A/N- WOW!! Again I don't know what to say... thank you so much for the wonderful reviews, your response to this story has been nothing short of amazing....
Chapter 4- ENJOY!!!
The rest of the weekend went by without incident although Henry continued to remain withdrawn and barely spoke to his mother. Finally Sunday afternoon JJ decided to take Hotch up on his offer for some time off due to her injury. Initially she told him no, much like Hotch had expected, but the more JJ thought about it she knew she needed to stay at home and be with her son. So JJ picked up her phone and hit the speed-dial for the Unit Chief.
"Hotchner," Hotch said answering his phone.
"Hey Hotch, it's JJ. I was wondering if that offer was still on the table for taking some time off?" JJ decided to just spit it out rather than drag it out, much like ripping off a band-aid.
"Of course." Hotch replied back in shock. JJ never took time off; hell, she even came back from maternity leave early. "How is your head?" Hotch asked, although from JJ's voice he wasn't so sure that was why she wanted the time off.
"My head is fine but I was hoping to take the time off for personal reasons." JJ replied, knowing that there was no way Hotch was going to let it go at that.
"Is everything okay, JJ? You sound, I don't know, a little down? Everything okay with Will?"
"Will's gone." JJ simply said. "He left Friday night after I got home." There was a moment of silence while Hotch processed what JJ had just said. "Hotch?"
"I'm sorry, JJ. Did you say Will is gone? Where did he go?"
"Well judging by the time I would say he's back in New Orleans by now." JJ replied back with a hint of bitterness in her voice.
"JJ…. I… I don't know what to say."
"It's okay Hotch. It's for the best. We both knew it was coming but Henry is taking it really hard. He blames me for sending his father away." JJ told her boss and friend as tears threatened to fall.
"Just give him time, he'll come around. If you want I could have Jack talk to him. I know he was only 2 ½ when Haley and I got divorced but I know Henry idolizes him and it might help."
"I'll keep that in mind, Hotch. Thank you for the offer but for now I would like to try to do this myself. That is why I would like to take some time off."
"Take as much time as you need, " Hotch told her. "We are all here if you need anything."
"Thanks Hotch, I really appreciate that."
"Does anyone else on the team know or should I keep this between us?" Hotch asked. After all he was her boss and technically anything she told him was confidential.
"Emily knows. She has been a huge help." JJ said with a smile. "I told her that it was okay to tell anyone who asks."
"Well then I would expect at least four phone calls tomorrow because once they find out they are going to want to be there for you too."
"I know." JJ smiled as she thought about her BAU family.
"Take care of yourself JJ and came back when you and Henry are ready."
"Thanks again, Hotch." JJ wiped a stray tear away and they exchanged their good byes.
JJ made her way up to Henry's room, where he had spent most of the weekend, to tell him about her extended time off. She knocked softly on the partially open door and waited for a response. We she didn't get one she pushed the door open all the way.
"Hey kiddo, what are you doing?" JJ asked as she sat down next to her son on his bed. When he didn't respond JJ looked down at what he was holding in his lap. JJ immediately recognized Henry's baby book and she knew exactly what he was doing. He was looking at photos of Will.
"You miss your daddy, don't you?" JJ asked as Henry stared at the picture of Will holding a barely week old Henry in his arms. Henry nodded. "I'm so sorry that he left Henry but he loves…" Henry slammed the book closed and tossed it on his bed. JJ decided it would probably be wise to drop the subject of Will for a while. "Well, I've got some good news. How would you like it if mommy stayed home for a while? Just the two of us."
"Like a vacation?"
"Yeah, like a vacation. We can go to the park, we can go to the zoo, whatever you want to do?" JJ said as she brushed some of Henry's hair out of his face. "What do you think?" Henry shrugged his shoulders.
"Can Aunt Emmy go with us?" Henry asked after a few seconds of silence. JJ couldn't help but laugh. JJ always knew that Henry had a soft spot for his Aunt Emmy but it wasn't until this weekend she realized how deep it ran.
"Sorry buddy but she has to work, but I can see if she wants to come over for dinner one night. Would you like that?"
"Yeah, I love Aunt Emmy." Henry offered a half smile.
"I know you do and she loves you very much too." JJ smiled as she placed a kiss on Henry's head. JJ went to stand up but Henry grabbed her hand. She looked down and saw tears forming in his eyes.
"I miss my daddy." Henry cried as he wrapped his arms around JJ's neck.
"Oh I know you do, buddy."
"Why don't you tell daddy you're sorry and then everything will be okay?" Henry asked.
"I'm sorry sweetie, it doesn't work that way. I don't have anything to apologize for and telling daddy I'm sorry isn't going to change anything."
"But Aunt Emmy said that he lefted because he didn't want me to be sad anymore but I'm still sad. I sadded cause he's gone."
"I wish I could make that sadness go away Henry, I really wish I could, but…."
