First of all, I want to let you all know that someone had notimated me for Best Characterization of Spencer Reid which I am truly surprise and honored. Anyway the voting is now open so if you wish to vote for me or any other of the stories that you like. You need to go to Criminal Mind Forum and click under Chit Chat on Author's Corner Forum to vote.

Now back to the next chapter of my story. I do not own Criminal Minds and my thanks to my sister for being my beta. Please read and reivew.

Chapter #36

It was the next night after dinner when Reid led Ashley to the backyard. As they slowly walked down the garden path, Ashley felt his hand brushed against her before he gently grabs hold of it.

"You are awfully quiet," she finally said.

"I guess I have nothing to talk about." Ashley burst into laughter, leaning forward.

"Since when," she asked after she regain her composure. She stepped in front of him, wrapping her arms around his waist, looking up at him with her emerald green eyes. "What is going on? I noticed tonight at dinner, instead of telling us some kind of statistics or something, you were challenging Rose to secret duel, telling her of how people can change over the years. It was like you were baiting her into something."

Reid gently touched her shoulders, "I noticed that she is really being cold and rude to you and I honestly do not like it."

Ashley let out a sigh, "Rose and I are going have to sit down and have a talk, but honestly, I am waiting until you are back to work. I know, you want to be there to support me," she said, not letting Reid to speak. "But I know that our talk is going to be loud and it is going to turn into an argument which has to be done no matter what. And I don't want you to be caught in the middle of it." He leaned his head forward.

"Why do you have to do this, why put yourself through this?"

"It is going to sound weird, after Charlie disappeared and then his foot was found, I have tried to reach out to my parents, but they still rejected me. I still try to send them cards and call them. But they never took any of my phone calls or they always send back the cards unopened. I was alone. When Ryan and I got engaged, I spent Christmas with them and it wasn't like the Walton's."

"Who?"

"It's a TV show. The point is, it wasn't a perfect Christmas. Mary burnt the turkey, the tree fell over twice, and Ryan and his brother got into an argument about football. But it was family and it really felt good of having one again." He nodded his head, understanding her. He knew too well what it is like not having a family.

"I just don't want you get to your hopes up high. She may not want you back in her life."

She nodded yes, "I know, but I have to try."

He kissed her, gently touching her face. "Come on, it is a beautiful night and I don't want to go back in just yet." He pulled back, taking her hand again and they continued their walk. Ashley leaned her head on his shoulder as she wrapped her arm around his.

"I know there is something else bothering you," she said quietly.

He smiled, "I swear you would make a really good profiler."

She squeezed his arm, "Doc, I know something is up. You have not told me much about the house, just that it smells really bad."

It was his turn to step in front of her. "Let's go and sit down, please." She nodded. They sat by the pool.

Reid moved his chair closer to her, "I want you to promise me something." She looked at him where he took her hand into his, gently kissing her fingers.

"I want you to promise me that you will not go back to the house after the repairs are done."

"Doc, I am not going to let Julian," she started to say.

Reid shook his head as he laid his index finger on her lips, quieting her. "I saw the blood, your blood and the things that the paramedics left behind when they worked on you. If you were in the kitchen or even in the living room where the dinning table landed, you would have been..." He closed his eyes, couldn't bring himself to say the word, killed. "Harry would be planning your funeral by now."

"Doc," she said.

"You are a beautiful woman. If you were at a bar, I wouldn't even dare try talking to you. On the other hand, Morgan would. You can have anyone, but you pick me, a guy who thinks statistics are fun." He leaned forward, kissing her. He touched her forehead with his. "There are times that I wondered how I got so lucky."

"By becoming a drug addict," she honestly answered.

He smiled at her answer, "I want us to go bowling. I want you to teach me how to cook. I want to show you Beethoven. I want to teach you how to play chess."

He leaned back, where he reach inside of his jacket pocket. He pulled out a black velvet ring box out of his pocket, but ended up dropping it. The box rolled underneath his chair onto the concrete.

"Uh-oh," he said, as he got up from his chair. He followed the box as it keeps on rolling. Just as it got near to the pool, Reid quicken his pace where he jumped in the air as if he was going to slide into third base in a baseball game. He landed right at the end of the edge pool, which was a miracle itself that he didn't fall in this time. He looked up and seeing on his outstretched hand and where he was holding the ring box over the water. He let out a sigh of relief as he laid his face down on the ground.

"Are you alright," he heard Ashley asking.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered as he pushed himself off the ground. He saw Ashley who was now standing up, watching this whole incident. He brushed himself off, straightening out his clothes. He ran his fingers through his hair, tucking it behind his ears. He walked over to her where he bent down on one knee.

