hey guys, so I'm very very sorry for being such a crappy updater. I've been so busy and there's really no excuse. But I thought I'd treat you all to an extra long chapter and I even included hotchs POV because why the hell not. Anyway I hope you enjoy, please read and review!
I woke up to the sun coming through my blinds. Groaning I rolled over to check the time. 9:00 o'clock, great I'd overslept. I was suppose to be meeting up with Sophie and Grace at the mall at ten so I could get Henry his birthday present. It was weird to think he was turning nineteen in two days. I felt like my baby was growing up. Talking of baby's it had been two weeks since Morgan and Hotch found out. In that time we'd also told Garcia and Rossi, as well as all of our friends. Ellie had even offered to fly out in august so she could help out a bit, which was a scary yet exciting thought.
Realising I really needed to get out of bed, I yanked off the covers earning a groan from the sleeping lump which happened to be Henry.
"Stel, it's a weekend! Why are you up so early?" He groaned, pulling the covers back on.
"It's nine o'clock! I hardly call that early. Anyway, I thought you were meeting up with Jake, Adam and harry?" I asked laughing.
"Yeah well, they can wait." Henry yawned going back to sleep. I rolled my eyes at him and made my way over to Henry's wardrobe, which was now mine too. Half of my clothes were at Henry's and half were at mine. We looked at the apartment Morgan had done up and it was perfect. If things went as planned, we were scheduled to move in next month.
I pulled out a loose white top, a pair of black jeans, my black converse and a jacket. Even though it was only small, my baby bump was beginning to show. I know I should be proud of it, but truthfully I'm not. I'm happy to show it in front of the team but just not in public. People are judgemental and I know that if I went out with a huge bump, I'd just get classed as a cheap slut.
I shook off my thoughts and quickly got dressed. After tying my hair back into a ponytail and brushing my teeth, I was ready to go.
"Right, I don't know when I'll be back but I'll ring you. Please don't make the boys wait to long." I said to Henry as I picked up my purse, phone and keys.
"Wait, where are you going?" Henry asked sleepily.
"To the mall with grace and Sophie, we've been through this. Now, I've got to go otherwise I'm going to be late. I love you." I laughed, turning towards the door.
"Wait!" Henry said pouting.
"What?" I asked amused.
"Aren't you going to give me a kiss good morning, or a kiss goodbye?" He asked childishly. I rolled my eyes and kissed him softly.
"Better?" I asked.
"Better." He smiled.
"Right now get out of bed. I really have to go." I said walking to the door.
"I'll call you!" Henry murmured. I walked downstairs and went to the kitchen to say goodbye to Will and JJ.
"I'm just going out to the mall, do you guys need anything?" I asked.
"No, I think we're fine hon. Are you getting Henry's birthday present?" JJ asked.
"Yeah, it took me forever to think of something but I think he'll like it. What did you get him?" I asked.
"Well at first we had no idea, you know how difficult he can be, but in the end we opted to get him something we thought you both would like." Will said slyly.
"And what might that be?" I asked intrigued.
"Let's just say it will help out a great deal in your apartment." JJ responded equally slyly.
"You're mean!" I pouted, "Anyway, I've got to go, but I should be back later."
"I'll see you later Stel, have a nice day." JJ smiled.
"Yeah bye Stel." Will called out. After saying goodbye, I left the house and got into my car. I turned the stereo up full blast and happily sang the whole way to the mall.
After parking my car, I walked to the coffee shop I said I'd meet the girls in for breakfast. When I got there I was greeted by the smiling faces of grace and Sophie.
"Stella!" They called out.
"Hey guys, how are you?" I asked smiling.
"Good, good. It's nice to have a girly catch up, the boys are so dull." Sophie laughed.
"Henry was still in bed when I left, I'll be surprised if he even meets them today." I giggled. We quickly ordered coffees and breakfast, before getting back to our conversation.
"Talking about you and Henry, how are you?" Grace asked smirking.
"We're good, everything's calmed down now so it's nice." I replied.
"How is the little olive?" Sophie asked, the nickname seemed to of stuck.
