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Meeting David Rossi
I remember the day I first met him. I had gone to Quantico to meet my mother for lunch. Waiting in the outer office I watched. He was sitting causally in her office playing with the paperweight and talking with her. He seemed so relaxed with her and her with him. I don't ever remember seeing mom so comfortable with someone. She had just returned from a stint in rehab, she was working hard to rebuild her relationship with my siblings and me, to earn our trust. I knew someone was there for her, helping her and I wondered as I watched them, if it was this man.
When her assistant led me into the office, he stood; Mom introduced him as Agent Rossi. He shook my hand, said it was nice to meet me, told mom he would talk to her later and left. She and I spoke for a moment; she grabbed her purse and jacket. Told me she needed to drop something off in the bullpen. When we arrived at the BAU, he was sitting on a desk talking to a pretty brunette. They were looking over some file, she said something and he smiled looking up to see us he nodded to me. I noticed he watched mom a little longer than most, as she talked to another agent. She nodded at him and the other agent as we walked by them and out the door to the elevator.
We went to this Café not far from headquarters. Once we ordered she asked about school. I told her it was good, my grades were up and what I was taking. After a little more small talk, I just had to ask about the man in her office. "Mom, tell me about Agent Rossi?"
She looked at me like I had three heads, "Agent Rossi? Why would you want to know about him? He's one of my agents in the BAU."
"I think there is more to it than that." I said taking a sip of my tea.
She didn't look up at me when she asked, "Why would you say that?"
"Well, mother, I watched you two while I was waiting on your assistant to let you know I was there. You are very relaxed with him." I replied watching her, my questions were making her nervous. I didn't want to push, but I knew there was more than she was telling me. "Mom, you can talk to me, trust me. Anything you say to me will stay with me." I reached over and took her hand.
"Oh Katie, I don't know what there is with him." She looked up at me and I saw several emotions in her eyes. "He and I fight all the time at work. He is the biggest pain in my ass, he's an arrogant self centered bastard most of the time."
"But…" I said waiting for her to go on.
"He's also my biggest supporter right now. He came to visit me at rehab my second day, he was at every visitor time, he went to some of the open therapy sessions and he was the one who picked me up, took me home and made sure I was okay. He did a sweep of my office and condo to make sure there were no bottles hidden; he is only a phone call away when he is in town and if he's not he still can talk me down from the ledge." I could see there was more. I waited for her to go on. "One night he knew I was having a hard time, he had plans to go to a cigar aficionado show. He knew I didn't want to be alone, he asked me to go with him. It was fun. He made sure I enjoyed myself and neither of us drank anything stronger that ginger ale."
"Sounds interesting, Can't imagine you with cigars, but go on." I urged.
She laughed, "I actually smoked a cigar that night. It was late when we decided to leave the event. As we got ready to leave, we passed the restaurant; I was starving, so we had dinner. They had a dance floor, he asked me to dance. We danced for hours; he even kissed me on the dance floor." She stopped there and I know she was watching my reaction.
"How was it, the kiss I mean?" I figured if I didn't ask I wouldn't get the details I wanted.
"Nice." I thought for a minute that was all she was going to say, and then she got this far away look in her eyes. "Tender, yet passionate, full of promise. We got a room at the hotel." She watched me to see if I was shocked.
"Good for you, Mom, you deserve to be happy." I cheered.
"Slow down there, Kate. It was a onetime thing. Agent Rossi and I are just friends." She protested maybe a little too much, I didn't say any more, I knew when not to push.
We ate our meals, talking about Danny and Jessie, about school, her job, my job and I even mentioned Dad. I saw her shutter when I did. I knew there was no love there. He had cheated on her and then divorced her. We talked about having a family pizza night and planned it. When lunch was over, she took me back to my car and she went back to work. As I drove away, I wondered if there were more to her relationship with Agent Rossi than she was telling me. She never once called him by his first name, I knew it was David, I have seen his books on her book shelf.
The next time I saw him was a few months later. We were spending the weekend with Mom and had planned a movie, pizza night for Saturday. On Friday night she sat us all down, "I need to talk to you about something."
We each took a seat, watching her, she looked nervous. "Mom," Danny asked, "Are you okay? Do we need to call your sponsor?"
She smiled at us, "No, sweetheart. I don't need Spencer. I just need to talk to you and I don't know really how to start."
I thought I had an idea, so I said. "Just tell us mom, there is nothing you can tell us that will make us love you less. You have come through so much and you are a strong woman. We will be here for whatever it is."
"Okay here goes, I've been seeing someone, I would like all of you to meet him, but I need to know you are all okay with me dating." Her expression went from nervous to scared to death.
Daniel was the first to speak, "Does he make you happy, Mom?" she nodded "Then it's cool with me."
Jessie got up gave her a hug, "Why not invite him for movie and pizza night?"
