On Thursday Spencer and I are both home from work and I am supposed to work on cooking different things for dinner at Rossi's tonight. However, Spencer won't leave me alone and out of his grasp for longer than a few seconds. I giggle as I try and wriggle out of his grasp and he giggles, too. I jokingly chide Spencer "baby, why are you being so clingy today?" He grins and hums happily as he says "I'm just so happy to have somebody to spend the holidays with. Especially somebody that I love this much." I smile and giggle again "I love you, too, Spencer. That was awfully cheesy though." He grins and kisses me "better get used to it, Annie."
I get out of bed in just my underwear and Spencer's t shirt and go to brush my teeth before I get busy cooking everything for Rossi's dinner at 5 tonight. I brush my teeth and wash my face before leaving the bathroom to see Spencer content, hands resting behind his head. I smile at him and say "do you want to help me cook?" He smiles and nods as he gets out of bed in just his boxers to do his stay at home morning routine. I go into the kitchen to start getting things ready to cook. I'm also surprising everybody with a pumpkin roll and caramel pie tonight in addition to my from scratch dinner rolls and Mac and cheese.
I start to make the cake batter for the pumpkin roll and hand beat it because I don't have a mixer. Spencer comes out, now in sweatpants but still shirtless, and sits at the kitchen island as I beat the batter furiously. Spencer cocks an eyebrow at me and says "you know they make machines that do that for you?" I chuckle "Spencer I know that but the one I want is like $500, a little manual labor never hurt anybody." Spencer says "actually, that's not true." I chuckle "it's just a saying, bubs." He says under his breath "a dumb saying," thinking I can't hear him. I roll my eyes where he can't see before asking him "can you preheat the oven to 375 and also get me a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper?" He nods and yawns as he goes to fulfill my request.
He asks me after I've finished beating the life out of my batter "what are you making?" I smile "a pumpkin roll." He smiles back "I understand how those are made but I don't think I could ever physically make it work. It would fall apart for me." I chuckle "it does take practice, but it's not too bad. The worst part is burning my fingers right when I'm getting it out of the oven." Spencer gives me a quizzical look "do you not wear oven mitts when you get things out?" I smile "yes, of course I do, Spence, but with pumpkin rolls you have to roll them up with a dish towel immediately after getting it out of the oven." Spencer nods in understanding "sounds painful." I chuckle "beauty is pain as well as baking," as I boop his nose.
Spencer chuckles and shakes his head as he brings me the parchment paper lined baking sheet. I pour the batter onto the greased parchment paper and put it in the oven. I turn around and start getting things together to make the cream cheese filling for the pumpkin roll. Spencer asks "what can I do to help?" I hum "if you could clear a spot in the fridge for it to chill once it's ready that would be fantastic." He nods and gets to work. I think to myself that he's such a great little helper and I know that most men wouldn't be helpful like this.
We spend the rest of the morning and afternoon cooking together and dancing to music in the kitchen. I've never felt so happy and whole in my lifetime. There are no words to describe how much I love this man and being with him. His job takes him away from me often and the distance makes me more grateful for the time we spend together when he's home. As Spencer laughs with me while I scream sing to Taylor Swift I check the time and realize I need to be getting ready. I ask Spencer to get the rolls out in five minutes and the Mac and cheese out in 10 minutes. He nods and gives me a thumbs up as I go to get ready for dinner. I sit down at my vanity and curl my hair quickly before applying light makeup. I get dressed in jeans and a white cable knit sweater with my brown leather boots.
I put on some jewelry and Spencer comes out of the bathroom in jeans and a purple argyle sweater with his converse. He's styled his hair just the way I like and I can smell the cologne that Morgan got him. It makes me wish we didn't have to leave so soon. I bite my lip as I look him up and down briefly before saying "damn, babe, you look hot. Preppy and hot. I love it." I lean up and kiss him on the cheek and he chuckles before saying "you look absolutely beautiful as always." He lightly trails his hand under my sweater and says "I do think you look the absolute best when you're wearing nothing at all."
