Chapter 29

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JJ was pacing. She was anxious. Actually, she was downright terrified. She wasn't an impulsive person and rarely if ever had been. She thought things through, made sure that everything was going to work out in her favour before taking the next step. This, however, was a different story entirely. She had no idea what had come over her, no idea why she'd done what she'd done. All she knew was that she was running on blind hope and faith and had been for the last hour. Her plane had touched down in Reagan and she'd had to hold herself back from immediately booking a new flight. She still had a day of vacation time and she fully intended to make good use of it.

By starting on the first steps to the rest of her life.

"Jenn?"

JJ spun, her hands locking together as she met curious brown eyes. "Hey."

"That was an urgent text."

"I know." She waited a beat. "Why are you here?"

He watched her carefully, noting the nerves but the resolution in her gaze. Maybe, just maybe, he was about to get utterly and endlessly lucky. "Because you asked me to be," Spencer replied.

JJ's heart jumped. It meant a lot to her to know that he was here because she'd texted him, that he hadn't ignored her. "Come to Vegas with me."

"Why?"

"Because I want to marry you."


Penelope grinned as she chatted absently with her daughter. Gabi had recovered very well from her fever, though it had been touch and go for a few days. Now they were on their way to visit with Hotch and Emily. Penelope had to admit she was endlessly excited to see one of her best friends again. The e-mails had been nice, but there was nothing like spending time with her girls and her family. And the BAU was her family.

Emily was out on the front porch when they pulled in, watching little Jack play outside with his father. Jack was an active kid, Penelope knew and she grinned as the eight year old tackled his father. Hotch dropped to the ground as Jack made impact. Emily, on the other hand, caught sight of the car first and was all but racing down the stairs as Derek pulled in the drive. Penelope scrambled out of the car and the two women embraced tightly. Eventually, it was Penelope that pulled back.

"You look good."

"I feel good," Emily responded with a huge grin. "Vacation was exactly what I needed."

"We needed," Penelope agreed as Emily followed her around the car. She stood aside allowing doting godmother unbuckle Gabi from her seat.

"Gabi!"

Penelope's jaw almost hit the ground at the little voice that called her daughter's name. Jack had noticed them and was running across the lawn. Gabi looked down at Jack with wide eyes.

"You remember Jack, don't you Gabi?" Emily cooed.

"Dat," Gabi repeated. "Dat."

Jack giggled. "That's not my name."

Penelope took Gabi from Emily's grasp as Derek wrapped her in a hug from behind. She crouched down to Jack's level, putting Gabi's feet on the ground, but holding her steady. She'd learned to walk, but that initial impact with the ground always jarred her. "She can't quite pronounce everything yet," Penelope tried to explain. "She's still learning."

"So she can't say my name?"

"Not yet, but I bet you if we keep her practicing she will in a bit," Penelope reassured him.

"Can I play with her?"

Gabi had learned to walk now, and she was just learning to really talk, but Penelope was still pretty protective. She'd turned a year before the wedding. Penelope remembered it fondly. She couldn't fathom how time had passed so quickly. It seemed like only yesterday she was giving birth to her little daughter. "Sure you can, but you have to be careful, okay? She's still little."

"Okay," Jack replied happily and carefully took Gabi's little hand in his and started walking into the grass.

Penelope looked up and exchanged a glance with Emily. The latter had tears in her eyes and Penelope smiled. She knew Emily was hoping Jack was like that with his own sister. "I think he's got a crush."

Emily laughed, watching Jack roll the ball he'd been tossing with his father to his new playmate. And the little girl seemed as fixated with him as he was with her. "I think so too." Then she turned to Fran. "Come on, let's go inside. Aaron and Derek can watch the kids."


"You want to what?"

JJ blew out a breath. "I want to marry you."

"Jenn, are you okay?"

"For the first time in a long time, yeah. Well, almost."

Spencer looked terribly confused. "Almost?"

"Well, you haven't exactly said 'yes'..." She laughed awkwardly.

"I just... I don't..."

"I know it's sudden, I know it's fast, but for the first time in a long time I know what I want. I know I screwed up and I know I'm really good at screwing up, especially with you, but I want to start fixing it," she said, short and to the point. They didn't have much time left before their holidays were over and JJ wasn't sure she could get Penelope to help them through this little crunch.

"But... Vegas? A shotgun wedding?"

"I want to marry you and I don't want to wait." She grabbed his hand. "It has nothing to do with cold feet, nothing to do with thinking that I'm going to back out and everything to do with the fact that I don't care how I marry you, I just want to marry you."

Spencer managed an awkward smile. "I thought I was supposed to be the romantic one."

