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!

They say, "All good things must come to an end" or "Every ending is a new beginning," and it is. This chapter—unfortunately—is the last chapter of (For)Ever After.

Five Years Later…

Reid parked his car in the recently renovated garage. Getting out, he got some bags out of his car, used his alarm to lock it, and made his way up the stairs and into the house. Walking into the foyer, he locked in the security code.

"I'm home!" Reid poked his head into the living room and the formal dining room, hoping someone heard him. "Hellooo? And I have Chinese food." He lifted his arms that had the two bags of Chinese take-out.

"Dad!" Anastasia descended the stairs once she heard Reid's voice.

Reid's eyes widened, and he opened his arms out to hug her. "Hi, princess." He smooched her forehead. "How are you doing today?"

Anastasia giggled. "Great!"

Now a flourishing eight-year-old, Anastasia had flawless skin complexion, stunning hazel eyes with well-arched eyebrows, her wavy and long hair with natural highlights and lowlights in braided pigtails, Cupid's bow lips, a borderline long neck, high cheekbones, and dimples.

"How was your day?" Reid asked Anastasia.

"I got another A+ on my spelling test." Anastasia showed off her test, which had a big red A plus on the top right corner.

Reid gave her a high-five. "Great job, Tasie!"

"Hi, daddy!" Athena and Angela came from the basement and gave Reid a hug, almost knocking him off his feet.

Reid cuddled his fraternal twin girls. "Hey, you two. Have you been good?"

"Uh-huh!" the fraternal twins enthusiastically nodded their heads.

Everyone turned their heads when they heard two sets of footsteps descending the stairs. It was Élise and a toddler boy, about two-to-three years old, whose almost an exact clone of Reid.

"Daddy!"

Reid squatted to his knees and hugged his son. "Hey, Aidan."

Aidan was born a month before Reid's fortieth birthday.

"Hi, lovey." Élise made her way and tenderly kissed Reid's lips before sniffing her nose. "Is that Jalfrezi from the Jade Tiger?"

"Well, you did say you felt a bit lazy to cook today, so I figured to lessen your load for today," Reid whispered.

Élise had her hands over her heart and gave him another kiss. She took a bag from his hands and told the children, "Okay, little ones. Go wash up because…"

"Everyone wash up. Because…?"

"It's important to be clean and healthy," the children said in unison.

Reid smiled before motioning them to go wash up. "Exactly. Go do that."

As the four children rushed into two bathrooms on the ground floor to wash their hands, Reid and Élise got went into the kitchen. Élise got the plates and silver utensils from the cabinets while Reid took out the Chinese food and meticulously placed it in different eco-friendly-plastic containers.

"So, how was your day, Ms. Human Resources Manager/Director?"

About a couple of years after the twins were born, an old friend of Élise's, Martha McGee, offered the job to her after the previous manager/director of Covington, a prestigious international charity organization headquartered in D.C., passed away from cancer.

"We got a big charity ball coming up, so in the next few weeks, it'll be all hands on deck at the organization," said Élise. "How is it with you?"

Reid chuckled, getting the cups. "I've never thought for the past five years, I'd actually lead a white-crime taskforce. You know, Hotch was offered by one of our Section Chiefs, Erin Strauss, to head one, but he declined."

"Oh!" Élise snapped her fingers. "I have an announcement to make."

"Same here," Reid looked at his watch. "I think we better get dinner started, or we'll have to face a sea for four hungry children."

Élise snickered when she and Reid went back to the dining room and found Anastasia, Athena, Angela, and Aidan patiently waiting for them.

"Hi!"

Élise set the white plates and utensils in front of the children and asked, "Did everyone wash their hands?"

"Yes…"

Reid observed each of the children's hands and got out hand sanitizer from the cabinet and set it on the table.

"Just a precaution," he squirted some onto his hands and rubbed it against Aidan's hands.

Athena looked at the way Angela gelled some under her fingernails. "Must you do that?"

"Yeah, I must," Angela sharply replied. "If your hands and feet don't look groomed, people will notice, especially shoes if you're wearing strappy sandals. And besides, it looks gross."

Athena rolled her eyes but observed her hands for a few more seconds and gushed some under her fingernails.

"Let's say a quick grace before we eat."

Everyone gathered hands. "Dear Lord, thank you for this food we are about to eat. Thank you for gathering us around to be together. We are grateful to be here today. Please, continue to protect us and bless us and guide us in your path. In Jesus' name, amen."

"Amen."

Reid spooned some plain fried rice onto a plate for Aidan.

"Would you like an egg roll?" Reid asked his only son.

Aidan answered, "Yea, peaze."

"Can you pass the chicken, Angie?" asked Athena after placing some vegetable fried rice on her plate.

Angela replied after taking a bite of a spring roll, "Will it hurt you if you said 'please,' Thea?"

"Please…?" Athena batted her eyes.

Angela passed the plate of fried chicken to Athena and smirked. "Was that so hard?"

Athena mimicked Angela. "'Was that so hard?'"

"Ugh!" Angela stuck her tongue out.

Athena stuck hers out in response. "Ugh!"

"Unless you two are suddenly mutants attracting flies, put your tongues back in your mouths," Élise scolded before putting a small piece of fried dumpling in her mouth.

Angela and Athena obeyed. "Yes, ma'am."

"Mom…" Anastasia started the conversation. "How was your day?"

Élise swallowed. "Not bad, actually. Angela? Athena?"

"Ms. Applebaum was impressed…" Athena started the sentence.

Angela continued, "That we could…"

"Count up to a hundred," the twins simultaneously finished the sentence.

Reid nodded. "Great," he tapped Aidan's shoulder. "What about you, little man?"