I scoff and lightly hit him on the shoulder and go to grab my purse and figure out how we are going to balance all of the food on the way out. Spencer carries the Mac and cheese and rolls in stacked pans while I carry the caramel pie and pumpkin roll. Spencer has the most mobility and balances the food on one arm and locks the apartment behind us.
On the twenty minute drive to Rossi's house I hold Spencer's hand while he drives, resting our intertwined fingers on the center console. We talk and laugh on the way to Rossi's and I think of how excited I am to spend the holiday with my boyfriend and the people he calls his family. I am beyond honored to be included in the festivities. We arrive and carefully make our way up to Rossi's front door and Spencer knocks before opening the door and letting out an enthusiastic "Hey!" With his dazzling smile as we make our way through the house to the kitchen.
We find Rossi in the kitchen and he looks at me bewildered "this is more than just two sides, kid!" I chuckle "I felt like some people might have a sweet tooth." He chuckles back and nods before directing us where to set up the food. After we get the food set up we make our way to the living area where everybody is mingling. Spencer leans in and whispers in my ear "I'm going to get us drinks, I'll be right back." I smile and nod as I make my way over to JJ and her family.
JJ smiles and greets me with a half hug while holding baby Henry who is now over a year old. I look at him and smile, he smiles back. I ask JJ "he turned one recently, right?" She smiles proudly and nods. I get excited and say "any day now he should be having first steps and first words." She pouts a bit and says "ugh I know, he's growing up so fast!" I smile and nod "you're doing a great job, Jayge." She smiles and thanks me for my kind words. I turn to greet Will and catch up with him briefly.
Not long after, I hear little feet and a little voice saying "Annie!" I turn and get excited as I see Jack running towards me before he attacks me with a big hug. I laugh and pick him up "hey, Jack! How's it going buddy?" He smiles and says "my daddy said we are here to eat!" I chuckle "that is absolutely right, Jack. We are here to eat and be thankful." Jack gives me a quizzical look and asks "what does that mean?" Just then Spencer walks up with a glass of Chardonnay for me and says "it means we take a moment to be happy for all the nice things we have and all the wonderful people we love." I smile at Spencer and Jack nods, still looking like he doesn't quite understand what being thankful means.
We mingle with the rest of the team for a while before going to sit at the table for dinner. Jack asks to sit with me again like the last team dinner and Hotch sits on the other side of Jack while Spencer sits on the other side of me. We go to make our plates in the kitchen and I help Jack make his plate while also making mine. Spencer takes his plate and mine to the table while I help Jack finish making his plate and get his drink. Spencer grabs us both waters since I still have my wine and he has his glass of scotch from Rossi.
As I help Jack get settled back in with his food at the table, Hotch turns to me and says "Annie, I appreciate you helping Jack, but you don't have to make his plate at every team dinner now." I chuckle and tell him "Aaron I'm just happy to make him happy. That's all." Hotch smiles and leaves to get a drink. We eat the amazing dinner Rossi cooked and enjoy the company of one another. We talk and laugh, I get to hear stories about Spencer and his team while Spencer tells the team about funny things I've done with him, mostly embarrassing things honestly.
Emily says after a while "Annie I don't know what ingredients you cook with, but I'm going to need the recipes for the rolls and the Mac and cheese. They're phenomenal." I blush and Spencer squeezes my hand as everybody else at the table sings similar praises. I nod and say "of course I'll share the recipes, but I don't include many measurements. I just measure most things with my heart." Rossi nods "that's what makes it so good, you put love into everything you cook!" I chuckle and nod "I love cooking, I don't know how to cook without putting love into everything I cook."
