A/N: Hello again, everyone! Sorry I've been slowly lately with this chapter. Writer's block sucks. And I'm still taking one day at a time, hoping—and praying—for the better of things as time passes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.

"Okay," Rose moved the nonstick frying pan away from her chest when she took it off the stove and walked over to Séraphine and Isaac at the breakfast nook table. "Who wants some blueberry pancakes?"

Séraphine and Isaac threw their hands in the air. "Me-me-me!"

"One for you," she placed one on Séraphine's plate and one in front of Isaac on his. "And one for you."

"Thank you!" the two expressed their gratitude just as Spencer and Élise strode in. "Mommy! Daddy!"

Élise waved to the children. "Hey, kiddies! How are we doing this morning?"

"We good…"

Spencer stretched his back before going through the cabinets, grabbed two plates for himself and Élise, and poked his fork into the pancake stack that sat on the granite countertops. "Thanks, Rose."

Rose began pouring another small batch into the frying pan. Turning her back to concentrate, she asked the family, "So, since it's Saturday, what are everyone's plans for tomorrow?"

Élise chewed and swallowed a small piece. "I have a few places I want to go to, one of them being the Tyson Corner Center for some mother-daughter bonding with my favorite girl," she playfully stroked Séraphine's braided hair, making her giggle.

"Wha' 'bout me?" Isaac pointed to himself.

"We can have some quality father-son bonding time, little buddy," Spencer petted his son's curly locks. "Besides, we have to pick up some stuff for the barbeque cookout on Monday."

"What about you, Rose?" Élise asked before having a sip of her Colombian brewed coffee from her favorite mug. "What are you going to do today?"

Rose flipped the cooked side of the pancake to the other side. "Maybe clean up the place a little bit, but I did get invited to a party on Monday with some old colleagues of mine from the agency."

"If we finish up our breakfast, we can get to the Corner Center by the time it opens," Élise dabbed her mouth.

Élise made good on her promise to take Séraphine back-to-school shopping at the Tyson Corner Center and managed to get there by the time it opened. She donned her wig disguise, and her two-person security team masqueraded as tourists.

Séraphine skipped around the kids' section of the Macy's department store—Élise trailed behind her—until she stopped when she saw something to her liking.

"Mommy! Mommy, look!" she picked it out, and it was a purple geode marble-printed backpack.

Élise took it from her. "Oh, it is so pretty."

"Please, will you buy it for me?" Séraphine batted her big brown eyes and pouted her mouth out.

Élise casually had her hand on her hip. "You're lucky your puppy dog look is still very cute, little girl."

Séraphine giggled before she turned her head and saw a cool dark wash trucker jacket that Élise had taken from the hanger rack. "Oh, Mommy! Mommy, look!" she spun around once and struck a pose.

Élise gushed. "I like it."

"May I have it, please?" Séraphine was assisted by her mother when trying to take it off.

"Why not?"

Spencer was at the farmer's markets with Isaac in his baby seat in the silver metal cart. He just picked up a watermelon and placed it in the cart. He immediately knew it was a good and ripe one based on its dull, heavy, uniform size and an orange field spot on the ground.

He counted the plastic-wrapped produce bags there were. "Okay. Got everything…" his eyes widened a bit when he watched Isaac trying to reach for the candy display. "No-no-no…" he snatched his son's hand away. "You're too young to have candy like that."

Isaac pouted his mouth and folded his arms.

"Look at you, Fifi," an impressed Élise said to her; Séraphine proved to be an efficient shopper like her mother. She examined the clothes Séraphine picked out: cable-knit cotton cardigans, jackets, oxford tops, polo dresses, jeans, leggings, new Skechers, and Uggs.

"I learned from you, Mommy…" Séraphine beamed, folding her fingers together and shrugging her shoulders, smiling at her.

Élise grinned before paying. "That's my girl…"

Spencer had just finished placing all his bags on the conveyor belt when he saw Isaac pick up a wrapped chocolate bar. "No-no, Ziggy. What did I just tell you?"

Isaac frowned again when his father placed where he got the chocolate exactly where it was.

Spencer sighed when placing the bags in the cart.

"$29.46, sir," said the lanky teenage cashier. He squinted his eyes when he saw Spencer reach for his wallet in one of his pockets and gasped. "You're Dr. Spencer Reid."

Spencer pecked his head up. "Yes…?" he felt a bit weary, and he's been a federal agent for a good portion of his adult life.

