A/N: Thanks to everyone who took the time to review the last chapter!
JJ sighed in relief when Rossi's voicemail picked up. She'd been dreading the thought of talking to him, and this was exactly what she'd been hoping for. In the three days since he'd made his offer, she'd tried to tell herself this wasn't a good idea, but the desire to please her parents had won out.
"Hey, Rossi…" she started hesitantly when his greeting ended. "It's JJ. I'm calling because…I was wondering if you wanted to have supper with Henry and me tonight…if you still want to do this. If we're going to pull this off we need to be convincing and…it probably wouldn't be good for Henry to see you for the first time when my parents do. I have some last minute Christmas shopping to do, but I should be home by two. Ummm…maybe I'll see you later. 'Bye."
She sat down on her couch, careful not spill any coffee on her bathrobe. I really dodged the bullet that time, she thought as she sunk into the cushions and took a sip of her hot beverage. When her cell phone began to ring, she sighed. This was her mother's third call of the morning! "Hey, Mom," she said.
"That's one I've never been called before," Rossi said with a chuckle.
JJ straightened so quickly that the hot liquid sloshed over the sides of the mug and onto her bathrobe. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I…I'm sorry," she stammered, silently scolding herself for not checking the caller ID. "My mother is a planner, and she likes to go over things hundreds of times. We've only gone over them ninety-nine," she joked. "So I expected it to be her."
"Ahhh," Rossi said. "No…not your mother. I'm sorry to disappoint you."
"Oh, you didn't disappoint me," she said quickly, then bit her lower lip at the admission she'd been unable to stop.
"Good to know," Rossi said, his voice tinged with amusement. "I'm calling because I have some last minute shopping to do as well, and I'd really like to go with you. If you wouldn't mind."
"Oh," JJ said, surprised. "I…I…" She tried to think of a reason why it wouldn't be a good idea, but when she came up short, she gave in. "That'd be great," she agreed weakly.
"OK, Rossi," JJ said two and a half hours later as she took the three foot tall dinosaur away from him and put it back on the bottom shelf. "I can't buy Henry everything I see."
"And I'm not asking you to," Rossi said with a grin as he grabbed the dinosaur once again and put it in the cart they were sharing. "This is on me."
"OK," she conceded as they continued down the aisle.
"Oh. So are these!" he insisted, grabbing a package of Matchbox cars off the hook and tossing them in as well.
JJ rolled her eyes as she continued down the aisle, but truth be told, she was having fun shopping with Rossi. She'd seen his sarcastic side a thousand times over, but she'd never really seen his humorous side. He was fun to shop with, and he had a lot of good suggestions on what to get Henry.
JJ bit back a grin as Rossi pulled something else of the shelf and tossed it into the cart, whistling nonchalantly all the while. The man really thought he was sly.
But his heart was in the right place, and with the smiles that kept coming her way…her own may have skipped a beat…or two.
Rossi was immediately struck by the untidiness of JJ's house upon walking in. It wasn't messy, per se, but it certainly wasn't what he'd expected. He'd anticipated that everything would be in its place, but that wasn't the case at all. As his eyes followed the path of toys littering the hallway, her voice interrupted his thoughts.
"I can't bring myself to pick them up," she explained, a hint of apology in her tone. "This way, I can pretend he's just in his room playing."
"I understand," he told her, remembering the empty nursery that had remained untouched for months.
"Excuse the mess," she said as she dropped her bags and purse on the couch.
"It's not a mess," Rossi argued.
"Rossi," she said, shrugging out of her coat. "It's a mess."
"It's lived in," he insisted with a shrug.
She smiled sheepishly at him, and he found the expression endearing. "I spend so much time organizing things at work, I guess I just checked that part of myself at the front door."
"It's good to leave work at work," he commented.
JJ threw a grin over her shoulder as she peeked inside her bags for one last look. "We really cut it close," she said. "Will should be dropping Henry off anytime, and—"
The doorbell rang, interrupting her, and Rossi watched as she immediately slipped into full on panic. "Oh, my God! He's here! I haven't even had time to put my purchases away, I haven't—just a minute!" she interrupted herself shrilly. "I haven't—"
Rossi walked over to her and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. "Blue?"
Her eyes—whipping around looking at the mess of bags—landed on his face. "What?" she asked.
"I can take care of the bags. Why don't you get the front door?" he suggested.
"But…there are a lot of bags, and—"
He grabbed the bags in one armful—the dinosaur was still in the back of his SUV—and grinned triumphantly. "Not so many."
"Oh," she said in surprise.
"I assume you want these in your room?" he asked.
She nodded dumbly.
"And that's…where?"
"Second door on the right," she answered softly.
He nodded. "OK. Front door?" he prompted.
"Right," she said. "Front door."
"He is conked right out," JJ said a few hours later as she returned to the kitchen. "He fell asleep watching Mickey Mouse Club House."
"Kid was tired," Rossi commented.
"Yeah," JJ agreed. There was a moment of silence as they stood there.
"I should probably go," Rossi said. "Do you want me to carry Henry to bed first?"
"Oh, that's OK. I'm just going to be out here wrapping presents anyway, so…he'll be fine on the couch," she told him.
"Do you want help?" he asked.
"Wrapping?" she returned in surprise.
"Why not?"
"Because it's the most tedious part of the season," she answered.
"Not if you enjoy the company," he remarked.
She couldn't help but grin at his comment. "I'll start the coffee."
"How much wrapping do you have?" he wanted to know.
JJ threw a charming grin over her shoulder on her way to the coffee pot. "Oh, I didn't tell you? I haven't actually started yet."
Rossi groaned…and all she could do was giggle.
