Jessica was sitting with Mateo and Jeffrey in the library when Mateo received a text message and briefly glanced at it. He was about to put his phone back in his pocket, but Jeffrey stopped him. "Wait. Can I see that photo?"
"Uh…sure?" Mateo replied, confused. "My cousin's doing some military ceremony thing today and my aunt sent a photo in the family group chat." He handed the phone to Jeffrey.
Jeffrey took a closer look at the photo, frowning. Then he waved to get Jessica's attention. "Jessica, can you take a look and tell me if this is who I think it is?"
"Sure?" Jessica moved around the table so she could see the phone, and her eyes widened. She turned to Mateo. "Why do you have a photo of Rossi?"
"Rossi?" Mateo repeated in surprise. "As in, the best-selling author who works with your cousin?"
"Yes, that's him," Jessica confirmed. "I have no idea who the other two guys are, though."
"The younger guy is my cousin T-O-N-Y," Mateo explained. "My aunt didn't give the names of the two older men, just said they served with my grandfather in Vietnam."
"So, apparently you are my cousin's coworker's former comrade's grandson?" Jessica signed, amused and slightly disbelieving.
"So what does that make you two?" Jeffrey asked, smirking.
"Absolutely nothing!" Mateo joked. "…well, nothing that we weren't already, anyway. I think our friendship is strong enough to survive this shocking revelation."
Jessica laughed. "Please don't mention this to Spencer, he'd probably start calculating the odds of us finding out we're very distantly connected."
"It'll be our little secret, don't worry." Mateo lightly patted her shoulder.
"So, how would you feel about coming to Thanksgiving dinner with my parents and me?" Maeve asked.
Spencer froze, not expecting the invitation. "I, uh…I'd have to think about it."
"Come on, you're about to be family," Maeve cajoled. "They want to give you a proper welcome. Especially since we don't know how long Mom's remission will last."
"I appreciate that," Spencer agreed. "It's just we have a long-standing tradition with JJ and Will…but, I suppose it wouldn't be the first holiday I've missed with Henry. I believe it would be the first one Jessica's missed, though."
"Jessica?" Maeve repeated, surprised.
"Yes?" Spencer responded, surprised that she was surprised. "She's about to be your family too."
Maeve frowned. "My parents didn't mention her. I think the invitation was only for you."
Spencer frowned back at her. "Between the BAU and Jessica's schoolwork, I see her rarely enough as it is. I'm not going to make plans for a major holiday without her."
"Well, I could talk to my parents," Maeve conceded. "I'm not sure how they'd feel about it, though. They don't sign; it might be kind of awkward."
"Any family of mine is family of Jessica's as well," Spencer said firmly. "I won't stand for anyone excluding her on account of her being Deaf."
"Right. Sorry." Maeve swallowed. "Sorry, it's just…I've gotten to know Jessica pretty well, and she's a wonderful girl, but I hardly spend time with the two of you together. I guess, at some point, I stopped associating you with each other."
"Maybe this could be an opportunity to fix that."
Maeve nodded. "I'll see what I can do."
The next day, Spencer raised the subject with Jessica. "How would you feel about spending Thanksgiving with Maeve and her parents?"
Jessica immediately frowned. "Do her parents sign?"
"No, but they could always learn," Spencer suggested. "Our families are about to combine, and that includes you."
Jessica winced. "Look, if they want to get to know me, then I'm willing to get to know them, but I'd rather not spend a major holiday dealing with a language barrier."
Spencer sighed. "All right, I'll tell Maeve we'll have to arrange something for some other time."
Jessica nodded. "You should go, though. They're about to be your in-laws; you should build a good relationship with them. It wouldn't be the first time I've gone to JJ's without you."
Spencer stared in disbelief. "That is the exact scenario I very firmly refused to accept, because I won't have anyone excluding you on account of your disability."
"They're not excluding me, I'm declining the invitation," Jessica argued. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but being Deaf does affect how I form relationships with hearing people, and it doesn't do any good to pretend otherwise."
Spencer sighed again. "All right."
The next day, the BAU got called in on a local case. Reid almost hoped the case would run through Thanksgiving so that he wouldn't have to figure out his plans…and then he silently scolded himself for that thought. An entire busload of kids had gone missing; even by BAU standards, that was an extremely urgent case that needed to be solved ASAP.
