Chapter 3

Author's note:

Hello all! Sorry for the slightly shorter length of this chapter, but I wanted to squeeze one more in before my busy week starts. I also apologize for the amount of Doctor Who references that are made in this chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Criminal Mind, Doctor Who, or David Tennant!

Reid's POV:

As we walked down to the bus stop we shared a comfortable silence. Strange for me, seeing as I never really managed to stop talking most times. But with Avery the silence was comfortable, easy. She walked and pushed her stroller with an easy familiarity, I carried a still sleeping Amelia with a newfound sense of peace. Something about being able to actually hold a child for any length of time was new to me. Much like with adults, children had to adjust to my personality. Morgan and Prentiss called it the 'Reid effect', they rationalized that the initial dislike most people felt for me was really just an adjustment to my sub-par social skills. Henry, Amelia, and even Avery seemed to be immune to the 'Reid effect', which was both amazing and unprecedented. I hoped that meant that Avery wasn't totally repulsed or annoyed by me.

"If she's getting to be too heavy you can always hand her off to me", she spoke up, breaking my thoughts. I shook my head starting to say that Amelia wasn't at all heavy, but she continued, "Henry is asleep so if you wouldn't mind pushing the stroller, I could take that chubbie bubbie you've so generously been carrying". I laughed at her and stopped to hand her 'chubbie bubbie' over to her. We switched sides with a strange sort of synchronicity, we made a great pair. Did I dare think of us in such terms? Surely she would never pair with me.

"What's so funny?" she asked as she shifted Amelia once more, smiling at me. Ignoring the way that my heart raced at the sight of her smile, I answered,

"Nothing. I've just never heard anyone call their sister a 'chubbie bubbie' before" I grinned at her. It felt good to joke with someone, outside of Morgan. And her laugh at me was one of the sweetest sounds I'd ever heard. I wanted to make her laugh as much as I could, as often as I could just so I could hear that sound.

"Well I'm not your typical sister!" she reasoned. "And also, my baby girl rocks being chubby. I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but my little lady is beautiful" she said, turning her shoulders so I could admire Amelia's sleeping face. I had to admit, she was an adorable child. Chubby cheeks that made her look healthy, and rosy as well. Her eyes, though closed, I knew were the same pale blue as her brother and sister. Though she was six months old she still had very little hair, but that seemed to work for her.

"She's beautiful", I agreed. Like her sister, I wanted to add. But I didn't want to be too forward. She was Hotch's niece for God's sake. Even if by some stroke of luck she actually felt the same way that I did, she was my boss' niece. Definitely off limits.

"She tries", she said. I laughed once again.

"So, I'm curious. How does Henry know so much about Doctor Who, and why was he so convinced that I was the Doctor?" I asked, genuinely curious. Henry had seemed absolutely certain that I was the Doctor, and while I found that flattering I had also wondered how a four year old would have known that.

She smiled wider, and explained, "I always a special fan of Doctor Who, Henry and I would watch it when we still lived with my mother. After we left, I told him about whatever stories I could remember, the episodes I've watched a thousand times". She paused and smiled as she looked down at Henry fondly. We'd stopped in front of the bus stop, waiting for our bus. "The Christmas Invasion is Henry and my favorite episode. I recite him that episode's plot almost nightly. Once, I even found a way for him to watch the episode a few months ago. The owner of the shelter invested in a TV with a DVD player, and we rented the 2nd series from the library. He was so excited! I'm pretty sure that he mistook you for David Tennant, that's one of the only Doctors he's actually seen on a TV before" she said eyeing me. I felt my face turn pink under her gaze, but I somehow hoped she didn't stop.

"I look nothing like David Tennant", I said finally.

She shrugged, "Maybe it was just your shoes then", gesturing to my converse. "Which I like by the way", she says as she tapped her converse clad foot to mine. She handed Amelia back to me, "I'll push the stroller in the bus if you don't mind. It's sort of tricky. And for the record, I think you happen to look a lot like David Tennant".

"What makes you say that?" I questioned as she effortlessly pushed the huge stroller up the steps and onto the bus. She gave me a look I couldn't quite place as showed the driver her student ID and he gave her a nod, and a smile. I placed a few quarters into the meter-like thing as I too climbed the stairs. Just before she sat down, Avery turned to me and said,

"Would you believe I've always had a thing for David Tennant?"

Hotch's POV:

At least David waited until we got back to the Escalade to begin his line of questioning.

"I didn't know that you ever had another brother", he began.

"Sean and I prefer not to talk about that" I said. Dave just looked at me with a face that demanded explanation. I sighed and began talking, "Jeremy was our older brother. He got married early, had Avery with his wife. They were the perfect family, so much so in fact that they were what caused Haley and I to start out own family later on. Jeremy was amazing with Avery, loving to his wife. Truly the best father and husband out there, he radiated happiness to everyone privileged enough to know him. Then he got cancer when Avery was about 7, maybe 6. He thought he could beat it, we all did. But lung cancer isn't highly curable. And he fought, he fought for 3 years. But it was too much for even Jeremy, and he died, as she said, when she was about 10. After her husband died Avery's mother, Heather, went into a deep stage of denial. She threw away everything that reminded her of Jeremy, clothes, photos, everything. And when Avery said she had 'burned her bridges' she was being generous. She wanted nothing in her life that reminded her of her late husband. Sean and I called, and never got any answers. When we got worried, and stopped by, she berated us at the door. She wouldn't let us anywhere near Avery. She said if we came anywhere near either of them again she'd call the police. We tried sending letters, calling, anything we could to get near Avery, but nothing worked. I thought I would never see her again, until today", I ended softly.

"And how do you feel? Now that you have her back?" Dave questioned quietly.

I parked our vehicle in the parking lot of a local store, and looked over at him. I smiled at him and said, "I honestly feel like I've got my daughter back Dave. Like she's come back home". He patted my shoulder and we both stepped out to go buy the car seats.