After wrapping up their latest round of playful bickering Erin reached into her bag and produced her keys.
"Let me show you round while David makes a start bringing your things in. If that's okay with you of course" Strauss smiled sweetly at Rossi.
"Go ahead and get the lad settled in and I'll have this lot in before you've finished the grand tour" He scanned the stacks of bags and books wondering where to start.
"Thank you" Erin called, David turned to her and the pair shared a smile.
Spencer two was starting to smile knowingly. He was by no means an expert at social queues but he was definitely picking up on something between the older couple. The friendly bickering followed by long stares and secret smiles were hard even for him to miss. Maybe he should consult with someone with more experience in these matters? Morgan maybe? he'd always professed a deep knowledge of relationships. He would be able to tell if there was something there or if he was just reading too deeply into things. A name change here and there and Spencer was sure Morgan wouldn't recognise who he was talking about. He would have to try and catch his friend next time there was a slow day but for right now he had a tour to go on.
Erin opened her front door revealing a large foyer.
"Please excuses the mess" She avoided looking his way, suddenly feeling embarrassed to share such an intimate part of herself. What happens if he doesn't like my home? she found herself asking. Self conscious waves had set in before they had even entered the main living areas.
Spencer stopped in the doorway scanning the room unable to see any sign of the mess she had spoken of. He was however taken aback by the grandness. Just from the foyer Spencer knew that this house was far more luxurious than any he had ever stayed in before.
"It looks lovely" He beamed at her and just like that a weight had been lifted off of Erin.
A shadowbox on the wall caught Spencer's eye.
"Oh wow is that?!" He questioned
"Yes, that would be my old fossil collection" She proudly talked him through each of the pieces with him giving her extra scientific background every now and again and in return she told him the backstory of where she found them. All the while Rossi was making smooth progress bringing in the cases. He tutted to himself knowing he'd probably be done before they had finished the first floor. He stood back and watched the pair for a moment.
Other than a small table by the door with a dish sat on it, to place keys in the foyer was empty of furniture. The walls on the other hand were covered with shadow boxes filled with curiosities. Erin and Spencer were animatedly talking about what lay within, causing David to chuckle, they really were more alike than most people would give them credit for. Listening to their excitable chatter about bones and fossils, among other things, highlighted this point. Two peas in a pod. They moved on so Rossi ducked back outside to pick up the next bag to bring in.
"Over here is the kitchen" Erin said steering them both away from the shadow boxes before they got into another round of oohing and ahhing, there was plenty of time for that later.
The kitchen was brightly lit with warm lighting and large white windows covered most of the far wall offering views of the perfectly finished front garden and one David Rossi labouring away within them. Standing in the middle of the kitchen was an island complete with an overhead utensil rack that even had a few pans dangling from it. Beside the farmhouse style sink was Erin's favourite part of the kitchen, the built-in wine rack. Filled with all her favourites. It was fair to say she was not a foodie. The kitchen was freshly renovated when she bought the house and she had seen no reason to change it in any way. She pointed out a few of the features she had discovered about the room from her daily use. Including opening the pantry door and showing him the walk in pantry. The cavernous space that only housed a pot of salt and pepper was admittedly a bit of a let down.
"I told myself when I bought this place that I would start to do things properly when it came to my diet. Eat right, cook from scratch that sort of thing but you know how it is with a job like ours. Lots of late nights and high stress. I was back onto takeaways before the end of my first week" she signed.
"Promise me you won't tell David about this" She wafted her hands around the bare cupboards. "The last thing I need is him nagging me about home cooked this and that"
"I promise" He laughed "But it'll be hard keeping him out of this place its a kitchen of dreams or at least his dreams"
"Well then we best keep him occupied" She grinned until she heard a crash coming from the front door.
"David Rossi you best not be chucking all of Spencer's things here, there and everywhere"
"Not at all Erin" He called back hearing her footsteps approaching him there was a few scuffling sounds before he spoke again.
"Just a few of the bigger books got away from me that's all" Erin made a tight sounding noise in response before moving Spencer on into the next room.
The lounge was the main living area of the house. It was dominated by an over the top fireplace on one end and a baby grand piano on the other. However in between the two intimidating items was a rather homely living space. There were three plush red sofas all clustered round a coffee table and a sensibly sized TV sat in an alcove facing the sofas. Woolly cushions and soft throws covered most of the sofas making them very inviting. The open book resting on the arm of the closest sofa told Spencer which was Erin's spot.
"And back through here is the downstairs toilet" They both walked through the foyer noticing the floor was now covered with Spencer's things. Unable to open the door due to all the bags Erin added.
