The Boss' Niece (Spencer Reid)

45. Surprise

Spencer wasn't known for being excited about his birthday. It's not that he didn't like his birthday, no. It's just the fact that something always got in the way. For his 24th birthday, his co-workers - specifically Morgan and Elle - decided to play a prank on him.

"Get a good shot at his face. Make a wish!" Elle laughed as Morgan gripped the edges of Spencer's party hat that he so desperately wanted to remove.

"Come on man!" Morgan laughed, Penelope standing nearby, watching the situation.

"Blow, baby blow!" Penelope chanted, watching as Spencer struggled.

"I thought you were full of hot air, Reid. Come on, Reid." Morgan kept laughing as Elle kept recording, getting every moment of this hilarious situation.

"They're trick candles, Spence. Okay? They're gonna come back on every time." JJ stopped Spencer from trying to blow out the candles, yet, as soon as her hands moved from his shoulders, he kept trying to blow.

"Oh, mommy to the rescue!" Morgan mocked, a smirk on his face as Spencer stopped blowing, giving Morgan a confused look.

"Mommy?" Spencer gagged in disgust, not knowing how Morgan was okay with being so crude.

Then, there was the fact that the BAU team was so busy with their case, that they had forgotten about his 30th birthday - until they returned back from their case.

Now, Spencer was just days away from turning 32 years old. Unlike his 30th birthday, his 31st birthday was much more special, as he and Cassidy spent his birthday just relaxing in their apartment, a cheesy movie on while they just focused on loving each other.

But, Spencer wasn't so concerned about turning 32. In fact, he was more focused on what he intended to do after he turned 32. He had known Cassidy for 2 years and had been happily dating her for 1 year.

From the moment he and Cassidy started their weird and odd relationship, he knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Hence why, for the past 2 weeks, he had been doing the most important type of shopping. He wasn't Christmas shopping. He wasn't birthday shopping. He was ring shopping.

No one knew. Not even Penelope. He had made sure that his entire process of finding the perfect ring for Cassidy was a secret. Whenever he was alone, he'd pull out his phone and look online. He even had to lie to Cassidy for a while, claiming that he was just out doing errands, when in fact, he was at one specific shop, hoping to buy a ring.

In fact, he was glad that he had started ring shopping around his birthday. He knew that Cassidy would be planning something special for him for his birthday, so that provided her with the perfect distraction while he focused on his proposal.

He had a semi-decent plan. It was a semi-decent plan, as a birthday party might have been an odd place to do it, but when all the attention was going to be on him, it would have possibly been his only decent chance. There was also the fact that Hotch demanded that all cases be halted until Spencer's birthday was over. Both he and the team hated it when they missed out on his birthdays.

Although, to be fair, it wouldn't be unusual for something like this to happen, considering he and Penelope threw 3 parties in one for Cassidy's birthday.

———

SPENCER
Cassidy knew that I wasn't the biggest fan of surprises, so we stood in our apartment setting up a party for me. Penelope had helped out a lot, and all we needed to do now was wait. Every now and again, I placed my hand inside my pocket, feeling around for the small velvet box that would hopefully become ending up empty by the end of the night.

Once the whole team was at the apartment, the night began. Hotch and Rossi stayed near the table that was filled with alcohol. JJ and Emily gushed at how beautiful the decorations were, happily giving me lots of credit. Morgan kept chatting to me about how I felt being 32.

After a few drinks, and so much laughter, Cassidy pulled a cake out of the fridge, placing it on the table in front of me.

"Happy Birthday to you!" Cassidy started.

"Happy Birthday to you!" The whole team joined in.

"Happy Birthday dear Spencer!" Everyone was smiling.

"Happy Birthday to you!" Everyone cheered. I happily looked down at the cake, closing my eyes for a moment before blowing out the candles.

"Did you make a wish?" Penelope asked, chuckling.

"Of course I did. I wished that-" Before I could continue, Cassidy shushed me, shaking her head.

"-You tell us your wish, and it won't come true." Cassidy smiled.

"No. I want to tell you my wish, because it's the most important wish that I've ever made." I began, holding the small velvet box in my pocket.

"Go ahead, kid. We're listening." Morgan smiled, everyone remaining silent.

"I wished that I could spend every single day loving you, for the rest of my life. What we started with was a very unconventional and odd relationship. Nothing about our relationship is normal, and I'm okay with that. I'm more than okay with how our relationship is. You, Cassidy Marlow, are the love and light of my life. Without you, I'd be lost. Without you, I don't think that I would have survived these past 2 years. We've been up. We've been down. We've dealt with criminal after criminal. Case after case. There is nowhere I'd rather be than right here, celebrating my birthday with you and our family. You have made my life a whole lot better and to be honest, I would love to make a dream of mine come true. I want to spend every single single day waking up beside you. I want to spend every single day loving you. I want to spend every single day calling you mine." I took a deep breath in and out, before getting on one knee as I pulled out the small velvet box.

I could feel every single person looking at me. Even though I was looking directly at Cassidy - as her eyes watered and a smile was plastered on her face as she tried not to cry - I could feel the shocked and surprised looks on everyone's faces.

I could feel Morgan looking at me with proud big brother eyes. I could feel JJ, Emily and Penelope almost crying at the sight of me about to propose to their best friend. I could feel the pride radiating off Rossi and Hotch, both of whom were slowly sipping their drinks.

"Cassidy Hotchner, will you marry me?" I opened the velvet box, watching a Cassidy gasped in surprise. I used her original last name - Hotchner - knowing that while the law considered her to be Cassidy Marlow, she was always going to be a Hotchner in my head, and to be honest, that was something I loved about her.

"YES! YES! YES!" Cassidy nodded, pulling me in for a sweet and passionate kiss. Before long, we both pulled away, me placing the ring on her finger while everyone around us cheered.

"OMG! You're getting married!" Penelope gasped, jumping up and down while clapping.

"We're getting married!" I pulled Cassidy in for another kiss before Morgan started chuckling.

"Well damn. That's one hell of a birthday wish." Morgan smiled.

"Happy Birthday, Spencer." Cassidy looked up at me, a huge smile plastered on her face.

"I think that I just received the best birthday gift ever. A beautiful fiancée." I smiled, enveloping Cassidy in a huge hug, which was happily extended to the rest of the team.