Part 14
Reid called Keenan back at the first opportunity later that night after he and Hotch when did for the evening. It wasn't really so late, just ten and Reid knew that Keenan would still be up for at least another couple of hours.
"Keenan, this is Spencer, I'm sorry for getting back to you so late, but Aaron and I were working."
Reid listened for a moment then said, "So, you have eight pups that's mother died two years ago and the father just abandoned them leaving them with no one, but each other. So you've been trying to find a family for them in the area and keep them together."
Reid listened again for a moment
"You can't find anyone in the Las Vegas pack to take them in, because they have their own families to take care of and don't have either the money or the space or both."
Reid listened again as Hotch paid attention to the conversation, thinking that eight children would be quite a lot for them to handle. If they took them in they were going to be rather crowded since there were only four bedrooms including theirs, so they would either have to build on or Reid and him were going to lose the room that they were using for an office.
However, these eight children had no one else or Keenan would not have called and so what choice did they have for they would likely be separated and be farmed out to different werewolf families. Hotch was sure that Keenan had all the proper paperwork to make their adoption legal, although Hotch didn't like to think about how illegally that paperwork had been obtained, since he was a lawyer and worked for the FBI, which was an agency that enforced the law after all, but it was very possible that the paperwork had been done legally to and in any case, Hotch decided he didn't want to know.
"Hmm, so you are saying that their mother was a werewolf and died in childbirth and the father abandoned them just recently because he lost his job and couldn't afford to take care of them."
Reid listened again.
"So you knew about the mother marrying a human, and were having some of the pack keep a close eye on the situation. Because you were keeping a very close eye on the situation, you were able to get the children out of that house before it was discovered that the father had abandoned them and they ended up in an orphanage or with different foster families."
"So how old are they?" asked Reid listening for Keenan's response. "The three oldest are fraternal triplets two girls and a boy, and they are five years old and the other five are quintuplets, three boys and two girls and the two girls are identical and are 2."
Reid listened again for a moment.
"I'll have to discuss it with Aaron and let you know. Can you give us a few days or is it urgent? 8 is way more than we were expecting to adopt," Reid told Keenan, listening again. "I'll get back to you in a week at the most."
Finally, Reid hung up the phone and looked at Hotch who had been listening to the conversation although he had remained silent.
"So what do you think?" Reid asked his mate.
"Why don't you tell me what Keenan said and then I'll tell you what I think," Hotch offered calmly. "All I heard was your side of the conversation after all, although I can guess what Keenan had to say, I would like to know his exact phrasing."
Reid nodded thinking that was a reasonable request so he repeated word for word what Keenan had said.
Hotch listened intently but didn't interrupt, and finally when Reid was finished he said, "Alright, here's what I think that we have to do. We have no choice but to take in those eight children even though that many is going to make it rather crowded and we are going to lose our office, but it's doable. However, before we agree to Keenan's request we need to work out childcare arrangements since we are out of town so much and they are way too young to stay by themselves for even a few hours."
"Definitely not," Reid immediately agreed. "You know I forgot to ask Keenan whether those five year olds had been through their first transformation, so I need to remember to ask him that when we pick them up."
"We also need to work out what we're going to tell the team, and the other people who know that we don't have any children," Hotch said.
"Well, the team doesn't know much about my family except that my father is dead, my mother is in an institution and that I have six brothers and two sister-in-laws," Reid said. "I don't see why we can't tell them that they are distant relatives of mine that lost their parents recently. The fact that they're multiples might even make it more believable, simply because the team already knows that they run in my side of the family and also the fact that they're from the Las Vegas area will make it easier for people to believe since that's where I was born and raised."
Hotch thought about it, and thought that it wasn't a bad explanation, so long as they refined it a lot to make it more believable. "It needs work, but it's as good as story as any."
"Yes, we need to refine it," Reid said, "and make it as believable as possible, since the team knows us pretty well and they aren't stupid."
