A/N: Hello again, everyone!
A shout-out to everyone who's been reading and reviewing my stories.
Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. No copyright infringement intended.
My apologies if I made any mistakes but enjoy the chapter!
Reid lightly moaned as he started to wake up. He was released from the hospital a few days ago. And just in time for a wonderful day.
Someone knocked on the door, and dashing in was Anastasia; Élise behind her with a breakfast tray.
"Mornin', daddy," Anastasia stood by his bedside and jumped. "It's my birthday!"
Reid stroked her head. "I know. Happy Birthday, sweetheart."
"Good morning, love," Élise set the breakfast tray on his lap and tenderly kissed his lips. "A fitting and brain-protecting meal."
Rolled and steel-cut oatmeal, berries to the side, leafy greens, water, non-caffeinated herbal tea, and squeezed orange juice.
"You're too kind to me," Reid kissed her back.
"Anything to protect that brain of yours," Élise massaged his head.
Reid chuckled as Élise set Anastasia on the bed. "So…what do you want for your birthday?"
"You, daddy," Anastasia hugged him, setting her head on his chest.
Reid kissed her head again. Just the thought of not being able to see her, Athena and Angela, Élise, and his mother terrified him, but at least he's here with his loved one now.
"I'm not going away for a long time, honey."
Anastasia replied, "Gah."
Élise smirked and scooped Anastasia off the bed. "Come on. Let's give daddy some time to eat his breakfast."
"KK," Anastasia waved goodbye. "Latea, daddy."
"See you after breakfast," Reid laughed.
"Oh-oh-oh," Élise steadily put the small cake out of the oven and gently placed it on the cooling rack. She removed her mitts and set them aside just as Reid came in.
"Hellooo…" he greeted her just as he started admiring the cake. "Oooh!"
"Ah-ah-ah," Élise smacked his hand away. "No touchy the cake; you have to let it cool off for a while," she soon put the cake in the fridge.
Reid let out a muffled snicker just as they heard crying coming from the baby monitor. Reid picked it up and overheard the twins crying.
"Let's go see our girls," Élise patted his chest and had him follow her to the nursery, where they found them crying.
Élise put Athena's pacifier back in her mouth and picked her up. "Aw, what's wrong, pretty girls?"
"Come on," Reid got Angela out of her crib and started rocking her. "Are you okay? You want our attention," he playfully gasped. "I know what'll make you feel better. Tickle-tickle-tickle!"
Reid tickled Angela's belly, making her coo and laugh.
Élise made a silly face and stuck her tongue out, making Athena coo and laugh as well.
"Peek-a-boo!" Anastasia played with and entertained Athena and Angela in their highchairs while Reid and Élise were preparing her birthday cake. "Peek-a-boo!"
Reid and Élise came out of the kitchen with the cake that had three lit pink-and-purple candles.
"Happy birthday to you," Reid and Élise sang to Anastasia. "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, Anastasia Nicole Mathilde Diana Reid. Happy biiirthday to youuu."
Anastasia immediately blew out the birthday candles, ending with a light round of applause.
"Oh, happy birthday, princess!" Élise gave her a loving hug.
"I love you all," Anastasia prattled.
Reid kissed her forehead. "And we love you, too."
The family spent the rest of Anastasia's birthday watching Disney movies.
"Hey, pretties," Élise dangled the colorful keys in front of Athena and Angela during their tummy times set up in the living room. "You want these keys? Huh? Do 'ya?"
Angela and Athena reached for the keys; Athena attempted to grasp them for a few seconds, and Angela briefly held them.
"Yay!" Élise cheered, giving the keys to them.
Reid strolled in and squashed to the twins' level. "Hi, you two. Enjoying your tummy time?" he laughed when they started cooing.
KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!
"Did you invite anyone?" Élise asked.
Reid cocked his head. "No. Maybe you did."
"No, I didn't." Élise was sure as Reid opened the door.
"Rossi!"
