"But what if she's not found?" Henry asked in an uncharacteristically quiet voice.

Aaron rubbed the back of his head. Of course, the dog was rubbing against his leg. She lifted her head and smiled at him. How can dogs smile? He thought bitterly.

He looked back at the boys and sighed. "I'll... I'll have to talk to mom..."

JJ carried Spencer to the car, his finger painting rolled up and tucked under her arm while Spencer held his new rabbit Arthur between his clenched fists.

He was quiet. Normally he'd turn to JJ, his tiny face brimming with more exultation than it should be able to, and he'd open his mouth and start to list off everything he'd done that day. And by everything, JJ meant literally everything. 'Zach said dat his mommy smotes... gwandpa smotes doesn't he?' This had been just one of his babblings last week. JJ had to slow him down and calmly inform the toddler that no, grandpa Rossi didn't smoke, he chose to have an occasional cigar but it wasn't a habit. And 'grandpa Rossi' was a sentiment Spencer had slowly ingrained into his vocabulary for the past few weeks. The Italian had yet to hear his new title but Aaron and JJ didn't hear the end of it what with Henry and Jack also following suit.

No, today, Spencer was uncharacteristically quiet. JJ walked the final distance to the car and unlocked the door. She was regretting her tight black jeans since the day was surprisingly sunny and the waistband was boring marks into her skin. She placed Spencer in his seat and adjusted her belt to relieve the jean marks.

Spencer wriggled his own butt back into his car seat, well informed of the routine at that point. JJ got comfy in her own jeans and she watched while Spencer reached gingerly onto the middle seat and pulled up Darwin, his other rabbit, by his ear.

Darwin was looking a little scraggly. His left ear was slightly stretched, the fur rubbed flat and the thread at the seams was coming undone slightly. The rest of the fur was unlike Arthur's glossy shine, it was scruffy, patches of love staining it in some places, in need of a wash everywhere else.

Spencer sat Darwin in his lap and squeezed him lovingly, not forgetting Arthur who also got an endearing little hug.

Feeling a little less claustrophobic in her own jeans, JJ leaned forward and pulled Spencer's buckles out from behind him. She adjusted Spencer's red hoodie, moving the zip away from the buckle. He was wearing a short sleeve shirt, half tucked in after nursery. It was light orange and there were little llamas dotted all over it, some brown and yellow and some others dyed hot pink and ocean blue.

His jeans were much cuter than any pair JJ had tried to squeeze into. They were obviously tiny which made Garcia squeal every time she saw them because 'babies have iddy biddy tooshies and chubby little legs and scrummy toesies,' as she put it. On the back pocket was an embroidered fire truck which sparked appeal in kids.

Spencer didn't kick his odd socked feet as he normally did. His purple converse just lay at the edge of his seat as he petted his rabbits.

JJ clicked the buckle together and beamed at Spencer. He didn't smile back.

"You okay, sweetheart?" she asked and Spencer just nodded quickly. JJ got into the front and started to pull out.

"How was your day, Spence?"

JJ looked at Spencer's reflection in the rearview mirror. He looked her way and then down at his fingers. He wet his lips and shrugged.

"Spence?"

Spencer sucked on the corner of his lip before in a small voice he asked: "whewe did I tome fwom?"

JJ frowned and opened her mouth to question him when Spencer started again.

"I know whewe babies tome fwom... but I'm not youw baby..."

"You'll always be one of my boys," JJ said. She was trying to avoid what he asked. She hated lying to him but there was no way she could tell him what he'd already forgotten.

I can't tell him, she thought. Can't... or won't? She shook her head of the selfish thought and glanced back in the rearview mirror to see Spencer looking into it back at her.

"Your real mommy and daddy couldn't keep you, Spence," JJ explained. It really wasn't a lie. The Reid's were no more capable at caring for Spencer than a pair of porcupines. JJ scrunched her lips together angrily at the thought of William Reid leaving Spencer with his schizophrenic mother. Sure, Spencer loved her, JJ thought with a tang of bitterness on her tongue. But he became the parent.

Spencer was taking in the information like sour candy, his light eyebrows swooping down. "Why?"

JJ had to force herself not to run the stop light. "Why!?" she repeated. Spencer nodded in the back seat. The real 'Why' was 'why were children so damn inquisitive?'

"Because... because they couldn't care for you, honey."

Spencer nodded slowly and his eyes dropped. "They didn't want me?" he murmured.

Great, JJ thought. She really was painting a pretty picture of the Reid's. "No, no. Your mommy loved you very much but she's ill and she can't take care of you."

JJ realised how much she missed big Spencer in that moment. He'd probably laugh or promise JJ that he was fine when he really wasn't.

"Is she nice?"

"Yes, very nice. Very stubborn too, just like you little man."

Spencer giggled at that.

"What about my weal daddy?"

JJ closed her eyes for a moment. The lights turned green and she eased her foot off the break. "Spencer, your real father isn't anything like your mommy or you. He's selfish. He wasn't even there when we got you."

"Oh..."

"But that doesn't mean you're not wanted. Me and daddy will always want you," JJ said.

