A/N: Hello again, everyone!
My apologies for my mistakes but do enjoy the chapter!
"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas," Élise sang along to a classic Christmas song as she was helped decorated the apartment. "Soon the bells will start. And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing. Right within your heart." She was putting up snowflakes on the windows to give it that frosted windows feel and ornaments on the tree. Just recently she and Reid took Anastasia to a Christmas tree farm to pick out a small tree. After that was done, she picked up Anastasia from the couch, who was observing the tree in the corner and the movie on TV more than some of the decorations.
"What do you think, huh?" Élise hopes she could get Anastasia excited about Christmas. "You like that? Because Santa Clause is coming to town. And very soon."
"How do I look?" Reid asked as he walked out of his bedroom.
Élise just smiled in order to keep her mouth from dropping open. Spencer dressed in a well-tailored dark blue suit and polished shoes with a matching sweater, micro checked shirt and tie. His hair was a bit messy but still styled in his own way. And who would forget the mismatch socks? He looked like a high-fashion male supermodel.
"You look good." Élise soon clammed up again so she couldn't say anything else at the moment. She felt her heart raising but in a good way. And was it hot in the room or was is it just her? Reid just looked so chic. So handsome… And so…so…
"Thank you." Reid smiled. "I'll be teaching at Georgetown."
"Georgetown University?"
"Yeah. After what happened with Theo, I…don't think I can ever go back to Marbury, and I don't want to risk getting the PTSS symptoms. I told them that and they completely understood." Reid sighed.
Shaking her head, "Still can't believe Theo's dead; he seemed like a good person, unlike his parents. Well, on the bright side, Merva's rotting in H-E-L-L for all eternity and Meadows is rotting her field acres away in federal prison, just like the rest of those hypocritical overzealous religious yahoos." Élise covered Anastasia's ears. "Meadows is lucky I didn't beat the crap out of her when I had the chance to."
Reid chuckled. "Yup. Very lucky. But too bad that Cruz told Prentiss that unless to go through the training to become an agent with the Bureau, you can't carry a gun when consulting with us."
"Yeah, kind of sucks but at least I can always take more self-defense classes. And since you're on your sabbatical, you'll be coming home at around…five or six?"
"I should be. Who knows? Maybe I'll be home earlier than that." Reid noticed a movie was on. "Home Alone?"
"The second one; Lost in New York."
Reid nodded his head, "Classic movie."
"I know." Élise squealed as Reid's phone vibrated in his pants pocket. "Let me guess, you got to go?"
"Yeah."
"I just made some fresh coffee while I was decorating."
"Great. And thanks. I'll need this more than ever." As Reid pours himself some coffee, Élise sets up his bag with his notes and books. "And good luck."
"Thanks. Now, are you sure you'll be fine?"
"Yeah. I mean, why wouldn't we be?"
Reid shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know why, but I'm having this feeling."
"Maybe it's the nerves," Élise suggested. "It happens."
"I've taught before. But still…" Spencer took a big sigh and all of a sudden, he unexpectedly hugged Élise, who surprisingly hugged him back. "Just be careful and stay alert at all times."
"I will."
"Okay." Reid picked up Anastasia from the couch and hugged her, but not before kissing her forehead. Tapping her nose, "I'll be back, okay? I love you." He hands her to Élise, who he soon gave a fist bump. "Later."
"Same. And good luck."
"So, what I hope you get from the lecture is that you can see that influence the Middle Ages has on criminology today," Reid confidently said to a large crowd. "Torture, sexual violence, cleansing, entertainment even. You might even detect the crimes committed today are 'motiveless.' Senseless, even. Have we moved away between the difference back then and now? We can use violence in the Middle Ages to show if we have really moved on from the violence we see today. Thank you."
A loud audience applause soon came after. People soon came up to Reid as he was packing his stuff,
"Thank you so much."
"Absolutely great."
"Thank you for coming."
"Great presentation." A rather familiar voice said to Reid, causing him to freeze in place for a minute. Reid slowly turned around,
"Dad?"
"Hey, son." His father said as he gave him a small smile. "Wow. You look different from the last time I saw you."
He turns around to pack up again, hoping the next time he turned around he would just go away. "Ten years, a month, and four days, but hey, who's counting, right? What are you doing here?"
"I heard from one of my coworkers that you are their nephew's professor. I thought you were an FBI agent."
"I still am; I'm just on a sabbatical."
