Best kept secret | Spencer Reid

Living the dream, baby

S P E N C E R ' S   P O V

I stop in front of the large display of flowers, picking up two bouquets in my hands and throughly examining them.

"What do you think mommy would like? The red or the pink?"

I peer down into the stroller and watch as Aidan's eyes follow the colored roses while he coos and babbles in an attempt to talk back to my question.

"The red from me, the pink from you?" I nod at him, smiling. "Good choice."

Placing both the bouquets underneath the stroller, I begin to make my way further into the store.

Today is Valentine's Day and Averie and I have never really taken the holiday too seriously. We don't plan big dates or go to any fancy restaurants, opting to just spend the night in instead and this year is no different.

What we do though is our own silly little tradition to get each other the absolute worst Valentine's Day cards we can find.

And of course I always get her flowers and chocolates too. I'd be a stupid man not to.

So after finding everything I need at the store, I put Aidan back in his car seat and we head home.

Our car rides now consist of listening to nursery rhymes and lucky me gets to hear the wheels on the bus and row, row, row your boat, all the way home.

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I lay Aidan tummy down on his play mat and I position myself on my stomach opposite him so we're facing each other.

Not only is he starting to turn his head to follow the sound of our voices, he's already able to lift his head and look around.

Aidan pats his hand to the play mat and freezes when it makes a crunching sound. It's a sensory mat so that definitely peaks his interest and he taps his hand to it again.

Following the sound, Aidan looks down and suddenly his eyes widen, like he's discovering he has hands for the first time. Cautiously, he brings one hand to his mouth and when he looks like he just made the greatest discovery of all time while he gnaws on it, I can't help but laugh at him.

Although he may look exactly like me, he is the image of Averie when he pauses, his eyes lift to mine and he gives me a what the hell are you laughing at? face.

Seeing how he's already growing up so fast really puts things into perspective for me. I think I have some things to think about, but when my phone rings on the coffee table, I decide to not delve into that right now.

"Hey," I say when I answer Averie's call. "How was the appointment?"

Averie had her six week postpartum check up today with the doctor, which left me perfect timing to sneak out and get her valentines flowers and chocolates.

Aidan had his check up the other day and he is perfectly healthy. Although he did have to get some of his vaccines and I had to be the one to hold his legs down while he got his shots.

He screamed.

Averie and I both cried because he was screaming.

It was not a good day.

"All good," Averie says. "Quick question, red or black?"

My brows furrow and I shake a stuffed teddy bear in front of Aidan's face. "In regards to what?"

Averie laughs softly over the phone. "Just answer."

"Black," I decide, completely confused on where she's going with this. "Are you going to tell me what it's about now?"