A/N: Hello again, everyone! I'm still taking it one day at a time, but I'm hanging in there again. I hope within the chapter, I have given you all such an enormous sweet tooth you'll need an extra trip or two to the dentist. As of Friday, I turned the big 3-0, I've decided to dedicate this chapter to the holiday and my birthday.

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds (but I wished I did because certain storylines would not have happened). No copyright infringement is intended.

"Everything's set up in the basement?" asked Élise after she heard Spencer walk into the kitchen, distinctly moving away from the whiffs of morning breakfast and now smelling of freshly brewed coffee and lemon-scented cleanser.

Spencer sighed and brushed some of his brown mane back. "Élise, everything's been set up since last week while you were gone."

That day had finally come. It was the fourth birthday of their firstborn, Séraphine. The party supplies, decorations, gift bags, food, and presents have been bought.

"Okay," Élise rested her dominant hand on her chest and sighed in relief. But soon, her dark eyes widened. "Food? What about food? You can't have a party without food."

Spencer assured his wife. "Hotch said he and Jack will get the pizzas, Garcia offered to bring the cupcakes, Rose and I got the snacks a couple of days ago, and she'll bring the cake from Whole Foods."

"Berry Chantilly?"

Spencer winked. "Uh-huh," Before Élise opened her mouth and could say another word, he reassured her again, "And we got the drinks as well. Sugar-free." At least they didn't have to worry about feeding over twenty toddlers too much sugar. And it was primarily female preschoolers who would be attending her party.

Élise placed her cell on the granite countertops and massaged her temples in soothing circles. She really needed to take a breather and relax right now. "Oh, thank God. I swear, if I didn't take my medications this morning, I'd be a hot mess on her birthday, to say the least."

"You've been that way since her first birthday, and you were still pregnant with Ziggy."

Élise slapped him on his chest. "Ha-ha. You're so funny sometimes."

A laugh escaped Spencer's mouth when he scraped back a plushy stool at the counters. "I still can't believe our little girl is turning four. It seemed like we were in the doctor's office just yesterday when she told us we were expecting our little girl."

A tear ran down her cheek, and Élise wiped it off with her index finger. "Yeah," she sniffed and wiped another from her other eye. "Next thing you know, she'll be getting a boyfriend, her degrees, and run off to get married; kids, grandchildren…"

Spencer wanted Élise to backtrack on what she was saying. "Uh, Lise…Isaac is still in pull-ups with Mickey Mouse on them, and Séraphine is only turning four today. There's plenty of time for them to grow up."

Élise laid her hand on her head and shuddered. A wave of reminiscence flowed through her mind and brain. "I know; it's still a lot to take in."

"But about that figurative boyfriend you just mentioned…"

"At least she won't have to worry about that until she's older…" Élise recited his words.

Spencer laid back and rested his elbow on the counter. "Not if he has to deal with me."

Élise thumb-pointed to herself. "Or me."

"What about Ziggy, too?" Spencer brought up their son. "I know he's a year younger, but that doesn't mean he can't put a guy who wants to pursue our little Fee in his place every now and then."

Élise cocked her head to the right side. "Oh, him, too. But that's still my job."

"Pretty sure that's my job since I am her father. And a fed with six degrees and a gun."

Élise retorted. "You're not the only one here with a gun."

Spencer held his hands mid-air and made a sarcastic 'Ooh-I'm-so-scared' look on his face.

After spending the morning in the upstairs playroom, Séraphine was now in the sanctuary of her bedroom, spending the past ten minutes getting dressed. Élise and Spencer offered to do her hair, but Séraphine wanted to do it herself.

Someone knocked on her bedroom door and poked their head in. It was Élise, already clad in a simple white tee, denim jeans, and slip-on Converses. She gasped and cupped her hands over her mouth.

"Oh, don't you look so cute!" She stared long at her daughter, wearing a long-sleeve mini-cotton-blend hint-of-pink polo dress that's cable-knitted at the bodice and pleated at the skirt, pink low-top Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star, and mismatched socks. Her curly hair was accessorized with mini butterfly claw hair clipping beads.

