A/N: Inspired by CM: Evolution. No spoilers are given!
It was impossible for Aitana not to drag her feet coming home. She unlocked her door and stepped inside, immediately dropping her go-bag on the floor. All she did was kick it to the side, lock the door behind her and then walk forwards. She was beyond exhausted and she just wanted to see her—
"Mommy!" A little four year old girl came running into the foyer, throwing her arms around Aitana's legs.
"He-ey!" Aitana stumbled back with the sudden hug. For a four year old, her daughter had quite the strength. But that was Audrey — she was full of surprises.
"You're back!" Audrey exclaimed, squeezing her mother's legs tighter.
Aitana gave a tired laugh but a laugh nonetheless. How could she refuse such a hug? She detached Audrey's little fingers from her legs then picked the girl up into her arms. "Mi corazoncito!" She left a few exaggerated kisses over Audrey's head. "Aren't you supposed to be at grandma's and grandpa's right now?"
At that moment, Aitana's mother, Paulina, walked in from the living room. "Hola mija," she greeted Aitana with a kind smile. "We weren't expecting you today."
"I know, I managed to finish the case earlier," Aitana said, settling Audrey on her hip. "And you guys? Thought you were going to be en la panaderia?"
Paulina nodded. "The bakery was a little emptier than we thought so I figured your father could take care of it and I could bring Audrey by for some clothes to sleep over but I guess we won't need to do that anymore, huh?" She looked at her granddaughter who hadn't stopped grinning yet.
"Mommy's home now!" Audrey said happily, bringing her arms around Aitana's neck for another hug. "I want to stay with her now."
"Yes…" Aitana said, unable to stop smiling and unfortunately expressing how tired she was at the same time.
Paulina saw it as well. "Long case?"
"They're all long, mamá," Aitana said with a sigh, "Especially when you're doing them on your own now." Ever since the BAU was forced to split their agents to do individual cases, the Aitana felt like it took more out of her. She had it in good authority that the rest of the team felt the same.
"If you want, I can still take Audrey home with me," Paulina had barely begun to offer the idea when Audrey rejected it.
"No! I want to stay with Mommy!" Audrey looked at her mother then. "Is Daddy coming home today too?"
Aitana let out a small sigh at the question. "I'm sorry, baby. Daddy's still got his own case to do."
"Still?" Audrey pouted. "He's away forever."
Aitana chuckled. "It does feel like it's been forever, huh?" Audrey nodded disappointedly. Aitana kissed the top of her daughter's head. "I know, maybe we can call him tonight or tomorrow to see how he's doing."
The idea was enough for Audrey. Unfortunately, the conversation had brought Aitana's mood down a bit.
"Is Spencer still going to be away, then?" Paulina asked
Audrey squirmed to be put down on her feet so Aitana gently lowered her down. The four year old scurried into the living room.
"Yeah," Aitana answered her mother, "He and Matt were assigned some classified joint case that nobody can know about." Aitana laughed sourly. "Not even me."
"But that was weeks ago," Paulina said, "How long do these cases last?"
"There's no concrete number," Aitana shrugged lightly. "Just however long it needs to."
"Meanwhile you get to handle the rest, huh?" Paulina smiled sadly at her daughter.
"I can do it, I'm fine, I just…" Aitana produced what could only be described as a miserable smile, "I just really miss him. And so does Audrey."
Paulina agreed. "Do you want me to stick around and help you get settled in?"
Aitana shook her head, thanking her mother for the offer. "I've been away for days. My daughter's been away from both her parents for more than she should've."
"Okay, but you call me if you need anything, alright?" Paulina gave her daughter a nice tight hug.
"I will," Aitana promised. "Thanks."
The two went into the living room shortly after Paulina filled Aitana in on what happened with Audrey while she was gone. Then, Paulina said goodbye to Audrey. When she left, Aitana dropped on the couch for a bit of rest…until Audrey started bouncing on the cushion next to her excitedly wondering what they were going to do that afternoon.
Aitana drew in a breath and within the next minute, she snatched Audrey mid-jump and collected her into her arms. Audrey was a mess of giggles, crying to be let free from her mother's pepper-kisses. After that, Aitana succumbed to practically all of her daughter's wishes.
