Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry it's taken so long for me to get this chapter out! I really did have a very busy week, but the good news is that the chapter is out now. I hope you guys like this one, and if you do review for me. If you don't like it, review anyways and tell me why! Also I'm on the lookout for a person to read my chapters before I put them out; someone to look them over with fresh eyes just to make them to make sure that they're the best they can be! If you're interested let me know! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Criminal Minds or Princess and the Frog

Chapter 10

Spencer's POV:

As I sat and talked to Henry about some sort of secret mission (which I admittedly knew nothing about) all I could really think of was the hug Avery and I had shared. It was beyond unexpected for me, but I didn't mind in the slightest. In fact, holding Avery in my arms had become my new favorite thing to do. Period. As I watched Henry get more and more excited about our' 'mission', I snuck another glance at Avery. This time, she was already looking back at me, a slight smile on her face. I smiled in response, enjoying the way her face tinged pink when I'd caught her looking at me. I stood up after Henry and Jack began to argue about who was more excited about our mission. I started to say something, but Avery quickly diffused the situation.

"Well you're both wrong because everybody knows that AMELIA is most excited", she said standing up. When they began to protest, she threw her hands on her hips and continued, "Of course she is! Everybody knows that babies love cupcakes the best. I bet you guys don't even like cake". The reaction that followed from the boys was even more frantic, they seemed shocked. How dare she say they didn't like cake? Ludicrous.

"Wait wait. So you're telling me that you...do like cake? And cupcakes too? Are you sure?" Avery said, feigning confusion. I stifled another laugh. Her mock confusion was utterly adorable, as were the boy's overwhelming response to her question.

"I'm so sure!" cried Henry.

"I'm super-duper sure!" yelled Jack.

"Okay then this is perfect. Because the mission Uncle Arrow left us is to make Agent Rossi a cake! And I want to make some cupcakes for Uncle Arrow as our own super-secret. So since you both love cake so much, why don't you help? Do you accept your super special mission?" Avery asked, kneeling down and speaking in a voice so secretive that the boys had to lean in to hear her. It was overall just the cutest thing I'd ever seen. The boys just nodded solemnly, and Avery shook both their hands before replying.

"Good. Now, I need you to go shut off the TV and put your shoes and coats on, alright? We need to go get supplies", she said, straightening up. "Hustle up dudes!" They practically ran out of the room, almost tripping over each other in the process. I couldn't stifle my laugh at them this time, and apparently neither could Avery. She leaned on my side for support and giggled. Ignoring my desire to pull her back into my arms, I jokingly asked,

"So when was I going to be told about our' super-secret mission'?". I grinned at Avery, who looked, paused, and then smiled back.

"Sorry agent. Forgot", she said playfully. "But we have our own mission right now. Do you accept?"

My heart sped up a little at her phrasing. 'Our' sounded nice when I knew it meant Avery and I. "Do I get a hint?" I asked.

"Well it's not so much a mission as it is a 'choose your own adventure type thing", she said thoughtfully. I must have given her a strange look, because she continued on, saying, "We have 2 things to accomplish before heading out the door: putting the car seats in the car, and changing Amelia's diaper. Since I have no idea how to put car seats anywhere, and you probably don't know how to change a diaper, it's not so tricky to choose our adventures I guess. I just didn't want to make assumptions on what you could or couldn't do. I mean you have a godson maybe you have some crazy FBI diaper changing secrets even I don't know. Maybe you invented car seats and I'd never known. And I guess... I should stop talking. You'll find I tend to just keep talking until someone stops me. And until someone stops me I can make a ton of nonlinear, unrelated points that have nothing to do with my original...sorry, I'm done", she said sheepishly, turning a lovely shade of pink. I chuckled at her, clearly she didn't realize that I thought her rambling was extremely cute, and that I could talk for hours as well.

"So, diaper or seats?" she said, apparently having regained some composure. I thought for almost no time at all before answering,

"Car seats, you were right, I don't know how to change a diaper". She giggled at me, and then she pointed to where the other two car seats were located. I smiled at her one last time before she disappeared from the kitchen, presumably to change Amelia.

I smiled, just to myself before heading to find the boys. It really was going to be a lovely day.

