Changes-Chapter 4

~Thanks to everyone who voted for me in the Profiler Choice Awards...Happily Ever After won both best JJ/Rossi and the best characterization of Jennifer Jareau!


An hour later, JJ and Abby walked back into the house and both were chatting as if nothing was wrong…as if Abby hadn't just risked her life by jumping out of a crane with only a glorified rubber band keeping her safe and as if JJ wasn't keeping a rather large secret from him. As soon as he saw how normal they were acting Dave's anger level went up another notch and he wasn't sure which of the two women were higher up on his shit list, but as soon as he saw his wife, he knew she was numero uno.

"Did you have a good workout?" He asked in a deceptively calm voice.

Both JJ and Abby were surprised to see him sitting exactly where they had left him an hour before and they could both detect the undercurrent of anger in his facial expression and voice. "It was fine, David," JJ said. "You should have joined us."

"Oh, I don't know, I learned a lot just sitting here for the last hour," he replied cryptically and then looked at his daughter. "I put an order in at China House; will you go pick it up please?" While it sounded like a request, Abby knew it wasn't and she also knew she'd both worried and pissed him off earlier, so she decided to follow his order without question, even though she really didn't want to.

"Sure dad, let me just change out of my workout clothes."

Dave shook his head, "You look fine like that," he told her as he handed her some cash.

If she hadn't been sure of his anger before, she was now and even though she felt like a traitor, she was glad his ire didn't seem to be directed at her anymore. Not wanting him to turn his focus back on her, Abby took the cash and headed for the door. As she got there, she looked back at her mom and mouthed, 'good luck.' JJ just nodded at her with wide eyes.

As soon as he heard their daughter's car leave the garage, Dave started in on his wife. "Do you wanna tell me what's going on?" He asked in the same scary calm tone of voice.

"There are a lot of things going on in my life David, so you're going to have to narrow down your question," JJ responded as she poured herself a glass of water.

"You want to play it that way? Fine!" He said, louder than before. "Your phone rang while you were working out with Abby and it was the Wild Orchard Clinic." JJ stopped mid-pour and shut her eyes for a moment; she knew her secret was out and she was going to have hell to pay with her husband. "They asked me to tell you that your biopsy has been moved from 8:00am to 8:30am on Friday and they suggested you wear a loose fitting bra because there will be tenderness at the incision site. Does that narrow it down enough for you?"

"David, I-"

"Save it Jen! Obviously something is going on with you and you didn't feel you could trust me enough to let me in on it!"

"That's not true!" She said as she sat down next to him. "Of course I trust you, hell I trust you with my LIFE! I didn't tell you because I didn't want you getting sucked into this! For Christ's sake Dave, ever since I was shot our lives have revolved around my health and recovery and I didn't want you getting pulled back into that!"

"Dammit Jen! For better or for worse and in sickness and in health! Those were the vows I agreed to! You don't get to just pick and choose which vows YOU think I should follow!" He bellowed, wanting nothing more than to shake her until her teeth rattled. "Do you really think I can't deal with it if something is wrong with you?"

"No, but you shouldn't HAVE to deal with it! I'm finally getting better, we're finally making long-term plans and then THIS happened! It's not fair, dammit!" She cried as tears sprung to her eyes.

Dave tried to get a grip on his own anger and frustration as he reached across the table and covered her hand with his. "What exactly happened, Jen?"

"I…I found a lump," she practically whispered. "In the shower, the night of Hotch and Emily's wedding…right here." She took the hand that was covering hers and guided it to her left breast. She could see the look of dawning on his face and he pulled his hand back when he saw her wince in pain.

"Jesus Jen, does it hurt?"

She shook her head, "The lump itself isn't painful, but they tried doing a needle biopsy today, so I'm a little sore. They couldn't get a sample from it, which is why I need an open biopsy on Friday."

"God," he whispered and the timeline dawned on him. "Wait a second, you've known about this for over two days and you didn't tell me?" His voice had gotten progressively louder and by the end, it was nearly loud enough to rattle the windows.

"I didn't want to worry you until I knew something for sure," she said softly, squirming much like their teenage daughter did under his penetrating gaze.

"That's not how a marriage is supposed to work Jen! I have had that type of marriage in the past and it doesn't work! You can't keep things like this from me!"

"I just…I went through this with my mom and…God, it's just so horrible! Even if the cancer doesn't kill me, I'll wish I was dead! You'll have to do even more for me, David and that's not fair to you!" The tears were streaming down her face by this point and Dave scooted his chair next to hers so he could put his arm around her.

"Whoever said life was fair, Jen?" He asked. "Besides, we don't even know if you have cancer."

JJ shook her head, "With my family history, it's a good bet that I do."

"Then we'll fight it," he said firmly. "We'll get you the best doctors and the best treatments and we'll fight it with everything we've got."

