CHAPTER SIXTY: NEWFOUND BONDS !

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THE TEAM WAS CALLED IN FOR ANOTHER CASE. But you can imagine Morgan, Kate and JJ's surprise when they spot Spencer Reid sitting without his other half. They hadn't immediately asked where she was because they were in the middle of a conversation.

"How is it carrying a little person in your stomach?" JJ asked Kate, realizing her bump was getting bigger day by day. "Feels like I'm holding a watermelon under my shirt." Kate said, causing JJ and Morgan to chuckle at her comment.

"I'm getting so huge I've resorted to asking Casey for her old maternity clothes because none of my shirts are fitting me anymore." Kate told. "Hey, if ever need any more, I got you." JJ offered.

"Speaking of Casey," Morgan spoke as he sat next to Reid and Rossi had walked into the room with Vivian. "Kid, where is Casey?" He asks and Spencer looks over at Morgan and answers: "Oh, she took the case off to spend some personal time with Leah and Isaac."

"The Ryleighs?" Kate asks, sitting down now and then joined by JJ. "She wants to get to know them. And she's finally taking the time to. I mean, they are her half-siblings and Casey's always wanted siblings. She's been nervous about it all week." Spencer explained.

"Well, good for her," JJ nods. "I think it's great that she's doing it." Spencer nods back at JJ with a tight-lipped smile. "What is she planning on doing with them?" Kate asks next.

Spencer fiddled with the pencil in his hands. "She's going over to Jean Ryleigh's residence in DC. Apparently, the twins are moving in so they could be closer." He explained. "Closer to Casey?" Kate asks.

"Yeah, plus, Casey also mentioned a job offer that Isaac got. A teaching job over at the school. And Leah just graduated from Virginia Tech with a BA." Spencer explained.

"Sounds like they're doing good." JJ told. "Yeah, they moved out of Roanoke for a fresh start. Especially since Casey's a part of that now." Spencer nods.

"And you trust Casey going over there?" Morgan asks, making Spencer furrow his brows. "I mean, no offense, but Casey's never had the best track record when it comes to running into people from her past." Morgan specified and Spencer shrugs in understanding but then answers: "As long as Casey trusts them, I trust them."

Spencer knew that Casey going over there was a good idea. Even after he'd suggested it a few months ago, Casey needed time to accept everything. So, she took that time to accept her siblings and started off with small conversations over the phone until they reached the point where they could meet in person. So, Casey had taken a few days off to go and spend time with them.

In walked Hotch and Garcia. "Let's get started."

Casey had parked in front of the Ryleigh home. She recognized it before. She knew she'd seen this house before. It was a big one. It reminded her of the house from Full House. It wasn't scary, she remembered, if anything this place felt kind of like home. It was probably a lot bigger when she was little. It had a wrap around porch, a porch swing and a garden that definitely needed tending to. The house was painted a faded maroon, the chips coming off the paint over the years.

The woman had unbuckled her seatbelt and then looked behind her at her one year-old babbling to himself. "You ready to go see some family, bud?" She asks and Christopher cheers: "Yeah! Yeah, yeah!" Casey smiled at her enthusiastic son and took a breath. "Let's go do it, then." She opened the car door and let her son out from his car seat and headed towards the house of her past.

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It was awkward, of course, for sure. But at least all three of them tried their best to make sure it wasn't awkward. Leah had taken the opportunity to bake some cookies for the two and of course, Christopher was scarfing down on them like there wasn't a care in the world.

It seemed as if Chris had immediately taken a liking to both Leah and Isaac. He was definitely a great ice breaker to have around when he ran around and jumped about so the adults in the room could point him out and start a new conversation about God knows what. Casey was kinda glad she brought him along.

Isaac had left the room to go and grab some coffee for the girls while Christopher played around with his toys that Casey brought from home. They were Doctor Who figurines. Spencer insisted he have them. Leah sat in front of Casey as Casey had Christopher leaning against her chest as he played with his toys.

Leah kept trying to get his attention and Christopher would giggle every time she did. Casey smiled at the interaction between the two. "I'm guessing it was hard staying home after having him with your work and all?" Leah questioned.

"Yeah, Spence and I both stayed home." Casey told. "He wanted to spend as much time with the baby as possible before work." Isaac had walked back in the room with two mugs.

"Alright, one coffee with creamer and five sugars and one coffee with eight sugars." Isaac handed the mugs to the women. "Thank you." Casey smiled as Christopher jumped off her lap and played with his toys.