"I poo-poo today."

Everyone giggled; Anastasia reached for one of the six fortune cookies and broke it. "Surprises are coming to you soon."

"You listen to a cookie?" Athena sneered.

Angela giggled. "Someone's a bit superstitious."

Anastasia wagged her finger. "Never mock the cookie."

"Actually, did you know that fortune cookies were invented by a Japanese man in California?" said Reid before sipping some coffee.

Élise smirked. "Even I'm a frequent believer in fortune cookies," she gulped before she clapped her hands together. "I got an announcement to make."

Reid asked, wiping Aidan's mouth. "What's the announcement, mama dearest?"

Élise had a big grin on her face. "I told your dad I have a big charity ball coming up, and if all goes well, there's a chance I'll be promoted to Director."

"Ooh, nice, honey," Reid smiled proudly. "I have an announcement to make myself."

Athena could barely contain her excitement. "Ooh, tell us. We gotta know. We gotta know..."

"Are we going somewhere?" Angela guessed. "New York?"

"London?"

"Grande Paris? Milan?"

Anastasia pressed her finger to her lips. "Will you two shush?"

"Don't be shushing us," Angela and Athena said in unison. "If anything, shush yourself…"

Élise used her stern mother voice again. "Girls…"

"Sorry," the three girls apologized, hung their heads down, and continued eating.

Élise folded her fingers. "I'm sorry, babe. What were you going to say?"

Reid had another sip. "You all know I've been leading a white-collar task force…"

"Yes…?" Élise wondered where this was going.

"Well, I've been offered a promotion?" Reid smirked.

Élise asked. "Ooh-ooh…what kind of promotion?"

"May I get a drum roll, please?"

Everyone drummed the table.

"The position of Section Chief for departments of the FBI's Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch, which includes the BAU."

Élise's jaw dropped. "Really? That's amazing."

Anastasia applauded. "Congrats, daddy-o!"

"Coolio-coolio-coolio!" Angela and Athena cheered.

Aidan clapped his hands. "Yay!"

"How'd you score a promotion like that?"

Reid proudly announced. "Well, my old Unit Chief of the Behavioral Analysis Unit after Hotch left, Emily Prentiss, was confirmed by the Senate to be the next FBI Director, and they need a replacement, and Prentiss offered my name."

"Really?"

Reid asked before taking a small bite of a dumpling. "What, you don't like the idea of me being the Section Chief?"

"I think you should take it," Anastasia raised her hand.

Athena and Angela joined. "Us too."

"Yah…" Aidan raised his hands in the air.

"Well, you do have the history and the leadership experience, so yeah," Élise was the last to raise her hand. "I say you should take it."

Reid put his hand up. "Yeah, I think I will. I call Prentiss in the morning and tell her I'm interested in the position."

Everyone cheered again.

"Have you ever thought about writing about your experiences?" asked Élise.

Reid twisted his mouth. "Write a book about my BAU experiences?"

"Yeah!" Élise cried. "You could call it Quantico, but I think Criminal Minds it is. "For the tagline opening: To catch a criminal, you have to think like one."

"Ooh, scary…" Anastasia made spooky howling noises. "Oooh…."

Élise. "Tasie, don't scare the twins or Aidan."

"I'm not scared," Angela crossed her arms and smirked.

Athena followed. "Neither am I."

Aidan folded his arms. "Mmm-hmm."

"This calls for a celebration: when school ends, I say we go on a vacation," Élise declared. "Where do you think we should go?"

Angela and Athena raised their hands. "New York, London, Paris, or Milan."

Anastasia suggested, "I say we go to the UK, Japan, Switzerland, or Australia."

Reid pushed his lips a bit forward. "Mmm…sound like good places to go. Aidan," he tugged his shoulders. "Where do you want to go?"

"Neverland."

His answer made everyone giggle.

"How about we just go to Grandma and Grandpa Bastien's place in St. Croix?" Élise suggested. "Plenty of room for everyone and acres of land to roam around…"

"Precisely, the house is 11,000 square feet and on 7.75 acres of land," Reid clarified.

Élise added, "And there are a bunch of beaches to go to. We can eat right off the land, sample the local cuisine, and visit some national landmarks. We can even go horseback riding."

"But wouldn't Aunty Bea and Uncle Arthur be there with Logan and Jean?" asked Anastasia.

Élise answered, "No, they decided to go to St. Thomas for the summer."

"May we ask Cousins Abby and Johnny if they wanna come?" asked Anastasia.

"Unfortunately, no," Reid answered. "Abby and Johnny's wife, Hannah, are expecting their babies soon, so…"

Aidan innocently asked, "Wear dah babies come 'rom?"

"I know where they come from," Anastasia smiled but slowly disappeared once she saw the disapproving looks from her parents. "But I think mom and dad should tell you when you're older."

"Much older," Angela and Athena simultaneously said, snickering to themselves.

Before anyone knew it, it was already nighttime.

Élise had just completed a book when Reid walked into their bedroom.

"Everyone's tucked in and sleeping. Anastasia, Angela, and Athena, but Aidan's still a bit fussy."

Élise set her book aside as Reid got next to her in bed. "Ooh," she blew a sigh. "I can't believe you're returning to the BAU. Well, technically, not just the BAU, but…you'll be going back to where it all started for you in your career."

"Yeah," Reid agreed. "I'll be meeting the unit chiefs, Prentiss, the Executive Assistant Director, and Prentiss. I still can't believe she offered the promotion to me."

"It's like that feeling of returning to where you grew up after all these years and reminiscing," said Élise.

Reid nodded. "Mmm-hmm. They say every ending is a new beginning. I'd like to believe it's true."

A/N: Be on the lookout for a new story...