Mom smiled, "I was going to ask if it was okay to invite him, but I don't want to ruin family night for you."
I took her hands in mine, "Mom, if this man is going to be a part of your life, then we need to meet him and there is no better time than family night."
All of us hugged and kissed her making sure she knew she had our support, but we also reserved the right to question him. She rolled her eyes as Daniel told her this and agreed as long as we promised to take it easy on him. He didn't have children so he had no idea how intrusive they could be. Dan and Jess, went to their rooms, I stayed in the living room while she made the phone call.
I could only hear her side of the conversation. "Hi, I'm fine… I want you to meet the kids… yes I talked to them… How about tomorrow night will you be back… its family pizza and movie night? Let's say about five…No, just you and be prepared to be drilled." She laughed a hearty laugh, one I hadn't heard in years. "Sleep well, see you tomorrow." She hung up, smiling, she saw me watching her.
"Mom, can I ask you something?" She nodded as she slid off the arm of the chair to sit in it. "Tomorrow night, the man you want us to meet, is it Agent Rossi?"
"Yes, but tomorrow night, he won't be an Agent Rossi, tomorrow night he will be David, your mother's… for lack of a better word, boyfriend." She smiled. We talked about going shopping the next morning to get her something new to wear.
It was almost 5 when mom came down stairs. She looked at herself in the mirror, Daniel watched, before saying, "Damn, mom you look hot." I know she wanted to say something about his language, but didn't.
"Thank you. You don't think these jeans are too tight or the sweater to low cut?" She asked all three of us. The jeans were tight in all the right places, but not so tight she couldn't breathe or move. Her sweater was a pale pink, scoop neck cut just low enough to keep any man guessing.
We all shook our heads, but I actually spoke. "Mother, you look great, those jeans show off what you have, and you have a great tush. He's going to love them and as I told you in the store, you want to look casual, but enticing. You've gotta keep men on their toes." I giggled, leaning closer so I could whisper to her, "Make sure some time in the evening you bend over and I promise you his jeans will get a little tighter too." The look on her face was priceless. Before she could say anything the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it." Dan and Jessie said at the same time running for the door, but mom stopped them. "No you won't, I'll get it. Let the poor man at least get in the door before he's bombarded by the three of you." I had to smile. She answered the door, I heard her talking, but couldn't make out what she was saying. When she came back in the living room, he was with her, they were holding hands. It was sweet, she looked happier than I have seen her in years.
"David, these are the monsters I call my children, you've met Katie." He nodded. "This is Daniel and Jessie is the youngest. Kids this is my friend, David."
"Dave, please. Nice to meet you, Daniel, Jessie. It's nice to see you again, Katie." He said not sure what to make of the Strauss brood staring at him.
I smiled as I watched my brother and sister sizing him up. Danny stood a little straighter, I realized he was going to play man of the house and see what Agent Rossi's intentions were with our mother. Jessie's expression was one of confusion.
"Have a seat, Dave." Danny said, "Mind if I ask you a few questions?" Our guest looked at mom with a smile, sat on one end of the couch and replied "ask away."
Mom sat next to him, "Be nice young man." She said with a look similar to fear. She knew my brother could and would probably get personal.
Before Dan could start Jessie stood, looked at Dave, "I know you. Well I don't know you, but I know who you are. Don't go anywhere." She left the room and was back in just seconds, holding a book. "You're The David Rossi, you wrote this book," handed him Deviance: The Secret Desires of Sadistic Serial Killers, "and several others. I only have this one, but mom has them all on her book shelf."
I giggled as I watched his eyebrow go up looking at mom. She probably told him she never read his books and I know she's read them at least twice. Jess handed him the book, "Will you sign it for me?" Dave smiled took a pen out of his jacket pocket.
"What would you like me to say?" He asked her and she shrugged. "Do you want it to Jess, Jessie or Jessica?"
"Jessie, please."
He signed the book and handed it back. She looked at the inscription getting the biggest smile I think I've ever seen on my baby sister's face. To this day I have no idea what he wrote, she hasn't shown anyone but mom and she has it hidden in her treasure box.
Daniel and Dave watched each other for a few minutes. Finally, Dan leaned on his knees, "How do you know my mom, where did you meet her?"
"I met her a long time ago at the academy, we work together." Dave answered.
"What exactly attracted you to my mother?"
"Her eyes, her wit and the fact that we fight all the time, there is a thin line between friendship and hate."
"Are you interested in getting married someday, or are you just dating her for sex?" Daniel asked.
"Daniel Eric!" I heard mom squeal and we all laughed.
"Well, I don't know if marriage is in the cards, but for the record, I'm not in this for sex either. I care about your mother, she's an amazing lady." Dave answered, leaning back in the couch.
"One last question," Dave nodded, "You are given 2 tickets to a show you and Mom really want to see, and I have a baseball game on the same night, which do you go to?"
"Easy, baseball game." Dave answered.
