Here is chapter 6! Ask questions and review! I LOVE reading what you have to say!
Before I begin, I got 2 questions. The first is about Will. Here's the answer: in the story, he's dead because he died on a case. JJ was basically inconsolable and Hotch was the guy who helped her heal. I don't believe in making someone the bad guy. I love Will, and I wasn't set on him walking out on JJ and Henry. It's just not in his character. So, for the purpose of this story, he is dead.
The second question I got was about the kids' ages. I'm so sorry for not writing them before! In chapter 6, the time of the year is around July. For referential reasons, I've got the kids birthdays down as it helps me when calculating their ages. Here are the kids birthdays and birth order in the story (yes, the triplets have a defined birth order, and yes, the year is 2016):
Jack- November 7, 2005 (age 11)
Henry- October 28, 2008 (age 8)
Charlotte (miscarriage, 2011)
Tyler- November 24, 2011 (age 5)
Benjamin- November 24, 2011 (age 5)
Grace- November 24, 2011 (age 5)
Lucas- January 1, 2013 (age 3)
Isabel- January 1, 2013 (died at 4 days old due to lung failure)
Twins (born November 2016 sometime)
Anyway, here we go to chapter 6! Enjoy!
The next few weeks served as a series of puzzles. Kate had mentioned to JJ and Hotch that Benjamin had been acting distant towards the other children. At first, it was shrugged off with an easy "he's just anxious about the babies," and after that, it was left alone.
It was nighttime, and the children were watching TV, while JJ was in the office, and Hotch was putting Luke to bed.
Her eyes were fixated on the pages after pages of research regarding diabetes in infants. She simply could not stop herself from this. It was a part of being pregnant. She was horribly worried about something happening to one or both of the babies, and the possibility of diabetes was high.
"It's 9pm," she heard from behind her.
JJ felt her heart skip a beat. She checked the time at the bottom right of the screen and spun around in her chair, swallowing thickly.
"Yeah...yeah, just...finishing," she said, getting up.
Hotch walked over to her and stopped her. He pushed her hair back off of her face and his eyes managed to lock a gaze on hers.
"Are you still researching diabetes? Come on JJ-"
JJ sighed. "I don't want anything to be wrong," she said, frowning.
Hotch pursed his lips, wondering what on earth JJ did to deserve all this stress. It made him so upset, knowing he couldn't help his wife all the time. He felt so helpless and he started feeling like he didn't deserve JJ in his life. Though he knew he was just being delusional, it was a thought that came all too often.
The blonde searched her husband's face. It was blank. He showed no emotion.
"You know...I get it," JJ said softly, "am I...too messed up?"
"JJ, it's not that at all. Why would you even think of something like that?"
The woman bit her lip as tears began to prick her eyes. "I want them to be healthy," she said, "I need them to be healthy...am I going over the top?"
"You're anxious, like all mothers are...but that's okay...I just don't want you sitting here for hours on end researching diabetes. It's a 1 in 300 chance...and I know you know that."
Jennifer swallowed and wiped the few tears that had managed to escape her eyes. "Come on...lets get these kids into bed. It's late...and they have school tomorrow," she brushed by him, "I'm sorry."
Hotch was left at the door with his mouth wide open, wondering how he was going to help her. This wasn't the way it was supposed to be.
"Are you and mommy going to the doctors tomorrow? Grace asked, feeling the needle as it pricked her left index finger.
Hotch nodded, preparing a test strip for the meter. "Yeah, while you're at school...why?"
Before Grace could say anymore, she saw JJ standing at her bedroom doorway, looking around.
"Mommy?"
"Henry's out of test strips, I was hoping you had some."
Hotch wiped an alcohol swab over Grace's finger as he turned around. "These are the last she's got. Have we not got any downstairs...or..?"
JJ shook her head, walking into the room. "No, I've checked. I'll go out now and get some."
"Are you sure?" Hotch pressed, "We have 12 left. That can get us through tomorrow for the both of them. Tomorrow we can order some more."
"Right," JJ said, taking a test strip from Grace's kit, "I guess that can work. We also need ketone strips. I thought we had some, but apparently not."
Hotch laughed as he watched JJ break into a grin. "We're losing it, aren't we?"
"I think so," the woman laughed, walking out, "aren't we, Grace?"
The 5 year old laughed. "It's because you have too many kids, I told you!"
"You can never have too many kids," Hotch said, reading Grace's meter, "but you can have too much glucose in your blood."
"What?" Grace asked.
"I have to adjust your insulin for tonight. We must've been a few counts off of your dessert. Let's fix that."
Hotch finished testing Grace and went to kiss the other children. He made his way down the hall to Ben and Tyler's room, and as he was coming out, Jack had stopped him.
"Dad..." He said softly, "dad, can I talk to you?"
Hotch's eyebrows furrowed as he studied the expression on his son's face. After taking a few seconds to make the decision in his head, he nodded. "Is it something mom and I can both know?"
The young boy nodded, looking into his dad's eyes.
"Then go wait with mom in our bedroom," he said, "I'll be in."
When Jack walked into his parents' room, JJ gave him a weird look. "Do you need a second hug and a kiss?" She asked.
Jack shook his head. "I'm here to talk to you and dad."
"Ouch," JJ scoffed, "that hurt."
