Chapter 2-Sleep & Memories
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters…much to my shock and sadness.
A couple hours later, both Reid's lay on the bed totally spent. JJ nestled her head in the spot between his head and his shoulder, a place that seemed to be made just for her. She watched his chest rise and fall in rhythm to his breathing while becoming totally hypnotized by the movement. She felt herself drifting off into a peaceful slumber.
A little while later, JJ suddenly woke from her sleep, confused. Her eyes snapped open and she listened to the noises around her. Spencer was sleeping soundly at her side, the room was silent, but what had woken her up? She turned over and reached for her gun on the table beside the bed. Her question was answered moments later as a kick from within made itself known, again. This baby was up and kicking at all hours of the night! How was she ever supposed to get any rest if she had to work during the day and feel the baby kicking all night long? This was the fourth night in a row that her sleep had been interrupted to the point that she couldn't go back to sleep.
She groaned as she rolled off Spencer and looked at him. For a moment she felt a flash of anger because he slept so soundly.
JJ reached up and brushed a few strands of hair from his forehead. His hair always fell into his eyes and she loved it. He thought it was annoying; she could see it in the way he shoved it out of his face when he was working, but she found it endearing.
She tried to get out of the bed without disturbing her sleeping husband, but it was hard when you felt like a beached whale.
"JJ?" a sleep filled voice grumbled from the bed.
"Go back to sleep, Spence."
"What's going on? Did we get a call? I didn't hear my phone," he said as he fumbled for his phone on the nightstand.
"No, we didn't get a call. I just can't sleep. Your baby's kicking."
"Again?"
She laughed, "yes, again. He or she really is your child, it's completely nocturnal."
"Why did you say 'my child'? It's ours," Spencer pointed out.
"Well, I like to think of it this way: when the baby is behaving itself, it's ours, but when he or she is acting up, it's your child." She swung an accusatory look at her husband.
Spencer smiled sleepily as he roughly rubbed his hands over his face. "Come back to bed. We can just lay here for a while until he or she calms down."
JJ climbed back onto the bed and lay on her back while Spencer rubbed her belly. He pulled her shirt up to expose her expanding stomach, "now listen here," he spoke authoritatively to her abdomen, "this is Daddy speaking; you need to calm down so that Mama and I can get some sleep!" He smiled at her soft laughter, "What?"
"Is that a scientifically proven method to get a fetus to stop kicking and go to sleep?"
"No, but scientists have concluded that, if spoken to on a regular basis, a fetus can recognize it's mother and father's voices, which may have a calming effect, in fact—" He gazed up at JJ to find that she was sleeping peacefully. Now for the real talk. "Hello little one," Spencer whispered into JJ's stomach, "I'm serious now, you need to let Mama get some sleep tonight and for the next little while. She needs to keep her strength up, and not sleeping won't help anyone because if she gets sick you're going to get sick. It happens because you're connected through this thing called an umbilical cord. Its purpose is to deliver you with blood and nutrients so that you can grow strong enough to be born. That's what we all want; for you to be healthy when you come out there."
JJ smiled to herself as she woke and listened to her husband try to negotiate their baby into not kicking its mother. He was talking to it with reason and logic, not unlike how he would talk an unsub down from a roof. If only Morgan could see this! she thought. The scientific Dr. Reid, who was logical almost to a fault, was trying to talk their baby into submission.
She reached down and ran her hand through his hair, to which he started and looked like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. She was sure his face was turning red, due to the fact that his face seemed to radiate heat. "You need to get some rest too."
"True, but it's not fair that I get to sleep while you're up at all hours of the night."
"I know, I feel the same way," a small smile spread across JJ's face, "but that's the way it is. Go back to bed so you can help catch this unsub, that way we'll be able to sleep in our own bed. I always manage to get at least a few hours rest at home."
"Baby, I just feel so helpless." Reid hung his head, "if I could carry our child, I would. You know that right?"
JJ giggled as she got a mental picture of the tall, lanky Dr. Reid waddling through the bullpen, "I know, but what would Morgan say?" They both laughed at this thought as Reid settled onto his back and JJ curled up against his side with her head on his chest.
She was lulled to sleep by the steady and reassuring sound of her husband's heart. Reid, however, was wide awake.
'Your baby' he smiled. Yes, it really is my child. A perfect mix of JJ and I. I just hope that he or she learns more from their mother than it does from me. I'm so awkward and bumbling while she's social and graceful.
I still can't believe that I'm here with JJ sleeping next to me. Reid glanced down and admired the way the moonlight seemed to make her engagement and wedding rings glitter. If someone had said to me two years ago that I would end up marrying JJ and they we would be having a child together, I would have thought they were crazy.
Poor JJ, this pregnancy has been rough on her. First the morning sickness that seemed to last all day, every day for three months and then she started spotting. That was one of the scariest times of my life.
Flashback
JJ had been in a blissfully deep sleep when she woke up to a pain in her belly. She froze and didn't move an inch while she waited to see if it was just gas again. When it happened again, she got up and went to the washroom to relieve her bladder, that's when she saw the blood. Oh God! This can't be happening! Oh no, not this! Anything but this! Please, no! She stumbled back into the bedroom and crawled onto the bed, feeling her mind shutting down. She reached out and shook her husband, who started awake.