"Why did you teep me?" Spencer asked.

"Why did we...? That's a silly question, Spencer. We love you. There shouldn't be any more reason than that."

Spencer smiled bashfully and he seemed more comfortable than before. "Well I wove you too!" he said.

JJ looked back at him and Spencer smiled. What she really wanted to tell him; why she really had to keep him was more than that.

Because, she thought, you're my Spence and I have to have you in my life any way I can. In any package.

With the tension somewhat dispersed, JJ flicked on the radio.

"What else did you do today?" she asked, stopping on a kid's radio station and turning it up.

Spencer started talking a mile a minute about finger painting and the six books he'd read (nothing as substantial as the copy of 'Great Expectations' that he'd zoomed through over the weekend.)

They were getting close to home when Spencer had finished exacting every part of his day.

JJ heard a familiar tune on the radio and she smirked.

"Henry's favourite songs on," she called into the back.

Spencer peeked up and held up two fingers like pincers. JJ nodded and mimicked the action.

She wasn't exactly obsessed with the song but she knew Aaron despised it, so obviously she had the boys sing it on every car journey.

"Baby shark do do da doo da doo," JJ sang with the radio while Spencer butchered his own attempt in the back, giggling all the while.

Spencer clapped his rabbits together when it finished.

"Do ooo doo do do do doooo..." Spencer mumbled from the back and JJ laughed.

In the last fifteen minutes, the toddler managed to sink to sleep with both his rabbits pressed to his cheeks.

JJ walked up to the front door, one arm around Spencer the other trying to keep her bags from slipping down her fingers which were already growing red from strain.

Before she could reach out to open the door (something that she was sure to cause her things to crash to the floor) it opened for her.

Aaron stood in the doorway, one hand holding the door the other pressed to the frame. He smiled sheepishly but didn't move from his obstructing position.

"Jen!" he said an unfamiliar exuberance to his voice that had JJ frowning. She shifted, moving the bags further up her hand to relieve the pressure and Aaron lunged forward and took them all from her, his awkward smile still in place.

JJ, now with her hand free, hitched Spencer up, unintentionally waking him up.

"Let me help you, sweetheart," Aaron said, placing the bags on the other side of the door before returning to his position.

"Can we come in?" JJ asked. She frowned at Aaron's own lack of scowl. He had an idiotically desperate look on his face.

"What have you done?"

"Nothing. We... I haven't... well." Aaron rubbed the back of his neck and his smile slipped into a slant.

Spencer rubbed his cheek against JJ's shoulder, pulling Arthur up to rub his eyes with. JJ ran her hand up his back gently as she eyed Aaron.

"Well?"

"The boys... um..."

Spencer turned his head and squinted at Aaron. He pointed to him lazily, his head still against JJ.

Aaron waved awkwardly but stopped when JJ glared at him.

"If they've made a mess they can clean it, Aaron."

"It's not that."

"Come on, we'd like to come in sometime today. What's happened?"

Spencer closed his eyes sleepily and the next time he opened them there was a scruffy looking dog poking its head out from behind Aaron's legs. He sat up in JJ's arms and pointed down at the dog instead of at Aaron.

"Puppy!" he shrieked, kicking JJ in his leg-bouncing excitement.

JJ looked from the scruffball to Aaron who had that dumb smile on again.

"Surprise?"

JJ shook her head and shifted Spencer who was calling to the dog and wriggling madly. "No," she said.

"The boys-"

"No."

"-found him-"

"Aaron-"

"-they named her already-"

"Nope, nope, not doing this."

"Rosie is actually quite sweet, she can sit and-"

"Aaron!"

Aaron stopped and finally forced himself to painfully look into JJ's irritated eyes.

Spencer was twisting wildly to see the dog. He was smiling so wide, Aaron was sure it was the happiest he'd seen the boy.

Aaron bent down and scratched behind 'Rosie's ears and she cocked her head to the side fondly.

"We have to take her somewhere else, Aaron," JJ said as Aaron straightened up, the dog still attached to his side as Spencer was to JJ.

"But Jack and Henry have named her."

"The sooner we do it the less attached they'll-"

"Wosie!" Spencer yelled. The dog flicked her head toward him and her tail began to beat on Aaron's ankle. Spencer giggled and put his face up close to JJ's so his nose was touching her cheek.

"Tan we 'teep wosie?" he asked in a small voice. "I pwomise to love hew..."

JJ pressed Spencer's head back to her shoulder and rubbed his back again. She stepped forward making both Aaron and Rosie hop out the way.

Aaron watched her back as she walked down the hall. Spencer stared at Rosie with a puppy dog face of his own, waving sadly at the dog.

JJ paused at the kitchen door and she sighed. Not looking back at Aaron she said, "she needs a bath."

Jack and Henry, who had been listening on the stairs, thundered down and scooped the dog up, taking her back up with them. Aaron was smiling for real as he shut the door, listening to Spencer chatter excitedly to JJ about all the things they'd do with Rosie.

Thanks for reading.

Next chapter will feature Dave babysitting Spencer as requested by Diana and Mob85.

See you then and don't forget to vote.