Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds nor do I get any profit off of writing these stories
Title comes from the song "Hey Jude" by the Beatles, which I most certainly do not own. :/
Spencer sat in the passenger seat of Morgan's car, swinging his feet back and forth, hitting the leather seat with every kick.
"Kid? Are you bored?" asked Morgan glancing at Spencer from the corner of his eye, then focusing back at the road.
Spencer shrugged his shoulders and murmured something.
"Sorry?" said Morgan. "I didn't catch that. Can you speak up, please Spencer?"
"A little," repeated Spencer a bit louder, but still mumbling.
"Well, we'll stop for lunch up in a little bit, then you can get out and stretch legs. Why don't you turn the radio on until then? What music do you like?"
"I don't know," said Spencer quietly.
Derek smiled slightly and said, "Why don't we figure that out then?" He reached over and pressed the radio on and told Spencer to hit the 'seek' button until he found something he liked.
He flipped to a hip-hip/R n' B station first and looked scandalized when he finally got the lyrics and immediately flipped stations. The next one was a Top 40 Pop station. He listened for a second before declaring it 'too weird and nonsensical' before changing the station. A metal station was too loud, country too sad, and oldies were too boring. Eventually, he landed on a station that happened to be playing "Hey Jude" by the Beatles and smiled. "This one," he said.
Derek grinned. Not usually his style of music, but no one could complain about the Beatles. At least his taste in music is pretty good.
Derek started half singing along with the lyrics and drumming lightly on the steering wheel.
"Hey Jude, don't make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better."
Spencer giggled softly after that line.
"What?" asked Derek, glancing at the child.
"Nothing really…" he said, getting shy again.
"What? You can tell me. What's so funny?"
"Well," said Spencer, drawing out the word. "Not really funny, just an- observation, I saw."
"Oh?" said Derek, marveling at the maturity of Spencer's speech. What seven year old uses words like 'observation?' I'll have to get him tested when we get back to Quantico, though I suppose I'd be doing that anyway…
"You're kinda like 'Jude' in the song. You know, 'take a sad song and make it better'"
"And you're a sad song?" asked Morgan.
Spencer nodded, blushing bright red. If Morgan wasn't driving, he'd have grabbed Spencer right then and there and hugged him until he couldn't hug anymore. Even driving, he had half a mind to pull over so he could just hold the little boy.
Instead he just reached over and wrapped a large hand around Spencer's small one a squeezed gently once.
Spencer kept his gaze down, hiding his blush behind his hair, but Derek saw a small smile creep over his face.
They drove in silence for awhile, until they reached a small town aroundnoon. Derek pulled towards a fast-food place and looked over at Spencer.
"Do you want to go in, or just go to the drive-through?" asked Morgan.
Spencer shrugged, but started kicking his feet back and forth restlessly again.
Morgan sighed. "Come on. Let's go in. You look like you could use a stretch."
Morgan helped Spencer out of his seatbelt and walked around the car to help him out. Spencer hooked an arm around one of Derek's and leaned his weight over on the older man, while sucking his thumb with the other. Morgan smiled at how cute he was, and threw an arm around him, holding him tight against him.
They walked together inside the restaurant smelling of greasy fries and salt. Derek knew he was supposed to turn his nose up at such smells and say 'ew, grease is so bad for a person. And the smell is awful!' but honestly, he loved the smell of fries and burgers and the taste of a good ol' grease packed burger.
"Do you want chicken nuggets or a hamburger, Spencer?" asked Morgan.
Spencer bit his lip and shrugged. Derek decided to go with chicken nuggets; it would be awhile until he figured out exactly how Spencer liked his hamburgers and what foods he liked, and right now wasn't the time to experiment. Chicken nuggets were the safer option.
As they walked further into the restaurant, Spencer clung even more tightly to Derek's arm.
Derek grinned comfortingly (or what he hoped was comforting) down at Spencer and held him tighter.
They got to the register and after the cashier said her rehearsed 'may I take your order line', Derek ordered a burger meal for himself and a Chicken Nuggets Kids Meal for Spencer.
Spencer looked up at Derek before they paid, and lifted his arms, to tell him he wanted to be carried.
Derek obliged and the soft 'aww' from the cashier made Spencer bury his face in Derek's neck.
"He's so cute!" the teenager (probably sixteen or seventeen, thought Derek) all but squealed. "Are you a friend of his mother's? Or is that too personal?"
"No, he's my son," said Derek. At the girl's slightly confused look, he elaborated. "Adopted son."
She formed a silent "Ohh," of understanding. "Well," she said, shaking herself back into business mode, "here's your receipt."
"Thank you," he said, taking the thin piece of paper and two cups that were laid out. He got a Coke for himself and lemonade for Spencer. Didn't want him having too much caffeine or sugar. Well, the lemonade was probably really sugary, but couldn't be as bad as the sodas. No caffeine's a plus anyways. With luck, he'll hate coffee when he's older, or at least drink it sugarless.
They went to a booth in the back, away from people, figuring it would make Spencer more comfortable. He made to put Spencer on one side, and got up to sit on the other, but Spencer grabbed his arm and looked up at him with big brown eyes and shook his head.
"Do you want me to sit next to you?" asked Morgan.
Spencer nodded his head vigorously, so Morgan did as he asked.
They sat and enjoyed their simple meal, before it was time to go. Derek looked over at the play area, where he heard the delighted shrieks of people, and wished that Spencer could run around like that and play, that he could be with kids his own age, but that wasn't a possibility.
Derek made up his mind to find a park near where he lived to take Spencer to some day.
They loaded back up in the car, and Spencer fell straight to sleep. Derek chuckled and made it back toVirginiawithout having to make another stop.
Finally! Home sweet home! he thought as he pulled up in front of his simple one story house.
There! A fast update! Thanks for all the reviews! I really do love them! And the amount of favorites/alerts floored me!
I couldn't resist the part about the coffee ;)
I hope the 'Hey Jude' part wasn't too cheesy. It felt that way.