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The Elements and Workings of Mother Nature	By : sissouthernink1994 Category: 1 through F > Criminal Minds Views: 1365 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Work of fiction. I don't own: Criminal Minds, CSI: NY, CSI: Miami, NCIS, NCIS: LA, CSI. Everything written is for fun; no profit gained.

Chapter List
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A/N: In my world, Dr. Spencer Reid is married to Simon Allman and they have two children, Lilli and Daniel. For this snapshot of this family’s life, Lilli is about six and Daniel is eight.
Summary: Fall fun for the Allman-Reid family.
Chapter 3: Leaves and Apples

Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn. – Elizabeth Lawrence

                Spencer was so glad that he had actually put in for a few vacation days around the kids’ fall break. Not only did he actually need the break from work, he actually had a chance to bond with his children in a way he didn’t normally have. Sure he would miss work for a few days and there was always the chance that the team would be called somewhere for a case. But one of the greatest lessons that he learned from his mother, before-during-and after her episodes, was to spend as much time as you could with your children. That particular memory and space of time will never present itself again.
                This crisp Friday afternoon the family was raking leaves in the backyard. Simon was taking a break, documenting the changing colors of the leaves. Simon was always taking pictures of nature, well of everything really. With his job in print advertising, it paid off sometimes to have that just right photo that no one would be able to find because he was the only one who would have thought to take a picture of it. It also helped in teaching his classes at the university.
“Why do they call it fall daddy?” Lilli asked. “Is it because the leaves fall off the trees?” Simon laughed.
“Possibly sweetheart. The correct name is autumn and it’s the season between summer and winter.”
“We learned that in school.” She replied.
“Why do the colors change?” Daniel asked.
“Do you just want an answer or the scientific answer?” Spencer asked his son. Daniel, knowing that his papa could talk forever on a subject before telling someone what they wanted to know, opted for just an answer. “Well, it’s what they are supposed to do.” He gave Spencer an annoyed look. “What? You said you just wanted an answer.”
“Papa…”
“I know, I know. Well, you know how plants live right?”
“They take the water we give them from the ground and use the carbon di, carbon di…”
“Carbon dioxide.” Spencer prompted.
“They use the carbon dioxide and water to make oxygen.”
“Correct and they also make sugar. Then they use the sugar for energy. Do you remember what the process is called?” Daniel thought a moment.
“It’s a big word that starts with a ‘p’…”
“Right. Do you remember how to sound it out?” Simon asked. “It almost sounds like picture taking.”
“Photo…syn…photosyn…thesis?”
“Right!” Spencer said. “And through photosynthesis chlorophyll is made.”
“That’s what makes the leaves green right?” Daniel asked.
“Right.” Simon confirmed. “Just like you know you need water or that you’re hungry, plants know that when winter comes there won’t be enough water or sunlight to make the leaves green.”
“So when the plants use up their reserve, what they’ve stored up during the summer, the green color fades to yellow or orange. And in some trees like the maple next door, they turn red or purple because the sugar is trapped by the sunlight.” Spencer said.
“Why are some of the leaves brown?” asked Lilli.
“Once the food is all gone the leaf dies and falls off the tree.” Spencer replied.
“Oh.” was her quiet reply.
“It’s nothing to be sad about sweetie.” Simon said. “It’s what nature does. The leaves die and we use them for other things like compost or feeding animals and when spring comes the leaves come back.”
“How come I didn’t learn this is school?”
“When you get older you will.” Daniel replied.
“Alright. We’ve got two more bags to fill up and then what shall we have for dinner?” Spencer asked.
“Pizza!” was the enthusiastic response from their children. The husbands looked at each other.
“Pizza it is.”
                Later that night after the children had been put to bed, Simon brought in a flyer he been given earlier that day on campus. Spencer was having a relaxing glass of wine in front of the fireplace waiting for his husband to join him.
“I have an idea for tomorrow.” He said as he handed him the flyer. “Some of the agriculture students were passing these out in the student center. Let’s take the kids apple picking tomorrow. I think it will be fun and educational.” Spencer looked at the flyer.
“I’ve heard of this orchard. They were organic before organic was in. This is a great idea Simon.”
“We can take lunch with us and just spend the day out.”
“Just apple picking tomorrow?”
“I’m sure they’ll have other vegetables and fruits available. I know they’ll have squash. I’m hoping to find some good looking acorn squash and some zucchini. Maybe they’ll have some others that we can freeze and cook later.”
“I wonder if they will have Brussels sprouts. Mrs. Black suggested that we try roasting them. It’ll take the bitterness out, making them a little sweeter and maybe the kids will try them that way.”
“Good idea.” Simon said as he sipped his wine. “Hey, we could pick our pumpkin for a Jack O’ Lantern if we want. I’m pretty sure they’ll have some nice ones.”

