A/N: Thanks to everyone who read and/or reviewed the last chapter. This one becomes less serious so I hope you enjoy a lighter read.
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The weeks passed slowly, but eventually JJ reached the three month mark in her pregnancy. Under instruction from her doctor, Will and even Hotch, she'd tried to relax, but every twinge or new symptom made her blood run cold. In light of her history, and her paranoia, she'd seen her doctor more frequently than would be considered normal, so her twelve-week ultrasound appointment hadn't seemed so monumental. Will, however, thought otherwise.
"You know what this means?" he grinned excitedly, as they left the doctor's office with a scan of their healthy baby tucked safely away in her purse.
"What?" she asked, rather suspiciously.
"We can start tellin' people," he replied, frowning as her face fell into an even more anxious expression. "This is when most people share the news."
"What most people do doesn't matter to me," she replied, her anxiety evident in her voice. "I'm not sure we should say anything yet – there's some disagreement about when the risk of miscarriage drops. Some people argue that it's not until thirteen or fourteen weeks; there are different ways to calculate the end of the first trimester."
"JJ," he sighed, standing still and causing her to stop walking. "You need to stop this." He reached out and touched his hand to her cheek, feeling the tension radiating along her jaw and down her neck. He could tell she wasn't going to give in and he didn't want to add to her stress by making an issue of it. "You're startin' to sound like Spencer with all those books you're readin'," he smiled, lightening the tone.
"I'm just making sure I know all the facts," she responded defensively, brushing away his hand and continuing towards the car.
"JJ," he called after her, gently catching hold of her wrist.
"What?" she snapped, spinning around.
"This isn't our first baby darlin' – you know what to expect; you don't need to spend every night readin' and searchin' for stuff online."
"I know this isn't our first pregnancy," she replied, her words stinging as they left her mouth. He caught sight of the familiar look of pain and guilt flicker across her eyes.
"Everythin' is OK ," he soothed, as she allowed his hand to come to rest on the small of her back. "That's what the doctor was sayin' today - everythin' is normal and our baby has a strong heartbeat. You saw it for yourself," he reminded her gently.
"I know," she agreed, leaning closer to his body. It was true – there was no reason for her to expect anything to go wrong with this pregnancy. "But I just want to wait a little longer before we tell everyone." Her defensive manner had relaxed and Will was relieved to see her expression soften.
"OK," he agreed. "But can I at least tell my Momma?" he smiled. "She keeps askin' me when we're gonna give her another grandbaby!"
JJ laughed slightly and nodded.
"Yes, we can tell your 'Momma'," she replied, unable to resist mocking him a little. "And I do want to tell our friends –I'm just not ready yet."
"That's OK," he assured her, kissing her forehead before they set off towards the car. "Just don't wait as long as it took for you to tell them about us," he added teasingly. "Might be a bit difficult to explain why you're suddenly carryin' around a new baby!"
"Will!" she chastised, though she was laughing and her voice was lighter than it had sounded for a while.
Will grinned as he watched her laughter reflect in her eyes.
"You're beautiful when you smile – I've missed that," he told her, hoping that he'd be seeing a lot more of her glowing and laughing and a lot less of the anxious frown.
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A few days later the team were on a case in Atlanta. Hotch had become an expert at assigning JJ tasks which would keep her as far from the UNSUB as possible, while still being able to do her job. Today she had been based at the police department's precinct, working on the geographical profile with Reid. Now it was lunchtime and everyone had regrouped to eat and pull together what they had found out over the course of the morning.
JJ was more or less oblivious to everything going on around her. For the past hour her hunger and ridiculously intense cravings were all she had been able to think about. So when the others had decided it was time to take a break, she had practically knocked over a rookie cop in her eagerness to take responsibility for the food run and therefore pick out exactly what she wanted to eat.
And now she could finally satisfy her craving. She unwrapped the paper from around her sub, careful not to waste any of the melted cheese which was spilling out the sides. The smell of the warm pickles made her mouth water, as she took a moment to appreciate her meal before cramming it into her mouth and taking a large bite. She practically had to suppress a moan as she tasted how good it was.
"Do you want us to give you and that sandwich some privacy?" Morgan teased, interrupting her moment of perfection.
She looked up to see that the rest of the team were staring at her with amused expressions.
"What?" she muttered, swallowing her mouthful of food. "I'm hungry."
"Then you go for it, girl," Morgan laughed, raising his hands in mock surrender. He then mumbled something involving the words "Will" and "appetite" under his breath, which judging by the way Blake almost choked on her coffee, was highly inappropriate for the workplace.
She threw him a death glare and he quickly shut up, allowing her to return to her food, albeit with a slightly embarrassed flush about her cheeks.
Little did she know that one member of the team, who had a particularly good memory and a seemingly endless knowledge on just about everything, was beginning to piece together his blonde colleague's peculiar behaviour and working arrangements from the past month. And the hint of a smile formed on his face as he watched her try to elegantly demolish her lunch.
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"I thought you might be hungry," Reid commented, placing a bag of Cheetos on the desk in front of JJ. It was much later in the day, and the two were again assigned to working from the precinct.
"You better not be continuing from where Morgan left off," she warned, raising her eyebrows at the doctor.
"Not at all," he assured her, turning his attention to his own snack, and setting down his cup of coffee. "I was going to get you some coffee as well but I noticed you've not been drinking it recently," he added, feigning innocence.
"Too much caffeine isn't good for you – I'm cutting back," she shrugged, though she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
Spencer couldn't hide the grin that spread across his face.
"What are you smiling at?" she questioned defensively.
"Nothing," he insisted.
"Then stop it."
She opened the bag of Cheetos and popped one into her mouth, trying to play it cool. Of course Reid would be the one to notice all the differences in her routine. But if she didn't respond to the suggestions he was making then he had no proof.
Spencer made no further comment on her sudden increase in appetite following weeks of apparent queasiness, the fact she wasn't drinking coffee, or the fact that Hotch had more or less confined her to working from the relative safety of offices and bullpens.
"What do you make of the fact our UNSUB's hunting ground seems to be centred around places of worship?" he asked, content to return to work now that her defensiveness had convinced him he was right.
However, for the rest of the day he couldn't help but pay more attention to every additional piece of corroborating evidence in her behaviour and appearance. Her secret gave him such a warm sense of happiness and he desperately wanted to congratulate her, but he knew she would have her reasons for remaining quiet. And until she was ready to reveal her news, he wouldn't say a word.
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It was the middle of the night when JJ returned from Atlanta and crawled into bed beside Will. As was usual, he'd been awake in anticipation of her arrival.
"How was the case?" he asked, wrapping her in his arms and tracing his hand over her slightly swollen abdomen. She didn't really have a bump, but she wasn't as toned as she was three months ago.
"I hate working with profilers," she grumbled. "They notice everything."
"Who's figured it out?" he responded, immediately guessing the reason behind her complaint.
"Spencer," she sighed. "He keeps staring and smiling at me."
Will laughed, as he ran his fingers through her hair.
"Just wait til Penelope finds out," he smirked, chuckling once again when she buried her face into his chest and groaned.
JJ's friends were the most supportive and loving family they could imagine, but they were also prone to becoming highly excitable or overreacting when something good happened to one of their own. And they knew from past experience that a new baby would bring about a lot of squealing and celebrating.
Maybe JJ's anxiety surrounding the pregnancy wasn't the only reason she was delaying in sharing their news. After all, did she really want to be at the centre of a Garcia-planned baby shower?