"Thank you, Mommy!"

Spencer tapped on Élise's shoulder, and she took a step aside. He made his presence known to his daughter. "Happy birthday, little angel!"

Séraphine leaped into her father's arms—every time she was in his arms, it reminded Spencer that his little girl was growing up and getting bigger. "Thanks, Daddy!"

Spencer planted a kiss on Séraphine's temple as Élise asked, "You ready to go celebrate being four?"

"Uh-huh!"

Ten-fifteen minutes passed, and many party guests arrived from the BAU team to Élise's parents, brother, and sister-in-law. Unfortunately, Diana was feeling under the weather. She didn't want anyone to catch it, and Maeve and Bobby couldn't make it since they were celebrating BJ's birthday with their families on the same day. Some of the preschoolers from their grade level attended.

"Happy birthday to you!" Spencer and Élise brought out the cake with four lit-up sparkling purple candles; Arthur lifted his niece up for her to have a seat. "Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, Séraphine! Happy birthday to you!"

Brenda giggled. "Make a wish, big girl."

"Make any kind of wish you want," a smiling Hotch replied. "Like a pony?"

Élise stifled a laugh, shoving him in the shoulder. "A pony is so cliché, Aaron…make a wish like…"

"To be a pretty little princess?" Mr. Micha joked, and it made everyone laugh.

Opening her eyes, she blew out her candles, and everyone applauded at the birthday girl, clapping joyfully for her.

"Whatcha wished for, Fees?" Spencer gently shook her shoulders and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

"It's a secret," Séraphine responded by placing her tiny finger over her mouth.

Sunday afternoon after church services and changing into some sweats, Séraphine relaxed on the clean carpet in the living room with her little legs crossed behind her, watching an animated show on the Kids' Channel.

"…Une nouv-elle aventure! Ex-plo-rons et voyons! Cur-io-sités de la ville de Paris![1]" Séraphine sang, kicking her feet and bopping her head to the music (and the black-and-white captions), along to the main character, a young French-Asian girl with a fair complexion, sapphire blue eyes, jet black shoulder-length hair, light freckles, and dressed in a Breton stripe top, sailor shorts, and two-tone ballet flats and the secondary character, a French boy about the same age as her. He, too, had fair skin, emerald-green eyes, and shaggy blonde hair and was dressed in a polo shirt, jeans, and white canvas sneakers.

"Une nouv-elle aven-ture! Telle-ment exci-tant! Merv-eilles et tous les mys-tères![2]"

Élise asked after coming out of the kitchen, drying her hands off with a napkin rag, "Heeey! Whatcha up to?"

"Watching The Adventures of Victorie and Julien."

Sounding intrigued by the show, Élise asked again as she dug into her sweatpants' pocket for her cell phone and began searching for it, "What's it about?"

"It's about these two kids who live in Paris, and they go around the city, exploring and seeing new places with their friends."

Élise clicked on a Wikipedia page about it. According to the page, the show was released sometime last year but has sprawled into a media franchise phenomenon, especially in the show's country of origin, France.

"Une nouv-elle aventure! Ex-plo-rons et voyons! Cur-io-sités de la ville de Paris!" Séraphine sang along again. "Une nouv-elle aven-ture! Telle-ment exci-tant! Merv-eilles et tous les mys-tères!"

Spencer strolled into the living room and stood next to Élise by the arch. "What's going on?"

"Bon-jour, mon ami![3]" Élise just simply pointed to their daughter watching the animated show. "Bon-jour, mon amie. Com-ment allez-vous?[4]"

"Très bien![5]"

Séraphine spoke along with the animated characters, even though she was enunciating slowly. "Bon-jour, mon amie. Com-ment allez-vous? Très bien!"

Spencer leaned closer to Élise's ear and whispered, "I'm telling you, she got her intelligence from me."

"Oui-oui, mon mari et moi aussi."

