Part 6

Six months later

"We've been dating and I didn't even realize it, haven't we?" Spencer asked JJ.

It had flabbergasted Spencer to realize that the casual meals that he'd had with JJ as often as they could manage had been dates in disguise

"What makes you ask that?" JJ asked casually.

"Come on JJ, I'm not stupid, even if I realize I've been fairly oblivious for the last six months," Spencer said.

"And what would you say if I told you they have been?" JJ asked.

"I'm not sure what I would've said if I had figured it out before now," Spencer admitted.

"I'll tell you what you would have done," JJ said seriously. "You would've stopped going out anywhere with me when we weren't working, because you were so afraid of revealing your feelings and all because your fear of rejection. If I hadn't finally gotten tired of you avoiding me and taken matters into my own hands you never would have told me of your feelings. Come on, Spence, I'm not stupid," JJ said quoting her date. "I've known for a long time that you've had feelings for me and I knew I had feelings for you to, but I knew you would never make a move. Hell! The whole team probably knows about our feelings for each other, since we practically live in each others pockets. I suspect that the only reason they haven't interfered is because you at least would have dug in your heels and refused to see that their interference was a good thing and we'd probably never would have gotten together as a result."

Spencer absorbed JJ's lecture knowing he had been a coward, but he also knew that a person's childhood wasn't an easy thing to overcome either.

"Are you just going to throw away the last six months or are you going to man up and admit that you do love me or at least have strong feelings for me," JJ asked.

"I'm not husband material for anyone, JJ," Spencer told the woman he loved softly thinking he was being perfectly reasonable and logical.

"What a load of shit!" JJ told him vehemently. "I can guess very easily who put that idea in your head, but he's in prison and probably someone's boy toy. I sincerely hope he's being tortured every single day and that it continues until he's finally dead. I can easily guess that William Reid put all kinds of ideas in your head about you not being desirable as a husband for whatever sick, twisted reasons he gave you. Everybody has faults Spence and hangups, as we wouldn't be human if we did not. You have such an exaggerated idea of yourself that you think that you're not suitable to marry.

"Believe me, I wish that I could torture William Reid and you know normally, I don't think like that, but what he did to a baby he kidnapped is more than deplorable, it's absolutely despicable. I'm aware that babies are kidnapped every day and a lot of them are killed for absolutely no reason other than that a lot of sick twisted people in the world, but Spencer you've got to get over what your William Reid put in your head as you deserve to marry and have a family if that's what you want. And don't you dare give me a list of reasons of why you're not suitable because none of it's true.

"Hell! You can't even use the excuse that your mother has schizophrenia, because she's not really your mother, though I know you still think of her like that. There's nothing wrong with thinking of the woman that raised you as your mother, but my point is, that you don't share her genes and as far as I know your real mother was not suspectable to schizophrenia. Even if she was that's no excuse so long, as the woman you were dating was willing to accept the possibility that you might develop it.

"Life is never a sure thing anyway as humans die from all kinds of things every single day, but a lot of them live to a ripe old age. Life is a crapshoot, but you can't let that stop you from being truly happy," JJ continued her lecture.

Spencer listened to JJ rant and knew that she was very right and he had truly been a coward. Even though William Reid wasn't really his father he still had a lot of hangups, mostly because of his poor parenting skills.

"You need to make a decision," JJ continued. "Will you continue to let William Reid's nonexistent parenting skills affect you or will you allow yourself to be happy. You might tell yourself you're happy with your work and while that's true, there is a large difference in being happy with your job to being happy with a wife and a few children."

"Is that a proposal?" Spencer asked his lips twitching finally seeing the irony of the situation.

"No," JJ said realizing her blunder. "That's not to say that I wouldn't love to marry you someday, but no, that was not a proposal."

"You're right, I've been a coward. I was still letting William Reid's non-parenting skills, as you put it, affect me. If you knew how many times he told me I was never going to marry because I was too intelligent, to plain, too many other nasty things to go into. I should've realized though, that intelligent people just like me with poor social skills get married every day. Of course, those marriages don't necessarily last, but a lot of times they do. Sometimes you just get lucky, even if I don't normally believe in luck."

