Author's Note:

Sorry for the long wait for this chapter, but I think I made it worth it! This is a longerish chapter, and it has a lot of Aaron/Avery family time in it. I hope you all like it, read and review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing outside of Avery, Henry, and Amelia!

Chapter 7

Avery's POV:

I couldn't help feeling sad as we walked away from Arrow's office and into the parking lot. I didn't know when I could expect to see Spencer again, but I hoped for my sake that it was soon. True, I'd only known him for mere hours, but I could already tell that I would miss him before long. I smiled as I thought of his handsome features, smiling down at Henry or Amelia (or smiling at me if I were especially lucky). Goodness, here I was acting like a love-struck girl. It'd never been my personality to be so girly. I was always too busy for boys, and besides that none had ever really shown an interest in me before. But Spencer was different, wonderfully different. I thought of his beautiful hazel eyes, of the way that he held me close when I'd hugged him goodbye…

"We have to make one stop first before we go home", Arrow said, breaking my thoughts. I smiled at him.

"I like the sound of that. Home", I replied. He smiled at me and gestured with his arms to indicate that we had arrived at his car. I stopped, unsure of how to proceed. Henry looked up at me saying,

"Is that our car Avery?" I began to say that no, this wasn't our car, that it was uncle Arrow's and we were just going to go for a ride, but Arrow beat me.

"Yes Henry. This is my car and because you and your sisters are my family, that makes it your car as well", Arrow said kindly. I felt my smile grow, Arrow really loved Henry and Amelia already. "In fact, I believe there's a surprise waiting for you inside my car, should we look?" Arrow continued. Henry nodded, wide eyed. I had to giggle. He was so excited, and seemed to have turned his complete attention to attempting to peek through the car's windows (even though they were quite a bit taller than him). Arrow smiled and opened up the door. Inside were two car seats, each with what looked like a birthday gift bag on them. I frowned at the gift bags, and looked at Arrow questioningly. I didn't like gifts, people tend to give them because they felt bad for my small family. We didn't need anyone's pity or charity, I took care of us just fine.

"Arrow what's this?" I said, just as Henry exclaimed, "PRESENTS!" He eagerly reached up to Arrow to lift him into the car. Arrow happily obliged, placing him into the car seat and buckling him in before handing him the bag. As Henry eagerly ripped open his presents in the backseat I crossed my arms and looked at him. He looked sort of exasperated as he threw his hands up in surrender.

"Don't blame me, the gifts aren't from me. Just the seats", he said as he picked Amelia up and brought her to the other side of the car to buckle her in, handing her some new toys as well. I scrunched my features in confusion. If Arrow claimed not to have gotten them, then who was I supposed to believe bought them? Arrow just smiled as me as he pushed the stroller away to the trunk. I walked around to the passenger's seat, still thinking of who...passenger's seat.

"Dave", I said out loud. Arrow just smiled as he got into the car. Dave had bought the toys for Amelia and Henry. But why, I pondered as I buckled my seatbelt.

"Rossi never had children or grandchildren to spoil. I think he likes that he could finally use his money to buy something for children", Arrow said, as if reading my thoughts. I sadly smiled back. I couldn't imagine a life without children in it. For once I didn't mind that someone had bought my babies something; it wasn't out of pity, it was out of genuine love.

"You'll have to let me tell him thank you sometime. Or better yet, I could help Henry draw him a card and you could give it to him", I said thankfully.

"I think he would really like that", Arrow said as we pulled out of the parking lot. He smiled at me before returning his eyes to the road. I'd never been to this part of Quantico before, and I was soon lost as to where we were.

"So what's this stop we're making?" I asked after a few minutes. Arrow looked at me with a strange face before returning to the road.

"We're going to pick up Jack", he said quietly. I sensed that he didn't want to talk about things.

"Who's Jack?" I questioned carefully. He hesitated.

"I'll explain who Jack is, but I think it's best if we leave discussions of anything serious until after the kids are asleep. Agreed?" he said finally. I nodded my head and mumbled that I thought that was best too. Henry had heard our story retold enough times, and worse yet he'd lived it. Needless to say I wasn't all too eager to get that discussion over with. "Jack is my son. He's staying with his aunt".

I sat and let that sink in. Arrow had a son. I had a cousin. I felt my face break out in a smile.

"How old?" I asked, still smiling.

"He just turned 5 a few months ago", he answered, trying to hide his smile. My grin widened, he was about Henry's age.

