67A/N: So I goofed in Thanksgiving at the Gideon's. Thandie is three going on four in that story and I had originally published it as four going on five. I apologize and I have now corrected that mistake. This chapter is going back to the way I normally write chapters rather than the presentation of a case that I did with chapter 1. I felt I had to do the first case of the series even though I didn't make a lot of changes. Sailor Pandabear: Thanks. Tooker86: I'm glad you're enjoying it. LaRieNGuBleR: I'm glad to be back. I've missed being able to write (and read) for pleasure rather than school. Daisyangel: Do I have you intrigued? You'll have to keep reading in order to see what I have up my sleeve. Charmony: Bless you. That chapter was a bear to get through and you did an amazing editing job.
As in chapter 1, underlined sentences are quotes from the episode itself. It has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and as I don't own Criminal Minds, this is my imagination. Beta read by Charmony
"Front sight, controlled trigger press, follow through," Spencer thought to himself, mentally chanting the mantra that Hotch had been telling him for the last week.
"Shooter on the line!" The instructor's call echoed through the morning air. Spencer stepped to the line, trying to calm his nerves and steady his hands.
"Draw your weapon and begin when you are ready."
Sarah laughed softly as she watched her four year old daughter singing in the backseat of the car. Thandie bounced with the music as much as the restraints of the booster seat would let her and the child's joy oozed out of her every waking moment
The ringing of her cell phone interrupted the cheerful atmosphere and she put the call on speaker so that she could keep her hands on the wheel.
"Hello?"
"Hi Mom," Spencer's voice sounded softer than usual, making Sarah instantly alert.
"Hey, how did the test go?" Sarah asked with a suspicion of the answer.
A rueful chuckle sounded. "I failed. Even with Hotch tutoring me, I failed. I had to surrender my weapon."
"Oh, sweetie." Sarah wanted to pull her son into hug through the call as she heard the dejection in his voice. "Have you talked to your dad yet?"
"Yeah, the instructor called him and then he called me. He said he doesn't care if I'm carrying or not and that he's still proud of me. He also reminded me I can test again in two weeks.
"Gotcha." Sarah glanced in the rearview mirror again as sudden inspiration hit. "What time do you have to go back to the office?"
"1:30."
"Ok, so you've got a couple hours. I'm just about to pick up Ezra from school due to a teacher workday. I'll swing by and pick you up and you can come eat lunch with me and your siblings. How does that sound?"
She could practically hear Spencer's grin of happiness from the car.
Sarah smiled as she watched her oldest pushing the youngsters on the swings; first the one and then the other. Deciding to forgo the stuffiness of a restaurant, they had picked up sandwiches from a local deli and headed for the park. She hoped the sunshine and light breeze would help Spencer feel better.
"I want to go higher!" Ezra shouted with glee as Spencer gave Thandie a push to keep her swinging.
"Higher," echoed Thandie as she swung up toward the blue sky.
Spencer obliged, pushing each child higher to their delighted laugher.
"Come on Spencer, make me go higher than Thandie! I want to fly!"
"No! Make me go higher Spencer!"
Suddenly it was a competition between the two young children that made the adults laugh.
All too soon though, the time came for him to head to work and the laughter faded away. Piggy backing his sister and jogging beside his brother to where she was sitting, Sarah could see that Spencer wished he didn't have to leave. It was obvious that he was dreading the good-natured teasing he would get from his colleagues, most likely Morgan if she didn't miss her guess.
"Spencer, you can't be sad," Thandie said, somehow sensing his mood shift. "Makes me sad too."
"I'm sorry, pretty girl. I just had something sad happen this morning." Spencer said as he set her on her feet.
"What happened Spencer?" Ezra asked anxiously.
Spencer gently ruffled his hair. "Nothing that you need to worry about little brother."
Ezra frowned but dropped the subject as Spencer set their sister on her feet.
Thandie wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed as hard as she could. "I make you feel all better."
