Lover | S.R.

Spencer

Ophelia holds my hand as we walk toward the door of 'Las Vegas Café', which has been open since 1964, according to the sign.

"I've been coming here since I was little. Every time we're out here, we eat here— like, five times." She tells me, shaking her head and grinning. "I hope you don't get sick of it."

"I won't," I laugh in response, squeezing her hand.

She stops just outside of the door and pulls out her phone, dialing a number before holding it up to her ear. "I just wanna make sure that they're in there so that I don't go in and look around like an idiot," She tells me with an awkward chuckle.

I squeeze her hand and look around the parking lot.

"Hey. Are you guys inside?" She asks into the phone. "Okay! Alright, we'll be right there."

She flips her phone shut and puts it back into her pocket. "Dad and the girls are inside, Gabe is on his way. You ready?"

I nod at her and gesture to the door with my free hand. "Let's go."

Lia leads me inside. She tells the hostess that we're meeting family and then we step in further, spotting her dad and sisters at a table in the back.

My stomach aches a little bit. This is the first time I've ever met anyone's family. Lila never introduced me to her family.

"You okay?" Ophelia asks quietly as we head toward the table.

I give her hand a few squeezes. "Nervous."

"I love you, Spence. So will they." She assures me, continuing toward the table and letting go of my hand when we finally reach it.

Her dad is wearing a blue polo shirt, and when he stands to greet us, I can see that he's paired it with tan cargo shorts and some older-looking gym shoes. His hair is combed neatly and is a mix of black with a bit of gray throughout. He's wearing reading glasses on the end of his nose, which he takes off and sets on the table after standing. Brown eyes, clean shaven face with the same skin tone as Ophelia. You can easily tell that they're father and daughter, the only difference is that her hair is lighter.

"Ophelia, hey!" He pulls her in for a hug. When he pulls away, he holds her by her arms and grins at her. "¿Pensé que tu novio no vendría?"

I thought your boyfriend wasn't coming? He asked her.

"También," Lia laughs. "Me sorprendió."

Me too. He surprised me.

"Lia!" Her youngest sister, Ellie, pushes past me to get to her sister and wraps her arms around her.

"Hi!" Lia greets her excitedly, her face lighting up instantly. "Oh, my gosh. You're getting so tall!"

"Spencer Reid, right?" Her dad asks me with a smile, stepping around his daughters and offering me his hand to shake.

"Dr. Spencer Reid," I nod, staring at his hand for a second before Ophelia speaks up.

"Germs, Dad. Remember?" She asks him.

I shake my head and take his hand, giving him a firm handshake. It's important. I'll deal.

"It's really nice to meet you," I tell him as I let go of his hand.

"You, too! You're all Ophelia ever talks about. Spencer this, Spencer that." He chuckles.

I smile at him before looking over at Lia. She gives me a shy grin, her cheeks now rosy.

"Spencer, this is Ellie," Lia says, resting her hands on her sisters shoulder.

The ten year old stands in front of her, wearing a red dress with a butterfly pattern. She looks like a younger Ophelia, I'm sure that if I looked at a photo of her when she was ten, they'd look nearly the same.