Chapter 37: Office Christmas Party

For the rest of the night Spencer and I rested at home and had some take out delivered. We don't have any food in the apartment at the moment obviously because we have been out of town and haven't been to the grocery yet. We rested after being worn out from traveling and just enjoyed time to ourselves in our apartment that we hadn't had in a while. It's now the next morning and I'm awake earlier than normal because I slept so much while traveling home and after our surprise adult activities the night before. Spencer was wonderful last night, in and out of the bedroom, unpacking most of the stuff and getting the laundry started. I lay awake just briefly, looking over at shirtless Spencer, asleep flat on his stomach on the mattress. I don't know how that's comfortable because he has moved down the bed and is laying on the mattress with no pillow under his head. He's snoring softly and twitching a bit in his sleep. I decide to move for the first time this morning. I look at the alarm clock on the night stand and see that it is 7:30 am. I slowly get out of bed, trying not to disturb Spencer. I go to the bathroom and quietly shut the door to do my morning routine. I quietly get dressed in sweat pants and a sweat shirt and ugg boots, throwing my hair up in a messy bun. I decide to start another load of laundry and leave a note on the counter for Spencer that I've gone to get breakfast in case he wakes up before I get back. I then get ready to run down the block to the local diner and coffee shop to get us some breakfast. Spencer usually wakes up between 8 and 9 on his days off so I try to hurry. I call in our breakfast order at the diner while I wait for our normal lattes at the coffee shop. I pick up everything and make my way back to the apartment. As I unlock the door and open it I'm disappointed to see Spencer sitting at the island with a cup of coffee. He must've found a lone k cup somewhere in the kitchen. I pout my lip and Spencer chuckles. "You were supposed to still be asleep, Spence. I wanted to surprise you." I say disappointedly. Spencer chuckles again "well I just don't sleep as well without you next to me and I guess it woke me up." I continue pouting and he just gives me a soft yet stern look "quit pouting, princess." The use of my bedroom nickname with his dominating tone causes me to immediately obey without a second thought. Spencer nods and smiles "good girl. Now what did you get for breakfast on your super secret mission?" I blush shyly as I pull out his normal order of French toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon in addition to my normal order of chicken and waffles. I also hand him his coffee even though he already made some, he just needs a constant caffeine drip, honestly. We sit and eat together, talking and laughing like normal. I look at Spencer and say "I had a great time on our trip, but I'm really happy to be home and getting back to normal." Spencer hums in acknowledgment before saying "speaking of getting back to normal, when do you want to pick up Ryder?" I swallow my bite of food before responding. "Let's get all the laundry done and everything around the apartment done first and then we can give him our full attention when we pick him up." Spencer nods in agreement. We finish our breakfast before dividing and conquering the chores of the apartment. We work on the laundry together while also finishing up unpacking and cleaning up a few things we didn't get to before we left. We finish getting everything done by 11 am and head out to go pick up Ryder. Spencer drives with his hand on my leg. After a bit I look at him and say "Spencer, you should let me pay for this because it's not going to be cheap and he technically is my dog." Spencer gasps in horror "after all this time he isn't even a little bit mine, too?" I chuckle and say "Well...I do call you 'dad' to him when you aren't around." Spencer's cheeks turn a bit red and he chuckles nervously. He asks "really?" I nod before continuing "I'll say stuff like 'your dad is on the way home' when you're about to come home and he will get excited and wait at the door for you." Spencer awes and says "and you still think he's not even a little bit mine now, too?" I look down and say in a small voice "maybe just a little bit. He's been my baby all through college and grad school. It's weird to share him." Spencer hums in agreement. We sit in silence for a minute before he says "let me pay for half since I am, in your words, his dad." I chuckle and shake my head "fine, you win this round." Spencer shakes his head "no it's a compromise." I nod in agreement. We pull up to the pet lodge, it's cutely named "District of Columbia Pawlitician Pet Lodge." We walk inside and tell them we are there to pick up Ryder Winters. The lady nods and goes to get Ryder from wherever he stays in the back. The other woman smiles and tells us "would you like to pay in cash, card or charge it to your payment method on file for the account?" Spencer