A/N: Thank you again for all of the reviews and the continuing alerts. I'm blushing badly.

To my regular followers, I apologize. This is a short chapter FF. There's no 2 for 1 Monday special on this one. *runs*

Chapter 3

Reid wrapped his hand around his mother's. They were never the hug you, love you family like the Hotchner's. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Happy Holidays," he smiled.

Diana eyed him up and down. "You've put on some weight; but you're still too thin," she said, and then smiled. "But you look better." She rubbed his upper arm. "My son has some muscle here," she asked.

"I work out with some friends and I'm trying to eat better," he admitted.

"Good for you Spencer," his mother commended.

"How are you?"

"Spencer, you cannot tell me you haven't talked to Dr. Norman; I know better."

"A mother knows," he smiled. "I remember; and yes, Dr. Norman and I talked. Yet, I just want to hear it from you."

"The new medication they are giving me is good; I almost feel like a real human being again. Not some medicated zombie that the government can manipulate."

Reid let the comment slide, and rubbed her hand. "Mom, do you remember JJ, Morgan and Garcia?"

Diana nodded. "I helped you with the case with Randall Gardner. They are your friends."

"And I wrote you about JJ's wedding," he smiled.

"It sounded beautiful Spencer. Are they happy?"

"Yes mom; they are," he smiled. He reached for his wallet. "Mom, do you remember that I'm their son's godfather?"

Diana smiled. "Henry, right?"

Reid nodded and pulled out a picture from his wallet. "That's Henry mom," he smiled with pride. "That's his pre-school picture." Diana reached for the picture he pulled out. Reid handed it to her and smiled. Diana studied the picture.

"Oh such a handsome boy Spencer; not as much as you of course at that age," she smiled. "But Spencer, they take pictures of kids in pre-school these days? Damn government," she growled.

"Only the ones in four year old kindergarten mom," he explained. "It gives them a head start for entering elementary school next fall."

"They have to do that Spencer?"

"Yes mom. Cait, Hotch's wife said when Jack was in first grade, she couldn't believe the difference in the amount of homework Jack had to do, compared to her boys who are in their late teens." Reid, knowing that four o'clock was fast approaching, wanted to keep his mother busy so she wouldn't try to read him. And she had not picked on the reference to Cait, which made him relax.

He pulled another picture out of his wallet and smiled. "Last year's Halloween, in 2012, Henry didn't want to go out trick or treating. He had overheard JJ and Will talking about JJ's job. But JJ convinced him to be a profiler and figure out who the monsters were and who weren't. Henry said he wanted to do that like his favorite profiler." He showed Diana the picture of Henry dressed like him and beamed with pride, which his mother noticed.

Diana looked at the picture. "He picked a good role model," she said, making a clicking noise with her teeth and tongue, giving him a wink; something Spencer remembered her always doing and smiled.

Reid rubbed her shoulder a little more and pulled out one more picture. "And this is Henry this fall in kindergarten," he smiled.

Diana looked at the picture and immediately shook her head. "Mom," Spencer questioned, tensing.

"Did the government make JJ cut his hair? I like long hair." She looked at him. "That's what attracted me to your dad on the Berkley campus. He had a great head of long hair. I secretly wanted to be a hippie but my mother wouldn't let me."

Reid smiled, rubbing her shoulder. "Henry wanted his hair cut."

"Why?"

Reid smiled larger at his mother. "He told JJ he wanted to see the letters and numbers on the board in class without brushing his hair out of his eyes."

"Smart boy," Diana said, "and sound reasoning." Reid beamed at her and marveled at how well the time they were sharing was going.

Just then, Tisha walked up to the two of them, carrying Diana's afternoon medication in a cup. "Hello Dr. Reid," she smiled.

"Hello Tisha," he smiled back. "How was your Christmas?"

She beamed. "We had a great family time Dr. Reid; Monte and I spoiled the girls rotten as usual with their presents."

"Christmas is all about with children," Diana said. "I know I did back in the day." She smiled at her son.

While Reid could only pleasantly remember two Christmas' with his parents, he had admit to himself they had given him everything he wanted and far above his age level. "Yes Tisha, it was great," he smiled. Diana readily took the offered medication and washed it down with the glass of water that Tisha handed her.

"Good to see you again Dr. Reid," she smiled as she moved off to her next patient. Mother and son spent some more time talking, with Diana questioning him at length about Alex Blake.

