never grow up, criminal minds

021. softball

"Daddy, you still have to braid my hair." Clara groans, running into the kitchen. "I can't be Wednesday without pigtails."

"I know. I know." Spencer finishes packing her lunch. "Go wait in the bathroom. I'll be there in a second." Clara runs off to the bathroom.

After a couple minutes, Spencer finally gets to the bathroom.

"We're gonna be late." Clara says.

"We're fine." Spencer dismisses, grabbing her hair brush. He brushes through her hair, dividing it into two sections.

"Don't rush. They end up bad when you rush." Clara says.

"Clara, please, be quiet and let me do your hair." Spencer tells her. Clara motions zipping her mouth and throwing away the key.

Spencer easily braids her hair, making sure they're even with each other.

"Okay. There." He says, gently tugging on the end of one of her pigtails. "Did you brush your teeth?"

"Uh-huh." She nods, showing her brushed teeth off to him. 

"Good job. Go get your backpack and your shoes on." He tells her and she runs off.

After getting the rest of his stuff together and grabbing Clara's lunch, he goes to the door where she's waiting.

"We're gonna be late." Clara says.

"No, we're not. We're--" Spencer checks his watch. "Shoot. We're gonna be late."

"Told you so." Clara quips.

"Go." Spencer orders, ushering her out of the apartment, making sure to lock the door.

+++

"You always risk missing Halloween." Clara pouts, on the phone with her dad.

"I know. I know, I'm sorry, baby." Spencer says. "I promise, I will try my best to be home in time. But if I'm not, I want you to have fun with your friends, okay? You'll get to go trick or treating without me hovering over your shoulder."

"But you love Halloween. It's not as fun without you." Clara says. Spencer's lips quirk up, though his heart tightens at the same time.

"That means a lot to me and I feel the same way. Honey, I will try my absolute hardest to be home in time, okay?" Spencer tells her.

"Okay." She sighs.

"I love you." He tells her.

"I love you, too. Bye." Clara says, the two hanging up.

+++

Clara runs into the bullpen, grinning when she spots her dad at his desk.

"Daddy!" She calls, running over to him.

"Hey!" He grins, grabbing her once she's close enough and pulling her onto his lap. She wraps her arms around his shoulders, tightly hugging him.

"You made it back in time." She grins.

"I did. So we get to go trick or treating with all your friends." Spencer says, kissing her forehead.

"Uh, excuse me, everybody. I have an announcement to make." JJ says, walking in. "As I'm sure some of you were aware, Henry was a little nervous about going trick or treating this year. But he's decided to go anyway."

"Great. What changed his mind?" Rossi asks.

"The BAU did." JJ says. "I told him that he should go out on Halloween and try to figure out which monsters are real and which ones are not."