A/N: Hey all! Here's the next chapter! This one starts off with JJ's return to work (Season 4 episode 14, Cold Comfort) and mentions Demonology (S04E17) and I forgot to mention that the last chapter had a scene from the Season 4 episode, Normal (#11). This one will be the second part of 2009, there will be one more part dealing with Foyet. Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.
Chapter 8:
~ February, 2009 ~
"You're really going?"
Will gave her a distressed glance. "What do you expect me to do, JJ?"
She let out a huff, feeling defeated, lifting and dropping her shoulders with the sound. "I don't know."
He stopped packing his bag and approached her. Placing both hands on her shoulders, he leaned in close. Will gave her, what she'd call, an overwhelmed look. "I'm sorry, Jay." She managed to stop herself from visibly cringing. "She's my mom. I'm all she has left and she's not doing so good."
JJ felt bad instantly. Of course he'd want to spend time with his mom before she passed on. It wasn't looking like Mrs. LaMontagne would make it past the next two months.
"You're right, go. And give Helen my love," JJ replied.
"I wish you and Henry were coming with me."
JJ looked off to the side. They'd already talked about this. "You know I can't. I go back to work Monday." A huge part of her would feel sad about leaving Henry's side, but the other part was excited to return to the team and to Hotch.
"I wish you weren't," Will added bluntly.
"I know," she replied tersely. He'd made it very clear to her what he thought about working mothers. The two concepts, work and mother, didn't go together, according to him. They'd argued about it more and more the closer her back to work date came.
In her opinion, though, it was a useless thing to argue. The minute she told Will that he wasn't Henry's father she was sure he'd want nothing to do with her. All she needed now was the right moment to tell him.
This weekend was supposed to be it. Her mother was in town, visiting. Sandy Jareau was going to take Henry and JJ was going to use the time alone to break the news to Will.
Now, with his mother on her deathbed, did she really want to pile on the devastating news? No, she'd tell him when he returned.
She just hoped Hotch would understand.
"Sorry," Will had the sense to apologize.
She shook her head, suddenly feeling guilty about wanting him to stay so she could tell him more bad news instead of being with his mother. JJ wondered, When did I become a horrible person?
"Don't worry," she said out loud. "Just take care of you mom and don't worry about anything else."
He searched her eyes with a sad, contemplative look. With the news of her son's paternity she'd drawn away from him even further. Will wasn't obtuse, he'd noticed. And she was a fool to think that waiting to tell him was sparing him any pain. It clearly wasn't.
JJ didn't love Will and it showed.
"I'll be thinking of you and Henry," Will said. "I'll miss you."
She breathed in a deep breath. "I'll… miss you, too."
He pulled away from her, zipping up his bag. He seemed ready to go, but hesitated. "Hey…" he began. "I… uh got you something. I was going to wait to give it to you… but I might be gone for a while."
JJ watched him walk over to his chest of drawers. He pulled something small out of the top drawer. Turning back around, she saw that it was a ring box. She felt the color drain from her face immediately. Oh no…
He chuckled, but there was an acerbic undertone to it. "Relax, JJ, I know how you feel about marriage." He handed her the box unceremoniously. "Open it."
Slowly, she did as told, less afraid now of what she'd find, but still hesitant. Inside laid a ring with a large yellow stone, surrounded by little diamonds. She looked up at Will quizzically.
"It's Henry's birthstone. Citrine, I think the lady called it. I thought you'd um like it."
JJ eyed him with surprise. It was times like this that he reminded her why she'd chosen him to try to put Hotch past her. Will had a sweet side.
"It's beautiful, Will. Thank you."
He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. "I got one too," he said, slipping a masculine version of the ring onto the ring finger of his left hand. "I thought it would be a good way to show our connection to Henry and each other."
And just like that the sweet gesture had the taint of ulterior motive. She let out a sigh, not hiding her discomfort. Taking the ring out of the box, she slipped it onto the finger of her right hand.
"Thank you," she said again, pointedly ignoring his frown.
She didn't appreciate his backhanded way of attempting to gain a commitment from her and she wasn't going to hide that fact.
"Have a good trip," she said with finality.
Gauging her reaction, he let out a huff of his own, grabbed his bag, and was out the door.
She put her head into her hands, and not for the first time, asked herself, What the hell have I gotten myself into?