"Good! I'm glad you can admit that," JJ said relieved. "The way you turned out is not your fault you know and really if anybody is to blame it's the man that will be spending the rest of his life in prison and in my opinion there's no better place for him. Your mother is excused because she had a genuine illness. You don't share their genes that's true, but that's not the whole equation of how somebody turns out and you know this. William Reid did everything he could to destroy a little boy's self-confidence in himself as desirable."

"Yes, I know my life would've been so much different if I had grown up with Dave, James and Caroline," Spencer admitted. "That's not the way things happened and yes, I know that the blame lies with William Reid, but that doesn't change the past."

"No, but you have to look forward to the future and try to get over childhood trauma," JJ urged him. "It will be a real poke in the eye to William Reid if you get married and have a family unlike his unrealistic predictions."

"You know that's a good point," Spencer said amused now. "I try to see both sides of an argument like perhaps William Reid had a psychic break when he realized his son was dying, which is why he did what he did. I'm not saying I believe that's the explanation, but you have to admit it is possible."

"I'm sure we could figure out a way for your father to find out about the fact that the boy he treated like shit was married and had a family," JJ said

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Spencer cautioned.

"I don't think we're getting ahead of ourselves at all," JJ argued. "We've been in love with each other for years and I always hoped you would ask me out on a date and not just as friends."

"I never thought you would return the love I felt for you, so I was determined to never let you know," Spencer said smiling a little nostalgically.

"You were an idiot," JJ told him vehemently.

"There's no need to rub it in," Spencer said lightheartedly. "I'm already admitted that I was a coward."

"That's a start," JJ said. "We could've been married for at least a year by now, maybe more, if only you had asked me out when you realized the feelings you had for me."

"Why do I have a feeling I'm in your dog house and I'm going to be paying for my cowardice for a long time?" Spencer asked rhetorically.

"Because you're incredibly perceptive," JJ told him firmly. "I don't know how I could've fallen in love with someone who either didn't see the signals I sent out or ignored them completely, because he was too afraid of being rejected. The man I know would never let fear stop him from doing what he should've done a long time ago."

"There's a difference in being brave on the job, then in your personal life," Spencer said.

"Alright, I admit you have a point," JJ conceded. "I know how crippling fears can be, but that doesn't mean you're off the hook."

"I guess that means we're dating now," Spencer said.

"We've been dating all along you just didn't know it," JJ said with a cute grin.

"I suppose we have," Spencer realized suddenly.

He and JJ had made a habit of getting together as often as they could in between cases and also sat side-by-side whenever they were working or in some restaurant eating. Spencer didn't believe he hadn't realized the significance of this arrangement before now, but he really hadn't thought anything of it. He was sure the rest of the team knew, because they weren't as dense as he was. He really had missed every single signal that JJ had been giving him and not on purpose, like she probably believed just that he had been so set in his mind to never get married, because he just wasn't suitable husband material, even if he hadn't realized he had, that he had blocked out the signals JJ was throwing his way.

"I can understand why you didn't believe you were suitable husband material, but Spence, you're certainly more suitable then at least a quarter of the would-be husbands out there that treat their wives like crap in one way or another, including William Reid. Just think of all the ones that are physically abusive or the ones that ignore their wives and cheat on them as if it's some kind of badge of honor to do so. Think of the ones that marry not for love but for some kind of political arrangement and how the husband and wife end up at least intensely disliking, if not outright hating each other."

"Or the ones that marry when they hardly know anything about each other, but think lust is love," Spencer offered.

"Exactly," JJ said triumphantly. "You are none of these things that we have mentioned. You are a kind, caring, empathic, intelligent and will be able to handle any child of ours that shows the type of intelligence that you have that your kidnapper handled in the wrong way."