"It's great. It's stopped giving me such bad morning sickness and I'm beginning to show a little."
"I still can't believe you and Henry are expecting a kid. What happened to my innocent little Stella?" Grace joked, causing me to blush.
"I'm shocked that Henry even had it in him." Sophie blurted out causing me to turn an even deeper shade of red.
"Can we please stop talking about this." I begged.
"It is fun to see you squirm." Grace laughed evilly.
"Well it's not fun for me." I pouted,
"Trust me you're getting it easy from us, Henry got practically tortured by the boys." Sophie smirked.
"Oh that explains things." I said to myself.
"What does it explain?" Sophie asked grinning like a mad man.
"Nothing forget I said anything." I said, yet again embarrassed.
"Come on Stella, we're dying to know. What's he like?" Grace pushed.
"I'm not discussing that with you?" I said, I was pretty sure I turned the colour of a beetroot by now.
"We won't stop bugging you, and we'll even do this." Sophie said, picking up my coffee and hiding it from me.
"Hey, that's not fair!" I cried.
"Either you spill, or the coffee spills." Grace laughed.
"Fine! If you must know he's great, in fact he's more than great he's fucking amazing." I nearly shouted. Grace and Sophie burst out laughing before giving me my coffee back.
"I hate you both." I said glaring at them.
Four hours later found me lying on Henry's couch absolutely shattered. I'd gotten Henry's birthday present which consisted of a new and very expensive watch that he really wanted and a photo album I thought I'd fill with pictures of us. Grace and Sophie had also bought him a present as well as lots of other items for themselves. JJ and Will were out, as well as Henry so that just left me watching telly.
However, I wasn't left alone for long as the door clicked open and I heard footsteps and hushed voices.
"If you dare touch her, I will personally shoot you." Came Henry's voice. I couldn't help but be intrigued at what he was talking about.
"It was a joke Blondie, a joke. God, you always over-react sometimes." The person who I now identified as jack, dramatically sighed.
"Over-react! Overreact! You're telling me that I'm overreacting when you're the one going on about what it's like to be with Stella." Henry protested loudly. I couldn't help but snort at the fact of jack and me together, in fact the thought made me feel a little bit sick. The footsteps got louder and the living room door opened.
"I'm not saying that I'd ever get with her, I'm just wondering why she picked you of all people." Jack laughed, I rolled my eyes at his comment.
"For your information, Henry pleases me in more ways than you ever would." I said firmly, both the boys jumped at the sudden realisation that I was actually in the room.
"Oh hey Stella, uh Henry didn't mention you'd be home." Jack said, glaring at Henry.
"Hey, it's not my fault, I didn't realise she was back." Henry said defensively. He lifted my legs up off the couch, before sitting down and resting them back on top of him.
"Yeah well I told you to ring her." Jack moaned. He sat down in one of the armchairs and smiled nervously at me.
"About that." Jack started off nervously.
"Let's pretend I didn't hear any of your conversation. Just the thought of us two together makes me feel physically sick." I cut him off.
"It's forgotten." Jack said quickly.
"Anyway how was your day Stel?" Henry asked whilst massaging my sore feet.
"It was interesting, although I did get everything I wanted." I said, blushing ever so slightly at the uncomfortable conversations Sophie and Grace had put me through.
"How was your day, I thought you were with Adam, Harry and jake?" I asked a little confused.
"I was with them for half of the day. We went to see a movie and even ate out for lunch, but we all needed to get back. Hotchner here called me asking if he could come over because Bella was having her girlfriends round." Henry explained.
"And what's wrong with Bella's girlfriends?" I asked amused.
"Excuse me, but have you ever met Claire. She hates my guts. Every little thing I do, she picks up on and criticises. Also she's convinced that I'm cheating on Bella, which is mad because I love her and would never do that." Jack said laughing a little, I laughed with him because anyone who thought that he'd cheat on Bella was mad.
"What are you watching?" Henry asked, looking very confused at the telly.
"I don't know actually." I laughed.
"Mind if I switch over?" Henry asked.