Rossi invited himself into the apartment, and Reid closed the door behind him.
"Surprise seeing you here," Élise commented. "How are you feeling since…?"
Rossi sighed. "Decent. Krystall's fine; Portia's watching her. She's still feeling a bit jumpy since the ordeal with Lynch. But on the flip side, he's in the opposite direction of heaven."
Élise preached. "A to the men on that."
"But seriously, why are you here?" Reid knew there was a reason Rossi would be here.
"Well, a certain someone has been restoring a house that you two are interested in."
Élise parted her mouth to the side. "Did Morgan tell you?"
Rossi shrugged his shoulders. "Just a little bit."
Élise crossed her arms together and had one leg over the other. "What are you up to, Rossi?"
"To make up for not taking you to the hospital back in Reno, I'm going to pay for your moving. Movers, furniture, appliances, security; whatever you need for the new house you'll be calling home."
Reid's mouth gaped. "You'd do that for us?"
"It's the least I could do," said Rossi. "Just let me know when you'll start packing, and I'll help you get right to it."
Reid smiled. "Thank you, Rossi."
"Hey, you…" Reid smiled when he walked into the bedroom and found Élise reading a book in bed. "I have a surprise for you."
He pulled out a tiny cupcake with a lit candle from behind his back.
"Awww…." Élise set her book aside. "You didn't have to."
Reid sat beside her and gave her the cupcake. "But I wanted to."
Élise giggled when she took the cupcake. "Thanks."
Reid smirked after giving her a peck on the cheek. "Close your eyes and make a wish."
Élise closed her eyes tightly, giving her some time to think of a wish before blowing out the candle.
"What did you wish for?"
Élise teased before giving him another kiss. "I can't tell you, or it won't come true."
Two-to-three weeks later…
Élise held Anastasia's hand as they stared at some of the big cardboard boxes around the living room.
"We got everything packed up, right?" asked Reid, carrying the twins in their carrier.
"Yup," Élise gazed. "I can't believe we're actually doing this."
Reid replied, "Well, believe it because it's happening."
"According to Rossi, everything's been taken care of, so…"
Reid led the way, opened the door, and allowed Élise and Anastasia to go first before taking this one last moment to take in the fact that they were now leaving the apartment for their new house.
"Time for bed, princess," Reid scooped Anastasia and placed her in her toddler bed after reading to her. Tucking her body under the embroidered scrolling comforters, he squatted to her size and asked, "How do you like your new room?"
The walls were covered with pink-blue-purple-gold-and-white marble wallpapers. The flooring was refinished hardwood with white carpeting under her bed. One corner of her bedroom had all her toys neatly organized; another corner had most of the white furniture, and another corner had a parent zone with a white rocking armchair and bookshelf. The windows had white blackout curtains.
Anastasia babbled, "Pretty nice, daddy."
Reid stroked her head and asked her again, "Do you miss your old room?"
"Nah…" Anastasia giggled.
"Well, I'm glad you like it, Tasie." Reid petted her head before getting up, turned off her ample light for her night light, and kissed her forehead.
"Sweet dreams, honey."
"I love you, daddy…"
Reid watched Anastasia drift into a deep sleep. "I love you, too."
He closed her bedroom door just as he walked into Élise, closing the twins' nursery door.
"Out like lights," Élise referred to the twins being sound asleep.
Reid took a quick peek and smiled at Angela and Athena sleeping before closing their bedroom, and he and Élise made their way to their new room.
Élise collapsed her back on the soft bed, and Reid got under the comforters. "What a day."
"At least it's over now."
Élise sat her body up. "So…I saw you hand Rossi something. What did you give him?"
Reid went through the bedside table, took out a folded piece of paper, and gave it to Élise. She unfolded it and read it.
"Your letter of registration."