looks at me and I nod to him. Spencer says "actually can I pay half with a card and charge the rest to her account?" The woman nods and begins setting it up for Spencer to pay. She says "okay the total is $458, making your half $229, because he stayed a week, got groomed while he was here, and participated in day care every day." I see Spencer's eyes go wide as he counts out his cash. I chuckle to myself and say quietly to Spencer "still want to claim some ownership of him?" Spencer gulps and nods "it's a small price to pay for the woman I love and our dog." I feel butterflies in my stomach at the sentiment as Ryder comes running out to see me, skidding across the floor on his claws. I hold my arms out and scoop him up when he gets close. He's so excited and just covering me in kisses. Spencer pets Ryder from the side, out of the splash zone. We head back home, Ryder has his head out the window while he's sitting in my lap. I'm perfectly content in this moment with the two loves of my life. Spencer asks after a comfortable silence "what are you wearing to Rossi's tomorrow?" I let out a gasp of shock and say "oh man I forgot about that already. What does everybody usually wear to it?" Spencer chuckles at my memory, or lack thereof, before responding. "The women usually wear dresses and the men usually dress nice. In work attire, but not like suits. More like nice pants and a button up or something." I hum in acknowledgment "do you want me to pick out your outfit?" Spencer gives me a side eye and says "I think you like picking out my outfits and buying me clothes." I giggle "yes, yes I do. You're like my own personal ken doll." Spencer scrunches up his face and laughs "please don't ever call me that again." I giggle and nod "okay, bubs." Spencer and I make small talk on the way home, happily reunited with our fur baby.

•••••

We are getting ready for Rossi's Christmas party now. I'm wearing a dress that's a mix of burgundy and wine colored red. It's a sweater dress and off the shoulder. It has a tie in the front, it just looks very classic and christmassy, I think. I decide to wear pearl earrings, the tourmaline necklace from Spencer, a couple rings, and no bracelets. With the dress I'm wearing some basic nude pumps. I dressed Spencer in black pants, a deep emerald green button up, and his red bottoms. He wanted a tie but I told him he looked better with the top couple buttons unbuttoned. He wears his black jacket over it and I wear my long black coat over my outfit. As we are getting ready to leave, Spencer says "everybody is going to be disappointed." I give him a confused look "why are they going to be disappointed?" He chuckles "you didn't make anything for the dinner tonight." I scoff in response "on the contrary, Doctor, I made red velvet cupcakes and my famous Mac and cheese" I turn to the kitchen to grab the two warm containers and pick them up, returning to Spencer. I continue "I did a Walmart pickup while you were at the office and whipped these up while you were napping earlier." Spencer chuckles "you never cease to amaze me." I lean up and kiss his cheek. "I know." I say with a cheeky smile. As we are walking towards the front door I turn to him and say "there better not be a surprise gift at Rossi's for me. I don't have anything else for you so don't make me look bad in front of everybody." Spencer laughs loudly and throws his head back. "The only gifts I have waiting for you now aren't until your birthday." He says through a mischievous smile. I groan as I walk out the door "I did always hate having a birthday right after Christmas." I say with disdain. Spencer says "January 7th isn't too close to Christmas." I turn to him and say "it's like within two weeks of Christmas! That's pretty dang close! People usually forget and just end up regifting something they didn't want if they do remember." Spencer hums appreciatively. He says "that doesn't sound good, Annie, I'm sorry. Rest assured, I have been planning your birthday without any thought towards Christmas." I acknowledge Spencer's statement, but he knows I don't like him spending too much money on me. As if he's reading my mind he says in a joking manner "why won't you let me spoil you, Annie?" I just shrug as I get into the car. I say "I don't know, Spencer. I guess I just don't want you to think I only like you for your money or something like that. That's not the case. I have my own money. I mean it is nice though that you do listen to the things I say and buy me things I actually want. Like the mixer." Spencer nods "I hated seeing your wrist in pain after you did all the cooking for Thanksgiving." I grab his hand from the console and intertwine our fingers and squeeze. "I love it, Spencer. It really made me feel loved and seen by you. I just wish it wasn't something so expensive." Spencer chuckles and says "don't worry about that." I sigh and shake my head, accepting defeat. Spencer is giving me longing glances throughout the drive, like he's deep in thought, it's weird. I