YEY! Chapter two! Alright, I'm happy with it. I hope you are too :D

Ch. 2

Lauren's POV

"How many years were you and her married, Darius?" I asked rhetorically. This woman makes me hate my sex.

He sighed at me. Like I was annoying him? Excuse me? It's the other way around, little brother. Do not irritate me. "Six." His answer was a little acidic but I let it pass.

"Exactly. And now you divorce? You shouldn't have married her in the first place." I hated her. Cindy or Sydney. Same difference. She wanted Darius to marry her, that's why she purposely "forgot to take her pill". I could feel my face scrunch in disgust. Then once they had the baby she didn't want him to be "fatherless" or brought up in a "broken home".

"I didn't exactly want to, Lor. It happened. I had to take responsibility for my baby."

Not that I don't love my baby Sanford, but he ruined his life for this. His basketball scholarship went down the drain, and his potential football scholarship wasn't even an option. Sure, his job as a nutritionist and personal trainer brought in the money but he didn't love it like he did the court and field.

"I know, Darius, I know. I'm proud of you for that. And I love you both. I just don't see why she cheated on you when she was all over you. I really can't stand that bitch and I know I never will." I checked the clock. Only five minutes had passed and I was already on the verge of busting a vein. I took a few calming breaths and used my own exercises to analyze the situation, exercises I use with my patients, might I add.

"I'll be home now, though. I'm staying here. And she'll only be seeing Sanford on Christmas and summer holidays, I made sure of that," Darius looked to be thinking back to the court he had been in only a few days ago.

"You found a job so soon?" I asked. I leaned against a book shelf and rubbed my lower back. This baby was cramping me up with no consideration and I swear I had no less than seventeen lavatory breaks.

"Yeah, at the hospital. They just happened to hear that I was coming back to the States…" he threw an accusing but grateful look to me. Yes, he knew. "And they asked me to work for them. I accepted."

I sighed in relief, a bit of the chip on my shoulder fluttering away. "Good. I was missing my family."

Light banter was thrown back and forth and before we knew it, another ten or fifteen minutes had passed.

"Spencer!" I squealed. Poor him and this whole Reid Effect.

Darius nodded and pulled my arm as I turned. "Right, about that… Who is he?"

I sagged and rolled my eyes. Did I not just introduce him? "I told you, his name is-" Darius cut me off…Rude.

"That I get. What I don't get is why my shy son is all over Spencer Reid like white blood cells on a virus."

I laughed at his comparison. Ah, healthy, athletic people. "They're both genius'. It's cute, really. Spencer is shy too, and children usually hate him…along with pets…except for Clooney…Yeah."

Darius stared at me. "That's strange. It's the same with Sanford. I tried to get him a small dog and the thing almost shrunk, it was huddled into a ball most days. We had to give it back because I couldn't watch it suffer anymore." Darius smirked at the memory, of the purely cerebral approach his son took to the situation. "He doesn't enjoy normal things either. He's so…grown. It's scary actually, how sometimes he notices things before I do in the psychological horror films I force him to watch with me." A contemplative look crossed Darius' face. "Actually, more often than not, he ends up laughing or criticizing the movie. It's no fun anymore."

I smiled at my brother. "Have you taken him in for IQ testing, literacy testing or anything of that sort?"

Darius shrugged. "Intelligence cannot be quantified. I say let him live out the way he wants and watch how it goes from there." Another five minutes had passed.

"Perhaps we should go see your best friend and my son." Darius laughed as realization struck me again.

"I have a question, Darius." I needed to know, and he had to tell me.

He waited for it to be spoken as we slowly made our way back to Spencer and Sanford. "What?" he asked, when he couldn't take it anymore and the two males were in our sights. I cleared my throat and finally asked.

"How much money is she asking for? And what of the man she was sleeping with?"

Darius' eyes darkened at the question and suddenly his body tensed. I seem to always make people who are not in my office as patients uncomfortable.

Spencer's POV

"And my soul stretched
its wings out wide,flew through the silent lands
as though it were flying home."

I had just finished reading Sanford the only Eichendorff poem I saw when two figures emerged from around the corner. I could tell by their body language that something was not right so I closed the book, set it on the chair as I stood, and helped Sanford stand as well. His long sleeved shirt was extremely soft and I couldn't help tugging on it as he drew in closer to me.

Darius was clearly irritated. His face held a menacing glare that was directed at neither me nor Sanford. He stared at his son and it softened, but not enough to stop the possible viewers of the glare from fainting…though I know that that's impossible.

"Come now, Sanford. Lets go," his voice was flat, probably so as not to alarm Sanford more than the glare had, and not to cause distress in the library.

I put my hand on the boys shoulder comfortingly. "I…I want to stay with Spencer," he replied. He held my fingers and looked at his father, his eyes showing just a hint of fright.