“Good idea as well.” He replied as he snuggled closer to his husband.

                Breakfast the next morning was a hearty one: pancakes, eggs and sausage.
“Why the big breakfast?”Daniel asked.
“We need lots of energy today for what we’re doing later.” Simon said.
“What are we doing later?” Lilli asked.
“We, are going apple picking.” Spencer said.
“Cool! We’ve never done that before.” Daniel said.
“Is it fun?” Lilli asked.
“Yeah, we get to go around all the trees and put as many apples as we can in a basket to bring home.” Daniel said.
“There’s going to be games, hay rides and all sorts of things.” Simon said.
“Come on Lilli, let’s hurry and eat so we can go!”
                Simon was packing the cooler with their lunch. He made sure he had a container of peanut butter in there too. Dipping apples in peanut butter was his absolute favorite snack; it seemed to help him grade papers better. Spencer made sure to dress the children warmly; it was going to be a very chilly day outside. They made sure that their reusable shopping bags were in the car. It would be great to bring back their organic finds in.
                Spencer didn’t usually like to listen to the children’s music CDs; the voices (and the songs) sometimes annoyed him. He preferred the classical or jazz station. When he did, he felt as if he were educating them not only on the finer things in life, but on the greater things as well. Today he indulged his children; they were just too excited for him not to. And as educated as Spencer was, sometimes nursery rhymes just didn’t make sense. Maybe he missed that as a child. For example, the rhyme never said that Humpty Dumpty was a giant egg but he’s always portrayed as one.
                Once at the orchard, the children looked around at all the excitement; they didn’t know what they wanted to do first. Simon suggested that they play some games first. Daniel was a natural at the apple tossing game. It was like playing tic-tac-toe using apples and tossing them into bushels. Lilli tried but couldn’t quite get the apples close enough to the baskets.
“My arms are too short.”
“That’s ok honey,” Spencer consoled. “We’ll find another game for you to try.” Oddly enough, the leaf contest just happened to be her game. The kids were required to get as many leaves as possible into their bushel in a minute. Somehow, she and her short arms won the contest. Maybe it had something to do with raking leaves the day before. After a few more games, it was time to take a tour of the orchard, which they all enjoyed. The short ride took them to a central dropping off point among the trees then each family could choose where they wanted to go.
                The husbands decided to go to a side of the orchard that, for the moment, wasn’t being frequented by many people. Getting first pick was appealing. Simon carried the basket in a borrowed wagon from the orchard while the children ran to find a tree to start.
“How do we know which apples to pick Papa?” Lilli asked.
“Well, we will start with those on the ground first. When they are ready sometimes they just fall off the tree. But we have to be careful not to find those with really brown or soft mushy spots. Like this one,” Spencer said as he picked one up. “We don’t want these. We want pretty red ones.”
“What about the green ones? Do we want those too?”
“Why not? They all taste pretty good to me.” Simon said. Daniel picked up a few.
“Does the size matter?” he asked.
“I don’t think so son. Any size you find will be good for us.” The children set about filling up the basket with all varieties of apples. Lilli turned out to be a more careful chooser than Daniel was. She was very particular about the colors; she wanted the right color red. Spencer didn’t have the heart to tell her that some of those apples would loose the red peel in order to be cooked. After about an hour and a half their bushel was full and almost overflowing. A wagon came to take them back to the main stand to weigh their basket. The children were surprised at how many apples they picked.
“I’m very proud of you; you guys did a great job picking apples.” Simon said giving his children a high-five.
“It was really fun daddy! Can we do this all the time?” Lilli asked.
“Well, apples in this part of the country are only picked during the fall. We still have a few weeks left this year but after that we’ll have to wait until next year.”
“We picked a lot of apples. What are we going to do with them?” Daniel asked.
“Pick some recipes and cook them.” Spencer said.
“All of them?”
“Not all of them, but a good amount of them. We’ll freeze them so we’ll have some to eat whenever we want.”
“Like apple pies for Thanksgiving?” Daniel asked, hinting with his mouth watering.
“Absolutely, like apple pies for Thanksgiving.”

