As you have no doubt guessed, this is a series of one-shots revolving around our favorite blonde media liaison and a certain young doctor as they begin their lives together. No Will or Henry (though I do have plans for something that might involve them one day, right now my priority is to get this series of one-shots at least underway, and I do picture Jason being very similar to Henry, so make of that what you will).
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Criminal Minds. However, I own the basic storyline of these one-shots, as well as the character Jason Xander Reid.
Setting - Sometime in Season 2 (or very early Season 3)
She stares down at the sleeping child in her arms, her blue eyes moist with un-shed tears as she marvels at how absolutely perfect her newborn son is. She feels a gentle hand touch her arm and senses her boyfriend's presence next to her before he speaks in the calm, gentle, almost-shy manner that had caused her to fall for him in the first place. "Isn't he just the most amazingly perfect thing you've ever seen?" he marvels.
She smiles at him and raises herself ever so slightly from the hospital bed on which she lays to press her lips against his in a brief, though tender, kiss. "He certainly is. It's almost hard to believe that such perfection could exist".
"I couldn't agree more".
Smiling at her boyfriend, who is sitting in the chair next to her bed, their hands entwined between them on the sheets, her mind flashes to the day that she first told him that she was pregnant.
~Eight months ago~
"Hey, Spence, do you want to go grab something to drink when we're done here? There's something I want to talk to you about".
The brown-haired man glanced up at his best friend, the curiosity clear on his face and in his dark brown eyes. "Sure, JJ. What is it?"
"I'd rather discuss it in private. Not in the middle of the bullpen".
"Alright. How about that coffee shop just around the corner then?"
"Yeah, sounds good".
~Two hours later~
Spencer looked at the young woman who sat across the table from him. They had ordered their coffees five minutes ago, and she had yet to take even a single sip of hers. "What's going on, JJ?" he queried.
The blonde woman hesitated momentarily, running her tongue over her suddenly dry lips to moisten them before responding. "Do you remember that night just under a month ago, when I showed up at your place unannounced and soaking wet during that storm, and we ended up sharing that bottle of wine and... making love... several times?"
The profiler nodded at the woman who sat across from him, indicating that he remembered vividly the night that she was referring to, before gesturing for her to continue. She sighed deeply. "I think that that one night had deeper repercussions than either of us expected it to, Spence. I'm pregnant. You're going to be a father".
"Oh".
She raised an eyebrow, but otherwise gave no response to the young man sitting across from her, who looked as if he was trying to fit together the news that he had just been dealt. She watched every movement of his slim fingers as he picked up his coffee cup, lifting it to his lips and taking a brief sip before swallowing and placing the container down again. "Really? How... How far along are you?" he queried at last, his voice slightly more shaky than it had been moments before.
"About a month, I think. I only just found out a couple of days ago. I have a doctor's appointment scheduled for tomorrow during our day off, you're more than welcome to come with me if you'd like to. You don't have to be there for any of it, I have no intention of forcing you into anything. I'm just letting you know that you have options".
Spencer nodded. "Are you... Are you going to keep it?"
"Yes".
Again, he nodded, this time adding a smile. "Good. JJ, I want to be part of this. I want more than anything to be a part of this baby's life, to have a chance to give our son, or daughter, the father that I never got to have. I want to be there for every minute of it. If you'll let me, that is".
"Nothing would make me happier".
As she spoke, her eyes filled with involuntary tears, and she furiously blinked them back. Spencer reached out and took her hand in his, rubbing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb and forefinger, sending warmth rushing through her body at the unexpected contact, before leaning in and gently, tenderly, placing a kiss to her lips. As he pulled away, he reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small rectangular box elegantly wrapped in blue paper and placing it on the table between them. "Ever since that night, I haven't been able to get you out of my mind. My dreams are filled with you, and I want nothing more than to be able to kiss your perfect lips again and again. Jennifer Jareau, would you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"
"Yes".
His smile widening visibly, her new boyfriend (and the father of her unborn child, she reminded herself), indicated the box that lay in the center of the mahogany table. "Please, open it".
The blonde woman nodded, carefully removing the ribbon and tucking it safely into her pocket (to give to Garcia later, the technical analyst having a fondness for ribbons), before tearing open the paper and opening the box to reveal a heart-shaped locket on a golden chain. Her jaw dropped open as she looked at it, and she blinked in shock as she glanced between it and the man sitting across from her. "Spence..."
"It's a gift. I really want you to have it" the brown-haired profiler replied softly.
She picked it delicately out of the box and let the locket itself rest in the palm of her hand. "It's gorgeous. I... I don't know how I can ever thank you enough".
"That's not all there is to it. Flick the catch".
The blonde's eyes went immediately to the small catch that was well-hidden on the side of the locket, and she eased it open with her forefinger, revealing the small photograph from three months before that sat inside of the locket. She and Spencer had been sitting across from each other on the plane back from one of their earlier cases, looking into each other's eyes as they played a game of cards with a pack that she had found somewhere, and someone had taken a picture of the two of them. It had been the first moment that she had really realized that she was in love with him... "Spence, how did you get this photo?" she queried, tears, this time of happiness, springing to her eyes for a second time.
"Morgan took it with his cellphone and sent me a message with the image attached. I transferred the image onto my laptop and took it to a print lab, and got them to re-size it to fit the locket" Reid responded.
"It's perfect. Thank you".
~Present day~
"Do you want to hold him?"
JJ's question catches her brown-eyed boyfriend off guard, and he considers the question. "Only if you don't mind".
"Why would I mind, Spence? He is your son, after all".
As she speaks, she eases her hand out of his and slides both hands under their son, before lifting him off of her lap and placing him in Spencer's arms. Immediately, brilliant blue eyes flicker open and focus briefly on the young man's face before squeezing shut again almost as quickly, and Spencer chuckles. "He has your eyes, I see".
"And your adorableness".
JJ's hand unconsciously slips up to the slender golden chain of the locket that hangs between her breasts, brushing against what has quickly become her most treasured possession. "Any thoughts on what his name should be?" her boyfriend queries at last.
The woman looks up. "I was thinking Xander for a middle name. Any ideas for a first name?"
"I like the name Jason".
JJ smiles, knowing as she does that her boyfriend is referring not only to the hero figure of Greek myth, but also to their former colleague (who happened to be a major father figure for the younger agent). "Perfect. Jason Xander Reid. I like it, Spence".
"Me too".
JJ shifts over slightly to allow her boyfriend enough room to join her on the bed, and the two of them just sit there in silence for a few minutes, staring down at their newborn son. And, for the first time in years, both are totally, utterly, truly, at ease.