"Sorry...it's...it's sort of serious," Jack said, "it's about Ben."
Hotch had just caught what his son had said as he slipped into the bedroom. He closed the door behind him and went and sat on the bed beside his wife.
"What about Ben?" He asked, concern evident in his voice.
"I...I think," he began, "I think he's...being bullied."
JJ swallowed thickly as she looked at her husband with concerned eyes. "You think...what?"
"I think," he repeated, "that Ben's being bullied."
"When did he tell you about this?" Hotch asked.
Jack bit his lip. "A couple weeks ago...but I didn't want to tell you because he didn't want me to and I promised him."
"Do you know what happened to him?" JJ asked softly, almost as if she were interrogating somebody.
"He has bruises, and I told him I didn't think kids his age could do that, but they can," he said, "but they'll be gone now."
Hotch sighed. "Do you know why it's happening? Is that why he's not been himself lately?"
Jack nodded, looking between his parents, "He told me they beat him up...but he never told me why. Please don't ask him!" He begged, "He can't know I told you!"
"That must be why he's stopped bathing with Grace and Tyler...because he doesn't want them to see the bruises," JJ said sadly. It hurt like hell to know that her baby boy was being hit and punched at school. What hurt the most was the fact that he had been so hesitant to tell his parents. He was 5 years old. He shouldn't feel that he can't turn to his parents, of all people.
"Alright, well," Hotch said, looking between JJ and Jack, "it's late and you have school tomorrow. We'll ask him how he's doing, and we'll go from there."
Jack hopped off of the bed and walked out of the room.
"Hey, Jack?" JJ said. The boy quickly poked his head into the bedroom. "Thank you for telling us."
"You did the right thing," Hotch added, "you're a great big brother."
Aaron had gotten used to being woken up in the middle of the night by Jennifer throwing up. It broke his heart to hear her heaving. She would lose so much energy and become dehydrated. Her pale face, absolutely drenched in sweat, was enough to make him sick, himself.
The man climbed out of bed and rushed into the bathroom to find JJ close to tears. Her sickness was horrible, much worse than before. He climbed down beside her and rubbed her back until she was done.
Dropping herself against the wall, JJ let out a deep breath. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, "you don't have to wake up to this."
"Well, I'd like to wake up to twins someday, so I'll have to, won't I?"
JJ laughed, play-punching him in the chest. "You're funny."
Looking around, Hotch laughed. "I never thought we'd find ourselves like this again," he said, "sitting here, slumped against the wall, waiting for you to throw up."
"Hey," JJ laughed, "I'm having two babies. It's not throw up...pick another word."
"We're waiting for the babies to give us a sign they're there...is that better?"
JJ grinned, leaning on his shoulder, "much."
Hotch wet a towel and placed it on JJ's forehead. He could tell that it made her feel better.
"The sickness should stop around week 14...if that helps," he assured.
JJ shook her head, almost laughing as she looked down. "No...it won't. I have a feeling it will only get worse from here. Remember how bad it was with Tyler, Ben, and Grace? I was convinced I was a vomiting machine."
"Those three...were triplets, JJ. They said it was normal for you to have more severe sickness because it's twins. With the triplets you were having sickness until week 20...and you had them almost 7 weeks later."
"Ew," the woman groaned, bringing herself up to the toilet bowl, "I wish this would just end."
Hotch sighed, rubbing her back, "me too."
Once the children had been dropped off at school, JJ and Hotch went to their OB appointment. The stress was beginning to pile up. Hotch was worried about JJ. She had a panic disorder, and between everything that was going on, he was worried that she would completely lose it. They were looking at new houses, and on top of that, they were trying to handle the expenses of Grace and Henry's medication. Having twins certainly added to that stress.
"So, you're 11 weeks along," Kayla said, wiping gel onto JJ's stomach, "and you're showing...which is a great sign. Have you started having cravings?"
JJ nodded, "apparently I'm craving smoothies and cupcakes...but I'm unable to keep them down."
"You are craving smoothies and cupcakes," Hotch laughed, "I rushed out four times this past weekend to Jamba Juice and Razzle Dazzle...it's definitely a craving."
The OB laughed to herself. "Well, cravings are a sign that your morning sickness is subsiding. Within a week or two, you'll begin eating a lot more."
JJ groaned, "and I'll look more like a whale than ever."
"Alright," Kayla started, "your due date is Sunday, November 19. I can safely say that with your past history of early births, and the fact that it's twins, you should expect to go into labour around early November."
Hotch smiled, squeezing JJ's hand tightly. "Are you able to determine the genders?"
Kayla shook her head, "it's too early to even guess, really. But, if you look up on the monitor, you'll be able to clearly see their outlines."
JJ began to cry as she studied the two white figures on the screen. Turning to Hotch, she smiled. "Those are ours."
"Gender can be determined between 19 and 21 weeks...and I am sure these two will make it clear by then. They'll also begin to move around 15 weeks. Since you've been pregnant before, you'll begin noticing them earlier...about as early as 13 weeks."
Hotch grinned. He was over the moon about his children growing. At this point, he didn't mind running out in his pyjamas to pick up 2 boxes of cupcakes at 4am. He didn't mind blending smoothies for his wife at 2am. He didn't care how crazy he looked. Life was crazy...and he loved every minute of it.
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