CM: BigBang 2011
My beautyful art was made by kramskii
Anna by ~Krimskii on deviantART
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Chapter 8
Spencer stood nervously in front of Jo and Anna´s front door. He was starting to regret accepting the invitation. He´d never been good at social settings. What if he said something inappropriate? Or did something to offend Anna? Reid drew in a deep breath to calm his nerves and reminded himself that Jo would be there and Anna had seemed nice. He knocked rapidly on the door before he completely lost his courage.
Anna opened the door and cheerfully told him to come in. He forced himself to smile “It´s nice to see you again,” he said tensely as he handed her a bottle of red wine, he´d picked up on his way home from work.
“Oh, thank you and welcome,” Anna said and accepted the bottle only to put it on a table nearby. “Here let me take your coat.” Spencer took of his scarf and coat and Anna hung it up on a small coat rack. Spencer noticed two identical heads with strawberry blond hairs in pig-tails peeking around the corner, into the foyer. He raised his hand in an awkward wave as he tried to hide is discomfort.
“Chris, Alex, come say hello to Dr. Reid,” Anna said and the girls stepped from their hiding place. Spencer stared; the twins were dressed in identical pink dresses and leggings but as he looked closer he noticed the small differences in the near clones. At least he´d be able to tell them apart.
“Hello,” the girls said in unison.
“Hi,” Spencer said, and felt awkward.
“Chris is on your left,” Anna half whispered like she was letting him in on a secret. Strangely, the gesture made him feel welcomed and calmed his uneasiness a little. “Please let´s go to the kitchen. Jo's there and dinner's almost ready,” Anna said as she grabbed the bottle of wine and he followed her and the girls into the kitchen. The kitchen table was set for five. Jo was busy tossing the salad but looked up and greeted him happily.
“Please, take a seat,” Jo said as she set the salad bowl on the table. “Chris, Alex, sit down, please.”
Spencer watched as the girls took a seat across from each other, and opted to sit next to Alex. Both girls stared at him and he squirmed uncomfortable in his seat.
“Are you a doctor like Mommy Anna?” Chris asked.
“No,” he said, unsurely.
“Reid, what would you like to drink?” Jo said as she stood by the counter. “There is red or white wine, ice-tea or water,” Jo poured ice-tea into two plastic glasses and set each by a twin’s plate. “Use both hands, girls.”
“Ice-tea, please,” Spencer said and watched with fascination as Jo and Anna moved around the kitchen with familiarity and without getting into each other’s way. Anna set down a dish filled with meat and carrots, on the table while Jo brought over three glasses of ice-tea. They looked over the table one more time before taking their seats, Jo on the end and Anna across from him.
“Please, go ahead,” Jo said and gestured the table. Spencer filled his plate and discovered the food was really good. As dinner went on he felt himself breathe more easily as he listened to Jo and Anna talk to the girls. There never was a second of pause as they seemed to use this time to catch up on their lives. He could very much imagine that this was how a real family did things and he felt intrigued. It reminded him how the team acted when they had a get together. When the girls turned their attention toward him, he managed to keep his calm and answer their questions but was terrified of saying the wrong thing and scared the twins. He was relieved when Anna and Jo jumped in with explanations when he started rambling or changed the subjects whenever the girls seemed to get overly excited.
After dessert, Jo showed him into the living room only to excuse herself to take the girls upstairs. Spencer browsed their bookcases with fascination, finding a mixture of books about anatomy and criminology filled the shelves. On the lower ones were children’s books, and Spencer smiled when he recognized some of the classics.
Anna came into the living room holding a tray with mugs, coffee pot, milk and sugar. “Coffee?” She set the tray down on the living room table.
“Yes, please.” He joined her on the couch, looking forward to a good cup of coffee and yet a bit nervous about being alone with Anna.
“How do you take it?”
“Sugar, please.”
“I´m going to bathe the girls,” Jo said and entered the living room, pouring herself some coffee. “So you two can go ahead and plot world dominance.”
