A/N: Hi! As promised, chapter 3! I'm halfway done with chapter 6 right now, so I'll keep updating regularly.

To answer 'Guest's question: "But if the team rescued reid and Annabelle why don't any of them know who she is?" The team handles dozens of cases every month. Over a period of 8 months, it would be easy to forget one person they came in contact with for maybe 10 minutes.

tannerose5 asked me about the unsub. As I said before, I'm keeping that deliberately vague. I can tell you he was caught, and that Annabelle will ask Reid about it in a future chapter (that I haven't written yet...).

Which reminds me that I have a question: I need a name for the unsub, and I'm coming up blank, any suggestions?

Also, thanks to 'marcallie' and 'Callista252' for pointing out some glaring mistakes!

A/N 2: EDIT 11 MAY 2020: Again, only minor changes, there are some about Annabelle's background, though. Enjoy!

Chapter 3:

Annabelle thanked whatever deity was out there that the restaurant had turned up their heating to the maximum. Even with her own personal furnace - also known as the baby - it was freezing outside, and it had just started snowing lightly. Add to that the fact that her coat would no longer close over her huge belly, and you had one cranky mother-to-be on your hands. Oh, and she couldn't have caffeine, something her sleep-deprived self desperately needed.

She quickly sat down at a corner booth where she could keep an eye on the front door. "Good afternoon, I'm Kaylee, I'll be your waitress today, what can I get for you?" the waitress said cheerfully.

"Just a hot chocolate, please, I'll order when my… lunch date gets here," she replied.

She had been running a little late herself, but from the looks of it, Spencer wasn't going to be on time either. Annabelle relaxed into her booth and rubbed the top of her belly. The baby had been really active these last few days, but she hadn't felt him all day today. In fact, she hadn't felt him since she'd talked to Spencer the other day. It would've worried her if she hadn't had this happen before.

The waitress put her cocoa in front of her, and Annabelle sipped it carefully. She would've been happier with a nice cup of tea or coffee, but the doctor had warned her about too much caffeine, so she'd kept it down to one cup a week. It was killing her.

She checked her watch. Spencer was only ten minutes late, which really wasn't that bad, but Annabelle found herself biting her lip in anxiety. That had been happening a lot more as her pregnancy progressed. It had driven her sister mad back when she'd still been living there. But, just as she was about to pick up her phone and call him, a cold gust of wind announced his entry. He glanced around the restaurant for a minute, before spotting her and coming over to sit across from her. "Sorry I'm late, this case we've been working on…"

She waved his apology away and smiled softly. "It's okay, I was late too."

Spencer glanced at her half-empty cup of cocoa, but didn't comment. "So, have you been here before?" he asked curiously, picking up the menu.

"No, but I have a friend in D.C. who comes in here from time to time. Apparently, they've got good food for good prices," she replied, glancing at the menu herself, even though she'd already been completely through it.

He smiled a little awkwardly, and immersed himself back into the menu. The waitress appeared at their table again. "I'll have a coffee and an omelet with bacon, mushrooms and onion, but no spinach, please," Spencer ordered, hardly looking up from his menu.

Annabelle smiled sheepishly. "I'll have the same, but with water instead of coffee, thanks." The waitress smiled brightly and went back to the kitchen to relay their order. "I hate this, I need my coffee in the morning, but the doctor recommended herbal tea instead. I mean, I like tea, but I need caffeine, you know?" she babbled, feeling a little awkward herself. "Which is weird, because I've never been much of a coffee drinker before."

His smile turned more genuine. "I understand what you mean. About the caffeine, I mean." He hesitated then, and Annabelle felt like he was holding back.

"If you want to ask something, feel free," she offered.

"Sorry," he said, ducking his head a little. It made him seem so much younger. Not that she knew how old he was exactly. She made a mental note to ask. "You were a high school teacher, right?" he asked, oblivious to her internal train of thought. "Did you ever have any serious problems with any of them?" She had a feeling he was asking for a reason, but decided to let it go.

"The school I worked at wasn't huge, but we had our fair share of issues. Never anything too drastic, but sure."

"Like what?"

Annabelle sighed. That was the part about her job she didn't much like. "A few possessions of drugs, some bullying, fights between the students… There was one girl who was cutting herself. I'd glanced it in a bathroom mirror once. When I tried talking to her about it, to help her, she lashed out. She said that I was stalking her, and that following girls into the bathroom was creepy. I was lucky the principal didn't take those accusations to heart, but I still felt so guilty that I couldn't help her…"

"Did you try to find her again?" he asked.

Annabelle kept her eyes on her hot cocoa, but nodded. "'Tried to' being the operative phrase. She wasn't ready to be helped, so I just let her know that I was available if she needed me. She never did, though. Luckily, there were other kids at the school I could help," she explained.