Spencer smiled sadly at his sister. "Thanks Thandie."
Morgan leaned back in his chair, nonchalantly waiting for the team's resident genius. Elle and Hotch had warned him about teasing Spencer about failing his gun qualification, but he couldn't help but do exactly that. He fingered the whistle he held as he watched for the doctor's arrival.
"Hey kid, I got a tip for you," he said, scrambling to his feet as Spencer appeared. "Blow really hard," he said as he dropped the whistle in his young teammate's hand. Spencer rolled his eyes and gave Morgan a dirty look.
"Thanks."
"I need everyone to the conference room. We've got a case," Hotch interrupted his agents before the joke could go any further.
Spencer paced around the room, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. He kept going back to the morning at the firing range rather than focusing on the case in front of him. After watching him for a while, it seemed as if Gideon had somehow figured out that he was distracted.
"It doesn't matter that you don't have a gun. Your strength comes from your mind and what we do. We make the victims human again after an unsub has attempted to dehumanize them."
"I know that, but I still feel like everyone is staring at me thinking 'what an idiot, he doesn't even carry a weapon'." Spencer faced his father, his shoulders slumped. "How am I supposed to defend myself?"
"You don't need a gun to kill someone," Gideon replied. He took a quick glance around and pulled his son into a hug. "Spencer, I don't care if you have a cap gun, a 9 mil or an AK-47. You're still my son and I'm very proud of you for being in the FBI and handling everything as well as you do."
"Thanks Dad."
After several days of investigation, they had figured out that their unsub was a doctor and they had driven over to the local hospital with the detective in charge of the case to see if they were right about their primary suspect. Elle, Morgan, Gideon, and JJ were in the process of interviewing him, but Hotch's mind kept tripping over something that didn't make sense when he put all the pieces together, something that made him think they were talking to the wrong man.
"Come on Reid, let's go check out the ER." Hotch turned with the young doctor following him. "The ER would be the perfect place for the unsub if you're right and it's hero homicide."
Spencer nodded, "And it would allow him to have contact with the victims."
Hotch pulled out his phone but hung up quickly as one of the nurses told him that he couldn't use his phone while inside the hospital. He moved to the woman's side and carefully flashed his badge.
"Do you have any new staff members?"
The lady shook her head. "We haven't hired anyone in at least the last couple of months."
Hotch changed tactics. "Ok, we're looking for someone who is always late, condescending, blames everyone else for his own mistakes, and probably gets a lot of complaints both from other staff members and patients."
The nurse's face paled as she followed the agent's train of thought. "Phillip Dowd."
"Is he working today?" Hotch tried to keep her calm as she nodded. "Okay, look carefully around. Do you see him?"
"No, he's not in the department at the moment."
Hotch turned to Spencer. "Go tell Gideon."
Spencer nodded and started to hurry out of the department. He calmed his paced as the unit chief hissed softly at him. He turned the corner and noticed a staff member moving quickly toward him. Pain exploded across his face as Dowd slammed the butt of his weapon across the young doctor's face. The impact knocked him to the ground as he tasted blood in his mouth and felt it stream from his nose. He lay on his side as he heard Dowd take over the ER and challenge Hotch.
"Get over here with your partner," Dowd snapped. Spencer scrambled painfully to his feet, keeping his hands over his head as he joined Hotch. His head was pounding and he could feel the side of his face swelling. He didn't resist as he was quickly searched and his hands were zip tied in front of him. He tried to stay calm as he listened to Hotch interacting with Dowd; his mind was racing as he tried to figure out how they were going to get out of this without getting shot. He jolted back to reality as Hotch's tone of disdain registered.
"And they sent me in here with an unarmed kid who couldn't shoot his way out of a wet paper bag."
Dowd arrogantly smirked at Spencer, but directed his words to Hotch. "They set you up."
