AN: I know I keep making you guys wait. Sorry. Last weekend was a wash for writing because I was too busy having a "real" life. Got to go visit my "little sister" in the city (here, that means Chicago). Then, instead of me taking the train home, my friend picked me up at her house and brought me home Saturday evening and I spent Saturday night and all day Sunday hanging out with him. Then I had one HELL of a week at work (the kind of week where the water main to the building busts and you spend a day using port-a-potties and having to leave work for lunch, which is only 30 minutes, because you didn't bring anything). Today, however, has been productive. Helped my mother get nearly 100 free books plus really nice calculators for her classroom then went shopping for all of the things I need for my new office at work. So now, I have the time to allow Sebby to write!
MN: What? Huh? Wait, she's letting me out of my cage? Score!
JJ smiled as she heard the front door open. Spencer was officially home, which meant Garcia wouldn't be returning that evening. She loved the other woman dearly, but, after a week of being fawned over, she was looking forward to the quieter mannerisms of her roommate.
"Jayje?"
"I'm in the kitchen." She heard his bags connect with the floor then footsteps through the house before he arrived in the room. "You hungry? I was making a sandwich."
He shook his head but stepped next to her at the counter. "Morgan and I stopped on the way home, but let me take care of that for you."
He reached for her plate but she scooted it away from him and shot him a mild glare as she reached for the peanut butter. "I'm fine, Spence. The doctor cleared me for sandwich making on Friday. I'm hoping when I go back today I'll get the okay to drive and to go back to work. My desk has to be buried three feet deep by now under open case files."
His ears and cheeks flushed and she sighed. "That's why you're just getting home even though you landed at dawn, isn't it? You and Morgan teamed up with Garcia behind my back and cleared my desk, didn't you?"
The color on his face deepened. "Well, it's not clear. But Garcia had sorted them out while we were gone so we each took a stack of the ones that only needed quick consults. Hotch, Rossi, and Blake all helped too."
She looped her eyes as she finished assembling her lunch. "You guys shouldn't have done that! I'll be back tomorrow."
His eyes were now locked on the toes of his shoes. "We didn't want you to come back to a mess. It was Rossi's idea. Be mad at him!"
She took her plate to the small kitchen table and eased into a chair. "I'm not mad, Spence. I'm just tired of feeling like a burden on everyone. It's bad enough everyone's had to help out with my day to day life and Henry for the last week and a half, but now you all did my job instead of just getting home after a week stuck at a hotel."
Spencer shrugged as he dropped into the chair next to her. "We wanted to do it. It goes back to that whole conversation we had about you always taking care of the rest of us. We care about you just as much as you care about us, so we want to do it."
As she swallowed a bite of her sandwich, JJ sighed in defeat. "Alright. I'll give you this one, okay?"
Her acquiescence caused his face to light up. "Good. So what time is your appointment?"
"Two thirty. Hopefully we can get in, get me cleared to drive, and get out so I can drop you off back here before I have to go to parent/teacher conferences at five. I don't want you to be bored waiting around for me to get done." She took another bite of her lunch.
"Okay. But if we can't, it's okay. I'll bring a book or two." He reached over and took a chip from her plate and stuck it in his mouth.
She smiled at his less than subtle snatching of part of her lunch. She had a feeling he would end up eating more of the chips than she would. "You sure two will be enough?"
He looped his eyes exaggeratedly. "Yes. Oh! Hotch wanted me to ask you if we wanted to meet up with everyone for dinner tonight at around six or six thirty. Jack kept asking about seeing Henry all week when they talked. Everyone else already said they were up for it."
"Sounds good to me. I'll give Garcia a call to work out the details because we both know she'll take care of rounding everyone else up." JJ grabbed her cellphone just as it began ringing.
Spencer grinned when he recognized the ringtone. "I didn't tell her I was stopping for lunch. She probably expected me to be home half an hour ago."
JJ rolled her eyes and slid the button to answer the call. "Hey Garcie!"
JJ sighed for what was probably the twentieth time in the last couple of hours. The doctor's office had been running behind, then there had been an issue with her first set of x-rays and they had needed to take a second set. To add to the situation, a 12 car pile-up had resulted in what should have been a thirty minute drive taking almost sixty. Now it was one minute past five and they were just pulling into the parking lot at Henry's school.
As soon as Spencer shifted into park she had her seatbelt undone. Unfortunately, moving around for the proper positioning for x-rays and then prodding by the doctor had inflamed her ribs enough to once again slow her down. By the time she managed to get the door open, he had the key out of the ignition and had rounded the front of the vehicle. She accepted his hand for help and slid out.
She rushed through the doors and into the school as quickly as she could, but Spencer remained a step ahead of her. When they got to the door to Henry's classroom, he opened it for her, but waited in the hall.
When she entered, Will and Henry were already sitting at a round table with Henry's teacher, Mr. Weldon. The three all looked to her as she crossed the room. "I am so sorry that I'm late. It's been one of those afternoons."
She took the seat between her son and his teacher as the man spoke. "Not a problem. That crash has been on the news for an hour. I'm surprised you managed to make it at all."
JJ relaxed a little, relieved at his understanding. "It helps when the driver has FBI training."
"I'm sure it does." He looked around. "Shall we begin?" He waited for the adults to nod in response before opening the folder that sat before him. "I have to tell you both that I really enjoy having Henry in my class. He's probably the most well behaved Pre-K student I've ever had, which is impressive for a full day program. His manners are impeccable and he is a great role model for the other kids."
JJ couldn't help the smile that spread on her face. "Well I'm glad he behaves the same way at school that he is expected to at home."
Mr. Weldon nodded. "You have nothing to worry about there. Now as for academics, he is well ahead of the curve. If his performance continues, I am going to recommend him for the district's magnet program and ask that he be placed in the advanced academics school. Sometimes I really feel like what we do here is beneath him. And his vocabulary is was above grade level. May I ask which one of you it is that spends so much time reading with him?"
"Uncle Spence reads with me all the time when he and Mommy are home." JJ hadn't even thought her son was paying attention as he colored a picture next to her.
The teacher looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Henry's godfather rents our basement apartment. They spend a lot of time together when we're not out of town."
"He's really good with Henry. And when your godfather has a genius IQ, some of it rubs off." JJ was surprised at Will's praise of the man he kept making rather personal attacks against in private.
"Well whatever he's doing, tell him to keep it up. Now, if it's alright with you, I'd like to start sending Henry over to the Kindergarten room next door for reading and writing lessons every day. He's more than ready for it and it will give him a head start for next year." The teacher again waited for affirmation from the parents before him before again moving on. "I'll get everything set up then send a form home for you both to sign. I already asked, and, if you are out of state, Ms. Jareau, we can fax it to you and accept a faxed copy with your signature until you return. Now, Henry, should we show your mom and dad around?"
AN: A little shorter than they've been but a good place to stop for tonight.