Hotch let out a tired sigh as he put the finishing touches to the case file of the last case they had worked on that Monday morning. Normally, he would have had it done the very next day, at the latest, but these days he was more than a little distracted and that was showing in his work. He was way behind.
Rubbing at his eyes, he realized he was letting his personal life interfere with his work life. Something he'd never condoned. He liked to keep them separate. Though, that was going to be hard to do, now that he worked with the mother of his child.
JJ. She was coming back to work today and he couldn't wait to see her, not only because he missed her greatly, but also because he needed to know if she had gone through with telling Will the news like she said she would.
He hoped she had. He couldn't wait to be able to publically claim Henry as his own. Henry Hotchner had a nice ring to it and he smiled just thinking about the five month old infant. The little boy was opening his eyes more. And he was more responsive to the sound of his voice.
God, he loved that boy. Over the past two weeks the trio of them had met several times during the day so he could keep in contact with Henry during this transition period. Hotch hoped that the infant knew that he was his father. But with Will at home with him, the infant saw Will more and it hurt his heart to think that Henry saw Will as his father over him.
A knock came at his door, interrupting his thoughts. "Come in," he called out. He signed a couple more papers and only looked up when he heard the door open and close.
A glowing JJ stood before him. "JJ," he breathed out, happy to see her.
He stood up and approached her quickly, stopping just short of hugging her. Still beaming, he added, "Welcome back."
She laughed, looking to her right before she closed the distance between them. She pulled him close, hugging him tightly. He followed her gaze and saw that she'd been looking at his blinds. They were closed, of course. They were always closed now, ever since their night together.
"Thank you. It's good to be back."
Hotch pulled away slightly, still holding her close. He looked into her deep blue eyes and asked, "How are you? How's Henry?"
"I'm good. Henry's growing up too fast," she mused cheerfully. A second later a sad look came over her face. "I miss him."
He gave her a soft knowing smile. "I know." Placing a kiss on her forehead, he breathed in deeply, taking in her presence. "God, I've missed you."
Her eyes were closed when he pulled back to look at her, she still looked unhappy. "Hey," he started swiftly. "If you'd like to take more time, I'll understand."
JJ opened her eyes abruptly. "No. No, I want to be here," she assured. She stepped out of his grasp, turning her back to him.
"JJ?" he asked concernedly. "What is it?"
Shaking her head, she remained turned away from him. "All I want… all I want is for us to be together."
Uh oh. That didn't sound good. He knew right away, she didn't tell Will.
Hotch closed the distance between them; he put his hands to her shoulders, massaging lightly. "What happened?" He tried to soften his voice, not wanting to sound accusatory. Still he was tired of hiding things.
JJ turned in his arms to face him. He saw the tears in her eyes before she pressed her body to his. "I'm sorry, Aaron."
Expelling a breath, he rubbed his cheek against her blonde locks, savoring her closeness, even though he knew she was about to disappoint him. "I know…"
"Will went back to New Orleans," she informed him. "His mother is sick… she's dying…"
"So, you didn't tell him," he stated more than asked.
Pulling back to look him in the eyes, she looked genuinely apologetic. "No, I'm sorry."
He nodded his head. It'd only been two weeks since they'd found out. Not an overly long time, but still the second he'd found out Henry was his he'd wanted nothing more than to bring both JJ and Henry home with him. He was eager to start his life with them. "Soon?" he questioned.
"The second he comes back," she reassured. "I needed to tell you. To explain. I want to tell him—"
He cut her off. "JJ, I know. I just…" He reached out a hand to skim her now short golden hair, to caress her cheek. "I want us to be together. I want us to be able to start our life together. You, me, Henry and Jack…"
She smiled at that image. "I want that, too."
Nodding, he stepped back. "All right…" He kissed her lips briefly. "Let's get to work, I guess…"
She turned to go, but something glimmering on her hand caught his eye. A ring?
"What's that?" he asked abruptly.
She turned back around, giving him a confused look. And then she looked down. "Oh, this?"
He reached for her right hand, bringing it close. "This is new?"
JJ looked uncomfortable at his questioning. "Um… yeah, Will bought it for me. It's Henry's birthstone. I… I couldn't not take it…"
"I see," he said emotionlessly.
