Happy JxA appreciation week 2016!
Day 6 Prompt: One year together. 3 What are Jeff and Annie doing now?/future fic
A couple years after they got married, Annie and Jeff decided they were ready to expand their family. Although nervous, Jeff was giddy at the possibility of realizing his season seven fantasy.
By that time of course, he knew Annie was not going to be greeting him everyday when he came home. She had started a promising career in forensics with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation* and they often arrived home at a similar hour. He was back to practicing law at a small firm in Denver.
But he had that image of the kid. The blond-haired tot who was impeccably dressed (for a toddler). And for some reason he had a name.
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After the initial shock and awe of discovering Annie was actually pregnant wore off, Jeff confided in her his name for a boy.
"Sebastian?" Her eyebrows rose as she turned to look at him from her spot on the couch.
"Yeah. What do you think?"
She nodded slowly for a few moments as she appeared to ponder the idea.
A grin spread over her face. "I kinda love it. How did you think of it?"
He shrugged as he replied, "Just came to me."
She tilted her head and looked at him curiously. "Do you know anyone named Sebastian?"
He sighed and rubbed his hand over his scruff. He then mumbled in a low voice, "Nope. But there was that red crab in the Little Mermaid. You like that movie…"
She gave a bounce and clapped her hands together. "Oh! I can't believe I forgot about Sebastian! Yes, if we have a boy, let's do it."
He smirked and pulled her into a hug.
"Cool cool cool."
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They had a girl.
They named her Sadie.
Sadie was the sweetest, most adorable, and likely most geniusest – that's a word, right? - of all children ever.
According to Jeff.
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About three years later they decided to do it again. Sadie was more manageable now and would likely make a decent big sister, again according to Jeff.
Annie didn't need too much persuading. She was delighted Jeff had been able to scale back his legal work to part-time so that she could devote the energy she needed to her profession. Unsurprisingly, he had turned out to be a good daddy. He seemed less interested in legal work since Sadie was born and appeared to readily let Annie take the breadwinning lead.
She found the whole thing terribly sexy.
"Sooo…names?" Annie looked up from the baby name book as she absentmindedly stirred a pot of chili on the stove.
Jeff chuckled as he reached around her to grab the ladle. "You're not even pregnant."
She turned away, grabbing the book and clutching it to her chest.
She said wistfully, "But I might be soon. If all goes well. And you know how I like to be prepared." She paled and turned to face him. "Ooops, I don't want to jinx it! Oh no, what if I…."
He reached out and lightly touched her hand as she held it to her mouth.
"Annie."
She dropped her hand and wrapped it back around the book, pulling it in even tighter. She stammered, "I'm just nervous. I hope we can do it again."
He placed the ladle on the counter and walked over to her. He affected a smirk as he wrapped his arms around her. He said into the top of her head, "Well, we'll at least do it again."
There may have been a series of Annie-swats at his chest.
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They were able to do it again, as well as conceive a second child.
"Names?"
Jeff pulled her into his side as they sat up in bed, the baby name book open in front of Annie on her lap.
"Sebastian."
"Sebastian?"
"Yeah."
"You still like that name?"
"Don't you?"
She turned to look up at him and smiled. "Yes. If it's a boy, we'll name him that."
"Cool cool cool."
She laughed as she said, "But we should think of a girl's name."
He nodded. "Right."
"Ideas?"
He was silent for a moment before he replied, "No clue."
She pressed against his chest and then moved to a seated position so that she could watch his face. She furrowed her brow as she said, "You don't want another girl?"
He let out a long sigh and shook his head. "You know that's not what I meant."
She squinted her eyes.
He sighed again. "Okay, for some reason I have the name Sebastian embedded in my head. I have no idea why. I just have a feeling it's going to be a boy."
She appeared to consider this for a moment.
She then opened her eyes wide as she said softly, "But if it's a girl…"
He interjected, "I will love her to pieces. You know that."
She smiled weakly. "I know. And Sadie would love a little sister."
"She would."
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It was a girl.
They named her Ariel. Annie thought it was a nice Jewish name. It also happened to be the name of the Little Mermaid. That was merely a plus, of course.
Jeff thought he should get some credit for the name. He and Sadie did some Little Mermaid research, so it was a heck of backup plan to his Sebastian idea.
Annie rolled her eyes. "Of course we'll give you credit. Good job, daddy."
Jeff frowned. "Well, actually it was Sadie. She said it first."
"Speaking of Sadie, where is she? I thought Britta was bringing her here this morning." Annie looked down at Ariel, who was sleeping peacefully in her arms.
She then looked back up at him with an unspoken question.
He nodded.
He reached over and gently took the baby from her and let her settle back into the hospital bed.
He said softly as he regarded his new daughter, "She insisted that Britta take her to pick out a doll for her sister."
Annie smiled. "A doll? For a newborn?"
"Britta says she can't talk her out of it."
He gave Ariel a gentle kiss on her forehead.
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"We're not going for a third."
"Annie, I never said I needed a boy. Only I thought she would be a boy. Of course we're not going for a third."
"Resolved."
"Resolved."
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They didn't go for a third.
Jeff may have spoiled Ariel, along with big sister Sadie. After some initial jealousies were raised, Sadie settled into a terrific little helper and, as Jeff told her, mentor. She took her duties very seriously.
Jeff and Annie loved their girls.
Jeff needed to let his Sebastian fantasy go and realize that his real life was more incredible and wonderful than he ever dared thought it could be.
He always had a tendency to want things. During his fake lawyer days he wanted a lot of things. During his Greendale days, he learned to question his initial wants. Public humiliation over being discovered for faking a bachelor's degree will do that to a person.
He used to want a fancy office. He used to want a random hot woman on his arm, the taller and more red-haired the better.
Instead, he had a home office half full of toys. He was regularly woken before six. He had two adorably crafty semi-sociopathic cherubs of delight. He had an extended Greendale Family.
He had Annie Edison-Winger, forensic mastermind and sexiest best friend and wife ever.
Jeff never gets what he wants.
He gets what he needs.
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*credit to liz_marcs for the CBI idea; you're right, given Annie's background, it fits so much better than the FBI