Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.
You Dropped a Bomb on Me
~This story was written in response to Angel N Darkness's 80's Music Song Title Prompt. The song is You Dropped a Bomb on Me by Gap Band
~This story was also written for Tracia (Ilovetvalot) who had a really bad day yesterday. I hope this helps!
Dave whistled a happy tune as he pulled up to his cabin; it was his and JJ's six month anniversary and they had the entire weekend off to spend with each other, and he planned on making every hour count. He parked his car in front of the large house so JJ would know he was home when she arrived, let himself in through the kitchen door and began unpacking the numerous bags he had brought in with him.
The weekend would revolve around food. He picked up some thick juicy steaks to throw on the grill for dinner, and then for dessert there was whipped cream and chocolate sauce and he fervently hoped those ingredients would not see the inside of a bowl. Various other dishes were planned for the rest of the weekend, but it was his hope that they wouldn't waste time fixing anything elaborate. Instead, he hoped they would avail themselves of the various snack foods he'd bought because he didn't want to waste any of their precious time together.
Just as he finished unpacking the grocery bags, he heard the doorbell ring. Feeling a goofy grin overtake his face, he practically ran to the door and opened it. The woman on the other side was the love of his life, but something was off…very off. First, she was dressed in jeans and a ratty sweatshirt and second, she was carrying a large box that was filled with his stuff, stuff that had been at her apartment up until a little while ago. His grin turned into a confused frown.
"Why didn't you just use your key, Jen?" He asked as he stepped aside so she could enter the cabin. To his surprise, she stayed standing on the porch.
"My key is in this box, along with all of your things from the apartment," she told him in a tired voice.
"Doing a little cleaning, sweetheart?" He asked lightheartedly, but inside he was panicking and he wasn't surprised when she shook her head.
"I'm done, Dave; I'm done with what we've been doing…I need more. I need to be more than an easy lay for you," she said as she set the box down on the porch floor.
"I have never seen you as an easy lay, Jennifer," he protested as he wondered what in the hell had happened in the two hours since he'd left the BAU. "Hell, it took three months to get you into my bed; believe me, sweetheart, that isn't easy."
"But you also don't see me as someone you could spend the rest of your life with, do you? You see us as an easy, uncomplicated relationship and, in your mind, we could go on like this forever."
"I don't know about forever, but yes, I do see this as an easy relationship and it's because I thought we both saw it that way."
"I don't see us that way Dave, I want…no, I need to know there is a happily ever after in my future, otherwise what in the hell are we doing?" She said, with tears in her voice.
"I can't give you more right now, Jen…I've been hurt too many times for that. What I can promise is that I love you and I want to spend as much time with you as possible," he told her in a calm voice, but inside he was screaming. There was no WAY this could be ending now, not when he had just started to feel things again, not when he was as close to fully loving someone as he was with her. He felt as though he had waited a lifetime to find Jennifer Jareau and now that he had her, he couldn't screw it up, but it seemed that JJ had other ideas.
"I need more than that, Dave. If I was still twenty years old, this," she said, pointing to the both of them, "might be enough, but I'm an adult and I have to know that I'm not wasting my time on something that will never be."
The feeling of panic turned to outright fear as he heard the resignation in her voice. "I need time, Jen. I've rushed into too many relationships without thinking and I've ruined them and I don't want to do that with you. Can I see a happily ever after for us? Of course, but I don't want either of us to rush into it before we're ready and then mess it up. Can you understand that?" He asked as he leaned against the open doorway.
"That's the thing, Dave; I don't think we're rushing. We've been together for six months, six glorious months and I've never been happier, but we can't just stay like this indefinitely, at some point we'll have to move forward or move on."
"But does it have to be now?" He asked. He wasn't trying to be thick, he was genuinely confused. He thought they had something good going on and, up until a few minutes ago, he thought the woman in front of him agreed with that assessment. Obviously he was wrong.
