Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.

Happily Ever After-Chapter 1

~This story takes place one year after the wedding in An Unconventional Family. If you haven't read that story, you will want to read it first as this story will make much more sense.

~This is a huge chapter and it won't be the norm for this story. I considered breaking it into three separate chapters, but a lot of it is background, so I decided to keep it as one large chapter. Be sure to drop me a PM or review to let me know how you like it so far...reviews keep me motivated!

The first thing David Rossi noticed when he opened the door to the cabin, was the smell of chicken and noodles cooking in the slow cooker. As he hung his jacket on the hook near the door, he remembered that his daughter had combined everything in the cooker that morning, before leaving to meet up with her friends. His daughter. He never got sick of saying or thinking that. His daughter. His wife.

He, JJ and Abby had all been together for two years now; the first year was spent wooing the girls and getting to know them while the second year had been more about getting used to being a family. As he looked around, he could see evidence of his family pretty much everywhere. He could tell that Abby was home by the trail of debris that led from the front door, up the stairs and, presumably, to her bedroom door. He could also see his wife's effect in the room as well, from the papers spread out on the coffee table to her sneakers on the floor near the sofa. As someone who liked things neat and orderly, his girls' messiness was something he sometimes had trouble with, but it was worth it to have them in his life. There were days he was afraid he would wake up and find that he was still the alcohol swilling, hermitic bachelor he had been before he had reconnected with JJ and learned about their daughter. He was still sometimes amazed that they wanted…no, needed him to be a part of their family.

Sure, things hadn't always been smooth sailing during his year of marriage to Jennifer, he thought as he climbed the steps to the second floor. He and JJ had had to adjust to being husband and wife, especially at work. Of course there were people who thought JJ was using him to further her career, but he had silenced those idiots fairly quickly, and his way of silencing them was to have them transferred to the great Northwest. They also did their fair share of arguing, which was to be expected between two people who were as stubborn as they were, but they usually made up within a day or two, and the makeup was usually worth the argument.

Things also weren't always rosy living with a teenage girl in the house. Dave was still amazed at the way his daughter's mood could change in an instant. One minute she could be happy and smiling, and the next minute she could be crying and screaming at him. And God help him if he even hinted that her mood could be caused by PMS! Then he would have both his feminist wife and feminist daughter come down on him for attributing everything to their hormones. Abby was also just as stubborn as he and JJ were, so it made for some interesting arguments between the three of them. Thankfully his daughter rarely let her temper get the best of her, and she was well behaved for her age, so they didn't have to punish her often. She also didn't normally shout hurtful things at either of them during their arguments. She had never screamed that she hated him, like his sisters had when they were her age; instead, during one of their arguments she had taken a deep breath and said, "I love you, but I don't like you much right now." That had been his cue to back off and he had. All in all, she was a fairly easy teenager to raise, but she did have her moments.

His work life had also changed in the last two years. He had returned to the BAU with the intention of wooing JJ, but he found he liked being back at work. That changed once he got to know his daughter. Any time the team went out of town, he found himself thinking about her and wondering about her well-being. He also began seeing similarities to her in all of their female victims. It didn't matter if they were eight years old or eighty, he would see his daughter in every one of them. It got to the point that he began staying in Quantico for some of their cases, and he would work the case via teleconference. This let him take care of Abby and, as a result, they had become close. Now that he was working on another book, and his daughter was entering her last semester of high school, he had become a consultant for the BAU. This meant he didn't go into headquarters on a regular basis and if the team needed help with a case, he assisted them via his home telephone. Every once in a while a really difficult case came up and he would join the team in the field, but those cases were few and far between. He hated that he wasn't there to protect JJ, but he knew Hotch loved her like a sister, and he knew the unit chief would take care of her. Besides, he knew he would return to a full agent role just as soon as Abby entered college, and with the budget shortfall, the bureau had been more than happy to reduce his position and salary.

Once he hit the second floor of the cabin, he stopped in front of Abby's room to touch base with her and found her room empty. He crossed the hall to his own room and changed into his workout clothes. He assumed his daughter was in the newly built gym, and he knew he could use a workout, so he decided to join her.

