February Night

Chapter 44

"Hello, love!"

Lucy looked up from the laptop, surprised to see Spencer stepping into the bookstore. He was smiling and holding two cups of coffee in his hands as he approached her.

"Hey", Lucy said and couldn't help the smile that had creeped on her face as well as soon as she'd seen her boyfriend. "What brings you here?"

Before he answered, Spencer leaned over the counter to press a gentle kiss on Lucy's lips. For a little moment, she forgot about everything and wished he would kiss her forever. But he pulled away too fast, putting one of the cups next to her laptop. "I'm on my way to work and just wanted to see you before", he said with a little smile.

Lucy examined him with squinted eyes while she grabbed the coffee and took a sip. "Come on, there's something you want to tell me", she then started, smirking. "I know you good enough already, Spencer Reid, to know when you're trying to say something and have no clue how to do so."

The agent's eyes slightly widened and he opened his mouth just to close it again, obviously searching for the right words. Lucy waited patiently and sat back down on her chair. "Well, I...I thought about...uhm...visiting my mom", Spencer eventually began.

"Oh, that's a good idea!", Lucy exclaimed. "Why are you nervous about it?" She frowned when she realized that his behavior didn't fit the news about visiting his mom. Lucy knew how much his mom meant to Spencer and that he hadn't seen her in quite a long time now.

He sighed. "Because I...I wanted to ask you if you...uhm, if you'd join me", he nervously stammered and his eyes finally met Lucy's.

"Oh, wow." There was nothing else she could say right now, nothing that would have come to her mind. Although Spencer and Lucy were a couple for a few months, she hadn't expected to meet his mother anytime soon.

"You really don't have to, I just thought maybe it would be a good idea because I'd stay there for some nights and I'd miss you and I'm sure she'd like you and...I don't know", he rambled, what made Lucy chuckle. She took his hand and gently stroked it.

"Although I'm nervous already, I'd love to meet her", she smiled and loved how Spencer's brown eyes and pretty face lit up at her words.

"Really?"

She nodded. "Of course. It's your mom, Spence. And if you want me to meet her, it'd be an honor."

Spencer came around the counter and pulled Lucy into a tight hug. "Thank you", he whispered. She just nodded although she didn't quite know what he was thanking her for. "Alright, I should go now or I'll be late and the others will kill me", he smiled, gently stroked Lucy's cheek and pressed another kiss on her lips before he left again.

Lucy watched him closing the door and slightly shook her head at the man she loved. She could imagine how the others of the BAU team must feel when they were with Spencer. Sometimes it was hard to follow his train of thoughts, especially when he was excited.

~

Nervously, Lucy threw a bunch of clothes into her suitcase. In only four hours she'd sit in a plane to Las Vegas to meet Spencer's mum and she couldn't deny that she was nervous. What if his mom wouldn't like her? What if this would end in a disaster? Lucy shook her head as if she'd get rid of those thoughts that way. It would all work out fine, she told herself as she closed the suitcase and brought it into the corridor.

Not much later, the doorbell rang. Luke had agreed to drive her and Spencer to the airport. "Hey, sis." He leaned in and kissed Lucy's cheek. He took her suitcase and went downstairs while Lucy locked her apartment.

"Are you nervous?", Luke asked as they drove to Spencer's apartment. She nodded. She was indeed. Extremely nervous. And she apprehended that her nervousness wouldn't disappear until they'd arrive in Vegas. Maybe not even then.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Reid will like you", Luke tried to cheer Lucy up.

She slightly smiled. "You always say that."

"What?"

"That people will like me", Lucy replied.

"Because you're a nice and lovely person, Lu", Luke tried to explain and glanced at her with a smile. "I haven't met anyone who didn't like you so far. And Spencer's mom won't be the first."

Lucy just nodded at her brother's words. She really hoped that he was right. Lucy knew how much Diana meant to Spencer and the thought that she might not like Lucy worried her more than she had thought.

Forty-five minutes later Spencer and Lucy stepped through a glass door into the airport. She was holding Spencer's hand so tight that eventually he turned around and looked at her with concern. "Are you alright?"

Lucy nodded. "Sure. I'm just...I'm nervous", she confessed. Spencer smiled now.

"You don't have to be. My mom will love you."

Lucy chuckled. "That's what Luke said as well."

"He did? Well, your brother can't be wrong with that", Spencer grinned. Lucy already felt a bit better as they stood into the queue for the check-in. She leaned against Spencer and closed her eyes when he pressed a kiss on her hair. Everything would turn out right, she told herself once again. And she was excited to meet Diana.

"Did the doctors say something about your mom's health when you called to tell them that you'd visit her?", Lucy quietly asked and looked up to Spencer. He sighed and wrapped his arms around Lucy. She hugged Spencer back, waiting for him to answer.

"Yeah, he said that she was doing better since some days and that's good. Maybe she'll be clear when we meet." He smiled at Lucy but it wasn't the happiest of smiles. She gently stroked his cheek. She couldn't imagine how it had to be if a parent was suffering from schizophrenia and Alzheimer's. But she knew that the illness didn't get better in the end and that it must have been incredibly hard for Spencer to have to deal with all of this.

"Come on, it's our turn", he said and grabbed his suitcase. Lucy followed him to one of the counters. Soon they'd be sitting in a plane – which added to her nervousness. Damn, why couldn't she belong to those people who enjoyed flying? Well, she would make it through and she still had Spencer by her side who was more than used to flying.