"Spencer," she asked as she took a step back.

"What," he said, seeing her looking nervous.

"Please don't ask me," she said.

"What," he asked again, then he realized of what she was thinking when he was on his knee.

"No, no, no," he said, waving his hand in front of him. "Just please sit, and hear me out." She nodded, sitting in the chair in front of her.

"I love everything about us and you. But right now, I'm not ready to get married. Play house, have fun, learn to live together, yes. But marriage is a big step and until everything is done, I don't think either of us is ready for that step. But this is a promise. A promise that I will always be there, even if it's on the other side of a phone, whenever you need me. I will always listen to your funny stories of the children and adults in your class, and your grouches about them too. I will always be sitting in the audience, listening to you play. In you, I have found my best friend. Someone I can respect, love, and even like," he said then he opened the box. Tuck inside was a gold Claddagh ring with a garnet heart. Tears were already falling down her face, still speechless at Reid. He looked up where he gently wiped her tears with his fingers.

"Doc," she finally said.

"The Claddagh ring was first fashioned into the traditional ring back in the 17th Century during the reign of Mary II. Legend has it that an Irish young man, Richard Joyce, bound for the West Indian slave plantations was kidnapped himself in rough seas by a band of Mediterranean pirates and sold to a Moorish goldsmith who over the many long years of his exile helped him perfect the skills of a master craftsman. When in 1689 King William III negotiated the return of the slaves, Joyce returned to Galway - despite, it said, the Moor's offer of the daughter's hand in marriage and a princely dowry of half of all his wealth," he explained as he gently slide the ring on her right index finger with the heart pointed inward.

"So did she wait for him," she finally asked as she wiped his tears from his eyes.

"Yes. The woman had never stopped faithful waiting for her true love to return. Upon which time when he presented her with the now famous Royal Claddagh gold ring a symbol of their enduring love. Two hands to represent their friendship, the crown to signify their loyalty and lasting fidelity, and the sign of the heart to symbolize their eternal love for each other," he answered, pointing to the ring.

"They soon married, never to be separated again. It became the traditional Irish wedding ring since then. If this ring is worn on the right hand with the heart facing your fingernails shows that your heart is open. But, if you wear it with the heart facing the wrist is a sign of friendship prior to the wedding. It thus shows that your heart is taken." She smiled as more tears fell down from her face. He smiled, now kneeling on both of his knees, and leaning forward, kissing her.

"I love you too," she whispered as she ran her fingers through his hair, resting her hands on the back of his neck. "I promise that I will be there for you. That I will listen to your theories on profiling or Star Trek, even though I probably will have no idea of what the hell you are talking about." Reid laughed.

"I promise to show that despite all of the evil you deal with, there is good in the world. There are few people that I trust with my life and I trust you. I love your heart, your never ending optimism and even your mismatched socks. And I promise, I won't go back home until it is done." He smiled, nodding his head as he wiped her tears away from her face. He leaned forward and kissed her deeply. He pulled away after a few moments, and carefully held her for several moments in silence.

"Do you feel up to walking around a bit more before calling it a night?" She nodded yes. He helped her up off the lounge chair. Ashley wrapped her arm around his arm as they walked.

It didn't Ashley take long to realized Reid was leading her further away from the house. "You know the house is over there," she said, pointing behind them.

"I know," he said. He led her to a familiar dirt path that disappeared into the groove of trees. Ashley stopped, looking at him. She knew about his fear of the dark and yet, he was willingly to follow the path. He pulled out a small flashlight from inside of his coat and turned it on.

"Come on," he encouraged as he slipped his hand over hers, giving it a gently squeeze. He led her into the groove where there was an opening on the other side.

Once they emerged, Ashley stopped. She knew why this path was familiar to her. It leads to a guest house in the back. The guest house was much smaller than the main house, but it has the same stone grey color with the smoky white roof. It was even smaller than Ashley's house.

How did Reid knew about this. She knew that he had a particular habit of studying maps. Did he actually study the map of this place? He took a few steps forward, heading toward the house.

"Spencer, we can't go in. We don't have their permission," she said, pulling on his arm, stopping him.

With a wave of his hand, he pulled out the silver key out thin air, using his magical skills. "We do, actually."

Now Ashley was again surprise. "We have their permission to use their guesthouse," she said, trying to wrap her head around this.

He stepped closer to her, rubbing her arms up and down with his hands, warming her. "We do, I want to spend the night with you, hold you in my arms as we sleep and wake up next to you. Where we can finally have breakfast together and walk Bailey as I promised," he explained as he slide his hands inside hers, gently holding them. She nodded yes.