ask him "why do you keep looking at me like that?" He says "hmm? Like what?" I look down and laugh nervously "I don't know, like I'm some kind of enigma or puzzle you can't figure out." Spencer snaps out of it I guess and just says "I'm sorry I guess you just look so beautiful I can't keep my eyes off of you." I cackle a bit "oh my God, Spencer, you are so cheesy!" He starts laughing and says "what? It's true!" I shake my head and continue laughing, trying to catch my breath. Spencer seeks out my hand again, grabbing it and squeezing. We sit in a comfortable silence for a minute on the way there. Spencer speaks up after a couple of minutes and says "actually, I think Hotch might be bringing Killian to this." I whip my head at him so fast "what? Why do you think that?" Spencer says "I overheard him ask Rossi if he could bring a date when I went up to the office yesterday." I hum in acknowledgment. "It's possible it's Killian but what if they just have a friends with benefits arrangement and it's someone else?" I ponder aloud to Spencer. He shrugs "she's just the only guess I have, so it's good to be prepared." I nod at his statement, staring out the windshield. I think out loud "what are we going to do if she is there? Do we act surprised or come clean?" Spencer hums, thinking over the options. He says "I feel like if we fake surprise too much they'll know we knew something. I don't want to ever talk about how we found out." I nod in understanding and agreement. "Me either. We could just say we had a hunch? After we saw them in the restaurant all the pieces clicked together so we could just bring those up and nobody would ever have to know about Hotch being dominated by Killian." Spencer starts chuckling from the drivers seat at my statement. I start laughing with him and say "what? I may not have an eidetic memory but that memory is seared into my brain for forever." Spencer laughs even harder as we roll up Rossi's driveway. He parks and says "okay, so we are going to act surprised and if they call us on it we just tell them all the normal suspicious stuff and not the kinky crazy stuff." I laugh and nod "sounds like a plan." Spencer and I gather the two dishes of food we brought, he insists on carrying both because he's afraid I will topple over in my heels on the driveway. He underestimates me sometimes, honestly. We make our way to the front door and Spencer knocks before turning the knob and opening the front door not even a millisecond after knocking. He walks in and says "hey everybody! I brought Annie!" Everybody offers enthusiastic greetings. I peek my head around Spencer and say "and I brought food!" Then I'm met with even more excitement and enthusiasm at my statement. I turn to Spencer and grin "soon enough they won't even care if you're here they'll just care if you brought the food girl." Spencer laughs as we make our way to the kitchen to drop off the food. Rossi greets us with big smiles and big hugs. We then put everything down where Rossi directs us. On the way back to the living area where everybody is gathered Spencer whispers in my ear "I don't think Hotch is here yet so we will have to wait and see." I nod and don't say anything, grabbing and squeezing his hand. We make our way into the room and are met with big hugs and holiday greetings from everybody that's there. JJ is sitting on the floor with a toddling Henry and Will is sitting on the love seat behind them. Morgan comes up to me, giving me a brief hug and says "last time I saw you you were a little queasy from the trip. How are you feeling now?" I smile and nod "I'm feeling much better now after settling back in and getting plenty of rest." He nods and flashes his dazzling smile "good to hear it, Annie." Penelope comes up to me all excited and gives me a big hug and talks so fast I can't keep up. She tells me about Christmas and her visit with her family. After a couple minutes of catching up with Penelope, Emily walks up to me, holding a glass of red wine, and says "I heard you got into quite the brawl on your trip. Can you show us the scar?" Penelope looks shocked, like she hadn't heard about it, and Derek looks intrigued. At some point during all of this I've lost Spencer. He must have gone to get drinks. JJ says from the floor "wait what happened?" I sigh and look around for Spencer but don't see him. I decide to just answer without him helping me in the process and say "when Spencer and I went out to dinner in Vegas our waiter tried to assault me when I was coming back from the bathroom." Penelope and JJ are in shock at my words. Emily says "oh just wait." I laugh nervously and continue "well I fought him off and in the process stabbed through his shoe and foot with my stiletto heel. Apparently there was a lot of blood that wasn't mine and Spencer and everybody else thought it was. I just had a mild concussion from being slammed into the wall twice. The scar is fading and covered up with makeup right now." Penelope and JJ are in shock while Emily is high fiving