Epilogue: Save Each Date
A/N: It's been a long time coming.
Love,
blueoleandar93
Two days ago was the last day of December and the first day of the rest of Spencer's life. Thirty years have passed and everything was different. He couldn't count the changes, but he'll try to keep the most important ones in order by date.
April 25th 2013, was the day Rossi had figured them out. He witnessed an extremely friendly hug after a close call on a case in Florida. Derek had almost been killed by an unsub trying to escape in a minivan while the three were on scene. Spencer pushed him out of the way and the two had dove onto the grass, embracing each other in a way that tipped off old Dave. Rossi had said, and Spencer quotes, "Goddamn finally."
April 27th 2013, Derek and Spencer had decided that it was unfair to hold information from Prentiss any longer since she was the only team member remaining in the dark, so the two set plans on letting her know. Spencer suggested a simple phone call. Derek advocated a brief confrontation. After a minute of bickering and a few more of long, hard strategy planning, they settled for making out on her desk the next morning. She shooed them off of her workspace and reluctantly handed Derek five dollars. Moments later after gloating that she knew it all along, Prentiss pulled the two into an accepting hug and joked that she expected grandchildren.
July 6th 2013, Garcia and Kevin got married at the most colorful wedding any of the attendees will ever experience. Spencer got himself a CT scan the day after just to be sure he could bounce back from that.
August 15th 2013, Derek and Spencer moved in together. To celebrate, they tried to have sex in the fridge again. Much to their dismay, it wasn't as easy as it was the first time. But, no worries, they still got the job done.
November 9th 2013, Prentiss transferred to work with the Interpol. They had a goodbye party the night before, and she and Spencer got so drunk, he left the bash without his socks and she without her heels. He missed her dearly, but they wrote often.
December 16th 2013, JJ had her second child and took a maternity leave that ended up becoming indefinite. She had placed her first son in enough danger already that she didn't want to see it happen to her little girl, Liza. Derek was named her godfather.
January 12th 2014, Derek and Spencer celebrated their one year anniversary at the same restaurant they spent their one month. This time, Spencer didn't cry, but he did punch Derek in the arm for bringing it up.
March 3rd 2015, Rossi retired. He never said why.
September 30th 2016, so did Hotch. He had lost too much of his team to consider it intact, and so did its last three remaining members. Working wasn't the same without them.
November 5th 2016, Derek ran into the kitchen with great news: There was a vacancy in the New York subdivision. Apparently, the NYC branch needed a team leader and Derek was still next in line for the job. If he accepts, he can hire any additional staff up to and including a residential genius. The two tried to have sex in the refrigerator again and finally failed. Either way, they were going to New York!
November 12th 2016, was the day before the big move to New York. It was also the day Spencer proposed to Derek. (Since they were moving to a city which recognized gay marriage, Spencer thought this was the perfect opportunity seeing as he had wanted to marry Derek for many months now.) Derek ended up saying no. Spencer swallowed back his fierce heartbreak and placed his grandfather's ring back in his pocket, reminding Derek that it was all okay and they can take things slower he wanted them to. Then Derek laughed and said, "I'm just fucking with you. Of course!" Spencer smacked him and walked away. Twelve minutes, several angry words, and five kisses later, they were engaged.
November 22nd 2016, Derek and Spencer visited Derek's mother for Thanksgiving. Spencer forgot to take off his engagement ring and she hugged him for eight minutes straight, not saying a word.
December 20th 2016, they were bombarded by a visiting Garcia, the only one still working in Virginia, whom talked their ears off about designing the wedding. Derek excused himself, took a shot in the kitchen, and walked back over to hear her ideas.
June 15th 2017, Derek and Spencer got married. Liza, now four years old, was the flower girl and Jack was the ring bearer. Will was Spencer's best man, Garcia was Derek's maid of honor, and neither of them was walked down the aisle. The reception was pleasant. JJ and Ms. Morgan teamed up and took enough pictures to fill several memory sticks. Spencer's mother came too. She wasn't quite all there, but it was enough for Spencer. She kissed his cheeks and shook Derek's hand, asking when they were going to get married already. Spencer laughed and replied, "One of these days, we will."
