Disclaimer: Criminal Minds and all its characters belong to CBS. I own nothing. Feel free to read and review, but please don't copy.

AN- Please excuse the lateness of this one. I drove up to my cousin's house in NC and we went to a Ronnie Milsap concert.

Previously on Criminal Minds- Spencer returned his mentor's grin with a dimpled one of his own. "Yay!" he whooped. "Tome on guys! Let's go pay!"

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Spencer filled his plate to the brim and then trudged over to the edge of their picnic blanket. Plopping down beside his mentor, he set his food down in front of him and dug in. The mini profiler snuck glances at his friend as he munched on the lip smacking ribs the trickster had provided. John had turned out to an awesome playmate much to Reid's surprise. The man possessed a wicked imagination. Under his direction the group had done everything from fighting off aliens bent on harvesting humans for food to piloting a futuristic submarine into the deepest depths of the ocean. Spencer had had a blast playing! Imagination games definitely topped playing with toys in his book. He had wanted the day to go on forever but of course that hadn't happened. Evening had descended upon them and now here they were eating supper. It was only a matter of time before John left and he and Henry were put to bed. Reid sighed. While he was tired, he wasn't ready for playtime to end. Maybe he could talk Hotch into letting him stay up a little later than usual. The little boy shook his head. There was no chance of that; not when they had work first thing in the morning. Which reminded him…Spencer scooted closer to the miniature director. "John, tan we go on tases again?" he asked. "I'm tiwed of sitting 'wound doing papew wowt."

"Sorry kiddo" John apologized. "I promised the trickster no more cases until you were an adult again and I intend to keep that promise. It's just not safe for you to be in the field working on a case."

"What if I pwomise to tay at the tation?" Reid offered up. "I tould wowt fwom fewe and the ofews tould go to the twime(crime) scenes and to in'view witnesses."

"Won't work" John replied, shaking his shaggy head. "First, you'd be alone and that's something I won't allow. And second, what would you do at naptimes or bathroom breaks? Sorry Spencer, but going on a case is just not feasible with you in that kid body."

"But John" Spencer whined, knuckling his eyes. "I'm sit of papew wowt! The ofews awe too. Fey don't talt ow tease ow jote awound any mowe. Mowgan and Pwentiss don't even pull pwants! Fey jut sit and wite." The little boy let out a jaw popping yawn before continuing. "Papew wowt's not fun any mowe. And my fam'ly's not *yawn* not fun when fey awe fewe. Fey'we gwouchy and gwumpy and, and…" to Reid's complete mortification, he burst into tears. "I want fings to be lite fey wewe befowe!"

At the first sound of Reid's distress, Hotch morphed from child to adult. After his transformation was complete, he strode over and scooped up his crying son. "Sounds like someone's stayed up too late" he murmured, rubbing comforting circles in the boy's back. "Come on buddy, let's get you to bed."

"But, but I didn't eat my ice tweam yet!" Spencer tearfully protested.

"You can have ice cream another time." Aaron assured the sleepy boy.

Spencer stared in shock at his father figure for a moment before dissolving into tears once more. "You'we, you'we mad at me!" he cried, burying his face in Hotch's shoulder.

Aaron's face softened. "I'm not angry with you Spencer." He replied. "I'm taking you to bed because you're exhausted from playing not because you've done something wrong."

Spencer shook his head. "You *sniff* you won't let me eat my, my ice tw-tweam. You, you'we ma-ma-mad." He countered between sniffling breaths.

Knowing the littlest profiler wouldn't be persuaded in the state he was in, Dave stepped in to help. He walked up to Hotch and held out his arms. "Let me try." He requested.

Aaron reluctantly relinquished his charge.

Dave plopped down next to the crying boy's abandoned plate and settled Spencer in his lap. "Since I'm the oldest family member, I automatically have the right to veto any and all decisions made by the other adults." He said, smiling at the hiccupping child. "And I'm using that power now. You my dear boy can eat your ice cream before bed."