me and Derek nods in approval. Emily says "are you sure you don't want to change your career from being a speech therapist to being an FBI agent?" Spencer comes in at that moment with drinks and says "whoa whoa what did I miss? You're leaving speech?" Emily and I make eye contact and laugh. I shake my head and say "no I was telling her about the waiter and how I fought him off and I guess Emily is impressed enough by that that she thinks I should join the bureau." Spencer looks relieved and finally lets out the breath he had been holding. I chuckle and say "what, you don't think I could handle it?" Spencer shakes his head "no I think you could and that's what's so scary to me." I nod in understanding and laugh with the others at Spencer's overprotectiveness. Just then we hear a knock and the front door opens. The first thing I see is a happy four year old bolting from the door toward the adults. The first person he beelines for is me, nearly knocking me down. I giggle and pick him up, giving him a big hug. "Hey, Jack! How's it going? Did Santa come to see you?" Jack gets very excited and starts to tell me all about his Christmas. Sadly, I tune out after I notice that Spencer's prediction had come true. Hotch and Killian walk through the door, Hotch taking Killian's jacket, leaving her in a beautiful white sweater dress. She makes eye contact with me and says something to Hotch before walking over to me. She motions for me to follow her into a separate room. Once we are both in the other room she asks quietly "are you mad?" I try to find the words and eventually just end up with "I'm just surprised is all. I didn't expect to see you here." She furrows her brows at me and asks "so you're not mad?" I shake my head and smile "is he the guy you've been seeing? The one who is very often suddenly busy when Spencer is called away on cases?" She blushes and nods. I'm still holding Jack and he asks me "wait, Annie, are you and LiLi friends?" I laugh and nod "yeah buddy, we are really good friends!" Jack smiles really big, I think very excited that we know and like each other. I put Jack down and say to him "go say hi to uncle Spencer buddy, he's missed you so much since we've been gone." He nods and excitedly takes off in search of Spencer. Killian turns to me, arms hugging herself, and says "so you seriously aren't mad? I wanted to ask you first, but Aaron thought it would be fine and you would like the surprise. Especially after he said you were hurt? Spencer called him about it while you were gone and he told me about what happened. It was so hard to not call you and check in." I give a sad smile and say "it's okay I was mainly sleeping it off. Now I have a small scar to talk about and a bad ass story to tell." Killian chuckles and nods "always finding the bright side." I laugh at her statement. "Recently Jack has latched on to me at these things, but now I fully expect for him to latch on to you tonight. He usually asks me to make his plate and sit by him." Killian nods "he can be clingy like that, but he's so cute." I laugh at that in agreement. I say "we should get in there, I'm sure Hotch is dying to introduce you to everybody as his new girlfriend even though everybody already knows you for the most part." She chuckles and nods and follows me back into the living room. My prediction is right as Hotch introduces her "I think most of you already know her, but this is Killian Edwards, my girlfriend." I smile warmly as everybody awes across the living room. Then the questions start, the main one being "when did it happen?" Killian makes eye contact with Hotch before answering "the night everybody came to the club, Aurora, and Spencer arrested that guy. I met Aaron for the first time there and the rest is history." I smile and nod "I'm surprised you could keep it a secret this long honestly." Everybody on the team makes weird eye contact and glances with one another. Hotch notices and says "what was that about?" Everybody looks to JJ to say it I guess because she can put it the most eloquently? She clears her throat before saying "well...um...when you were with Haley we could always tell when you were...frustrated..and you've honestly been kind of stressed and tense since the divorce and especially since her death which is completely understandable. Anyway...um we could just tell that you had some extracurricular activities going on outside of work based on how much you had mellowed out. I mean we've never seen you this zen in the office even when you were with Haley." Hotch gives one of his rare smiles at JJ's statement. He gives Killian a soft smile and says "I loved Haley. She was my high school sweetheart and the mother of my son. I believe she sent Killian to me, knowing I needed to move on. At first it wasn't very serious and we took it very slow. Our relationship grew until we wanted to be with each other as much as possible." Everybody awes at the statement as Hotch gives Killian a brief kiss. Rossi then says "as much as I love this ooey