Author's Note: I don't own Criminal Minds…but I like to pretend I do!

Chapter 8 It's Now or Never

Reid was assigned to stay in the safe house with Olivia and a few officers. They spent the few days talking while playing cards and board games. No mention of the case or why they were there was ever made. The more time Spencer spent with Olivia, the more he realized how much he liked her. She liked playing chess with him (although she never won), held intelligent conversations, and even had a few statistics about the animal kingdom to tell him.

Three days since they arrived in the house, Reid's phone rang. It was Morgan.

"I'll be right back, don't cheat!" he said to Olivia. They were playing chess and Olivia was losing spectacularly.

"I never cheat!" she laughed as Reid answered the phone.

"Reid, we got him," Morgan said, "It's a guy named Anthony Collins. He works in the security office so he rigged the tapes, and we went to his home. Guess what we found?"

"A dark room full of pictures of Olivia?" he guessed.

"Plus a hand-written schedule of the doctor's days," Morgan said, "We asked him about it and he confessed to the entire thing. He told us about all the murders and admitted he called last night. We compared the schedule to his writing sample and it matches. Garcia confirmed his cell phone was the one that was used to call Olivia's house last night. I told you we'd get him!"

"That's fantastic, I have to tell Olivia and the officers," said Reid eagerly.

"Tell the men to stick around until we get there and we'll take Olivia back home," said Morgan and Reid could tell he was smiling.

"Okay, I will. Bye," Reid said, hung up, and went over to Olivia. "We got him."

"Really? Are you sure?" Olivia asked, almost as if it was too good to be true.

"He confessed, fits the profile, and they found evidence of him stalking you," said Spencer, "His name is Anthony Collins, he works in security."

"Tony? I guess I could see…I just have a hard time imagining anyone who could do something so horrible."

Reid's phone rang again and Garcia was on the other end this time.

"Hey angelfish, I have a Jude Thompson calling here for Olivia. He says it's really important," Garcia said, "I had it so all calls to her house and cell came through the office."

"Hold on. Olivia," he said, "A Jude Thompson wants to talk to you. He says it's important. Do you know him?"

"Yes, he's my brother-in-law!" Olivia said, "Oh God, can I talk to him?"

"I'm putting him through right now," Garcia said and Reid handed the phone to Olivia.

"Jude? Jude, it's Olivia, how's Emma? Is she okay? How far are the contractions?...What the hell do you mean she's pushing? I told you to call me as soon as she went into labor!"

She took a few calming breaths as a voice on the other end rambled on.

"Okay, well you've reached me now and I'm here," she said, calmer now, "Yes, give me to her. Oh Jude…if you faint this time, I will personally fly to London and slap some sense into you. Keep calm, okay? My sister needs you so man up…Okay, bye."

There was a pause and Reid got up to leave but Olivia stopped him by holding his hand. He gave it a light squeeze and sat back down. She mouthed, "Thank you!" and he smiled in response.

"Emma, I'm here sweetie…I know, I know but I'm here on the phone now…Yes, he is an idiot but you've got to love him…Don't say that, just one more push and you'll be done. Jude told me you're almost there…I know, men are useless at this stuff."

She smiled and rolled her eyes at Reid.

"Sweetheart, let the nurse take the phone. I'm not going anywhere. I'll be screaming so you can hear me, okay?"

There was a pause and Reid heard screaming on the other end of the phone. Most of them were unintelligible cried but sometimes Reid heard "Jude", "castrate", and many choice words. Olivia was cheering her sister on the entire way until they both heard a tiny cry through the phone.

"It's a boy," he heard Jude say and Olivia grinned.

"Emma, I'm so proud of you! You did a great job! Did you two plan a name for the boy?...Caleb John Thompson, I love it…Listen, tell Jude congratulations for not fainting this time okay?...I love you too Emsy, give them both a kiss for me…Bye!"

She hung up the phone and cried, "I have a nephew!"

Olivia threw her arms around Reid, laughing and crying at the same time. Spencer held her until she looked up at him.

"Congratulations," he said hoarsely and she laughed. He wiped away a tear that had fallen down her face and they both blushed.

Slowly, almost cautiously, Spencer leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. When he pulled back, she was looking at him with wide eyes at first but then kissed him back.

Whoa. That was the only thing running through Dr. Spencer Reid's mind. Not facts or statistics or profiles, just a simple four-letter word. Never before had he felt so happy, so wonderful. To like someone so much and have them feel the same way was a dream come true for the young doctor. That elated feeling crashed however as soon as Olivia broke away and pushed him off.

"No, no this isn't right. I can't…no!" She turned away with her back to him.

"What? Why?" he asked, feeling like his stomach was falling down an elevator shaft.

