It was just before noon on Saturday when Hotch and Rossi accompanied Laurel into the baggage claim area of Chicago O'Hare airport.
"Mommy!" The callout was accompanied by a blur of bright blue motion that flew across the room. "You're back!"
"Of course I'm back, Sweetheart!" Laurel was blinking hard, trying to clear the tears from her eyes as she hugged her daughter. "You didn't think I was going to leave for good, did you?"
"No," the girl declared. "But you weren't here to see my new spins. Dr. Reid helped me and I am going really, really, really fast."
"So I hear," Laurel replied. "You are going to have to show me." She sniffled and tried to discretely wipe away her tears.
"Welcome Back!" Garcia, wrapped in a colorful shawl to ward off the cold, enveloped her in a hug. "It is so good to see you."
"It's good to see you too, Penelope," Laurel told her. "And, everybody else as well," she added as the rest of the group gathered around her and Paige.
"I understand everything went well," Blake spoke up.
"We aren't going to have to get our favorite brainiac to figure out how to dam up the bayous and flood the city?" Morgan questioned with a smile.
"Morgan, that is probably against the law – Or is it?" Reid questioned. "That would be an interesting problem from an engineering standpoint," he continued. "From what I remember from the map I was working with – "
"Spence – Enough!" JJ told him sternly. "You have an audience." She nodded towards Henry who was listening attentively. And, standing next to Henry was – Jack?
"Jack, Buddy – What are you doing here?" Hotch burst out.
"I convinced Aunt Jessica that I could fly by myself," the boy told him. "And then I called Aunt Penelope and told her that I wanted to be here and she talked to Aunt Jessica and - "
"It's all my fault, Hotch," Garcia interrupted the recitation. "If you want to blame anyone, blame me. But, I just couldn't say 'No'. I knew that the two of you need to spend some time together and what better place to do it than in Chicago?"
"I got here just before you arrived," Jack told his father. "And Uncle Derek and Aunt Penelope were waiting for me when I got off the plane, so it's not like I've really been by myself or anything."
He sidled up next to his father and whispered, "She's still pretty, isn't she?" He nodded towards Paige.
"She certainly is," his father agreed, looking at Paige's mother. "She most certainly is!"
"Maybe Morgan and I should get the luggage," Reid suggested.
"Will can help me," Morgan replied. "Your shoulder is still healing from your 'spin demonstration'."
"What am I looking for?" he asked the travelers.
"I have that sparkly pink suitcase Penelope was kind enough to loan me," Laurel told him.
"And Hotch and I both took our go bags," Rossi added. "Why don't I go with you? I can point and you can pick them up off the carousel."
"I already have mine," Jack quickly told them, holding up a well-worn backpack.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
The luggage was soon located and loaded into one of the three SUV's the welcoming committee had brought with them to the airport.
"Where are we going?" Laurel asked Morgan, who was driving the SUV she, Paige, Hotch, Jack, and Rossi were riding in. Garcia had tried to take Laurel with her in another vehicle, saying that there were some things they needed to discuss. However, Hotch had intervened saying that Laurel needed to be with Paige. Rossi was discretely watching from the front seat as Hotch snaked his arm around behind Laurel's shoulders as they sat side-by-side in the second row while Paige and Jack sat in the third row busily comparing schools and homework.
"Well," Morgan gave them a smile in the rear view mirror. "Mom wanted to have everyone over this afternoon for a Welcome Home luncheon. She really wants to meet you. She says that any woman who can raise a daughter like Paige all by herself is worth knowing."
"Well, I want to meet her, too," Laurel replied. "She did a pretty fantastic job herself and I can use all the advice I can get."
"But," she continued. "I am sure you mother can't deal with all these people in her house at the same time. That would be chaos!"
"That's what we finally convinced her," Morgan chuckled. "So, Garcia and JJ started asking around and they soon found out that the hall at the church our family has attended for years was available for use this afternoon. Blake and Will located a BBQ place, and Mom and Garcia have been working on making up some 'sides'. JJ, Reid, and the kids are handling desert."
"You're working on desert?" Laurel turned around to ask her daughter, who responded by giggling. "You'll have to wait and see."