By night time, Aitana had no idea how she managed not to drop dead. Her feet dragged into her bedroom, barely taking her to the foot of the bed where she could let her body drop. She only got a few minutes from Audrey under the guise that she wanted to change into pajamas before tucking Audrey in for bed.
Audrey was smart enough to tell time which was impressive given her age but a challenge for a mother who just wanted to bargain for a little rest. She absolutely blamed Spencer for that one. A genius prodigy would of course inherit that to their child.
And speaking of, Aitana heard her phone vibrating as she was taking her shoes off. As soon as she saw the I.D. on her screen, she threw her shoe and grabbed her phone before the video call went to voice-mail.
"Hi!" She exclaimed with excited wide eyes, unknowingly the same way that Audrey had greeted her earlier. She passed on a couple things without realizing it. "Hi stranger…" She greeted again, feeling her face flush with how stupidly excited she must have sounded the first time.
Even if she had sounded like that, Spencer didn't notice a thing. "Hey stranger," he returned the greeting with his own smile. "I didn't wake you, did I? I-I wasn't sure if you were home or doing a case, uh…" It was strange not knowing of each other's locations for so long and yet for them it had become a usual thing.
"I got home earlier," Aitana told him, scooting back on the bed until she could lean against the headboard.
"Oh, you did?" Spencer said, briefly surprised until a smile took his face again. "I bet Audrey loved that."
"She did," Aitana nodded, chuckling, "We, um, had a whole afternoon together after not seeing her for days."
"That sounds so nice, you don't even…" Spencer said, his smile becoming strained. It had been weeks since he got to see his daughter in person, got to hold and kiss her.
Aitana felt for him because she knew exactly what he meant. "She misses you. We miss you."
"Me too," Spencer told her, nodding. "It's kind of lonely over here…"
"What, you and Matt aren't keeping each other company?" Aitana's question had them both chuckling. "Thought you guys would be besties by now."
"Um, yeah, we're good, but we both agree that we would much rather be at home with our wives and kids." Spencer couldn't look more miserable in that moment. "Aitana, I really miss you. I need you."
Aitana felt an ache in her heart hearing him say that. "Me too," she whispered. "A lot. I've been—"
"Mommy! Mommy!" Audrey's voice carried into the room seconds before she came running in. "I'm changed now! And so is Lana!" She was indeed changed into her pajamas and the teddy bear in her arms was also sporting a pajama set. "Who are you talking to?" She made a face. "You said you were changing too."
Aitana chuckled. "Why don't you come over and find out?"
Audrey made a little face with her brows knitting together like someone else Aitana knew. She dashed over to the bed, easily jumping on. She crawled up beside her mother to where she could finally see Spencer on the phone screen. She gasped so deeply, so shocked, that Aitana burst into laughter.
"It's Daddy! It's my Daddy!" Audrey snatched the phone right out of her mother's hand and brought it to her face. "Hi Daddy! It's me! It's Audrey!"
Spencer laughed hard, feeling like he was getting a dose of medicine he didn't even know he needed. He heard Aitana trying to get the phone back from Audrey and when she couldn't get the girl to give it up, she settled to at least bring the phone away from Audrey's face.
"There we go," Spencer said with a lingering chuckle. He could now see Audrey's perfect little face looking back at him. "Hi Audrey…"
"Hi Daddy," Audrey wiggled her fingers at him. "Are you coming back now?"
That forced the smile on Spencer's face to strain. "I'm sorry, not tonight. I'm going to be away for a bit longer."
Audrey pouted. "More?"
"Yeah…"
"I miss you, Daddy," Audrey said, her pout deepening even more. Spencer hated being the cause of it.
"I really miss you too," he promised her. "I'll try to call more, okay?"
"Okay…" Audrey nodded lightly.
Aitana finally managed to take the phone into her hand and position it so that they could both see Spencer and vice versa. "Audrey and I made something for you today."
"Oh, really?" Spencer said, beginning to smile more when he saw Audrey's face light up.
"It's a fish model! I made it look like Mercury in our fish tank!" Audrey explained then leaned forward, dropping her voice to a "whisper" that wasn't quite a whisper. "But Mommy got confused building it. I had to read the instructions to her again."
"Anyway," Aitana said sharply, pulling Audrey back beside her, ignoring the way the girl laughed at her. She did, however, notice the way that Spencer laughed. "Keep laughing and you'll find the locks changed when you get home. Local genius left outside of his own home."
