Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.
An Unconventional Family-Chapter 26
Two weeks later, Dave was sitting on the sofa in the apartment while JJ straightened up around him.
"You're going to be on your best behavior tonight, right?" She asked him, a bit threateningly.
Dave nodded as he took a swig of beer and thought back over the previous couple of weeks.
He and Jennifer had gotten past the whole 'Will incident,' but a small part of Dave wondered if there were other secrets she was keeping from him. While he was still head over heels in love with her, he now had some trust issues with her. He realized she was trying her best to juggle her career and motherhood and he had attempted to alleviate some of her stress, but she fought him at every turn. Two days after their argument over Will, Dave had tried getting JJ to sign the paperwork so she could be added to his checking account and so she could have her own credit card that was linked to his account. JJ had adamantly refused, saying she had been independent all of her life and she wasn't going to start relying on anyone for money at this stage in her life. She also refused to have half of the cabin put in her name, even though the three of lived there on the weekends and he thought of it as 'their house' as opposed to 'his cabin,' which is what the girls still called it. She wouldn't even let him buy the groceries for the apartment, even though he lived there during the week. The only night he didn't stay at the apartment was Sunday nights. He wanted Abby and JJ to have one night to themselves so they could talk and do things without him around, he wanted them to keep their close relationship so they usually went back to the city after an early dinner on Sunday. He found he missed them when they were gone, his cabin felt empty without them there.
Instead of arguing with her over their finances, Dave simply had Garcia hack into his bank accounts and list her on all of his accounts. He knew it would be an interesting conversation when her credit card arrived, but he was insistent on taking care of them; there was no way he was not going to take care of his daughter and the love of his life. If Jennifer didn't like it, then too damn bad, she would have to get used to it. While Garcia was hacking into his accounts, he also had her set up automatic bill payments from his account for her rent, utilities and credit cards. Again, he knew he was facing an argument when she found out about it, but it was an argument he intended to win.
They had also been spending a lot of time together as a family over the few weeks. Citing time constraints, Abby gone from being regularly scheduled at the coffeehouse to being a 'fill in' for when people called in sick. Because the time constraints came from spending time with him and JJ, Dave began giving her a regular weekly allowance of twenty-five dollars. He knew it was more than most kids received, but Abby did more work around the house than most other kids; hell her cooking alone was worth the twenty-five dollars. JJ and Dave also made it a habit to leave the office at a decent time and as a result, the three of them had been able to bond more as a family.
During the week, they stayed at the apartment and they would usually stay in so Abby could work on her homework and Dave and JJ could peruse case files, but on the weekends they lived at the cabin and came back into town to attend local events. Dave had the unique experience of watching his normally calm girls jump to their feet and scream "kill him" during a fight at a local minor league hockey game, while JJ and Abby watched as Dave was moved to tears during the movie "Dear John." Because they both wanted her to have a social life, Dave and JJ insisted that Abby go out with her friends at least one night per week and that night usually fell on Friday night, which JJ and Dave used as a date night for themselves. This particular Friday night was different as Abby was going on her first 'couple' date, instead of the normal group dates she went on, and the boy was coming over early so JJ and Dave could get meet him and get to know him.
"Dave, I'm going to need more than a nod to reassure me that you will behave tonight." JJ said, pulling him out of his reverie.
"What can I tell you Jen? He's coming here to take my daughter away from me. How did you think I would react?"
JJ smiled, "He's not taking her away forever, it's just for four hours."
"Yeah, but they'll have a car. Remember what we were able to do in a car for four hours?" Dave asked.
"I do, but our daughter is not us, she has a good head on her shoulders and she's not going to jump into a situation before she's ready."
"It's not her I'm worried about," Dave muttered.
"What are you worried about then?" JJ asked him.
"I haven't much cared for some of the things I've heard about her date." Dave replied. As soon as Abby told them she wanted to go out with this boy, Dave had called his godson to get the scoop on him. Dave had assumed that since both he and Abby attended the same school, Jack would have the information he wanted and he hadn't been disappointed. According to Jack, the kid was a "freak." He either sat alone at lunch or he sat with other freaks. He wasn't very social, he didn't play any sports and he tended to hang out in the art room a lot. Jack also said there were rumors that the kid was a pothead.
"And what exactly have you heard about him?" JJ asked.
"Did you know he has a juvenile record?" Dave said, starting to get worked up.
JJ waved her hand at his statement, "So what, many people have juvenile records. Hell, Derek Morgan has a juvenile record!"
"Yeah, but Derek Morgan isn't trying to date my daughter!" Dave retorted.
"No, but you've trusted him with my life and your own on numerous occasions! And how do you know he has a record? Did you have Garcia check him out?"
"You're damn right I did! This is my daughter we're talking about here; of course I'm going to have any potential suitors checked out!" Dave couldn't believe JJ was being so calm about this, the kid had a record for Christ sake!
"Potential suitors? God Dave, could you sound any more dated?" JJ wondered out loud.
"Can we please stay on topic? Are we really going to let our daughter go out with a kid who has a shoplifting charge on his record?" Dave asked.
JJ nodded, "Yes, we are. We are going to trust that Abby knows what she's doing when it comes to choosing her friends. We are both going to be on our best behaviors tonight and we are going to make her friend feel welcome. Understand?"
"But Jen-"
"Let me put it another way for you, Rossi. If you do anything to make this kid feel unwelcome, or you upset our daughter in any way, it will be a long time before you're welcomed into my arms at night. Got it?" She asked him.
Damn, she had him. He nodded, "Message received, but that still doesn't mean I have to like it," he said as he got up to help JJ straighten up the room. He bent down and reached for her open laptop that was on the coffee table, but she stopped him.
"No, don't close it. Garcia is running some diagnostics on it and it needs to stay open. Just leave it there so I don't forget about closing the program later tonight." Dave did as she asked and set the computer back down. As he straightened back up, his daughter came into the room.
"What in the hell are you wearing?" He asked her. She was wearing a floral print dress that was much too low cut on top and much too short on the bottom. There was no way she was leaving the house on her first date showing cleavage!
"You like it?" She asked as she twirled around.
"Not particularly," he told her.
JJ shot him a look, "You look nice, honey. Your dad's just a little nervous about your date tonight."
"I still don't know why you have to meet him. I could have just met up with him at the restaurant," Abby told them.
"Oh no. No, no, no. I am going to meet any guy that wants to take you out. Understand?"
Abby nodded and then noticed what her dad was wearing. "Are you wearing your sidearm?" She asked him.
Dave nodded, "I am an FBI agent."
"I would feel better if you put it in the weapon safe," Abby told him.
"And I would feel more comfortable if you changed into a less revealing outfit!" Dave retorted.
"Mooommmm!" Abby complained, appealing to her mother for some help.
JJ sighed, "Dave, go put your gun away and Abby, go change into a different dress." As soon as JJ got the words out of her mouth, the doorbell rang.
"Too late!" Abby said as she ran to answer the door.