A/N: Hello again, everyone!

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.

A shout-out to those for reviewing and reading my stories.

Élise had a good workout this morning after breakfast. She started off with some warm-up stretches, planks, jumping jacks, and jump roped for about five minutes. Élise then did a whole bunch of leg, thigh, abs, and arm exercises and finished with cool-down stretches, totaling her time to forty-to-forty-five minutes.

After that, she waited a few minutes to shower and got dressed for work. Changing into a simple black pantsuit and heels, Élise was applying airbrushed makeup when Reid walked in.

"Ready to take on the world again?" Reid hugged her from behind and kissed her neck.

Élise giggled; she turned around and started kissing him. "Aren't we both?"

Reid pulled back. He heard his phone vibrating; getting it, he saw a message from Bobby.

HOPE YOU CAN MAKE IT TO THE HOUSEWARMING PARTY THIS WEEKEND!

Reid texted him back.

WE WILL!

Élise sat next to him on the bed edge. "I heard from Maeve that Bobby's mother's improving each day."

"I know," said Reid. "I can't imagine what he's going through."

"It was a good thing the doctors caught it in time to fight it," Élise wiped a tear from her eye. "I swear, if I ever lost either one of my parents…"

Reid tagged Élise closer to him. "Hey…"

Élise wiped more tears from her eyes and sniffed. "I know it's part of life, but still…so numbing and life-changing."

"Mmm-hmm…"

Reid was working on some leftover paperwork with Blake and JJ at his desk. He was about halfway done when Garcia hurried in.

"People!" she got their attention. "People!"

JJ picked her head up. "What is it, Penelope."

"Oooh…" She fluttered her hands and winced through her teeth. Penelope sharply turned her head. "Where's Rossi and my Chocolate Thunder?"

Rossi appeared, as did Morgan.

"You rang?" Rossi asked smoothly.

Morgan stood beside Garcia. "What's up, momma?"

Garcia pointed them to the conference room, and they followed her. She closed the door behind her and sighed.

"What's up with the super-secret maneuver?" asked Blake.

Garcia sat down and announced, "My uber-secret sources say that Hotch is now on the shortlist to be the next Section Chief…"

The team didn't know what to think, especially Reid.

"And…?"

Garcia had a dumbstruck look. "And…" she started rambling and went back and forth around the room. "Well, what if Hotch decides to leave full-time? I mean, you know how I am with change. I mean, change plus I equals no good and just blech!" Garcia stuck her tongue and grimaced her face when she said 'blech.' "Or me and beige. Again, not a good color for me. And it's the only color I distasted. That right there says a lot. But what if he does?"

"What if whom what does…?"

Garcia flinched when she and everyone else saw Hotch standing by the door with a file in his hands.

"Is there something I need to know about?" Hotch asked again when he sat down. "Like a case? Which is why you're here?"

"Y-yes," Garcia reached for her tablet and stuttered. "Yes, sir…"

Reid knew Hotch detected their conversation about him being Strauss' replacement but decided to let the team think he meant something else when he asked.

"Ooh!" Élise had her eyes set on this fabulous white scalloped cotton-lined cardigan. "I need to buy this…" she gasped when she saw a pair of white linen culottes. "And this."

Maeve chuckled when she pulled a three-quarter bateau neck tee from the rank. "This looks pretty," she drew a hung pencil skirt and put them together. Maeve asked Élise, "What do you think of this and this together?"

Élise shrugged her shoulders. "Looks good together."

Maeve turned her attention to Charlotte in her stroller. "Do you think this and this good look on mommy?"

Charlotte giggled.

"I take it as a yes," Maeve smirked.

Élise squatted to Séraphine's height in the stroller and gave her a snack. "Here you go for being so patient with us today."

"Tanks, mommy…."

Élise helped herself to some bottled water she kept in her bag. "I wonder how the guys are handling our little boys."

BJ and Isaac were put down for their naps; Reid came back with trays of Arnold Palmers and set them in the living room.

"Here you go," he handed one to Bobby.

Bobby shook his head. "Mmm-hmm…" he slurped quietly. "Ah…"

Reid observed Bobby's body language; for the past ten minutes, suddenly, his posture was slouched, his tone monotoned, and he had a bit of a downcast gaze.

"Thanks, man…" he burped, but not loud enough to wake up the boys. "Sorry," he apologized, covering his mouth.

"That's okay," Reid understood. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Bobby shuddered when he sat his drink down and clutched his fingers to his head. "I can't get over what happened with my mother," tears drew from his eyes and grasped his throat. "Oh, man…when we heard about what happened…I…I started thinking the worst. How BJ and Charlotte would never get to know her. How my father would be all alone without her. I'd never see or hear my mother again…" he cried softly.

Reid massaged his back. "Hey, man…"

He sniffed deeply when picking his head up. He's handed a tissue by Reid, using it to wipe his nose and eyes. "Still…I…the first night and the last night we was there in Vermont, I…sat down at this old swing that was still there at my home I grew up in. Sometimes I would stay there all night until the sun came up. Maeve would join me, and we just talked. We'd even take a walk out into the woods behind my house. It was seven acres, so we'd take long walks there. And just have these long talks. Reflect on life and not take anything for granted. Not even our parents."'

"Yeah."

"Pre-tty!" said Élise about Maeve and Bobby's new white-fenced house. Reid steered the car into their driveway. They got out of the car to get Séraphine, Isaac, and Opal from the backseat. Walking up the stone path to the colonial-style house, Élise rang the doorbell.

"Charming!" Reid commented on the doorbell chime, holding Séraphine's hand.

