A/N: Hello again, everyone! I hope you're all doing well and hanging in there—that's all anyone can do. My heart goes out to those in L.A./Southern California regarding the fires and Aubrey Plaza (who portrayed Cat Adams) in her personal life.

Spencer blinked. "Nathan…?" he fell silent, unable to finish the sentence.

Dr. Harris sniffled, wiping a tear away from her eye with her crumpled-up tissue. "He passed away yesterday." She rummaged through her small black purse, pulled out a small folded piece of paper, and passed it to Spencer. "He left this for you."

Spencer unfolded it and took a hard gulp when he read the note Nathan left for him.

I tried to control it, but I couldn't do it anymore. I'm sorry, Spencer.

Dr. Harris took a big swig of her coffee. "He talked about you a lot, which is why you should know about it. I thought he was doing so well, but…" she paused, and the muscles in her jaw began to clench again.

Spencer folded the paper back and returned it back to her. "I…really am sorry for your loss, Dr. Harris. If you need anything…"

Spencer helped Dr. Harris out of the leather chair and looped her black silk scarf. "Thank you, Dr. Reid."

Spencer rested his elbows on his desk, his chin held by his crossed fingers, pondering in thought about Nathan. According to his mother, she's been observing his process since his institutionalization nine years ago. He was making good progress after he was released a few years ago and even found work as a photographer, with new hobbies such as listening to acoustic blues music and playing the guitar.

But then, when his mother was cleaning up his darkrooms, she came across photographs of prostitutes in sexual sadism and grotesque mutilation acts.

"Spence!" Garcia's voice snapped out of his thoughts but barely. "I can't tell you how much I'm excited for your little Ziggy's fourth birthday tomorrow! I created the most mad lit outfit evah for him." She paused to giggle. "Look at me, using this Gen Alpha slang…"

Her signature wide grin faltered to a concerned straight-line mouth, and she asked the genius, "Are you okay?"

"Hopefully," Spencer sighed in response. "Nathan Harris died..."

Garcia gasped lightly and planted her hand over her chest. "How di-…?" the look on Spencer's face was enough for her. "Oh, Spence…" she rested her hand on his shoulder.

As much as Élise loved Orlando, Florida, it was time for her to go back home to D.C.; she traveled to the city to meet with victims, first responders, state and local law enforcement, and other community members impacted by the recent terrorist attack. Along with offering support, she's also daily briefed about the investigation and held press conferences regarding the situation.

There was just Austin, Texas; Baltimore, Maryland; and then Los Angeles, California, before elevation to the Supreme Court, and her tenure as AG would be coming to an end. If there was one thing Élise would miss about being the U.S. Attorney General, it was the traveling. It was almost like being the Secretary of State but for the Justice Department, traveling nationally and internationally and meeting different types of people from all corners of the world. Sure, there were a few places she wanted to visit but couldn't, but the fact that she got to represent the country was more than enough for her.

"Daddy…?"

"Huh…?" Spencer shook his head and stared down at his oldest son, Isaac. He must have zoned out. Again.

Isaac asked innocently, batting his blue eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah," Spencer got off the twin bed for a moment to put away the Courdury book he had just read to him for bedtime and dusted off his hands on his dark purple striped pajama pants. He sat at the edge of Isaac's bed again. "I'm good. Get some sleep, okay?"

Isaac laid his head on his pillow as Spencer turned off his table lamp for his nightlight and kissed his temple. "Good night, I love you."

"I love you, too, Daddy…"

Spencer watched Isaac drift off into sleep from the door and smiled to himself before closing the door. Light footsteps came up from the staircase, and a whispery voice reached out to him.

"Hey, babe." Élise approached him, clothed in a white terrycloth robe and slippers. She opened and closed the door to take a quick peek at Isaac. "Oh, our little boy is gonna be four tomorrow." She squinted her eyes closed, squealing with bundles of joy. "I can't wait."

Spencer shook his head daintily. "Yeah."

Élise's mouth and eyes formed a sympathetic look. She rested her hand on his lower back and steered him towards their bedroom. "Are you still upset about Nathan?"

Spencer sighed desperately. "I-I just thought that after all these years that…he would get better. But he didn't in the end. And now, his mother's all alone."

"You're not responsible for what happened to Nathan." Élise reminded him as she caressed his face. "You know that, right?"

Spencer nodded and planted his hand over hers, knowing Élise was right.

"Surprise!"

Spencer, Élise, Rose, and William jumped for joy in celebration of Isaac's fourth birthday.

Isaac crowed. "Ahhh!"

"Happy birthday, my big birthday boy," Élise bounced, getting to Isaac, scooping him up, spun him around once, and kissed his cheek. "Who is now…?" Isaac held out four of his fingers on his right hand and smiled cheekily, biting down on his tongue. "Four years old."

"Uh-huh!" Isaac bobbled his head, making his wavy curls move.

Élise gasped as she cradled Alexander. "Yeah, Ziggy. You're four years old now."

"Today's gonna be a good day, huh, buddy?" Lugging Éliana in his free arm, Spencer booped Isaac's nose tip good-humoredly, making him giggle. "There's gonna be cake, presents, balloons."

"Can we go see Grandma Dee really quick, please?" Isaac pleaded, pouting his lips out.

Neither Spencer, Élise, nor William could resist those inviting blue eyes. Plus, Spencer called his mother at Brookfield, and the doctors said her process was good. "Okay, we can visit Grandma Dee."