"That's because he didn't kidnap me for the right reasons, if there are any right reasons, when it comes to kidnapping anybody," Spencer snorted sounding cynical, even for him. "He wanted a son to carry on the family name, not a son to love. He might've panicked, he might have not wanted to deal with his wife when she learned that her son had not survived. There could be any of a multitude of reasons why he did it and every last one of them is selfish in the extreme. But then that shouldn't surprise either one of us, because if there's one thing you should've learned by now William Reid was a very selfish man who cared only about one person—himself."

"Now that's something I definitely agree with," JJ said nodding.

"I've known what 'he' was like for a long time, though I never imagined he would commit any kind of major crime," Spencer said. "I knew he was selfish, uncaring bastard, but still, I never imagined that he would commit a federal offense. Something minor perhaps that would possibly get him a fine or community service, but nothing as major as kidnapping."

"But then you have to look at it from his point of view the odds of him being caught were slim to none, particularly since it happened back in the early 80s before neonatal units were watched very closely," JJ said. "It was nearly the perfect crime so long as he remembered to avoid the cameras just in case the security tape was reviewed or somebody in the security office was watching. What were the odds that you would actually run into your real father, after all? Or if you did that either of you would realize that you were father and son. I doubt very much that if it hadn't been for that birthmark that either of you would have ever realized that you were, because you don't look much like Dave at all, except superficially."

"Astronomical," Spencer answered. "Not impossible, but not very high odds either, if you consider how many people there are in the world. You're right, by the way, that I don't look much like Dave. I do look like Caroline, though it's not exact enough for Dave to have declared me as his son the second he set eyes on me."

"That was exactly my point," JJ said smiling.