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As Abby ran on the treadmill, she cranked up the volume on her iPod and stared at the scenery through the floor to ceiling windows that made up an entire wall of the family gym. Since they lived so far out of the city, it wasn't easy to run to the gym to work out, so her dad had converted one of the outbuildings into a family gym complete with a treadmill, elliptical machine, exercise bike, weight-lifting equipment and a large hot tub. Looking at the peaceful vista in front of her put her in a contemplative mood and she thought about her life over the past few years. Before her father entered the picture, it had been just her and her mom and she thought that was all she needed, she didn't think she needed a dad since she had her Uncle Aaron and Jack, but she had been wrong. Once her dad became a part of her life, she knew their family was complete, she knew she did in fact need her father in her life. It nearly killed her when he left them two summers ago and she was eternally grateful he had returned to them, even if it had left her with a few abandonment issues.

She had also never seen her mother as happy as she was with her father. Sure, they had arguments that shook the roof rafters, but they usually made up quickly and she never doubted the love they had for her or for each other. She also had arguments with both her mother and her father, since her father could be an overprotective caveman and her mother could be really nosy at times, but for the most part they gave her a lot of freedom, and she rarely felt the need to test that freedom. She also knew the one thing they had no tolerance for was lying, so she tried to be as open and honest with them as she could. Sure, they didn't know everything that went on in her life, but they knew about most of the important stuff. In return, she knew her parents were open and honest with her, even when she didn't want them to be.

Glancing at the clock, she saw that she had been running for over an hour. She knew the chicken and noodles that she was slow cooking for dinner must be ready by now, so she slowed the treadmill and took her ear buds out of her ears. As she stepped off of the machine, she heard a deep voice say, "That looked like quite a run, Pumpkin."

"Holy shit," Abby gasped in surprise. To her knowledge she had been alone in the gym the entire time and it was disconcerting to know that someone else was in there with her. "Dad! When did you get back?"

"About half an hour ago, but I've only been in here for the last ten minutes," he told her from his perch on the exercise bike behind her. While she was studying at school, he had been attempting to work on his manuscript, but he had a massive case of writer's block. Thinking some fresh air might help, he had gone for a long walk around the property. Unfortunately, it hadn't helped. "By the way, that's a dollar."

Abby gave a frustrated sigh, "It shouldn't count when you scare the bejesus out of me!" Six months ago, her mother had instituted a 'swear jar' in an effort to curb the profane language that had made its way into each of their vocabularies, due largely in part to Dave's casual usage of the offensive words. For every swear word said, the offender had to put one dollar into the swear jar and at the end of the month they donated the money to a local charity. They could have gone back to Hawaii with all of the money that first month, again due largely in part to Dave, but with each passing month the amount of money in the jar decreased. It was JJ's hope that the jar would eventually stand empty.

"Sorry Pumpkin, I don't make the rules, I just follow them," he said with a smile. His smile turned into a grin when he heard his daughter grumble, "Since when?"

"Let's see, for the last three hundred and sixty-nine days…in other words, since I said 'I do' to your mother."

"Whatever," she mumbled taking a drink. "You know you actually have to pedal that thing in order for it to count as exercise, right? It's not like you're going to get in shape by just sitting in the gym watching other people work out," she snarked at him.

"Someone's in a mood," he remarked as he stepped off of the bike and handed her a towel so she could wipe the sweat off of her face.

She glared at him for a second before realizing that, yeah, she was in a shitty mood. "Sorry dad, it's just my frickin' Shakespeare class, I hate it! I'm never going to do well on the final." Abby was still on her Christmas break, but her semester didn't end until the end of January, so she still had finals to face when she returned to school. "I mean, why can't he speak English? Why can't he just say what he means instead of making it sound so stupid?"

Dave hated Shakespeare as much as his daughter did, so he was of no help to her in that subject. Actually, he was no help to her in any of her subjects since he had barely scraped by in high school, while she maintained an A average. He couldn't count the number of times both he and JJ had enlisted Reid's help for some of Abby's homework. "First, he is speaking English; it's just a different form."

"The jackass form?"

"And that's another dollar," Dave told her and got a scowl in return. "Second, I'm sure you're going to do fine on the final, but its okay if you don't, all your mother and I ask is that you try your best."

"It isn't okay if I don't do well! If I don't get an A in this class, then I'm out of the running for valedictorian!" Abby was neck in neck with two other kids in her class for the title and she was determined to win.

Knowing she wouldn't calm down about this until after the final was over, Dave decided to change the subject, "How about we go in for dinner? I could smell the chicken and noodles when I was inside earlier and I was practically drooling."

Abby nodded, grabbed her iPod and let her father lead her back to the cabin.

