never grow up, criminal minds

026. mother

Spencer unlocks the door and puts Clara down.

"Go inside." He orders.

"Wha-- but who is she?" Clara asks.

"Just go inside." Spencer orders.

"But--"

"Go." Spencer gives her his stern look that almost always gets her to stop arguing. He quickly guides her into the apartment and then slams the door shut, turning to the woman he hasn't seen in practically a decade. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see her." Lily states.

"You--" Spencer's eyebrows practically raise to his hairline. "No. No, you-- you don't get to pop up 9 years later because "you want to see her."" The genius sneers.

"She's my kid, too." Lily says.

"No, she's not." Spencer denies.

"I gave birth to her." Lily hisses.

"Yeah, you gave birth to her, and then you left." Spencer hisses back. "You carried her around for 8 months and then you pushed her out, and then you were never seen again. You wanted nothing to do with her. Congratulations. You had -- and will continue to have -- nothing to do with her."

"I'm ready now. I-I want a chance." Lily says.

"Oh, what, you think I was ready?" Spencer scoffs. "I wasn't anywhere near ready to take care of another human being, but I didn't ditch her at the hospital."

"I have a right to my own daughter!" Lily yells.

"You don't even know her name!" Spencer shouts.

"Whatever." Lily scoffs. "I'm here because I'm moving to D.C. for a new job. I needed to start fresh. And I want custody. Sole custody."

Spencer's mouth hangs open, completely appalled at the woman's audacity.

"Y-- so you not only just pop up out of nowhere, but you expect me to just willingly hand her over to never see her again?" Spencer questions.

"You just said you didn't want her." Lily says.

"I said I wasn't ready. I never said I didn't want her. I do want her. She is the only thing I want in my life." Spencer states. "And if you want to get her, you're gonna have to fight really hard because I am not letting her go. Not without a fight."

"Fine." Lily shrugs. "I'll go to my lawyer, we'll figure it out. Courts tend to favor the mother." She smirks.

"Yeah, you know who else the court favors? FBI agents." Spencer gives her an annoyed smile causing her smirk to drop a bit.

"You know, I didn't want her. I had her for you." Lily hisses.

"You didn't tell me you were pregnant until you showed up to my work six months pregnant." Spencer scoffs. "You could've gotten an abortion if you really wanted to. But you didn't, so don't try to pin unwillingly carrying around a baby on me. I didn't even know until you were over halfway through the pregnancy." He whispers, making sure Clara won't be able to hear from inside the apartment. He's sure she's pressed against the door, listening to everything.

"Well, we'll just see what the judge decides." Lily says.

"Fine." Spencer shrugs.

"Fine." Lily glowers, making a quick exit down the stairs.

Spencer rolls his eyes, roughly rubbing his hands over his face out of frustration.

After a moment to calm himself down, he goes into the apartment, shutting and locking the door. He turns to the living room, seeing Clara sitting on the couch, leaning against the armrest, a book in hands.