A/N: Hello again, everyone!

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.

The chapter starts off the following morning/afternoon.

Previously on Criminal Minds…

"Do you think they'll happen to us?"

"Us adopt? [...] That's a life-changing decision to make. […] Still, Spence…"

"It's a scary processing thought. […] But I think we'd be giving a baby the opportunity of a lifetime if we adopt."

"Who wants blueberries on their pancakes?" asked Spencer, cooking breakfast for the family over the recently cleaned stovetop.

Séraphine and Isaac raised their hands at lightning speed. "I do. I do."

Spencer chuckled at the children's bursting enthusiasm. Soon the three heard nearby voices and the front door opening. "In we go, Opal, girlie…" it was Rose leading Opal into the house first—though no one could see, no doubt Opal wiped her paws before coming in.

Rose came in. "Hello, everyone," she greeted the family before kneeling down, getting the leash off Opal, and watching her cuddle Spencer's legs.

"Did you have a good morning walk with Rose?"

Opal barked for a response.

Rose washed and cleaned her bowl, set it down in front of her, and went through the cabinets and refrigerator. She bent down and poured milk into her bowl, cracked opened some leftover hardboiled eggs Spencer had in the small silver pot, and cottage cheese.

Élise came in, fiddling with her new Bluetooth headset before properly fastening it to her ear. She looked up, waved, and smiled. "Hola, familia."

"Bue-nos dí-as, mami." Séraphine replied in Spanish; she's been watching a lot of Go, Diego, Go! reruns and Dora the Explorer.

Spencer petted her hair and gave her a pancake and a kiss on the top of her head. "Muy bien, Fee."

Élise was in a serious rush this morning, so she just went into the fridge, got out, and pulled out the oatmeal and berry smoothie she had made last night. "So, what are everyone's plans for today?"

"Dora!" Séraphine cried.

"Blue's Clues!"

"I'm gonna catch up on my crochet a little bit." Rose crouched down, took Opal's bowl when she was done with breakfast, went over to the sink, and washed it.

Opal barked in response.

Cutting back on the children's usual television time, Spencer got the children settled in the upstairs playroom. He shuffled the flashcards and pulled one. "What is this?"

"Kar-rot…" Séraphine enunciate the word. "Kar-rot."

Spencer nodded his head. "Very good. And the color?"

"O-range."

"Good girl!" Spencer had his hand out for Séraphine to give him a high five. He drew another one from the pile and showed a colored circle to Isaac. "Now, what color is this?"

"Blu…!" Isaac blurted out, almost hopping up from the floor.

Spencer gave him a high five. "Smart boy, Ziggy!"

"'Ike yoo, daddy."

Spencer smiled.

Élise worked with the U.S. Delta Force special operations and FBI personnel, along with all the highest ranked DOJ officials and the President—as its commander—about the final aspects of a terrorist attack that happened on one of the U.S. government facilities back in 2012.

Now that that was all over—there was still the press conference to give on Monday, preparing for the federal grand jury by the next month and more to be done following—but for now, it was officially the Father's Day weekend.

Tonight's dinner was spaghetti Bolognese, garlic beard, salad, and if the children finished their meals, seconds on mini fudge brownies.

"So, how's the pasta?" Élise asked as she took a jab into her salad and had a mouthful, chewing the crunchy and semi-Ranch-dressed vegetables.

Séraphine finished slurping a noodle. "It's good."

"Yummy." Isaac's mouth corners were smeared in pasta sauce. "Buurrp!" he soon giggled, making Séraphine laugh; she stopped when she saw her parents' disapproving faces.

"Isaac…" Spencer scolded him, reminding him it was impolite to burp out loud.

Isaac lifted his shoulders and sheered his lips up. "Sawry…"

After Spencer had a swig of his ice-cold sugar-free lemonade, he asked, "You know what this weekend is?"

"Father's Day!" Séraphine guessed proudly.

Spencer winked at her. "Yes!"

"Unfortunately, Grandpas Mikey and Will won't be here this weekend?"

