So yes, I am back. The sale is over and now I can finally relax and go back to work on the story. Thank you all for your reviews. I cannot believe that I have 65 people who signed up for Story Alert.

I do not own Criminal Minds and my thanks to my sister for being my beta. Please R&R

Please do not forgot to vote in the People's Choice Award under Chit Chat on Author's Corner in the forums. Also please check out my interview if you like.

Chapter #38

Reid leaned forward in the tub, enjoying Ashley massaging his back, as he fondly remembered last night. They eventually crawled underneath the blankets, only to make love again with the same intensity and passion. Ashley surprised him in the morning, with breakfast in bed.

He felt a kiss on the back of his neck as he turned his head and kissed her. She gently pulled him back where he leaned up against her.

"Is this hurting you," he asked, showing concern and ready to sit up.

She shook her head no, "You are not, and my stitches are not even touching the tub. Just relax." She wrapped her arms around him where he relaxes. He laid his head back on her collarbone as he raised his legs up to get more comfortable and close his eyes.

"So after philosophy, what then," Ashley asked after awhile of silence between them.

"Excuse me," he said, opening his eyes.

"After you get your degree in philosophy, are you planning to get any more degrees?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I am not sure." He turns his head toward her, kissing her. "What about you?"

"I need to get my first degree before start thinking of my second degree," she answered.

"No, I mean that you were planning of going to collage, before Ryan died. Do you still want to go?" She let out a breath, thinking a moment.

"I don't know. I haven't really thought of it. I mean I thought of going to school and getting a degree in Education and become a kindergarten teacher."

Reid sat up, turning himself around, "And now?" She show hesitation on her face, "Why don't you want to go, you would make a great teacher."

She smiled, "Its just seem like a lifetime ago." He bends his head to one side, looking at her.

"It is also because of Julian, you are afraid that he might ruin it." She nodded her head. Reid pulled her in, slowly lying back on the tub.

"You don't have to be afraid of him anymore alright. And if you really want to go to college, I can help you in any way that I can, in tuition, books, making a few phone calls," he said before she pressed her index finger against his lips, quieting him. She smiled at him before kissing him.

"I love you, I love you for wanting to help me out and I know that is ok. But if I go to collage, I want to do it on my own. And if that means student loans and paying them off in the next five or ten years, so be it." He smiled, fully understanding her.

"I know that you are going to be there for me, either helping me with studying or rubbing my feet after a long day of class. But right now, I have to get my life back together before I can even think of it." He caressed her face with his hand, kissing her again.

"When do you get your stitches removed?"

"The appointment is at two. I don't want to leave. I want to stay here forever," she said.

He smiled, "Me too, last night was incredible."

She kissed him again where she sat up, "Which one," she teased.

He smiled, raising his head up, kissing her one more time. "Both," he said before clearing his throat.

Ashley was still amazed at him, still blushing even though they are sitting naked in a tub and after they had great sex. He sat up, gently holding her in his arms. He caresses her cheek with his finger where she closed her eyes, enjoying his touch.

She opened them up, staring into his brown eyes, "Thank you for doing this for me."

He smiled and whispered, "I do love you. I loved your free spirit and your passion for life."

She smiled, "I love you, I love you for keeping me grounded and for being normal."

"Normal?"

"Yeah, normal," she said before kissing him again. Reid gave in, deepening it, pulling her closer. Ashley pulled back, looking down at his body, smiling.

"But I think I can probably teach you a few things right now, if you like," she said seductively.

Reid smiled, "Very much so."

It was in the early afternoon that Reid came back to the main house, carrying the last box of things from the guest house. He didn't realize that there was so much stuff that was brought to the house, food, clothes, candles and such. He put the last box in his bedroom where he would deal with it later. Mary took Ashley to town to get her stitches removed and Ashley wanted to pick up a few things for the Star Trek marathon this weekend. This gave him perfect time to talk to Paul. That is if he can find him.