"They wouldn't be part of the BAU if they were," Hotch agreed with a smile, "or unobservant."
"We also need to talk to those five year olds and make sure they tell anybody who asks the same story that we give them, because it will be easier if they back up what we tell everybody," Reid said. "You know," Reid added thoughtfully, "My father did have a younger sister, so I don't see why we can't tell everybody that they're my Aunt's children, simply because she disappeared many years ago and I've never known whether she's dead or just didn't want to be found. I remember meeting her once when I was quite small, like four years old and after that I never saw her again."
"It would be quite the coincidence if that was actually true," Hotch said, and Reid nodded in agreement. "We can rent a car and drive up there, since we are quite close to Las Vegas after this case is finished and we take a few days off."
"It will probably take a couple of weeks at least to get everything settled and even though I don't like to leave the team shorthanded..." Reid said.
"Sometimes it is necessary to do so and we do have a right to take a vacation," Hotch said, "and we haven't had one in several years."
"Well, we did attend Lexi's and Jase's wedding just a few months ago," Reid reminded Hotch who nodded.
"Yes, we did but we only took a few days then and this business will probably take us a couple of weeks at least to sort out and get the children settled."
"You know I don't think Garcia will mind watching them, for us for a few days at a time and she can even stay at our place, since I know her apartment is in no way big enough to have that many children staying over."
"We can make plans later," Hotch said, "Our first order of business is to concentrate on getting this case finished and our unsub caught and after that we can worry about those eight children, as Keenan and the pack will take care of them until we can get there."
"You're absolutely right," Reid said by way of agreement and snuggled into his mate's arms as Hotch turned off the bedside lamp so they could get some sleep.
~~~Spencer and Aaron~~~
Hotch and Reid arrived in Las Vegas just under five hours later. It was a week later, and the case was now finished and once it was they told the team that they had to go to Las Vegas for a few days to take care of some business.
The team had been curious, but both Hotch and Reid had refused to give them any further information and said that they would learn about it soon enough.
The two of them had been keeping in contact with Keenan and he knew that they were on their way now that the case was closed and their unsub caught.
It had been decided that they would likely be renting another car in order to transport all 10 of them comfortably back to Quantico Virginia, although that could wait a few days. For one thing they both needed to gain the 3, five year olds trust, so that they didn't cause any unnecessary problems and they were bound to be suspicious and that would take time.
"Welcome back!" Keenan greeted them shaking both men's hands.
"Thank you," Hotch told him with a small smile, "Spencer and I are only sorry that we haven't had time to come up and visit more often."
"We're always happy to see you when you can get away," Keenan said with a smile. "I certainly understand that the two of you have your own lives an important work to do. From what I've heard you have put numerous killers, rapist and other types of criminals in prison for a very long sentences."
"It wasn't just us," Spencer chipped in, "we couldn't've done it without the rest of the team."
"That's certainly true," Hotch agreed, "it was a team effort."
"So what can you tell us about these eight children that you didn't tell us over the phone a few days ago?" asked Reid now.
"Nothing much really, except for the fact that the three oldest have been very suspicious of us simply because they didn't know what they were until we took them in."
"So their mother never told them that they were werewolves," Reid summarized and Keenan nodded. "I'm assuming that the five year olds at least are now convinced since you took them through their first transformation."
"Actually we haven't because the full moon isn't for a week, and even though their birthdays were months ago, we still need to follow pack tradition as much as we can anyway as this situation is rather unusual. You know they don't transform for the first time until they are guided by another wolf, which is convenient I admit."
"That's for sure," Reid agreed, as he remembered all the history he had been taught when he was a child thanks to his eidetic memory.
"So what's the children's last name?" asked Reid.
"McCoy," Keenan answered immediately
"And what was their mother's maiden name?" asked Hotch.
"Reid," Keenan answered and immediately saw the young man that he had taken an interest in so many years ago eyes widen in shock and surprise as he had definitely not been expecting that response.
