Paranoia - s.reid

Crawl

(Super duper short chapter- sorry! It's not the best but I think we really needed this ending. You'll see why next chapter. Tiny bit of Italian, as always, if it's wrong, correct me!)

It'd been a month since Hotch's stabbing accident with Foyet. That's what he was calling it now. 

"Alright, sweetheart, you ready for lots of fun at the park with Stevie?" Liz exclaimed in an overexaggerated amount of excitement, watching Dee squeal in response, a big smile on her face. Spencer leaned on the side of the car door, buckling the infant into the car seat while Liz held his crutch.

"You really like my hair, don't you?" Spencer laughed, watching the baby tug on his long hair. He'd been growing out mainly due to the fact that Dee was obsessed with it, he didn't have the heart to cut it.

The drive to the McCord's house wasn't too long. It consisted of Spencer entertaining the baby from the front seat with funny faces and odd voices while Liz just laughed along, keeping her eyes on the road.

"Hi, Dee! Hey guys." Stevie smiled, taking Dee in her hands at the front door. "You said you had a case, any idea how long you'll be gone?"

"No clue, but we'll call as much as we can. Any plans?"

"Lots of tummy time to see if we can get her crawling by next month. We'll probably go to the park, just some fun stuff."

"Alright. We'll see you soon, okay?" Both parents kissed the little one's cheek, waving her and Stevie off before getting back into the car.

-----

It was officially Liz and Spencer's first wedding anniversary.

The couple didn't really plan on anything big, just dinner at home, a movie and putting the baby to sleep.

They'd just finished putting Diana to sleep, closing her door as softly as they could before walking downstairs. "I'll grab a couple of glasses of champagne?" Spencer offered, laughing at Liz's enthusiastic nod.

She joined him in the kitchen, wrapping her arms around his neck as he did the same around her waist. "You know, I don't mind making another one." He hummed, nodding towards the stairs, referring to the sleeping baby.

"Maybe not yet, but I don't mind practicing right now." She smirked in return.

"Absolutely." He grinned, abandoning the alcohol and pulling her upstairs as quietly as possible.

-----

Another month went by, and this time Stevie had started dropping Diana at the office by the end of the work day if they weren't on a case. That's how the couple found themselves on the sofa of Liz's office, nodding off to sleep at 5pm.

A small knock on the door was enough to snap them out of their sleepy state. "Come in."

Strauss emerged, a small smile on her face. "Sorry to interrupt, you must be tired. Liz, may I speak with you?"

 Spencer got ready to get up and leave. " No problem. Do you want me to take Dee?"

"No, it's fine. Thanks, babe, I'll see you downstairs in a few minutes then we can go home." She responded, rocking Diana in her arms as her eyes shifted to Strauss. "Sit."

"How old is she?"

"4 months."

"That's nice. I'm here because Agent Hotchner's ability to lead this team has been compromised, we'd like to promote you as the BAU's new unit chief." She spoke, smiling widely. Liz felt sick to her stomach as she cradled the small baby who'd just began to cry. "Oh, uh, sorry she normally doesn't cry often. Hold on." Reaching into the baby bag by her feet, she pulled out a bottle and brought it to Diana's lips, the infant instantly latched on. Strauss watched the entire interaction.