"No way!" the cashier began geeking out. "I-I-I…" he pulled on his green short-sleeve polo shirt, trying to show off his nametag to him—it was Levi. "I-I-I'm q-quite a fan. I saw you and Dr. Blake give a lecture about criminology, linguistics, and your BAU work for the FBI."

"Oh, uh…thank you," Spencer was flattered.

Levi squeezed his left hand—Spencer noted his body language and sensed he was getting nervous or anxious—he still stuttered a bit. "I-I'm a sophomore at Georgetown. I'm h-hoping one day I can join the FBI. I may not be able to be a profiler like you, but maybe I could do s-s-something else…"

Spencer waved his hands after giving Levi thirty dollars. "Well, the FBI is always looking for fresh young minds…" his head jumped when he heard a shuffle from behind, and it was Isaac trying to get a bag of Skittles.

"No-no-no…" Spencer pulled the cart away from the candy section, hoping to stop Isaac from touching them again. "Isaac, I warned you, and you'll be getting a timeout when we get home."

Levi gives Spencer his 56 cents change. "Here you go."

"Thank you," Spencer placed his change in his wallet, pulled out his card, and gave it to the young man. "In case you want to do an internship with the Bureau next summer..."

Levi smiled. "Whoa, uh…thanks, sir."

Spencer waved goodbye to the young man and wheeled the cart outside.

"Whoa!" Rose came out of the kitchen with a dry towel, and her eyes widened when she saw the shopping bags Élise carried by her elbows and watched her close the door with her shoulder. "You two went all out."

"It was fun," Séraphine giggled. "Some were too heavy for me."

Élise replied, "That's because you bought too much stuff."

Séraphine retorted innocently, "Don't you too, Mommy?"

Élise shot her a good-one look and went upstairs; Séraphine followed her mother. Chuckling to herself when she threw her towel on her shoulder, Opal soon approached her. "Hey, girl…" she crouched and petted her fur. "You have a nice nap?"

Opal barked.

Rose laughed again as she straightened herself up. "Come on, I'll get you some lunch..." Rose allowed Opal into the kitchen just as the front door opened again. Isaac waddled into the house first, following Spencer, easily carrying the groceries in recyclable totes.

"How was your trip to the farmer's market?" Rose asked.

"Isaac…" Spencer cocked his head towards the living room. Isaac huffed just as Élise and Séraphine descended the stairs. "Hey, you two…"

"Hey, Daddy…" Séraphine ran to hug her father just as Élise took a quick swift at Isaac standing in the living room with his arms folded and his mouth pouted. She pointed back and asked, "Uh…"

Spencer set the groceries down when Élise followed him into the kitchen and explained, "I had him go for a two-minute timeout since I told him twice not to take any candy. And he made a bit of a mess while trying to get one the second time."

"Ah…" Élise nodded her head.

"Come, Daddy," Séraphine tucked her father's arm. "Mommy got me some new clothes for school…"

Spencer smiled immediately. "Soon; I have to put these groceries away."

"K-K."

While Élise got Séraphine ready for bed, Spencer offered to tuck Isaac into bed. He just finished reading Dr. Seuss' Hop on Pop.

"Okay," he closed the book. "That's it for tonight..." Spencer looked to Isaac, who still clutched his stuffed animal in front of his chest and hadn't had a word while reading to him. He placed the book on the bedside. "Let me tuck you in now…" Spencer covered him up further with the blanket. "Good night, son…" he kissed the top of his head. "I love you…"

Spencer stopped when he got to the door, turning around to see Isaac still not responding to him. "Isaac…I love you…"

Isaac huffed, rotating his body away, leaving Spencer to sigh to himself.

"Night, little girl…" Élise waved her fingers when leaving Séraphine's room. She ran into Spencer just as he came out of Isaac's room, and judging by his facial expression, the way he shook his head, and walked away to go to their bedroom, Élise guessed Isaac was still upset with him from earlier today.

Élise longed at Isaac's bedroom door and boldly stepped into his bedroom, finding him with his back turned away.

"Hey, little man…" she whispered, tiptoeing her way to his bed and sitting on the edge. "I know you're still upset with your daddy, but he loves you. He knows what's best for you and wouldn't do anything to upset you on purpose. Okay?" she patted his shoulder and ruffled his curls. "I hope you feel better in the morning."

The following day, Élise hummed to herself in the living room, organizing her giant black-and-white leather woven tote bag and the kids' swim bags on the couch. Patricia and Harold invited her, Spencer, and the children to their residence for a Labor Day party.