Spencer´s first instinct was to object but he saw the mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she moved away and realized she was joking. Not getting the joke, he looked at Anna, who was chuckling.
“She didn´t mean that literally,” Anna told him.
“Then why would she say that?” he asked, as he accepted a mug full of coffee.
Anna stared at him for a moment before looking shyly into her mug. “I have an IQ of hundred seventy four. I have PhDs in Medicine and Mathematics and a degree in Chemistry. I´m also a board certificated pediatrician and pediatric surgeon. Between the two of us, taking over Earth would be fairly simple,” Anna said quietly.
Spencer stared at her in awe. “Why stop at Earth, why not the Milky Way?”
“Well, since traversable wormholes only exist in theory that might prove to be troublesome,” Anna said laughing.
“True,” Spencer agreed while nodding with a wide smile, “but what about the Casimir effect?”
“It still hasn´t been proven that the negative energy densities are possible in nature, despite the Casimir effect. Do you think it's possible to create enough negative exotic matter to stabilize a wormhole?” Anna asked and looked at him expectantly.
Spencer grinned and as they talked about space and physics, anomalies, and the probable along with improbable science behind them, he found himself relaxing more and more. He really started to like Anna; enjoyed being in the company of someone who asked challenging questions and listened with interest.
Chris and Alex came running into the living-room wearing identical PJ´s. Anna managed to put her mug on the coffee table before they tackled her. Spencer smiled as he watched Anna hug both girl and give them a kiss.
Spencer wasn´t expecting Chris to turn toward him, crawl into his lap and curl against him. His hands flew out to either side and he had no idea what to do.
“Chris, you know you need to ask permission,” Jo said when she walked into the room and took in the sight, a smile spreading over her face.
“Can I sit here?” Chris asked and looked up at him with wide blue eyes so much like Jo´s.
“S-sure,” Reid stammered. He managed to set his mug down on a table next to him and hesitantly set his arm around her, although he was nervous and uncomfortable.
“Can Dr. Reid read to us?” Chris suddenly asked and turned toward Jo, “Please?”
“Please,” Alex echoed and looked at her mother with the same pleading eyes as her sister.
“What?” Spencer said startled and confused, looking from Anna to Jo.
Jo sent Chris a warning look as she put her mug down. “Not, he´s a guest. Okay?” She said firmly.
Spencer was helpless as Chris pouted and curled closer to him. He stared at the blond head against his shirt before looking at Jo for help.
“Come on, girls,” Anna said and nudged Alex to stand up. “I´ll read to you and tuck you in.” She stood up and held her hand out for Chris. “It´s your turn to choose a book,” Anna said with a tempting voice.
Chris jumped from Spencer´s lap, her elbow pushing into his stomach making him grunt.
He looked at Jo when he heard her chuckle. “I´m sorry,” she said, not sounding all that apologetic. “Are you okay?” She sat down on the couch next to him as Anna walked out of the room with a girl on each side.
“I´m fine,” he said and reached for his mug to hide how it did hurt a bit.
“How long have you worked at the BAU?” Jo asked, curiously.
“Seven years, nine months and two days,” he instantly replied, glad the subject had changed.
Jo raised her eyebrows. “That´s a long time. Ever think about doing something else?”
“I don´t know,” he said. “I really like working at the BAU. I mean it´s hard and challenging, but it´s also important. Every time we catch an unsub, it means lives are saved.”
“It does,” Jo said. She smiled and tilted her head. “So, who were on the team when you joined?”
Surprised at the question, Spencer thought about it for a moment. “Gideon.” Spencer frowned at the hurt that surfaced at remembering the man. “Hotch and Morgan. Garcia joined eleven months and three weeks after me.”
“Hmm,” Jo said almost absentmindedly and reached for the coffee pot. She offered him more coffee by holding it out toward him.