"Because I know that…that you only feel this way because of the case," she said, choking back tears, "You only like me because I'm the victim and you're the brave protector. If we had met under normal circumstances, you wouldn't give me a second thought."

"That's not true at all!"

"How can you say that? You don't know what could have been," she said and he could see her wiping her eyes furiously.

"I know that in a normal scenario I would have been too scared to even talk to you, but I would always wonder what if," he said loudly, "I know that we have a lot in common and spent three whole days together talking about whatever and never getting bored. I know I'd have to be a complete Neanderthal, in a relationship, or gay not to like you. Your sister was right Olivia," he said in a gentler tone, "I do like you…a lot actually."

Olivia turned around and he saw her eyes were red and full of water. He reached out and took her hand.

"How did you know what Emma told me?" she asked curiously.

"I…uh…funny story actually," Spencer said with a nervous laugh, "The day Garcia called you to tell you I was coming, I accidentally heard the conversation between you and your sister."

"Th-That whole bit about you and Morgan?" Reid nodded and she put a hand over her mouth. "No! Oh my God, you must think I'm so weird!"

"No, I don't," he said, "I was really happy actually. I thought you didn't like me and I was being an idiot, but I was wrong. You…You still like me, right?"

"Of course!" she cried and blushed as Reid grinned.

"Look, I have an idea. Let me take you out to dinner tonight to celebrate. We can have a normal date experience and see what happens. That is, if you want to."

"I'd really love that," she said with a sweet smile.

"Great! I have to let the officers know what's happening and once the other BAU members get here, we'll take you home."

She nodded happily and Reid left to talk to the officers. By the time he told them the plan, the BAU was all there waiting. J.J and Prentiss were holding the cats while Morgan had Cujo on a leash. Olivia knelt down and all three animals were released, running to her and licking and rubbing every inch of her available.

"Were they good for you two?" Olivia asked J.J and Prentiss. The animals were back in the arms of the agents and Prentiss was holding Michelangelo while J.J had Galileo.

"They were perfect angels. This little guy was a good kitten," J.J said, rubbing Galileo under his chin, "Can I take him home with me?"

"I want this guy here," said Prentiss, nodding at Michelangelo, "Look at those eyes!"

"I have friends at the local animal shelter so if you want a cat, they have plenty," said Olivia happily, "I'll even train them to use the litter box for you if they need it."

The girls talked eagerly about adoption while the guys went up to Reid.

"You okay there Reid?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah, I'm fantastic," he replied and the others laughed, except Hotch who bent down to pet Cujo.

"You asked her out, didn't you?" Morgan said and laughed when Spencer nodded shyly. "I told you she liked you!"

"Spencer," said Gideon when Morgan left to talk with the police, "I'm glad you waited until the case was over to ask. I think things will work out better this way."

"Do you think…I mean I know she's not Lila, but do you think it'll end up like it did between Lila and me?" Spencer asked.

"No, I don't," said Gideon, "Olivia is very different from Lila, in a good way. Lila was a nice girl and very pretty, but her priorities were off. She cared more about her career that's up in the air than a down-to-earth young man who cared for her. You both have moved on, let her go and enjoy Olivia's company. She's a keeper."

Gideon patted Reid shoulder and knelt down as Cujo rolled on his stomach. Olivia looked over, smiled, and came toward them.

"He likes you," she said to Gideon, who smiled and got to his feet, shaking hands. "It's great to see you again Agent Gideon, Spencer has told me a lot about you."

"All good things I hope?" he said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Oh yes, very much so," said Olivia happily, "Spencer has nothing but good things to say about everyone on the team. You guys seem more like family than coworkers actually."

Reid smiled as he watched Gideon and Olivia talk with each other. They were getting along wonderfully and that meant a lot to the young doctor. Gideon was like his father and Reid wanted him to like his potential girlfriend. Finally, the team took Olivia to her apartment building and Spencer walked her to her room.

"What time should I pick you up?" Reid asked as they reached the door to her room.

"How about six thirty? I know a place just a couple blocks from here that has really good Italian food," said Olivia.

"Great, see you then!"

Olivia grinned widely, unlocked her door, and went into her apartment. Spencer waited until the door closed before he punched the air and walked down to where the car was parked. He couldn't wait for his first date with Olivia Tusconi!

Author's Note: Hello my readers! I am so sorry I didn't update on Friday. I thought I'd be back in time before I left for the beach but I wasn't and therefore I couldn't update. Thank you to my reviewers, reading your reviews makes my day so much brighter! Thank you also to those who have me on alerts and in their favorites. I'm glad you like my story and are following it! Finally, a huge shout-out to my sis missdavinci77 who I know probably really enjoyed reading this. If you liked it, tell my why. If you didn't like it, still tell me why. I love hearing your thoughts and opinions so bring them on! That review button is specially trained not to bite, I promise! :D