Spencer sat back, processing that as the food was brought to their table. Annabelle bit her lip, debating whether or not to bring it up. "Spencer?" she asked. He looked up, looking a bit confused. His thoughts were obviously elsewhere. "Is everything okay at work?" she asked.

"Yes, everything's…" he trailed off as Annabelle raised an eyebrow. "It's just this case. It's always harder when children are involved…"

"I guess you can't tell me about it, can you?"

He shook his head. "Not while it's an open case."

"Well, then I'm just going to have to take your mind off of it, won't I?" Spencer looked at her warily as she grinned at him. She liked making him squirm, it was funny. She grinned at him, deciding to let him off the hook. "So how old are you exactly? I can't believe I never asked."

"I'm 31. My birthday is 28 October."

"I'll have to mark it in my calendar," she teased. "Mine is in August."

"The 8th, I know," he replied absently. "You'll be 26." At the confused look she shot him, he explained. "I had access to your file after…"

It was a little bit weird to have someone know stuff about you when you haven't volunteered that information, but she shrugged it off. It's not like they didn't talk about much more personal stuff down in that basement. She shot him a wry grin. "You checked up on me after our time together?" she teased. 'Their time together' was maybe romanticizing it a little bit, but… if she didn't do that, she had nightmares, so she was perfectly comfortable lying to herself.

The corners of his mouth twisted down at her turn of phrase and he winced, but he didn't comment on it. "Just- just the basics. I didn't really keep track, I didn't… I didn't think you'd want me to."

"But did you want to?" she asked curiously. She wondered sometimes what he thought of her. Was he disgusted every time he saw her? He didn't seem like it, but what did she know? He could be pretending and she'd have no idea. Or maybe he just had no interest in getting to know her beyond whatever needed to be done for their son. Maybe she didn't want to know what he thought. "You know what, stupid question, forget I asked," she backtracked quickly, hoping she wasn't blushing too badly.

Spencer didn't reply, and now Annabelle was at a loss for what to say, so they just sat there awkwardly. Really awkwardly.

He opened his mouth to say something when her phone rang. He raised his eyebrows at the sound of Star Wars' Imperial March. She grimaced. "I'm sorry, I have to take this." She pulled out her phone and quickly picked up, half-turning away from him. "Hi, mom… No, I haven't given birth, my due date isn't for a few weeks. And I'll tell you when- I'm not being facetious!… Mom, this is not me taking a certain tone with you," she argued. Tears of frustration sprang to her eyes, even though this was a perfectly normal interaction with her mother, par for the course, even. Stupid hormones. "No, mother, I– What? No! Mom! … You know what, do whatever the hell you want!" She clenched her teeth and hung up, wishing she had a horn to slam down. At least she hadn't started crying. Yet. It was early.

Spencer paused for a second. "Your mother's ringtone is Darth Vader's theme music?" he asked quizzically, digging into his food and politely ignoring what must have been a puzzling one-sided conversation.

Annabelle let out a breathless laugh. "Yeah, I thought it was fitting. If you ever meet her, please don't tell her, she'll kill me," she pleaded, taking a bite herself. "You like Star Wars?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Garcia - our technical analyst - made me watch it," he replied, leaning forward a little. Annabelle grinned to herself, she kind of wanted to meet his team one of these days. "I'm not usually one for popular culture."

"Most people call it pop culture, you know," she teased. "And Star Wars is great, what's not to love?"

Spencer frowned. "It's completely scientifically inaccurate, the story makes no sense, and the prequel trilogy opened up a lot of plotholes."

She snorted. "No one watches Star Wars for the pseudo-science, Spencer. It's just fun. It taps into that little kid buried somewhere inside you, that just thought lightsabers were awesome, and who wanted to go on an adventure in a spaceship with heart-of-gold smugglers to save the universe."

Once again, Spencer was frowning. It was kind of adorable. "I never wanted that."

"I bet you were an adorable kid. But just so you know, I have a whole plan on which movies and tv shows to show this kid," she said with a grin, looking down at her enormous belly. "Isn't that right, munchkin? You'll watch movies with mommy, right?" She rubbed her belly affectionately, before looking up again. Spencer looked uncomfortable, and Annabelle realized belatedly that she'd never really referred to the baby as a person. And Spencer hadn't really given her an answer yet. But at the same time, she didn't want to push. What if he said no? "Unless there's something specific you want to show him?" she asked gently. He looked up, wide-eyed and a little confused. Add it to the list of things she thought were cute about Spencer Reid. "Come on, there has to be something you like."

"Uhm. Doctor Who?"