A sinking feeling washed over the young doctor as he listened to the conversation. He realized that Hotch was playing to the man's arrogance, but he couldn't help but wonder how much was acting and how much was truth. Each word coming from the unit chief's mouth was reminding him not only of his failures in the FBI, but the bullying he had endured in high school. Words filtered to his brain and his head came up. He felt horror wash through him as he listened to Hotch request permission from Dowd to allow him to beat the younger agent up. He glanced fearfully at Dowd as the man laughed at him.
"Knock yourself out."
Hotch spun toward his young agent, praying his plan would work. He could only hope that Spencer had figured out what he wanted him to do and that the doctor's aim was true. "At least the hostages are out of his line of fire," Hotch thought as he slammed Spencer to the floor. "I hope to heaven this works."
Spencer relaxed as he fell, but tried to keep his abdominal muscles tight so that Hotch wouldn't hurt him that badly. He could tell that his boss was pulling his kicks but the contact still hurt. He steeled himself against the next kick, and just managed to get his fingertips on the butt of Hotch's backup gun.
"It's front sight, trigger press and follow through. It's not that hard. A Dalmatian could do it." Hotch shifted his foot, giving him a better grasp. "Let go! Let go!" Hotch yelled for emphasis before stepping away, breathing heavily. Spencer curled in on himself, moaning softly. Even though Hotch hadn't been using his full strength, one of the shots had caught him just under the ribs, causing his side to hurt with every breath. He closed his eyes and adjusted his hold on the weapon.
"Front sight, trigger press, follow through. Still has to be a head shot because he has to go down immediately," Spencer whispered to himself. He lay still waiting for the right moment to act.
"What's that?" he heard Dowd ask.
Realizing that he was out of time, Spencer rolled over and halfway up as he raised the gun to firing position. An eerie calm swept over him as the room narrowed to a single focus.
BLAM
Screams erupted as Hotch began shouting that the scene was clear. Dowd lay on his back with a single shot through his forehead. Spencer felt numb as the SWAT agents stormed the room, releasing his hands and escorting all of the hostages from the room. He was so removed that he jumped as his father put his arm around his shoulders and gently turned his head, examining his face where Dowd had struck him.
"Let's get you checked out," Gideon said softly.
"I'm ok Dad," Spencer replied shakily.
"Still, you're going to let the paramedics look you over." His dad's tone left no room for an argument.
"Yes sir."
Hotch sighed as he walked toward the back of the ambulance where Spencer was sitting. He couldn't help but feel guilty for deliberately hurting his young agent. "You okay?" he asked as he came to Spencer's side.
"Yeah," the young doctor said faintly.
"I wasn't trying to hurt you. I just didn't know how else to get the gun to you. You obviously figured out my plan. I hope it wasn't too bad."
"Hotch, I was a twelve year old child prodigy in a DC public high school. You kick like a nine year old girl." Spencer quipped with a smile. "Besides my mom is a doctor. She'll be fussing over me as soon as we get home." He stood up and headed back to where his dad was standing with Elle and JJ. Hotch watched as he passed Morgan and tossed him the whistle, smiling at the black agent's soft chuckle.
Gideon dropped into the seat across from his son. Now that they were on the plane, he could openly be a father instead of a supervisor. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of the bruising that was spreading across his son's face. "I'm bringing you home with me tonight."
"Dad, I'm fine. I just want to go home and get some sleep."
"And your mother would pitch a fit if she didn't get a chance to look you over, so it's just easier if you come home with me rather than having her show up at your apartment. Besides, this way you can be our babysitter for Thandie tomorrow while Sarah and I get some errands done. Ezra is at a birthday sleepover and we'll pick him up on the way home."
Spencer shrugged, knowing it was useless to argue. His mother would simply drive to his apartment if he didn't go with his dad and truth be told, he wasn't looking forward to an empty house even if he wouldn't admit that fact out loud.
"Dad, I don't really feel anything. I killed a man and I don't feel bad about it."