"But first, you need some strength to celebrate this big birthday, no?" William presented a birthday breakfast plate to his oldest grandson: two Funfetti buttermilk pancakes, French toast with strawberries and whipped cream, crispy hash browns, two turkey bacon strips, and a cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting.

At Brookfield, Diana sat on one of the sofas, with at least a dozen spools of colorful yarn, acrylic crochet hooks, a black velvet bag, and crochet accessories on the mahogany coffee table, along with an open page on a how-to for beginners.

"Grandma! Grandma Dee!" Seraphine and Isaac called from the archway.

Diana looked around before her eyes caught sight of Spencer, Élise, and the children, skipping over to their paternal grandmother while Alexander and Éliana were being lugged around in the dual double stroller. She gasped and smiled, "Hiiii." She swooped up from the couch and gave her two oldest grandchildren a huge hug and kiss. "How are you?"

"We're good." The kids giggled.

"Guess whose birthday it is today, Grandma…" Isaac said, trying to get her to guess it was his.

Diana put her finger to her mouth, paused for a moment, and answered, "Mmmm…yours?"

"Uh-huh… I'm four now," Isaac proudly announced.

Diana bent down to her knees and patted his head. "You must be so excited, huh?"

Isaac bounced once. "I am!"

The Bastien-Reid household's backyard was transformed into a mini party playland within the next few hours. They rented out a ginormous inflatable bounce house and had Rose be a supervising lifeguard. Kid-appropriate music played over the speakers, and two buffet tables were set up on the deck.

Élise was enjoying some blue raspberry cotton candy with Maeve (who had pink cotton candy) on the deck, watching Isaac approach before the Spider-Man-themed pinata. "Oh, look at him go."

Maeve giggled and ate a small piece, "They grow up so fast, don't that?"

"Come on, Ziggy," Spencer cheered on a blindfolded Isaac, swinging the yellow plastic baseball bat at the pinata. "You can do it."

"Yeah, Ziggy!" Seraphine rooted for her younger brother.

Isaac grunted with every swing he took to the pinata.

"Happy biiirthday, Isaac, happy birthday to youuuuuuu." Everyone finished their song with a round of light applause and the little kiddies blew their streamers in Isaac's cheeky and smiley face while he was blowing out all four candles.

"Happy birthday, big boy," Élise said, cradling Alexander in her arms. Élise planted a kiss on his head and trailed it down to his cheek. "You wanna say 'happy birthday' to your big brother today?" She allowed him to sit on his lap.

Isaac looked down at his younger brother. "You happy for me, little bro? You should be."

Alexander babbled before he blurted out, "Iggy…"

Everyone's mouths, especially Isaac's, dropped open.

"H-h-he…said my name! He said my name!" Isaac stammered for a second, and a smile formed on his face.

Spencer looked to his father, who was filming with his Canon EOS 7D, and asked, "Did you get that, Dad?"

William threw a nodding smile and a thumbs up.

Dr. Harris phoned Spencer and told him that Nathan's funeral was this Saturday and if he would like to, he could come and pay his respects. It's not often he'd attend funerals, but thinking back to that one time he and the rest of the team were in Las Vegas, New Mexico, months ago, paying their respects to the victims after pretty much avenging them.

It was a significantly small and quiet service. Spencer counted at least half a dozen people, not including his mother. It was held outside and partly sunny (at least the sun wasn't beaming down on him), but it was quite hot (late 80s-early 90s).

After the services ended, Spencer stared at Nathan's grief-stricken mother, clad in a black knee-length dress, heels, and tiny freshwater pearls, standing a few inches away from his gravestone with her arms crossed. She wiped her eyes for about the umpteenth time and turned her head to see Spencer slowly approaching her.

She sniffed. "At least Nathan is resting in peace now."

Spencer slowly shook his head.

Thursday morning, Élise stepped into the West Conference Room, appearing before a small gathering of her family (Spencer, parents, brother and sister-in-law), Chief Justice Jennings, and a dozen photographers and journalists. The beautiful wooden walls and arches, the American flag, of course—all this history in one room. Then again, it was inside the Supreme Court Building, located at One First Street, NW, in Washington, DC.

For Élise, this was the big curtain call for her time at AG (she gave her final press conference to the Justice Department the previous day, thanking them for their hard work and dedication) and onto being a Justice for the U.S. Supreme Court. This opportunity was the biggest she'd ever had in her entire legal career.

No matter how hard she concealed it, she was sweating and panting on the inside. Already thinking of the worst of what could happen. And this was even before she'll be starting when the rest of the Justices return to court on the first Monday this October. She took another deep breath for the umpteenth time, straightened herself up, and confidently walked up to Chief Justice Jennings.

"Welcome to the Supreme Court," Chief Justice Jennings began the ceremony. "We're here to administer the others of office to Attorney General Élise Bastien to become an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. But before we do so, I would like to recognize who is here: Dr. Spencer Reid, her husband; her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bastien; her older brother, Arthur Bastien, and her sister-in-law, Brenda Bastien."

After Chief Justice Jennings had explained what was to be done, Spencer appeared before her with a stack of Bibles. Jennings instructed her to raise her right, and she repeated after him.

"I, Élise Gabrielle Bastien, do solemnly swear that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States under the Constitution and laws of the United States; and that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long; it's just so hard to write when you have writer's block.