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Needless to say, after just one shopping experience with 3 children I was in awe. Not just in awe of Avery, but of all mothers and fathers in general. I mean I thought Henry was a really well behaved child, and I knew Jack had to be (he was Hotch's kid for goodness sakes), but even so shopping had been an experience to say the least. Simply trying to reign in all their energy and questions was a daunting task alone. I'd felt a bit overwhelmed initially; after all, children were certainly not one of my areas of expertise. I'd looked over for help from Avery more than a few times, and every time I was stunned to find that the chaos didn't seem to faze her. She just smiled and directed them as needed, seemingly only when things were really crazy. Like when the boys had managed to' accidentally' knock over a whole display of boxed cereal. She didn't even flinch; she just told the boys to help her pick it up, and began asking them questions. It was odd, instead of telling them what to do she generally phrased things as questions. Things like,

"Well are we inside or outside? Well do we run inside? No? Then maybe next time we should use some slower feet, and watch for things in our way, right?" And always in that genuine sounding voice too; the woman was a wonder.

I did note however that even my initial discomfort eventually faded away the more and more I observed. Avery was collected, and just being around that sort of energy seemed to have a calming effect on not only the children, but me as well.

When we finally made it back to the house the boys were so excited that they were practically bouncing off the walls. I saw that Amelia was fussing though, so I offered to distract them while Avery gave her a bottle and a nap. She looked surprised and pleased that I had remembered that 12:30 was time for Amelia's bottle/nap. I just smiled and allowed the boys to pick out a board game, which we set up in the family room while some cartoons played idly in the background. I was having an enjoyable time just talking with the guys and pretending to be terrible at Chutes and Ladders. Avery just smiled and watched on from her reclining chair where she sat feeding a sleepy Amelia.

I started wondering to myself if this was what being a family, a normal family that is, felt like. The thought of being a family with not just Avery, but anybody, thrilled me. It also terrified me. What if I were no good at it? I hadn't been a part of a typical family in, well, ever. The overwhelming feelings I'd felt in the grocery store began to bubble back up, but this time stronger. The more I thought about it the more terrified I became; truly I was completely out of my element here, and I had no statistics on situations like this.

I was trying to focus on the boys, our game, but even that wasn't helping. I couldn't explain the sudden anxiety I had about everything that I'd experienced the last 2 days. Had it really only been 2 days? Less than 48 hours of my life and here I was, defying fundamental parts of who I'd thought myself to be. Had it really only been hours since I'd met Avery? Somehow I got the ridiculous feeling that I couldn't seem to picture life without at least the knowledge of her existence anymore. I shook my head, thoughts beginning to get clouded and muddled. I quietly excused myself from the game and walked into the kitchen, hoping to get some air and gather my thoughts. Just as I was beginning to feel better, I heard a voice behind me say,

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Avery had come up behind me, carrying a now sleeping Amelia with her. She looked very concerned; her brows were adorably furrowed in confusion and her big blue eyes were filled with empathy. She stepped closer to me, waiting for my response I suppose. What was I supposed to say? That I was feeling so strongly attached to her that I'd almost had a panic attack? I'm sure she would freak out and order me out of her life.

"I just, ah, I", for once in my life I was speechless.

"I know we can be a little much sometimes", Avery said, breaking my rambling. "I don't know for sure, but I get the feeling that you haven't had the chance to be around many kids. I don't really know what that's like exactly. I'm sure it's really overwhelming and a lot to handle, and I don't blame you for needing to take a second".

I felt what was left of my anxiety disappear, and a small smile played on my lips. I wasn't sure why, but Avery's words really seemed to help. She was just so sincere, so honest. Now I remembered why I had been feeling so strongly the last 2 days. She was just so real.

"I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to leave either", she continued softly.

I shook my head at her; leaving was the last thing that I wanted to do right now. My anxiety was completely forgotten, and I realized that I didn't care that my feelings were scary. I'd get through them, as long as she was here.

"I think I'll stay if it's okay with you. I mean what kind of FBI agent would I be if I ducked out of a secret mission?" I joked.

"A human", she said softly. I gathered from her expression that she wasn't talking about our mission. I smiled at her, before she walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs. I headed back into the living room to finish my game with the boys, but stopped dead in my tracks and turned the other way. I felt like I needed to tell Avery one more thing.

Avery's POV:

As I carried Amelia to our room I couldn't help feeling an overwhelming sense of disappointment. I was so stupid to think that Spencer could just fit right in and handle everything that my life was. Nobody could just walk in to my strange situation and just own it right? I'd had my whole life to get used to it, but other people needed time to digest what I really did on a daily basis. I had to give it to Spencer, he'd done a great job so far. I mean we'd only known each other for like a day, albeit a very strange day. It was ridiculous the amount of changes my family and I had gone through in that day. Why was I allowing my ridiculous feelings to cloud what I was really here to do? I was here to take care of my kids. I didn't need a man to complicate that, even if it was a wonderful, handsome one like Spencer. Really. I was fine.