As we pulled up to Jack's aunt's house Arrow stepped out to get him, and I turned to check on my kids. Henry was happily playing with the new Batman figurine Dave had gotten him, and Amelia was contentedly chewing on her new toys as well. In my lapse of attention while I was trying to figure out who had gotten the gift I'd completely missed the fact that there was another car seat next to Henry's. I guess I should've known Arrow would have a child by now; I mean it'd been 10 years since I'd seen him last. It wasn't like time would've stopped just because I wasn't in his life.

I saw Arrow approach with a small boy in his arms. The boy looked excited, and Arrow looked happy. I smiled too, he was a cutie. I sincerely hoped that he and Henry got along, but I wasn't very worried. Henry easily made friends at Rising Stars (the daycare that I worked at was also where Henry and Amelia went to preschool). Even so I felt a twinge of nervousness in my tummy. What if Jack didn't get along with Henry? What if he didn't want to share his house? What if he wasn't used to babies, and didn't want to have us stay with him? Arrow said we were family, but surely his son's needs came first? My nervousness heightened as Arrow buckled Jack into his seat. Jack beamed at me.

"You're my cousin!" he said excitedly. "And so's him! So's her!" he continued turning to both Henry and Amelia respectively. "I've never had cousins afore!" I smiled at him, my nervousness dissipating.

"Know something Jack? Neither have I. I'm Avery it's nice to meet you", I said waving at him from up front.

"Nice to meet you", he said giggling and clapping. "What's his name?" he continued pointing to Henry.

"That's Henry", I said. "And the little baby's name is Amelia. Can you say hello?"

"Hello Henry! Hello Amelia!" Jack said waving like I had. "Henry what's are you playing with? Is that Batman? ".

"Yeah! This is my new toy!" Henry explained excitedly. "He's Batman and we're watching for crime". "Cool! I love Batman! Can Spiderman help?" Jack asked, pulling a Spiderman figure out of his backpack.

"Yeah!" Henry exclaimed. The two were soon playing and talking animatedly about their superheroes. I watched them happily, relieved to see that they would get along well. I repeated my thoughts to Arrow who gave me a knowing smile.

"Of course they get along, I knew they would", he said. I rolled my eyes. I wasn't sure what profilers actually did, but I was starting to think that being a know-it-all was a big part of it. As we finally pulled up to Arrow's house I felt excitement bubble up in my stomach once more. Henry and Amelia finally had a home again, I finally had a home again. Arrow seemed to share my excitement, but before I could open my door to get out, he placed a hand over mine to stop me.

"Dave got you something too. It's on Amelia's side of the car on the floor", he said. "He also said to tell you that any protests would be extremely ineffective. It's been bought and it isn't going back", he barreled on, effectively silencing the protests that had bubbled to my lips. I frowned, being a know-it-all was definitely a profiler thing. He smiled at me before getting out to grab the kids. I sighed, and got out to grab the stroller. As I got it out, Arrow unbuckled the boys and brought them inside the small home.

I rolled the stroller over to Amelia's door, unbuckled her, and placed her in the stroller. I smiled and babbled to her as I did this. Not one bit of it was in anyway important, but I liked to talk to babies. Not only did it help their speech development, but they gave the cutest smiles when I did. She smiled and babbled with me, before rubbing her eyes. It was getting late for her, I could probably feed her supper and put her to bed. Just as I was about to shut the door, I noticed a small box with my name on it on the floor. Assuming this was my present, I picked it up and placed it in my stroller before wheeling it towards the door. I'd open it later, for now I just wanted to feed Amelia and put her to sleep before settling in.

As I walked I heard the boys' animated voices from up the set of stairs that were directly in front of the door. To the left of the door was a small family room, and to the right was a dining room. I surmised that the kitchen was behind the stairs, and the bedrooms upstairs. I placed the stroller off to the side, took Amelia out, and started up the stairs. I followed the boy's voices to a small room to the left of the stairs. Walking in, I smiled at the sight in front of me; Henry and Jack had taken out some toys and were playing with them excitedly. I guessed then, that this was Jack's room. I looked around, but didn't see Arrow anywhere. Jack's walls were plain, like the rest of the house from what I'd seen. The paint was the ordinary tan color that people tended to paint their homes before they customized rooms with color. Either Jack and Arrow hadn't stayed here long, or they didn't plan to stay long.

