A/N: Made it a two parter because together they were too long, but I wanted the dinner to be a more cohesive event. This story is kinda slow moving, but I want to pay attention to their lives and their happiness, not just their angst, although I certainly do enjoy writing it. Heehee.
Thank you for all the wonderful reviews =) I may upload another chapter later today since I just have to proof read it.
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Hunger had the rest of the agents joining Reid at the dining table promptly. Morgan and Reid sat next to each other since that's what they'd normally do. JJ sat on Reid's other side, with Will at one head of the table with Henry on his lap, Hotch at the other head. Prentiss was settled next to Morgan, and across from them were Garcia, Kevin, and Rossi.
"Let's eat." Hotch licked his lips greedily and dug into his moderately sized plate.
Manners were well practiced around JJ's kitchen table, lest she smacked you upside the head, so Morgan and Kevin fought to keep their eating at a reasonable pace, and their elbows off the table. Reid nibbled politely as he usually did, talking animatedly with JJ, when he heard Morgan scoff from beside him.
"That's all you grabbed, Pretty Boy? Did you see how much food there is?"
"Of course, Morgan. I helped prepare it." Reid said plainly and turned to continue his conversation with JJ, but to his horror he spotted Garcia's mouth opening.
"I thought Morgan prepared you." She winked and Morgan's eyes bulged out of his sockets. She was making him pay for withholding information from her, he just knew it.
To Reid and Morgan's relief the team seemed to take the comment as normal Garcia talk and ignored it completely, despite Reid's face turning a shade of bright pink.
"So, how's Jack's soccer team going?" Morgan had regained his composure, but his voice was strained.
Excitement flashed over Hotch and Rossi's faces. Neither would admit it, but despite that they didn't keep score, they were slightly competitive coaches, and completely in love with it.
"I'd rather hear about your and Reid's teams. Which ones do you-Ow! What the he-" Garcia cried indignantly as she felt a foot come in contact with one of her shins.
"It's rude to interrupt Penelope." JJ growled, her eyes flashing the look she got when someone spilled on her new carpet.
"Yeah, Aunt Penny!" Henry accused.
Dread began to line Reid's stomach walls. She was about to ask what teams they batted for. It was easy to tell, at least for him. Hopefully, their friends had missed it.
"It's great! We got them to stop bunching up so much, which is a big thing for kids their age." Hotch exclaimed happily.
Good. They didn't notice. Reid thought and stabbed a piece of chicken with a little too much zest. He needed to calm down, and judging by the way Morgan was glancing at him through the corner of his eyes, he thought so too. Shimmying himself in his seat to get more comfortable, Reid stroke up conversation with Kevin about Dr. Who.
Plates clean to the last crumb, the friends leaned back to unbuckle their pants and bellow laughter as they listened to Prentiss recount her date from the previous weekend. They were in stitches by the end, and wiped tears of laughter from their eyes as they fought to regain their composures.
"Alright, desert?" JJ clapped her hands together and glanced around the table warmly.
"I'm sure Reid wouldn't mind a popsicle, if you catch my drift." Garcia winked at JJ who shook her head, trying to play off the comment as if it didn't matter. Morgan was gripping his hands together under the table. He couldn't help but let his gaze slide around the group for a brief second. Luckily, their friends seemed distracted with each other.
"I've got ice cream, and pumpkin pie." JJ offered, but again no one was really listening.
"Hey! Listen up! The woman of the house is speaking." Rossi demanded of his comrades in his best authoritative voice.
"Thank you, Rossi." JJ laughed good naturedly. "Desert, go forth and get it." JJ motioned dramatically to the kitchen and the agents leapt from their seats, Morgan's chair even falling backwards violently, and they all bolted, pushing each other out of the way. JJ's pie was famous to say the least, and often who ever got their last didn't get any.
Reid tried to use his small size to his advantage to slip through unnoticed, and cursed Garcia when she smacked his bottom, taking him by surprise and shoving him out of the way.
"Don't worry Pretty Boy, I'll get you a piece too." Morgan whispered into Reid's ear, before throwing himself forward full force into the throng.
JJ, Henry, Will, and Prentiss watched with amusement as their friends shoved, stumbled, and even smacked each other to get to the kitchen. Being the mother of the group, JJ used to try to assemble some order to it and keep them in check, but she'd given up after the sixth time of being nearly trampled.
"Back ye devils!" Morgan's voice bellowed, and he brandished the pie cutter in front of him.
"Is that a challenge?" Hotch snatched a butter knife off the table, but Garcia pushed him out of her way.