"Are you telling me that they are related to me?" asked Reid utter astonishment in his voice.
"Yes, I am. I thought you were aware that your father had five sisters and quite a few brothers," Keenan said.
"I knew he had a sister that disappeared some years ago, as I met her when I was very young before my brothers were born, but no I wasn't aware that he had four other sisters and how many brothers?"
"10 of them," Keenan said.
"And I never knew about them?" asked Reid going into shock upon learning and that he had so many relatives he had never known about.
"I thought your father would have told you," Keenan admitted, "but I should've known that he wouldn't since he and his siblings weren't exactly very close."
"And why did not I know about any of these relative before now, and why have I never met any of them as shouldn't they have been around to help with me and my brothers?"
"Well, they are no longer part of the Las Vegas pack," Keenan explained. "As soon as they were grown, they all left the city completely and I have no idea what happened to any of them. Your father was actually the youngest and he was the only one that stayed in the Las Vegas area, until his death. I'm afraid that William was born rather late in your grandparents lives as your grandmother was like 55 and they barely had a chance to see him grow up before they both passed away."
"Which might help explain why he was like he was," Hotch chipped in putting an arm around his mate's shoulders in order to offer comfort, although he was just as astonished to learn that Reid had more family then he had ever known about. "He might've felt as if his siblings abandoned him, without even bothering to keep in contact and believe me, that can have a rather detrimental effect on the psyche. If any of them had bothered to keep in contact with their younger brother then things might have turned out very differently. He also could've had a twin that died and he was the only one to live and if that's the case then I understand his attitude better, even if it's still deplorable how he treated his own kids."
"So why didn't you tell me this over the phone?" asked Spencer with a raised eyebrow.
"I thought it would be better to tell you once I actually saw you," Keenan admitted
"It's just as well as Spencer would have been distracted from catching our killer, if he had learned about it any sooner," Hotch said
Reid had to reluctantly agree that he would have been distracted when he needed to concentrate on helping the team catch their killer.
"So when you said you tried to find a family to take them in were you telling a little white lie?" Reid asked Keenan.
"No, because I really did try to find a family to take them in," Keenan begin to explain. "I was hoping to find them a family, that would look after them and give them the love and affection that they deserve, since I know how busy you are, and how often you are out of town. After that, I was going to call you and tell you all about it. I did want you to be part of their lives, but I didn't think you had time to take care of so many children, even though I've been on the lookout for one's for you to adopt for sometime now."
"Well, it is going to be very crowded," Reid admitted forgiving Keenan, even though he had omitted quite a few facts in their conversation a week ago because he had done it with good intentions.
"Also I had no idea that you didn't know about your other family and I just assumed that you didn't want anything to do with any of them, even though I don't know where most of them are or even if they're still alive."
"Just think I probably have other family out there that I never knew about," Reid said looking excited as well a little upset at that thought. He was upset that he hadn't known about all this family sooner and excited that perhaps, he would have a chance to meet them.
"We'll have Garcia look into it, as soon as we get back to Quantico," Hotch promised him. "You know if anybody can find your family, it will be her."
"You're right," Reid conceded. "Could I have the names of all my dad's brothers and sisters and I'll have our technical analyst look into it when we get back home. If anybody can find them Penelope Garcia can."
Keenan nodded and gave Spencer all the names of his father's numerous siblings. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about your other family, I shouldn't have just assume that your father had mentioned it. I should have known he would not, considering that they weren't very close as he was still just a young child when the last of them had grown up and left."
"It's okay," Spencer promised him, "you couldn't have known that my father wouldn't mention any of his brothers or sisters."
"I should have," Keenan said, "as I knew that you and your father didn't exactly get along."
"That's the understatement of the decade," Spencer said, through he knew exactly what Keenan meant.
"I think I'll have Garcia try to track him down before I mention it to my brothers as I wouldn't want to get their hopes up or anything. Both Brock and Jase have other things to worry about as both are expecting their first pups any day now."