As I wondered which one was more likely, Arrow walked into the room. He'd changed from his suit and tie into a pair of jeans and a plain t-shirt. He smiled as well, and motioned that I should follow him into the hall.

"Since they're so occupied, would you like a tour of your new home?" he asked. I smiled and nodded.

"Can I fix Amelia's bottle first? I can feed her as we walk", I promised. Arrow nodded and headed downstairs with me. I was going to be very happy here, I could already tell.

After the tour, I'd put Amelia to bed in my new room and started helping Arrow with supper. After the boys and I had eaten, I'd promised to read them a story before they went to bed. 'Bed' for Henry was on a small trundle bed in Jack's room that Arrow had kept for when Jack's friend's stayed over; for Amelia 'bed' was the Pack n' Play that Arrow had set up next to my bed in the guest bedroom. The boys were all tucked in their room, and after my story they were looking very tired. I sat in between them, and rubbed their backs until they fell asleep.

After the boys were asleep I checked on Amelia before heading downstairs to talk to Arrow. I walked slowly, this wasn't a conversation I was looking forward to. No matter how slowly I walked I finally made it downstairs, and I found Arrow in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner. He was loading the dishwasher, and I silently began helping. Soon we were done, and he motioned to the family room. We sat down and he looked at me carefully.

"I think this would work best if we both knew everything important about what's happened to us while we've been apart. When you left, I got married to Haley and we had Jack. Not long after Jack was born the, uhm, stress of my job's hours had taken its toll on our marriage. She asked me for a divorce and left with Jack. After our divorce was final, one of our unsubs, uh, suspects, kidnapped Jack and Haley and he…" Arrow paused. He seemed on the verge of some sort of emotion, but I wasn't sure what. I placed a hand on his knee and looked at him.

"Arrow. It's okay", I said quietly. He shook his head, and placed his hand over mine.

"He…he managed to get Haley and Jack away from the federal marshals that were keeping them safe and he killed Haley. Jack was safe, I'd worked out a code with him that managed to get him away from the killer. We got him, the killer, he…died in the struggle to bring him in and I swear Avery I will never let anything like that happen to you or Henry or Avery and I can't – "

"Arrow. Arrow. ARROW", I interrupted. He was starting to look like he was going to hyperventilate or cry. "Arrow I don't doubt for one second in your ability to keep us safe. I would trust you with all of our lives, anytime. I'm so, so sorry for what happened to Haley. No one should have to go through that, especially not you and Jack. But just because that's what happened to Haley you cannot think that it will happen to everyone in your family. You have to believe me when I say that I couldn't feel any safer than when I am with you". I said, grabbing onto both his hands. How could someone do something like that to Arrow? Or to Jack, or poor Haley? I just didn't get it. Arrow's panicked expression softened. He hugged me tightly, as if trying to show me that he wouldn't let anyone hurt me. When we broke apart I saw moisture in his eyes, but no tears.

"After that I took a leave from the BAU. Eventually I realized that it was where I belonged and I returned. Do you know anything about what the BAU does?" I shook my head and he continued, "We use psychological profiling to help find serial killers. Psychological profilers use the minds of the criminals to find them and catch them. I work strange hours, and depending on the case I have to leave to another state to consult on a case. So Jack stays with his aunt, Jessica, when that happens".

"Well he won't need to go to her house anymore", I said firmly. "Unless you object, Jack can begin preschool with Henry, and then I can just bring him home with me after the center closes".

"That sounds okay to me. Jack needs to learn how to socialize with kids his own age, and I'm sure Jess would appreciate the break. That brings up another issue however, how are you going to get to work and back when I'm not around?" Arrow asked. I shrugged.

"Same as I always have I suppose. Using the bus and walking", I replied. He frowned.

"As of right now I'm not sure that I feel comfortable with you riding the bus so much", he said. I began to say that I was perfectly capable of riding the bus, I had been for a long time, but he interrupted me, "I know you've been doing it your whole life, and I'm sure you're extremely safe, but right now there's a killer out there who preys on vulnerable women. I'd just feel more comfortable with you using my car. I will use one of the bureau's SUV's in the meantime until we can get you one of your own". I shrugged my shoulders sheepishly.

"Well that would be lovely Arrow, but there's one problem. I never got my license in high school, and I still don't have one now", I said. He gave me an incredulous look.