May 3rd 2019, Derek suffered from a serious accident on a case. A bomber had placed a hidden explosion before he was caught and while Derek made it out of the building, a large piece of rubble crushed his legs, breaking his left in five places and his right in two. He was in a wheelchair for six months, crutches for one. There was a pole in his left leg now, keeping it all together and after months of therapy, he was able to walk again. Spencer and he have been running a tally to see how often it sets off metal detectors in the airport.
December 16th 2020, Spencer decided to grow a beard on impulse. It was thin and caramel colored, just like the rumpled hair on top of his head that he's keeping short and simple. Derek calls him Fuzzy Wuzzy and has taken to it well. So much so, that he makes a face when Spencer shaves it off.
December 28th 2020, Spencer grows the beard back. He likes it too.
March 27th 2021, Derek and Spencer adopted a baby girl. They named her Clara. She just happened to be half African-American and half Caucasian. To this day, the two pretended it was a coincidence.
September 7th 2026, Clara Morgan-Reid attended her first day of kindergarten. She could already read, write, and tie her own shoes. To their joy, she calls Spencer "papa" and Derek "daddy". To their surprise, she also has a mean right hook. After they dropped her off and watched her punch a little boy who made fun of her glasses, telling him that her daddy taught her that, Derek grinned widely and nodded, "That's my girl."
May 19th 2028, Derek asked Spencer, "Is that a gray hair?"
October 9th 2031, Spencer turned 50. Clara, ten years of age, made him a card with Daddy that had a little coupon for free hugs. Spencer used his coupon immediately. Derek handed Spencer another coupon for a free... something else. Spencer dropped the card, turned red, and snatched it up before Clara could see it. That night, after Clara had gone to bed, Derek strode up to Spencer whom was sipping out of a hot mug of tea and leaning against the kitchen sink. Derek placed Spencer's mug counter, knelt down on one knee, and took Spencer's hand, asking if he wanted to renew their vows. Spencer knelt down to meet him and kissed his lips, replying that he would. Clara ran into the room, asking, "Did Papa say yes?" Spencer nodded and she padded over to give them a hug, asking if she could be the flower girl.
June 15th 2032, Derek and Spencer renewed their vows in the same little chapel in rural New York that they had first married in. Morgan's mother showed up, cane and all, taking picture after picture on her new-fangled camera. Spencer's mother was moved to a nursing home two years ago, so she unfortunately couldn't make it. Hotch came with Jack. JJ and Will came with Liza and Henry. Garcia and Kevin came with "piles of smiles". Rossi came with kind words, a firm pat on the back, and wife number four. Prentiss was still in England, but she and her new beau sent their regards. Garcia volunteered to watch Clara for their second honeymoon which they spent in Canada since everywhere in America reminded them of some sort of case, and they didn't at all plan on going outside.
October 27th 2034, Clara got her period. This was titled a "landmark event" because upon hearing her teenage voice from the other side of the bathroom door, Spencer ran into his and Derek's bedroom screaming, "She's bleeding from her vagina and I don't know what to do!" Derek patted his husband on the shoulder, got up calmly, went to the hall closet, and grabbed out a box of pads. He knocked on the bathroom door and said, "Papa's gone a little nuts. Don't worry about him. You know how to use these pad things, right, because I don't want to admit to knowing as much as I do." She said she did. Derek wiped sweat from his forehead and passed her the box. Several minutes later, Derek and Spencer sat her down in the living room and had 'the Talk' with her. Well, technically, Derek and Clara sat down. Spencer was laying on the couch with a wet cloth on his forehead, grabbing the paper bag to breathe into every time Derek said the word "sex" to her. She asked how they knew so much about what she was going through. Spencer replied that he read several studies and dissertations on the subject. Derek shrugged, "I have sisters who tell me way more than I want to know."
February 4th 2036, Clara brought home her first boyfriend. Stephen. Spencer profiled him, got Garcia to do a background check, and had his parents researched. He came up clean, so the family invited him over for dinner. Derek didn't like how far apart his eyes were, so he put his gun on the table and smiled gently, "Me and her father are authorized to use these and we are fantastic shots. Break her heart and you'll find yourself six feet under. Comprende?"