gooey lovey doveyness, dinner is served." We all cheer and make our way to the dining room. I sit next to Spencer and Jack had asked to sit with me but I told him he should sit between his dad and Killian. He didn't argue with me, just agreed, which I didn't expect. As always, Rossi's food is amazing and my food was also inhaled by the team. We go around the table and talk about what we did over the holidays. Everybody is very intrigued to hear about Spencer's rendition of my family. Thankfully he leaves out the parts about me running in to my former assaulter and my childhood bullies. Everybody finds it hilarious that Spencer won everybody over by shooting perfectly at different targets especially because a few years ago Spencer didn't even pass his gun qualification and couldn't carry a gun for a case or two. After dinner the team exchanges gifts. The gift exchange mainly consisted of alcohol, books, and accessories. We gave alcohol to the single adults and I gave some accessories, like jewelry to the girls, as well. We gave story books to the young kids. We received books for Spencer and the girls gave me a candle, some nice earrings, a cookbook with new recipes to try with my mixer, some scrunchies, and a few pairs of warm fuzzy socks. Alcohol was also gifted to the both of us. It was so cute and more than I expected. After a while we all start splitting off into different groups and chatting as we drink wine or some other form of alcohol.

~ Spencer's POV ~

I watch Annie as she sits on the couch with her legs crossed, looking as beautiful and classy as ever. She's balancing the demands for attention of the adults and the children gracefully. Henry toddles over to her with his arms outstretched and she happily picks him up, bouncing him on her legs. After a while Rossi makes eye contact with me before saying "fellas, would anyone like a cigar or some brandy out on the balcony?" The guys all fall in with the signal we had previously established and we file outside so I can discuss a particular matter in private, away from Annie's ears. We make it outside to the balcony, Will and Morgan are standing in sight of the door so we will be alerted as soon as possible if one of the girls comes outside. Rossi looks at me and says "the floor is yours, kid." I take a deep breath and nod. "I think I'm going to ask Annie to marry me." All the guys get excited and give words of encouragement. I look at them with concern and say "is it too soon though? We haven't even been dating a year." Morgan chuckles as he says "kid, you guys met over weaponized anthrax, you made your relationship official when you were in the hospital after a gun shot wound, and Annie was assaulted on your first vacation together. And that's just the stuff we know about. Who knows what goes on behind closed doors. If y'all aren't meant to be long term I don't know who is." Everybody murmurs in agreement. Will chimes in "and you guys already live together. In the south for some families that's a big step. The way she's talked about her family and traditions I doubt they're in favor of that. Y'all living together is a big step for her." I nod "it's a big step for me, too, but it feels right." Hotch nods and also adds to the conversation "she really loves you and you really love her. We all love her. She's great for you. Time doesn't matter. You're 28 and she'll be 26 very soon. You're adults and could elope right now if you wanted to. If you asked her to elope tonight I bet she would happily follow your lead." Everybody nods in agreement. "I was planning on asking when we celebrate her birthday. Or is that a bad idea?" I ask tentatively. Rossi responds "no kid, I think it's romantic." I nod before continuing "she said tonight how people forget her birthday and just give her regifted Christmas gifts. She said she hates her birthday because it never feels special. I want it to feel special by asking her to marry me and also by throwing her a surprise party." Morgan nods enthusiastically and claps a couple times before saying "there you go kid, that's great!" I smile sheepishly at the encouragement. I then ask "where should I do it? Should we go somewhere special or go somewhere new?" Rossi then asks "what are the somewhere special options?" I say "well there's the Smithsonian museum, we have a few restaurants we've been to that are special to us. Honestly I was thinking about taking her to the Italian restaurant you recommended for our third date, Rossi." Rossi claps and says "that's perfect kid, I can call and make some arrangements for you guys so it will be extra special. The owner is an old war buddy of mine." I smile gratefully and nod "I can't believe this is happening." Morgan says "now wait a minute you're missing one important part of the whole shebang, pretty boy." I raise an eyebrow and ask "what do you mean?" Morgan scoffs and laughs "well if you want to put a ring on it, you have to get a ring to put on it." I laugh and answer "I have the girls on that right now as we speak."