After an hour at work, Élise had gotten word from the Deputy Attorney General. Warden Miles Tate at the Reagan Federal Penitentiary in Liberty, Texas, needed assistance from the BAU after a series of murders took place. She was familiar with him as he was a lobbyist for the same company that owned the prison. It was scheduled to be shut down, but a company brought it back a year prior.

Since the privately-owned federal prison fell under the Federal Bureau of Prisons, it was under the Justice Department's jurisdiction. However, it was more-so under her second-in-command and the BOP's director. Nevertheless, she wanted daily updates on the case from everyone.

Ms. Ortiz and Ms. Torres pushed in two small white carts, and on those carts, there were dozens of mini cakes and other supplies, like plastic utensils and icing jars. Most of the preschoolers were already 'oohing' and 'ahhhing.'

Ms. Ortiz clapped her hands together. "Okay, class. Remember when we talked about charity and doing good for others, especially for those who don't have it as good as we do?" The students nodded their heads. "Well, that's what we're going to do today for the next hour."

"Except we're not going to be eating these tasty cakes," Ms. Torres made an amused pouty face along with the rest of the students who were disappointed they weren't going to be eating them while Ms. Ortiz passed a small round cake to a student. "Instead, we're going to be decorating them."

Élise took recourse in her office before dinnertime. She reviewed the notes that were given to her about the prison case in BAU that was currently investigating in Texas. She was also on the phone with Hotch, and according to him, the cellular service and Wi-Fi outside the prison walls were crap. "Anything new?"

"I just got back from the M.E's," Hotch answered honestly. "According to the M.E., fingers were broken postmortem. Spencer and Kate are going through the files as we speak. JJ, Rossi, Morgan, and Kate are doing interviews."

Élise's head went down, studying the follow-ups again. "Anything from the inmates or the guards?"

"They claim to know nothing, but we'll be continuing them into tomorrow as well."

Élise scratched a small spot on her temple. "Okay. Keep me updated as much as you can, okay?"

"Yes."

Now the prison had another murder, only this time, it wasn't one of the guards but rather an inmate, a convicted serial rapist who had special privileges. With no surveillance on where the current murder took place, the team set up more interviews.

Instead of having lunch in her office as she's often been doing, she and most of the department secretaries and deputies sat together at a table at The Old Ebbitt Grill, D.C.'s oldest saloon, restaurant, and bar that's been open since 1856. It had been uprooted into a Beaux-Arts building that was once the old B.F. Keith's Theater in 1983.

The historic landmark had that Victorian-styled vibe, along with the antique gas chandeliers and fixture lights, pinstripe 10-foot ceilings, priceless antiques, and memorabilia. Plus, the place is known to be one of the hotspots for the D.C. political elite. And it's been a long while since Élise had been here for all the time she's been in D.C.

Élise was enjoying a classic burger and fries when she heard her phone peal a classical music ringtone. She pulled it out from her bag and inspected the screen. It was an email message about Isaac's admission to WIS. Élise's finger flooded over the email app, dying to press it, but after a few more seconds, she decided not to. She turned off her phone, tucked it back into her bag, and went back to having her lunch.

The team concluded their case in Texas, and they were already on the two-and-a-half-hour flight home. Hotch turned up the volume on the jet's miniaturized television when he saw Élise's press conference.

Her name appeared on the screen along with PRISON CORRUPTION. "…Upon the murder investigation in Liberty, Texas regarding the Reagan Federal Penitentiary, the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit discovered corrupted correctional officers, inmate abuse, and an attempted prison riot…"

Hotch groaned, shaking his head side to side, and he lowered the volume. "Not the first time we had to deal with corrupted law enforcement officers."

"And I doubt it'll be the last," Rossi remarked, staring at his cell.

Spencer glanced at his phone and saw a text message from Élise. He opened it and smiled to himself.

Isaac got accepted into Washington International School.

Sorry for ending the chapter as I did; I had a bit of an off week while writing this chapter.

[1] French: A new adventure! Let's explore and see! Curiosities of the city of Paris!

[2] French: A new adventure! So exciting! Wonders and all the mysteries!

[3] French: Hello, my friend!

[4] French: Hello, my friend! How are you?

[5] French: Very good!