After weighing their basket and paying, Simon took it to the car and Spencer let the kids ride the mini-train. Simon brought back their picnic basket and their shopping bags for later. The children picked the perfect picnic spot; a nice sunny spot with the sweet smell of apples in the air. Simon saw a few of the other professors from the university. Apparently, they had gotten a flyer from the Ag students as well.
Simon took out his camera and started taking photos for the family album. He loved this precious time with his husband and children. Spencer was good at his job, but sometimes it took him away from their family- physically, mentally and emotionally. Secretly Simon wished that Spencer would give up the BAU and become a professor. He could teach just about anything anywhere. But deep down he knew Spencer never would. As long as Dr. Spencer Reid was catching criminals, he was learning and imparting knowledge- two of his favorite things.
“Ok, family photo time!” Simon set up the tripod to take a few pictures of them together. “Everybody say ‘apple’!”
“Apple!” They all laughed hearty, joyful laughs. Then Daniel tapped Spencer on the shoulder.
“Tag you’re it papa!” then took off running.
“Tag? I didn’t know we were playing tag. I am coming after you Daniel!” Simon laughed at his awesome husband and two beautiful children tagging each other and running around. He couldn’t help but snap away. The smile on his husband’s face was priceless. Few things made Spencer Reid joyful; the laughter of his children was in his top three. After about five minutes, Lilli came and tagged Simon.
“You’re it daddy!”
“Well, I guess you better run then huh?” Lilli laughed, screamed and ran. Spencer took a breather by taking a series of pictures with Simon’s camera. His favorite shot was probably when they tackled Simon in a pile of leaves.
The game of tag was finally finished and everyone was taking a much-needed rest on the blanket. Cloud watching became the next subject of conversation. They talked about the type of clouds, cloud shapes, you name it. The sun was moving into position to set in a few hours and the temperature had changed. Simon suggested they head over to the Farmer’s Market Tables to get their fresh veggies then head home. The children groaned when Spencer told them he was going to get some fresh Brussels Sprouts.
“Well then what to suggest we get for dinner tonight?”
“Pizza?” Daniel suggested.
“Nah, we did that last night.” Spencer looked over the array of veggies before them. “How about we do that big spinach we had a few weeks ago? I’m sure they have sun-dried tomatoes here.”
“Can we put apples in it instead of the cranberries this time?” Lilli asked.
“Si, I think we have a chef in the making! Of course, we can darling. Apples would be wonderful with the pecans.”
Sunsets were some of Simon’s favorite pictures to take and he managed to get a few of the sun seeming to set behind the orchard before they left. Once home, they let the kids help with dinner by washing the apples, tearing the spinach leaves and putting the salad together. Lilli and Daniel managed to pick out some great recipes for the apples. But it was clear that this day had worn them out. Daniel could barely stay awake while putting on his pajamas after his bath.
With their children tuckered out and tucked into bed, Spencer brought his husband a glass of warm apple cider into his office where he was looking at the pictures he had taken. He laughed at the ones Spencer had taken of him and the children in the leaf pile.
“Your photography skills have gotten better babe.” Simon said taking a sip of the cider. “A little more practice and you could be my assistant.”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll keep my day job. The sunset pictures are absolutely beautiful.”
“They are. I love the way the sun seems to be peeking through the trees here. Just lovely.” Just then, their family picture came up and Spencer gasped. “Now that is a beautiful picture.”
“You think so? My face looks funny.”
“It’s beautiful- your face and the picture. You’re happy. Now worries from work or anything. I don’t know if you know this, but the biggest smiles I see on your face are the times you spend with Lilli and Daniel.”
“Really?” Simon nodded.
“I can’t help but smile when you smile, because I know its pure joy when you do.” Spencer leaned over and kissed Simon.
“I don’t know which I like better, the black and white or the color.”
“One of each?”
“Sure. I’ll make sure there’s one at my desk and one in my bag. Reminders of the greatest joys in my life.”
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The Elements and Workings of Mother Nature