Reid stood in the doorway of the kitchen staring at them with raised eyebrowed amusement. Is this really what they looked like when they did battle? He shrugged and walked back to the table to sit with the others.
"Ah, now you get it. Patience. I baked two this time. Don't tell anyone." JJ confided softly. Will handed Henry to her and headed to the kitchen to make sure no one got hurt, while Prentiss and Reid had a good laugh. "Don't do what they're doing. They're being very naughty." JJ leaned over and instructed her son who babbled happily in her lap, playing with his plastic spoon.
"Hey, I got here first. Let me just dish up my damn plate." Morgan demanded as Garcia, Hotch, Kevin and Rossi all advanced on him. His eyes darted from one to the other, accessing his situation. There was only one way to do it then. He'd promised his Pretty Boy pumpkin pie dammit, granted he didn't say how nice it would look.
Wasting no more time, Morgan turned and sliced two pieces out of the pie in three quick, but very sloppy, motions.
"Noooo!" Garcia howled. "You eat so much, you'll take half the pie!" She surged forward but he had slopped the two pieces onto one plate and swiveled out of the way just in time. He tucked the plate under his arm and ran with it like a football, causing his friends to jump back in alarm.
"I told you I'd get you a slice!" Morgan announced with bravado, holding his prize in front of him to show off his victory. He winced apologetically at JJ before picking his chair up off the floor and settling back down. The sounds of commotion could still be heard from the kitchen.
"Do you think I should go in there?" JJ shifted in her seat to try to see.
"No, if they break anything, they'll buy it." Prentiss waved her hand dismissively and crossed one leg over the other. "Nice looking pie." She snorted at Morgan who narrowed his eyes at her.
"You're just jealous that you don't have any yet. Come on, Spencer. Eat up. You barely had any dinner." Morgan nudged the plate towards Reid who, knowing the 'I'm a stubborn alpha male' look, picked up his fork to comply.
"Wait…" Prentiss said slowly, her eyes flashed from one man to the other. "Did you just call him Spencer?" Reid's fork halted half way to his mouth as it gaped open.
Kicking himself, Morgan knew he couldn't lie. It had been a rhetorical question. "Well, yeah. We are best buds."
"But, you've never done that before."
"Well, I started calling you Emily a whole lot more over the last year." JJ interjected helpfully. "I used to only call you Prentiss."
Probably a good thing JJ knows. She's going to save our asses more than we deserve. Reid thought, and remembering he was supposed to be enjoying JJ's pie, he shoved the bite into his mouth before anyone could provoke him to speak.
"There's no more pie!" Kevin's voice cried from the kitchen, as Garcia, Rossi, and Hotch walked proudly into the room with their own well fought for pieces.
"It's alright, Kevin. She made another one." Will's chuckle floated out to the dining room. Four pairs of eyes darted to JJ.
"Are you serious?" Hotch blanched. "I just brandished a butter knife around threateningly, when there was whole other pie?"
"No one told you to act like a ten year old, something very strange for you anyway. Are you feeling alright?" JJ responded playfully, and stood, hefting Henry onto her hip.
"Come on, monster man. Time to get some pie for the rest of us." She tickled him under his chin and he giggled.
"Damn sneaky woman." Rossi grumbled, but began to slowly take down his pie, relishing in the way the taste rolled through his mouth.
Stern eyebrows smoothed themselves from Hotch's brow as he too turned to his plate, accepting the situation with amusement.
"So, is Morgan as sloppy with his pie cutting abilities as is he is with his double dog daring?" Garcia leaned forward to ask Reid in a hushed voice.
"What the hell does that even mean?" Morgan snapped, his fist clenching around his fork.
Great. Morgan's getting close to losing it. Surprised he made it this long. Reid knew Morgan was protective of him, and of them. The taunting was going to toe the line sooner or later.
"Double dog dare could mean many, many things, Chocolate God. Take your pick. Or maybe our Sexy Genius would like to?" She turned her mischievous gaze to Reid who quickly averted his eyes to his plate to poke around the remains of his crust.
"Garcia. Maybe you should lay off the wine for awhile." Morgan's hand was pulling back her glass before her protest could leave her lips.
"Probably a good thing." Rossi agreed with a shrug and she turned her glare to him.
Mercifully, Garcia turned to her pie and the tension visibly lessoned in Morgan's shoulders. By the time JJ returned with Henry, conversation had churned up again. Having finished his own pie Reid reached out to take Henry so JJ and Will could both enjoy desert unhindered.
