Title: Au Natural (Part 7)
Author: dustytiger aka Trista Groulx
Rating: T (like the show to be safe)
Disclaimer: I do not on CM. I am still poor. CM still belongs to its creator, network, writers, actors and actresses who bring it to life weekly.
Summary: Prentiss and Reid are getting married, but what brought them to this point?
Notes: Dinner at Prentiss' mother is upon on us… get ready. I told you I was going to show a softer side in this fic so that's what I did. In the next part they have to talk about their relationship. You'll see… enjoy!
As he had promised Reid had gone to Ambassador Prentiss' the next night they did not have a case, which happened to be a Friday during an early spring snow storm which would have melted had it happened during the day. He didn't want to stall the dinner or offend the ambassador so they had gone despite the weather warnings. The whole night had gone better than either of them had expected. Reid was amazed the whole night seeing how Prentiss must have grown up. He knew it must not have been an easy childhood, being forced to act like an adult but it still amazed him.
"Spencer, how are you feeling?" the ambassador asked him as they sipped on coffee waited for their dessert. "Emily told me about your diagnosis."
"I'm feeling all right today," he told her. "At the moment my doctor and I are looking into foods which might be contributing to the headaches."
"It must be difficult to that with your job."
"It's been a challenge, although so far nothing seems to making a difference. I'm optimistic we'll find something to make the pain go away permanently."
"I certainly hope so."
The maid came back into the room and placed their plates down in front of them. After the dished had been cleared away they all made their way until the sitting room where Prentiss and her mother enjoyed a glass of wine. Reid declined explaining he didn't often drink and that alcohol could trigger another headache. They hadn't planned on staying late but the whole evening had been going so well neither of them wanted to say anything. They didn't have to work the next day, and Reid was just happy to see Prentiss spend some real time with her mother she seemed so happy.
Reid looked outside and noticed the storm had gotten worse since the last time he looked. He knew they had travelled in worse weather, but the lateness of the night combined with the wind made him more nervous. The lateness of the snow storm meant that it would be harder to predict what might be under the slush as they drove. He looked over at Prentiss and could see her still smiling and didn't want to be the person to bring that to an end.
"It's really coming down out there," he informed them both.
"You're more than welcome to stay, so I won't worry," the Ambassador offered. "Unless of course you have somewhere else you need to be."
"No we don't have anywhere we need to be, until morning if we get a case," Prentiss replied. "Spencer do you have your go bag?"
"It's in my trunk, but what will you use?"
They had taken Reid's car and hers was parked in his parking spot at his apartment, with her go bag likely inside of it. Neither of them had expected to stay the night, but knew it was better not to risk travelling on the slick roads when they didn't have to. Prentiss was getting along so well with her mother Reid was glad that she would get more time with her, even if he wasn't entirely comfortable with the situation.
"I keep a few things here just in case," she assured him. "The road to the highway makes me nervous too. Would you mind bringing in my purse while you're out there?"
"Sure no problem," he assured her before going outside to retrieve the items.
When he got to the house the maid took the bags assuring him she would put them in the room they would be staying in before she showed him to the guest bathroom to freshen up from being out in the wet snow. Reid didn't think anything of it and went back into the living room. He smiled when he saw Prentiss curled up on the couch with a glass of wine laughing with her mother. He knew their relationship had been strained at times but was glad to see this evening seemed to be light hearted.
"Spencer, welcome back," the Ambassador said, with a genuine smile. "I hope it wasn't too bad out there."
"It's just frozen water it dries quickly. I hope I'm not interrupting anything," he said, sitting down next to Prentiss.
"Mom and I were just talking about when I was a kid and how I used to love snow storms."
"You never told me that before."
She shrugged. "I guess it never came up before. I'm glad we got to this tonight Mom it's really helping me to remember things I thought I'd forgotten."
"I'm glad Emily," the ambassador told her. "Do you remember the time you decided you wanted to build Frosty?"
Prentiss laughed. "Spencer, you need to hear this," she told him, patting his knee playfully. "There was one time my parents were at a function during a snowstorm, and I got away from my nanny."
"Emily makes it sound like it was an anomaly for her to escape from her nannies," laughed the ambassador.
"It's not my fault they didn't like what I like, anyway, apparently the entire room of dignitaries were looking for me anywhere they could think a five year old could hide."
"After about twenty minutes of searching," the Ambassador continued. "Someone stepped outside to have a cigarette, and there was Emily all bundled up on the balcony building a snowman. Her father had promised to let her make Frosty and it had slipped his mind. When she saw the snow on the balcony she got in her head to build her snow man, even if her nanny didn't want go outside in the cold. By the end of the evening about half a dozen of the men were outside helping her to build her snowman, and the host even let Emily use of his top hats to make it really look like Frosty."
Emily burst out laughing. "I still remember how mad I was that my snowman didn't come to life! My dad told me that it was after Christmas so the snow might not be magic anymore."
"Do you have any memories like those?" Ambassador Prentiss asked.
"I grew up in Las Vegas, there would sometimes be snowflakes, but there wasn't snow to speak of," Reid explained.
"Not exclusively about snow, about your childhood Spencer."
"We never knew when my mother might have one of her bad days, so we didn't venture far from home. Some of my fondest memories are of my mother reading to me."
"That's really sweet," both of the women cooed.
The three of them talked for another few hours about various milestones in Prentiss' childhood. Reid liked hearing these kinds of stories and he could tell that listening to her mother relive those times was helpful to his friend as well. Finally they began to get tired and the ambassador excused herself telling her daughter that her old room was set up whenever she got tired. Neither Reid nor Prentiss wanted to say anything and said goodnight to her mother.
End Part 7
Notes: So that wasn't so bad right? I promise things start to take off in the next part… thank you for being patient hehe… but you know they have to get together cause of the prologue. I hope you're still enjoying this… heart.