"Go ahead." He flicked through the channels when something caught my eye.
"Stop!" I screamed jumping up. Unfortunately for Henry he happened to be situated under my legs when I jumped. Therefore, I happened to kick him right in the balls.
"Ughh Stella." He groaned, his face in the pillow.
"I'm sorry but Lilo&Stitch is on." I said innocently. Jack was laughing so hard tears were streaming down his face.
"I don't think I can have kids." Henry groaned.
"Well luckily for you, you already have one." Jack laughed.
"Jack do me a favour and shut-up." Henry moaned, chucking a pillow at his head.
"I swear if the pair of you don't shut-up soon, I will kill you. You're missing the best bit." I stated firmly. Both Jack and Henry quickly shut up and we all sat and watched the film.
Whether it was due to the childhood nostalgia Disney films brought, or it was just that I had a long day and was pregnant, I found myself falling asleep on the sofa. Henry yawned to and quickly snuggled up next to me. I was having a nice dream about the future, Henry and I were sitting in the park with our little olive playing between our feet. Everything was perfect, the sun was shining and I just felt happy. Well, that was until I heard a horrible scream. Someone pleading and begging to 'stop it'. Their voice was full of pain and fear and my eyes instantly snapped open. I woke up to a shaking jack and a panicked Henry. Jack was still muttering a little, but Henry was talking to him calmly. I just sat there helplessly completely confused about what was going on.
"I told you to tell your dad." Henry said gently and quietly, it was as if he was talking to a child.
"The-they were getting better." Jack mumbled deathly pale.
"I still think you should tell him, do you want me to call Bella?" Henry asked. Jack contemplated Henry's question for a minute before nodding his head slightly. Henry got up and quickly left the room to call Bella, whilst I awkwardly sat on the sofa. I decided to give Jack some time to sort out his thoughts and if he wanted to talk to me he could.
"Foyet." Jack mumbled.
"Sorry?" I asked confused, the name rang a bell but I couldn't place where I'd heard it before.
"Foyet, George Foyet, he was the man who murdered my mum." Jack said shakily. Shit, of course it rang a bell. How could I forget the name of Haley's murderer.
"I was only young when he killed her, but I remember it all. I remember the panic on my mums face, I remember the desperation in my dad's voice when he told me to work the case, I even remember the gunshot. When I got to like, fifteen I kept getting really bad nightmares about that day. I saw a pschyciartrist and all, it helped and I was left with the occasional nightmare. But recently they've come back and they've gotten a lot worse." Jack explained, his voice was surprisingly detached and emotionless. I was speechless, there was no point in me saying that I was sorry and that everything was going to be okay, because I didn't know how he was feeling and I never will. Luckily for me, I didn't have to say anything because Henry came back in the room.
"She said she'll be over in five minutes. Do you want me to get you a drink or something?" Henry asked. Jack just nodded, his eyes were vacant and his knuckles were clenched white.
"I'll get it." I offered standing up. Henry was obviously not a stranger in these situations, so I thought I'd give him some space so he could deal with it.
I walked into the kitchen and poured a large glass of water. This was basically my second home now seeing as I spent most of my time here. I thought I'd give jack and Henry a little bit longer so I checked my phone. Two missed calls, both from JJ which was odd. I pressed the dial button and called her back.
"Stella! At last one of you have picked up your phones!" JJ said happily.
"Sorry, we kind of fell asleep on the sofa, that shopping trip really took it out of me." I replied apologetically.
"It's fine, I was just calling to say that the team are coming over for a BBQ. I know it's hardly BBQ weather but Will's insistent on having one." JJ laughed.
"That sounds great! What time will you be over?" I asked with in an extra sweet voice, I was secretly panicking about the fact that we had a shaken up jack in the living room.
"Well we'll be round in about ten minutes and the team should be there in twenty." JJ responded. Shit, that really gave us no time at all.
"Well I should probably clean things up a little, I'll see you in a bit." I said.
"Yeah, I'll see you soon Stel, tell Henry for me." She said.
