Maybe You're the One
Part 4
JJ couldn't believe what he said; he was leaving her!
"Yes. Hey, you're strong. Stronger than I am and you'll be okay with Henry."
"You're leaving me and Henry?" Her tears pooling her eyes. "No…Will, please…"
Will stood up and laid their son in his crib, Henry didn't stir at all.
"Let's talk in the living room," he said as he took her hand and pulled her out of Henry's room and into the living room.
"Jennifer, don't make this harder. Be truthful to yourself; we don't talk about anything else but Henry. We can't talk about your job and you're always stressed and tired when you come home. I can't help you and you won't let me help you." He explained.
"But I…I can't talk about my job. You know all the work coming in is highly classified. But I get to come home every night."
"Yes. But in a couple of days, you're going back to your old job. Back to the BAU and back to…"he stopped.
"And back to what?" She was confused.
Taking a deep breath, Will continued, "Cher, I know about Dave Rossi."
She stopped breathing for a moment and then letting out her breath, "What are you talking about?" How did he know?
Will chuckled sadly, "Don't worry. I know you and he are not, I mean, doing anything but I saw the looks."
"Looks?"
"Yeah, he looked at you as if he wanted to devour you. And you, sometimes you looked as if you wanted him to."
"Will, you're not…you're wrong. I love you."
"Do you? Honestly? Be truthful to yourself, remember?"
"Yes…" she hesitated.
"I thought so." Will saw her hesitation. "But this is not all you, Jennifer. It's me, as well. I've been questioning about our relationship lately as well."
"Will…?"
"We're drifting apart. We don't do things much but hang out here. Henry is getting older; soon he's ready for preschool and all that. And I'm stuck here."
"What are you trying to say?" She thought she knew but she wanted to hear from him.
"I'm missing New Orleans and my work there."
"Why not apply here? You know you'll be accepted in any precincts."
Will shook his head, "You don't understand, babe. I missed home."
JJ realized he had the look of finality. He was set on what he wanted to do; going back home.
She knew that no matter what she said, he had made up his mind.
The best thing was to let him go.
"We'll miss you." She said softly.
Will nodded.
"You'll come up and see Henry regularly?" She asked.
"Of course. If you'll let me?"
She looked at him, "He's your son, Will, of course. And it's not for me to let you to or not."
"Thanks, I 'preciated it."
JJ nodded.
"I have a favor to ask though."
"What is it?" JJ was intrigued.
"Will you let me take him down to New Orleans to see my folks? My aunt has been asking to meet him."
JJ hesitated; what if he never came back with her son…
As if reading her thought, he shook his head, "No Jennifer. I will bring him back. I'm not a horrible man. He needs his mamma."
JJ blushed when he said that and another round of tears threatened to spill.
"Jennifer?" He asked again.
"Yes," she whispered. "Yeah, it's okay. How long?"
Shrugging his shoulders, "I dunno. Maybe a week or two."
"A week or two…oh…okay. But no longer, right?" She couldn't bear the thought of being separated from her son for that long.
"No longer than two. I know you, babe. You'll start to worry." He smiled sadly.
JJ nodded. "Thanks."
They sat in silence for a while.
"When are you leaving?" she asked suddenly.
"Well, since I'm taking Henry, it'll be tomorrow morning. I was going to leave about now if I couldn't take the boy."
"Oh. Tomorrow…I'll pack his things," she began to get up from the couch but Will stopped her.
"I packed his things already; one bag for me and three for him. Didn't know he travels like a celebrity." He joked.
JJ laughed, "Yeah, you know when we take him about; we ended up packing half the house."
Will laughed with her.
It was times like this that she knew she would miss the most. But this moment was few and far between.
Already, she was fine with him leaving. Permanently.
Granted, he would be visiting regularly but she knew that at a later point, when he was back at work or even dating, he would be quite busy to see him as regularly.
