A few days passed by, and Spencer called here and there when he wasn't busy. I went down to the station and hung out with Garcia a few times. I was just bored, I definitely needed to get out and make more friends for times like this. It was now Friday night, and I was at work. It was only 10:15 so I had a while to go. My phone rang in my pocket and I grinned, thinking it was Spencer. It was my mother. She usually doesn't call this late.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Hi honey." My mom greeted me. She sounded upset over something. "Are you busy?"
"No, I'm at work but there's nothing to do." I said. "Is everything okay?"
"Well, yes and no." She started. "Your father has been having migraines again, and we went to the hospital and they found a tumor. It's just behind his frontal lobe and they can't get it out without him..." She trailed off, and I knew what she was going to say. I was struck into silence, not knowing how to take it. "They said it's going to spread at some point and eventually it'll start to affect his memory, speech, movement, everything." She sniffled. She tried to muffle a sob.
I took a deep breath to keep my composure. "Where's dad now?" I asked.
"Sleeping." She said. "That's why I called so late, I wanted to wait for him to go to bed."
"Okay." I said. "Here's the deal, I get off work tonight and I don't work till Tuesday. I'm going to come down there to see you guys before anything happens to dad. Have you called Melanie?"
"That's fine honey. Yes, I called her a few minutes ago. She said she'd be here in a few hours."
"Okay momma." I said. "I love you. I'll see you when I get there." She said she loved me too and hung up. I walked to the restroom and leaned against the sink, letting my emotions get the best of me. I cried for a good 20 minutes before slowing down. My makeup had run everywhere and I decided I needed to call Spencer.
"Hello?" He picked up, and I could hear the sleep drenching his voice.
"Shit, you're sleeping." I said. "Sorry Spence." I sniffled.
"It's okay." He sounded alert. "What's wrong, are you okay?" He asked quickly.
"Not really." I held back a few tears. "My mom just called. My dad has a terminal brain tumor. I'm going down to Kansas when I get off work and staying till Tuesday when I work next."
"Baby I'm sorry." Spencer said. "Do you need me to come home early? We solved the case a few hours ago and we're leaving in the morning."
"No," I said. "It's okay."
"I'll fly down there when I get back." He said, determined to help me.
"Spence, it's fine." I said. "You've taken way too much time off in the last few months for me."
"Hotch doesn't mind." He said. "He wants me to be there for you because of what happened with Hayley. He's big on putting family first now."
"Fine." I said. "Just call when you get there."
"Okay." He said. "Let me know you got there safe. I love you baby girl." I let out a quick sob as soft as possible, not being able to hold it back. "Hey, it's going to be okay. Please don't cry. I'm here for you if you need anything okay?"
"Okay. I love you too. Bye." I hung up and cried some more before going out to finish my shift. I got online and bought airplane tickets for Spencer and I both. I texted him to tell him I covered his and Andrew came up to me, leaning on a filing cabinet.
"Hey there," he said. "You okay?"
"Yeah." I smiled. "Allergies."
"Oh, gotcha. We have some meds in the break room if you want them." He said. I shook my head and he said okay and walked away. My shift dragged on, but when it finished at 6, I went home, packed and left for my 8 am flight.
When we finally landed, it was 10 am Kansas time which would be 11 Virginia time. I texted Spencer.
Hey, I just landed.
Sounds good, thank you for taking care of my air ticket by the way. You didn't need to. I'm about to board, see you in a few hours.
I said okay and put my phone away before getting my bags and driving to my old house in Lawrence. It felt so good to be back, I just wished it was on different circumstances. I got to the house and saw Mike's, Mel's and mom's cars outside. I got my stuff and went in.
"Hey sweetie." My mom hugged me and kissed my cheek. "How was your flight?"
"Good." I smiled at her to try and lift her spirits. Next was Mike. He pulled me into a bear hug.
"Hey kiddo." He said. "How are ya?" He asked.