"Aaron," she exclaimed. "Don't, please. Don't jump to conclusions. Will just thought it would be nice to have something for us to represent Henry—"
"Us?"
"Will got one, too," she confirmed, sheepishly.
Will was living with his girlfriend, with his baby, giving her a ring to show their commitment to each other, while he sat off on the side, doing what… waiting? He suddenly didn't know what to think. He just felt that he needed to get out of there. "Let's get to work."
"Aaron, wait," JJ called before he got to the door. He turned around reluctantly. "It's not what you think."
"He got you both a ring that represents your connection to Henry, together," Hotch replied angrily. "I'm his father, damn it, not him."
Tears in her eyes, she said, "I know. And I'll tell him, I swear."
He hated to see those tears, so he backed off slightly. "This is hard, JJ."
"I know. I'm—"
"Don't say you're sorry again, JJ, please," he cut her off. He'd heard it enough. The situation they were in wasn't only of her doing. They both had a part to play.
"Ok." She nodded once, waiting for him to clue her in to how things were about to go.
"I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions," he offered instead.
JJ looked at him sadly, nodding again.
They left it at that and decided to get back to work.
JJ hefted the bags she held, repositioning them to make them feel less awkward as she waited for Hotch to open the door. After another second, the door opened and JJ stepped into the small foyer.
"Kitchen?" she asked over top of the bags.
Hotch pointed off to the left and she started moving in that direction. She could feel him following her close behind as she moved along, taking in his apartment. She couldn't believe she'd never been there before. And she hoped that when she ended things with Will they'd be there, together, all the time. Or maybe, they'd get a house together, one where each of their boys could have their own rooms, and a huge backyard where they could run free…
All right, JJ, she silently chastised herself. Now you're just getting ahead of yourself. One step at a time, ok…
She placed the bag on the island counter and turned to face Hotch, seeing him do the same thing.
She just couldn't help her thoughts, she loved him so much.
"JJ, you don't have to do this," he told her, smiling affectionately.
He held a hand out to her and she came around the island to take it. She stood before him, staring up into his dark eyes. "What? Make dinner for you? It's nothing," she brushed off. "After the case we had… I hope Emily's all right…"
Hotch let out a sigh. "Me too."
They'd just helped their friend figure out that a priest had killed one of Emily's old friends. She was devastated, but JJ hoped that she'd let either Morgan or Rossi in. Both men seemed eager to help her deal with her pain.
With the personal nature of the case, JJ had not felt like going home to an empty house. Will was still in New Orleans, and Henry was visiting JJ's mom. So, she had been perfectly free to suggest making dinner for Hotch. She felt she also owed him, considering the argument they'd had about the ring last week.
Hotch caressed her cheek tenderly; she leaned into his touch, closing her eyes to savor the gesture. She would never get enough of him, she knew.
"I'm just glad you're here with me tonight."
"That makes two of us," she murmured, before reaching up on her toes to kiss him.
What was supposed to be a quick kiss quickly turned into something more. Alone, together, with no chance of interruptions, the passion that they had for each other, that always simmered just below the surface, reignited.
JJ wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him there firmly as she deepened the kiss, entangling her tongue with his. Dinner was long forgotten as his hands trailed down her back to grip her ass. He lifted her up and onto the counter, surprising her.
He pulled away from her temporarily. The look in his eyes told her he was as hungry for her as ever. Without a moment's hesitation, his hands went to the hem of her shirt and he was pulling it up and over her head. She had a brief flutter of nervousness in the pit of her stomach as he took in her post-baby body. Admittedly, she wasn't quite back to where she had been previously and that insecurity had her attempting to cover herself up, one arm around her midsection, the other up across her chest to rest on her shoulder.
Hotch leaned in close, resting his hands on her forearms; he looked at her with a lightness in his eyes. "Hey," he said gently. "You're beautiful, sweetheart."
His words alone were enough to get her to drop her hands. She smiled before he reclaimed her lips, kissing her with all the love he possessed for her.
Hotch's hands dropped from her arms, skimming her sides as they travelled a path down to her thighs. He pushed them apart before coming to stand between them, bringing their bodies that much closer. That done, his hands swept upwards, tickling the skin of her abdomen, causing shivers to go down her spine. He made quick work of the hooks on her bra, removing that one more obstacle and dropping it to the floor to join her shirt.