"Yeah sure." I said before we both hung up. Just as I was putting the phone back, the doorbell rang. I went to answer it already knowing who it was.
"Stella." Bella said, her face was full of worry.
"Hey Bel, he's in the living room." I said leading the way.
"Hey look Jack, Stella's here with your water." Henry said softly to a unresponsive jack.
"I may of forgotten the water, but Bella's here which is even better." I said, internally cursing myself. For a moment Jacks eyes flashed up to Bella. She went over to him and pulled him into a hug.
"I'm guessing it was a bad one?" She asked gently. Jack nodded, his whole body shook and a small whimper escaped from him. Henry and I took this as our cue to leave so they could have some privacy. We walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
"That's the worse I've ever seen him and trust me I've seen him in quite a state." Henry sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"I can't believe that he's had to go through all this." I said sighing too.
"Well he's got Bella, she is really good at calming him down." Henry said trying to lighten the mood.
"Well she better be because that was your mum on the phone. She said the team are coming round for a BBQ in ten to twenty minutes." I sighed.
"If they're still not out in five minutes, we'll tell them what's going on and they can take it to our room. I know they deserve some privacy but a part of me thinks that it might be good if his dad finds out." Henry said shaking his head.
"Just how long have they been going on for?" I asked, it seemed to me this was more serious than they were both letting on.
"I got the first call about a month ago, he called me at like one in the morning in a right state and I ended up coming over because Bella was out of town. Since then, it's happened at least twice a week. Bella calms him down, but he usually rings me the next day still a little shaken." Henry responded. I was shocked to say the least.
"Where was I when this was going on?" I asked.
"Well you're a deep sleeper." Henry laughed halfheartedly. "And anyway jack made me swear not to tell anyone."
"Fair enough, but after what just happened I think he should definitely tell Hotch." I replied.
"Five minutes is up, I think we should go and tell them." Henry said standing up. I nodded and followed him out of the door. Henry knocked on the closed living room door which was soon opened by Bella.
"Mum just rang, she's going to be back soon. The team are also coming over soon for a BBQ, so we were wondering if it would be better if you took this to our room." Henry said. Bella nodded, she looked more worried than I'd ever seen her.
"Jack honey, I think we should take this upstairs." She said gently. Jacks face broke my heart. His sleeves of his jumper were tucked round his hands and he was wiping them against his red, blotchy face. As soon as a puffy eyed Jack and a worried looking Bella disappeared upstairs, Will and JJ walked in carrying bags full of food.
"A little help guys." Will said. We snapped out of our trance and helped them carry the bags into the kitchen.
"Are you guys okay?" JJ asked, sorting out the food. Will was already outside sorting out the BBQ.
"Fine." Henry answered.
"Are you sure, you're all pale and quiet. Is the baby okay?" JJ asked worried.
"Yeah it's fine!" I assured her. "Sorry, I guess we're just a little groggy, we did just wake up from a nice nap."
"Well as long as you're sure your okay." JJ smiled.
Hotch's POV
As we pulled up to the LaMontagues house, I glanced over at Beth and Lola. So much had changed in the last ten years and I was glad that everyone was happy, it's what Haley would have wanted.
"Dad! We're early! I told you we could of left later." Lola groaned. She was a teenager, a very moody one to say the least. But luckily I knew her moods now, so I knew how to approach her. Right now she needed to be treated with caution and care.
"You can never be too early for anything." I replied. "Besides Will and JJ will probably need some help to set up."
Lola just rolled her eyes at me, I looked over at Beth with pleading eyes, she just shrugged telling me that I was on my own.
"Lola we're walking into that house smiling and looking happy, do you hear me? I can easily take your phone away." I said in a voice I often used at work. My people would cower in fear when I used that voice but Lola just shrugged her shoulders and got out of the car. Typical.
We walked up to the house and knocked on the door. After a few minutes Henry and Stella answered the door. When I found out about the pregnancy I felt a lot things. I was shocked that they could be so irresponsible, but a part of me saw it coming, I mean it was bound to happen in the future the two were made for each other.