"Ah, so Jase found his mate then?" asked Keenan as he had known this. "Or did he just marry, some woman?"
"It was shortly after he graduated college, and moved to San Francisco for his job," Reid told him. "He told me that he was just getting the lay of the land and learning his way around the city and that he spent quite a bit of time in Golden Gate Park just watching the families interact with each other when he ran into her quite literally as he wasn't watching where he was going."
"So is she human or a werewolf?" asked Keenan interested.
"A werewolf, by the name of Lexi Shaw," Reid answered. "She's a few years older than him, although the age gap isn't too bad, and certainly closer than the one between Aaron and I. Lexi is originally from one of the packs in Ireland and her accent is still quite thick. Aaron and I attended their wedding just a few months ago, and by that time Lexi was already several months pregnant with their first pups. They told me that they're expecting quadruplets, although it's possible that it's more than that and that they plan on having more after their pups are at least two years old."
"Well, I'm pleased to hear that Jason is doing so well," Keenan said smiling.
"And so is Brock and Blanche, who decided on staying human," Hotch chipped in. "They are also expecting a couple of pups, and the doctor believes its twins, a boy and a girl and they are also intending to have more children after the twins are at least two or three years old."
"So how was the rest of your brothers doing?" Keenan asked Reid.
"Well, Brock and Blanche decided to stay in the Virginia area so that Blanche could be close to her family and they are eagerly anticipating the birth of their grandchildren. Alban, Brock's twin also decided to stay in the area as he can get a job just as easily in Virginia as he could elsewhere, but he's not dating anyone seriously at the moment."
"As for Logan, he's moved to Chicago, which is where my family is originally from," Hotch said. "He has a good job and is already friendly with the local Alpha. The Alpha, Carlyle, has already accepted him into the pack."
"We haven't really heard much from him, except a phone call every couple of weeks which is always way too short," Reid added. "He seems to be happy though and appears to be liking his job a lot and I suppose that's all that really matters. Bailey and Ethen loved Philadelphia so much when they went to college there they just decided to stay and since they were already members of the local pack the Alpha was happy to accept them both on a permanent basis as members of the local werewolf community and as far as I know they're not dating anyone at the moment or if they are they haven't mentioned it to me."
"Well, it sounds like your family is all spread out," Keenan said smiling, "but at least you're attempting to keep in contact with them unlike your father's siblings."
"Well, it's easier to keep in contact today, then it was so long ago," Reid pointed out logically. "A lot of the technology that exists today just didn't back then."
"I hadn't thought of it that way, but you're right," Keenan admitted, "so perhaps, it's understandable that they lost contact with your father. Perhaps, they tried to maintain contact then just lost it after awhile as they got more and more busy. Letters were the more popular method of communicating back then, as phone calls were really expensive, especially long-distance, and cell phones weren't even invented yet."
"No, they weren't invented until 1973 and they were quite heavy as they weighed almost five pounds and weren't reliable long distance compared to the phones of today," Spencer said. "Also although they were invented they weren't commercially available until about 10 years after that."
Both Keenan and Hotch smiled at each other as Spencer lectured as they were quite familiar with his habit by this time. Reid couldn't really help it as it was just part of his personality so they didn't take offense and they always learned something new if they listened.
"So when can we meet these eight children, and what are their names?"
"Seth is the oldest boy and is definitely the leader, Deanna and Heather are the other two oldest girls, Caleb or Cale as he prefers to be called, Fletcher or Fletch, and Darwin are the youngest boys and Leah and Therese are the girls," Keenan said. "You're going to have trouble with the oldest three, especially Seth, because they're very suspicious of us and they've already tried to run away several times, but since they have refused to leave their siblings behind they haven't been successful. They might've succeeded, temporarily if not for the fact that their five siblings are still so young and therefore can't help in the escape."
