AN: This is written for CCOAC's Future Fic Challenge and is therefore set in the year 2022. There will be at least one more chapter possibly more. I have to see where the story leads me as I have a rough idea. I picked Will LaMontange as my character and got David Rossi. Will does make a more prominent appearance in the next chapter. This story fits in with my Amber/Reid universe that was first introduced in "Careless Man's Careful Daughter".
Disclaimer: Criminal Minds and it's characters are not mine. I only own the OC's and plot.
Methodically, Dave Rossi rolled the meat mixture he had made into precise balls, trying to get each meatball about the same size. It was one of those small details that his mother had always insisted was important. That one meatball bigger or smaller than the others would affect the flavor balance of a dish. Though Dave really didn't see what difference one small meatball would make, learning how to cook under his mother's supervision had instilled the habit of uniformly sized meatballs in him. Since Isabella's death three years ago, Dave had started worrying about those little details his mama had tried to instill in him just in case she really was watching him from above.
As he finished off the meatballs for the meatball sandwiches he had promised ME he would make for dinner tonight, Dave realized that the kitchen had gotten awfully quiet. Turning he saw that Wesley, his three and a half year old grandson, had abandoned the blocks he was playing with and was nowhere to be seen.
Grumbling under his breath, the sixty-seven-year-old abandoned his dinner preparations and went in search of his grandson. Amber and Reid's second born was definitely a handful. Even child proofing the house, both here and the small house that Amber and Reid had moved into when ME was five, hadn't kept the adventurous boy from getting into things.
Walking toward the living room, his two-year-old Labrador, Angel, came running past, a flash of red causing Dave to do a double take. A red throw afghan had been stuffed in the dog's collar. Deciding to deal with the afghan later if necessary, he had a feeling Angel would soon rid herself of it on her own, Dave decided to continue his search for his grandson. Stepping into the living room, he realized he had made the right choice as Wesley, the baby blanket that Garcia had crocheted him stuck in the back of his shirt, was climbing up onto the back of the sofa.
Rushing forward as fast as his aging body would allow him to, Dave picked his grandson up before he could attempt to stand on the back of the couch.
"Grandpa, I want to fly!" Wesley exclaimed, clearly put out that his grandfather had plucked him from the back of the couch.
"Little boys can't fly," Dave informed him, turning to carry his grandson back to the kitchen so he could finish dinner preparations.
"Clark Kent does," Wesley protested.
"Clark Kent isn't human or real," Dave countered, shaking his head. He clearly needed to have a talk with Spencer about sharing comic books with Wesley. Both ME and Wesley had inherited their father's intelligence and the ideas that the two of them got into their head amazed him at times.
Placing Wesley back on the kitchen floor with his blocks, Dave went back to his dinner preparations, keeping a closer eye on his grandson. He then added the meatballs to the homemade spaghetti sauce, another one of his mother's recipes, which was already simmering in the crock pot. Picking up the lid, he placed it on the crock pot and noted the time. He still had a few hours until ME would get home from school.
He turned to his grandson who was starting once again to lose interest in the blocks. "Wesley, how about you and Grandpa go watch TV. We can put the Rag Tag Bears in to watch."
"Rag Tag Bears!" Wesley exclaimed getting to his feet. The three-year-old pumped his legs up and down in an imitation of a jump.
Dave grinned. Personally he found the colorful bears, the costumes looked to be made out of some kind of carpet material to him, annoying, but his grandson loved them. He couldn't figure out if it was the colors that attracted him or if he really found the show interesting, but it was the only show that Wesley would sit and watch all the way through. Along with the DVDs, Wesley also had all five of the Rag Tag Bears as stuffed animals, and a second green bear that spoke and sang. Dave had threatened Spencer with bodily harm if his grandson ever showed up at his house with that particular bear again.
Letting his grandson lead the way, Dave made his way back to the livingroom. Wesley drug the bean bag he enjoyed sitting on from its resting place in the corner and settled himself as Dave put in one of the many Rag Tag Bears DVD's. Grateful to be off his feet himself, Dave settled on the couch. It wasn't long before Angel hurried into the room and laid down on the couch next to him. Dave noted that the Labrador had managed to lose the afghan at some point.