“What?” He asked curiously and held out his mug for her to pour in. When she pulled the coffee pot away, he put four spoons of sugar into his mug.
Jo glanced at him as she refilled her own mug. “What do you think of Hotch?” she asked setting the pot on the table and leaning back into the couch.
Reid looked into his mug. He felt the heat set in his face as an image of the man smiling at Jack came to his mind. “Why are you asking about Hotch?”
“Just curious.” Jo took a sip of her own coffee. “He seems to care so much about his team, but keeps everyone at arm’s length, except you.”
“What?” Reid asked, his head shooting up to look at her. He was sure he´d heard her wrong but was too shocked to form the words to contradict her.
“It isn´t very obvious,” Jo said and met his eyes before averting them, “but his body language around you is…” She tilted her head in thought. “… more relaxed than with the others.”
Spencer stared at her in disbelief. If she noticed in only few weeks… did that mean the rest of the team knew…? They were all brilliant profilers… A touch on his hand brought him back to the living room with Jo. She was staring at him worryingly and withdrew her hand when she noticed him looking at her. “Reid?”
He put his mug down with force and stood up, taking few steps to put distance between them. Was this her plan all along? To get him to admit how he felt about Hotch? To out him? He swiftly turned around and looked at her. “I don´t see how this is any of your business,” he said angrily, feeling betrayed.
Jo swiftly stood up and looked him in the eyes. “Reid, I´m sorry,” she said calmly although he noticed she was anything but. He knew her tactic; get people to cool down by speaking softly to them. “Your right. It isn´t any of my business. I´m only telling you what I´ve noticed. I´m sorry,” she said quietly.
“You have no right, to profile me, to profile us,” he shouted.
“What´s going on?” Anna said in surprise as she walked into the room. She looked from Jo to Reid before turning her gaze back to Jo.
“It´s not something I can turn off, Reid,” Jo said, her voice rising slightly “we all do it.”
“Jo, stop it,” Anna said shocked as she walked over to Jo and set her hand on her shoulder.
“No, we don´t,” he said fiercely. “We respect each other´s private lives, no matter what is going on.” He noticed Jo clenched her jaw but he ignored her. Looking at Anna, he managed some sort of a smile. “Thank you for dinner, it was delicious, and I enjoyed our conversation,” he said in a forced calm tone. “Good night.” He walked to the foyer and grabbed his scarf, putting it around his neck. When he pulled down his coat, he noticed Anna entering the foyer and turned toward her.
“I´m sorry she upset you,” she said softly.
He looked away and put his coat. His anger subsided a little. This wasn´t Anna´s fault and he wouldn´t take his anger out on her. “So am I, but Jo crossed the line,” he said without looking at her.
Anna sighed and looked away. “Jo can be harsh, but she always means well.” She glanced at him and he nodded because he understood although it didn´t lessen the hurt. “I´m so sorry about how the evening ended,” she said with sincerity. “But I really enjoyed having you over. Thank you for coming and for the wine.” She said.
“You´re welcome,” he said without looking at her, hating how his voice revealed his emotional state. “Good night and thank you.” He opened the front door and walked as fast as he could to his car. Relief flooded over him when he was finally got out of the house. He sat in the car for a few minutes, drawing in deep breaths to calm himself enough to drive home. He still had a hard time wrapping his head around the idea of Jo picked up on his feelings for Hotch. Starting the car, he slowly drove home.
The fight with Jo kept him tossing and turning in his bed a good portion of the night. Was she right about Hotch acting differently around him? Did that mean Hotch felt the same way he did? But, Hotch had been married… happily married. Was he really willing to put his heart out there only to let it be crushed when Hotch said no? And what would that do to the team? Would they side with Hotch and he would have to quit his job? They must all know but made a silent agreement not to stick their noses in it, until Jo came along and stirred things up.
Groaning and rubbing his eyes in frustration, Reid turned on his side and willed his mind to think of the periodic table. He finally drifted into restless sleep.
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Ch: 9