Fortunately, all the kids were located by the end of the night, and most of them were okay. Spencer also finally figured out his response to the Donovans' invitation: he would spend Thanksgiving with them only on the condition that they agree to make non-holiday arrangements to get to know Jessica as well. Maeve passed along the message, and everyone finally came to an agreement.
The following week, Jessica was typing up an assignment on her laptop when she received a Skype notification. Bringing up Skype, she was surprised to see a message from some random guy named Mark. "Hey, I've seen you around campus. I really want to get to know you, but I don't know how to sign, so I figured we could talk like this."
Jessica rolled her eyes. What was it with guys who thought that girls would automatically leap at the chance to get any male attention? Surely even a straight girl wouldn't start falling all over herself at that message?
Then her phone lit up with a message from Garcia. Jessica was slightly wary as she opened the phone, but Garcia's message was unrelated. "Oh my god, have you heard of this guy Barry Flynn? He is SO inspiring!"
Jessica sighed, hoping that 'inspiring' wasn't Garcia-speak for 'smoking hot'. "No. Who is he?"
"He's a motivational speaker. He's released tons of CDs with his motivational talks about how to embrace your gifts and be your best self. You should listen to a few!"
"I'll get right on that, right after I listen to Beethoven's whichever symphony," Jessica responded, annoyed. "Wait, no, I can't hear a difference. Cause, you know, I can't HEAR."
A few minutes passed before Garcia responded again. "Oops. Sorry. Totally forgot."
Jessica sighed again. "It's fine."
"He just makes me feel like I can do anything," Garcia continued. "Like ANYONE can do anything. I don't like to say the word 'can't' any more."
"So use the word 'Deaf'," Jessica retorted. "It's who I am, and I don't feel any less for it."
"Sorry. I didn't mean it like that." There was a pause. "I'm going to shut up now before I put my foot in my mouth again."
"Thank you."
Jessica put down the phone and returned her attention to the computer. The unsolicited Skype message was still open. Increasingly annoyed, Jessica typed out and sent a response to that too. "If you want to get to know me, get to know my language. Instant messaging is a cop-out."
With that, Jessica saved her work and shut the laptop. Then, she went into the living room and took out the laser pointer to play with Bianca. Dealing with a hearing cat was much simpler than dealing with hearing people.
The week after that, the BAU went to Arizona, and Jessica dutifully checked the mail while Spencer was gone. Unsurprisingly, there was another RSVP for the wedding—although this one threw Jessica for a loop. She pulled out her phone to ask Spencer about it. "Why do we have an RSVP from 'Aunt Ethel'?"
It took nearly an hour for Spencer to respond. "Presumably because she sent a response to our invitation?"
Jessica sighed at Spencer's literal-mindedness. "Okay, let me rephrase: who is Aunt Ethel, and why was I unaware of her existence? I thought my mom was your only aunt."
"Oh. Sorry. Ethel is a patient at my mom's facility. She has insisted I call her 'Aunt' pretty much for as long as my mom has been there."
"And is that for the same reason that Henry calls you 'uncle'? Or does Ethel actually believe you're her nephew?"
"I'm honestly not entirely sure," Spencer admitted. "Some days she seems to understand that I'm Diana's son, and some days she starts talking about her relatives as if they're my family too. But either way, treating me like a nephew makes her happy, so I go along with it."
"Are there any other patients from Bennington who might be coming to the wedding?" Jessica asked worriedly. She was probably a horrible person for thinking it, but she was concerned that too many mental patients might become a disruption.
"No other patients, although I did invite Dr Norman as well. I haven't received a response from him yet."
"Doesn't look like there are any other responses in today's mail, so I guess we're still waiting."
"Okay, thanks."
Morgan was not the slightest bit surprised when he opened his door to reveal Jessica standing there with a platter of something that looked like brownies. He smiled. "If this is the reward I get, I should get shot more often."
Jessica glared at him, then pushed her way into the apartment so she could set down the platter. "If you ever get shot on purpose, there will be no treats for you, and I'm pretty sure Penelope will back me up on that."