Someone opened the door—Maeve—and smiled.

"Hey!"

Élise grinned. "What's up, girl?" she gave her a hug.

Maeve let the Bastien-Reid family in the new house. Stepping into the foyer, the walls were camel-color painted, and according to Maeve, the straight stairs led up to all their bedrooms and the attic; Reid estimated that the ceilings were nine-feet.

Élise took a peek to her left, which was the living room, and the ten-seater dining room to her right. She and Reid trod into the living room. The walls were stale gray painted with a white mantlepiece and matching color drapes, dark wood coffee table center to the cream-color linen couches.

Maeve showed them the family room pocket door to the living room, the office, and jasmine yellow colored walled and brown wooded cabinet, granite, and high-end appliance double kitchen; the smaller one had a breakfast nook.

Maeve concluded the tour with a showing of the finished wine room/man cave in the basement and the landscaped backyard; Bobby was there with BJ and Charlotte, playing with them.

"Gotcha!" Bobby bouncily grabbed BJ and Charlotte, still giggling. He soon noticed Maeve and the Bastien-Reid family.

Maeve chuckled. "See you're having too much fun."

Bobby paced up to Maeve and kissed her lips. "How are you doing?" he asked Reid, giving BJ to Maeve.

Reid had Séraphine in his arms. "We're good; Maeve just showed us the tour of your new place."

Bobby sniffed the air. "Still has that new house smell."

"Sounds like it should be a scent for air freshener." Élise joked, making the adults laugh. Changing the subject, she soon asked, "So, is the housewarming party going to be a potluck kinda thing?"

Maeve answered, "Guests are allowed to be a small helping, but I'll be cooking a few things."

"And I'll be helping by tasting those few things she'll be cooking," Bobby raised his eyebrows three times.

"But right now, I say we have a sit-down and talk about the meaning of life while catching up on our lives," Reid declared after setting Séraphine down; Maeve did the same with BJ and allowed them to play around.

Bobby cradled Charlotte. "Mmm-hmm…"

The two families gathered around the patio and caught up with each other. Bobby offered Reid's help to install the jungle gym for their children.

Élise spun around and posed in front of the floor-length mirror. She wore her new ivory and navy pinstripe blazer with matching high-rise Bermuda shorts, a white linen shirt, and white espadrille wedges.

Reid walked out of the bedroom, dressed in a casual button shirt, chinos, and Converse sneakers.

"You look nice," said Élise, complimenting his outfit for Maeve and Bobby's housewarming party.

Reid smirked. "As do you. Do you have the presents?" he asked her.

"Mmm-hmm…" Élise got the gift from the bedside and held it mid-air. "This is going to be a great party."

"And BJ and Charlotte are spending the night with Maeve's parents, right?"

Élise nodded. "Mmm-hmm…"

Within the first eight-nine minutes, Reid and Élise conversated with Maeve's Mendel colleagues as well as Bobby's coworkers and new faces, including a couple from the National Institutes of Health.

Maeve served vegan sweet potato ravioli with sautéed mushrooms with a summer fruit and greens salad.

"I would like to propose a toast," she raised her glass of pomegranate nectar in the air. "To new beginnings and to keep on moving forward."

Élise was now in her chambers; she had just come back from a meeting with some of the other Circuit judges. She was halfway through her leftover paperwork when she heard her phone vibrate beside her on her desk.

She picked it up and saw the 310 area code. Knowing immediately who they were, she answered the phone and cautiously said hello.

"Ms. Bastien?"

"Karen!" it was the editor-in-chief who asked Élise to take part in the special edition of Element magazine, Women in our Element. "How are you doing on the West Coast?"

"Typical," Karen replied. "Warm-to-hot temperature weather, praying for some occasional rain, but all-in-all, I'm great. Anyhoo, I have some great news…"

"Okay."

Karen took a deep breath. "I just wanted to let you know that we have finished editing and double editing and will be released in December."

"Really? That's great," said Élise.

Karen added, "And if it's possible, we'd like to have you again next year."

Élise gawked in disbelief. "Really?"

"Absolutely," Karen responded. "And perhaps more in the future; we'd loved having you here."

"Can you believe it?" Élise was telling Reid about the phone conversation she had with Karen Allen, resting her hand on her head and having her elbow against her pillow. "They want to interview me again."

Reid joined Élise in bed. "Must have been exciting."

"It really was," said Élise. "Seeing all those beautiful and powerful women rocking the fields and me being a part of it…"

Reid twisted his head to the side. "You deserved it. You earned it."

Élise faced him and kissed his lips. "And I could not have done it without you."

Though federal employees have the 4th of July off, Reid and Élise decided to take the children to the FBI office that was in view of the National Independence Day Parade. The spectators lined up the Constitution Avenue sidewalks and watched the parade make its way street to street. From the marching bands to the floats, from giant balloons to equestrian groups. Even drill teams and military units were there.

"Ain't this excited, baby boy?" Élise asked Isaac.

Isaac clapped his hands and giggled.

"USA! USA!" Séraphine cheered. "USA! USA!"

Reid cuddled Séraphine's head. "That's the spirit!"

After the parade ended, Reid and Élise continued the celebration and took the children to the National Mall for at least an hour or two for the festivals that were there.

For dinner, Reid grilled hot dogs, burgers, and corn on the cob while Élise made a watercress and strawberry salad and a patriotic flag poke cake for dessert.

"Happy 4th of July, baby," Élise raised her glass of fruit-filled lemonade to toast the end of the day with a fireworks display.

Reid clinked his glass in return. "Happy 4th of July, love."