"It hasn't hit you yet. But it's going to and when it does I want you to remember three things. One, you did what you had to do and two, a lot of people are alive because of what you did."
"What's the third?"
Gideon smiled at him. "I'm proud of you."
Sarah looked up as the door opened. Gideon had already warned her about her son's injuries but she couldn't stop the gasp that escaped at the vivid bruising covering the young man's left cheek. "Oh my G**!"
"It looks worse than it is Mom," Spencer muttered, embarrassed.
Sarah snorted. "I'll be the judge of that. Go upstairs and take a shower. I'll look you over when you're done." She waited until her son had disappeared up the stairs before turning to her husband. "How bad is it?"
Gideon sighed. "He's in shock. He pulled off a perfect shot and killed Dowd but it hasn't hit him yet. I'm thinking it will hit him sometime in the next few hours. I told him that he could babysit Thandie tomorrow while we get the stuff for that benefit of yours, but now I'm not sure he'll be able to do it."
Sarah nodded in agreement. "I can probably call Whitney in the morning and see if she wants to come over. Thandie loves her, and that way Spencer can sleep in if he needs to." She pulled her husband into a hug. "This one was hard on you too wasn't it?"
"Yeah. Hotch and Spencer were hostages. SWAT was going to blast their way in and the only way for Hotch to get them out safely was to pretend to kick the daylights out of Spencer. He says he's not hurt, but I think he's downplaying how he feels."
"Did he hit his right side?"
"I don't know. I think it was more just a general aim to the body." They turned and headed up the stairs as they spoke. "Hotch said he tried to pull the kicks as much as he could but he was afraid that if he pulled back too much, Dowd would realize it was a ruse and start shooting."
"I bet Hotch feels pretty bad about it too, doesn't he," Sarah said knowingly.
Her husband nodded. "Even after Spencer told him he understood and that he quote 'kicked like a nine year old girl', he was still upset about it." He gave her a quick kiss. "Sounds like Spencer turned the water off. I'm going to get a shower myself."
"Sounds good. I'll be there in a few minutes." Sarah stopped and knocked on her oldest son's door. "Spencer? Can I come in?"
"Yeah."
The reply was soft and she opened the door to see Spencer sitting on the edge of his bed with his hands on his knees and his eyes staring at the floor. Sensing he would talk when he was ready, she gently ran her fingers over his bruised face before carefully feeling for any broken ribs.
"If I could make the shot in the heat of the moment, why couldn't I do it at the range?"
Sarah sat next to him on the bed. "For the same reason a mother can lift a car off of her child. You did what you had to do in the moment you needed to do it."
"It hurt," Spencer all but whispered.
"You mean when Hotch was kicking you?"
"No, when he said that I was a whiney kid who couldn't shoot. And I know I'm an adult and he was just acting and it shouldn't bother me, but it really hurt to hear him say it."
"He reminded you of high school didn't he?" Sarah wrapped an arm around her son as he leaned into her, abruptly reminding her of how young he really was.
"Yeah, is that stupid or what?"
"It's not stupid baby. You had a rough time in high school and that's not something easily forgotten. Hotch hit all of the old memories and even though he wasn't intending to hurt you either physically or emotionally, he did. That's why he apologized to you."
"He didn't need to. He felt guilty for kicking me, but it was just part of the job."
Sarah pressed a kiss to the side of his head. "You know your dad is really, really proud of you and so am I."
"Thanks Mom."
"You're welcome sweetie. I love you. Get some sleep ok?"
"I will. Good night Mom."
Sarah squeezed his shoulders again before she left the room.
Sarah blinked sleepily as she rolled over and glanced at the clock. The red numbers indicated that it was just before three in the morning so she lay still as she tried to process what had awakened her. The sound of retching suddenly broke the silence and she realized what had caught her attention. Instinctively she knew that the events of the day had finally caught up with Spencer and she shook her husband's shoulder. "Jason. Jason, wake up."