"I can enroll you in a driver's ed class online or something, and we'll get you a license soon. Until then, we'll figure something out. Why don't you have your license?" he asked gently. I sighed.

"Well that's a nice segway into what's been happening to me for the last 10 years I suppose", I said before taking a big breath. Arrow adjusted himself, as if preparing himself to listen. "You know what happened to mom after dad died a little bit I suppose, but you can't imagine how far off the deep end she went. She threw away all of his clothes, his things, his pictures, everything. She refused to mention him or hear him mentioned. She wouldn't really even look at me anymore after he passed away. She went about her life like a ghost, doing what she was supposed to but not really being there. It was rough. Then she met Tom when I was 15, and she had Henry. She was so much better then, she acted more like my mom than I'd ever seen since dad died. I thought things would be better, that we could be a normal family. And things did improve for a while. But eventually family life was too much for Tom and he left her and Henry. He took off in the night, left her a note. Said he hoped she could forgive him. Dick." I said venomously. Arrow looked at me reproachfully.

"Sorry, but it's what he is. And after he left my mom completely gave up. Stopped working, started drinking and partying more and more. Eventually she went out one night and just…didn't come back. Henry was like 2 or 3. She'd left us no money, but I'd been working for quite some time by then, and I managed to survive with him on my own for a while. I finished school a few months early, and I just worked and took care of him. Got my own apartment and everything. After just a few months mom managed to find us. She was crying at my door at 3 in the morning; she said she was so sorry and that she wanted to be there for Henry and I. She also said she was pregnant, so I let her stay with us before Amelia arrived. Once Amelia arrived mom began going out more and more again, so I forced her to sign their guardianship over to me, and once I did she left again, taking my money with her. Things two kids things were tougher than I thought, and well you know what happened after that I guess" I finished. Arrow looked mad. Pissed even.

"And where is your mother now?" he said evenly.

"Beats the hell out of me", I said roughly. I didn't care to ever see her again. Any woman who abandons her children was no one I wanted to be around.

"Avery I'm sorry. I can't imagine what that's like", he said.

"I can't imagine what you've been through either", I replied. We gave each other a bigger hug than ever, and then sat back. "So. How do you like your job?" I asked, and we fell into a comfortable back and forth conversation for a while, away from the serious topic we'd been on before. We talked and talked and finally I began to yawn. Arrow got up and stretched, saying,

"Well I have to get to sleep. My old bones can't stay up this late anymore". I rolled my eyes and chuckled.

"Mine either", I joked. He laughed too, before heading up the stairs to the bed. I got up and stretched, heading for the stairs. Before I got there something caught my eye in our stroller. I'd left everything in there (figuring I could put things away tomorrow) including my present from Dave. Curiosity peaking, I grabbed the box and sat down to open it. What I found inside was a brand new blue cell phone and an envelope with my name on it. Totally intrigued, I ripped open the envelope to find a note from Dave that said:

Dear Avery,

I know that you're probably very uncomfortable with the idea of getting presents, however I also bet that you won't give this back once Aaron surmises why I'm giving them to you. Allow me this small mystery by not looking too far into my reasoning. I'm an old man, humor me.

I figured that you wouldn't have one of these, and outside of the fact that every teenage kid in America wants a cell phone, it really is a safe thing for you to have. I've prepaid for it to have unlimited calls and text messaging for an entire year. I've also taken the liberty of having some contacts put into it for you, just some important ones, feel free to add your own. It is your phone after all.

Sincerely,

David Rossi.

I was shocked. A cell phone? Toys were one thing, but a cell phone? Screw the card, I was going to bake him a damn cake. I eagerly opened up the box to find one of those texting phones that had a regular dial pad on the front and a full keyboard if you opened it. It was blue, and I loved it. I scanned the contacts, seeing who Rossi thought was necessary for me to be able to contact. There were only a few: him, Arrow, and the rest of the BAU team. My heart fluttered when I saw Spencer's name in there, and my heart raced when I saw that his name had a star next to it. I clicked on it and it said his name, email, and that he was one of my 'favorites'. I don't know how Rossi knew, but I'm glad he did. I felt an even bigger smile cross my face as I realized that I had Spencer Reid's number, and a phone to call him with. I looked at the time and guessed that he would probably be asleep by now, but found myself dialing his number anyways. My heart felt like it was going to jump further and further out of my chest with each ring of the phone, until I finally heard the most beautiful voice I've ever heard say,

"Hello?"