"Hey guys, come through. Dads outside and mums in the kitchen." Henry said giving me a look I couldn't quite identify.
"I'll help your mum in the kitchen." Beth offered already making her way down the hall.
"Hotch can I talk to you a sec?" Henry asked, indicating to the living room.
"Hey Lola, I haven't seen you in a while, what say we catch up in the kitchen?" Stella asked, whilst Lola nodded. I could tell that there was clearly something important they both wanted to tell me.
"What's this about?" I asked as Henry shut the living room door. Henry started tapping his hands against his leg, a trait he only did when he was very nervous about something.
"Jacks here." Henry blurted out.
"Oh where is he?" I asked, I knew there was more to it.
"He's upstairs in mine and Stella's room." Henry replied slowly.
"And what's he doing in there?' I continued to question.
"He's going to kill me for telling you this, but you have a right to know." Henry sighed, the tapping increased as well as my worry.
"Henry just tell me what's wrong? What's going on with Jack?" I asked sternly, putting on my voice I used at work. Henry gulped before replying.
"You know he had those nightmares, w-when he was fifteen." Henry started off, I nodded not liking where this was going.
"Well about a month ago they came back. I've been trying to get him to tell you but he was to embarrassed. Earlier we all kind of just fell asleep in here and he woke up an absolute state. I've never seen one so bad. I called Bella and she's up there with him now." Henry finished off. I sighed, I thought Foyet was finally out of our lives, but I guess you can never truly kill the devil.
"I go talk to him, thank you though Henry, for telling me." I said.
"It's fine Hotch, I'm just worried about him." Henry admitted. I nodded and left the room. I made my way upstairs to the door which I believed was Stella and Henry's room. Why couldn't of this just have been the relaxed BBQ it was suppose to be? After knocking, I heard muffled voices, before the door was opened by Bella. Her face dropped when she saw me, I guess I just had that effect on some people.
"Oh um hey." Bella stammered.
"May I come in?" I asked. Bella bit her lip and nodded. I walked into the well-sized room to find my son sitting on the edge of the bed crying his eyes out.
"Jack." I said gently, his head shot up and he just cried harder. I'd honestly never seen him like this in my whole life.
"Jack, you got to tell me whats wrong Buddy so I can help." I said, using the nickname from when he was a kid.
"I-I'm sorry, I-I'm s-sorry I let her die. I, I just ran away and hid. I left her." He sobbed.
"Jack look at me! You were just a kid there's nothing you could of done. Please, don't let him get to you. Your mum wouldn't want that and I certainly don't want that." I begged. Jack sniffled and tried to wipe his eyes
"I'm sorry! I'm acting like an idiot! It's just that dream had made me realise that I should of tried harder to help her." He sniffled, finally calming down. I've always been so proud of Jack, he's often been the one kept me going. His whole life he's just been this laid-back, bubbly person, so to see years of doubt and hurt explode out off him, hurt me more than any kind of gun could.
"You're not being an idiot Jack, I'm so proud of you." I told him bluntly, he needed to hear it.
"Thanks dad." Jack said wiping his eyes.
"You're going to wipe your face then go downstairs. You going to smile and be your happy self and tomorrow I think we should arrange an appointment with doctor Rogers ." I stated. Jack nodded his head and put on a determined look.
"Thanks dad." He sniffled. I nodded to him and left the room knowing that he was in safe hands with Bella. I had the sudden craving for a nice cold beer.
Stella's POV.
As soon as I walked into the kitchen with Lola, I started to help lay out the food.
"Where's your dad gone?" Beth asked Lola.
"Henry said he wanted to talk to him." Lola shrugged.
"What about?" JJ asked me, knowing that I knew.
"Well jack and Bella are here, they came round just before you. But I think they were in an argument over something so they went upstairs to sort it out. Henry thought he'd just tell Hotch that they were here." I lied smoothly.
"They'll sort it out, I swear they argue over the most pointless things. Jack was telling me the over day how Bella was being unreasonable just because she asked him to help more. Honestly he's such a boy." Lola said rolling her eyes, causing us all to laugh. Just then Henry came into the room looking a little nervous.
