Best kept secret | Spencer Reid

Epilogue

Spencer's POV

"Dad," A small whispered voice pulls me from my sleep, one tiny little finger poking into my chest repeatedly. "Dad, wake up."

I stir awake and blink away tiredness to see my youngest child sitting on my chest, greeting me with a huge smile.

"Hi, princess."

Somehow Madison's sweet smile grows even bigger, showing me those adorable little dimples she got from her mom. I don't know how she could look so awake at the ungodly hour of barely six a.m, but it's how she likes to greet me every morning and I can't complain.

She's climbed up onto our bed, her favorite stuffed bear she loves to sleep with tucked underneath her arm to wake Averie and I up.

Rolling over slightly, I press a kiss to my wife's cheek while she blinks awake. "Good morning baby."

Madison is three and a half and that's arguably my favorite stage all of our kids went through. They can talk in full sentences, but don't quite have a full grasp on the concepts of the world.

"You do you call mommy baby?" Madison asks, a crease in her brows. "I'm the baby of the house."

I twirl my finger in her loose brown curls, holding back a laugh at the severe case of bed head she's rocking. "I called mommy baby long before you and your brothers were here."

My daughter's eyes go wide and she blinks at me. "You knew mommy before us?"

Exhibit A of not quite understanding everything just yet. "I did," I nod, reaching for my phone on the night stand. "Want to see?"

Holding open the covers so she can slide underneath them between Averie and I, our daughter snuggles in beside us as I start to show her some photos of us over the years.

"This is one of the first photos me and mommy ever took," I say, showing her a picture of us on our third date. "This was over eleven years ago. That's your age nearly four times."

Her big chocolate brown eyes widen. "Woah."

I match her expression when I nod. "I know."

I pull up the pictures of our wedding day next, showing our daughter all the many photos Penelope had us take down by the lake, smiling and posing for an hour before she decided a thousand was enough.

"Aidan was in mommy's belly that day and we didn't even know."

Madison's head turns and she looks at me like I just tried to tell her that Elsa isn't the best Disney princess. "Aidan wouldn't fit in mommy's belly," She says, her nose scrunching up when she giggles. "He's too big."

I sigh because it's true. He's going to be nine in a couple months and no, I am not okay with it.

"Your dress is really pretty, mommy."

Averie smiles at our daughter, popping a kiss to her cheek. "Thank you, sweet girl."

Madison flashes her a big grin. "Can I wear that when I get bigger?"

I'm shutting that down real quick. She's our last baby and I am downright refusing to let her grow up. "You're not allowed to get any bigger."

Madison's apprehensive eyes flicker between Averie and I and she winces slightly. "I think I have to.."

"You can't grow up," Averie says, the corners of her lips quirking up when she shoots me a look. "Because we won't be able to do this anymore..."

On the silent count of three, Averie and I both attack her with kisses from either side all while Madison squeals and giggles, squirming around the bed.