"Hmm?" he murmured, half asleep as he rolled over toward her.
"It's hit him. He's throwing up in the bathroom."
Gideon sighed as he rubbed his face. He pulled on his robe and slipped out of the room. Sarah waited a few minutes before following, grabbing a blanket from the closet as she went. Spencer was on his knees by the toilet with his arms wrapped around his middle. Tears ran down his face as he rocked back and forth, even though Gideon was now crouched beside him, rubbing his back and offering what comfort he could. Seeing that he was also shivering, Sarah was thankful for the blanket she had grabbed as she wrapped it around his shoulders, gently brushing her hand over his hair as she withdrew to the bathroom doorway.
"I killed him," Spencer gasped softly through his sobs. "I killed him."
"I know son. It's okay." Gideon held him just like he had when Spencer was a child and had comforted him during his nightmares. He shared a knowing glance with his wife as Spencer began to heave once again from the stress. She nodded and quietly walked away, knowing that her oldest child would be embarrassed to be struggling like this in front of her, even if she was his mother.
A couple hours later, an exhausted Gideon crawled into bed beside his wife. She rolled over and snuggled into his side. "How's Spencer?"
"He's exhausted. He basically cried himself to sleep."
"Will he be alright?"
Gideon pressed a kiss to her shoulder. "With time and a lot of love and support from us, yes he will."
Sarah held the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she fixed herself a cup of coffee.
"Hello?"
"Hey Whitney. It's Sarah. I hope I didn't wake you up."
"Nope, I'm just putting my laundry together to head to the Laundromat." Whitney's smile came through the phone.
"What if you came here to do your laundry and in the process kept an eye on Thandie for us?" Sarah asked with a grin of her own.
Whitney laughed. "Sounds good to me. I love playing with Thandie."
"Ok, we'll see you soon." Sarah hung up as Gideon's arms encircled her waist. "Whitney is on her way. She'll be here in about an hour."
"Miss Whitney's coming?" Thandie asked as she bounced into the room.
"Yep, she's going to stay with you while your dad and I get some shopping done."
"Yay!" Thandie cheered as she climbed into her seat.
"Shhh," her mother cautioned her. "Spencer is asleep upstairs and I don't want you to wake him up. He wasn't feeling good last night."
"Why Mama?" Thandie asked, her brown eyes wide.
"Because Spencer got hurt by the bad man that he and Daddy caught." Sarah set a bowl of cereal in front of her daughter. "So you need to leave him alone and not wake him up ok? You can play once he gets up."
"Okay." Thandie dug into her breakfast without asking any more questions, which surprised both of her parents. Gideon shrugged at his wife before pouring a bowl of cereal for himself.
A short time later, Whitney closed the door and wrapped her arms around a clearly excited Thandie. "Hi Thandie. What have you been up to this morning?"
"I was watching Blue's Clues and trying to be quiet because Spencer is sleeping," the little girl said with a shrug. "He got hurt so he's still sleeping."
Sarah appeared behind her daughter. "Hi Whitney. I appreciate this and I'm sorry about the short notice."
Whitney laughed. "It's no problem. I really didn't have anything to do today other than laundry and you guys took care of that." She accepted the hug from her coworker. "Out of curiosity, how long do you guys think you'll be gone?"
Sarah rolled her eyes. "I have no idea. I have a huge list of things that I have to get for this benefit that I somehow got roped into planning and then I need to pick up Ezra so it could be all day. But once Spencer's up, you can leave if you want to."
"I'll see how it goes. I'm not really worried about it. And you got roped into it because you can never Mike Marshall 'no'. " Whitney looked down at Thandie's tugging on her hand. "Just a minute sweetie." She turned back to Sarah. "Thandie said Spencer was hurt. Is everything alright?"
Sarah nodded. "Yes. It's just the case was a little rough on him. He'll be fine." Sarah gathered her purse as Gideon joined her. "Well, we need to get going."
