Reid waited patiently as another crowd burst into the main waiting area of the airport. That was the third plane to land while he was there but he knew he'd arrived early and he was expecting a long wait. Slowly the area cleared again and Reid checked his watch; four more minutes. The time seemed to slow down as the deadline closed, it showed their plane had landed on the plane timetable but it still felt like hours until the plane's passengers spilled out into the waiting area.
As passengers started looking for the bags and meeting up with relatives Reid started to think he might have gotten the plane number wrong. That was until he saw Anna's familiar blonde hair swirling towards him.
"Uncle Spencer!" She shouted as she jumped up at him. He picked her up and swung her round with a big smile on his face as she shrieked and wrapped her arms round his neck. As Desiree and Spencer got closer Reid slowly placed Anna back on the floor and smiled at them.
"Looks like she missed you" Desiree said with a big smile as Reid took her bag and led the way out to his car. Reid grinned at her as he got into the car, closely followed by the rest of them.
"Did the shipping men drop off the stuff?" Desiree asked as Reid started up the car.
"They dropped it off last night. I thought you might need some help unpacking so a couple of my friends are waiting at the house" Reid replied as he looked at his excited niece and nephew through the rear view mirror then to Desiree who was smiling just as much as him. For the rest of the drive Desiree watched out the window as she tried to familiarise herself with her knew city.
"This is it, guys" Reid said with a big grin as he pulled up in front of a two story house with a white picket fence guarding lush green grass.
"Seriously?" Spencer asked as he unbuckled his seatbelt and hopped out of the car. "This is awesome" He said with a grin as he ran up to the door with his sister close behind.
"The doors open" Reid called to them as he grabbed the bags from the car boot and, with Desiree's help, carried them to the front door.
Anna and Spencer ran upstairs to check out their bedrooms while Desiree and Reid dropped the bags in the living room. "I see you got the sofa in here" Desiree said with a smile as she flopped onto it, closely followed by Reid.
"You can thank me for that" Morgan said with a smile as he walked into the living room with JJ and Garcia close behind. "Reid's more of a 'supervisor' when it comes to manual labour" He added with a grin. "I'm Derek, by the way. Derek Morgan"
"Well, Derek" Desiree said with a smile and a knowing look she flashed at Reid. " Have you managed to put my table together yet?" She said with a cool glance and teasing smile as she shook his hand.
"Probably not" Reid said with a smile. Morgan gave him an insulted look so he explained "Morgan doesn't like using instructions… It's the same with directions. He likes to 'wing it'" Reid said with a laugh as Morgan shot him a look.
JJ and Garcia both laughed at the boys competing with each other to embarrass the other until they heard footsteps running down the stairs and towards the living room. "Hey guys, did you check out your rooms?" Desiree asked as Spencer and Anna ran in, both slowing down when they saw the agents.
"Mine's the big one, right?" Spencer asked.
"Yeah" Desiree answered as she brushed a few strands of hair out of her face.
"I want the big one" Anna protested as Spencer gave her winning look and a playful punch.
"Your bedroom's big too, Anna" Desiree reminded her with a little laugh as the little girl nudged her brother. There was a small pause then Desiree sighed and got up. "What do you guys need help with?" She offered with a friendly smile.
"Well, me and Garcia were about to set up the TV" JJ suggested with a warm smile.
"I could use some help with the beds upstairs" Morgan added.
"Is that so?" Desiree said with a little smile as Morgan winked at her. Morgan's smile got even bigger when Desiree walked towards the door and disappeared upstairs. Morgan raised an eyebrow at Reid who gave him a 'don't even think about it' look with just a hint of a smile as Morgan followed her up.
"Um" Reid murmured as he watched them leave with a look of surprise. "I'm gonna set up the fridge" He said slightly hesitantly as he walked towards the door.
"Hey, Spencer?" JJ asked, Reid spun round and looked at her which made her laugh. "The other Spencer" She giggled so Reid smiled and nodded then went out to the kitchen with Anna following him.
"Yeah?" Spencer asked shyly as his cheeks threatened to blush again.
Garcia glanced over at JJ with a little smile as she saw what Spencer was trying to hide. "Can you help us with the TV?" JJ asked as she held up a bunch of wires and looked confusedly at them. Spencer quickly nodded then bent down to help them.
Three hours later Desiree had convinced Morgan to use the instructions and they'd set up most of the bedroom furniture, JJ, Garcia and Spencer had managed to get the TV started and Reid had set up the fridge.
"Who wants pizza?" JJ called as she walked inside the house with 3 boxes of pizzas. Desiree was quickly down the stairs with Morgan close behind, Anna and Reid slowly wandered out of the kitchen and Garcia followed Spencer out of the living room.
"When'd you order that?" Reid asked as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and yawned.
"What's it matter? It's food" Morgan said as JJ placed the pizza boxes on the dining room table and flipped the lids up. Morgan and Spencer were first to grab a piece, closely followed by Anna and Garcia then everyone was grabbing for one.
"I'll go get my purse" Desiree said as she swallowed her last bite of pizza.
"Don't worry about it, I ordered from a place across town so it took them a while to get here. Over an hour and we get free pizzas" JJ explained with a grin.
"Talk about being frugal" Morgan mumbled as he grabbed for another piece.
"I told you the food is better here than Nevada" Spencer said as he nudged Anna slightly and smiled down at her.
"It's in the water" Garcia whispered loudly which made everyone grin.
Once the pizzas were finished, the group made their way into the living room and tried to find somewhere to sit. It ended up with Desiree, Morgan and Garcia sitting on the sofa with Anna on Desiree's lap, Reid and JJ on armchairs and Spencer leaning against the sofa's arm.
"I'm so tired" JJ moaned and snuggled into the comfortable armchair. "I don't even know how I'm gonna drive home"
"Come on, honey" Desiree whispered into Anna's ear. "It's time for bed"
"I'm not even tired!" Anna exclaimed as her mom picked her up and started carrying her towards the door.
"I just saw you yawning!" Desiree said with a little smile. Spencer laughed a little and jumped into his mom's seat with a big grin. "You too, Spencer" Desiree added, Spencer moaned for a moment then got up and followed his mom upstairs.
"I better get going" Morgan sighed as he stood and stretched.
"Me too" Garcia agreed as she got up and walked over to JJ. "Come on" She said and reached forward to help her up. JJ slowly got up and rubbed her eyes then sighed and walked towards the door, closely followed by Garcia, Morgan and Reid.
Reid stopped at the door as the trio walked to their cars and paused for him. "Aren't you going home?" JJ asked as she pulled her car door open.
"The alarm doesn't get installed for a few days… I figured I'd sleep on the sofa until it does" Reid said with a sheepish smile.
"Aww" Garcia said with a little smile. "I wish my brothers were like you" She added as she hopped into her car. Reid smiled and waved as they drove off then closed the door, and walked upstairs to tuck Anna in. She was already asleep by time he got up there and Spencer was drifting off so he decided to leave them to sleep and went back downstairs to the living room.
He collapsed onto the sofa, closed his eyes and thought about what Garcia had said before she left, Thinking about it made him smile even more. He'd be the best brother and uncle there ever was, he thought determinedly. He had a lot of time to make up for the time he'd missed but a lot more time to do it in.