Retaining Happiness
Chapter 6
A/N - Thank you so much for the beautiful feedback I truly appreciate it, sorry this chapter is a bit shorter but it is nonetheless important.
The sound of the telephone ringing in the LaMontagne household was muffled by the sounds of two little boys playing loudly and happily from upstairs. J.J. smiled as she balanced three year old Anna on her hip and walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway. She could see out of her peripheral vision that her daughter still had a deep frown on her face. This foul mood was often the case when Danny and Henry spent time together as when Henry was not there Danny was her friend and they played together, but when it was just the boys she was not welcome. Henry had always treated Danny as his younger brother and to J.J. it was always a joy to hear pleasant sounds of laughter filling the household as opposed to the ever more frequent fighting which occurred between her children as sibling rivalry was beginning to emerge.
These were the small insights she had begun to fill her best friend in with the previous night as they sat in her living room having one of their long, let's talk about everything chats. It wasn't long before Penelope's worries about meeting Kevin again were disclosed. Like the rest of the BAU J.J. was fully aware of the trauma that Lynch's disappearing act had caused and like Morgan she was on edge ready to protect her best friend from anymore hurt. She hoped that the meeting was going well, the last thing that family needed at that moment was Kevin Lynch putting a spanner in the works and attempting to break them apart.
"Boys! Keep it down please" she called up the stairs, she was about to pick up the receiver when Henry came bounding down the stairs.
"Mom? Can me and Danny have some snacks?" he asked holding onto the banister, looking at her with his big blue eyes.
She nodded and shooed him away with her hand as she picked up the phone and held it to her ear, "hello? Morgan is that you?" Anna began to wriggle under her left arm wanting to follow her brother causing J.J. to become distracted, "hold on Anna getting restless, I'll take the phone into the kitchen"
As J.J. turned her back on her front door she failed to notice the scruffy looking man entering her house without permission.
Five minutes later when she returned the phone to its holder nothing seemed out of place, "Danny?" she called up the stairs, she knew how excited he would be to know that his baby brother or sister would be arriving soon. She frowned at the lack of response from her Godson, "Henry can you go and get Danny for me please?"
Her son exited the kitchen with a plate full of various sweet treats and he smiled cheekily at his mother before he returned up the stairs. It was only a moment later when he returned down.
When he stood on the stairs looking at his mother he looked horrified, "Mom, Danny's not there"
J.J.'s heart sunk and panic immediately set in, her best friend was going through one of the greatest physical and emotional ordeals a woman can go through and she was responsible for her son, and he was missing.
She swallowed and tried to remain calm, she forced a smile to reassure her son, "are you sure? Have you checked all the rooms upstairs?"
He nodded firmly, "uh huh"
"Ok let's check everywhere again before we begin to worry, you look outside in the garden" she said more confidently than she felt, they had only been in the kitchen, if he had come downstairs and into any other room except out the front door they would have seen him. With both his parents in the FBI Danny was not the type of child who would wander off from a secure location, he had always been very smart and cautious, in the back of her mind there was the nagging feeling that something was very wrong.
It had been a long car journey full of endless questions and mindless chatter. At one point Kevin Lynch thought he was ready to shoot himself. He had not had much experience in the world of children, he only had one nephew but he was at college now, worlds away from the life of a five year old boy and they had had never really had a relationship. No matter how irritated he was though his plan had worked, and he was finally going to get his own family.
He knew even if Penelope hadn't gone into labour he would have been caught in his own web of lies, there was no Louisa in Sweden, he was a basic computer hacker for the Swedish government living in a rundown apartment with barely enough money to live on. The only reason he stayed away so long was that he was ashamed to return but the death of his mother finally gave him an excuse. It seemed fate that he should run into the son he never knew he had, it was a chance to start again, he would be able to live his life for his Danny.
He looked over his shoulder to the backseat of the car where his son was sound asleep his blond hair covering his face slightly. Kevin couldn't help but think he was the image of his mother. His heart began to ache when he thought of Penelope, he didn't want to hurt her but he couldn't stand the thought of that man being a Dad to his son. They were about to start their own family, why couldn't he have his?
As he pulled into the drive of his late mother's house miles away from the busyness of Quantico he sighed and placed his head on the steering wheel. He hadn't thought about this plan long term, he had told Danny that his Mom had asked him to pick him up so they could spend some time together, he didn't know how long he would be able to keep the boy quiet, he had grown up in the world of the FBI. Then there was the precious BAU as soon as J.J. realises Danny was missing the entire team would be on the case and it wouldn't take them long to piece together that it was him that took him. He also knew as soon as Derek Morgan found out he would personally vow to hunt him down to bring Danny back.
Kevin knew he needed a plan and fast.