Right.

As I placed a kiss on Amelia's forehead and turned to leave the room I jumped slightly. Spencer was standing in the doorway, looking cute and determined. I shot him a confused expression as I silently ushered him out of the room and shut the door. Once it was shut I raised an eyebrow at him, wordlessly asking what was up with the sudden intrusion. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before he finally managed to say something.

"Avery I, uhm, I'm sorry that I couldn't ahm. I couldn't wait there was something that I, uh, needed to tell you. Uh-", he said nervously. I placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"Spence. I know, okay? My life is a lot to get through your head. You're doing amazingly well. Most of my friends left way sooner than this, and the fact that you're trying is spectacular. Really. You don't have to explain anything to me", I said quietly. I really meant it, he was trying. I wasn't going to put any more expectations on him as I did for anyone else. He smiled a little smile that made my stomach do flip flops, and I returned it.

"I'm glad you think I'm doing so well, I thought I was failing miserably", he laughed. I smiled and shook my head, but he continued.

"But that wasn't what I wanted to say. I wanted to explain, why I was feeling so anxious before. You seem to think it's, uh, all attributed to your family, and that is part of it, but not everything. I suppose anxious might be a, uhm, strong word. Maybe nervous is better. I was nervous, ahm, in part because of you", he said quietly. I'm sure my face betrayed my surprise, because he continued quickly.

"I don't mean that in a, ahm, a bad way, please don't take it like it sounded. I mean it in the best kind of way. I mean that, ahm, that you make me nervous because I feel so comfortable around you, and that's weird. Weird for me, weird for anyone I guess because we've only known each other for less than 30 hours, but I just wanted to say that I don't care. I like being around you Avery. And I know it might be strange for me to say that so soon, but I just felt like I should tell you", he said, reminding me very much of my ramblings earlier. He spoke quickly, as if he were afraid he'd lose the courage if he didn't say things as quickly as he could. I blushed, and wondered how he'd been able to say the exact right thing to calm my nerves.

"Spence I love hanging out with you too, and I understand exactly what you mean. I don't know why we're able to be so comfortable around each other, but I was sort of questioning it too. Maybe it's best if we don't question it too much? I mean I'm not saying we should get too comfortable, but I don't know. I like hanging out with you", I ended lamely. He smiled at me, and my heart did some flip flops along with my stomach.

"I would like that very much", he said. Then he cleared his throat, "I think we have a cake to bake". He smiled at me once more before we both started down the stairs. I reflected on how wonderful, miraculous even, that we both seemingly felt the same way. Confused, but optimistic. I wondered where life would lead us, but as we reached Henry and Jack all thoughts of Spencer flew away. Spencer was right, we had a cake to bake.

After preheating the oven I set out all we needed for the cake and called for the boys, they'd been happily finishing their game with Spencer, who seemed content and happy. A far cry from the nervousness I'd detected when we'd arrived home from the store. When they finally ran in, I helped the boys start mixing the batter. I frowned. Even with all their chatter, something was missing; things were too quiet.

"Spence can you supervise this chaos for a second? I gotta go find something", I asked. He nodded, and began helping the boys crack some eggs into a bowl. I ran up the stairs and quietly entered my room. I silently unplugged the alarm clock and snuck out the door. I bounced into the kitchen and almost laughed at the sight in front of me. Henry and Jack stood on their chairs next to the counter, which was now covered by what I assumed was the powdered cake mix. Spencer looked amused as well, and I had to say. A face full of chocolate powder was a good look on anyone in my book, but on Spencer it was beyond adorable.

"Lesson learned, never let the 5 year old open the bag of cake mix", he said, looking pointedly at Jack. Jack just grinned at me.

"Ooops", he said.

"Good thing I'm the best big sister cousin lady in the whole wide world; I bought two boxes", I said, pulling said box out of our paper bag and handing it to Spencer. I also plugged the radio in near the counter and started fiddling with it. As soon as Henry saw it his face lit up with a big smile, and he shouted 'hooray'. I smiled as well, and finally found a station playing music; Henry and I did a little dance to the oldies rock song that played. I laughed, and eventually looked at Spencer, who seemed amused by our antics. I turned a bit red, and decided to help the boys mix our cake, given how opening the box had gone. This involved me getting behind the boys' chairs on the counter, close to Spencer as I'd ever been. If I wasn't red before, I was now; I didn't even dare turn to look at his reaction. Soon the cake was mixed and the boys helped me pour the batter into our pan, and I put it into the oven.