"Of course, they don't realize that you and the rest of the pack would have no trouble tracking them down thanks to your senses of smell," Spencer said and Keenan nodded.
"I might be getting a little slower than I used to be, thanks to me being much older now, but my nose is still as keen as ever."
"So have you at least convinced them that werewolves are real, even if they don't believe they are ones themselves?" asked Reid
"Oh, yes, I took off all my clothes right in front of them and made them gap at me and then I rapidly transformed right in front of their astonished eyes. Believe me, their expressions were priceless and I wish somebody had taken a picture," Keenan said with a wide grin. "I nearly busted a gut laughing, although I made sure I did it, after I was out of earshot so as not to upset them."
"Well, at least they believe that werewolves are real now so that's half the battle," Hotch said.
"And when the full moon comes out next week, and you take them out to the forest for their first transformations and talk them through it, perhaps, after that they'll be a little bit more relaxed and less suspicious."
"I hope so," Reid said, "because if we're going to adopt them, we don't need them running away at the first opportunity. We have to somehow convince them that we are trustworthy, and that we have no intention of hurting them."
"That won't be as hard as you think," Keenan said.
"Why not?" asked Reid in surprise.
"Because there is a strong family resemblance between you and them," Keenan explained. "They all got your dark brown hair and golden brown eyes which isn't surprising really, but they also got the shape of your eyes, nose and cheekbones, chin and it's obvious to me anyway that they'll get the width of your palms and your long slender fingers which come from your father not your mother and appear to be a dominant trait since most of your dad's sibling got them, along with the golden brown eyes and brown hair. There are some differences, like the boys are going to have the broadness of your father's and his brothers shoulders as you took after your mother in that department, and their hair is also rather straight instead of curly, which they got from their father. In any case, you'll see for yourselves in a few minutes, but the resemblance between you, is rather startling, especially considering they are your nieces and nephews and not your sons or daughters."
"So there is a strong family resemblance in the Reid family," Spencer said. "Have you tried to teach them the rules and laws of the pack?"
"I've tried to explain that even if they did manage to run away that we wouldn't have any trouble tracking them down, hopefully, before they got themselves into much trouble or into a major population center since we would have had more trouble finding them then because of all the people and smells. I tried to tell them that the world is a rather dangerous place and they could very easily get themselves hurt or worse, they are stubborn though and don't want to listen, Seth in particular and his two sisters are just following his lead. I'm afraid, that they have been rather sheltered and their mother, your aunt died before she had a chance to explain how they were different from normal humans. If they had actually been born within the pack then they would already be aware of how different they are from the rest of the population, how they can see better, hear better and smell better even when in their human forms. No werewolves has ever needed contacts or glasses since they are always born with excellent eyesight."
"Yes, my eyesight definitely improved to 20/20 vision, when I was turned a couple of years ago and I have much better peripheral vision then I did before. I catch things out of the corner of my eyes now that I never did before then," Hotch agreed.
"Why don't you introduce us and we'll see if we can make any headway?" Reid suggested. "So what was their mother's name? You never did say."
"It was Donna," Keenan replied, "and actually she was the daughter of Rick one of William's siblings who was like the ninth child to be born, along with her twin sister. She was part of the pack, as she came back to Las Vegas a number of years ago, which is where she met her husband."
"We'll stay at least until after the full moon next week, so that perhaps, they'll start to believe," Hotch said. "We'll simply call into work and say it's a family emergency and in this case it's even true. Besides, we have quite a few vacation days coming and I'm sure that Dave won't mind filling out the paperwork for us and turning it in and it will take us at least that long to make all the necessary arrangements to get them back to Quantico, sign all the paperwork necessary, take a blood test, just to prove that they are related since that will make it nice and legal just in case we are ever questioned about it as I would prefer to not be accused of kidnapping and this gives us a legal leg to stand on."
"Prepare for the worst?" Keenan suggested his lips twitching in amusement, although he could certainly understand Aaron's reasoning.