Reid wandered around the huge house, trying to find Paul. He needed to make sure that Ashley was going to be ok. He had a feeling come Monday morning; he would have to fly somewhere, leaving Ashley alone. If Ashley wasn't going to be ok, he would need some time to make other arrangements. She could stay with him at his place, but his landlord doesn't allow dogs so where can he put Bailey? Maybe Morgan can take him in, but with his dog Clooney, he wasn't sure if Bailey would get along with him. He is a trained guard dog for Ashley. He would have to stay in a kennel which Ashley would not want. If he was called out of town, he would let Harry know. Maybe Harry can take him in, he wondered.

He went down the stairs to the first floor, looking both ways trying to find the old man. Why would three people live in a house with ten bedrooms and eleven bathrooms with at least two living rooms, a library, a kitchen, and other rooms which he had no idea of what they were was beyond him.

He went into one room that looked like an office, seeing if Paul was there. "Paul," he said, knocking on the open door. But the room only showed sunflower yellow walls with snow white crown molding. Light brown hardwood floors lead up to a heavy linen white desk. A TV tucked into the white bookshelves with books and a few ornaments was close to the desk as someone can easily watch the news and do paperwork.

He turned around, only to knock down some papers that were sitting on the small table besides the door. As he bends down to pick them up, he couldn't help seeing one of the papers was a bank statement and it had Ashley's name on it.

He knew that he shouldn't meddle into this, but the FBI SSA Dr. Spencer Reid inside of him, told him to investigate it. Why did the Ashburtons have Ashley's bank statements? Upon closer inspection, it revealed "Ashley Lynn Cassidy's Trust Fund." He almost dropped the papers again when it showed that it had ten million dollars in the account.

"Holy shit," he quietly said to himself. Their son actually left that much money to Ashley. She can definitely go back to school to become a teacher and quit stripping for good. But upon reading the statement even more, something wasn't adding up, literally. He found monthly despots of the same amount into the account which should have made the amount increased, but when he read the bottom line, the account showed roughly eight million dollars was left. What happened to the two million? Ashley had never asked for any advancements, he remembers Paul telling his wife.

He first thought it was because the repairs of the house, but they started long before the accident? Something wasn't adding up. He stood up, studying the statement when he heard the familiar clicking on the floor.

Quickly he set the paper back down on the table, and then pokes his head out seeing Rose coming down the hallways.

"Dr. Reid," she greeted him coldly. "Is there a reason of why you are in my office?"

He shook his head no, deciding not to talk to her about the trust fund until he got some more answers. And he couldn't start accusing them until he knew for sure. As far as he knew, that money could have been put into stocks or RSPs, something easy explainable.

"I'm looking for Paul," he answered as he stepped into the hallway. Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Rose showed her displeased when Reid called her husband "Paul". She gave him a look of whether or not he was telling the truth.

"Mr. Ashburton is in his own office. It is down the hall, the last room to the right. Now if you excuse me," she said as she walked into her office, closing the door behind her.

He let out a sigh, giving him more reason to worry. Reid knocked on the closed door, "Come in," Paul answered. He opened the door where it revealed, yet another office, but this one was more bigger than Rose's and more masculine with the mahogany floors, walls and desk.

Paul was standing on a stool, by the gas fireplace which was turned off, trying to adjust the TV perched over. His glasses were perched on top of his bald head as he squinted at the TV as he pressed a button with his other hand, trying to get the vertical hold to stay still. He turned around to see Reid standing there.

"Dr. Reid, come in. I am trying to get this TV working again," he said, finally giving up on it, shutting it off.

"Please sit," he said, pulling his glasses down off his head onto his face and walked over to the other side of the room which held a small bar with a small library behind the bar. He pulled out two glasses and then filling up the glasses with ice and scotch. He handed one to Reid where he was already sitting in one of the dark chocolate leather chairs and sat in matching leather chair in front of him.

Reid thanked him for the drink, even though he really didn't want it. He held it in his hands and waited for Paul sat down.

"I'm going to guess that you want to talk to me about the conversation that you heard between my lovely wife and me, two days ago," he said, as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his leg over.

