Chapter 6: Henry
"Mom!" Henry threw both hands into the air as his mother walked through the door, launching a spoonful of CocoPops in the process.
"Watch it, Henry!" Will called, hearing the commotion and poking his head in from the next room. "Hi, JJ, darlin'. Gimme a sec?"
"No problem," JJ replied, smiling. She dropped into the seat next to her son and wiped a spot of milk from the table with the cuff of her sleeve. "How's it going, Henry?"
The eight-year-old smiled brightly. "Good! Mommy, if you're back, does that mean Emily's better?"
"Yeah, she's doing a lot better. But she's going to have to stay in hospital a bit longer," JJ answered. "There's also something I have to talk to you and your dad about before I take you to see her though."
"What?" Henry asked through a mouthful of CocoPops.
"Wait for your dad," JJ replied, while glancing down at his full mouth pointedly.
Henry made an effort to chew more politely.
"How's Emily?" Will asked. He was smiling as he re-entered the room and he placed a hand on his son's back before sitting down beside them.
"Better," JJ repeated. "But it's been almost a month now and it doesn't look like her memory is coming back."
"Her memory?" Henry repeated, frowning. A thin trickle of chocolatey milk escaped his lips and he wiped his mouth on his sleeve distractedly.
"You've heard about amnesia, right, Henry?" Will asked. JJ had called him weeks ago to explain Emily's condition and why he was going to need to take care of Henry for a while. At first he'd been confused and concerned that JJ wasn't working, that she was spending so much time at the hospital, but he'd understood—and almost been relieved—when she told him that she had feelings for her colleague.
Will couldn't even say he'd never suspected Emily's attraction to his wife but he'd always appreciated her respect for their relationship. Emily had never given JJ a reason to be unfaithful to him while they were married. He was sure it was part of the reason she'd let JJ believe she was straight. Now that he and JJ were divorced, it was strange but he actually felt grateful that JJ had fallen for someone else. It made things final—they could be friends again.
Henry, meanwhile, was aghast. Amnesia was something that happened in books and movies, not in real life! Not to Aunty Emily!
"She doesn't remember anything?" he cried. "Not even me?"
"Not even you, sweetie," JJ confirmed. She tried to keep her voice calm and positive for him. "But I told her all about you and she wants you to come visit."
Henry looked uncertain so JJ wrapped a reassuring arm around his shoulders. "She mightn't have all the same memories she used to Henry, but she's still the same person. I'm getting more and more sure of that. We'll just have to make more memories, okay? She won't forget this time."
Henry nodded slowly, then he looked up and met his mother's eye. "Did she forget you too, mommy?" he asked.
Will saw the pain that flickered in JJ's eyes at that but she managed to hide it quickly, flashing Henry a smile.
"Yep," she answered perkily. "But it's okay because I just made her like me all over again! You will too, Henry. I promise."
By the time they reached the hospital, it seemed like Henry had forgotten all about Emily's amnesia. Or maybe he was busy remembering the day his dad had picked him up from school when he'd expected his mom and JJ had been put on the phone to tearfully explain that Emily had been hurt and mommy had to stay at the hospital because it was possible she wasn't going to make it. Maybe he was rightly counting himself lucky that he still had an Aunty Emily.
Henry's face lit up as soon as JJ opened the door for him. It had been almost a month since the accident and, despite the amnesia, Emily was physically almost as good as new—at least to the naked eye. She was sitting on the edge of her bed with her purse in her lap and her eyes lit up when she saw Henry.
"Aunty Em!" he screamed and she barely had time to stand before he was barrelling into her. She hugged him back every bit as hard as he hugged her. "I'm so glad you're okay!" Henry pulled back only for a second to introduce himself, before burying his face in Emily's stomach once again.
"Nice to see you, kiddo," she replied, ruffling his hair affectionately. "Now stop and let me look at you!"
Henry jumped back obediently and stood with his back straight and his head held high like a soldier, waiting to be inspected. Emily knelt down for this purpose, placing her hands on Henry's shoulders to hold him in place unnecessarily. Then she stared so deeply into his eyes that he couldn't help but laugh and Emily joined in, while JJ watched and smiled nervously.
"You look so much like your mom, Henry," she told him. Her voice was thick with emotion and she cupped one of his cheeks in her palm gently. "Look at you…"
"It's okay if you don't remember me," Henry declared. "I know it's not 'cause you don't love me. Mommy explained all about your stupid head."
JJ blushed as Emily laughed again—an honest, bright, and happy sound.
Henry grabbed her hand so he could kiss it. His daddy had taught him that that was what gentlemen did when they met a lady. "I'm only eight, so I'm going to be alive for a really long time, Aunty Em. You've got basically forever to learn about me again."
An image flashed through Emily's mind then: a little boy who looked a lot like Henry, only a few years younger, holding up a dinosaur toy. "His name's Jonathon," the boy declared. "Jonathon's a herbivore. That means he only eats plants. And not little boys or even animals. Mom says. He won't eat you either, Aunty Em. Promise."
Emily swallowed hard. It wasn't the first time something like this had happened over the past few weeks but something was keeping her from saying anything. What if she told everyone she was getting her memory back and then it stopped? She told herself that if all she could remember was that Henry had once had a dinosaur called Jonathon, or that Reid did a magic trick with a film canister that had once hit both her and Hotch in the head on the same day, then it wasn't worth telling them. Why get their hopes up? Still, she had to ask:
"So, Henry… What do you like? Are you a fan of dinosaurs?"
