A/N: This chapter should have been up sooner since I hate to leave a cliffhanger unless I can update the next day. But New Year's Eve and wine happened. I also got way too hung up on researching certain things (including, but not limited to, the "are hot baths safe during pregnancy?" debate - for the purposes of this chapter the water is hot but not scalding or uncomfortable! :P) The chapter is longer, and hopefully better, than it would have been if I'd got to finish it off when I planned though so I hope that makes up for the slight delay.
Anyway, thanks for the reviews, follows, favourites and for reading. And I hope you enjoy the chapter :)
/
/
Her alarmed expression faded into one of resilience and she finally broke away from his gaze.
"Just Braxton Hicks," she told him, with a wavering smile, as she started to get to her feet.
He steadied her with one arm and helped her lift herself with the other, his eyes never leaving her face as he did so. He was watching for any further sign of pain but knew she wasn't going to let it show. From her short outburst of honesty, she had transformed back to the woman who would sit on the back step of an ambulance with a black eye and bleeding lip and insist she was fine. And the woman who would conceal her pregnancy rather than share her fears with those who considered themselves her family.
"JJ, we should get you to the hospital," he frowned as she took shaky steps towards the car.
Her teeth were pressed hard into her lip as she shook her head defiantly.
"I just need to get home and relax," she insisted. Her doctor had warned her that stress could lead to physical symptoms. That was all she was experiencing. Pain caused by her tense muscles and two weeks from hell. Or her body was just practising for the real thing - she'd had Braxton Hicks contractions before and they always settled down. Either way it was nothing to worry about. At most it was a sign for her to take it easy. And the best way to do that was to go home, take a bath and then lie down.
"You might be having contractions," Spencer continued. He didn't need a medical degree to know that the emotional turmoil of the past fortnight was more than enough to bring about preterm labour. "It won't take long to get you checked over at the hospital. I can call Garcia and let her know what's happening and..."
She shook her head again, brushing off the arm which was still supporting her, as though proving that she could make the last few steps to the car unaided would also prove that she wasn't in danger of giving birth any time soon.
Neither of them spoke as she settled herself in the front passenger seat and Reid moved round to the driver's side. He was trying to approach the situation carefully. Pushing her away by being too forceful wasn't going to do any good. She was scared - she'd admitted that much just moments before.
"Where do you want to go?" he asked, giving her a chance to change her own mind.
"Home," she responded, staring straight ahead towards the horizon and cautiously resting her clasped hands on top of her bump. "Please."
He sighed as he contemplated what to do. Her seatbelt was already fastened. If he started to drive towards the hospital then she wouldn't be able to do anything about it. But he couldn't do that to JJ. Maybe some of the others would have done so, but he wouldn't. Whenever she'd been there for him in the past, she'd never forced him into anything. Whether he needed space or time or quiet, she'd given it to him and allowed him to come to her on his own terms.
In all probability, even if she was in labour, they had time for her to go home and calm down. He'd read enough books during her first pregnancy, and this one, to know that the doctors would be unlikely to do anything to stop her labour at this stage of pregnancy. She was just over thirty-five weeks; it was still early but not critically so. They didn't have to rush to the hospital. Not yet at least. And he could always phone her doctor when they returned to the house.
He put the car into drive and continued on the road they'd been travelling before they had to stop.
JJ didn't say anything and didn't show any reaction to his decision. But she had never loved or appreciated Spencer Reid more.
/
/
The hot water felt amazing against her skin as she sunk into the tub and closed her eyes. This was what she needed. Not a hospital, with doctors and nurses and family rushing all around. All she needed was the quiet and the stillness of her temporary sanctuary.
She'd made her way upstairs as soon as they returned, locking herself in the bathroom and turning on the taps before Spencer had a chance to fill Penelope in on what had happened. Then, as though she had all the time in the world, she'd lined candles all around the tub,gradually replacing the bright overhead spotlights with the soft glow of the many small flames.
Throughout the drive and in the few minutes before she retreated behind the safety of a locked door, she'd been waiting fearfully for further pain. There had been a few more twinges - nothing like at the side of the road, but enough to cause her stomach to flip as her mind was forced to the worst case scenario. For the past half hour, however, she'd felt nothing out of the ordinary. That hadn't stopped her maintaining a rigid posture, fearful that any movement would result in a contraction, but as she felt the water lap around the sides of her swollen abdomen, she allowed herself to take a deep breath and relax her muscles.
The steam drifted from the flat surface of the water and spiralled in the light of the candles. As she watched the flames dance away from the moisture she massaged the area where she could feel the baby's gentle movements. It seemed that they'd reached an agreement. No contractions and no painful kicks, just as long as she lay perfectly still in the dimly lit warmth.
