Mini Reid (Book 3 in the Boss's Niece series #Wattys2016)

Headaches

I watched Spencer as we boarded the jet. He still had his sunglasses on, although we were now inside. He sat on the couch instead of in one of the chairs with a table, like he usually did.

I sat down next to him and looked over the files of the case. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Spencer looking down at his book, but he wasn't really reading. He was just looking at it. He had been staring at the same page for at least 5 minutes.

I looked around. Everyone else were so engrossed that they didn't seem to notice. I looked up at my husband.

The plane took off an he put his hand on his head, rubbing his temples and wincing in pain. I turned to him to ask him what was wrong, but he got up and went to the back of the jet where the coffee was.

Being the protective person I am, I got up and decided to talk to him. He now had his sunglasses off and was rubbing his temple again.

"Reiders." I said. He jumped and turned to look at me.

"Oh. Hey, Mel." he said, his voice weak.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine. What about you, are you okay?" he asked, putting his hand in my stomach.

"I'm fine. Don't change the subject." I said. "You've looked like you were in pain ever since we left for the jet. Is everything okay?"

"It's nothing, Mel. I promise." he said.

I looked into his brown eyes. I knew he was lying. I was his wife and a profiler. I knew these things. But, if he didn't want to talk about it, I respected his wishes.

I turned to walk away and let Spencer deal with whatever he needed to deal with. He quickly grabbed my arm. I jumped and turned back. He slowly and softly slid his hand down to my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine.

"I'm having headaches." he said, his voice soft.

I looked at him with the motherly look I managed to pick up from all my time with JJ. I leaned against the coffee counter and pulled him into a hug.

"It's okay, babe. Everyone gets headaches. There's no reason to be embarrassed about it." I said, giving him a reassuring squeeze. I pulled away from the hug to look at him.

"I know that, but I got these headaches years ago, too. No one ever knew but Prentiss and Morgan. I went to doctors and they all told me there was nothing physically wrong with me." he explained. "They've been gone for the longest time. I don't know why they're back."

"More explaining please. I'm not a genius like you."

Spencer gave me a pained smile.

"Well, if there's nothing physically wrong with me, it means it's something mentally wrong. They thought it was psychosomatic." he said. "Remember what I told you before you met my mother for the first time?"

I went through my still recovering memory back to the time when Spencer and I went to Las Vegas for a two week vacation so that Spencer could visit his mother. The day we went, he was worried. He was worried because-

"Schizophrenia is a genetic gene." I said, remembering what he told me. "It's passed genetically. Is that what this is about?"

Spencer hung his head. He looked down at his feet and wouldn't speak. I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Spencer, are you scared you're becoming a schizophrenic?" I asked.

He looked back up at me, his cheeks glistening. He was crying. He nodded.

"I don't want it to happen, Mel. Especially not now." he said. "What if our child is a schizophrenic? What if I passed it on to them?"

Now I understood his worry. Back when we started dating and I was meeting his mother, he was scared what being a schizophrenic would do to him. Now, he was scared that if he was one, Sammy or Haley would become one too.

"Reiders." I whispered. "Please don't be worried. So what if you're schizophrenic? So what if Sammy or Haley becomes one, too? I'll still love both of you either way. Your my husband and this is my child. Nothing is going to make me hate either of you. You remember where we're going for this case right?"

Spencer wiped the tears from his eyes and his cheeks.

"Louisiana." he replied. "Why?"

"Come on, Reiders. You're a smart man. Put two and two together. Who lives in Louisiana?"

He looked at the ground again for a moment before looking up at me. His eyes lit up as he figured out where I was going with this.

"I picked this case not only because of how many deaths we'd have on our hands if we didn't, but I thought maybe you could visit an old friend while we're here. Clear your head."

Spencer smiled.

"You're the best." he said. "I'm glad I found a girl like you."

"A girl like me?" I teased. "And what's a girl like me?"

"Amazing."

I smiled and hugged him again. His hair, which had grown long again, brushed against my neck. Sure, I loved his short hair, but I never realized how much he looked like, well, Spencer Reid with his hair long.

I pulled away from the hug and wiped the remaining tears from his face.

"Now, let's go back out there, talk about this case and when we land, you can go visit Sammy." I said. "Sound like a plan?"

Spencer nodded. He leaned forward and placed his soft lips on mine. I leaned into the kiss to deepen it.

"Ahem."

Spencer and I quickly parted and turned to see Derek with one eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face,

"What's going on here?" he asked, pointing at Spencer and I.

I realized what it looked like. I was leaning against the counter and Spencer had his arms wrapped around me and we were basically making out where anyone could see.

"She's already got one bun in the oven, Reid. No need to make a twin." Derek said.

I punched him in the arm and went back and sat on the couch. Spencer sat next to me, his face red with embarrassment. Everyone was giving us questioning looks. I'm sure Derek would spread the rumors. I'd tall JJ the truth later. I trusted her and so did Spencer.