"Fine, busy." I responded. Mel was just sitting on the couch, on her phone. She was never as close with dad as Mike and I, this probably didn't affect her as much. "Hey Mel." I said. She smiled and waved before returning to her phone. "Where's dad?"
"Up in our bedroom. Be careful, he might be asleep or have a migraine." My mom said. I walked up the stairs and silently turned the door to their room. My dad was watching tv, which meant he was okay for now. He turned to face me.
"Hey Maddie bug, how are ya?" He asked, happy as ever.
"I'm good dad, how are you feeling?" I smiled to make sure the atmosphere stayed light, such as to not induce a migraine.
"Oh I'm fine pumpkin, don't you worry about me." He grinned, and I took in the smile lines around his mouth and eyes.
"What've you been up to?" I asked.
"Oh nothing." He said. "Working on the lawn, finished up the bathroom renovations. I'd show you, but I'm bed ridden."
I felt my smile falter a bit, but cleaned it up immediately. "I noticed the lawn looked greener. I'll take a look at the bathroom later." He hummed and yawned.
"I'm sorry pumpkin, but I'm exhausted." He said. "Come back later when I wake up."
"Okay daddy. I love you."
"I love you too sweetheart." He smiled at me. He closed his eyes, still smiling and I took a picture of him before leaving the room. I decided the jet lag and the 8 hour shift were getting to me, so I retreated into my old bedroom. I took in the soft blue walls and my old pink bedspread. I still loved it. I lied down and soon enough, I was asleep.
I woke up to someone crawling into bed with me.
"Hey sleeping beauty." I heard Spencer's voice in my ear.
"Hey." I was still tired.
"Go ahead and go back to sleep." He said. I turned over and snuggled into his chest. We were both on our sides, so I was basically curled into a little ball while he held me. The last thing I remember before falling asleep was thinking he smelled really good.
I woke up to sunlight streaming through the window and Spencer playing with my hair while I laid in his lap.
"Morning." He smiled down at me.
"Hey there." I gave him a little grin and sat up. He laid his head on my shoulder.
"Have you talked to your dad yet?" He asked.
I nodded. "Yeah. I did yesterday before I came to bed." He nodded and didn't say anything. I got up and decided I'd go see if he was up, it was 4 in the afternoon.
"Hey pumpkin." He smiled at me when I walked in.
"Hi dad. Spencer's here if you want to see him." I said. He looked confused.
"I'm sorry, who?" He asked.
"Spencer, my boyfriend. You met him when you were in Quantico while I was in the hospital."
"I don't remember." He shook his head. "Bring him in anyway."
I retrieved Spencer from the hallway.
"Hey Dave." Spencer smiled and shook his hand.
"Hello, who are you?" Dad asked him. Spencer seemed taken aback and I saw realization flash across his face before he covered it up.
"My name is Dr. Spencer Reid, I work in the Behavioral Analysis Unit for the FBI." Spencer gave his usual intro.
"Nice to meet you Dr. Reid. How long have you been dating my daughter?"
"1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 15 hours and-"
"Okay kid." My dad said. "Don't hurt yourself." Spencer looked mildly offended but laughed it off.
"How are you feeling dad?" I asked.
"My head hurts, but that's just a given." He sighed. I nodded, not knowing what to say. "I'm going to go to sleep if you two would excuse me." He said in the nicest way possible and smiled.
"No problem. I love you." I smiled and kissed his cheek.
"Love you too pumpkin." Spencer and I walked out into the hall and stood for a second.
"It's getting worse and worse by the hour." I said. I started to tear up but I didn't want to cry in front of him right now so I just looked down. He pulled me into a hug and swayed left to right with me for a few minutes.
"Everything is going to be okay." He said.
"Spencer it's a terminal brain tumor." I pulled back and crossed my arms. "How is that remotely 'okay'?"
My brother walked out of the bathroom and stopped for a second.
"Everything okay here?" He gave Spencer a suspicious look.
"It's fine." I said. I walked into my bedroom and sat on the bed. "Sorry Spencer."