"Is that a question or an answer? Though, to be fair, it was already on my list. New Who was, anyway. If you want to watch through the snooze fest that is the first Doctor's episodes, you're welcome to them," she babbled.

"You like Doctor Who? Wait, the first Doctor isn't boring," he argued, but his smile told her he wasn't all that serious. He had a nice smile. He usually looked so serious.

"I'm sorry, have you seen An Unearthly Child?" she teased.

His smile turned sheepish, but he didn't reply.

"Luckily, we have more than enough time to talk about that," she said, giving him an out. "Speaking of decisions…" The smile dropped from Spencer's face, and Annabelle missed it already. "What- what are you going to tell your team?" She'd chickened out. She just didn't want to push. Sitting here with him was… nice. She hadn't felt comfortable in public since… and especially not in the company of a man, but Spencer was different. Every other man on the planet made her feel scared and tense, but… she felt safe with him here. Her therapist was going to have a field day.

Frowning, Spencer pushed his plate aside, not looking at her. "I- I can't lie to them. After everything we've all been through… They're my family. I need to tell them the truth."

The truth. That this child that Annabelle already loved more than life itself was essentially the product of… what, rape? Did this even classify as such? Did it matter? Spencer called his team his family, but Annabelle hadn't even been able to tell her own sister - the person she was closest to in the world - the full truth.

"I told my sister that I'd had a one night stand a week before the… before being kidnapped. She repeated that to my parents and from there, it's spread to basically everyone I've ever met. Probably. This seems like the kind of thing that somehow makes it to your high school classmates. I wouldn't really know, I don't really… talk to people. I prefer being on my own and I just realized how pathetic that sounds. I'm sorry," she said, burying her head in her hands. Why did she have to be so awkward? Why couldn't she just be a normal, outgoing person like her sister?

To her surprise, Spencer chuckled a little. "At least we have that in common… Would you mind? If I told them?"

She peeked between her fingers. He seemed so sincere and worried about her. Putting her hands in her lap and staring at the table like a grown adult who was avoiding her problems, she shrugged. "They're your friends. Are you sure you're ready to tell them?"

He didn't answer right away, and she looked up to see him staring out the window. Annabelle peaked around, but there were no people in the seats around them, so it was unlikely that their conversation had been overheard. "I'm not sure if I'll ever be ready." He sounded pained, and Annabelle's heart ached for him. They had both been bruised and battered by this experience. She reached over and put her hand over his. He started and looked down at their hands. "But they…" He licked his lips as he tried to find the right words. "They've gotten me through so much, and they deserve to know. They… they're my family," he repeated softly.

"Uhm… I mean, I'd prefer if you didn't, but… if you think it's the right thing to do, then you should do it," she replied. Did she relish the fact that more people would find out what had truly happened to her? Of course not. But these people weren't her family, and she didn't particularly care what they thought of her. Except that she kind of did, because clearly Spencer cared a lot about them. All she could really do was hope that they weren't judgemental people.

Eventually, they got the check - Spencer insisted on paying - got up and donned their winter coats again. She shivered when Spencer opened the door. She had almost expected him to say goodbye to her at the door, but he just followed her to her car. She wasn't sure if it was him being courteous, or just a habit. Either way, it was nice. Apparently, chivalry wasn't dead.

"Thanks for lunch," she said when they reached her car. She was kind of hoping to say goodbye quickly, it was still snowing lightly, and she was freezing.

"Sure. Do you want to meet up again tomorrow?" he asked in a rush.

Annabelle was surprised, she hadn't expected him to take the initiative. "Uhm, sure, that'd be nice."

/*/

Over the next week, Reid met Annabelle for lunch every day at S&G. It got to the point where their usual waitress, Kaylee, figured out their order. After that first time, Reid always took their signature sandwich, while Annabelle either took an omelet or one of the sandwiches, depending on the craving she was having that day.

Annabelle laughed. "Seriously? A prank war?"

"He started it," he replied, smiling despite his words. Reid had found that Annabelle was easy to talk to, though she was completely different from anyone on the team. He loved them dearly, but they didn't always get him. While Annabelle didn't always understand the scientific jargon he tended to use, and didn't have a background in any of his areas of expertise, she was a great listener. And she laughed at his jokes.

"Okay, so let me see if I got this right: Derek Morgan is the single, charming guy I saw at your job, the 'big brother' type. Aaron Hotchner is the team leader, he has a son named Jack, and he's basically the dad of the team, right?" she asked, ticking them off on her fingers.

Reid grimaced at the description of Hotch as 'the dad', but didn't argue. Ever since he'd called the team his family, Annabelle had insisted on giving them all appropriate titles.