Spencer squeezes my hand and says "I don't think you know how to live without putting love into everything you do. As a former patient of yours I feel I can attest to that better than anybody." I smile sheepishly and look down briefly before saying "thanks, Spence." Morgan laughs and says "however I do think she had a crush on you from the beginning, pretty boy." I turn to look at him wide eyed and in shock "what?" Morgan laughs again "I've told you before, you are very easy to read." I furrow my brow "what do you mean?" Morgan says "you had all of the telltale signs of being interested in someone. I just thought it was me at first."
I chuckle and shake my head "nope. I guess I just have a thing for FBI agents who save the day even if it lands them in the hospital." Spencer scoffs "but you got so mad at me for taking a bullet for a victim!" I shake my head "unknowingly getting exposed to anthrax and working through it is different than knowingly taking a gunshot for somebody else." Spencer shakes his head "I think we will have to agree to disagree."
Emily then asks "wait, so you liked Spencer from the beginning?" I feel my cheeks turn pink and nod my head in confirmation. Spencer then asks "why did you make it so difficult for me to ask you out for drinks?" I give a short tight lipped smile before laughing nervously "I was afraid of it turning out badly and more afraid of it going well so I wanted to make it harder for you. If you still tried hard to get to me and impress me then I knew you would be worth the risk of maybe getting hurt." Spencer's facial expression softens as he squeezes my hand and leans in to kiss me on the cheek.
Jack perks up from watching his show on Hotch's phone and goes "eww uncle Spencer! Annie is a girl so she has cooties! She just gave you cooties!" Everybody laughs heartily at Jack's expression before Spencer says "cooties are something you grow out of when you get to be my age and Miss Annie's age." Jack looks skeptical but chooses not to fight Spencer on the new revelation. I chuckle and lean forward to Spencer and kiss him on the lips briefly "see? No cooties either way."
Jack looks at me in horror before I lean forward to him and give him a kissy face, pretending I'm going to kiss him on the face. He screams and runs to the other side of his dad as everybody laughs. I laugh as I ask him "Jack, does your dad have cooties when he kisses you goodnight?" Jack shakes his head. I nod and tell him "see grownups don't have cooties, but that doesn't mean somebody can give you kisses if you don't want them to. If you don't want hugs and kisses from somebody you can stop them." Jack looks at Hotch as Hotch nods in agreement "she's right, buddy, if you don't want somebody to touch you and they don't listen then you tell me or another adult like uncle Spencer or aunt JJ if I'm not around. You have to tell somebody it's okay first before they touch you."
Jack's brow is furrowed as he listens and nods, trying to understand. I say "Jack, if uncle Spencer doesn't want me to kiss him he knows to tell me no and I'll stop. The same goes for me if I don't want him to kiss me or hold my hand. It goes both ways." Jack nods and then asks if he can keep watching Paw Patrol on Hotch's phone. We all chuckle and as he gets situated back in his seat with his show.
I look at Hotch and say "wow I didn't expect to be giving a lesson in consent tonight at a family friendly thanksgiving dinner." Hotch chuckles in response and nods "you did well. I've talked to him briefly about these things, but other adults talking to him always helps." Spencer squeezes my hand in encouragement and I smile at him in response. Rossi then says "how about dessert and then we can play some games?" Everybody nods and agrees with Rossi's idea.
Rossi brings out my two desserts as well as a pumpkin pie and a cheesecake for everybody to pick and choose from for dessert. I know not to take it personally if somebody chooses something I didn't make. Heck I don't blame them and I myself opt for a slice of cheesecake instead of my pumpkin roll or caramel pie. The cheesecake is amazing, as I expected due to the fact that it was homemade by Rossi. Everybody who tried a dessert I brought loved it and I loved receiving the validation.