JJ lightly protested when his lips left her own and instead trailed a path down instead. A second later, her protests were cut short when his lips were suddenly around the hard peak of her breast. He sucked one nipple into his mouth, letting his tongue swirl around the hardened bud. JJ arched into his mouth, putting her hands behind her, urging him to take more.
As she reveled in his touch, she'd been unaware of where his hands were, until they were suddenly at her waist, undoing the button and zipper to her work pants.
She whimpered slightly when his mouth let go of her breast. Her protests were long forgotten when she saw what he was about to do next. In one go, Hotch slid her pants and underwear off, exposing her to him.
Completely naked now, he came back up to hold her close, kissing her hard as his hand slipped between her legs. She gasped into the kiss when he wasted no time whatsoever, going for her clit. Hotch meant business and she liked it.
Her body aching for him, she blindly reached out, managing to find the waistband of his pants. Belt buckle, zipper, and button were no match for her eager hands. As his fingers continued to dance over, taking her up and over, she wiggled her own digits under the waistband of his briefs finding his hard member.
JJ pumped his dick hard, causing his own hands to falter briefly. He ripped his lips from hers to exclaim, "Shit, JJ!"
She chuckled lightly, letting go of him to say, "Bedroom?"
Hotch nodded his head once before surprising her by picking her up. JJ squealed out her delight at the gesture, her arms going around his neck as she held on for dear life.
They reached his bedroom where Hotch laid her down gently on his bed. He stepped back to undress and JJ took the opportunity to let her eyes peruse his room. The walls were a cinnamon brown color that went well with the dark browns of his furniture and bedspread. There wasn't much in the room that showed that Hotch lived there, save for one photograph of Jack on his nightstand.
"Bare, isn't it?"
She looked up to see him free from clothing. She watched the hard length of his body as he came to sit in front of her on the bed. He reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze.
"When we move in together you can do anything you'd like to it," he informed her.
"You want to move in together?" she asked in wonder.
He gave her a rare shy look before glancing off to the side. "Well, yeah… I hope that we can all be a family someday."
There was uncertainty in his voice, as if he didn't know that that was all she wanted, too. She'd give anything in the world to share a life with him. Had she ever told him that? No, she didn't think so. She would have to fix that.
JJ scooted forward, lifting herself up onto her knees, she leaned her body close to him. He turned to look at her unsurely. "Aaron, I want that, too. God, I want that so bad. Soon," she said adamantly. "I love you."
"I love you, too, JJ."
And just like that things got intense again. They made love slowly, with the feeling like they had all the time in the world. And maybe they did. As soon as she told Will the truth there would be nothing to keep them apart anymore.
Hotch stood off to the side, watching JJ stir the ingredients together over the stove. He'd offered to help but she'd refused, saying she wanted to do this for him. He let out a content sigh just happy to take in the sight of her.
She'd dressed in his dress shirt and it just skimmed the tops of her thighs. Her hair was tied back in a loose ponytail and she just looked adorable as she made him dinner. It was a sweet moment. And that's why he couldn't control his next urge.
He moved behind her to wrap his arms around her waist, pulling her back against his chest.
"Aaron," she protested laughingly.
Moving his mouth to the crook of her neck, he kissed the skin there lightly. "Forget dinner, you're more than good enough to eat."
She swatted a hand backwards playfully. "Even so, this will be good too. Trust me."
With one more kiss, he let out a sigh and released her, retaking up his spot. They settled then into a companionable silence, JJ moving around the kitchen, Hotch watching her.
Just as he was going to comment on the niceness of the moment, the doorbell rang. They shared a brief panic-filled look before JJ spoke up.
"Why don't you go see who it is? I'll go put my own clothes on just in case."
He nodded at her plan. Someday soon they wouldn't have to hide their relationship, but until then they needed to be cautious.
Letting out an annoyed breath, he made his way to the door, wishing along the way that whoever it was didn't intend on staying long. He had JJ all to himself for the first time in a long time and he would fight tooth and nail to keep it that way.
Opening the door, he was more than shocked to see who it was waiting there. "Hailey?" he exclaimed. A noise from below drew his eyes down. "Jack!" he said with more enthusiasm, always happy to see his three year old son.
He knelt down, holding his arms out to his son. Jack ran into them and he swept him off his feet. "Hey buddy, how are you doing today?"