"I am sorry that you had to hear of what my wife had said about Ashley and you. I honestly do not know where she came up with the idea that you were her pimp." Reid leaned forward, wrapping his drink with his fingers.

"I have not told her about your conversation, I did not want to make her upset and add more stress than she is already dealing with. But that doesn't mean that I will not be lying to her. If she does ask me what is going on, I will tell her," he said. Paul nodded.

Reid continued, "Ashley said that you are her family, after her own family disowned her. I know what it is like not having a real family so I do understand what she is feeling and why she really wants to make things work out. I do appreciate you letting me stay here and take care of her, but I am leaving on Sunday and going back to work on Monday where I will be sent out of town on a case so I am not going to be there for her. I know Harry will be checking on her, but he is busy with his bar. If your wife is going to be causing more trouble for her, I will make other arrangements for her." He leaned back, setting his drink on the desk, and waited for his answer.

"Dr. Reid, I will not make any excuses for my wife. My wife can be most difficult at times. But if you feel that you need to make other arrangement, that is your choice, I am not going to stop you. Now I know it is not going to be easy for Ashley and Rose to bury the hatchet, but Ashley does want to try. I have retired from publishing so I am going to be here during this time, to be the referee. All I am asking that you let Ashley try to do this. You have my word that if it gets too hard for Ashley to handle, I will make arrangements for her to stay in the apartment above the garage or in the guesthouse until her house is fully repaired." Reid let out a long breath, knowing that if he did try to take Ashley away from here, she wouldn't go, this was important to her.

"Very well," he said. "But the first sign of trouble, I will be on the first flight to here and moving her out." Paul agreed.

It was about an hour later when Reid rubbed his face, feeling his whiskers and realizing that he needed to shave. He wandered around the house, with no particular destination in mind. He could take Bailey for a walk, maybe throw a ball with him. He could also work on his Ph.D. Although a nap did sound nice.

Instead he smell the sweet scent of fresh coffee and freshly baked cookies coming from the kitchen. He saw Rose putting in a baking sheet into the oven then closing the door. There were cookies already on the cooling rack.

"Oh Dr. Reid," Mary said when she saw him entering the kitchen.

"Hello, I didn't know that you and Ashley had already returned."

She smiled, "We came back about a half hour ago. Miss Ashley is upstairs sleeping," she said as she approached the young doctor wearing another apron with a different saying, "May The Forks Be With You." He dug in his shirt pocket, pulling out the silver key to the guesthouse.

"Thank you very much," he said, handing her the key. She smiled and before he knew it, Mary was hugging Reid tightly again. Reid baffled at her gesture, only gently patted her back.

"I'm so happy for you two," she finally said, squeezing him more tighter.

"Oh, Ashley showed you the ring and told you what happened." She nodded. Reid stood there, not sure of what to do now. But he was grateful that no one from his team was here, seeing this.

"Uhh Mary, can you let me go please. I just came here to get some coffee." She let go of him. When Reid filled his cup and loaded with sugar, he turned around to see Mary holding out a plate of cookies for him.

He smiled, "Thank you."

"Charlie," Ashley said as she woke from her nap, still believing that she was dreaming. Reid looked up from his book from his couch. He closed his book before joining her.

"Charlie," she called out again.

He sat down beside her, brushing her hair away from her face, "It's ok," he whispered. He could see the realization on her face that she was dreaming again. Then it melted into sadness that it was just a dream which broke his heart. She never told him, but he knew that she had nightmares about her past, with the Scorpions and Julian, but the ones about her son were always the hardest.

Without a word, he crawled into bed with her. Ashley laid her head on his chest as Reid gently held her, taking care of her back. There was nothing that he could say, he knew that she will always mourn his death until the day she died. The only thing that he can do for her was to look into his case when he returned to work. He knew that it wouldn't be a BAU case, but maybe the detectives might have missed something.