A second DVD had been started when Dave heard the front door of the mansion open. Looking toward the doorway, it wasn't long before he saw his twelve-year-old granddaughter appeared in the doorway. The former FBI agent was not surprised to see Henry appear right behind ME. About six months apart, in age, the two were practically inseparable, and, as JJ and Will worked crazy hours like his daughter and son-in-law, Rossi didn't mind adding one more kid to his unofficial daycare center. If Henry wasn't at some after school activity, picking Henry up here was part of Will's normal afternoon routine.
"Hi, Grandpa!"
"Hey Sunshine!" Dave said, using his pet name for her. ME had been a ray of sunshine in his life since the day she was born. "How was school?"
"Mostly boring, although the experiment we did in science class was cool," ME replied. Like her father, the preteen had developed an affinity for science and mathematics. The downside to that was that she had begged her father to show her how to do his "Physics Magic" at a young age, causing Dave to ban all such antics from his home, a rule which included Spencer.
"Why don't you come sit down and tell me about it," Dave told her, as he glanced down at his watch. "We've still got some time before the meatballs will be done."
"You did make the meatballs!"
"I told you I would, didn't I?"
"Yes!" ME said as she walked into the livingroom.
Dave couldn't help but notice how poised she came off. Though tall and slender like her father, ME displayed none of the awkwardness that had plagued Spencer for years - and was still evident at times. Dave had a feeling it was partly due to Henry's influence, who had been ME's champion from the time the two of them started walking. No matter how cruel other kids might have gotten, she had always had Henry by her side.
Despite keeping ME in school with kids her own age, Spencer did help her explore topics outside her current grade level and ME also attended a summer program at Georgetown for gifted students. Like her father, ME tested at a genius IQ level, but, despite efforts from the school to move her ahead in grades, Spencer had insisted on keeping her with kids her own age. He wanted his kids to have a more normal childhood that he'd had growing up. Though he initially questioned the decision, Dave had to admit that in the long run having school be easy for ME was probably better in the long run.
"Can Henry stay for dinner?"
"I'm not sure his parents would appreciate a last minute change like that," Dave said. Though Henry often ate with him, ME, Wesley, and Amber while Spencer and JJ were out of town, he knew JJ valued family dinners when the job didn't take her away.
"Actually Mr. Dave, they probably won't mind. Mom and Dad got into another huge argument last night which means Mom is probably going to find something at the office to work late on. Dad will probably be relieved not to have to worry about dinner for the two of us."
The ease with which the thirteen-year-old said the words took Dave by surprise. It was as if he was just stating an everyday occurrence. That didn't set well with the long time profiler. He knew occasional arguments were part of all relationships, he and Wendy still had a few from time to time, but they shouldn't ever become commonplace. When that happened, then there was a much bigger issue than the smaller arguments that needed to be addressed.
"Well, let me call your father and check with him first," Dave said, before giving a definite answer one way or the other. He stood slowly from the couch, planning on calling Will from the kitchen while he checked on dinner. "Sunshine, keep an eye on your brother for me, will ya?"
"Yes, Grandpa."
Leaving the three kids in the livingroom, Wesley still enthralled with his kid's show, Dave headed for the kitchen. Taking his cell phone out on his way there, he soon found Will's name in the contact list and placed the call.
"Detective LaMontagne," came the familiar New Orleans drawl following the second ring.
"Hey, Will, it's Dave. Henry wants to stay for dinner tonight and I told him I'd have to check with you. I know you guys like to eat dinner as a family whenever possible."
"Yeah," Will said, drawing the word out as if he was trying to give himself time to think of a reply. "Well, JJ said she's got things she needs to do at work, so it wasn't going to be much of a family dinner tonight anyway. I'm fine with Henry eating there, if it's no trouble."
"No trouble at all. I enjoy having him around the house. The kids make this place feel more alive."