The two of them sat and chatted for a long time before JJ headed home to her own apartment, so she could get some sleep.

~~~Criminal Minds~~~

Several weeks later

"Congratulations you two," Dave said grinning from ear to ear, as his son and JJ announced their engagement. "I'm very happy for you both. I've been expecting this for several months already."

"And why would you expect it?" Spencer questioned immediately.

"Because not all of us are as blind as you were," Dave told his son bluntly. "We all knew how you and JJ felt about each other and I at least often wondered if you would ever get together as anything more than friends. It doesn't matter who made the first move so long as the two of you got together like should have happened a long time ago."

"You're right, I was blind," Spencer admitted knowing he had indeed been blind where JJ was concerned. He had never had a relationship that lasted more than a few weeks at most and he hadn't wanted to risk his friendship with JJ, so he had said nothing.

"All of us understand very well why you didn't see that JJ was in love with you too," Dave told Spencer gently. "I'd like to believe that you would have noticed her feelings for you a long time ago if you had grown up with your real family, but you might have been just as oblivious for all we know."

"None of that matters now," JJ said, as she admired the engagement ring that Spencer had given her.

"No, not of it matters now," Dave agreed calmly. "Still, I think this calls for a celebratory drink. It's tradition after all, although I'm afraid I don't have any champagne in the house."

"Wine will do just fine," Spencer said smiling, as he gave JJ's hand a gentle squeeze. He had never been so happy in his life and he was glad that JJ had finally straightened him out. He still felt totally inadequate occasionally, but his love for JJ overwhelmed him sometimes that he knew now that he'd never had a chance of not revealing his feelings eventually. He strongly suspected that Dave had been involved in him and JJ getting together in some way, but if he had been he sure wasn't revealing how. Maybe he was just being overly suspicious, but he couldn't see his father not being involved in getting him together with the woman that he had known his son was in love with, especially not when he knew that same woman returned his son's feelings.

Spencer decided it didn't matter as there is no way he could be angry at Dave for interfering in his life considering he knew he had done it for the best of reasons. Of course, that's only if he was involved and he wasn't being overly suspicious.

"So when is the wedding?" Dave asked. "You're welcome to have it right here and if not then I'll pay whatever expenses you incur, even if I know it usually the bride's family that does so."

"You don't have to do that, Dave," JJ said immediately.

"Believe me, I don't mind it," Dave promised JJ. "You know I'm fairly wealthy due to my writing career, so I can afford this and it's something I can do for the son I have just recently rediscovered and his bride."

"There's no point of arguing with him, JJ," Spencer told the beautiful woman at his side. "I've only known him for four years and it's only been a year since I found out he was my father, but he's very stubborn and he's not going to change his mind."

"No, I'm not," Dave agreed calmly taking a sip of the wine he had just poured for him and his two guests. "This is my present to you. I'll pay for any cost the wedding incurs. I know very well that weddings can be expensive, even if they don't have many guests in attendance. This way you can do it the way you want without thinking about the cost of things."

"We did consider just eloping, but knew you'd probably kill us if we did so not to mention I know Penny would have and probably Emily," JJ sighed.

"I would've been mad and yes, kitten would have killed you. Probably Emily to," Dave smiled. "We all know that you don't want Penelope Garcia mad at you or Emily either for that matter, so it's just as well you decided not to elope."

"Still, we're not going to let Garcia take control of the arrangements," Spencer said looking determined. "I think something relatively small will suit us both."

"I don't want anything too fancy," JJ agreed. "Spencer still needs to meet my mother, but since she lives in Pennsylvania we haven't yet had that opportunity."

"So you'll need to take a couple of days, go and see her," Dave said.

"Yes, we will, but with Matteo Cruz now in charge we'll not have any trouble getting leave time together," Spencer said. "If it had been Strauss now, I doubt very much that we would've been able to get a vacation at the same time, even if we had the time saved up and had more than earned it."

Erin Strauss had been killed just months previously in an explosion set by the replicator and she was hardly missed or mourned.

"Erin, changed so much over the years," Dave sighed, sipping his wine.

"I know you had a soft spot for her at one time," JJ said.

"She didn't used to be so…hard," Dave decided. "She was never soft or anything, but she did used to be more compassionate. Still, she's had a relatively hard life in recent years. Her marriage broke up, her kids didn't want anything to do with her and there was also her alcoholism to consider. I'm not saying that those things excuse her actions towards the team, but we all know that human beings are flawed. You know I heard rumors that if she hadn't been killed she wouldn't have been in charge much longer for her actions towards the bureau's best BAU team had been noticed by the higher-ups. If she hadn't corrected her behavior within a short amount of time she would've been out. She was her own worst enemy, even though I know that she didn't see it that way, but then, when you're in the wrong you often don't want to admit it and Erin had a lot of pride."

"Well, there's no point of discussing her anymore, even though I know you were fond of her, dad," Spencer said causing Dave to smile, because his son rarely called him dad. He couldn't blame Spencer really, because he had grown up calling one man father, only to be treated very badly by him. Spencer had a deep respect for him and also loved him, which Dave knew and it was more than enough. He had his son back and that was all that mattered. Still, while he would curse William Reid to his dying day, he would always be grateful that he had a relationship with the son he had believed was dead for a very long time. He was only sorry that his wife had never had a chance to find out that her younger son was alive and well.

"Yes, I was, but that was years ago, son. I really started to heartily dislike her at the very least as she wasn't the same Erin Strauss I remembered when I came back to the BAU. I realize very well that it was at least partly the alcoholism that caused it, but it's not the whole answer. So decide on what type of wedding you want as the sky's the limit," Dave added, as he put memories of Erin Strauss where they belonged.

"Well, we can discuss that later as right now all I want to do is go home and sleep," JJ said.

"Yeah I'm pretty tired too," Spencer agreed and Dave smirked at them knowing very well what they were going home to do. If they thought he believed that they were going to their two different apartments to sleep separately then they had another thing coming.

Spencer and JJ didn't comment at Dave's smirk knowing that he had already caught onto the fact that they weren't about to sleep without each other, but they decided saying nothing was definitely the better part of valor.

The three of them enjoyed their wine chatting softly before Spencer and JJ took they leave, knowing that they were going to be telling the rest of the team the news in the morning.

~~~Criminal Minds~~~