A/N: I missed my usual Memorial Day party story with Matt Taylor and all the gang. So it's catch-up time. And my usual crossover with Madam Secretary.

Don't worry if you don't know the MadSec characters or storyline. I'll get you caught up.

All rights to the Criminal Minds and Madam Secretary characters belong to Mark Gordon Studios, Barbara Hall Productions, CBS and ABC Studios.

Tissue alert. Sorry.

*Knightly bow*

Chapter 1

The Three Musketeer visit to Arlington was a quiet one on Memorial Day. It was just the three families. Matt and Dave saluted Matt's Marines as the others stood quietly behind them.

Their morning was followed by the usual Memorial Day picnic at the Rossi mansion with all the usual people attending and all the usual the food. The only new wrinkle, other than the kids being a year older, was the addition of Francis "Frankie" Morgan. Beth brought out the now eleven-month old youngest Morgan son with his fresh diaper and put him on his bare feet on the patio next to Grandpa Brooks. "Get the toddler going Grandpa," Beth smiled, rubbing John's shoulder.

Frankie toddled around the grandparents' table happily smiling and babbling at all of them, holding on securely to each knee. Jessica scooped him up her arms and gave him some of her homemade ice cream. Savannah shook her head at Jess. "Thank you for that diaper tomorrow morning."

Jess smiled at Frankie, putting in another spoonful. "Tell mom you need the clean out," she winked at the boy. Frankie babbled for more.

"Always works for me Aunt Jess," Jack said, shoving in another bite along with a piece of Jess' chocolate cake, sitting around Dave's pool. Aaron shook his head at Beth.

Matt growled at his boys before they could pile on. "Don't!" he commanded.

"Busted," Casee mumbled at her brothers, softly giggling.

-00CM00-

Less than two weeks later, Matt and Abbey were sitting beneath the umbrella of the patio table by their pool after dinner. Maizie, the new Taylor family dog, was lying in the shade between their chairs.

Matt's cell rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. He showed it to Abbey. "Hi Jason," Matt answered.

"Hi Matt," Jason McCord said. "I hope you don't mind me calling. And you're on speaker. Ally is here with me."

"Talk to me Jason," Matt smiled. "I've got you two on speaker as well with Abbey."

"Talk to us you two," Abbey said.

"You guys are the best," Ally said.

"Why I called them," Jason added.

"Hey you two!" Matt said. "Abbey and I don't referee arguments that don't involve our own children. So, talk to us instead of arguing with each other."

"Busted," Abbey smiled.

"So busted," Jason said.

"Mom and dad are going to be home for the weekend," Ally said. "They're taking a few days off from campaigning." Abbey smiled at Matt. "They need the down time."

"And so do we," Jason added. "The anarchist is all in on Team McCord going to new heights. But Matt…"

"You need family time," Matt smiled. "I get it. How can we help?"

The McCord kids paused. The Taylors could hear them softly talking to each other. Abbey looked at Matt and winked. "Like maybe a picnic at Dave and Hayden's?" Abbey asked.

"Oh my god Abbey you are the greatest," Ally said.

"Please," Jason pleaded.

Matt laughed. "The anarchist pleads?"

"Yes, I'm busted again," Jason said. "Does that tell you anything?"

"Yeah Jason, it does," Matt smiled. "But I defer party planning to my wife. I'll text you Abbey's cell number and email. Text us Ally's cell number."

"And I'll get Hayden and Beth on it," Abbey added.

"Thank you both," Ally said. "You are a godsend."

"Jason," Matt said. "This is for Team McCord. We're with you kid. Plus mom and dad."

"Thank you Matt," Jason said. "You can't understand what this means to us."

Matt laughed. "Jase, I'm a profiler. More importantly, I'm a father. I get it."

-00CM00-

The next morning, David Rossi stormed through the BAU doors and made a beeline to Matt's office. JJ, Tara and Reid shared a look.

Dave walked into Matt's office. "Why do I have drones flying over my house and Secret Service agents crawling around?" he demanded.

Matt smiled. "Two years in and you don't talk to your wife anymore?"

"God damnit Matt," Dave snarled.

"Dave, I'll say it again. You need to talk to your wife."