"If you loved me you would!"" Henry yelled, before leaping off the bed and running to the bathroom. JJ heard the door slam and once again she felt her heart break. Just when I thought I was starting to make some progress, JJ groaned to herself as she picked up Henry's baby book and started flipping through the pages. She found herself looking at picture of Emily holding Henry the day they brought him home from the hospital. Emily looked so natural standing there holding Henry in her arms and once again JJ found herself thinking what a great mom Emily would make some day.
A couple more days passed and things really hadn't improved all that much. JJ had yet to hear from Will, even though she had tried calling him several times each night so that Henry could talk to him. She was starting to get the feeling that maybe Will wasn't as emotionally invested in his son as she had once thought and that feeling terrified her. So far the team had been great though. JJ got daily phone calls from everyone asking how everything was going and if she or Henry needed anything. She was truly grateful for all of them. Emily's support though had been nothing short of amazing. She called several times a day. She always made sure to talk to Henry, who was his happiest when he was talking with his Aunt Emmy. JJ listened as Henry would explain in great detail everything that he and JJ had done that day. Unfortunately each phone conversation would end with Henry telling Emily he was still sad. Luckily for JJ, Emily was coming over dinner that night and Henry couldn't have been more excited. It was all the little boy wanted to talk about. The whole time at the zoo he kept asking exactly when Emily was coming over. However, it seemed like the whole world was out to get her when she saw Emily's number pop up on her caller ID.
"Hey Emily, Henry is so excited about…" JJ started as soon as she answered the phone, but Emily quickly cut her off.
"I'm so sorry JJ but I am going to have to cancel." JJ felt her heart sink. "Hotch just told us we caught a case a couple towns over. We are headed there now. I am so sorry."
"It's okay." JJ said with a hint of sadness in her voice and for a moment she stopped to ponder who was upset more about this Henry or her. She had never gone this long without seeing her friend and she had really been looking forward to spending the evening with Emily.
"No, it's not okay. Henry is going to be so disappointed." Emily said with equal sadness in her voice. "Can I talk to him? I would really like to try and explain."
"Sure." JJ told her friend. She put her hand over the receiver and yelled for her son to come into the living room. Once Henry joined her on the couch she handed her son the phone. "Aunt Emmy wants to talk to you." JJ was pretty sure Henry's smile couldn't get any bigger.
"Aunt Emmy?" Henry said as he took the phone from JJ.
"Hey buddy." Emily replied trying to mask sadness she felt for breaking the little boy's heart.
"When are you coming over? I can't wait to see you. Mommy is making spaghetti." Henry explained.
"That sounds really yummy, Henry but I'm afraid I have some bad news. I'm afraid I'm going to have to work tonight and I'm not going to be able to come over for dinner. Maybe we…"
"But you promised." Henry said as a tear ran down his cheek.
"I know, sweetie. You don't know how bad I feel but I have to go hunt the bad guys with Uncle Hotch and the rest of the guys."
"Okay, bye Aunt Emmy." Henry frowned. Emily could hear the rejection in his voice but before Emily could say anything else she could hear Henry handing JJ the phone and then she heard him ask if he could go outside and play. JJ told him yes and then went back to the phone.
"Emily, you still there?"
"Yeah, god I hated that. He sounded so upset." Emily looked up to see Hotch motioning for her to join the rest of the team, as they were about to leave. "Look JJ, I'm really sorry but I'm going to have to go. We are about to leave. Kiss Henry for me and tell him I'm sorry again…please?"
"I will. Don't worry about it. I understand the job." JJ and Emily exchanged good byes and JJ went back to making dinner although now she wasn't so excited about it.
Henry had been outside playing in the sandbox his daddy had built him since Emily had called three hours early. It was coming on 6pm so JJ walked outside to call Henry in for dinner.
"Henry, dinner is ready. Why don't you come inside and get cleanup?" JJ said from her place on the back patio. Henry didn't even acknowledge his mother's presence. "Don't you want to eat? You love spaghetti."
"Not hungry." Henry mumbled as he jumped up out of the sand box and ran over to the swing set. JJ offered a tired sigh as she ran her hand through her hair. She watched carefully as her son climbed to the top of the 'rock wall' and into the playhouse on top.
"Henry, mommy needs to run inside and turn off the sauce, you be sure to stay up there until I come back out." JJ did not like to leave Henry unsupervised while he was playing on his swing set, she was always scared that he might fall. She waited several seconds for a response but got none. "Did you hear me, Henry?" JJ said a little more forceful.
"Whatever." She finally heard Henry mumble from the top of the playhouse. Frustrated but satisfied Henry would stay put, she made her way into the house to turn the spaghetti sauce off. She had no more than put her hand on the stove-knob, when she heard a crash…followed by a gut-wrenching scream.
A/N- I know a bit of a cliffhanger, sorry.... PLEASE REVIEW!