"Good, daddy," he replied eagerly.
Hotch turned to Hailey giving her a barely civil look. "What's going on?" He hadn't expected them tonight.
"Jack, why don't you go turn on the TV, I think Bob the Builder is on?" Hailey addressed their son.
Hotch reluctantly let his boy down; he ran off for the living room. Once he was out of sight, he turned back to his ex-wife. "I wasn't supposed to have Jack tonight, was I?"
"Of course not, Aaron," she said harshly. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"
Not knowing why she'd think so, his face must have shown his confusion, because she gestured at his chest and it was then that he realized he'd answered the door shirtless. "It's never a bad time when it comes to my son," he answered, ignoring his current lack of attire.
She gave him a snide look. "Sure it isn't." Hating her, he knew not responding was best. The sooner she got out what she had to say, the sooner she'd leave. "You need to take Jack for the week."
"Ok…"
"My mom's sick. Jessica and I are going to her," Hailey let him know in a clipped tone. She let out a sigh. "I think it's bad."
"I'm sorry to hear that," he said genuinely, frowning. Mrs. Brooks was a nice woman, much like her eldest daughter. Where Hailey got her horridness, he had no idea.
"Thank you… Anyways, I can't take—"
Their conversation was cut off by the sound of happy laughter and fast approaching footsteps. A second later, both Jack and JJ came streaking by.
"Here comes the tickle monster," JJ laughingly growled as she chased after a delighted Jack.
She stopped short when she saw them still at the door. "Oh," she breathed out. Thankfully, she'd managed to re-dress. Hailey could probably figure out what was going on here based on her previously unscrupulously obtained info. But, he didn't want to give her further ammunition for her undue dislike of JJ.
JJ came closer, giving his ex-wife a smile that only looked strained around the eyes. "Hi," she greeted. "How are you, Hailey?"
Hailey didn't return the smile, but answered at least. "I'm well."
JJ eyed him unsurely, a silent question in her eyes. She had no idea about Hailey knowing about them and Hailey's harshness was a little out of the blue for her. "Well, I'll get back to dinner, I'm guessing Jack's staying?"
He nodded his head and with that she quickly left the room.
"You know what," Hailey spoke up quickly. "Maybe I will take Jack with me."
"What?"
"I don't want him here with you when you're with that… that…"
"Careful, Hailey," Hotch cut her off sternly. "JJ hasn't done anything to you. And besides, Jack likes JJ. He'll have to get used to seeing her with me. JJ's in my life now, permanently."
Hailey didn't respond to that, letting her lips form a thin, hateful line. A moment later, she said, "Well, then…"
"If that's all," Hotch said in annoyance.
Hailey turned around to go and Hotch thought he was free from her at last. That is until she stopped and turned back around. "Uh… does JJ know what she's getting into with you?"
Hotch frowned. What business was it of hers? "She cares about me. And I care about her," he said by way of answer.
"Still… she's a new mother… your job will be hard on her. It was for me."
"Well, don't worry, she understands," he shot back.
Hailey gave him her own frown. "Congratulate her for me, ok?"
He gave her a short nod and was more than relieved when she finally walked away. Nonetheless, he needed to take a deep, calming breath before he entered the living room.
There, he found JJ with Jack curled up into her side; the two were watching his favorite show. And the sight of them together made him feel better.
JJ looked up when she saw him approach. "Dinner is in the oven," she let him know.
Nodding, he sat down next to her without a word.
"Everything ok?" she wanted to know.
He gave her a smile. "Yeah, fine."
JJ gave him one more look before refocusing his attention back on the TV and Jack. He knew he should tell her about Hailey knowing. But, he'd given her everything; surely there was no need to tell JJ if Hailey wasn't going to do anything with her information.
At least he hoped so.
Well that's it. Next chapter will be the last for 2009 and will pick up during all the Foyet goodness. He's going to be throwing a wrench into things for sure.
Just wanted to say thanks to those who are reading and double thanks to those who are reviewing: ReadingRed; rubberducky96; CrimeFan23; Alicia (Glad to hear you're still reading. Thank you); Wren Calhoun; MarkandLexieFan; NothingIsPermanent; whimsical-one-ga; beaglelover719 (lol. JJ's starting to realize she's handled things badly too); InGreyEyes; and samcarter1980.
I'll try to update soon.
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