"Okay, then. I'll pick him up later this evening then. I've got paper work at the office I can actually work on myself, so I'll just log a few more hours."
"I'll let Henry know," Dave informed him. He considered asking Will if everything was okay between him and JJ. With his daughter and son-in-law's friendship with the LaMontagnes and the fact that Henry and ME were practically inseparable, the couple and their son were an important part of his life. Another son and daughter in some ways as the two families had celebrated every milestone in Henry and ME's lives together. Still, perhaps over the phone wasn't the best way to have this conversation. "I'll see you when you get here, Will," Dave said, planning on at least making the former New Orleans native sit down and eat something before heading home this evening.
Ending the call, Dave checked on the meatballs, stirring them a little before replacing the lid, and then heading back to the living room to give the kids the good news.
"Thanks for helping me clean up, Rosa Mia," Dave commented as he handed the final plate to Amber to be dried off. Father and Daughter were at the sink doing the dinner dishes before Amber and Spencer headed home with their two kids.
Dinner on the weekdays when Amber and Reid were working had become a tradition after Dave and Wendy got remarried. At first, Wendy had cooked dinner for the extended family, but after Dave had retired from the FBI a second time, he had assumed the role. He enjoyed it, as he got to experience the family closeness he hadn't had in his youth. Both Amber and Spencer enjoyed not having to cook after working and the kids enjoyed the time with their grandparents. It was a situation in which everyone won.
"It's no problem, Dad. Spencer and I appreciate all you do helping out with the kids."
"I love spending time with the kids. You know that."
"I know. And they love spending time with their grandparents," Amber said, putting the plate in the cupboard and closing the door. "However, I think I'm going to go see how Spencer is making out cleaning up Wesley so the four of us can head home. I'm sure ME has homework to do and I'm looking forward to a long bath and a movie on the couch after Wesley is in bed for the night."
"Sounds like a wonderful way to spend the evening," Dave agreed. Growing more serious, he decided to broach the subject of Henry's comment about his parents arguing with Amber. Perhaps his daughter would know better whether or not any of them should get involved in the situation. "Amber, do you know if Will and JJ have been having problems lately? Henry commented that his parents had a big argument last night and it seemed to me like he was getting use to the fact. Like it happens often."
Amber sighed. "I've noticed it myself. I've asked Will about it and he said it was nothing they couldn't work out. I don't think he wants to get me or Spencer caught up in the middle of anything. Spencer said when he asked JJ if everything was okay at home, when they were on that case in Oklahoma a few weeks back, she told him to quit profiling her and stormed away. They are definitely not the happy couple they once were though."
Dave pondered the information. Amber and Spencer getting involved could definitely turn awkward quickly giving the two couples close friendship. He knew neither of them would want to take sides in the matter. Even him interfering could have repercussions on the two families' friendship.
"I was thinking about having my own conversation with Will, but if you would rather me stay out of things, I will."
Amber let out a sigh of relief. "If you could get Will to talk to you that would be great. I can see the increased stress on his face even in the last few months."
Dave looked at Amber as she stopped talking. There was something else that she wasn't saying. "And?" he prompted.
"I've noticed a few bruises on him in the last month or so. He's always given me some excuse about running into something but when have you known Will to be clumsy," Amber said. Then she shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, maybe he's just preoccupied with other things when it happens."
Dave reached out and gave his daughter's shoulder a squeeze. "I'll check into it. You just enjoy your evening with your family."
"I will Dad," Amber replied.
Taking a step toward him, she kissed his cheek before leaving the kitchen. Dave leaned back against the counter trying to formulate a plan of attack.
"ME, get ready to leave. We need to get you home so you can do your homework," he heard Amber call out.
"But I'm beating Grandma and Henry at War," his granddaughter protested.
"I'm declaring a cease fire," Amber responded. "Now get your school stuff while I go check on your father and brother."
"Yes, ma'am," ME replied reluctantly.
Dave could hear Wendy's voice saying something to ME although he couldn't make it out. Dave couldn't help but smile. Things had definitely gotten better for him over the years. He wouldn't give up the life he had now for anything.