Thandie impatiently pulled on Whitney's hand a second time. "Come on. We can start Blue again."
"I'm coming Thandie," Whitney assured the child before waving goodbye to Sarah and Gideon as they left the house.
Spencer stirred and slowly opened his eyes, groaning softly as he moved. His body ached with the after effects of Hotch's actions as well as the repeated vomiting in the middle of the night. His hand hit something soft and he chuckled at the sight of not one or two but five of his sister's stuffed bears lined up in a protective circle around him. How she had managed to pull that one off without either of their parents catching her, he had no idea. He toyed with the idea of going back to sleep but the call of nature had him climbing painfully to his feet. Once in the bathroom, he turned on the shower and stood for a long time just letting the hot water beat down on him, easing the soreness in his muscles. Finally, he turned off the water and stepped out before dressing and heading down the steps to the kitchen. The house was strangely quiet as he reached the ground floor. He glanced around, wondering where his parents and sister were. He was so distracted that he didn't notice the red head bending over the washer until he almost ran into her.
"Oh, um, hi," he said uncertainly. He shifted self-consciously as he wondered what the girl would think of his injuries.
Whitney grinned at his obvious discomfort. "Hi yourself." She tossed the wet clothes into the dryer before turning to face him fully. "Thandie is in the backyard and your parents went shopping before going to get Ezra. You must be Spencer. I'm Whitney." She ignored the intense bruising in an effort to put him at ease.
Spencer sheepishly smiled back. "Thandie's favorite babysitter. She's mentioned you several times."
"Yes, well don't believe everything you hear. Thandie has a vivid imagination."
"I know." Spencer glanced over at the washer. "You know you don't have to do laundry while you're here right?"
"I do if I want to have clean clothes for work on Monday," Whitney said with another grin. "Your mom rescued me from the Laundromat and as a bonus I get to hang out with this little monkey." She reached around Spencer to tickle Thandie, who promptly burst into a fit of giggles.
"Miss Whitney, I was trying to sneak up on Spence and you ruined it," the little girl whined playfully.
"I'm sorry Thandie," Whitney apologized, giving Spencer a wink. "You want to try again?"
"But it wouldn't be a surprise since he knows about it." Thandie rolled her eyes at her brother and her babysitter, causing both adults to fight to hide their smiles. "I'm hungry. Can we have lunch now?"
"Sure, baby. What do you want to eat?" Spencer crouched down to his sister's height.
"I don't know. What are you going to make?" she asked, giving him her best puppy dog look.
"I thought you were cooking."
"I can't cook. I'm four. I'm not big enough to reach the stove yet!" Thandie put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side in a pose that had Whitney putting her hand over her mouth in an effort to hold back her laughter.
"You're not? Well I guess I'll just have to come up with something then." Spencer pretended to think hard. "What about a worm and bug sandwich?"
"Ewww. No!" Thandie giggled at her brother.
"What about a mud pie?"
"You can't eat a mud pie! You're being silly Spencer," Thandie informed her brother even as she laughed at his teasing.
"Well shucks, I guess the only thing we can do is go get some sandwiches and have a picnic in the park," Spencer said as he stood up and ruffled his sister's curls. "Is that a good idea?"
"Yeah!" Thandie bounced and clapped her hands. "I want to swing and go fast down the slide."
"Okay, well go get your jacket so we can go." Spencer watched her scurry down the hall and up the stairs before turning to Whitney. "Sorry, I guess you are kind of the boss."
Whitney waved off the apology. "Nah, it's ok. I'm just the babysitter. I'm not as cool as the big brother. You guys have fun ok?"
The doctor took a deep breath. "You're not coming with us?" he asked carefully, hoping he wasn't overstepping his bounds.
The red head raised an eyebrow. "I didn't realize I was invited."
"Of course you're invited. Besides, the more the merrier."
Whitney grinned. "In that case, lead on."