JJ's breath caught. "Is that..."

"Yeah."

JJ barked out a laugh, pulling him close. She found relief in the familiar way he towered over her small frame.

"This is so backwards," he whispered, resting his forehead on hers.

"I'm so sorry."

"For what?"

"For taking so long. For running you in circles. I tried to let you go."

"It didn't work for me either."

"I was screwed up."

"You were confused,"

"Don't make excuses for me."

"Yes ma'am."

JJ's smile was bright. "See? You're a quick study."

Then she kissed him.


"You know, I can remember Jack when he was that small."

Derek looked over at his boss and the nostalgic look on his face as they watched Jack and Gabi on the front lawn. The children, though almost seven years between them, seemed to have found some sort of common ground. Jack didn't seem to mind Gabi's babbling and seemed to be carrying on a rather interesting conversation with her. Derek had just shaken his head. Leave it to Jack Hotchner to understand what was going on. Derek had infinite respect for the kid's father's intelligence and it looked like it was a Hotchner trait.

"He used to babble constantly."

"Jack? I find that hard to believe,"' Derek said.

Hotch laughed. "He's a lot of me, but he's got parts of Haley too. He's not as reserved as I am."

"Your kid with Em's going to be a rock, you know."

"I hope not," Hotch answered seriously. "I don't want my daughter hiding things from me."

"You know it's a girl?"

"Just a gut feeling."

Derek nodded, turning his eyes back to the children. Sometimes it was still surreal that he could be sitting on Hotch's front porch, his boss, who was married to his best friend with a baby on the way, their kids playing on the front lawn. Come Monday they'd be back in the office again, chasing down the world's worst serial killers and putting these happy suburban folks back in their little closets for a time. "They're why we do it."

"Always," Hotch agreed easily. He'd long ago come to terms with the fact that everything he did, he did for his family. It had once been Haley, now it was Emily, it was Jack, it was their unborn child.

"When's Em's leave?"

"She's fighting. We went to the doctor and she'll probably be riding a desk more than anything."

"She won't go for that."

"She won't like it. She doesn't like it."

"But she understands?"

Hotch shrugged. "We both want this baby to be healthy. She knows that, unfortunately, it means giving up something else she loves for the time being."

"And we both know Em," Derek said with a chuckle. "She'll be back in no time."

"None of us like it," Hotch replied, shrugging.

"Nah, but look at it this way: you get a new baby out of it and Em will always be back. She's as addicted to this job as we all are."

"Which is what scares me sometimes," Hotch admitted.

Derek shot a glance at the older man. Was Hotch about to open up to him? Derek knew Hotch talked to Emily and talked to her about almost everything, but for guy stuff, Derek had just assumed Hotch talked guy things with Dave. He wasn't sure how to feel about his boss talking private with him. "Scares you?"

"She and I.... we're workaholics. We work all the time."

"Except when you're at home," Derek contradicted. He knew Emily didn't really tolerate too much working in the home.

"No, even at home," Hotch replied.

"Oh come on Hotch, you bring work home with you?" Derek knew he was only kidding, but sometimes, outside the office, light-heartedness was something that Hotch needed.

"She does too," he argued.

"Bringing work home happens, Hotch, but we both know she's not going to stand for either of you to get too wrapped up in your work. Just because you bring it home sometimes doesn't mean you have anything to worry about."

"Daddy!"

Derek's attention snapped to the kids just in time to see Gabi topple on her back. Jack dropped down beside her worried. Gabi, on the other hand, was simply stunned.

"Daddy!"

"She's fine, Jack," Derek called.

"But she fell!"

"You fall all the time and you're fine," Hotch said, standing and heading over to the children.

Derek followed slightly behind and noticed a surprisingly mischievous look come over his boss' face. Then Hotch was moving quickly towards the children, scooping Jack up in his arms. Derek couldn't help but smile at the happy squeal Jack emitted as his father all but threw the boy into the air. He knew Hotch had nothing to worry about. Emily would ensure that he kept his head on straight and never lost sight of the drive his family gave him. Emily loved him too much to let him fall.



So 1: this is what happens when you're on a high after watching Memoriam. Seriously. I squealed out loud. I was happy that I had my door closed so my roommates couldn'ts ee or hear me. 2: I think spunky JJ is back. Watching Memoriam helped. I wish I could gush, but I don't want to spoil the episode for anyone who hasn't seen it. 3: do you know how many times I had to reming myself that this timeline is the summer? All I could think about was Jack playing with Gabi in piles of leaves! And now that's all I can picture! Everybody say 'awe' in unison now. 1, 2, 3..... awe!

Review!