"You'll have to take my word for that, just until we move your stuff into your room. Let's carry on upstairs" She guided him up the stairs that led off from the foyer.
They found themselves on the next level, greeted by an open space with a circular table sat in the middle and a vase overflowing with bright flowers sat in the middle filling the landing with a floral aroma.
"I picked them myself from the garden" Erin proudly pointed at the flowers.
"They smell heavenly" Spencer responded.
Erin walked over to one of the closed doors coming off of the landing and turned to Spencer in the doorway.
"Now I think you're gonna like this room" She grabbed one of his hands and pulled him inside.
Spencer clumsily fell into the room taking in the Persian rug covering most of the floor before lifting his gaze upwards. Taking in a shocked breath at what he saw.
"Erin" He breathed the name out. "This is amazing!"
Her grin grew.
"It started off as my home office and just... kind of... evolved into what you see here" She enjoyed seeing Spencer so happy taking in every inch of the room.
"You have a LIBRARY! In your house! A whole room filled wall to wall with books. This is my dream" He approached the wall to ceiling bookcases that lined three of the four walls of the room. His hand idly brushed the spines of several books as he passed them, every so often shouting out with delight the name of one of the books.
"I've always wanted to read that but finding a copy in its original language is impossible, how do you have it?" He questioned in amazement holding a dark blue leather bound book.
"A friend gave it to me many years ago" She responded warmly.
"Do you mind if I read it?" He asked.
"Not at all" She laughed expecting as much "Feel free to read whatever catches your fancy.
"Thank you Erin, you're the best" He stated, voice filled with just as much excitement as a child at Christmas.
By the time Spencer was negotiated out of the room to continue the tour Rossi had brought in all of his possessions from the car into the foyer and after some quick direction from Erin he had started to bring his things up stairs into the guest room that Spencer would be staying in.
"Upstairs is my room" Erin waved her hand to the staircase leading up to a closed door.
"Feel free to pop up if you need anything" Erin smiled motherly.
The door directly opposite the stairs was slightly ajar, Spencer had no doubt that on sunny days light would flood this landing however darkness had well and truly fell now.
Erin reached out and twisted the dimmer light switch until the area was bathed in warm, bright light. Everything became clearer. She walked over to the door Spencer was regarding and pushed it open revealing a Victorian styled bathroom, fitted with a roll top bath, chequerboard tiles and gleaming silver taps. It hardly looked touched.
"As you can guess this is the main bathroom, I've never really had a chance to use it much" At Spencer's questioning look she added.
"Each of the bedrooms have their own en-suites"
He nodded before they moved on.
The next room they looked at was the spare bedroom. It was perfectly respectable and could have been taken straight out of an interior decorating magazine. The only thing that it was missing was heart.
"Is this where I'll be sleeping?" Spencer asked hopefully.
"No sweetie, this is the smaller of the guestrooms. Yours is the next one down. Come I'll show you"
The next room was a lot bigger. A double bed made up with cream sheets and matching throw pillows sat in the middle of one wall. Two oversized wardrobes offered more than enough storage space for Spencer's underwhelming closet. He was pretty sure that every item of clothes he had ever owned would still only fill one of these giant wardrobes.
Next to the bed on either side were two small tables, a small, gold lamp perched on both and plenty of room for a good few books off of Spencer's light reading pile.
A wingback chair was pulled up by a floor to ceiling window with views onto the back garden. A heavy pulled back curtain slightly obscured the scene and draped round the chair hugging the back. The perfect reading nook was Spencer's first thought. A thick cream rug lay under his feet adding a warm and cosy vibe to the grand room. Black and white framed photos hung from the walls and in-between the two wardrobes a dark, oak door led to a small ensure impeccably finished.
"Everything should be in order, its only really had a couple of guests here and there"
"Do you...like it?" Erin asked nervously straightening the pillows on the bed.
"Its perfect" Spencer attempted to reassure.
Just then the door was clumsily pushed open and a grinning Rossi stepped in. Behind him Spencer could spot the piles of his things lined neatly ready to be brought into the room.
"You're a miracle worker David" Erin's words only made Rossi's smile grow.
"I know Bella, I know" He winked in her direction before turning and walking away before Erin had time to process what he had said.
"Thank you Rossi" Spencer called.
"No worries kid" Responded the older man returning into the room bringing in a stack of Spencer's books and placing them carefully on one of the bedside tables.
"Lets get you all moved in" Erin spoke warmly.
Spencer followed Erin and Rossi out of the room and onto the landing where his things awaited him.
Together the group worked to bring everything into Reid's new room.
