February Night

Chapter 58

When Lucy woke up on her birthday some weeks later, she found herself lying in bed all alone. Frowning, she rolled over and let a hand run over the other side of the bed. She had fallen asleep in Spencer's arms last night and now he wasn't here anymore...did he have a case and hadn't dared to wake her up? No, he wouldn't just leave like that. Lucy decided to get up and take a shower. Maybe Spencer would come back soon.

But when Lucy stepped out of the shower and went to get herself a coffee, Spencer was still nowhere to be seen. Lucy almost winced when her phone suddenly started to ring. She'd been so lost in her thoughts. "Hello, my dear!", she could hear her mother almost yell into the phone.

Lucy laughed. "Hi, mom."

"Happy Birthday, darling! I hope you'll have a great day", her mother said.

"Thank you, mom. How's dad? How are you?", Lucy asked while she sat down with her coffee and took a sip.

"We're fine. But when will you visit us again?"

"Mom...it's yours and dad's turn to finally visit me and Luke here in D.C.!", Lucy chuckled. And she knew her mom knew that she was right. Her parents had promised to come to D.C. but still hadn't been able to make it.

"I know, I know. Just tell your dad. He hates sitting in a plane", she sighed and Lucy smirked. Then suddenly, she heard that someone else was trying to call her. And something told her that she had to answer that call.

"Mom, listen, there's another call coming in and I'd like to answer that one. Thank you so much for calling me and please give dad a kiss from me."

"I will, honey. Enjoy your birthday! I hope your brother will come over. Or is he out on a case?"

"No, he isn't. At least I don't think so...", Lucy murmured and then said her goodbyes before she took the other call. "Penelope?"

"Lucy, please come to the office immediately!", the technical analyst exclaimed and Lucy immediately started to have a weird feeling. Did something happen? Or why was Penelope sounding like it was extremely urgent? She promised her to be there as fast as possible and then hung up to get dressed.

~

With her heart racing against her chest, Lucy rushed into the office. But as soon as she'd pushed open the glass door, she realized that Penelope had framed her. While she had been afraid that something might have happened, she now saw the whole team standing there, shouting a loud "Happy Birthday!" her way. The big smiles on their faces made Lucy forget that she had been scared all the way to the BAU. Instead, she smiled too and ran over to the team. Spencer immediately pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Happy birthday", he whispered into her ear and then kissed her, in front of his whole team. He wasn't embarrassed by that anymore. He loved Lucy too much to not show his feelings for her at any time, no matter who could see it.

"Thank you", Lucy murmured but she didn't have the time to keep laying in Spencer's arms. Before she knew it, Penelope had pulled her away and hugged her too.

"Happiest of birthdays, my dearest doll!", she squealed, what made Lucy laugh.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's my turn now! I'm her brother!", Luke exclaimed and grudgingly, Penelope let go of Lucy again.

"You're way too impatient, newbie", she murmured but Luke only grimaced at her before he finally wished his sister a happy birthday.

"Wow...", Lucy eventually murmured as she looked at the whole team.

"Wait until you'll see your birthday cake!", Penelope said with a beaming smile and grabbed Lucy's hand to lead her into the conference room which the team used to talk about cases. But now the room was decorated with paper streamers, balloons and a huge birthday cake, surrounded by presents.