"Why?"
"I can always buy tickets and take Erin to a show, but what if this game is the game you hit a grand slam, or you pitch a no hitter. I can't buy that and it would be a shame to miss it." He said. I had to laugh because Danny didn't expect that answer.
"How did you know I was a pitcher?"
Dave smiled, "Your mom and I have to talk about something. I know you're a pitcher and you play shortstop, you have a .348 batting average, a 1.97 ERA, you play football and you want to be a photojournalist. Your favorite color is dark blue, you only wear DC shoes, you like video games, you are protective of your sisters and your mother and you want to go hunting sometime, but no one you know hunts."
"Any more questions, smartass." I asked. "I think it's time we left him alone. We will learn more about him by hanging out, talking and watching."
Mom stood, "Okay if you are done with your interrogation, I'm going to order pizza, you guys decide on a movie. David would like to help me in the kitchen?" He didn't say a word just stood and followed her.
Twenty minutes later, they still hadn't come back from the kitchen, so I went to see if everything was okay. Standing where I could see them, but they couldn't see me I watched. He was leaning against the center island, his back to me. She was positioned in front of him they weren't touching, just talking. The way mom looked at him told me everything I needed to know. Erin Strauss was falling for David Rossi and she was falling hard. I watched for a long time. He would tuck a piece of hair behind her ear; she would brush a wrinkle out of his shirt, little things just so they could touch. Finally he leaned in and kissed her, it was a slow, lingering, sexy kiss that left her breathless. I could tell when she licked her lips and leaned her forehead against his. Softly she whispered, "We should get back in there, the pizza will be here soon." She gave him another quick kiss, before handing him the tray.
I watched them as the night went on, watched him. He was the perfect gentleman, laughed when appropriate. Talked to all of us kids, not at us, he actually listened when we spoke. During the movie, he put his arm around mom pulling her closer to him, let Jessie lean against him and tell him what was coming next. He helped clean up, answered more questions from Danny and Jessie, and bet Daniel in a video game. It was getting late; we three kids decided it was time to call it a night. He told us good night, it was nice to spend the evening with us and next time maybe we could all go out for dinner and a movie, his treat.
He stayed a little longer, but not much. I sat at the top of the stairs where I could see and listen; I wanted to know about this man. I wanted to see more interaction between him and mom. So far he was getting my approval, but I needed to be sure. Mom had been through so much in the past couple years with her drinking, dad cheating on her, then getting a divorce, and rehab. When I mentioned meeting Agent Rossi to my father, his reaction was far from good. Some of the things he told me went against everything I have seen so far. I chalked it up to bitterness. I watched from my perch on the landing again where I could see them, but they couldn't see me. They walked from the living room arms around each other, stopping in the foyer. He told her he had a great time and enjoyed spending time with her children. She thanked him for being a good sport with Daniel. He put his arms around her waist, hers went around his neck, they stood for several minutes just looking at each other, and finally he leaned in, kissed her. Mom tightened her hold on him; I could tell the kisses were becoming more passionate. When they broke the kiss, he told her she was beautiful, that made her blush. Finally he said he should go, asked if she would like to go to dinner and dancing Tuesday night if he was in town, hugged her tight, and then kissed her one more time. As he left, I heard him say, "Good Night, Katie."
I watched them as their relationship grew. He loves her and she loves him. They don't hang all over each other when we are around, but you can tell. I have heard him tell her he loves her, and she tells him.
He and Mom have been together almost 18 months. He's become very important to her. He was there for us kids, when we thought she had been killed by the replicator. He held us, cried with us and stayed with us until dad got to Bethesda. I watched him at the funeral; he looked so lost and sad. We had each other and Dad, who did he have, the most important person in his life was gone. I watched his team, Mom spoke of them often. That day they surrounded him and supported him, held him up when he needed it, left him alone when he needed that. Then a few days later we all were called into the director's office at FBI headquarters. We were given the news that mom was alive and would be coming home soon. He took a few days off work to make sure she healed and was coping with what had happened to her. He stayed with her and held her. He let her take her frustrations out on him, I heard her yell at him one time, and it made me want to walk away, but he didn't. He took everything she threw at him and never once got upset with her. He slowly helped bring her back to the woman she was before.
I'm not naive enough to think there isn't anything physical between mom and Dave. We all know there is, Mom smiles more, she sings when she is doing dishes and I know that she has all but moved in with him. They don't spend the night together when we are around. He called today and asked if we could meet him and mom at his place Sunday afternoon, they wanted to talk to us. I know they aren't ready for marriage, but I am hoping they are going to officially move in together. I know how happy she would be not to have to leave him or he leave her. She glows when she talks about him, when she sees him, when she talks about him. Mom deserves to be happy and he makes her happy. They are slowly letting us see more and more of their relationship. I for one can't wait to see what the future holds for Mom and Dave and for us kids as we get to know him better.