They laid together in silence for some time before Ashley shifted her weight, "Thanks," she whispered. He laid a kiss on top of her head, and still held her in his arms. He bend his head to the side, looking down at her.

"Do you want another thirty seconds," he asked where she nodded yes. He smiled.

"Do you feel like talking?" She nodded again.

"Garcia called while you were sleeping. They were wondering if you were up to having dinner with them at the Café Du Parc on Friday night, make it official. I told her that I would call her back after you woke up from your nap."

"Even though, we already met at the hospital?"

He tilted his head to one side, "True, but now that you are better and most of your bruises are disappearing. Now you are meeting my family, no FBI. They've decided to control destiny. "

She looked up, resting her chin on his chest, "OK, but isn't that when the Star Trek Marathon is on?" He smiled, happy that she remembered, but he could see something else was bothering her.

"No, that is on Saturday. But there is something else bothering you, isn't there." She nodded again, where she drew in a deep breath, realizing that she had better give him a head up before it was too late.

"I have been to that place before several times."

"That's good. You can probably recommend which dish to have." She cringed knowing that Reid didn't get her point.

"That is not of what I meant," she quietly said as she moved away from him. She pulled a pillow underneath her head as she laid beside him. He rolled onto his side, facing her, seeing distress on her face.

"What is it? What's wrong," he asked slide his hand underneath his head and with his free hand, he gently stroke her cheek with his thumb.

She closed her eyes, enjoying his touch before speaking again, "The reason that I have been there was because I was a prostitute. That is one of the places that a john would take me out for drinks, dinner, whatever before going to one of the rooms."

"Oh," he said, "So you are afraid that the staff might recognize you and expect you to slip them some money to look the other way?" She nodded her head. He gently kissed her, pulling her in for a hug.

"I know that there are some areas of my past that bothers you, but you are ok with it. You understand why I did it. But your family are profilers, they will see something is up if we run into the maître d' or the bartender. If they ask, I don't want to lie to them," she said, pulling away from him, looking into his brown eyes.

He shook his head no, "I don't want you to lie to them either, but I do understand that it will be awkward if they ask. Do you want me call Garcia and tell her that we can't make it," he asked.

Even though he was hiding the disappointment, Ashley can tell that he really wanted to go. "Of course not, our past is in the past. It is just you and me from now on," she repeated of what he had told her days earlier, looking at him. "I want to meet your family. But I am just hoping it is not going to be too awkward," she said.

He leaned forward, kissing her deeply, pulling her closer. "Everything is going to be fine and I will be at your side at ever step of the way."

She nodded again, touching his face. "I love you," she said.

"I love you too," he said, kissing her lightly again, before deepening it. He realized that his girlfriend was wearing nothing more than a t-shirt and pantries. With her wounds on her back, she still wasn't wearing a bra.

She climbed on top of him, kissing him again. His hands glide along her legs, his fingertips barely touching it before he slide his hands underneath her shirt. He cupped both of her breasts with his hands. With his thumb and index finger, he gently pinched her nipples, feeling them hardening them in his hands. Ashley laid her head back, closing her eyes, enjoying his touch. She leaned forward kissing him again before they opened their eyes and looked at each other and they knew.

Ashley crawled off of him, giving out a low growl out of frustration. Even though, she wasn't sure of how much she respected Rose, but she did respect Paul a great deal and she couldn't go against his beliefs.

"Tell me again, what is so important of not having premarital sex?"

"The bible never actually said," he started to say when she reached over and kissed him. She then crawled out of bed, grabbing her jeans.

"Come on," she said as she hopped into her jeans.

He sat up, "Where are we going?" She went over to her closet as she pulled out her running shoes and a blanket.

"Dinner isn't for a few hours so we are going for a walk in the forest now," she said as she stepped into her shoes, wiggling her foot one at a time, to slip them on. Reid looked at her, not understanding of what she meant.

Most of the time, she found it adorable on him, but not right at this moment. She gave him the blanket and then pulled out the drawer of her nightstand. Where she pulled out a condom and he finally got her point.