"Spencer!" Élise cried, carrying her tote by her elbow and the swim bag by its straps. "Ready?"

She heard distant footsteps descending the staircase, and soon came Séraphine, skipping into the room in a pretty white terry cloth hooded swimsuit cover-up and flip flops.

"Ready, Mommy!"

Élise chuckled just as she saw Spencer with Isaac. "So, how are you two?"

Isaac cuddled his father. "We good now…"

Élise smiled with pride. "Come on, you don't want to miss your friend's party."

"Yay!" Séraphine cheered, lifting her hands in the air.

The Levingston-Winthrop's fully fenced backyard was absolutely breathtaking. Their perfectly maintained lawn was this beautiful shade of green, tall, big trees, surrounding terraced gardens, a pool house by their sizeable Infinity pool and brick-tiled patio, a tennis court, an entertaining outdoor area complete with a large barbeque area, and a pavilion.

"The itsy-bitsy spider…" Cassandra ran her manicured finger around her newborn daughters' faces and giggled.

She, along with Élise, Maeve, Helena, and Patricia, sat at a black glass rectangular table under the covered awning.

"Oh, there's so cute!" Patricia gushed at the twin girls. "Makes me want to have another one, but, uh…" she stared at her stomach. "It's been kinda rough on Harold and me lately…"

Élise finished sipping her strawberry-flavored carbonated mineral mocktail with mint and agave and had Isaac on her knee. "Mmm…I know that feeling…" she still felt numb and guilty and swallowed the gulp that was developing inside her throat, thinking about the loss of Skylar August.

Cassandra took the cooing babies from their seats and began carrying them in her arms. "Come here, my pretties…little cuties…"

"Ladies…" their husbands approached the ladies' table with a large spread of barbeque served on a large rectangular. "My famous grilled beef suya…" Kevin presented what he made first.

Joel smirked with pride. "Texas-style beef ribs…"

Harold raised his hand next. "The good ol' American burger and hot dog. And let me tell you: it's not easy making sausage links and patties from scratch."

"Mama's Korean-styled bulgogi lettuce wrap," Bobby bragged, thinking he'd have the best barbeque of the men.

Spencer was last. "Tandoori chicken."

All the ladies had one sample different from their husbands.

Élise tasted Harold's hot dog. "What's the meat?"

"Ground chuck beef," Harold answered before he elbowed Spencer in the upper arm. "Don't worry, it's not pork."

Maeve had the cheeseburger and fed a little piece to Charlotte. "It's delicious." Bobby shot Maeve an are-you-for-real look, with Maeve responded with a sorry-but-I-gotta-be-honest-honey shrug.

"Mommy-daddy!" the adults turned their attention to their children racing towards them. Séraphine, Aaliyah, and Blair were semi-wet from splashing around in the pool. Victor, Ronnie, and BJ returned from tossing around the little orange ball. "Daddy-mommy!"

"You kids havin' fun?" Joel tousled his son's shaggy hair.

"Yah!" said the children in union before they saw the food spread, and all six grabbed one.

Dana asked, "Are you all ready for your first day of school tomorrow?"

"Mmm-hmm…" Aaliyah grubbed on a rib while she sat on her mother's lap.

Victor began reciting the alphabet. " G… ELA MAN O P…"

Kevin ruffled his son's head. "That was pretty good, little man…"

After swallowing her food, Blair answered, "I got my clothes sorted out 'cause I'm a big girl now."

"I do, too!" Élise raised her hand with a smile on her face.

Maeve snickered. "Lise, you're a grown woman; you no longer have to go to school."

Élise lifted her shoulders and pouted her lips a little forward. "Still… I'm so excited my big girl's starting school," now her mind lingered, realizing Séraphine was growing up. "Next year, Ziggy's gonna have his first day of school…"

Maeve had her hand over her mouth, realizing it'd be the same with Charlotte.

Blair ate another beef suya chunk. "This tasty…"

"Aw, why, thank you…" Kevin smiled, taking Claribel from Cassandra, and caressed her. "That's a child with good taste."

Victor licked his fingers after finishing up a lettuce wrap. "May I have another one of those wraps, please?"

"Of course," Bobby passed another one to Victor, who soon thanked him. "Another kid with good taste."

Spencer scooped Séraphine in her arms while she ate a tandoori chicken. "Do you like daddy's chicken…?"

"Mmm-hmm…" Séraphine nodded her head with a mouthful.

Spencer kissed her temple.

A/N: Guess what the next chapter will be about...