"Oh. Interesting." Another moment of silence. "So…I've semi-retired; did so a couple of years ago but I'm thinking about retiring full-time soon than you think."
"Wonderful." Reid was still uninterested.
"I'll be in town for a few days."
"Good." Finally done packing his stuff. "And while you're in town, I suggest staying the hell away from me."
"Spencer…"
"Just…" Reid stopped him, refusing him to speak any further. "Please. Stay away. Stay away or I'll have you arrested. And I mean it." He soon walked away from him.
Reid rushed home. After that unexpected visit from his father at his lecture, he just needed to come home. When he came home, after locking in the home security code, he soon sees Élise with Anastasia on the couch together watching a classic Christmas special.
"Hey, you."
"Hey." Reid greeted her back. "This is the Charlie Brown Christmas special?"
"Yeah-yeah. I even made hot chocolate and baked some chocolate chip cookies. Want some?"
Reid joined them on the couch and placed Anastasia on his lap. "I'm fine." Élise soon noticed the look on Reid's face.
"What's wrong?"
"I saw my father today."
"Is that good or bad?" Élise shrugged her shoulders.
"I haven't seen him in over ten years. Before that, seventeen years."
"Wow. What happened?"
"He left me and my paranoid schizophrenic mother when I was ten. And…we witnessed him leave. Even my mother agreed he should take me for a few days, but he refused. His excuse was he didn't know how to take care of me anymore and how he lost his confidence to be my father. Oh! And he even explained why he abandoned us in a letter. And…you want to know the saddest thing is? He was just ten minutes away and he never let me know; he's been in town the whole time and he never let me know."
Élise shook her head in disgust, "Wow. I can't even…" She had to put her hand on her head. "Seriously, parents who abandoned their family…"
Reid agreed with her, "Yeah."
"Did he ask about Anastasia?"
"Nope and I'm sure he doesn't know."
"Do you ever plan to tell him about her?'
Covering his daughter's ears, who seemed to be more focused on the movie, "Not even if H-E-L-L was frozen in either liquid nitrogen, liquid hydrogen or even liquid helium. And liquid helium is the coldest substance on Earth."
"And I can't say I don't blame you; you have every right to be hurt and angry."
"I'm not hurt and angry; I've just been oblivious to his existence as he doesn't exist to me anymore."
"Understandable. Not everyone has great relationships with their parents. It's sad but true."
"Yeah. I told him to stay away from me while he was in town or I'll have him arrested."
Élise had to ask, "Would you?"
"Honestly, I don't know," Reid said as he grabbed a cookie. "Mmm. These are good."
"Thanks. Baked them from scratch."
"That explains why they taste so good. Is that what was in that bowl yesterday?"
"Yeah. It's better to let them chill than bake them right away."
"It's great." Reid offers half of his cookie to Anastasia. "Have half of mine."
Élise soon changed the tone of the conversation. "So…your mother's a paranoid schizophrenic?"
"Yes." Reid quietly admits. "And she even has Alzheimer's disease."
This made Élise's skin tingle and her eyes wary. "Sorry to hear that. Is she a diabetic?"
"No."
"My father is," Élise admits. "In my family, mostly my father's side, there's also heart problems, heart disease, obesity. And drunks."
"Wow. I guess you managed to stray away."
Sighing, "Yeah, I guess. Can I ask you some? If you don't want to answer it, you don't have it."
"Anything."
"Before Anastasia, did you ever considered having children of your own?"
Reid looked at Anastasia. He did admit he wanted children, but sometimes he wondered about…
"I have. I wouldn't mind if I still did. Would you?"
"I'm scared; I mean, I would like to have them but sometimes…I just fear I'm going to mess them up or not be there for them."
"You're honest. I respect that." Reid smiles.
Elise smiled right back, "And you're honest, too. I, too, respect that."
Reid flickered his eyes just as Élise was doing that same before they both realized they—along with Anastasia—had fallen asleep on the couch. Reid and Élise both realized she had her head on his chest and Anastasia had her head on Élise's chest.
"Did we…?" Élise asked as she yawned.
"Yeah, I think we did."
"Sorry about that," Élise said as they both got off the couch and she handed a sleeping Anastasia to Reid.
"It's okay," Reid said as he took Anastasia into his arms. "That happens after watching classic Christmas specials and movies, including The Sound of Music." After a brief moment of silence,
"Well…good night."
"Good night."
A/N: Sorry to leave you hanging here, but until next time!