"Is it hard when you both get called into work?" Leah asks. "Well, I usually call up my grandmother, she helps us out sometimes." Casey told, taking a quick sip from her coffee.

Leah and Isaac look at one another and then back at Casey. "Grandmother on... James's side?" Isaac asks and Casey nods, "Yeah." Casey wonders why they suddenly go quiet. They didn't know about her.

"I didn't think she existed..." Leah said. Casey knew something like this was gonna happen and felt bad for even mentioning Edith. "I didn't say anything about her because I didn't want it triggering..."

Isaac shook his head and waved away towards Casey. "Oh, no, we understand. It's fine." He assures. Casey was just trying to be careful.

"Does she know about us?" Leah asks.

Casey pauses and then looks at the twins and realizes that she should probably tell them. "I told her." She said. "But... I think she's hesitant. She never expected James to have another family after he had me. She's coping and accepting. And usually she's hard to deal with sometimes, truthfully but she does always comes around." She assured and the twins nod. "It's good to know." Isaac nods back.

There's an awkward pause before Casey decides to speak. They were the ones asking her all the questions but she had yet to ask them anything about themselves. She figured the reason they were was because her life seemed all around interesting to them. I mean, they showed interest in everything she talked about.

"So... your mother..." Casey started off. Truthfully, she only knew a few things about them but their mother, Jean, seemed to be the only thing that connected them to each other. "I remember a few things about her but not a lot. What was she like?" She asks.

      Leah laughs to herself and then looks over at Isaac and focuses towards a framed photo of her mother on the table behind her. "She was..." Isaac rubs his palms against his jeans as he thinks. "Awesome. Probably the most amazing person we'd ever met."

       Leah hands the framed photo to Casey. "She was quite the character. Always trying to stop the next universal white guy from trying to change up some things about our town." Leah explained and looked down. "She was never really a big fan of change."

"I know someone like that." Casey comments and Leah continues.

"I remember how she'd sing to us to bed. How'd she make biscuits and gravy for lunch everyday. When you'd lean in to hug her and her hair would smell like raspberries. How'd she take those sleaze bag politicians and put them behind bars. She was... amazing." By Leah's description of her mother, Casey could tell she was close to her. Casey smiled in response. In a way, deep down, she was envious of the relationship Leah and Isaac had with their mother. But she was happy that they had that and they weren't stuff with their father like she was.

"What about your mother?" Casey's eyes snapped over to Isaac. "Tell us about her."

Casey shrugged, "Truth is, I, uh, I never really knew much about her. Her name was Stephanie. Stephanie Gideon. She had a heroin addiction. She died a couple days after I was born from an overdose. I, uh, never knew her." She explained bitterly, upset by these circumstances that she'd never know her mother the way they knew theirs.

Leah places a hand on Casey's and looked at her with sorrowful eyes. "I'm sorry." She apologized as Casey slightly shrugged. "You didn't know. My dad just... fell apart after that." She told. "I'd notice the marks on his arm. The way his demeanor changed a lot. He was making bad choices."

Casey thought about it and realized how Leah and Isaac had so many great memories of their mother and from what they knew of their father. But Casey didn't have good memories, she was stuck with the bad ones. And she didn't blame the twins, no, they had nothing to do with it. But it was the way life was. It just wasn't fair.

"But I think a couple years later, he met another woman and had two other children that eventually, I would get to know." Casey smiled at both Isaac and Leah, who smiled back. "Even when said dad is behind bars." Isaac commented. "Trust me, we didn't know him that much."

Casey could tell that Isaac was the more levelheaded of the two. Leah was a dreamer, someone who trusted so easily and was never afraid to stand up for herself because that's how she was taught. Isaac had more of his mother's genetics in him, he was raised to be a good man and to take care of his family. Casey could tell by the mention of their father that he wasn't a big fan of him. And honestly, Casey couldn't blame him.

"But... even with a dad that's bad at being a dad... you gotta admit..." Leah looked at both of her siblings. "He made some pretty cool kids." Casey smiled and even earned a smirk from Isaac. "I guess you're right about that."

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Casey and Christopher had been staying over for dinner. Casey had asked Rossi for a spaghetti recipe to help make dinner and Leah offered to help. Isaac was currently playing tag with Christopher around the house. Casey watched as the two ran out of the kitchen and Isaac was tagged again.