After we repeated our process for the cupcake batter I asked the boys to get off their chairs and get ready for a rest time. Before they could protest I grabbed each of their hands and started dancing around the kitchen with them. It was so silly, we all began laughing. Even Spencer laughed from his place near the counter. I decided he was too stationary, so I gave the boys each other's hands, and grabbed Spencer's hands. I started dancing, apparently to his extreme surprise given his face. He seemed stiff and unwilling to dance at first, but after a little bit of encouragement from the boys he started dancing just as silly as the rest of us. I giggled like crazy, this morning I would have never been able to picture a dance party in my kitchen with Spencer Reid to the tune of AC/DC. The song eventually ended, and I clapped my hands (which were still tingling from being in Spencer's soft, larger ones) and knelt down with the boys.

"Alright agents. This has been a great mission, but we can't finish it for a little while. So, in the meantime I need you both to take a rest", I said. When they gave me disappointed faces, I rolled my eyes and amended, "BUT. Since you did such a great job today, I guess I can let you take your rest in the living room, while we watch a movie? Maybe even The Princess and the Frog?" They both looked like they couldn't believe their luck. I knew that Jack had that movie, I'd seen it near the TV, and I knew that they would both love it.

"If you want to watch it though you have to go grab your blankets and pillows and meet me in the living room", I said. They scurried away, running towards the stairs. "And be quiet, Amelia is still sleeping!" I smiled at them, before turning to Spencer. "Well agent, your place in our mission is over; you did a spectacular job. I suppose that means you'll be going soon", I said sadly. It was true though, Spencer had done what he came to do, and now he'd be leaving.

"If it's alright with you I think I'll stay. Once the cake is done I could bring you to the BAU to leave it for Dave?" he asked, adorably nervous. As if I'd ever deny him time with my kids and I. I grinned at him, and bumped his shoulder with mine, nodding in the direction of the living room.

"Spence I'll never deny you quality time with my crazy little family! So let's go watch a Princess and a frog fall in love", I said. He grinned at me, and we walked to the family room to watch our movie with the boys. All the boys settled in while I started the movie. Henry and Jack were curled up next to each other on Spencer's side on the couch, already looking like they were going to pass out. I sat on Spencer's other side, pulling my favorite blanket around myself starting the movie. I turned to look at my boys, and I noticed that Spencer's face was bright red and he seemed especially stiff. I realized then just how close we were sitting on the couch together, arms touching. I blushed too, but didn't move. I liked being around Spencer, and I felt comfortable being close to him. Besides, this was how I sat with everyone; I couldn't help it, I was a touchy feely kind of gal. In an effort to make him feel less uncomfortable, I offered him some of my blanket to share. After hesitating for a moment, he accepted and we turned our attention back to the movie, which was admittedly pretty darn cute. I'd always had a soft spot for Disney movies, and I think this was my new favorite. Eventually I felt my eyelids get heavy, and I leaned my head on Spencer's shoulder. He didn't seem to mind, and I felt him place his head on my head. As we watched Tiana and Prince Naveen fall in love, I couldn't help but look up at Spencer's peaceful face and smile. I was really happy, sitting here with him. We sat for a while in comfortable silence, watching the movie with the boys sleeping peacefully next to us.

I heard the kitchen timer go off, and I reluctantly got up to remove the cake and cupcakes from the oven. After shutting the oven off and placing the baked goods on the counter to cool, I went back into the living room to watch the rest of the movie. I returned to my spot next to Spencer, and cuddled into his side once more. I briefly wondered if this was inappropriate. I mean, I'd only known Spencer for a few days and here I was, sitting close and watching a movie with him as comfortable as could be. I mean, I still didn't know if Arrow would even like us being friends. Anyways, was that what we were? Friends? It didn't feel right calling us that, even if we had just met. I wasn't going to push things though, clearly Spencer had some reservations about me and my family; while I didn't blame him, I sincerely hoped that he accepted us soon. I snuggled closer into his side, smiling and closing my eyes. I thought to myself that in the meantime, I didn't mind being his friend.