This was how the last few weeks of her pregnancy should have been spent. She should have taken long baths and short walks, while Will struggled to assemble the crib that was still in its cardboard box in the unfinished nursery. But as it was, none of that would happen. In fact, it was probably a good thing that the nursery was unfinished - it meant that it could remain a guest bedroom when one of her friends stayed overnight to ensure she was still functioning and that her son wasn't being inadvertently neglected.
She sighed. It wasn't fair to think of Garcia and the others in that way. They were doing so much more than simply making sure she and Henry ate and slept. They were making every effort to raise her spirits. For instance, Penelope had invited Blake round for a girls' night a couple of days before and, despite everything, JJ's smiles had been genuine and the distraction of laughing at her attempts to paint her own toenails had worked.
But then, she'd lay down in her bed, providing comfort to Henry rather than receiving comfort from Will and she'd remembered exactly what she was facing.
This wasn't how her pregnancy or the birth of this long awaited child were meant to turn out.
A hard kick drew her out of her own head, as her lips turned into a slight smile.
"So I guess self pity's not allowed either, huh?" she mumbled, skimming her hand over the top of her bump, where it was exposed to the chill of the air outside the water. "How about we make a deal? If you just stay where you are for a few more weeks, Momma will try to relax and smile more. Does that sound like a good plan?"
She decided that the more gentle flutter she experienced moments later was a sign of agreement.
/
/
While JJ shut herself away from the world, Penelope and Spencer were in the kitchen, speaking with hushed voices as they anxiously discussed their friends situation. Henry had been positioned in front of the TV once again so that his godparents could "talk about grown-up things". Amongst all her other concerns, Garcia couldn't help but fret that in the time she was caring for the boy, she was slowly killing off his brain cells. She promised that as soon as things were better she'd take him to every museum in DC and possibly even some classical music recitals.
Right now, it was the mother of the household who was a bigger problem.
"Why didn't you take her to the hospital?" she sighed, exasperatedly, after Spencer finished his hurried description of what had happened.
"She didn't want to go; I couldn't convince her," he responded. He'd anticipated that reaction.
"Well, why didn't you take her anyway? She's not exactly in any shape to fight you right now!" the tech analyst exclaimed, feeling incredibly anxious at the prospect her friend could be in upstairs, alone and in premature labour.
Aside from his reasons for doing as JJ requested, Spencer also had some serious doubts as to the assertion that he could overpower her, even while she was heavily pregnant. He'd seen what the blonde could do in hand to hand combat. But he didn't think Penelope, who was standing with her hand on her hip and an expression of overprotective fury on her face, wanted to hear any of those thoughts.
"I didn't want to take her against her will," he replied. "It would have distressed her more, and I think it would have been bordering on committing some kind of felony," he added, his musings causing Penelope to relent slightly.
"I know, I know," she muttered, shaking her head. "Just... Why do you all have to be so stubborn?" She'd lost count of the number of times members of the team had refused medical treatment or to take it easy after a difficult case or personal tragedy.
Spencer decided not to protest against her assessment of the team - he really didn't have a leg to stand on when it came to that matter.
"I thought we could phone her doctor," he suggested.
Penelope immediately seized the idea, starting to scan the room for an organiser or calender which might contain or direct them to the necessary information. Advising JJ's obstetrician of the situation certainly seemed a less hostile, and possibly saner, solution than kidnapping her to take her to the ER.
It wasn't much later that a receptionist in the office of Doctor Sarah Houston received a phonecall from a woman who sounded more overprotective and anxious than any partner or patient she had spoken with before. Doctor Houston was in the vicinity of the reception desk at the time of the call, and paused to find out what was going on. It didn't take much more than hearing the name Jennifer Jareau, before she gestured to the receptionist to pass her the phone. When asked about her support system at an appointment, Jennifer had simply smiled. And now the doctor understood why.
/
/
After ending the call, Spencer and Penelope waited in an uneasy and, somewhat guilty, silence in the kitchen. Of course they wanted to look out for JJ, but had that been too much of an intrusion?
"JJ! What are you doing?" Penelope gasped in surprise, as the blonde woman appeared in the doorway, looking perfectly calm and not at all like a woman in labour.
JJ met her friend's odd reaction with a look of confusion and a quirked eyebrow.
"I do live here," she responded, with a laugh.
"It's not that," Garcia began, but then changed her approach. "How are you feeling, sweetie?" she asked, trying to sound casual but waiting expectantly for an answer.
Spencer's expression was exactly the same.
"Guys, I'm fine," she insisted. "I feel much better now that I'm home."
She proceeded to the sink, where she filled the kettle with water before reaching into the cupboard for a mug. Penelope threw Spencer a puzzled look - this wasn't the panic-stricken woman having contractions at the side of the road that he had described. He shrugged and returned his attention to JJ.