"My wife was up late last night, doing something on her laptop," Dave growled. "She was still sleeping when I left."

"Probably because Hayden was IM-ing with Abbey and Beth via Facebook, planning a picnic at your home on Sunday." Dave looked at him. "With the McCord family being there," Matt smiled. "You know - running for president Bess McCord." Matt told Dave about the phone call he and Abbey had gotten from the McCord kids.

"You could have sent me a goddamn text," Dave snarled.

"You could have asked your wife," Matt fired back as Dave left his office, giving Matt a one-finger salute behind his back that no one else could see. Matt laughed.

JJ walked into Matt's office and handed him a file. "My profile of the Tucson case." Matt took it with a smile. "Care to share?" JJ asked, smiling back. Matt filled her in.

"They so need down time," JJ smiled.

"Abbey and I are glad the kids called," Matt smiled back. "It's Hayden's job to talk her husband down, bitching about the security check," he winked at JJ.

JJ laughed. "Tell Team McCord hello from all of us," she grinned.

"You got it Jayje," Matt said.

Aaron came stuck his head in Matt's door as JJ was leaving. "Everything OK?" he asked.

"Just giving Rossi some marriage counseling," Matt snarked. JJ and Hotch laughed.

-00CM00-

Sunday morning, as the upper tier of the BAU and their families were in their home churches, the Secret Service quietly shut down the alleyway on the backside of the Rossi property. The two neighbors on the other side of the large hedgerow of bushes didn't notice. They never used the alley.

When Matt pulled up to the alley entrance a little after noon to get to the back of Dave's garage, a Secret Service agent, in plain clothes, stopped the vehicle. Matt pulled out his credentials and showed the agent. "Agent, I've got to ask. Are you carrying?" he asked, looking in the car. Maizie, in the second row of seats of Abbey's Traverse sharing the seat with Cam, barked a warm greeting at the agent, wagging her tail.

Matt smiled. "With all of you around here and the extra security I know you have hidden? No. If it comes to that, I know what's in Rossi's gun safe."

The agent tapped on the open windowsill of the door. "Good to see you again Cob," he smiled, nodding at another agent to open the alley.

"You too Doug," Matt replied. "Hotch and his family are about ten minutes behind us."

"Got it Cob," Doug smiled. Matt and the boys were finishing unloading the vehicle when the Hotchners pulled in.

-00CM00-

Hayden put some plastic wrap over the large metal bowl of fruit salad that was finished. Beth started running some water in the sink to wash the prep dishes. Matt put the three pounds of hamburger into a large mixing bowl with Abbey adding the onion she had diced, handing the cutting board and knife to Aaron, who was gathering up the dirty dishes to help Beth.

Abbey went to the fridge and pulled out two eggs to add to the burger. She looked at Hayden. "Brown eggs?"

"It's a Euro thing," Hayden smiled. "I like them better than your regular eggs."

Matt smiled as Abbey cracked the two eggs open, putting them into the bowl with the burger. Matt put his hands in to mix it all together. "Da had a small henhouse on the farm with a Rhode Island Red rooster and three females. He and grandma liked brown eggs too." Abbey looked at him. "The white eggs they sold."

While Matt was forming up burger patties, putting them in a pan Hayden had out for him, Team McCord came in the backdoor. "Thank you," Bess said, greeting the entire group, pulling out their contribution to the dinner.

Ally nudged Matt walking past him, putting two containers of deviled eggs into the fridge. "You're good noodle one," he smiled.

"We need this," Henry added, greeting everyone.

Abbey looked at the three family-sized packages of chicken wings the McCords had brought. "You've got some more work farm boy," she smiled at Matt. "The chicken pluckers failed."

Matt looked over her shoulder, putting another burger patty into the pan. "I hated that frickin' job." The group all laughed. And then caught up with each other.

Matt put his hands and the hamburger-mixing bowl in Beth's dishwashing water. He cleaned his hands and grabbed some paper towels to dry off his hands as Beth washed and rinsed the bowl. Abbey opened the chicken wing packages. Bess looked at them. Matt shook his head as Abbey pointed out the feather ends still stuck in part of the wings. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "We have a horse farm but no chickens."