It was a harmless enough question—most boys his age were.
Henry nodded enthusiastically. "I have a tyrannosaur called Hubert!"
"A tyrannosaur?" Emily repeated, trying to hide her disappointment. "Aren't you afraid he'll eat you?"
Henry shook his head. "I used to only collect herbivores 'cause I was afraid of the other ones," he admitted. "But then you gave me Hubert and you said that just because you can do bad things to people, it doesn't mean you have to. You said that doing bad things is always a decision, no matter how big and strong you are. And if my dinosaurs make a bad decision to hurt people, then you and mommy will come and get them, just like you do when people hurt people."
"I said that?" Emily asked, biting her lip uncertainly.
"Yep!" Henry answered. "Now Hubert is my favourite dinosaur out of all of them because he's big and strong enough to eat all the other dinosaurs but he doesn't want to. My old favourite dinosaur was called Jonathon. He was a herbivore because he only liked to eat plants in the first place. Hubert is a vegetarian." Henry grinned, suddenly looking shy. "…He's also my favourite 'cause you gave him to me, Aunty Em."
Emily glanced up at JJ, as if to ask, 'How is your son so perfect?' and JJ smiled back understandingly. She was constantly asking herself the same question.
"Well, I'm cleared to go out today, Henry," Emily announced, "So I think it's time we got out of here and had some fun!"
By five o'clock, Henry had seen every exhibit at the zoo—some of them twice—but he still didn't want to leave.
"Emily's not used to so much walking," JJ reminded him gently as he clung to the railing by the lion exhibit. "You don't want to tire her out, do you, Henry?"
"Jayj, I'm fine," Emily insisted. "I don't want to go back yet either."
"I told Doctor Carter I wouldn't have you back too late," JJ sighed, holding back a smile, and Emily pouted cutely.
"I want to see the penguins again," she pleaded, placing a hand on Henry's shoulder.
"Yeah, the penguins!" Henry exclaimed, sensing that Emily was getting further by begging than he was by refusing to let go of the railing. "Please, mom?! It's not like we're at the zoo every day!"
"We've seen the penguins twice!" JJ cried playfully but then she raised her hands in defeat and Henry went racing on ahead. JJ didn't miss the slight hesitation in Emily's smile as he zipped past. "I can get you a wheelchair if you're having trouble, Em," she offered quietly. "I checked. You can borrow them from—"
"Shut up," Emily interrupted, taking JJ's hand and squeezing lightly. "This is my day off being sick. There will be no wheelchairs. Not one."
"Henry, slow down!" JJ called anyway. "Stay where I can see you! ...Emily, it's okay not to want to spend all day on your feet when you've been in hospital for over a month."
"I know it's okay. I want to walk," Emily persisted. She gave JJ a sideways smile and leaned their shoulders together. "I love walking with you, holding your hand. I feel almost normal."
"Too bad, you're special," JJ laughed. She didn't press the wheelchair issue though.
When they reached the penguin enclosure, Emily and JJ sat down, while Henry paced its length excitedly. For half an hour, he skipped and laughed and chatted to a zoo employee holding a fish, while Emily watched in awe.
She'd said she wanted to see the penguins again because it was the one thing she remembered from a prior trip to the zoo with JJ and her son.
"You know, penguins mate for life?" JJ had said. She'd sounded sad, Emily now realised, because she was unhappy with her husband but too afraid to end things with him and break up their family. "…'Til death do them part?"
"Not all penguins," Emily had felt the need to correct her. "Some penguins are only monogamous for the duration of the breeding season."
"Are you kidding me?" JJ deadpanned. "That's not very romantic."
"Nope," Emily answered simply. She wanted to addsomething along the lines of, So - if you were a penguin, you could admit you're not happy with Will now you've got Henry and move on, but she didn't want to make JJ uncomfortable.
Emily was beginning to realise that Reid was right—it had taken a lot for her to support JJ's marriage, especially when it stopped supporting itself. Accepting that the love of your life was happily married was one thing. Encouraging the love of your life to accept being unhappily married was something else entirely. Yet Emily had always done her best to give objectively good advice.
Emily couldn't remember how JJ's divorce had finally come about but she was desperately glad it had. Even if, when she and JJ stopped to drop Henry at his dad's on the way to the hospital, Will seemed to be a nice enough guy.
Henry hugged Emily tight at the door. "I had the best time today, Aunty Emily!" He chirped. "Can I come see you again soon?"
"How about I come and see you?" Emily suggested. "Since I'm going to be out of hospital soon!"
"Yes yes yes!" Henry squealed and then he ran indoors without another word.
"Will LaMontagne," JJ's ex introduced himself, laughing fondly at his son's antics. "I'd invite you in but JJ says you guys are in a hurry."
"Curfew..." Emily groaned, rolling her eyes.
"We've been out all day," JJ put in. "I'm dead on my feet. It's time we got back."
"We'll meet properly soon," Will promised.
He seemed to sincerely want to see her again, so Emily asked, "Were we close?"
Will shrugged at that. "What does that matter?" he asked. "We can be."
