A Good Man- A Mother Knows
Spencer Reid couldn't ever remember being less happy to see his mother, even if he had been looking forward to the visit since he had bought the ticket in November. Now that he was off the plane, packed into a hotel room, and sitting on his mother's couch at Bennington on Christmas Eve, however, the only thing he felt was sadness. His mother was having an okay day, sure, but to be honest it wasn't her or schizophrenia or even the memories associated with it that were making him miserable. What was bothering him was something wrong with himself- or more specifically his own mental state of being. Unfortunately, his mother was starting to catch onto it, too.
"Spencer, what's wrong?" she asked sadly in between sips of non-alcoholic, store-bought egg nog. Spencer had brought the treat with him, as he remembered his mother had loved it when he was younger. One years he had tried making it himself, but whenever he tried pulling out the ingredients for it, she immediately stopped him. "Just go to the store, Sweetie. It tastes better factory fresh," she would joke with him.
Now, as Spencer smiled falsely at her and reassuringly laughed, he said, "Yeah Mom, I'm fine. Are you okay?"
"Of course I'm not," she grinned back. "But that's besides the point, isn't it?" Diana laughed as her son blushed, silently noting how easily it had always been to make him do so.
"Um, I asked the nurses if we could do something together, and if you're up to it, they said we could…" Spencer stumbled out nervously, trying his best to ignore his headache.
"Now I'm excited,' Diana said as her smile widened. "What did you have in mind?"
Spencer reached down to his side and produced a box of sugar cookie mix, vanilla frosting, and a mixture of red, green, and snowflake-shaped sprinkles. Immediately Diana jumped from her seat to hug her son, memories of making the same cookie set with Spencer when he was just a little boy. "What are you waiting for, son?"
Spencer laughed as he stood up from his seat, smiling just as wide as his mother. "Nothing mom, nothing."