Spencer leaned back against the tree with his dozing sister cuddled in his arms. Whitney was lying on her stomach with her feet in the air, reading a book.
"What are you reading?"
Whitney glanced back with a slightly embarrassed look. "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It's written by…"
"C. S. Lewis. I've read it." Spencer grinned at her. "I love to read."
"Yeah well, a lot of people think it's a kid's book but I love it, so I still read it. I'm also a huge Tolkien fan as well as fantasy and science fiction."
"Star Wars or Star Trek?"
"Both, along with Dr. Who and reruns of Firefly when I can find them." Noting the stunned look he was sending her way, she added, "What? I'm a loud and proud geek."
"Where did my mom find you?" Spencer asked, amazed that this young woman shared many of his interests.
"I work with her in the ER. I was at your house for Thanksgiving but you were visiting your other mom, at least according to Thandie."
"Yeah my biological mom lives in Las Vegas."
Whitney flipped around to sit cross legged in front of him. "How did you end up in Virginia from Vegas?" she asked curiously. "Sorry, I'm being nosy," she continued as she caught the shadow that passed over his face.
"It's ok. It's just that I had a turbulent childhood before I was adopted by my dad. Dad and Sarah got married when I was nine and I started calling her mom when I was about seventeen," Spencer finished, surprised at how easy it was to talk to the girl. Usually he had a hard time conversing with anyone, let alone a girl about his own age.
"Wish I could get someone to adopt me," Whitney muttered to herself, then blushed as she realized she had spoken loud enough for Spencer to hear her.
"Why? You didn't have a good childhood either?"
Whitney sighed. "I wouldn't say it was bad. I had everything I could have wanted. It's just my mom comes from old money, so her plan for me was to show a little skin and snare the wealthiest bachelor I could to marry me. But that's not me. I wanted adventure, and to do my own thing, so I took up martial arts at an after school program and when I turned eighteen I moved out and paid my way through nursing school. On the rare occasions that I do go home, my mother harps on me because she just knows I'm going to catch Bubonic plague from one of my patients, and I'm never going to find a husband and live to be an old crazy cat lady. Never mind the fact that I'm allergic to cats."
"And the last major outbreak of Bubonic plague occurred in Las Angeles in the mid 1920's."
Whitney stared at him for a moment before dissolving into gales of laughter. "Okay, Thandie said you were wicked smart, so I'm not even going to ask how you know that."
The young doctor ducked his head. "I'm a genius?" he offered with a shy smile.
Whitney started to reply but was cut off as her phone rang. "Oh I better get this. It's Sarah."
Spencer glanced at his watch. "They're probably wondering where we are. I said we'd be back by three and it's almost five. No wonder Thandie conked out on me."
Whitney winked at him as she spoke with his mother and nodded that his suspicions were right. She talked a moment before hanging up and scrambling to her feet. "Guess we need to head back. Sounds like your dad is making pizza for dinner."
"Pizza?" Thandie asked sleepily. "I love pizza." She sat up and wiggled out of her brother's embrace. "I think Miss Whitney should stay for dinner too."
Spencer winked at Whitney before nudging his sister. "So do I," he whispered in her ear. "You want to ask her?"
Thandie nodded vigorously. "Miss Whitney? Will you stay for dinner?"
Whitney winked back at Spencer. "I'd love to stay for dinner."
"Yippee! Spencer can I run to the car?"
"Yes, pretty girl, you can. But stay in sight when you get there ok?"
Thandie took off, leaving Whitney and Spencer to pack up the picnic basket. "So thanks for inviting me today. It was fun."
"You're welcome. I'm glad you said yes to coming." Spencer paused before his next statement. "I'm also glad you said yes to dinner. I liked hanging out with you."
"I had fun too. We'll have to do it again some time." Whitney grinned impishly at him. "Catch me if you can." She took off running towards the car where Thandie was waiting for them impatiently.
"I accept your challenge," Spencer murmured to himself as he took off after her. This was going to be fun.