Unable to stop himself, Morgan observed Reid with his godson. While at first Reid had been concerned about the Reid effect, which usually caused dogs and small children to act weary around him, he'd grown close to Henry and his ease with him was palpable. He bounced Henry on his knee playfully, much to the toddlers delight. Morgan smiled softly at him for a moment, the image of Reid caring for their own child popping into his mind. When he turned back to the table he found Garcia giving him a knowing smile, but she, thank whatever god, kept her mouth shut.
"Spence, do you want to get Henry ready for bed? I'm sure he'd love you to tell him a story." JJ suggested, knowing how much her son loved his godfather's bed time stories.
"Story, Uncle Pen! Story!" Henry demanded happily, much to Reid's delight.
"Alright, alright, but I think you forgot the magic word." Reid turned his head to look the youngster in the eyes.
"Pwease!"
"Alright, let's go." Reid lifted Henry in his arms as he stood, and made his way upstairs. Desire to follow him itched through Morgan's legs, but he thought it would be odd to the others, so he forced himself to stay seated.
"So, any one sticking in your love life lately, Morgan?" Prentiss' voice jerked him out of his fantasies of Reid and his future. At first he wasn't sure what to say. Deny it, or give limited information so he could make excuses for his happiness at the office?
"I'm not sure I should answer that. I can't have you scaring them off, if there were to be someone." Morgan grinned devilishly at her.
Scoffing, Prentiss set down her fork. "So, there is someone."
"Someone better than your last date, and that's all I'm going to say." Morgan crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. He knew his posture read as defensive, but that's how he felt, so hell with it.
Sounds of Henry's laughter pranced down from upstairs, causing Will and JJ to exchange grateful smiles.
"He is so good with him. It's nice when he takes over for a bit." Will admitted, almost guiltily, but every one knew it was true for any parent. "Who's up for basketball? We can catch the last half of the game."
Hotch, Rossi, Kevin, and Morgan all stood simultaneously to follow Will for more beers and to settle in the living room, leaving the women to some much needed girl time.
"Okay, Spiderman jammies, check." Reid tapped his finger to his chin thoughtfully. "Spiderman blanket, check." He tucked the blanket around Henry the way he liked it and the boy snuggled deeper into it. "Tyrannosaurus, check." He handed the stuffed t-rex to his godson, who took it and cuddled him close to his chest. "Now, I know I'm forgetting something." Reid turned to and fro, pretending to look for the missing piece.
"Story, silly Pen, story." Henry reminded him with a giggle.
"Ah, yes. Very silly of me, indeed. Which one will it be tonight?"
"Arry Potter." Henry requested shyly.
Nodding, Reid stroked back a piece of hair from Henry's face and began where he'd left off the last time he'd tucked him into bed.
Two chapters later, Henry was dead asleep. Reid leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the forehead before standing to take his leave, nearly jumping through the ceiling when he saw Morgan standing in the doorway.
"Jeez, ninja." Reid hissed under his breath as not to wake Henry. He shooed Morgan into the hallway before closing the door softly behind him.
"I didn't want to wake him." Morgan whispered, with a dreamy look on his face. "Besides, I don't know why, but seeing you with him does something weird to me."
The admission went straight to Reid's heart, but also his head. "As sweet as that is, not the time, nor the place." Reid responded, but gave Morgan's hand a brief squeeze before turning towards the staircase.
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Knowledge that the next day was Monday weighing in their guts, Morgan and Reid climbed back into Morgan's SUV. The night had ended with a short game of cards, and Garcia's small apology to Morgan about her behavior as they walked out the door.
Music played gently from the radio as lights flashed through the car every so often. Mentally kicking himself, Morgan couldn't help but think he shouldn't have said anything about seeing Reid interact with Henry. It was three days into their relationship, and he had to go and mention kids. Feelings of love for Reid aside, he shouldn't have said anything, especially since he hadn't voiced his love out loud yet.
"Back to the grind tomorrow." Morgan sighed and tapped his fingers restlessly against the steering wheel.
"Did you know that heart attacks most often occur on Mondays?" Reid replied absently.
"No, but thank you. I'll try to avoid that tomorrow." Morgan chuckled as he turned into Reid's parking lot. "Well, babe. That weekend went by for too fast." Morgan sighed, feeling a little depressed that his Pretty Boy wouldn't be warming his bed that night.
"Yes. Our perception of time was definitely skewed by our happiness." Reid agreed, and leaned over the center console to lay a gentle kiss on the corner of his boyfriend's mouth. Sighing, Morgan turned his head to catch Reid's lips in a cherishing good bye kiss.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Reid murmured, and Morgan nodded, watching his genius until he'd made it inside the building, thoughts of their future and the four letter L word shoving their way around in his head, distracting him from his normal vigilance, the figure of a man watching him going completely unnoticed.