Author's Note: Special thanks to DebbieOz, Kimd33, Jjmyst, Lalina92, Flames101, Christiangirl, mummacass, Casie01, basketcase1880, tannerose5, jenny crum, IniTiniNini, CrazyPainter, Snowbeardolphin, IwouldrockJoshuaJacksonsWorld, Guest, TVHollywoodDiva, angry penguin, BAUMember, pandorabox82, and SuzySorrowLess for the reviews! A thousand apologies for the delay in getting this chapter done.
Chapter Twelve
"JJ, I'd like to see you in Rossi's office. Now," Hotch ordered, walking tersely through the bullpen.
JJ glanced up and nodded. She closed the folder in her hand and rose to follow him. She did not miss the looks from the other team members. Even Garcia stuck her head out of her door at the sound of Hotch's voice. JJ kept her head low as she followed Hotch to Rossi's office, not wanting to see the curiosity and pity in the eyes of the others.
"Please have a seat," Hotch ordered. His voice softened, but he wanted to make it clear that he was in charge of this meeting. He waited until JJ sat and Rossi had his attention solely on Hotch to speak again. "First of all, I believe that you, Dave, owe JJ an apology."
"Oh, no," JJ protested meekly. She looked towards both Hotch and Rossi, but didn't connect with either of their eyes.
Hotch cleared his throat. "He does." He looked steadily at Rossi. "What goes on in my family is my business and should never be discussed, especially not here. JJ is Jack's mother and Henry is his brother; that puts them both in my family. Do I make myself clear?"
Rossi dipped his head, briefly. "Yes. I'm sorry I interfered. I had no right." He turned to JJ. "I'm sorry, JJ. It was not my place to say anything to you. I know you're suffering, too." She gave him a quick nod of acknowledgment, but said nothing.
"There is one other matter that I need to discuss with you. As of nine am this morning, JJ, you are to report directly to Rossi. I know, given the... tension here that it's not the most ideal solution, but it was the only one that they were willing to listen to. I don't think there is any reason to alert the rest of the team to the change, do you?"
"No," both Rossi and JJ replied, each taking care to stare directly at Hotch and nowhere else.
Hotch breathed in. "Also, JJ, you've been officially grounded from the field pending further evaluations."
Raising his eyebrows, Rossi asked, "And you?"
"Unofficially, I'll be spending most of my time here until Jack's child care is worked out. After that, I'll be out in the field again." Hotch fiddled with a pen on his desk. "Any questions?"
"No," JJ told him while Rossi shook his head. "I have a few calls to return. Are we done?"
Hotch nodded. "That's all I had."
Rossi waited for the door to close before speaking again. "So, what did you really tell them about you and JJ?"
His eyes following JJ through the window, Hotch replied, "I told them that we had recently discovered a family connection that we had not known about previously and that, should it come out, would be potentially embarrassing for the bureau."
"You went to bat for her," Rossi concluded after studying Hotch for a few moments. "You convinced them to let her remain on the team."
"She's a single mom, Dave. I can't- I won't let her lose her job," Hotch told him.
Rossi raised an eyebrow. "You went to bat for her." He made a face when Hotch didn't respond. "Be careful, Aaron."
Hotch looked at him sharply, his voice hard. "What does that mean?"
"It means that one of the biggest regrets of your life is that you haven't been able to give Jack the perfect family with both a mom and a dad. I would hate to see you try to force something now with JJ just because you found out that she's Jack's biological mother," Rossi explained, "especially when you add in the fact that you've always had a soft of... chemistry with her."
"You have nothing to worry about," Hotch said, firmly, after a beat.
Rossi studied him, but Hotch revealed nothing about what he was thinking. "Okay. I'll see you later, Hotch."
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"Hey, Miss JJ!" Jack exclaimed, hugging the blond as she stepped into Hotch's house.
"Well, this is a great welcome," JJ told him, giving him an extra squeeze. "Have you had a good week?"
Jack shrugged. "It was okay, I guess. I got an A on my Spelling test, but I can't find my lucky socks."
Tapping her chin with her finger, JJ thought it over. She snapped her fingers. "Have you checked under the couch?"
"The couch?"
"Yep." Her voice was serious with a hint of amusement. "Why don't you take a look?"
Jack shot her a disbelieving look, but stuck his hand under the couch. His expression changed to triumph when he stood with a pair of red and black striped socks. "Found them!"
Hotch entered the living room at the same time that JJ was giving Jack a high five. "Found what?"
"My lucky socks!" Jack shouted. He danced from one leg to the other, excitedly. "JJ told me to look under the couch for them and they were there! Isn't that cool?"
"The coolest," Hotch deadpanned, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "Why don't you go put those in the laundry room so that we don't lose them again?" Jack ran off enthusiastically, leaving the two adults alone in the living room. Hotch turned back to JJ. "Looks like you have the magic touch."
She blushed profusely. She waved him off. "Henry's always losing things and half the time, I swear, they end up under the couch. I got lucky is all."
Nodding, Hotch sat on the couch, gesturing for her to pick a seat. "My inability to find anything that Jack has lost has become a running joke around here." JJ smiled briefly. "So, I thought we'd keep it easy tonight; pizza and a movie."
"Sounds good," JJ agreed.
"Hey, Dad?" Jack asked as he walked back into the room. He sat down on the couch in between the two adults. "Are you sure that you and Miss JJ aren't dating? You know that you can tell me. I'm nine."
Cheeks blazing red, Hotch glanced at JJ, hoping she would respond, but she was doing her best to look anywhere but at the two Hotchner boys. "We're not dating; I promise."
JJ touched Jack's arm. "Your dad is just nice enough to let me hang out with you guys when I don't have Henry so that I'm not alone all the time."
"Okay," Jack said, but his face was scrunched up as though he was trying to solve a mystery. "I like it when we all hang out together."
"I like it, too," JJ agreed. Hotch was quick to concur.
Jack scratched the top of his head. "But do you think we could hang out with Henry sometime, too? As much fun as it is to be with grown-ups, it's kinda nice to be with another kid, too."
JJ glanced at Hotch who nodded his consent. "I think we can arrange that sometime."
"Good." Jack snuggled into JJ's side. "Can we watch the movie now?"
"Sure," Hotch told him. He took in the sight of Jack and JJ and felt a small tug on his heart, which caused a small hole to form in his stomach. Rossi's warnings from earlier in the week rolled around in his head. For one brief moment, he imagined this as his life.
"Dad? Dad!" Jack called out.
Hotch shook his head to clear his thoughts, causing the other two to giggle. "Sorry. What?"
Still laughing, Jack replied, "We want you to start the movie. You're the one with the remote."
"Oh, right." Hotch scrambled to put on the movie. He forced himself to concentrate on the action in front of him. Any other thoughts were best saved for another day, preferably when he was alone.