"JJ? Baby, what time is it?"
"S-Sp-Spencer. The baby…blood…st-stomach hurts…" was all she managed to gasp out.
Reid jumped out of the bed and grabbed his pants from the back of the chair in the corner of the room. "Baby, talk to me, what happened?" No response. "JJ, talk to me! Tell me what's going on!" Still nothing. Reid ran possibilities of what could be happening in his mind, but he always came to the same conclusion: JJ was having a miscarriage.
"JJ?" She still wasn't answering him, she was crumpled on the bed, as if lying down was too much effort for her body at that moment. "Jennifer!" he all but screamed. This isn't good. She's going into shock. "Jen," he whispered, "look at me."
Through the crashing in her head she managed to hear her husband's heart breaking low voice. She moved only her eyes; it felt like all the life had been drained from her body. She was shocked back into reality by the pure, unadulterated terror in Reid's eyes as he climbed back onto their bed and placed his face close to hers. She saw the tears threatening to overtake him and his brave effort to blink them away for her sake.
"Jen, I need you to talk to me, please. I need to know what you're feeling," he begged.
She opened her mouth and moved her lips, but no sound came out. She closed her eyes and tried to force the words out. "Cr-cramps," she hiccupped, "b-blood. Oh God! Help me!" she sobbed.
She's in no condition to get dressed. The average response time for an ambulance in our area would be 15 minutes at this hour. We don't have that kind of time. I have to get her to the hospital now! "Okay JJ, I'm just going to get my shoes and then I'm going to take you to the hospital. Everything's going to be okay." He looked at his wife. She was usually so vivacious and full of life, but now she just looked broken.
Reid bolted from the room, put on his shoes then returned to see that JJ was just lying there, staring into space. He picked her up as gently as possible and cradled her to his chest as he carried her swiftly out of the car and buckled her into the seat, all the while whispering sweet nothings to her.
He got her to the hospital after what seemed like an endless drive and they rushed her into a room to start an ultrasound. It was the worst three minutes of his life. When their OBGYN, Dr. Charlotte Michaels, squirted the icy gel onto JJ stomach she didn't even flinch, which only made his concern grow.
"Let's see what's going on here," stated Dr. Michaels as she placed the wand onto JJ's abdomen. A quiet whooshing sound was heard in the room and Dr. Michaels started intently at the screen. After a few tense moments she turned to Reid and smiled. "The baby is fine. It's right there," she said while pointing on the screen. "You can see the heartbeat. This is normal. Some women have spotting during the early stages of pregnancy. However, I want Jen to stay off her feet for the next week, just to be safe."
Reid let out the breath that he didn't realize he was holding. He turned to JJ who was still lying there staring into the air, "did you hear that Jen? The baby is okay! It's fine." There was no response from Jennifer and Reid became increasingly concerned. "Dr. Michaels? Why is she still not saying anything? Is she okay?" He looked up from his wife to see Dr. Michaels taking JJ's pulse and checking her pupils.
"Hmm? Oh yes, she will be fine." She leaned closer to JJ and softly said, "Jennifer? Jennifer, it's Charlotte. I need you to talk to me please." There was still no response from JJ. "Jennifer Jereau-Reid! I've known you since we were in college, you look at me now or so help me God, I will tell Spencer all about that Halloween party we went to when you drank too much and what you went dressed as!" Nothing.
"Charlotte?"
"Yes Spencer?"
"Last time we were here, you let us listen to the baby's heart beating. Could we listen to it again?"
Dr. Michaels smiled, "good thinking." She put the ultrasound wand against JJ's stomach as she flipped a switch on the machine. Soon a quick pulsing sound filled the room and Reid smiled. This made it so much more concrete that their baby was still living inside it's mother. Reid looked at JJ and found her trying to blink back tears.
"Is that…?" she weakly whispered.
"Yeah, that's the baby; alive and well."
"Oh Spence! I'm so sorry if I scared you! I just felt the cramps and saw the blood and I-I just shut down. I couldn't put thoughts together, much less form sentences. What happened?"
"Welcome back!" greeted Dr. Michaels.
"Char? What are you doing here?"
"I'm working in the ER this week, but don't worry, the baby is totally fine. You were spotting a little bit and I'm sure that you understand the implications of that, but trust me, the baby is perfect from what I can see. I do, however, want you to stay off your feet for the next week and to take it easy. No more running out into the field with that stud of a husband here." Reid turned scarlet. "You're going to have a baby in a little while. You don't need to add anymore stres. Do you understand me?"
"Yes," JJ looked sheepishly at her hands.
"Good!" she declared with a quick grin as she cleaned the gel off JJ's abdomen. "Now I have to get back to work, but wait in bed for a nurse to come with a wheelchair. I'm serious about you staying off your feet."
"Yes Mom," JJ sighed dramatically while rolling her eyes.
End Flashback
That had been one of the scariest days of Reid's life. He thought that they'd lost the baby and then he really thought he was losing JJ. I would rather stare down the worst unsub known to mankind than to have anything happen to JJ or our baby. That's why you'll never let anything happen to them. JJ hasn't been in the field in over two months and she hasn't complained about it once. Reid's eyes were growing heavy, but just before he drifted off to sleep, he thought about how much the baby could look like JJ and drifted off into a serene dreamscape with a smile on his face.