~ Annie's POV ~

I'm sitting on the couch with Emily, playing with baby Henry, while JJ and Killian are sitting on the floor playing with Jack. Penelope comes in with a fresh glass of wine and says "so Jayge, how are we coming on getting Will to pop the question?" JJ chuckles and rolls her eyes "I leave my phone open on the different rings I want and ask him to hand my phone to me all the time. I can't tell if he's just stubborn or really not getting the hint." I chuckle and say "you have some picked out? Lemme see!" She nods and pulls out her phone and opens her phone's photo album of engagement ring ideas. We look through the different pictures. Honestly her style is very different from mine. They're extremely pretty, just not my style. Emily notices my face and says "what is it, Annie? You don't like them?" I'm shocked at her directness. I stutter a bit before saying "N-no, they're beautiful, just not my style and that's okay." JJ doesn't look taken aback at all and says "okay, what kind of rings do you like? I need some new inspiration anyway!" I laugh a bit nervously and nod as I go to pull up my Pinterest board on my phone. On the very teeny tiny portion of my Pinterest board where I have engagement rings I have just a handful of very similar looking rings, a basic round cut diamond and a band with some small diamonds set in it. JJ looks at it and says "that's very classic and timeless, Annie, I love it. These are the only ones you have saved?" Penelope makes grabby hands and asks JJ to hand her the phone so she can see. I smile and say "yeah I like it because it's not gaudy or anything. It'll last for generations and never go out of style. My grandkids can have it and pass it down as like an heirloom." They all awe at that and JJ then asks me "so would you marry Spence one day, you think?" She wiggles her eyebrows at me suggestively. I laugh nervously and say quietly, still looking at the floor, "I would marry that man if he asked me with a ring pop." Penelope awes loudly and Emily just rolls her eyes and smiles at the corniness of what I said. JJ takes my hand and says "that is one of the sweetest things I've ever heard. Maybe one day we will get you two married. Honestly with the way things go and the way we move, you guys will probably be married before Will and I are even engaged." I laugh and shake my head "oh my god, JJ, no. I'm sure he already has a ring and everything. You're an amazing mom to Henry and a badass at work," Killian shushes me about my language and covers Jack's ears. I wince and nod with apologetic eyes. I then continue "and so intelligent and funny and gorgeous. If he doesn't ask you to marry him soon, I will." Just then the boys come back in from outside and Spencer says "wait what? What did we just walk in on?" I lower my head, shaking it, as all the girls start laughing hysterically at my horrible choice of words and timing. JJ finally lifts her head and says "Spencer, you and Will better be careful or we will leave both of you for each other." The men chuckle and make comments about how they wouldn't mind it if they could watch. JJ and I make eye contact and roll our eyes. Spencer comes over and helps me up off the couch before we turn and claim a love seat of our own now that we are all integrated again. I turn to Spencer "did you smoke a cigar with Rossi?" Spencer looks confused before shaking his head. "Oh no, I just wanted to spend some time with the guys. Catch up a bit without the stress of work." I nod in understanding. Spencer has grabbed my hand and is playing with my fingers. We sit there with Spencer's, and dare I say my, friends and really enjoy the fellowship. JJ says after a while of quiet scattered small talk among the group "oh I almost forgot! We want to invite all of you to our place for New Year's Eve! We wanted to do a pajama party theme and make it fun and casual." Everybody murmurs in excitement and nods. Morgan and Emily aren't as enthusiastic, they'll probably only make an appearance before going out for the night to a bar or club. I look at Spencer and he nods. I say enthusiastically "Spencer and I will come! I'll cook some party food, too." JJ smiles and nods appreciatively. Spencer and I mainly listen to everybody else talk and just chime in every now and again. I'm sitting to his right with my legs tucked to the side and under me. Spencer grabs a blanket from the arm of the couch and covers my lower body with it. I'm grateful because I am cold and it also helps keep me from not flashing anybody unknowingly. Spencer is continuously playing with my hand, much more than normal, but I decide to just not think much of it. As we contently enjoy the company of our friends, especially after missing them so much, I start to nod off. Spencer notices and gently moves me so my head is in his lap and adjusts the blanket so it covers me more. I don't fully