We all help clear the table of desserts and then Rossi pulls out uno, a deck of cards, and poker chips. I turn to Spencer and raise an eyebrow before turning to Rossi and say "I vote Spencer doesn't get to play if we play poker." Rossi points a finger at me and says "good idea, kiddo." Spencer scoffs and says "what?!" in a very high pitched voice of shock. I smile and laugh as everybody else nods in agreement. I gently rub his arm and say "baby, if you didn't count cards and hustle everybody we would let you play. Why don't you help Jack play or entertain him if he doesn't want to play?"
Jack gets excited and says "yeah uncle Spencer play with me!" Spencer's face softens as he nods and Jack goes to get in Spencer's lap. I smile at the adorable sight and say "how about we play uno first? I think Jack might be old enough to understand it. He definitely has more of a chance of understanding uno than poker." Everybody murmurs in agreement as I hand Spencer the uno cards to shuffle. He cocks an eyebrow at me before he takes the cards from me "did thanksgiving get renamed to 'bully the kid from Vegas Day' or something?" I chuckle and shake my head "nope, you just are really good with cards, with all your poker and magic." He smiles warmly at the compliment and concedes, finally taking the cards from my hands.
When we begin to play uno I realize that I didn't quite understand just how ruthless Spencer's coworkers are. Jack doesn't understand the game and is severely slowing down Spencer's ability to win. Every time the color is about to change, Jack immediately tells them to change it to yellow because he only has yellow. You'd think the adults would take pity on the 4 year old, but no, they never give him a break. I'm easily in the middle while Rossi, Emily, and Morgan are vying for first place. I don't get competitive in the game, I mainly just enjoy the trash talk the top three are engaging in and the commentary from the rest of us.
We end the game with Rossi winning and everybody asks if we should switch to a different game. I perk up and say "how about we play bull...crap." I change the second part of the compound word because of the little ears right next to me. Morgan turns to me and says "baby girl, you do realize you are in a room of profilers who are trained to look for signs of lying or bluffing?" I smile and chuckle "oh I have low expectations for my winning, I just think it will be fun to see the profilers profile each other. I know you guys have a rule about that, but it's just a game, nothing personal."
Penelope claps her hands and says "ooh I like it!" I chuckle and hand Spencer the deck of cards to shuffle. Spencer turns to me as he's doing this and says "I think you're going to regret this, Annie." I smile "again, I don't intend to win, I intend to observe the masters at work." Spencer shakes his head as he shuffles the deck of cards. I tell Spencer "you should sit out, at least this first round, and observe. I want to know what you catch that the others might not." Spencer nods in agreement before dealing the cards out to everybody at the speed of light.
I look at my cards, it's not very many given the deck has been split among 8 people. Spencer says "alright, who ever has the ace of spades, play aces first." Hotch to my right speaks up and puts down "2 aces." I'm suspicious of him as I also have 2 aces in my hand, but I don't say anything. If there was anything to notice it probably wouldn't have been me that noticed it. We continue and I put down 2s. I only have one 2 so I pretend to be bluffing and say "one 2." I try not to make eye contact with anybody and pretend I'm nervous. Morgan chuckles and says "I call bull!" I look at him with the best face I can muster and challenge him "check it if you don't believe me!"
Morgan leans forward and lifts the card from the top and it proves my innocence. I grin at him and say "it's not much now, but it's all yours." He laughs lightly and says "all right. You got me." We go around the table, I'm doing better than I thought I would, Penelope is losing the worst at the moment because with all the wine she's consumed tonight she gives herself a way every time she bluffs with a giggle. Morgan and Emily call bull on people the most, I only call people when I'm almost completely sure they're lying. I usually only have to take cards when I get caught in a bluff. Sitting back and watching everybody else reveals a lot about them to me.
Eventually, Hotch wins the first round. I ask him after if he bluffed when he had the ace of spades and I see his smile twitch just barely before he nods and confirms my suspicions. We play a few more rounds, Morgan wins some, and Emily wins some. It's 11 pm by the time we are wrapping up what we've agreed is our final round and Jack is asleep in Spencer's lap, melting my heart. We all agreed that since this is the final round, they would continue playing until one person won the game. They eliminated the player with the most cards at the end of each round before redealing. In the end, Morgan and Emily are playing each other for the title of ultimate winner.