"There's nothing for you to apologize for." He put his arm around me. "I know how you feel."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Story for another time. Let's go downstairs." He pulled me up and we walked down together.
"Hey kids." My mom smiled at us. "I'm just starting dinner. Maddie will you go get Mel?" I nodded and went down the hall to get her from her room.
"Hey, moms making supper if you're hungry." I said. She nodded. "Have you talked to dad today?" I asked.
"No." She said. "I'm sure he doesn't really want to see me so I'm just going to stay down here."
"He's dying from a brain tumor and you think he doesn't want to see you? That's ridiculous Melanie." I argued with her.
"You know we're just going to argue." She rolled her eyes.
"Well, you can take him his dinner and I don't want to see you back down here. You need to spend time with him." I said, with as much force as I could. She ignored me. We sat down around the island to eat and she took his food to him, not returning. I smiled to myself and we ate in silence.
"That was great, thank you Mrs. Collins." Spencer grinned at her.
"Oh honey, please, Carol." She took the dishes and started on them and I helped her.
Spencer's POV
Maddie's sister came back and tapped me on the shoulder. "Dad wants to see you." She said. I nodded and walked up the stairs and was growing nervous, what was he going to say to me of all people?
The door was open so I just walked in.
"Hey there Dr. Reid, take a seat." He grinned, he was so nice.
"Please, Spencer." I said. "What can I do for you?"
"Well, it's obvious that if you and my daughter get married, I won't be here." He said. "I just wanted to ask that you take good care of her. That's my little girl."
"I promise I'll take the best care of her that I can Mr. Collins." I felt a pang of sadness making this promise. What if I couldn't keep it?
"Spencer, do you love my daughter?" He was now facing me, looking me in the eye. I looked him in the eye as well, knowing my answer.
"Yes sir." I nodded. "With everything I have."
"Good." He rolled back over. "Then you have all my blessings if you two ever decide to tie the knot." He chuckled and smiled at me.
"I appreciate that." I shook his hand and he dismissed me. I decided I would just wait in Maddie's room until she was finished downstairs. I could hear her and Mel talking through the vents and I decided to eavesdrop.
"So, do you think he's... you know, 'the one'?" Mel asked her.
"I'm not really sure." Oh. "I do love him, but I feel like working the night shifts at the hospital and him having cases is going to put too much strain on our relationship and he'll get tired of me at some point." I heard her sigh and I felt bad that she thought that way.
"I think he's going to stick around." Mel said. "You should've seen him in Washington, Mads. He was so distraught but then again all he focused on was finding you. It really showed how much he cares." "I'm that easy to see through?" My conscience was replying to her by itsself.
"I know." Maddie said. "I'm just waiting for the bump in the road. You know, just the smallest thing is going to mess us up."
"Yeah, I get it. But he loves you now so just take it and be happy." Mel said.
"Yeah." She mumbled. I could hear her start walking and I counted her steps. It only took about 23 to get from here to the kitchen. I sat on the bed nonchalantly before she got there. "Hey." She ran a hand through her hair and smiled, but it wasn't real. There were no wrinkles at the side of her eyes and she didn't hunch her shoulders a little bit like usual.
"Hi." I gave her the most loving smile I could conjure up, she looked drained. "Tired?" I asked.
"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm going to go shower though. I'll be back." I waved her off and looked around her room. I heard the shower start and I got up, looking at the pictures on her old dresser. There was a few of her and who I assumed to be Kayleigh and then some if her and her family. I found a school picture of her when she was young and practically toothless, and I tucked it into my wallet. I changed into my sweats and took my shirt off and waited for her. Once she got back, her eyes were red and puffy and I could tell she'd been crying. Without saying a word, she laid down next to me and snuggled up.
"Hey," I said. She looked up at me with a pair of sad eyes. "I love you, no matter what happens. I always will. I'm here whenever you need me." I heard her sniffle a little bit and felt her nod, and I knew that was all she could manage.