"Jennifer Jareau, aka JJ, the blonde one I met, is married with 1 kid; Henry, who is your godson. What's her husband's name again?"

"William. But he goes by Will. You're pretty good with the names so far," he commented. She seemed relaxed, her hands resting on her belly. He knew her due date wasn't for another 3 weeks, but she looked like she was ready to give birth right now. Not that he would tell her that.

She shrugged, grimacing a little as she wiggled in her seat to find a more comfortable position. "I had 5 classes of anywhere from 7 to 18 students at any given time. If I didn't know their names, they'd try to get away with mischief. Though it's easier when I have faces to match the names to," she replied. It was a thinly veiled hint, but Reid ignored it. She wasn't really fishing to meet them, he knew, she just wanted to know if he'd told them the truth yet. The answer was no. He liked spending time with Annabelle, much more than he'd expected actually, and he… he wanted to keep whatever this was to himself a little longer.

"Okay, then there's Penelope… something…"

"Garcia," Reid supplied.

"Right, Garcia. She's the crazy tech girl and resident little sister, David Rossi is the cool uncle and… there's one more, isn't there?"

"Alex Blake. She's an expert in forensic linguistics."

She hummed as the name did ring a bell, and took another sip from her hot chocolate - the one craving she never seemed to tire of. Though maybe it wasn't a craving. She was always drinking either that or chamomile tea. "Okay, but that doesn't tell me who she is in the team. You've got the sisters; JJ and Penelope, the big brother; Derek, the dad; Hotch, the uncle; Rossi… Who is she?" she asked, shifting in her seat again.

He shrugged, a little lost.

"Guess I'll have to figure it out when I meet her. She hasn't been on the team as long as the others, has she?"

"No, but she fit in right away. It's nice to have another linguist there."

"I bet," she said, leaning back and closing her eyes, a small frown on her face as she rested one hand on her belly and the other rubbing her side.

She seemed tired, though according to his research, pregnant women should get their energy back in the third trimester. "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned. It was a little odd to be so constantly worried, but pregnancies could be tricky, and he didn't want anything to happen to her. Or to the baby.

"Hmm?" She opened her eyes, looking sleepy. "No, I'm okay. It's just impossible to find a good position to sleep in when you're the size of a whale," she replied with a grin.

Suddenly, the smile dropped from her face, and she gasped. "Annabelle?" he asked, his worry skyrocketing. She quickly grabbed his hand and held it against the top of her belly. Reid knew he was blushing furiously, but did his best to ignore it.

"Can you feel that?" she asked, beaming at him.

Reid frowned, and was about to reply that he couldn't when… he felt a sharp push against his hand. He knew from when JJ was pregnant that this was the baby kicking, but while it had freaked him out back then, he felt… wonder at the touch now.

He chuckled breathlessly. "He's so strong…"

Annabelle was beaming. "He hasn't been moving a whole lot lately, but when he does, it's quite forceful. I'm just glad it wasn't my bladder this time."

Intelligently, Reid knew that pregnant women were considered more beautiful because they were carrying offspring, and it awakened a protective instinct in males, but he never figured it would apply to him. He had to admit though, that even objectively speaking, she was pretty. Her face was symmetrical, and her brown eyes were very dark, which gave the impression that her pupils were dilated. She wasn't beautiful like JJ, but she was attractive nonetheless.

"What are you staring at?" she asked with a smile, still holding his hand in place.

Reid opened his mouth, but no sound came out. As he reclaimed his hand, he finally managed to utter something. "Nothing, just thinking."

"Do you ever not do that?" she asked curiously, cocking her head to the side. It was a habit of hers he'd picked up on fairly quickly.

"Do what?"

"Think."

He frowned, looked at his cup of coffee. "I don't think I can, even if I tried."

Annabelle grabbed her own mug of hot chocolate. "Hmm, it's not easy. I used to try to do it with my dad. I'd sit in his lap and try to think of nothing. I couldn't really do it back then, but it was nice to spend time with my dad. When he wasn't at the office, or too busy with work."

"Sounds nice."

She smiled up at him. "It was."

They sat in silence like that for a few more minutes, before Annabelle paid the check - they were taking turns now - and they got up to leave.

"Same time tomorrow?" he asked, opening the door for her.

"Of course," she replied, grinning.

/*/

Reid walked back to the BAU in a good mood, largely due to his unborn son and Annabelle. Something about feeling his son kick was… awe-inspiring. He'd never thought he'd be a father, never even given it much thought, but here he was. Scared, but… excited.

His musings were interrupted by the ringing of his phone. He checked the caller-id. Annabelle. Dread settled in his stomach as he quickly answered the phone.

"Spencer! The baby, it's coming!"