"Henry you look like you've seen a ghost, what's up with you today?" JJ asked confused.
"Nothing mum, I was just worrying about letting Dad in charge of the BBQ." Henry joked.
"Well maybe you should go and help him." JJ laughed. Just then the doorbell went off.
"If much rather answer the door." Henry said before running off. After a loud commotion in the hallway, Morgan, Garcia and her family, Emily and dad all came through.
"Hey guys! Henry get them drinks. Wills outside on the BBQ and I'm just about to put out these snacks. I'd thought it be best if we were all outside." JJ announced. Henry got everyone drinks and we all sort of migrated outside into the huge garden.
"Hey dad." I said hugging him, I hadn't seen him for two days.
"Hey Stel, how are things?" He asked.
"Good, I went to the mall today and caught up with the girls which was nice. What about you, what have you been up to?" I asked.
"Not a lot, it's nice to have some peace and quiet." He smirked.
"Well sorry to burst your bubble but we're coming back tonight."
"Ohh, just when I was getting used to it." Dad fake pouted, I shoved him in the stomach.
"God you're so violent, remind me to blame Morgan for that again." He laughed.
"Hey my mini-Reid." Morgan said coming over, as well as Emily and Henry,
"Hey Morgan, hey em." I smiled.
"Oi Henry, do you remember when you jumped in the pond?" I asked laughing at the sudden memory.
"What! Why did you do that Blondie?" Derek asked laughing.
"As a matter of fact we were playing dares." Henry replied, his cheeks a little red.
"So you jumped into the pond." Emily laughed.
"Oi Stella remember when you climbed the roof and fell through it?" Henry asked. Great, dad had literally just forgiven me for that.
"Oh god, that was the time you stupidly climbed it." Dad groaned.
"We were playing dares." I said pathetically.
"Why is it your game of dares results in you nearly getting killed?" Emily asked laughing.
"I don't know blame Henry." I said quickly.
"Why me, I was the one who told you not to do it." Henry argued defensively.
"Yeah well, I don't know you're just easy to blame." I laughed.
"Thanks Stel." Henry huffed dramatically.
"Wow Blondie you're such a girl." Came a familiar voice.
"Hey Jack, hey Bella, I didn't know you were here." Morgan smiled.
"Oh yeah, we've been here for a while." Jack said smoothly. His eyes were slightly red but it just looked like he was tired or something.
"Well how are you two? I haven't seen you in ages." Emily asked.
"We're good, same old, same old really." Jack shrugged off.
"How's the job going?" Dad asked, of course he'd ask an adult question like that.
"It's good, I'm working five days a week now and I love it. The hours aren't so great but we make it work." Jack smiled whilst looking at Bella. Understandably jack didn't venture into law enforcement and believe it or not he was a chef at a really fancy restaurant.
"What about you Bella, how's your job going?" Dad asked.
"It's tiring and I know it's bad but sometimes I'm so tempted to throttle those kids." She laughed. Bella worked at a daycare centre.
"Guys it's ready!" Will called out. Everyone moved towards the food and soon we were all sitting around the table, happily eating and talking.
The rest of the evening consisted of lots of sweet flowing conversation, many hysterical laughs and jokes, and just a nice time together as a family. So five hours later found me exhausted and lying in my own bed next to Henry.
"Tonight was good." He said sleepily.
"I know, jack seemed happier as well." I commented.
"Yeah, it's good his dad finally knows. Maybe now he will finally start being less broken." Henry said gently. I turned on my side to face him.
"You're pretty clever sometimes." I smirked.
"Well I'm not just a pretty face." He joked back. I rolled my eyes and turned away, my eyes were beginning to droop.
"You forgot my goodnight kiss." Henry pouted.
"Too tired." I groaned.
"Stella."
"Stella."
"Stel."
"Stels."
"Stella."
"What Henry!" I shouted, turning around and glaring at him. He quickly shut me up by kissing me.
"That is all. Goodnight love you." He smiled, turning away. I huffed and also joined him in a peaceful sleep.