Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.
Christmas Magic-Chapter 9
The week flew by for JJ and she soon found herself driving behind Dave to his cabin. Dave had suggested she and Henry come up Friday night and JJ had readily agreed, packing a go bag for both herself and her son. As they pulled up to the mansion, she saw Dave had left some lights on during the day and it gave the behemoth house a warm, welcoming feeling.
Once Dave's SUV came to a complete stop in front of the cabin, he cut the motor, got out and went to help JJ unload her things. Opening the back door, he greeted a sleepy Henry.
"How are you doing, son?" He asked as if he expected an answer. The baby gave him a tired smile and then went back into his doze. Dave struggled for a minute with the straps of his car seat, but finally got the boy loose and passed him to his mother while he got the bags. He led them into the house and JJ set Henry down in his crib, while Dave set out the Chinese food they'd brought with them. Once JJ was done getting Henry down for the night, they put a movie in the DVD player and ate their dinner in the great room in front of the large plasma screen TV.
After dinner, they were both exhausted from the week, so they both retired early. As Dave changed into his pajamas he heard Henry stir and then almost immediately heard JJ soothe the baby. His heart swelled with love as he heard her softly sing a lullaby to her son.
The next morning dawned cloudy and cold and Dave could smell the snow in the air. Most people laughed at him when he said that, but he had a sixth sense when it came to winter weather and he could tell there would be a snowstorm later that day. As he made his way down to the first floor of the cabin, he could smell breakfast cooking and he began to drool. He walked into the kitchen and found JJ and Henry there; Henry was sitting in his highchair munching on some cheerios, while JJ was at the stove scrambling eggs.
"God Jen, it smells wonderful in here!" He exclaimed as he came up behind her. He watched the way she easily maneuvered around the stove, knowing the exact right time to pull the eggs from the heat.
"Eat up Rossi because this is the last meal I'll make today; the rest will be made by you," JJ told him.
"I hope you have a strong stomach," he muttered as he helped bring the juice, toast, potatoes and fruit over to the table. He spooned some of everything onto his plate and dug in. He ate as though he hadn't eaten in ten years and JJ watched him with an amused smile as he plowed through his food.
"What?" He asked when he finally noticed her staring.
"You have eaten this week, right?" She asked.
"Yeah, I've eaten takeout all week," he grunted. "Trust me, I make a glutton out of myself when there's home cooking available."
JJ laughed, "Soon you'll be able to cook for yourself."
"I'll tell you JJ, it will tickle my mother if you're actually able to activate my Italian cooking gene.
"We will Dave, compared to chasing down unsubs, cooking should be a breeze."
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Four hours later, JJ had no idea just how wrong her statement would be. "How do you burn mashed potatoes?" She asked in amazement. "You peel the potatoes, slice them, boil them and then mash them; it's the easiest side dish on the planet to make! How did you burn them?" While she was teasing him, she was struck by how right everything felt. She could get used to piddling around the kitchen with Dave and her son.
Unbeknownst to her, Dave was thinking the same thing. As he was breathing in the acrid smoke, he thought about how natural it seemed to have JJ and Henry in his kitchen helping him cook. He hoped he'd be able to make their presence in his cabin permanent in the near future. "I don't know JJ," Dave said testily as he waved a towel in front of the beeping smoke alarm. "I thought I was supposed to keep the burner on afterward, I didn't want them to get cold."
"But-but you set them on fire! How does that even happen?"
"I didn't major in chemistry or physics in college, JJ," Dave said, barely reigning in his annoyance. "If you want answers to those questions, you'll have to ask Dr. Reid."
"But you did graduate from college, right? You can follow basic directions, correct?" Dave just glowered at her and JJ knew she should shut up before she really pissed the profiler off. "I'm sorry Dave; I've just never seen someone so inept at basic kitchen skills before."
Dave was about to snap at her when her phone rang. JJ looked down at the display and gasped, "I have to take this Dave," she said as she lifted the phone to her ear.
"My study is the second door on the right, you can take it in there," he told her, wondering who was on the other end of the line. For the next ten minutes he cleaned up and tried to listen to her end of the conversation, but his study was well sound proofed and he couldn't hear anything.