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As JJ entered the cabin, she was greeted by the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen. She kicked off her shoes, set her bag on the ground and made her way down the hallway. She stopped in front of the kitchen and watched her husband and daughter interact with each other. Even though it was only six o'clock, Abby was in her pajamas and Dave looked comfortable in sweatpants and a t-shirt. Dave had made Abby laugh by telling her something, and Abby made Dave laugh in return by making a face at him. As she watched them, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous; a part of her wished she could be the one to stay home with their daughter all day, but she loved her job and she knew she was setting a good example for Abby by being a strong and respected woman in a male dominated field. Plus, a part of her would always feel bad for keeping Dave and Abby apart for the first fifteen years of her life, and she knew this was a way for her to try and make it up to them so she didn't complain about missing out on things, or on their closeness, even if she did feel like an outsider sometimes.

Like her daughter, JJ had always felt their family had been complete with just the two of them. She knew her own father hadn't done much for her except put a roof over her head and food on the table, and since she could do that for Abby, she didn't think her daughter needed a father. Boy, had she been wrong. In the two years since Dave had been in their lives, both she and her daughter had blossomed. JJ had found a love she never knew was possible, and Abby felt the unconditional love of another parent. There were times when she wanted to pinch herself, as her life felt like a dream, but she was afraid to in case she really did wake up to find herself back in their tiny apartment.

Part of her had been afraid that her daughter would change once Dave was in their lives, and she did, but the change was for the better. Because Dave had money, JJ had been afraid that Abby would change into a spoiled, entitled teenager, but she hadn't. Instead, she transformed into a more confident young woman. Sure, she still had her typical teenage moments of tantrums and tears, but all in all she didn't give them much grief or attitude.

Another part of her had been afraid that she herself would change once Dave was in their lives and, like her daughter, she had also changed but it was also for the better. JJ had learned how to stand up to an overbearing, protective and somewhat sexist Neanderthal and she was able to use that newly acquired skill with reporters at crime scenes and press conferences. Because of the total trust she had in her husband, she had also learned that it was okay to let her guard down and love someone completely. That change had brought her much happiness in her life.

Dave finally noticed her standing in the doorway. He quickly crossed the room and gave her a somewhat fervent kiss. Abby, who was used to her parents displays of affection, just kept cooking. Besides, this wasn't the worst thing she had ever seen between her parents. Right after they were married, they had tended to carry on like the newlyweds that they were with the making out when they thought she wasn't looking. There was also one mortifying occasion where she came home from the library early and had walked in on her parents being…affectionate with each other in the great room. Deeply affectionate. As in, she wished there was brain bleach so she could wash that moment from her brain. The result of that encounter was a promise from her parents to restrict their activities to their bedroom, a long sex talk from her mother later that night and a sofa that she would no longer sit on. In comparison, her parent's passionate kiss was nothing.

Once they finally separated, Dave poured his wife a glass of wine. "How was work?" He asked her.

She sighed, "Meetings, meetings and more meetings. God, I think the Ice Queen is trying to bore me to death!"

Dave grinned, "Want me to have a chat with her?"

"No! The last person you 'had a chat with' hasn't been seen since!"

Still smiling, Dave poured himself another glass of wine. "It's purely a coincidence that Agent Malloy transferred to Anchorage after he and I had a discussion about your marital status."

JJ snorted as she took a draw of the wine, "Discussion? I heard he wet himself and then fled the building."

"Well fuck Jen; the guy should know what a ring on someone's left hand means!" Dave said, frustrated.

"You owe a dollar!" Abby sang triumphantly. After her own donation to the swear jar, due half in part to her father's sneakiness in the gym, she was ecstatic that he also had to pay.

Dave grumbled something under his breath as he put a dollar into the jar. JJ just smiled as she drank her wine. "How was your day, Abby?"

"Other than worrying about my godda-god dang Shakespeare class, everything was fine. I slept in and then hung out at the mall with my friends for most of the afternoon and then I came home and worked out. It was pretty low key, just how I wanted the last Friday of my Christmas break to be." Abby was happy that she caught her swear in time and smiled smugly at her father.

"Why don't you jump in a quick shower and then we'll eat dinner?" Dave suggested to his wife.

She shook her head, "If I take a shower, it will make me sleepy and I'll pass out before I eat. Let's eat now and then we can all watch a movie together and then I'll shower."

"Sounds good," Dave said as he helped his daughter carry the food to the table. Once everything was set, the three of them sat down to a nice family dinner.