"Ha, ha," Spencer rolled his eyes.
"The box said ages eight and up and your daughter is doing it better than I am!" Aitana let out an exasperated sigh.
It was really hard for Spencer not to laugh. He could picture it in his head. It was no secret, nor a surprise, that Audrey was very advanced academically which often meant he would work with her on things that most four year olds wouldn't comprehend. Aitana loved it, but she loved it even more when all she had to do was just watch.
"I can't wait to show it to you, Daddy," Audrey spoke up, still wearing a very proud grin on her face.
"I can't wait to see it," Spencer assured her, "I bet it looks great, but hey…" He leaned closer to the screen, whispering his next words, "You should still thank your Mommy because she's doing everything she can to help you."
Audrey nodded obediently then looked at her mother. "Thank you, Mommy!" She leaned up on her knees and kissed Aitana's cheek.
"Oh, thank you mi corazoncito," Aitana said, kissing Audrey's head and hugging her. Audrey hugged her mother back on the spot.
Spencer wished he could be a part of that hug. He never knew he could miss someone so much that it actually physically hurt him. He'd never read any facts backing that feeling up but he just knew that it was true.
"Okay, Audrey, why don't you say goodnight to Daddy now?" Aitana said, pushing back one of Audrey's curls from her face. "You have school tomorrow."
"Aw, but you said you would brush my hair first!"
"I will, I will, but you gotta wait for me in your room, okay?"
Audrey reluctantly agreed then turned to the phone. "Goodnight, Daddy."
"Goodnight, Audrey," Spencer waved a hand at her.
Audrey grabbed the phone from Aitana and brought it close to her. Both Aitana and Spencer chuckled when Audrey kissed the phone screen.
"Thank you for the goodnight kiss," Spencer said, patting his forehead where Audrey's kiss supposedly went. "Be a good girl for Mommy, okay?"
Audrey nodded. "Okay!" She grabbed her teddy bear beside her and hopped off the bed. "Mommy, you're going to brush my hair, right?"
"Yes, I promise I'll be in your room in a bit," Aitana said. Satisfied with the deal, Audrey skipped out of the room. Aitana chuckled. "She's got your unruly curls, you know."
Spencer laughed as well. "Yeah, I've noticed."
"Got everything from you, actually."
"Mm, I wouldn't say everything" Spencer said, shaking his head.
"Oh, c'mon. She's a carbon copy of you minus the freckles on her face. That's about the only thing I can claim that's mine."
"She's got my curls, yeah, and the whole prodigy thing but she's also got your laugh, quirkiness and the ability to make everyone love her. That's all yours. I would know — that's what I love about you."
A soft smile spread across Aitana's face. She felt the warmth in her chest spread quickly up to her face. Oh, how she missed that, missed this and —
"I miss you so much," she whispered. Her fingers gently grazed the screen of her phone, wishing desperately she could actually touch Spencer's face.
Unbeknownst to her, Spencer wished for the same thing. He was not a hugger, nor did he like to receive anything of the sort but everything was different when it came to Aitana — and Audrey of course. He found himself wishing for things that he used to genuinely fear.
"I want to hug you so badly," he admitted in the same whisper. "Hold you."
"It's actually safer to kiss, you know," Aitana said, giggling.
Spencer playfully rolled his eyes at her. "Well, I wouldn't mind doing that too."
"Mommy!" Audrey's voice called from the hallway.
"You've been summoned," Spencer said, chuckling, "I'll let you go. Audrey should go to bed."
"Yeah, I know," Aitana said with a sigh, "Call me again soon, okay?"
"I will," Spencer nodded.
"Even if it's 2 a.m and you've got a free moment — call me, okay?" Aitana wouldn't take no for an answer. "I need to know that you're okay and…I just need to talk to you."
"Me too," Spencer admitted, "A lot. I love you, Aitana."
"I love you," Aitana said, pressing a kiss to her fingers and bringing it to the screen. "Come home soon."
Spencer could only promise to try. He wanted nothing more than to go home and be with his family. He could just picture the kind of welcome he would get from Audrey — an exciting babbling four year old sounded just perfect to him. It was true what he said: Audrey inherited a lot more of Aitana than the latter realized. And Spencer couldn't be any more happy about it. He missed them so much, he would work twice as hard to finish his case already to get home.
A/N:
As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"