"Does anyone want a cup of tea?" she asked, eyeing her friends suspiciously. "Or coffee?" she added when neither of them responded.
"We phoned your obstetrician," Spencer suddenly informed her, knowing she'd find out soon enough when the woman appeared at the door.
The blonde agent's expression turned to one of amusement at the looks of fear on their faces. Well, she supposed she could be a hormonal monster these days.
"I know," she assured them. "I also phoned her office, only to be told she was already on her way." She might have been freaked out following her panic attack and the pain, but she hadn't lost her mind. After calming down, her first thought had been to seek the advice of her doctor. The fear and stress hadn't yet driven her crazy enough to ignore any risk to her child.
"So, have you had any more pains or contractions or... anything?" Spencer asked, sounding decidedly unlike his knowledgeable self as he tried to tread lightly around the topic. JJ's mood and demeanour had completely transformed in a reasonably short space of time and he found it unsettling.
"Not for about an hour," she replied, truthfully. "I've just to take it easy until my doctor gets here."
Penelope and Spencer were already aware of that instruction, having been given the same advice to pass along to their friend.
"I'll make the tea then," Garcia offered, as Spencer continued to watch JJ with a mixture or wonder and confusion.
She seemed happy to relinquish the task to someone else and replied that she was going to see Henry, "so he didn't think Momma had gone crazy and abandoned him". Both Garcia and Reid were left as confused as they had been when she arrived, and they didn't know whether this new, calm JJ was a cause for relief or alarm.
Now out of sight of her friends, JJ's careful expression slipped, but she took a few deep breaths and forced her lips back into a smile. Even though she could feel the fear of all her responsibilities, and of what her doctor might say, threatening to overwhelm her, she wasn't going to let it get to that point again. Relax and smile. After all, she needed the baby to keep up his or her end of the deal.
/
/
Doctor Houston arrived at the LaMontagne-Jareau house as soon as she could after receiving the phonecalls from and about her patient. Right from the beginning she'd made a note to keep a special eye on Jennifer. Her pregnancy wasn't particularly high risk, but she had the anxiety which followed a previous miscarriage. Then, between her fall and the increasing stress of her work and finally, her husband's accident, things had gone from bad to worse for the expectant mother. Today's incident hadn't come as a complete surprise to the doctor so she was relieved to find her patient appearing relatively calm, and sitting up in bed with a cup of herbal tea.
"From how you described the pain and from your physical examination it looks like the contractions you experienced were the beginnings of labour," the doctor explained, snapping off her gloves as JJ sat up and covered herself with a blanket. "But for the time being it seems your labour has stopped," she continued with a reassuring smile.
"What does that mean?" JJ asked, wrapping her arms around her abdomen and finding comfort in the movements of her child. The news brought a combination of worry and relief that she had been experiencing "real" contractions but also that she and the baby didn't seem to be in any imminent danger.
"It means that I want you on bed rest from now until you deliver," she explained. She knew her patient was unlikely to take the news well and JJ's expression confirmed it. "I know you're worried about your husband and your little boy, but it will be much better for your baby, and for you, if we can get you closer to full term."
"I know," JJ nodded in understanding. Of course it made sense, but that didn't mean she wasn't concerned about how it was going to work. She'd need someone to stay with her more or less permanently, at least at the times of the day Henry was home. And she couldn't even imagine how it would work when Will came home.
"I'm sure your friends will be more than willing to help," Doctor Houston said, smiling as she thought of the tall man who had ran off every symptom her patient had experienced that day, and the woman with the quirky dress sense, who had offered her tea as soon as she stepped through the door. "And maybe it's time to call in your mom or some other family."
JJ knew there were no shortage of people she could ask for help. The problem was more whether she wanted to do so. It was one thing to babysit Henry for a few hours or drive her to the hospital, and another thing entirely to provide round the clock assistance.
"It's only temporary," the doctor reminded her, as JJ silently chewed on her lip. "As soon as this little one is here, you can get right back to being superwoman!" she smiled.
A small smile cracked across JJ's otherwise preoccupied face. The doctor was right - it wouldn't be long until she could get back to taking care of her family. And by that time they'd have a new addition that was far more likely to be healthy and safe than if she gave birth now.
"Thank you," she said. "I know you didn't have to make a house call, and I apologise if my friends were a little pushy!"
The older woman shook her head, assuring JJ that it was no problem. She'd rather see one of her patients in the calmer setting of their home than being rushed to the hospital in an emergency.
"Take it easy and I'll check in with you in a few days. If you have any concerns or if the contractions start again just call me," she instructed.
JJ nodded in agreement, and with that, the doctor left and she was alone, staring at the walls which would be her surroundings for the foreseeable future. But she knew it would be worth it. They had a few more hurdles ahead of them but there was still the possibility that, one day, life could be exactly how she dreamt it.