"Well, I was a federal prosecutor for a number of years before I joined the FBI and when it comes to stuff like this I prefer to have everything neat and tidy with no loose ends, so that it doesn't someday come back to bite us in the ass. It might not, but you never know so it's just better to have all the legal loopholes taken care of so it doesn't," Hotch explained.
Keenan nodded and his respect for Aaron Hotchner grew. There was nothing wrong with wanting to be neat and tidy, especially in legal matters.
"I'll introduce you to them now," Keenan said, as he led the pair towards some stairs and up to the second floor. "I hope you can make some headway with them."
"Isn't it rather unusual for a wolf to stay in the area and not be part of the pack?" asked Hotch.
"It is, and technically, as I said she was still part of the pack, we just didn't see Donna very much, not after she met the guy she married anyway. I'm not exactly sure what her reasons were for keeping her children from knowing what they were or for not introducing them to the pack, as that went against all tradition. Each new pup is a celebrated event and needs to be officially introduced to the pack Alpha and whatever werewolves are there for the birth. As far as I know she hadn't turned into a werewolf, ever since she met her husband and I'm beginning to suspect that their father had no idea what she was or his children either. Actually, I'm not surprised that having the quintuplets killed her because she was nearly 50 when they were born and it's very unusual for any woman to get pregnant that late in their life."
"I've never known of a werewolf that can resist changing into their wolf forms at least a few times a month," Spencer said looking upset. "Both Aaron and I love to go out in the forest behind our home and simply run and chase each other whenever we're home."
"One of our favorite activities," Hotch agreed with a grin his brown eyes sparkling as he remembered those times. "We also hunt, in our wolf forms and we've taken down more then one deer together."
"Well, you certainly have the size to do that," Keenan agreed with a smile. "Spencer has the speed to run it to ground and bring it down, but not keep it down and make the kill."
"I never believed that I could enjoy hunting as much as Dave does, except he does it with a gun while I do it in my wolf form," Hotch said.
"You were a natural predator even before you were changed," Spencer told his mate with an affectionate smile, kissing Hotch's cheek, "That is why you've taken to hunting in your wolf form so naturally. As for me I was raised to hunt in the forest by Keenan here and I did the same with my brothers, with Keenan's and the rest of the pack's help until they were seven, and once I went to college, we still went out to the forest on the weekends and I continued to teach them how to hunt their own food, among the other things they needed to know. With all of us it was very easy for us to bring down a deer and we always had plenty of meat because we would take it home and put it in our freezer to cook for dinner."
Spencer's eyes went all unfocused as he remembered those happy times. "I miss hunting with my brothers sometimes, even though I knew that they would eventually grow up and get lives of their own."
"Let me introduce you to the triplets, and if you can gain their trust then you won't have any problems with their five siblings since they are still so young," Keenan said.
Keenan knocked on the door, and then opened it, even when there was no answer to fine three beds.
"Seth, Deanna, Heather, there is somebody here to see you," Keenan told the three children entering the room.
"We're not interested in seeing anybody," Seth said rudely, then gasped as Spencer stepped into the room for Keenan had been right he did resemble the three children quite a bit.
"Meet Spencer Reid and his mate Aaron Hotchner," Keenan introduced watching as their eyes widened at the name Reid. "As you can probably tell Spencer is related to you, and he had no idea he had any other family except his six brothers. I'll leave you all too talk, take as long as you need."
Keenan left and shut the door behind him while Spencer went to sit on the edge of the bed, and Hotch took the chair.
"So…" Reid said, as he observed the three children for a moment. "Why don't you sit down," He added gently, but with steel beneath his tone, to stop Seth at least from making a rude reply.
The children obeyed, although Seth at least was sulking, and Spencer knew immediately that he was the leader of the triplets, the dominant one, an Alpha or at least he would grow to become one, just like Keenan had said.
"How can you be related to us?" asked Deanna. "We don't have any other family except our five siblings."