Séraphine whined and pouted her lips, almost slamming her fork against the table, "Awww…"

"But that doesn't mean we can't have fun." Spencer raised his voice a bit but in a more exciting tone. "We can do some fun activities this weekend; you just have to be open-minded about it."

"KK." Isaac gobbled another spaghetti noodle.

Bright and early after breakfast, Spencer and Élise took the children to the S.T.E.M. Discovery Center in Lake Ridge for the Engineering for Kids. After watching the ceremonial ribbon cutting, they checked out the thrilling activities they had to offer.

Spencer and Isaac witnessed how elephant toothpaste was being made in both ways. The potassium iodide, peroxide, yeast, detergent, food coloring, and water were mixed in a bottle and placed on a cookie sheet or pan, and his eyes amplified when it oxidized.

"Ooh!" Isaac threw his hands up, mimicking its reaction. "Ka-bloom!"

Spencer ruffled his son's head. "Ain't that cool, huh?"

Isaac bobbled his head and tried to touch it before Spencer yanked his son's hand away from it. "Uh-huh! You don't want to touch it after its reaction; you might get a burn." Spencer informed him.

Isaac had a scary look on his face and petted his small hand.

Séraphine was with Élise, walking through the display of life-sized cardboard cutouts and standees of famous S.T.E.M. women; from throughout history and now. Séraphine pointed to a Caucasian woman with her white hair back and away from her face and in a big black dress. "Who is she?"

"That, my girl, is Marie Curie," Élise explained to her about one of the most famous women scientists of all time. "She was the first woman to win a Noble Prize."

Seraphin asked again, "What's that?"

"It's a prestigious award given for contributions to the world."

"Cool!" Séraphine eyed another standee, an African American woman with browline-styled eye frames, a short bouffant hairstyle, and a short-sleeve plaid dress with a Peter Pan collar and black low-inch Mary Jane heels. "Ooh, who is she?"

"Katherine Johnson," said Élise. "She was one of the first black women to work as a scientist and mathematician for NASA, an outer space program."

"Oh…"

"When you put your mind to it, Fee, you can achieve anything you want in life," Élise advised her daughter with words of wisdom.

Spencer and Élise got the children cleaned and tucked into bed; afterward, Élise went to the kitchen for chamomile tea in the living room.

"Lise?"

"Mmm?" Élise stopped sipping when she heard Spencer's voice and saw him by the entryway.

Spencer thumb-pointed the stairs. "Are you coming up?"

"Soon," Élise assured him when having another sip. "I've been thinking."

Spencer walked over to the couch and sat next to Élise. "Thinking about what?"

Steadily cradling her teacup, Élise inhaled a sighed, spun her head to face Spencer, and said, "I think we should do the adoption."

"You want to do it?" Spencer's face looked alerted and surprised. "Listen, if you're having second thoughts about this."

"No-no, Spence," Élise had a moment to recompose when she set the teacup on the saucer and assured firmly, "I made up my mind. I want us to welcome a baby into our home. I want to make a difference in their lives, and I know you want to, too."

Spencer overlapped his hand when Élise had hers on his lap. "I'll be the first to admit this…but I'm scared."

"I am, too." Élise nodded her head, agreeing with him. "But…I think we're doing the right thing."

"Yeah." Spencer gently pulled Élise by her chin and gave her a loving lip kiss. "When do you want to start?" he then asked.

Élise creased her mouth and head up to think. "Maybe on Monday after Father's Day…or after Ziggy's second birthday, speaking of which, I started planning a couple weeks ago, so…but I want to tell him and Fee about the adoption."

"Okay," said Spencer. "And just so you know, I've been researching about the adoption requirements, the home study that'll include references, background checks, interviews, assessments…"

"I'm interested in this one agency: Fountain of Wishes. They're a non-profit and Hague-accredited adoption agency that does domestic and international adoptions. Their offices are in D.C., Tysons Corner, and Silver Spring, their headquarters. I even reached out to an old acquaintance of a friend, Sadia Begum. She's a Scarlet Knight like yours truly here, and she's now a lawyer specializing in child advocacy, international and family laws."