"No worries," Matt smiled. He looked at Dave. "You got a pair of pliers in here?" he asked looking around the kitchen.

"That drawer," Dave pointed. "May I ask why?"

Matt smiled, pulling out the pliers. "If the feather plucking machine at the processing plant couldn't pull them out, I can't do it with my fingers." He looked at Jason. "Yes, that is the voice of experience." Jason laughed as Matt quickly got the wings cleaned up and washed the pliers, and his hands, in the dishwater Beth has left for him. He let the water out and dried the pliers, putting them away. Hayden got the wings into the fridge alongside the burgers.

Ally walked up to Abbey and hugged her. "Thank you," she smiled.

Abbey hugged her back. "You know all of us. We'll take any excuse to get together for some good food and a party."

Henry put his arm over Bess' shoulder. "You'll never know what this means to us."

Dave softly smiled, putting his arm around Hayden. "We might have a clue."

Just then, Maizie came into the kitchen, wagging her tail at the group. "Whoa," Jason said.

"Jase," Matt said, "pit bulls are loveable by nature. It's humans who make them mean."

Bess and Henry smiled at the beautiful light brown and white dog with a patch of black hair around her black nose that approached them wanting loves. They happily complied.

Ally looked at Abbey. "Not Wilma."

Abbey pulled Ally to her. "Three days after Christmas, Wilma stopped eating and wasn't herself. We knew something was wrong."

Henry and Bess looked at Matt and Abbey as Stevie, their oldest daughter, loved up Maizie. "We took her to the vet that day," Matt said. "He did an X-ray and found a tumor the size of a half-dollar in her stomach. It was already metastasized. We didn't want her to suffer. Happy New Year," he added, rolling his eyes.

Bess looked at them. "The kids?"

Abbey shook her head with a sad smile as Jason knelt down on one knee and petted Maizie. That got him a facial lick attack, gently pushing him over on the floor. The group all laughed. "Colin obviously took it the hardest. He was a baby when we got Wilma. She was all he knew. Our youngest middle-schooler slept with us that night."

"And Abbey and I made up our minds on three things," Matt added. "Yes, we wanted another dog. After the hurt wore off. Number two, after winter."

"As much as we missed Wilma," Abbey said, "we didn't miss wiping dog feet coming in from the snow."

"We so get that," Beth smiled at Aaron. Dave and Hayden nodded their agreement. On cue, Jake and Max bounded into the kitchen, followed by the boys that had been watching the Nats baseball game in Dave's new man cave downstairs. Casee joined them from Dave's study where she had been curled up with her tablet, reading a book. Jake and Max got their loves from the McCords. So did the kids.

"Number three," Matt continued, "we were going to adopt," he smiled.

"Just before Easter, we took the kids to our local humane society shelter," Abbey said. "The kids spread out, looking around. The first kennel Casee walked up to, the dog softly barked at her. She looked at us and said 'I got her'. They let us take Maizie home for the day. She never went back after being there for over a year," Abbey smiled.

"That is so cool," Ally said, hugging Casee.

Just then, the backdoor to kitchen opened. Conrad and Lydia Dalton walked in. "Thanks for inviting us," Dalton smiled.

Matt looked at Dave. "You get POTUS and FLOTUS walking into your kitchen carrying three bags of groceries and a cooler and you come into my office and bite me in the ass."

Aaron looked at Dave. "It is a Kodak moment."

"Shuddup you two," Dave growled.

The group in the kitchen roared with laughter as they welcomed the First Couple.

XXX

A/N: A Traverse is a Chevrolet vehicle that seats seven passengers with three rows of seats. While fitting the model of an SUV. It ain't your mama's minivan.

Rockie cooking tip. Again. Add an egg to a pound of burger to make the patties stick together better for grilling or pan-frying. And adds more taste.

Rhode Island Red chickens are a breed of chickens that produce brown eggs. My grandparents had the same set up on their farm being from a German background. Gma swore brown eggs were better.

Refresher: the McCord kids in birth order. Stephanie (Stevie), Allison (Ally) and Jason.

POTUS is President of the United States. FLOTUS is First Lady of the United States.