"Actually, that's not true although I did not learn that my father had any brothers or sisters until just a few minutes ago," Reid began to gently explain. "According to Keenan, William, my father was the youngest and he had quite a few brothers and sisters and your mother was the daughter of one of my father's older brothers whose name was Rick. Now I never knew I had any other family outside my six brothers who you will meet eventually. I understand, that you did not know that you were werewolves, but Keenan told me that he changed right in front of you, and you will be able to do the same on the full moon in a week."
"Why not just go through the process now?" Seth asked his tone belligerent.
"Because it is tradition that you change for the first time after you turn five on the first full moon," Reid gently explained. "Now, I'm not exactly sure why your mother never told you that you were werewolves, or why she never took you through your first transformations as it should've been done immediately on the first full moon after you turned five, but my guess is she never told your father what she was, and therefore, she never told you as she wouldn't've wanted you to say anything to him. Perhaps, she didn't trust him to know what she was, and so he never knew she was any different and that her children would be like she was. I am sorry that she's dead because that means I can't meet her and get to know her, but having children so late in life especially so many is always dangerous and she was in her 50, which would've made it even moreso, simply because pregnancy puts a strain on the body. Carrying so many children, when she was already so old, would have been even more of one. Werewolves we tend to be rather hardier then a normal human, but we can be killed and die from some of the same things that would kill a normal person, one of those of course, being pregnancy for the females of our kind anyway."
"Why should we believe you or trust you?" asked Seth sounding belligerent.
Hotch watched as his lover's eyes went distant as he went into Alpha mode. He had known that this was probably the only way that Seth would start listen, from the first time he had walked into the room with his mate, and he was sure that Spencer had known it to, but his mate had had to try his normal way of communicating first, which was by being nice, patient and reasonable. Apparently Spencer had finally decided that going into Alpha mode and using his Alpha voice, was the only way that Seth was going to listen and it was a good thing that he had so much practice with his brothers when they were young, and also when he was in interview with a suspect.
"Because I say you have to!" Spencer barked in his Alpha tone, his whole body radiating authority and belligerence causing Seth to start in surprise at his tone, and the two little girls to start to look fearful. "Do not test me, Seth McCoy, for you will find you will be in more trouble than you have ever seen in your life. You will listen to me and obey what I tell you, you will listen to Aaron and obey him as well and you will give neither one of us any lip or you will be punished. I know you want to be in charge, but you are just a child, and you will listen to what the adults tell you because they do it to keep you safe. Do you want anything to happen to your sisters or younger siblings because you didn't listen and got them hurt or worse?"
"No, sir," Seth said snapping to attention feeling resentful, but knowing better than to disobey that tone of voice. Besides, he would never admit it out loud, but something inside him quivered in fear at that tone and he knew that he had better obey it or he would indeed be in trouble.
"The world is a dangerous place, and there are many predators on the street that would think nothing of taking you and your sisters and doing horrible things to you. You must learn to obey authority and be respectful, or when you are grown you will find yourself in a great deal of trouble that might end in you or someone you care about getting seriously hurt or worse," Reid lectured still in Alpha mode his voice a growl.
Seth gulped and knew that meant that someone he cared about like one of his siblings could end up dead and unlike most five-year-olds he understood that concept better than most because his mother had died right after his five siblings were born and his father had done his best, but looking after five young children, and three more who were only a little older was nearly impossible
Young children he had learned, especially ones that were still in diapers and quite small needed a lot of things, love, time, attention, have their diapers changed on a regular basis, fed milk or baby food also at regular intervals.
"When you are all grown up you can do as you like, but right now you are only five years old and you must obey the ones in charge and who are taking care of you. There is no way that you all would have survived on the street and you would only have ended up getting your five younger siblings killed and possibly yourself and your two sisters to, whether that was because they caught some disease and you couldn't get medicine for it or because some predator found you and took advantage of how defenseless children are."
"We are not defenseless," Seth argued despite the fact that Reid was glaring at him his eyes a feral yellow.