Spencer suddenly had a sheepish smile. "We're really doing this, huh?"

"We are, babe…" Élise drew Spencer into a hug. "We're actually going to adopt a baby."

Séraphine and Isaac opened the bedroom door for their mother, lugging their father's breakfast for the holiday. When the three saw Spencer starting to wake up, the children looked to Élise, who jerked her head up, telling them to wake him up.

"Morning, daddy!" Séraphine and Isaac hopped on the bed, alerting their father right up.

"Whoa!" Spencer stuttered, shaking his head before seeing the children and Élise. "Ooh! What a way to be woken up."

Séraphine hugged her father by his neck. "Happy Father's Day!"

Isaac slithered under Spencer's arm and hugged him by the waist. "Daddy…"

Spencer kissed his children's heads. "Aw." Séraphine and Isaac moved away from him when Élise settled his breakfast tray on his lap. He gazed at what Élise and the kids made for him: sweet and savory pancakes—sweet from the homemade blueberry syrup and savory from the smell of the Ethiopian coffee, a blueberry-cinnamon sweet roll with a lemon cream cheese icing topped with poppy seeds, Eggs Benedicts—Élise subsisting Canadian bacon for turkey bacon, and two donuts of his favorite flavor.

"Chocolate donuts with sprinkles!" Spencer helped himself to one and took a big bite. "Mmm…" he chewed thoroughly. "You all know how to treat me today, huh?"

Séraphine rested her head on her father's chest. "We love you very much, daddy."

"Mmm-hmm…" Isaac laid his body against Spencer's.

After Spencer finished his breakfast, he and the rest of the family got dressed for the day and played catch and kiddie golf until lunchtime: honey BBQ, fried chicken wings, and lemonade were served.

"Your son, Chico?"

"Nemo…"

"Dory's funny…" Isaac giggled.

The family laughed, throwing and feeding each other popcorn while watching Finding Nemo in the theater.

Caprese pizza was for dinner, and a giant chocolate donut cake for dessert—ending Father's Day on a loving note.

A few days passed, and it was now Isaac's second birthday. He and Élise's families came yesterday afternoon and were staying for the weekend. It was another one of those days to remind him that his son was growing up. One day, he and Élise unexpectedly found out she was twelve weeks pregnant with him, and now he's already two years old.

Élise was in the backyard, working on some last-minute details. Spencer had just returned from Sweethouse Bakery with his son's two-layer, galaxy-themed cake. Just as he returned to the house, he heard the door knock.

"Comiinng!" Spencer jogged to get to the door, and when he opened it, there was Hotch with his son Jack and Rossi, letting them in the house. "Glad you guys could make it."

"Anything for my godson," said Hotch as Élise entered the foyer. "Hey, Élise…"

Élise waved to the gentlemen. "Hey…" she had her hands on her knees. "Yeah, Jack-Jack. What to come to the backyard; jump in the pool?"

Jack twisted his head to face his dad, who responded with a yes head nod. Élise guided Jack to the backyard, leaving Spencer with Hotch and Rossi by themselves.

"So, do you two…?"

Hotch and Rossi pulled sealed envelopes from their back pockets, and Spencer collected them. "Thanks; Élise got references from her old boss, Bart Wilmington, and his wife, Eva."

"You two are really doing this, huh?" Rossi had his hands in his front pockets.

Spencer panted a heavy sigh. "To tell the truth, we discussed adoption when we were engaged after the Reimanns case in New Mexico, but we never thought that…" he paused and then continued, "But, yes. We're making it a reality."

"You and Élise are already great parents, so everything will work well." Hotch smirked.

Spencer smiled to himself. "Yeah."

Pretty soon, more party guests arrived.

"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, Isaac. Happy birthday to you!"

A/N: Tomorrow's the last year I'll be in my 20s.