"I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding," Morgan signed hurriedly. He tried to pick up a brownie, and nearly dropped it when it turned out to be much more crumbly than he expected.
"I usually eat gingerbread with a fork," Jessica offered helpfully.
"This is gingerbread?" Morgan repeated in surprise.
"Yes. Sorry, do you not like gingerbread? We were going to make a gingerbread house with Henry and Jack later, and the bottle of ginger was way bigger than we needed."
"No, gingerbread's fine," Morgan assured. "You know, I don't think I ever actually made a gingerbread house when I was a kid."
"Come join us at Rossi's tomorrow night, then," Jessica invited. "Heck, at this point I think Alex is the only other team member who isn't already coming, so I'll invite her too."
"I'll be there," Morgan agreed.
As it turned out, there had been a bit of a miscommunication regarding gingerbread. Jessica, Garcia, Rossi and Gideon had each prepared enough for at least one gingerbread house. Morgan and Blake drove to the nearest supermarket for extra candy, and the rest of the team got busy decorating. Jack and Henry tried to get busy eating, but the adults intervened, and most of the candy made it onto the houses. As for the rest…Hotch and JJ were not looking forward to bedtime that night.
To return the favor from Thanksgiving, Maeve agreed to spend Christmas with Spencer, Jessica, and the LaMontagnes. She was a bit nervous about buying gifts, but fortunately, Spencer had recommendations for everyone.
When the time came for the gift exchange, Maeve wisely started by handing Henry his gift. "I hope you like it," she said nervously. "Spencer tells me you like soccer…"
Henry tore off the wrapping paper with abandon, revealing a sports-themed coloring book. "Cool!"
JJ cleared her throat. "What do you say?"
"Thank you Auntie Maeve!" Henry gave Maeve a hug, still holding the book.
"Auntie?" Maeve repeated in surprise, returning the hug.
"I told him you're going to be his aunt soon," Spencer explained. "I mean, you're not technically yet…"
"No, it's fine," Maeve said quickly. She looked down at Henry. "You can call me Auntie Maeve if you want."
"Okay Auntie Maeve!" Henry let go of Maeve and turned to attack another present. Bianca started batting at the discarded wrapping paper while Maeve reached into her bag for another gift.
"This is for you two," Maeve continued, handing Will a bottle of wine.
"Looks great, thanks," Will replied.
"And this is for you," Maeve signed to Jessica, giving her a wrapped gift.
Jessica unwrapped it to reveal a book series titled Seekers. An image of a bear adorned each book. "Awesome!" Jessica signed happily. "I've read this author's series about cats, but I hadn't gotten around to the Seeker bears yet. Thanks!"
"And this is for you," Maeve finally finished, handing a gift to Spencer. He opened it to reveal a massive psychology textbook.
"Thank you," Spencer replied, immediately becoming so engrossed in the book that he forgot there were more gifts to exchange.
Maeve brought him back to his surroundings with a kiss, pleased that she'd chosen well for everyone.
Early in the new year, Maeve decided to ask Jessica a question. "Would you consider being my maid of honor?"
"Your maid of honor?" Jessica repeated in surprise.
"I mean, I know you're closer to Spencer than to me, but all my work friends are male, and you guys and the BAU are pretty much the only people I know outside of work. And Morgan has already agreed to be Spencer's best man, so I'll feel awkward if I don't find a maid of honor…"
Jessica swallowed, trying to figure out the most tactful way to say what was on her mind. "If you really want me to, then sure, but…have you considered asking any of your work friends if they'd be willing to be your man of honor? A wedding should be about the people important to you, regardless of gender."
Maeve gave her a considering look. "No, that had not occurred to me. But now that you mention it, that does sound like a really good idea. I think I'll ask Cameron. Thanks."
"Glad I could help."
The Sunday before the wedding, Garcia showed up at the apartment with a box of exactly 20 cupcakes, each decorated with the number 20 in vanilla icing. "Happy birthday."
"Thank you," Jessica replied.
"I also got you this," Garcia signed, pulling a little gadget out of her bag and handing it to Jessica. "It's programmed to play 20 Questions."
"Thanks."
"And there's this," Garcia continued, pulling out a book called Twenty Mind-Blowing Mysteries.