Spencer took random cards out of the deck so there's no way to count cards, they must rely on their profiling skills alone. In the end, Morgan gets overly cocky and Emily wins the bullcrap tournament of the year. Morgan accepts defeat but demands a rematch at the Christmas party. She chuckles in response "oh you're on, Der Bear." I chuckle at the nickname and Derek is pissed at it. He says "I told you never to call me that!" Emily laughs harder "you shouldn't have played your voicemail on the jet where we could all hear it!"
Everybody is laughing and Spencer stands, holding Jack gently and leans into me before saying "I'm going to take Jack to the car and help Hotch get him situated. I'll be right back." I smile and nod as he goes with Hotch towards the door. JJ quietly walks up to me and says "he's just the best with kids." I smile and nod warmly at the statement in agreement. She says "you're great with kids, too, Annie." I raise an eyebrow at her before asking "where are you going with this Jayge?" She chuckles "I'm just saying, you two would make some pretty babies." I smile and say "JJ that is way in the future for us. We both want kids, but we don't feel ready for that yet. Sure it feels like it when we get to have Henry or Jack for a few hours, but right now I think we both just need time to each other."
JJ nods "well, be sure you have a reliable form of birth control so you don't end up with a surprise like we did." I laugh lightly and say "we did have a scare one time, honestly I think it was just my cycle being weird, but it gave me so much anxiety I got an IUD." JJ nods and says "those are really effective." I nod in agreement "that's why I got it. If I still get pregnant with an IUD then it was just meant to be."
Penelope comes up to me, sobered up a bit but still tipsy and says "what who is pregnant?!" I shush her and say "nobody, I was just talking to JJ about how cute Spence is with Jack and how we don't want to get pregnant for a while." Penelope looks disappointed as her bubbly excited expression fades from her face. I chuckle and say "one day, Pen, you will have baby geniuses to take care of, if I have anything to say about it." She nods excitedly and claps her hands before Morgan comes up to drive them both home.
I decide to go check on Spencer and once I get to the porch I see him and Hotch both talking by Hotch's SUV. Spencer turns to me and asks if I'm ready to go. I nod and tell him I'll grab my stuff. He tells me he will come in to help and I hear him start to say goodbye to Hotch. I go into the kitchen and start helping Rossi with the dishes. Most of the work is already done and I'm finishing up loading the dishwasher by the time Spencer finds me in the kitchen. He looks at me and says "I'm sorry, Annie, I didn't mean for you to clean this all up by yourself." I shake my head "most of it was already done I just added the finishing touches. Let me just wrap up the food and we can go."
Rossi tells me it's all already been wrapped up for me and I thank him before Spencer and I grab the leftovers and head out to the car. Spencer rushes ahead of me to put his leftovers and my leftovers up and then rushes to open my car door for me. I smile and chuckle as I say "Spencer I appreciate the chivalry, but nothing bad will happen if I open my own door." He shakes his head and says "you don't know that. Better safe than sorry."
I chuckle and let Spencer win this time as I get in the car. Once he gets in the car, I grab his hand and say "I had a lot of fun tonight, Spence. Thank you for bringing me." He leans forward and gently kisses my lips and says "thank you for coming with me. I wouldn't have had half as much fun without you." I smile and squeeze his hand.
We leave Rossi's driveway and start the 20 minute drive back to my apartment - our apartment - in Quantico. I ask Spencer "hey Spence? I was just curious, why did you decide to move in with me instead of asking me to move in with you?" Spencer chuckles and says "well for one, I have a one bedroom apartment and you have a lot of stuff. For two, you have Ryder and having a bigger apartment is nicer for him. It's also nicer not disrupting his day to day life. He's happy and comfortable in your apartment." I smile "our apartment now." He smiles back and says "our apartment. It was just easier for me to adapt than for both of y'all to move and adapt. I had spent so many nights and weekends alone in my apartment, so it's nice to have a new place that doesn't have a foundation of lonely memories."
