A/N: I'm sorry for such a late update. I was quite disheartened by the mellow response the story received (sorry again), so I kind of abandoned it. But I owe it to the constant readers to bring this to some satisfactory finish. I had three more story arcs in mind – one where Spencer and his team is forced to pursue Monica as a suspect, another in which Spencer and Monica have to defend their family from a horde of serial killers (this one was going to have some head-on Garvez too), and the last one where Spencer's worst fears for himself come true. Alas, I am not going to be able to write all that anymore (new commitments, detachment from the story in question etc), but I will post all that I have written so far for this story. That's a promise. Forgive me, and thank you for reading this.

"Oh, they were blind, too blind to see
Your faults had made me love you more"

- Sara Teasdale

Spencer was examining some M.E. reports in the LAPD office when he heard them talking.
"Henry is finally over Spiderman. He is still obsessed with the comics, but he said he wants to be something different this year"
Halloween. They were talking about his festival.
Matt said to JJ,
"I hope we catch this guy soon. I hate missing Halloween. Kristy has to take the kids out for trick-or-treating alone"
Spencer thought he too had a lot to miss this year. Veronica's first Halloween with them. She had been so excited about dressing up as a bunny.
And Monica.
In a way, it would be their first Halloween together where she could dress up. The last time she had been in the hospital.
'Has it been that long already?'
To Spencer, the memory of her time in the hospital was as vivid as ever. But when he thought about it now, it felt like those were the memories of another man. So much had happened since. Veronica, especially.
Spencer and Monica's plans to do a haunted house this year were set aside, with silent grieving, when he had been called into work just three days before Halloween. And judging from the progress the team had made so far, there was no way they were getting back home in time to celebrate. JJ and Matt were optimistic, but he was a realist. He knew he wouldn't be there to take Veronica trick-or-treating for her first time.
"You will be here next year. Don't worry about it"
Monica had told him so. Of course she wasn't angry with him for missing their favourite holiday. Of course she wasn't mad at him for leaving her alone almost every week to do everything by herself. That was her.
Saint Monica.
And he alone knew how grateful he was to have her in his life.

Night after Halloween -

They had finally caught the holiday-ruining bastard. Normally, everyone would appear to look satisfied, at the least. But instead, they all looked sullen and tired.
Everyone had missed celebrating Halloween with their family. JJ and Matt sat side by side, looking into their phones at Halloween pictures of their kids. Penelope, sweet Penelope, was handing everyone Halloween candies, trying to spread some cheer. It only seemed to work on Luke.
"You okay?"
Spencer turned to the sound of Emily's voice. She stood by his desk in the bullpen, while he was packing up to go home. He answered her.
"I'm fine. Why?"
Emily said,
"You missed your first Halloween with Veronica. Is Monica mad?"
That made him smile. He zipped up his satchel, saying,
"Monica's never mad"
"And I'll bet she is sweet too", Emily said.
Cryptic.
Odd.
He looked at Emily, trying to catch her meaning. She was biting back a smile. Before Spencer could ask her what she meant, a childish squeal pierced the air.
"Daddy!"
Veronica had wrapped herself around his legs before he could turn around to face her.
"Awww!", Garcia exclaimed, "Look at her"
His heart skipping a beat, Spencer turned and lifted his daughter into his arms. Wearing a fluffy, grey bunny costume, grinning at him, placing her fuzzy paws on both sides of his face, Veronica greeted him.
"Happy Halloween, Daddy!"
"Ha..."
Unable to make any coherent sound, he just laughed. He hugged her and kissed her face, still struggling to believe that Veronica was there with him in the BAU.
"Wh...", he laughed some more, "What are you... where is..."
When he tore his gaze away from her, he saw Monica. It made clear what Emily had meant.
Standing at JJ's desk, Monica was in costume too.
A chocolate glazed doughnut with sprinkles.
Spencer thought his face would get stuck that way if he didn't stop grinning soon. Smiling wide, being stared at by everyone in the office, Monica walked to him.
"Hi", she said.
"Hi"
"Thanks, Emily"
Emily gave her a nod and walked over to the rest of her team, giving Reid's family a moment of privacy.
"Mon, look!", Veronica said.
She got out of Spencer's arms and sat down on top of his desk. Her face was inches from the small photo frame.
"That's me! Daddy, that's me! Mon, look!", she said.
They smiled at her and then at each other. Spencer eyed Monica up and down again. He wondered aloud so only they could hear.
"I thought you were going to be Maleficent this year"
Monica took a step closer to him, speaking under her breath,
"I was. But would seeing me dressed as Maleficent make your mouth water? I think not"
He was still grinning as she kissed him. Monica grazed his stubbled cheek with her hand. She gazed at him with the fondness he had come to treasure. Spencer said,
"This was a really nice surprise. Thank you"
"Ah well. We were going to be waiting for you at home like this. But then I thought about how much self-loathing you could pack in that one hour of commute until you saw us. Almost a complete hour where you're not smiling, where you're hating yourself – I couldn't stand the thought of it. So we came to get you instead"
He tried to hug her. The donut part of her costume squished and she laughed as his arms went around it to encircle her. Spencer kissed her on the nose.
"You're wonderful"
"Ain't no one as wonderful as you, sunshine. But thank you. And I think we have been rude long enough now. Your friends are standing right there"
He had pretty much forgotten they weren't alone at the moment. With a hint of colour in his cheeks, he pulled away from her. He laid a hand on the small of her back and they walked the few steps towards his teammates.

"Hi! How have you been? It's been way too long since we..."
Monica greeted them with a megawatt smile. She only turned to Veronica after she had finished talking to them all.
"Sweetheart, you have something for Daddy's friends, don't you?"
Veronica nodded. From the bunny pouch above her stomach, she took out a fistful of candies and handed a couple each to her Dad's colleagues.
"Happy Halloween", she said every time.
Matt said to Spencer, speaking softly,
"If I didn't know better, I wouldn't have believed it. She looks a lot like you"
Spencer patted Veronica's head in affection, saying,
"We get that often"
As they all headed to the lift, Veronica being spoiled by her aunts JJ and Penelope, Monica and Spencer hung back a little. He asked her,
"What's for dinner?"
"Pumpkin soup and lasagna"
Making sure they were not being overheard, he said,
"And for dessert?"
Monica looked up at him, fully registering his meaning. There was a twinkle in her eyes and a smile on her face.
"Me", she said.
He whispered, smirking,
"My favourite"