"Thanks?"
"And this!" Garcia took out a box of assorted chocolates, with exactly twenty pieces.
Jessica raised an eyebrow. "Did you go out and buy anything you could find that contained the number twenty?"
"You're turning twenty on the twentieth!" Garcia defended. "The theme was obvious!"
Jessica warily eyed the bag. "I count four gifts so far. Are there sixteen more in there?"
Garcia's eyes widened. "I need to go shopping again."
"No, no!" Jessica signed hurriedly. "You've given me enough, thanks."
"Are you sure? Cause I can totally find more stuff."
"Maeve is moving in after the wedding. The last thing we need right now is more stuff."
"Fine," Garcia relented, finally noticing that several boxes of Maeve's stuff already sat in the living room. "How does Bianca feel about that?"
"Not happy, but at least she no longer freaks out if Maeve comes within five feet of me."
"You see that, kitty?" Garcia called out. "This is why you should be a lover, not a hater!"
Jessica laughed. "Good luck convincing her."
At long last, the day of the wedding arrived. Spencer and Maeve had accepted Rossi's offer to use his mansion as a venue—in part because it was free, but also because Rossi really did have a very nice house. However, given the time of year, they elected to hold the ceremony indoors rather than in the back yard.
Jessica, Maeve's mother, and all the BAU women initially crowded into a room upstairs to help Maeve get ready. But after a few minutes, Jessica realized that having this many people in the room was really more of a hindrance than a help. So, she headed back downstairs, and found both Diana and 'Aunt Ethel' fussing over Spencer's hair.
"You've had more than enough time to schedule a haircut, Spencer," Diana scolded.
"Maeve likes my hair just fine as it is," Spencer defended.
"But it's so unruly," Ethel fretted, flicking a strand back from his face.
"Hey, cut the kid some slack," Morgan chimed in. "This day is not about his hair, it's about two people starting a new chapter in their lives together."
"When people look back on this day, the last thing anyone will think about is Spencer's hair," Jessica chimed in, interpreted by Morgan.
"Well, I'll think about it," Diana grumbled.
Ethel rounded on Jessica. "And you, missy! What do you think you're doing in that ridiculous getup?"
Jessica looked down at her dress. It was knee-length, royal blue, and covered by a darker blue cardigan with a slight shimmer in the weave. On her feet, she wore pleated silver flats. It seemed like a perfectly respectable outfit to her. "I'm attending my cousin's wedding?"
"How do you expect to find a man with so much of your skin covered? Take off that cardigan, at least!" Ethel made a grab for Jessica's cardigan, but she quickly pulled back out of reach.
"I'm not here to get a date!" Jessica objected.
"Well, you should be!"
"Aunt Ethel, leave her alone," Spencer spoke up. "It's cold outside, and her dress is completely appropriate."
At that moment, the front door opened, and Emily walked into the house. "Phew! My flight out of Heathrow was delayed, I was afraid I was going to miss this!"
"No, you still have half an hour to spare," Rossi assured her.
Another brunette woman approached. "Hello, you must be the Emily Prentiss I've heard so much about. Elle Greenaway." She offered a hand.
"I've heard a lot about you too," Emily replied, shaking her hand.
"Nothing too terrible, I hope," Elle remarked, looking slightly worried.
"…I've heard plenty of good things," Emily said, somewhat awkwardly. It was clear that she knew exactly what Elle was referring to, but wasn't going to say so.
"Is this everyone?" Hotch asked loudly, obviously trying to change the subject.
"I think so," Spencer replied.
"How are you feeling, kiddo?" Gideon asked.
"I…I'm not really sure. I'm feeling a lot of different things right now."
"Well, you don't appear to be drunk, so that already makes you better off than I was at my third wedding," Rossi suggested, to general laughter.
"Thanks, I…I'm kinda hoping this is going to be my only one," Spencer replied. Everyone laughed again.
"Yes, I hope so too," Maeve's father commented, to more laughter.
"It had better be the only one," growled Cameron, the man of honor.
"In that case, probably better not to take any advice from Rossi," Morgan advised.
"Mea culpa," Rossi agreed.