She realized she was picturing Will with some faceless women and it didn't bother her.
What did that meant?
That she no longer loved Will the way she had before.
As she yawned, Will saw that she was exhausted, he said, "Go to sleep, Cher. I'll crash out here on the couch."
JJ nodded. She would not feel right at all now if he were to sleep in the same bed as she.
"Good night, Will. I'm sorry we…"
Will cut her off, "No, don't be sorry. We knew it was coming. Sooner or later, this is gonna happen. Good night, Cher. See you tomorrow." He reached over and kissed her on her cheek.
JJ nodded sadly; the separation had begun as she retired to their…her bedroom.
…
"Jayje?" Penelope eyed her.
"Yeah?" JJ tried to read a report but her concentration was shot; she missed her son even though it had only been three days.
It was a first day back at the BAU and she had a lot to catch up. Of course, she knew it didn't take long before Penelope knew what was going on despite her efforts to be upbeat.
"Something is wrong. Is Henry okay? Is he sick?" Penelope began to feel panicky; her godson was everything to her…well, besides a certain dark-skinned fella.
JJ shook her head. "No. Henry is fine."
Sighing, she put the folder down and looked at her best friend.
"Will has left."
Penelope was looking at Henry's photo album and nodded absent-mindedly.
Then the words sank in.
She snapped her head from the album, "What? Will left…what happened?"
JJ rubbed her eyes; she had not slept well in the last three nights.
For the next twenty minutes, she told Penelope about her and Will.
"Oh my. My poor Jayje. I'm so sorry about all this!" Penelope was sad for her.
"Thanks, my friend. But these last few days, I didn't miss him at all but I missed Henry terribly."
Penelope nodded, "Yup, I guess you're back on the market."
"M…Market? Pen, what on earth are you talking about?"
"You know, you are single now. Available. Ready to move on."
"Pen, I don't want to move on. I'm not available. I'm a single mother of a toddler. I don't think I'm even ready to date. I'm still freshly…separated, mind you."
Penelope brightened, "See, you're talking like a single chick already."
JJ groaned; there was no other way to get away from her friend now; she knew Penelope would be busy plotting to play match-maker for her.
"Pen," she decided to put a stop before it began.
"Yes, sweetie," Penelope had gone back to perusing the photo album.
"Penelope, you know how much I love you, right?" JJ said and Penelope looked up at her friend, aware that JJ's voice was not her usual one; it was firmer.
Penelope nodded.
"I just want to tell you…no, warn you, that I'm not ready to date, not now or ever…for a long time. So, don't go setting me up with any John Smiths. I would like to stay single for a long while. My main concerns are Henry and work. I enjoy working with you and the gang. Make one move towards that area; I won't hesitate to shoot you, my love. Got it?"
Penelope was speechless as she digested the words; JJ meant everything she had just said.
Gads! For now, she would have to heed JJ's warning and not play match-maker.
"Okay, got that. No dating. No men. No sex."
"Pen!" JJ started to laugh. She knew she couldn't be stern with her best friend. "You're impossible! Now, get out of my office and let me work!"
Penelope laughed as she placed the album back on the desk and stood up. "Okay. I'm out. I've got work to do too. Lunch?"
JJ nodded, "Of course! See you in a couple." She picked up the folder she was reading earlier and began to read again.
Penelope shook her head as she walked out of the office.
So, JJ is single again. Was that why Dave had been asking her questions about her best friend? And how did he know about JJ and Will?
Penelope stopped right in front of her office door; Dear lord! Dave? Super Dave? And her Jayje? No way…yet, way.
Shaking her head, telling herself that those two bore watching as she keyed in her code to get into her lair and let herself in.
…End of Part 4…
So…Will is gone, this gives Rossi a chance to be in her live, will she go for it?
Thank you so much, HGRHfan35! For your patience with me! And your beta skills!
Please if you'd review, let me know what you think!
Thank you,
Lizzie