They chatted contently while they worked. Erin and David soon fell into light bickering once more. Spencer silent watched the show, giggling every so often at a particularly witty come back.
"That's the last of it" Erin called bringing in the final armful of Spencer's things. They were quickly stowed away.
Spencer stood and took a moment to admire the room. It was luxurious, more so than he was used to and yet, filled with his things it truly felt like home.
After this moment of realisation he flopped onto the bed, engulfed in its softness. He was soon joined by Erin and David perching on either side of him.
"Thank you both so much. I don't know where I would be right now if you weren't looking out for me" He stated sincerely.
"You don't have to keep thanking us sweetie" Erin spoke softly and Rossi tussled his hair affectionately.
"Yeah, we're happy to help bambino. The sooner you get it through your head the better" David muttered.
Spencer mulled over his words.
They sat in comfortable silence until Spencer's stomach growled loudly.
His arms shot out to wrap around his stomach in an effort to muffle the sound.
Erin looked at her watched gasping.
"It's late, maybe we should call out for some Chinese before everywhere is shut?"
"Don't worry about that Erin. I brought us a tray of my homemade lasagne. I left it in my car. We just need to warm it up and we can have our fill. I made enough for a small village" He smiled proudly.
And that's exactly what they did. Erin went to warm the oven. While Reid ran out to the car to grab the lasagne. Initially Erin had tried to keep David away from the kitchen by sending him to the lounge to sit and relax after working so hard moving Spencer in. However it was not so easy to shake off David Rossi, who merely scoffed at the suggestion and carried on following Erin. Who, upon seeing the glint in the man's eyes knew there was no dissuading him, so she kept leading the way mentally preparing herself for David's reaction.
David took in the kitchen awestruck, with every discovery the older man made, an Italian exclamation would escape his mouth in various levels of glee.
Spencer made it back to the kitchen with the lasagne in hand. Rossi's voice was the first thing he heard when entering the home, immediately Spencer knew that Erin's plan to keep David out of the kitchen had gone off the rails in record timing. He smirked as he watched the show in front of him.
"Erin this is criminal!" Rossi tutted scanning the empty fridge before moving onto the stove.
"Its spotless. Not a scratch or scuff in sight. It's never been used has it?" He accused, sighing his shoulders crumpled downwards.
"You've got the perfect kitchen right here" He lovingly caressed the worktops before fixing Erin with a withering look.
"And from the looks of this place, you've never used it" He sighed.
"Erin that's like keeping the Mona Lisa under your bed. A room like this needs to be used and enjoyed. It needs to be shared"
Erin stepped towards Rossi. A guilty look on here face.
"Okay, okay David you caught me. I don't cook. Not all of us have the time or the talent"she admitted.
Rossi took a step towards Erin, reaching out he gently touched her hand. She looked up at him.
"It's good that I'm here then" He whispered tenderly.
"My saviour" Erin cooed sarcastically. Leaning ever closer to David.
It was at that precise moment that Erin and David caught sight of Spencer standing in the doorway. Instinctively they jumped apart, flustered they spluttered excuses.
Spencer laughed at their response any doubts he may have had were dispelled. For two grown adults they really were making things more difficult than it should be. Maybe a little push was needed.
"Don't let me stop you" Reid said still smirking.
Erin rolled her eyes at his words walking over to him she grabbed the tray off of him and pushed it into the oven without another word.
For the next fifteenth minutes while the food warmed Erin and Rossi refused to talk about what had nearly happened between them. Even with Spencer's not so subtle line of questioning. Eventually the matter was put to rest with the beeping of the oven.
"Foods ready" David stated in a cheerful voice attempted to redirect the conversation.
"Smells delicious" Erin beamed watching the food emerge from the oven.
One look at the tray of bubbling cheese and pasta silenced all interrogation on Spencer's part, who's new focus was now picking off the top layer of cheese from the lasagne and sneakily eating it without being noticed. While Rossi and Erin grabbed the bowls and cutlery. Unsurprisingly he only made it to his second mouthful before his hand was batted away and he was fixed with a stern look from Erin. Stealth was never one of his strong points.
"It's my grandma's recipe" David stated proudly, dishing up a large helping into three bowls.
"I'm sure we'll love it" Erin smiled taking the first bowl.
Spencer gladly took the second bowl. His stomach growled in anticipation.
With everyone else sorted David took the last bowl ready to dig in.
Erin led them to the lounge where they settled on the sofas. Ravenous they dug into their food, as the first of many Doctor Who episodes played in the background.
Thank you for reading, let me know what you think of the story so far.