"It does," she nodded. "I need to know right now that you're ready to spend the rest of your life with me, otherwise I'm leaving."
"We both know I don't do real well with ultimatums, JJ," he said in a warning tone.
She sighed, "I guess I have my answer then. Good night Dave." She turned to leave, but his voice stopped her before she could step off of the porch.
"What changed, Jen?"
She turned to face him, "What do you mean?"
"I mean, what changed? Two hours ago you were perfectly happy to be spending the weekend here, a weekend which would have been filled with decadent food and passionate sex. What changed between when you left the BAU and now?" Did she really think he couldn't tell that something had gone wrong in those two hours? He was a profiler for Christ's sake; analyzing behavior was the major component of his job.
JJ seemed to have an internal debate with herself before she blurted out, "I'm pregnant, that's what changed."
"What?" Dave whispered, part of him hoping he'd misheard and part of him hoping he hadn't.
JJ nodded, "Before I left the BAU, I glanced at my calendar and noticed that I'm late…really late, so I went to my apartment and took a pregnancy test and it came up positive."
"So that's why…" Dave trailed off, still in shock.
"Yup, that's why I needed to know if we have a future together. I can see now that we don't, so don't worry, Rossi, I'll raise this child on my own, there's no need for you to bother-" She was cut off by the now irate Italian.
"I'm gonna stop you right there Jen, before you really piss me off," he said as anger flooded his voice. "If you had been listening at all, you would've heard me say that I DO think we have a future together, but I wanted to take it slow. Obviously a baby changes all of that. And don't you ever assume that I don't want to be a part of my child's life, because you'll be dead wrong every time. "
"I don't want to force you into something you're not ready for, Dave. You just said that we needed to take it slow and I don't want you to feel uncomfortable in this relationship, but I want my baby to have two parents who are firmly committed to each other and if I can't give it that, then one parent will work fine," she told him.
He was barely able to stop himself from shaking some sense into her. "Is the pregnancy affecting your hearing, Jennifer?" He asked through clenched teeth. "I just told you that I WANT to be a part of my child's life, and I don't mean as a weekend parent, I want to be a full parent…in fact, I want you and Rossi junior to move in with me."
"Rossi junior, huh?" JJ said as a hint of a smile graced her lips. "What if I want it to be Jareau junior?"
"Well that would be silly since I plan on making you a Rossi before junior makes its arrival into the world," Dave told her.
JJ shook her head, "Dave, nothing really changed. You just told me that you wanted to take things slow. I don't want the baby and I to push you into anything-" Once again, Dave interrupted her.
"First of all, everything has changed, you dropped a bomb on me sweetheart and it changed everything. I'm an old fashioned kinda guy and I firmly believe in the whole 'first comes love, then comes marriage and THEN comes JJ with the baby carriage'."
Seeing her open her mouth to interrupt, Dave plowed ahead, louder this time. "Second of all, I wanted to take it slow when I thought we had the time, when I thought it was just you and I but a baby changes everything and it changes it for the better. God, JJ, I've always wanted you! From the moment I met you in Hotch's office I knew you were the one and I didn't want to fuck it up by going too fast with you. I love you more than you can possibly imagine and I want to be a part of yours and juniors life until my dying day."
"You really mean it?" JJ whispered, hardly believing that everything was falling into place.
Dave nodded emphatically, "I really do; I thought my time to have children had passed me by, but thank God it hasn't. You've given me a gift, honey and I don't plan on turning it down."
"Thank God," JJ whispered. "I love you so much David, the thought of leaving you made me sick, but I-"
"I know," he interrupted as he wrapped his arms around her. "And I love you more than I ever thought was possible. Now how about we take this inside so I can show you just how much I love you?"
"That sounds like an excellent idea," she said as she let him pull her into the cabin. She had come here expecting to end their relationship, but instead she realized she had a partner who was committed to her and their baby. Life couldn't get much better than that.