"How's your friend Emily doing," Diana inquired. "Remember, you told me about what happened to her."

"She's Emily again," he said. Diana eyed him. "Yes mom, it took her a while to re-adjust back to her old life." He smiled. "She had a bit of help that didn't come from the Bureau."

"Of course; the government and those fascists weren't going to help her."

Reid rubbed her arm. "She sought out someone close to her; to all of us actually and like I said, she's Emily again." Reid shook his head with a smile. "Trying to pawn off some of her consults on me when she thinks I'm not looking."

"And you're too good for that," Diana smiled with pride and a wink.

Reid shrugged. "She's sneaky; she can still slip me one every now and then."

"Of course; she's a government agent."

"So am I mom."

"But you're doing some good out there in the world Spencer; you're helping people."

Reid smiled. "So is the rest of team mom; that's what we do."

Diana looked out the dayroom windows for a few minutes. Spencer let her have her quiet time. She turned to him. "Spencer, part of the new meds I'm getting is letting me remember. And right now I'm craving something for dinner."

"Mom," Reid questioned.

"You and I used to go out to dinner together," she smiled. Reid remembered it happening once after his dad had left. "Do you remember my favorite meal?" They had walked a couple blocks to the nearest McDonald's. "A cheeseburger, French fries and a…."

"Chocolate shake," he said with her, remembering that one time.

"Can you do that for me Spencer?"

Reid rubbed her arm. "Let me OK it with Tisha first; however, yes I can," he smiled. Diana nodded and went back to her journal as if giving him permission to talk to Tisha. Reid went to the desk, talked with the head nurse and returned.

He rubbed his mother's arm to get her attention. "And..," Diana asked.

"Tisha said you can have that; but you have to understand…"

Diana cut him off. "I eat in my room so I don't upset the others," she smiled. "That works perfectly for me. I have to grade a student's essay on her analysis of Macbeth's soliloquy."

Reid smiled and stuck out his right elbow like a gentleman would to a lady after asking her to dance. "May I escort you to your room ma'am," he smiled.

Diana put her pen in her journal, shut it and rose from her chair. She put her left arm daintily on her son's forearm around his elbow. "I would be honored sir," she smiled. Mother and son walked arm in arm down the hallway to Diana's room.

After Reid got his mother tucked into her room, he came back down the hall and stopped at the nurse's desk. Tisha wasn't around but one of the young LPN's looked at him. "Can I help you Dr. Reid?"

"I need directions to the nearest McDonald's."

Heather, he saw by her name tag smiled and gave him the directions he needed.

Twenty minutes later, quickly getting through the security installed in the lobby for the safety of the patients, Reid leaped up the steps three at a time with his long legs and walked down the hall to his mother's room.

They shared their feast together, smiling and laughing at Diana's perceived old memories.

As they finished, with Spencer gathering together the remnants of their meal into the bag with the golden arches on the side, Diana quietly looked at him. "It was good to see you eat like that," she smiled, as he put the bag into her garbage can in the bathroom.

"You too," he smiled, sitting back down next to her on the couch. They had sat there together, enjoying their meal.

Diana eyed him. "What's wrong Spencer?"

"Nothing mom," he looked back. "I just need to explain something to you."

"Explain something to me?"

"Yes mom." Reid had noticed the Hotchner family Christmas card stuck in the side crease of her mirror attached to her dresser in the room. It was obvious to him that it was special to her. He shrugged. "More to the point; put some things together for you."

He went to the mirror and pulled the card out. Holding it in his hand, he sat down again next her. "This is special to you mom, isn't it?"

Diana smiled with a nod. "I don't understand why I get it from your boss' family but yes, it is."

Spencer, having received one of his own, like the rest of team, turned to the page with the picture of Cait and Hotch. "Mom, do you remember getting a letter from a Dr. Barkley, asking your permission for Dr. Norman to release to her some of your medical records?"

"Yes I do Spencer. Dr. Barkley said she worked with you closely, explained her medical and professional credentials to me and told me she wanted to keep you informed about my treatment. I agreed to that Spencer, so why are you asking?"

Reid smiled at his mother. "Mom, Dr. Barkley," he said, pointing to the picture, "is Cait." He turned the card to the back. "The Cait that writes to you every now and then."

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