fall asleep, I can still hear everything going on around me, but I'm still recovering from the trip and the assault. Closing my eyes just for a little bit is nice. It's the safest I've felt since the attack due to the fact that I'm surrounded by FBI agents. Spencer is gently running his fingers through my hair and down my arm. I hear JJ ask "how are you doing Spence?" He hums in confusion for a split second before answering "me? I'm fine. Why do you ask?" She responds "well, we know Annie was assaulted but that had to be really scary for you. How have you handled it?" Everybody is listening to their conversation now. I feel Spencer tense as he struggles to find the right words. He says "oh um I guess I've just been trying to take care of her. It was much scarier when there was blood everywhere and I thought it was hers. She handled herself really well. It was just hard to see the bruises. It was especially hard getting stares and looks from strangers in the airport who saw her injuries and immediately thought I abused her." Emily chimes in and says "Spencer, we know you would never do that. You know that, we know that, and Annie knows that. Look at how relaxed she is in your lap. She feels safe with you." Spencer hums in agreement, still caressing me with a featherlight touch. After a beat Spencer responds "I just don't know what I would do without her. I love her so much. And in that moment I didn't know if it was possibly our last together." I feel a pang of guilt. I should've had more empathy towards Spencer and not worried about myself so much. I don't think he blames me, but I do think he was afraid to let his guard down and be open with me. Everybody gives various comments of understanding and empathy towards Spencer. They eventually change the topic and begin talking about happier things. At this point I tune in and out of the conversation. After a while, I honestly don't know how long, Henry starts crying loudly and it stirs me awake. JJ looks at me with apologetic eyes and I give her a sleepy smile and shake my head, telling her not to worry about it. JJ says "I think we should be heading home, it is way past his normal bed time and he's getting cranky." Everybody begins to murmur their goodbyes as well and gather their things. I stretch and yawn as Spencer gets up from the couch. He leans down and says "I'm going to gather our things, you can just wait here, baby." I don't have the energy to protest and just nod sleepily. Killian is one of the few left in the room with me and I ask her "so how did you like your first team dinner?" She smiles and says "it was a lot of fun. It's nice to see Aaron in a happy medium between his work and home moods." I nod in understanding. "It's crazy how different they can act in and out of the field. It's like totally different people." I say speculatively. She widens her eyes and nods in agreement. I then stand up and stretch again before putting my pumps back on and I begin grabbing dirty glasses from the living room and carrying them to the kitchen to be cleaned and put away. I am washing dishes at the sink when I feel hands wrap around me from behind. I immediately recognize the arms of Spencer's emerald dress shirt and relax into the embrace. He kisses my neck gently and says "I thought I told you to wait there in the living room." He kisses down my neck to my bare shoulder and my breathing hitches. I say quietly "I just thought I would help. Sitting there looking pretty wouldn't help anybody." Spencer hums. "You know what happens when you don't follow my orders, princess." My heart rate picks up and I'm sure Spencer can feel the increased pace as his lips are on my carotid. I let out a shaky sigh, really not wanting to moan out loud in Rossi's kitchen where anybody could walk in or hear from another room. Spencer doesn't like my lack of response. He pulls me in tighter and says in a rougher voice "what happens to bad girls who don't follow orders, princess, hmm?" I gulp and catch my breath and say "they get punished." He hums in affirmation. "Good girl, now let's go. I've already put our dishes and gifts in the car. Rossi has cleaning help so let them do this." I nod and obediently move to dry my hands and follow Spencer out. He guides me to the front door and takes my coat to help me into it. We say our goodbyes to everybody on the way out and walk out to the car. I yawn as we walk and Spencer says "I won't punish you tonight because you're so exhausted, but I will punish you for disobeying me soon." I nod and say "yes, sir, I understand." He says "good girl" and kisses my temple as he opens my car door for me. I smile appreciatively and get in, buckling myself. Spencer gets in the car and begins to turn around in the driveway. The quiet motions of the car and the radio at a low volume quickly lull me to sleep again as I lean my head against the window.