Isaac had panted before he even left the kitchen, "The kid's got fast legs." Casey chuckled, "That's 'cause he gets it from his mother. She's always chasing after bad guys as well as running away from her problems."
Leah looked over at Casey. "Hey, I do that, too!"

As Isaac went to go and chase Chris, Casey and Leah were the only ones left in the kitchen. "Christopher sure loves Isaac." Casey comments. "Isaac loves kids," Leah stated. "It's why he loves teaching so much. I think he wants to build a bond with kids and be a role model they might now have in life." Leah explained.

"You know you always talk about Isaac," Casey noticed and Leah looked her way. "Sorry, profiler brain, can't help it. But... you never talk about yourself."

"Isaac's my twin brother. I'm older than him by twenty-four minutes. I'm just proud of him. And there's not really much with me. He's pretty much the golden child." Leah told.

Casey looked down at the can of sauce she was opening. "What do you do, Leah?" She asks curiously. Leah sighed before deciding to continue. "I was a waitress over at one of the diners in Roanoke. I was living with my mother before... you know. So, I quit once we left and I started working as a host over at one of the restaurants here. With tips, I hope to get big — own my own restaurant — but it's hard when most of the customers are white men with 9 to 5 jobs." Leah explained.

"Oh, yeah, that's tough." Casey commented. "You worked at a restaurant." Leah stated but Casey shook her head. "No, but I babysat for people with 9-5 jobs." Leah nods in understanding. "Ah," She looked back at Casey curiously. "What made you join the FBI?"

"Well, my uncle Gideon, had been a major part of the BAU. He was the founder of it, actually. A year before I joined, he resigned. The love of his life died because of his job. He couldn't handle it. The last thing he left me was a letter and the key to our apartment. Spence and I were the last ones he kept in contact with. Gideon was a big part of his life, a mentor of sorts." Casey explained.

"And you two got close." Leah pieced it together, the love story of Casey and Spencer. "Closer than you'd think." Casey smiled.

Isaac and Chris ran back in the kitchen as Chris giggled loudly and clearly as Isaac chased him around the table and out of the kitchen. "You think about having anymore kids?" Leah asks and Casey looks at Leah in disbelief. "He's just a year old, slow your roll." The two chuckle.

"You know I wasn't even supposed to have Chris? No kids, that was the always the plan. But, Spencer, he was good with kids. Always was. We have a godson, so I knew that if I were with him... I'd be okay." Casey explained.

"Godson?" Leah asks. "Yeah, our coworker, JJ's son, Henry. She made us the godparents." Leah smiles to herself.
"It's like she knew."

There's a pause as Casey places the noodles in the pot. Leah turns from the counter to Casey. "Do you ever think about what life would be life if we knew about each other? Like really knew about each other?" Leah asks.

Isaac and Leah were aware of their older sister for the longest time but they never knew if Casey wanted anything to do with them. After explaining her repressed memories, they understood why she pushed those memories out of her head. Because of her dad. They didn't blame her. They knew of the hard relationship she had with him.

Casey turned to the woman from the stove. "Definitely would've been easier," Casey started. "My entire life, I've... kind of been alone. I didn't have much. But then I met Spencer." She smiled to herself. "And my coworkers. And they made everything possible and whole again."

"You seem to really care about them." Leah smiled. "I do." Casey smiled at the woman.

After dinner and Isaac reading stories to Isaac, Casey had decided that maybe it was time to go home to sleep. Christopher was close to falling asleep after Isaac read at least a few books to him. Casey smiled at her two siblings as she walked out the door and for once, felt content with her past because she gained such awesome people in her life because of it.

For Leah and Isaac, a missing piece was restored in their life. Having Casey around filled the void of their absent father and for ways, it did for Casey too. As Casey began to exit the house, Isaac and Leah invited her, Spencer and Christopher for dinner some time soon whenever they could. Casey smiled and said she would let them know.

So Casey buckled Christopher up and headed home. "You have fun today, bud?" She asks, looking in the rear view mirror. "Yeah! Unca Iza's super fun!" Chris said and Casey smiled at the fact that Chris had referred to Isaac as 'Uncle Isaac' even if that's not what came out, Casey knew that's what he meant.

"He doesn't read bedtime stories like Daddy does though, huh?" Casey asks. "No one can read bedtime stowies like Daddy!" Christopher said. "No one!" Casey chuckled at her son in the backseat.