"You have to go with your father, Sanford." Suddenly I felt guilty for grabbing his shoulders. I rubbed his fingers and placed his tiny hand in his fathers large, outstretched one. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes.

"Will I see you again?"

I smiled at him. He was so cute and reminded me of his aunt so much. I nodded. "Only if your father is okay with that." I said it hesitantly, not knowing if Darius would be. After all, I had just did something terribly rude, even if it was unintentionally.

The man sighed more out of inconvenience rather than annoyance. "Do you have a cell phone, Doc?" he asked me, pulling his out.

I told Darius my number and he saved it so Sanford could see. "You can call me anytime you want to talk. My cell phone is on me at all times so it's fine." I swiped a thumb against Sanford's face and he smiled an open mouth smile.

His father did too as he gripped him with his tiny hands and intertwined their fingers. "Okay, Sanford. Let's go now?"

Sanford nodded happily. Darius asked me to pull out my phone. "I'll give you my number so you know it's us when we call." He lowered his voice and leaned in towards me. "Sorry about this."

I shook my head and took my phone out. Honestly, I didn't mind Sanford. "You give in easily to your son."

Darius chuckled and thanked me before setting off down the aisle, a happy seven year old bouncing next to him. Lauren smiled at the sight of them. "Sanford really liked you, Spencer. That's the first time I saw him like that with someone other than me or Darius…even his own mother fights for his attention." Her face had a hint of malice, her voice a tad bit dagger-like.

I joined Lauren as she headed home and stopped when I saw the Starbucks. "Sorry, Lauren, will you be okay by yourself?" I had to ask one more time, just to make sure. I love coffee, but I love Lauren too. Why are decisions like this so hard to make? On one hand I could gratify my caffeine desire. On the other, I could walk my friend to her humble abode and feel satisfied in a way that exceeds bodily needs. A compromise could be made. Or maybe I could let her decide. I could always-

"Yes," she reassured me for what had to be the fourth time, jolting me from my mind rant. "Go get your needed coffee."

She knew me so well.

DSDS

It was seven p.m. and Spencer thought that two hours in Starbucks was more than enough time. He made his way to the train station and on the platform he had seen the exact same Timbs, v neck, and sort-of-but-not-really-baggy-jeans. Only this time without child. His heart jumped as he recognized the handsome face, and the two women who were slyly hanging behind said face. Darius smiled and waved as Spencer walked closer.

The two dabbled in light conversation, only discussing Sanford and his strange attachment to Spencer. The train came and they both got off at the same stop. Spencer laughed and Darius smiled, walking with Reid in the same direction. Reid crossed the street after waving good bye to the darker man. Unfortunately, they hadn't actually parted directions until they both came to a stop at their apartment buildings…directly across the street from each other. This time Darius joined Spencer's small laughing fit and jogged across the street to the brown eyed, honey haired beauty.

He smirked. "Would you like to come over for dinner? Sanford would definitely be happy. It's not much since we literally just moved in, but it's better than eating alone." His hands were out of his pockets now, playing with his keys, making them jingle.

Reid smiled and agreed. "Sure. I wouldn't mind stepping away from my building for a meal across the street."

Darius opened the apartment building door and let Reid in first.

"Of course not. That would be rude… and you're not rude, are you, Dr. Reid?" A smirk that was much more playful, much more… carnal, made Spencer blush.

"N-never," he slipped out, and followed Darius up the first flight of stairs, to his apartment.

Sanford opened the door and his mouth pulled into a huge, face splitting smile. His hands reached up, his legs bounced and he practically jumped through the roof with happiness. "Hi Spencer!" His voice cracked and he swung his arms around Reid's thighs. "Are you here for dinner?"

Spencer smiled and carded through the thick curls, reminded of how much like his they felt. His mother must have been Caucasian. "Yes, I am. Thank you for having me."

Sanford let Reid go and ran back to the living room. "I'm doing homework! And extra credit work. I love being in first grade. I can learn things that I can't learn from books and daddy."

"You read a lot. A lot a lot." Reid repeated the words the boy had told him hours ago. He followed Darius into the kitchen as the man stuck his tongue out at his kid. As he watched Darius pull out a pot and fill it with water, he could see an after image of the man he had only just recently gotten over. But seeing this man, how elegant his actions were, Reid's heart fluttered uncontrollably. His eyes darted and his hands hadn't stopped moving. Mentally shaking himself he placed his bag next to the table and stood against the sink. "Would you like my help?"

Reid could see a chuckle course it's way through the man's back. The action made him shudder in a delicious way. "Nah, I got it. Thanks though." He paused and poured some rice in the pot. "Well, actually, you could wash three bowls and forks for me."

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