June 28th 2036, Stephen found himself dumped by Clara. He didn't understand why Star Trek was better than Star Wars. His mistake. She had grown into a beautiful young woman. Standing five foot six, with large caramel eyes, mocha skin, dark curly hair, and a smattering of freckles across her nose, she had a long line of boys waiting for her approval. Clara decided to focus on her studies. Spencer sung her praises.
May 12th 2039, Clara went to the prom with Jack. She was asked by six boys and blew them all off. The girl has standards. She insisted on doing her own hair for the event as well (even though Derek had gotten rather good at it over the years). When Spencer was away picking up Jack for the dance, Derek walked in on the disaster that was her hair in the bathroom. He picked up the curling iron, and in half an hour's time, she looked like the princess she was. When she left, Spencer dragged Derek into the bedroom and didn't let him out until ten minutes before she got home. As Clara returned, Spencer couldn't stop giggling and Derek smacked Spencer's rear, murmuring under his breath, "Still rides it like a jockey," consequently scarring the poor girl for life.
June 5th 2039, was the day Clara graduated high school as class valedictorian. Spencer cried as she crossed the podium, scowling at the tissues Derek had prepared to pull out of his pocket with a knowing smirk. He took them anyway. Damn him.
July 19th 2039, Spencer glanced in the mirror after his morning shower and realized that after all this time, all of his hair had finally gone gray. Including his beard. When he told his husband, Derek stopped calling him Fuzzy Wuzzy and moved on to Silver Fox.
August 25th 2039, Derek and Spencer dropped her off at Yale University. While Spencer, as her father, wasn't allowed to personally write her letter of recommendation (which would have gotten anyone through the door), the entirety of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Behavioral Analysis Unit as of November 2013 wrote one letter per member. It impressed the shit out of the Dean of Admissions.
September 12th 2039, a letter of recommendation came in for Clara several months late. It was from Gideon.
November 3rd 2039, Derek and Spencer both retired from the FBI.
April 1st 2040, Clara brought home her boyfriend of seven months, David, for Easter break. He was a very intelligent boy, and he spent two hours trying to beat Spencer in chess before he waved his white flag. Two weeks later, he abruptly ended their relationship and Clara called Spencer crying. Spencer went over to her dorm without Derek and brought two boxes of microwave popcorn and four really bad French romance movies. They watched them all. When he had to leave, she hugged him and kissed his cheek, saying quietly, "Thanks, Papa." When Spencer came back that night to deliver the bad news, Derek almost drove up to campus with a gun. Spencer unloaded it when his husband wasn't looking and placed it back in his holster just to be sure. To get his own personal revenge, Spencer got Garcia to hack David's Facebook account and fill it with status update after status update about how much the college boy enjoyed cosplaying as Sailor Mars at the latest Comic-Con, manipulated pictures and all. Clara called Derek and asked if that was Spencer's doing. When he said yes, she laughed.
July 17th 2042, Clara moved out. Spencer spent the whole night wrapped up in Derek's arms, flipping page after page of scrapbooks filled with pictures of the three of them. He missed her already. Derek stayed strong while Spencer could not.
July 18th 2042, Spencer found Derek sitting with his back to the door in Clara's old bedroom, holding onto her baby blanket. It was ten thirty at night. His shoulders were shaking just slightly. Spencer heard a quiet sniff. Walking silently into the room, Spencer sat beside him and rested his gray head on Derek's shoulder. They cried together that night.
December 31st 2042, the entire BAU crew celebrated the New Year at the same Quantico tavern they had done for thirty eight years straight. They all were old, retired, and on any other day they would be in bed hours ago. Yet, somehow that night they had so much fun, it should have been fucking illegal.
January 1st 2043, Spencer dragged Derek over to a bleak corner of the room and kissed him on the thirtieth anniversary of their first kiss. Derek handed him a textbook. The Essentials of Sociology to be exact.
END