I feel an internal tug at my heart strings at Spencer's words. I absolutely hate that his first few years on the team were so lonely. I nod and ask "did your relationship with Lila not help the memories in your apartment?" Spencer shakes his head "the few times she did come stay for a few days we had this vicious cycle of fighting and then having sex or the other way around." I start to choke on nothing due to my shock at Spencer's incredibly honest statement. He looks worried and starts to pull over the car, but I stop him "I'm fine, I'm sorry, you just caught me off guard with...with what you said."
Spencer chuckles "we've talked multiple times about what Lila and I did." I nod and say "you're right, but that doesn't make it any easier. I know that you're not sleeping with her right now but that's what my brain imagines immediately. It also upsets me to think about how she treated you and how she made you feel about yourself." Spencer nods and grabs my hand again "I get it, Annie. You don't have to apologize for having feelings that are incredibly valid." I give him a soft smile and nod.
We pull up into the parking lot and carry the many dishes into the apartment complex. Once we get into the apartment I place my dishes in the kitchen before going back to let Ryder out. He's ecstatic to see me and I quickly pick him up and love on him while walking back into the kitchen so Ryder can see Spencer and so I can help Spencer with the kitchen. As I walk into the kitchen I make eye contact with Spencer and move to switch Ryder to my right arm and feel a sharp pain shoot from my wrist up to my elbow. I cry out in pain and quickly put Ryder down on the kitchen floor, looking confused.
Spencer rushes over to me and tries to look at the wrist I'm cradling and moves to inspect it. Spencer asks "what happened?" I shake my head "I don't know, I was just moving him to my right arm and I feel this sharp pain in my wrist out of nowhere." Spencer nods and twists my arm back and forth, some of it hurts, some of it doesn't bother me. He says "I think you just strained your wrist from all the hand mixing you did today with the food. Go sit down and I'll finish cleaning everything up." I shake my head "no, Spence, I'm fine. I can help." He looks at me and says "no, you worked very hard all day cooking and you tried to let me help, but I know how you get controlling with your cooking, especially when feeding a lot of people. Let me clean up what little mess is left and go relax."
I pout briefly and decide to listen and go sit at the island as Spencer goes to work on the dishes. Before Spencer can turn around, Ryder is vying for Spencer's attention. He picks Ryder up and loves on him, talking to him in a baby voice that I adore. I smile at the sight and tell Spencer "I'm going to go change into some comfy clothes. When you get done cleaning the kitchen do you want to pop some popcorn and watch the first Christmas movie of the season?"
Spencer smiles warmly and nods "what movie did you have in mind?" I grin and ask him "what about the Santa Clause? It was one of my favorites growing up." Spencer nods "sure, I've never seen it, but I'd love to watch it with you." I gasp in surprise "Spencer, you've never seen it?!" He chuckles and shakes his head. I get excited and say "hurry up with the cleaning because we must remedy this awful error in movie choices in your life." Spencer chuckles and nods as I go back to the bedroom to get everything set up.
I get in my comfy fleece Christmas pajamas and get set up in the bed and turn the tv on to Disney+. After about 10 minutes Spencer comes back with popcorn. He hands me the popcorn and goes to change into pajamas as well. He crawls into bed with me and we watch one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time, cuddled up together with Ryder. I smile and think to myself how happy I am to be starting the Christmas season and how whole I feel with my two favorite boys.
YOU ARE READING
Speechless | Spencer Reid FanFiction ✔️
Fanfiction"I never thought I would say getting exposed to a deadly strain of anthrax was the best thing that ever happened to me, but, without that, I never would've met you. I love you so much, Annie. This has been, without a doubt, the best year of my life...