"Oh, do you think you can take me?" Reid asked causing Seth to gulp not expecting to be challenged. "There is no way you can take me, and if you do manage to get past me there is no way you can get past Aaron as he is a much better fighter than I will ever be and if you do manage that there are men and women out on the streets that know how to fight dirty and would think nothing about killing a child and burying your bodies somewhere they would never be found."
"No sir," Seth said hanging his head finally conceding that he was not in charge anymore and that Reid was the stronger Alpha.
Reid calmly relaxed his normal golden brown eyes slowly taking the place of the yellow of the wolf because he saw that Seth had finally responded to his authority.
"I know that you have been extremely sheltered, by your father and your mother before her death, but all Aaron and I want is to give you a good home until you are grown. In order for us to do that though, you must learn to accept authority and in return we will treat you like our own sons and daughters. We will provide clothing, shelter, food and everything that a parent is supposed to provide for their children. In return we expect you to obey us when we tell you not to do something, and if you don't obey then you will be punished and depending on the severity of the offense it could be anywhere from no TV for a few days, to being put in timeout or grounded, to even being paddled, although neither Aaron or I will do that unless you do something really bad like risk the lives of yourself or your siblings or if you commit the same offense more than once. If you are good, once you go through your first transformation next week we will take you to the woods so that you can change and run around in your wolf forms often, but if you aren't then you will not be allowed to change for a certain length of time, perhaps, as long as a week and as you get older the time you are not allowed to change will be lengthened if you disobey. Trust me this will seem like a worse punishment than all the others combined because once you change for the first time you will find that you crave changing as often as possible, so that you can run through the forest and do other things that a wolf does. Do not test me on this, I'd rather be nice, but I can be extremely stern and hardnosed when it is required and if you think I am bad, Aaron can be 10 times worse than I ever thought of being so you had better not disobey him either, because both of us have the authority to punish you for any wrongdoings."
"Will you still love us if we do something wrong?" asked Heather tentatively speaking for the first time as she had been to afraid to say anything before.
"Of course," Spencer assured her with a smile gathering the little girl into his arms for a hug. "We will never stop loving you no matter what you do, but children need rules and regulations so that they don't bring themselves and others harm. You might resent or even hate us for a little while, but keep in mind that we only punish you so that you don't get in so much trouble that you end up getting either severely hurt or end up dead. If something happened to any of you, it would tear both Aaron and I to pieces because we already care about you very much and not just because you are my nieces and nephews, but because you deserve to be loved and cared for just like other children. What happened to your mother or your father's abandonment is in no way your fault and I want you to remember that and keep repeating it to yourself until you believe it."
"So we are going to come live with you?" asked Deanna.
"Yes, you are," Hotch said rising from his chair and speaking for the first time. "Spencer and I promise we'll give you a good home."
The three five year old were startled as Hotch had been so quiet that they had nearly forgotten that he was there.
"It's going to be a little crowded, and we're going to have to turn our office into a bedroom for two of you, but we'll manage," Hotch said.
"We are gone for work a lot, but we have many friends in the local pack and one of them will look after you when we are out of town," Reid added, "and we expect you to obey them as you would us and you will be punished if you don't, but we'll get into that later."
"Also we heard from Keenan that you tried running away, and you will not try that with us or the consequences will be severe," Hotch said in his best Alpha voice.
Seth's eyes widened as the big tall man with black hair used that voice on him and he knew better than to disobey it as something within him quailed at the very thought and what trouble would he be in if he did.
"Now, why don't you start telling us about yourselves, as we like to learn all about you," Hotch said, in a much softer gentler voice.
Seth didn't move from his position on the bed, but Deanna crawled into Spencer's lap and he held her close kissing the top of her head as she begin to chatter to him Heather joining in, while Seth stayed stubbornly silent actually biting his lip to keep himself from speaking.
~~~Spencer and Aaron~~~