Shaking his head, Reid crawled out of Rossi's lap, pushed up to standing, and ran back over to Hotch. "No, daddy said I touldn't eat, eat it." he announced, clamping onto said man's leg.

Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose. He'd only wanted to put Spencer to bed before he face planted in his meal. How it had turned into this mess was beyond him. He just hoped he could straighten things out before the mini agent had a full blown meltdown. There had been more than enough tears already. So he pasted on his kid friendly smile and knelt down in front of Reid. "Spencer, it's okay. You can eat your ice cream." He told the still crying tot.

Reid eyed Hotch critically. "Awe you till mad at me?" he hesitantly asked.

"No, Spencer I'm not angry with you." Aaron replied, leaving out the fact that he hadn't been angry to start with. Voicing that would only serve to lengthen the situation.

"Pwomise?" Reid questioned, turning his kicked puppy eyes on his dad.

"I promise." Aaron honestly answered.

Grinning, Spencer raced back over to his hard won treat, snatched up his spoon, and started eating. "Fants daddy" he said between mouthfuls.

John raised an eyebrow. That was the second time Agent Reid had used that term to refer to Agent Hotchner. And while the father side of him thought it was sweet, the FBI director side knew that wasn't a good thing. He'd have to have a little q and a session with the BAU agents. But that would have to wait until the youngest member of the team had been tucked into bed which should be happening in five, four, three…John chuckled as Rossi scrambled to catch a slumbering Reid before he landed face first in his ice cream. Seeing that brought back so many happy memories of his boys when they were little. Little Michael was just as stubborn as Spencer. He'd fight sleep with everything he had. The kid had fallen asleep in so many different…the director startled at a hand on his arm. Glancing around, he noticed Agents Hotchner and Reid had left the room. Frowning, John turned his attention to the man in front of him. "Yes Agent Rossi?"

"Are you alright, sir?" Dave inquired. "You kind of spaced out on us for a moment."

"I'm fine." John replied. "I was just thinking about something Agent Reid said."

"Was it all that about work cause I can assure you…"

"No, not that." the director interrupted. "I was referring to the term Agent Reid used for Agent Hotchner. Would any of you care to enlighten me as to why Spencer would call his superior daddy?"

"I can answer that one." Morgan said as he walked over to the two men. "Reid's exhausted." Seeing the confused look on the director's face, he clarified his explanation. "See, Reid's had to call Hotch daddy at different times due to people seeing him as a little kid. It happened a lot at first and now whenever he's tired or ill, it just kind of slips out."

John thought for a minute before nodding. "Makes sense" he said. Glancing at his watch, he sighed. "I should be going. Thank you for today. It's been a long time since I've had that much fun."

"You're welcome sir." Dave replied as the two started for the front door. "Thank you for agreeing to stay. Your being here did Spencer a world of good."

"I hope so." John responded. He put on his coat and grasped the door knob. "Gentlemen, ladies have a good evening but don't stay up too late. I expect to see you all bright and early in the morning."

Once they'd said their goodbyes, the remaining BAU family members trudged up the stairs to their rooms. After the day of playing they'd had, the group was more than ready to shower and head to bed. So they told each other goodnight and then retired to their rooms. It had been one long day.

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Spencer growled as he closed yet another file. He never thought he'd say it but he was sick of paperwork days. He hadn't joined the BAU to sit on his butt all day filling in forms. He'd wanted to help people. And he couldn't do that sitting here. He needed to get out, investigate crime scenes, question witnesses, and solve crimes. He needed to move. Grinning, Reid set down his pen and slid off his chair. He'd go visit Garcia. Maybe she'd have a case for him to help with; one he could really sink his teeth into. Excited by the prospect of working with the tech goddess Spencer skipped across the bullpen. The little profiler made it all the way to the door before skidding to a stop at JJ's voice calling, "We've got a case."

AN- Anyone know where John got his ideas for the games they played?