Reid nodded. "Yeah, he's agreed to hand my letter to Prentiss," he continued as Élise got under the comforters. "After what happened last year, last month, and now with the intracranial hemorrhage and the seizure, usually you're diagnosed with epilepsy after having two seizures. Plus, just the thought of post-traumatic epilepsy and having a seizure during a takedown can put anyone at risk but still…I think it's better for me to leave the field and the BAU behind me."
"Well, I'm proud of you," Élise patted his shoulders. "I bet a lot of people, companies, and businesses are itching to get their hands on you. What are you going to do?"
Reid sighed. "The possibilities are endless, and with that comes more time for the family."
Élise wrapped her arms around Reid. "Whatever you decide, I'm behind 100%."
Reid and Élise approached Rossi's mansion and headed to his backyard.
"Well-well-well," Rossi, Krystall, Simmons, Kristy, Tara, Prentiss, Mendoza, and Alvez noticed Élise and Reid walking in. "Look who's arrived."
"How's everyone doing?" Reid waved.
"Hey-hey!" JJ and Will have arrived. "We're here."
"It's been quite a while since we've been here," Will said.
"I take these so many events that have happened here." Élise guessed, admiring the backyard..
"So many great memories." Will reminisces.
"Will and JJ got married here," Rossi explained. "We had our own memorial dinner after Strauss died. So, yeah. So many great memories have happened here."
"The belle of the ball has arrived." Garcia spontaneously announces herself. "My favorite people in the world. How've you all been?"
"We've been good," JJ looked to Will, holding his hand. "I…have an announcement to make." Everyone stared at JJ. "I've…decided to take the job in New Orleans."
Mostly everyone was in shock; Reid and Élise felt relieved, and Garcia's mouth dropped open.
"You're leaving?"
JJ pulled Garcia into a hug. "We'll visit every now and then. And you can even visit us."
Garcia tugged JJ into a tighter hug. "Oooh. I love you, and I'll miss you." releasing her, Garcia made her way to hug Reid and Élise. "Just like I miss seeing your beautiful faces."
"I know, and I missed you, too, but…I knew it was time for a change."
"So, what have you been up to the past month?" Alvez curiously asked.
Reid exhaled, "We finally moved into our new house. I've been recovering and relaxing, taking care of the girls. I'm still with the Bureau and have my SSA status. Though I'm still interested in teaching and consulting, I've been getting tons of offers from Georgetown, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT, CalTech, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, think tanks, Fortune 500 companies, the private sector, and even a couple of big-time publishers in New York."
"Damn!"
"Wow!" Tara exclaimed. "Teaching and consulting. And all those offers…you're making me look bad. Maybe even Rossi."
"Well, I say we put that aside and celebrate tonight."
"I second that," Élise agreed with Garcia. "Let's celebrate!"
"Hear ye! Hear ye!" Garcia grabbed everyone's attention. "I have a few words I want to say. Especially since I want to dedicate this moment in honor of some extraordinary people who I hold very need and dear to my heart. David Rossi, JJ and Will, Dr. Spencer Reid and Élise Bastien."
Reid and Élise looked at each other before Reid gave Élise a kiss on the head, and Élise snuggled closer to Reid.
"An ending to a new beginning. I just…I just want to take a moment and freeze and…let it just soak in." After a few more seconds, she continued. "There. That's it. Thank you so much for being a part of this team. Thank you for being a part of the heroism we face every day. And no matter how bleak and dark the world can be, there's always kindness. And light. And bravery. Promise me that no matter what, we have each other's backs and keep this feeling in our hearts?"
"Amen!" Élise and Reid raised their glasses again. "And cheers!"
"Amen and cheers!"
As everyone, including Reid and Élise, was on the dance floor, dancing to David Bowie's 'Heroes,'
"I can see you have improved your dancing skills, doc." Élise winked before Reid spun her.
"I've improved on a lot of things during my recovery," Reid winked before spinning Élise again.
Élise laughed. "We should do this more often."
"Well, I now have all the time in the world again."
"I'm never letting any of you go," said Reid as he and Élise and their daughters were in the living room enjoying themselves.