"Learn from my mistakes," Hotch said quietly. "Don't ever let her think the job is more important to you than she is."
"I won't," Spencer promised.
At long last, the time came for the ceremony to start, and most of the guests sat down. Morgan remained standing behind Spencer, while Henry (the ring bearer) and Cameron went to wait at the foot of the stairs. Maeve's father went up to escort his daughter to her groom.
At Spencer's insistence, the entire ceremony was conducted in simultaneous English and ASL. Jessica was seated along the central aisle so that she had a clear view of everyone. Both mothers cried silent, happy tears as the bride and groom exchanged vows.
After the ceremony, there was dinner, and then everyone worked together to clear enough space for dancing. Spencer and Maeve naturally danced the first dance together. Then, Maeve danced with her father, and after that Spencer danced with his mother. Jessica ended up sitting next to Blake during all this.
"It's a shame that Spencer's father wouldn't come," Blake remarked.
Jessica winced awkwardly. "He wasn't invited. I don't think it would have gone over well if he did show up."
Blake swallowed. "Sorry. I…for all my studies into psychology, I just don't understand how any parent could not want to be part of their child's life. I'd give anything…"
"Give anything for what?" Jessica asked, confused.
"Never mind," Blake signed quickly, a faint shimmer of tears in her eyes. "So what about you? How are you feeling about all of this?"
"Honestly? I'm just glad for all of this to be over. The wedding planning managed to take over my life, and I'm not even the one getting married."
"A parent getting remarried is not an easy thing," Blake signed sympathetically.
"Well, it's not like he's ever been married before, and technically he's not my parent. Spencer has always been a bit of a cross between a parent and an older brother to me, and the older I get, the more the relationship leans toward 'big brother'. So to me, this is less like getting a stepmother and more like getting a sister-in-law."
Blake smiled. "Well, who needs labels? You and Maeve get along, and that's the important thing."
"Yes," Jessica agreed. She glanced across the room at Maeve. "But I have made arrangements to spend tonight somewhere far away from the newlyweds. And once we all start living properly together, I sincerely hope they're familiar with the concept of putting a sock on the door, cause I do not want to walk in on anything."
"Why don't you just talk to them about that?" Blake suggested.
Jessica shuddered. "I don't even want to think about how awkward a conversation that would be."
"Well, perhaps you can get Morgan or Garcia to talk to them for you," Blake conceded.
"Good idea," Jessica agreed.
At that moment, the mother-son dance had just ended, and Spencer walked up to Jessica. "May I have this dance?"
"Shouldn't you be dancing with your bride?" Jessica asked in surprise.
"I will after this. But I know I won't be getting any parent-child dances at your wedding, so this is the closest I'll get."
Jessica looked uncertainly at the dance floor. "This music isn't exactly at 'Deaf party' levels."
"Just follow my lead," Spencer cajoled.
Blake gave Jessica an encouraging smile. "Let him have the role of 'parent' for a little longer."
"All right," Jessica relented. She let Spencer lead her onto the dance floor.
To Jessica's surprise, she soon found herself enjoying the dance, even though the music was far too quiet for her impaired ears. Spencer soon returned to Maeve, but other BAU men jumped in for their chance to dance with Jessica. She even claimed a dance with Henry, before getting drawn into a group dance with JJ, Emily and Garcia.
Meanwhile, Spencer and Maeve eventually got tired enough to grab some drinks and sit down to catch their breath. Maeve leaned against Spencer. "This is nice. I'm glad my mom got to be here for this."
Spencer gave Maeve a worried look. "I thought she was in remission."
"She is. But being in remission isn't the same as being cured, and…I don't want to take anything for granted."
Spencer nodded. "I understand." He looked at Diana. "Mom went off her meds for today, because as she describes it, this gives her a 'window of clarity' before her symptoms set in at full force. It's nice for today, but…I know it won't last."
"I can't imagine what it must have been like, to deal with that ever since you were a child," Maeve said quietly.
"I've learned to treasure the good moments when they come," Spencer responded, equally quietly. "Like this one." He leaned in for another kiss.
Maeve returned the kiss, then broke away and raised her glass. "To the good moments."
"To the good moments," Spencer agreed, clinking his glass against hers.