Finally, after another ten minutes, JJ came back into the kitchen in somewhat of a daze.
"Hey, I know I can't cook, but I set out sandwich fixings. It's not a glamorous dinner, but I figure it's better than my blackened potatoes, or my raw chicken."
"Okay Dave," JJ said, not paying much attention to her surroundings. They fixed their sandwiches in silence and then sat down at the table in the breakfast nook. Seeing her pick at her sandwich, Dave felt he had to ask her about her phone call.
"Penny for your thoughts?" He asked, as he spooned some green goop into Henry's mouth. JJ was too distracted to even perform that simple task.
"That was Will on the phone," JJ said, somewhat coolly and Dave immediately knew he was in the doghouse with the young woman.
"What did he want?" Dave asked, trying to keep his voice even.
"He's moving back to Louisiana," she said, less in a daze now. "But he wanted to let me know to expect a check for back child support. He also said that while he doesn't want a relationship with Henry, he'll send child support checks regularly from now on."
"Wow, that was a good stroke of luck," Dave said, not looking at her. Instead, he focused on feeding her son until the glare nearly bored through his head. He set the green goo down and looked at the beauty, "What JJ?" He asked with a sigh.
"Are you honestly going to sit there and try to deny that you had anything to do with this? Am I really supposed to believe that this is all coincidental? What did you do Dave, go and threaten him?" JJ asked.
"No," he said defensively, "I had a guy do that; I'm clean."
"Dammit Dave, I can fight my own battles, I don't need you or anyone else to fight them for me!" She shouted.
"I wasn't trying to fight your battles, Jen, I was simply trying to help a friend. You need that money and you're entitled to it. He's Henry's father for fuck's sake and the bastard should support his son! I was just trying to help!"
"I don't need to be taken care of, by you or any other man!"
"What in the hell is that supposed to mean? Is that some of your feminist bullshit, because I gotta tell you sweetheart, someone needed to step in since you weren't doing a goddamn thing to help you or your son!" Dave thundered.
"How DARE you-" JJ started, but Dave didn't let her finish.
"I'll do any Goddamn thing I want and, lucky for you, I want to help you!" Seeing JJ shake her head, Dave put up a hand. "This isn't about me, or any other man taking care of you; it's about me seeing a friend in need and being in a position to help. I would have done the same thing for Hotch or Morgan."
"Yeah, but it looks-" Once again, Dave cut her off.
"I don't give a good Goddamn how it looks, it needed to be done! Would it make you feel better to know that my partner in crime was a woman?" Dave asked, mentally wincing; he had promised Garcia he would keep her out of this, and he hadn't meant to let knowledge of her involvement slip out. He knew there would be repercussions for her from JJ, which meant there would be repercussions for him from the slightly demented technical analyst.
"A woman?" JJ asked, more to herself than to him, "Who could-" Dave could see the light bulb go on in her head, and the angry look came back. "Garcia, of course! I should've known!"
Dave nodded, as long as he was throwing the woman under the bus, he might as well make sure she was completely run over. "In my defense, it didn't take much goading on my part to get her to work her magic."
"No, it wouldn't have; she wanted to cut Will's balls off the very afternoon I caught him in bed with my friend," JJ muttered. "How did you even find out about it?" She was still pissed at him for his involvement, but the intellectual part of her knew he was just trying to help, albeit in twisted way.
"Hotch," Dave said and JJ nodded knowingly.
"Garcia always said he couldn't keep a secret to save his life and now I know what she was talking about."
"Look Jen, I'm sorry we went behind your back and got involved, but it needed to be done, honey."
"I know Dave, but I didn't want everyone to know about this, I just wanted to handle it myself," she said, nearly in tears.
"Hey," he said and she looked up at him, "We're a family and this is what family does. If Will fucks with one of us then he fucks with all of us."
JJ gave him a watery smile, "Thanks Dave," she said, not sure whether she was thanking him for his help, or just for being there for her.
"Any time, Jennifer," he said as he picked up Henry and then led them both to the great room. Once there, he laid Henry down on a blanket and started a fire in the fireplace. Then he and JJ sat on the sofa and watched the falling snow until they both fell into a light sleep.