Once they arrived home, Casey promised an hour of TV for Christopher and cuddled up with him on the couch of the apartment in the living room. Of course, Paw Patrol is on tonight. Casey internally groaned, turning the TV to a low enough volume.

As she held her son tightly to her chest and she stroked through his chocolate ringlets he shared with his dad, she began to him softly to him. And even though he was so concentrated on the TV, he seemed to be lulling to sleep with his mom's hums in his ears. And soon enough, Casey was falling asleep to them, too.

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The case was one of the faster ones. It only took them a day to figure it out because of a child abduction and a ransom note. It was one of the harder cases Spencer dealt with and all he wished for was that his fiancée would be there next to him, keeping him levelheaded. Of course, they were texting back and forth when they could but it just wasn't the same.

So once Spencer had arrived to his apartment, he was ready to plop down on the bed beside his fiancée and cuddle up with her and sleep. But once he opened the door, he was greeted with the TV playing in a lower volume of some kids' cartoon. He placed his satchel down and his keys on the table and approached closer to the scene.

His heart warmed once he spotted his fiancée and son cuddling up on the couch together. In ways, he was reminded of his own relationship with his mother. And if his son was anything like him, he sure was a mama's boy. Even when Casey told Spencer over and over again that Chris definitely pinned him as the better parent, Spencer disagreed.

Spencer smiled softly and even managed to take a photo of the scene. He put his phone back in his pocket and leaned forward on the couch and grazed Casey's cheek with the back of his knuckle.

This caused Casey to stir a bit and she lightly opened her eyes and saw who was in front of her. "Hey, love." He whispered. "You're home!" Casey smiled as she whispered back. Spencer leaned down and gave Casey a peck on the lips. "What are you guys doing on the couch?" He asked.

"I promised him an hour of TV. I guess we both fell asleep." Casey said as she stroked her son's hair. "Suppose we should all sleep in our own beds tonight." Spencer told. "Yeah, you're right. This couch gives me serious neck pains." Casey groaned as she held her hand to the back of her neck and lightly massaged it. "Yeah, I told you, it's uncomfortable." Spencer sighed as he made his way around the couch and decided to wake their son up first.

"Hey, Chris? Hey, buddy?" Spencer nudged him a bit and Chris opened his eyes slightly and groaned a bit as he rubbed his nose. "Daddy?" He asked. "Yeah, buddy, it's me." Spencer smiled at his son and Christopher yawned and gave a small smile and kept his eyes close again. "Hi, Daddy."

Casey smiled sleepily at the scene. "Let's get you into bed, buddy." Spencer grabbed Christopher gently and held onto him. Christopher put his arms around his dad's neck and held him as he brought him into his room. Spencer had placed Christopher carefully on the bed and tucked him into the covers. Spencer stroked his hair and pulled it back a bit so he could give Christopher a kiss on the forehead before telling him 'I love you' and leaving the room. He closed his door but left it just a crack just in case Christopher needed something.

Spencer then made his way back to the living room and shut the TV off and looked towards his fiancée, who seemingly went back to sleep. "Your turn." Spencer said and Casey held her arms up. "Carry me." She said and Spencer slightly chuckled and picked Casey up bridal style off the couch. "You're lucky I love you." He said as he carried her back into their room and repeated the same thing he did with Christopher.

"I take it everything with the Ryleighs went well?" Spencer asks and Casey sleepily says, "They're awesome, man. I'll tell you more about it in the morning."

"I'm sure you will."

more of a casey/isaac/leah/christopher centric chapter :)
wanted to add more fluff as i go along

also
we have a few more chapters left in s10 and omg i'm so excited!!

also also
i've been rewatching grey's anatomy and it had me thinking: "what if i do a 'what if?' chapter with this book?' kind of need ideas for it but one of my ideas is 'what if stephanie was still alive?' and another one is 'what if casey never became an fbi agent?'
I NEED MORE IDEAS FOR IT HELP

also also also
i'm gonna just state it here now,,, ik y'all got trust issues with this series and new people that be coming in the book but i promise you leah and isaac omg i'm so excited to write for them because they're gonna become part of the story for a little while - they're the good guys i promise you i would not be saying this if i had any tricks up my sleeve so pls refrain from thinking they're the bad guys cuz they're not🙏

anywayssss
thank you for reading!
mR. sCrAtCh is next 😒
hate that man fr
-mya </333