Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

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"Now Joanna, please keep still, Daddy doesn't have much time. Mommy won't be in the bathtub forever," Reid whispered to his daughter as he tried to get her to cooperate with his plans for Allie for Mother's Day.

"Did you say something honey," he heard from the bathroom where Allie was having one of her beloved soaks with her bubble bath and scented candles. Reid had suggested it because he needed her out of his and Joanna's hair for a few minutes.

"I was just talking to Joanna," he yelled back, "just have a long soak. I'm sure you need it. Everything's great out here." He hoped that would suffice. It probably wasn't possible for him to get both his girls to cooperate with him at the same time. And Joanna was just a baby. What would it be like when she was a teenager? He looked at the tiny baby in front of him. He couldn't think about that now, about her going off to the mall with her friends… and meeting boys. Boys! He held his little girl up as he got her into her outfit. "You don't ever want to meet boys do you? Repeat after Daddy," his voice changed to a high pitched baby's voice, "I don't ever want to meet boys, at least until I'm thirty or Dad is senile, whichever comes first," he said as he scrunched up his nose and made a face. "That's right, boys are yucky."

Reid rushed around completing his activities as quickly as possible before Allie got out of the tub. He had Joanna on the change table when Allie entered the nursery. She kissed Spencer on the cheek. "Thank you for suggesting that, though I missed you washing…my back."

"Yeah, well we both know where that usually leads…"

"Aah," Allie sighed, "I remember it well."

"And the doctor said you had to wait three months," he said as he did up the snaps on Joanna's sleeper. "It's worse than when you had your accident."

"I guess I'll have to quit having surgeries and babies," she replied.

"Yeah, you could definitely quit having surgeries." He lifted Joanna into his arms and softly kissed her forehead. "I'm not so sure we're done with babies." He bent and claimed his wife's lips.

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William Reid took out the last letter he'd received from Allie just a couple of days ago. He smiled as he read the words his daughter-in-law had written.

Hi Dad,

Well, the day finally came. You're a grandfather. I had a baby girl on May 2nd at 11:38 pm. She was 8lb 6oz and 22 inches long. She has lots of dark brown hair and she's beautiful. We named her Joanna Faith. Spencer thought of the name because it combines the first part of my mother's name and the last part of his mother's name; and Faith because he always wants her to have faith. Isn't that beautiful? She's already got her Daddy wrapped around her tiny fingers. She's his little princess.

I was in labor for 12 hours. Spencer was there with me through the whole thing. It was pretty rough there for a while.

Spencer's taken to fatherhood like a duck to water. I always knew he'd be terrific but he had his doubts. My Mom and Dad were here for the first few days but they've gone back to Ohio now and this is Spencer's first day back at work so it's just Joanna and I. It's wonderful and scary all at the same time, having this little person totally dependent on you but I love her more than I can say.

Oh, got to go, Joanna's crying. Take care, Dad.

Allie

He closed the letter and bundled it back up with the others. He hoped she'd send him a picture soon. Pictures…he reached for the envelope from Philly.

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Reid sat at his desk, working on a consult for a detective in Sacramento. He was waiting for a call from Garcia who was helping him with his plan for Allie for Mother's Day. The elevator door opened on the sixth floor and an employee from forensics got off and made his way to Reid's desk. "Dr. Reid," he said tentatively.

Reid turned his head to see Cam Morrison who worked with Allie in QD. "Oh hi Cam, what brings you up here?"

"Allie had a bunch of mail in her IN box and I decided to bring it up here to you and save her coming in to get it, with a new baby and all." He held up a sheaf of envelopes bundled together with an elastic band. "Congratulations on your baby, by the way," the tech reached out his hand.

Reid shook the proffered hand, "Thanks Cam," he said, relieving the man of the envelopes he held. "I'll see that she gets these."

"Okay then, back to the salt mines, give Allie our best and tell her we miss her. It's not nearly as bright a place without her smiling face," Cam said as he headed for the elevator.

"I will," Reid replied as he set the mail down on his desk. "Thanks again for bringing her mail." Reid's cell rang and he looked at the call display, "Garcia."

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"What have you got there Reid?" Emily asked when he returned from Garcia's office.

"Garcia was helping me with something for Allie for Mother's Day. She reminded me that it's Allie's first Mother's Day as a mother. It's this Sunday and I know Joanna will only be two weeks old by then but Garcia's right, I should do something for her." He showed Emily what he'd done with Garcia's help.

"Reid, that's beautiful, she'll absolutely love it. You thought of this…by yourself?" Emily responded. Reid nodded. "Well, it's a great idea." Emily gathered her purse together, ready for the trek home. "It's nice to be getting out of here at a decent hour for a change. See you tomorrow guys." She waved at Reid and Morgan.

"She's got the right idea, you ready Reid," Morgan said as he headed for the elevator.

"Right behind you," Reid said as he grabbed his messenger bag and flung it over his head. The elevator had arrived by the time he caught up with Morgan and the two entered the car. The door was closing when Reid hollered, "Wait, Allie's mail. Hold the elevator for me Morgan." Reid ran back into the bullpen and retrieved the pile of correspondence from his desk. Morgan looked at the pile as Reid reentered the elevator car. "My wife gets a lot of mail. She's a popular person, what can I say?"

Rush hour traffic was heavy that evening and Reid was glad when he got off the interstate and into McLean itself where the traffic wasn't quite as heavy and even less so as he reached the residential area. He'd just turned off Lowell Avenue onto Emerson when a large ball rolled in front of his SUV and a young child followed closely behind. Reid slammed on his brakes. His heart was in his throat when he came to a stop just as the child was in front of the vehicle. The sudden stop sent his messenger bag and the letters forward landing on the floor of the passenger side of the vehicle. The child's mother came running into the street, scolding the child and looking apologetically at Reid. He let out the breath he had been holding as Joanna flashed before his eyes like she always seemed to these days when he encountered anything involving children. He reached across to the floor of the passenger side and picked up his messenger bag and Allie's letters. He put them on the seat beside him and was just putting his foot on the gas when he stopped and swung his head back to the bunch of letters. There at the top, the first letter in the pile, was an envelope from Leavenworth Kansas. Reid shook his head as if to clear it of the thoughts that were rattling around in it. Perhaps there were some documents she needed to examine for the court from a prisoner in Leavenworth. That was it, he thought, as he continued on his way. He suddenly pulled over. Anything official would come on Leavenworth stationary and would be typed and not handwritten as this envelope was. He picked up the pile again and pulled out the envelope from Leavenworth. The envelope was handwritten and he'd recognize that handwriting anywhere!