✓ | 𝗔𝗣𝗛𝗥𝗢𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗘 · ͟͟͞͞➳ spencer reid

CHAPTER 25 ━━━

# ! | CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
- they're happy with the world again

━━━ EMILY PRENTISS HAD
never been the type to really enjoy nature. She loved people, she loved animals, but natural beauty typically evaded her appreciation. She pats Pip's strong neck as they crest the side of a grassy mountaintop and all of that changes.

They can see everything from here. Bozeman below them and to the east, valleys and a river, more mountains like the one they're standing on. Everything is green and snow capped, soon to be completely white, courtesy of the snowstorm that's on it's way, set to arrive on Christmas Eve. Emily's eyes widen and she can't help but gasp a little bit. Meryl looks at her fondly, always loving people's first reactions to this place. The air is sweet, a little cold, the kind that you breathe in and it really makes you feel full.

"Woah, Morgan, you okay?" Spencer asks a somewhat weepy Derek. The older man nods. "Yeah, yeah. It's just... fuck, it's really pretty."

They stand and watch for a little longer and then decide to turn around, eleven o'clock already having come and gone. When they arrive back at the stable, Rossi is brushing a sporty looking grey horse with a smug looking face.

"Going riding?" Meryl asks as she sends away Morgan, Reid, and Emily and finishes tending to all four horses. Rossi shakes his head and gestures to his jeans and leather boots. "Just wanted to spend some time with horses. Back on Long Island," Meryl settles in, taking perch on a mounting block, "there was this stable right down the road that I went to all the time when I was a kid. I didn't ride or anything, but my folks knew the owners and they'd just let me brush any horse I could catch. I understand why you love this place so much."

Murph bobs her head. "I'll leave you to it, then. I'm sure Pickle appreciates the attention."

David sighs. "You named a horse Pickle? You've got a one seventy something IQ and the best you can do is Pickle?"

Meryl laughs from inside the tack room, where she switches out her riding boots for sneakers. "We can't all be Spencer Reid."

Rossi bites the inside of his cheek. "You wanna do something to that guy and we both know it's not be him."

She flicks a black lock of hair over her shoulder. "That obvious?"

Rossi shrugs. "Not all noses are as fine tuned as mine."

"He's just... astounding, you know? He's come to think that perfection is just expected of him and I wanna remind him that what he does is just incredible. What he is to the team... what all of you are to each other, it's lovely." Meryl taps the toe of her sneaker against the ground.

Rossi smiles more to himself than her and puts the brushes away, leading Pickle back to his stall. When he wraps up, Meryl is waiting in the second side by side, the one he'd driven down in having been absconded with by the three stooges who headed up earlier.

At around four in the afternoon, the shopping brigade arrives back at the lodge and, while Leona, Meryl, Clau, and Rossi make dinner, the rest of the guests congregate in the stable. Henry and Jack play with the bunnies and chickens, feed the goats, and Meryl then lets Loki out of his stall. The black and grey donkey stands patiently as the two little boys brush him, giving the stink eye all the while.

Dinner is laid out on a long table in the barn and everyone digs in, sending their compliments to Chef Leona, who eats the praise up like the pasta everyone else shovels in. Henry and Jack stick to the charcuterie board, piling their plates with meat and crackers and cheese. Upscale lunchables, if you will.