"You can't just fix this by throwing money at it Dave," she told him softly as she swiped the tears from her face.

"Wanna bet?" He asked. "I have yet to run into a problem that can't be fixed with money." He sounded so sure of himself, so Dave-like that JJ gave a watery laugh.

"I'm sorry I tried keeping this from you honey," she told him. "I should have known you'd come through for me without question."

"You're damn right I will!" He said resolutely.

"And I'm glad you know," JJ continued, "But I don't want Abby knowing about this until we have some definite news to tell her; I don't want her to spend the next week worrying, I want her to get her things ready for school and I want her to have fun with Jack and all of her other friends."

Dave thought about that for a moment; his wife had a point, if they told Abby about her mom's lump, she would worry herself sick. Plus, he didn't put it past her to decline her acceptance to Berkeley and accept the one at Georgetown before the results of the biopsy were known and, as much as he wanted her to stay in the DC area, he didn't want her to do it out of fear. "Okay, but you know once she finds out, she's going to be REALLY pissed, right? Remember how well our last secret went over with her?"

Of course he was referring to them keeping his true identity a secret from her for over three months back when he first re-entered JJ's life. "I know she will, but maybe, just maybe you're right and it will be good news and she'll never have to know."

"It will be good news," Dave said firmly, but on the inside he was fervently praying to God that he was right.

"I hope-" JJ stopped when she heard the outside garage door open. "She's back, let's table the rest of this discussion until we're alone." Dave nodded his agreement and put on a normal expression, but inside he was in turmoil.

xxxxxxxxxx

The next couple of days went by in a blur for everyone in the Rossi household. Abby picked up on the tension in the house but she chalked it up to her mom's erratic moods over the past week and she would've said something to her dad, but he seemed like he was still a bit pissed at her for bungee jumping against his orders so she remained quiet and sought refuge with her friends and boyfriend.

"I've never been so glad to be out of my house before," she said to Jack one night. The two of them were curled up in a chaise lounge chair on the backyard deck of the empty Hotchner house. Aaron and Emily were out of town on a case and the two teens were planning to make good use of the privacy that had been afforded them. "I don't know what's up with my folks, but they're going to drive me insane. One minute they're all clingy with me and the next it's like they're trying to get me out of the house. They didn't even bat an eye about my coming over tonight, even though they have to know that your dad and Emily aren't here."

"It's the same thing here," Jack commiserated as they watched the sunset over the trees. "I thought that once they got married, dad and Emily would be too busy being newlyweds to pay much attention to me and at times they are and I'm fine with that, but then there are times where it's all about spending time with me before I leave and making sure I'm set for my trip. It's to the point where I actually LIKE it when they go out of town on a case."

"I will never understand our parents," Abby said, shaking her head slightly.

"Thankfully we don't have to," Jack told her as he wrapped his arms around her. "And I don't know about you, but I don't think we should waste this valuable time together by talking about them, do you?"

"Mmmmm," Abby moaned as he ran his fingers up the inside of her bare arm. "You're right, we should be making good use out of this time."

"The only question is, do we stay here or take this into the house?" Jack asked as he softly kissed her ear.

Abby giggled, "Seeing as your neighbors are having a barbeque in their backyard, I think we should take it inside, especially now that doing it in your bedroom doesn't creep me out." The third time the two of them had had sex, it had been in Jack's bedroom in the apartment he and Hotch had lived in for years. Since Abby had shared that room many times with him while they were growing up, it had been really weird for her to actually sleep with him in there and she'd put a kibosh on that location. Thankfully, now that they'd moved into a new house, she didn't have any weird feelings about his new bedroom and they could do it there, instead of in the backseat of her car.

"You have the best ideas," he said with a smile on his face as he stood up. Abby could see that he was already ready for the night's activity and she smiled as she got to her feet.

"You have protection, right?" She asked as they made their way into the house. Even though she was on the pill, her mother's warnings about always using two forms of birth control had been burned into her brain.

"I've got a whole box of protection up in my room," he told her as he kissed her passionately. She returned the kiss and tried not to trip as she made out with him while simultaneously going up the stairs.

"Good but don't forget that I have to be home by twelve-thirty."

Jack groaned, "Why don't you just stay the night? You're an adult now, what can your parents really do to you?"

She pulled away from him and looked at him incredulously. "You've met my dad, right? And my mom, who is THE best shot in the Bureau? I think the better question is what can'tthey do to me…well, you actually. Trust me, it's better for everyone if I follow their rules until I leave for college."

"Fine," Jack grumbled as they went into his room. "But tomorrow, you're coming over earlier so we have more time."

She didn't have the heart to tell him that she was going shopping with Becca the next day and would only be able to spend an hour or two with him at the most. Instead, she just smiled against his mouth as he laid her down on the bed.