At six months pregnant, Garcia was well and truly showing. Her flirtation with Morgan hadn't abated, and he delighted in feeling the baby kick.
"When you gonna tell me what you're having, momma?" he asked her one day as they sat down to lunch. Garcia cast a glance over at Hotch, sitting at another table nearby and grinning at her, and smiled back.
"Well, Hotch doesn't want to know until the baby is born, so I'm going to have to keep it to myself… I wouldn't want to spoil his surprise. I can tell you that I've started thinking about names. I've been thinking about names that start with P, like Penelope. And I like the mythological connection. Penelope was a dryad, you know. She was the mother of Pan. So I was thinking maybe something from Roman or Greek mythology… but then, I don't want to be cruel." She laughed. "Wait until you start having babies, my chocolate god. Picking out the perfect name is HARD."
Morgan laughed at her. "I think I'm gonna start taking bets on what this baby's gonna be." He stood and leaned down to kiss Garcia on the cheek, whispering in her ear so that Hotch couldn't, "My money's on 'girl'."
It took every ounce of self-control Garcia had not to react.
Harrison's favorite lunch was tomato, ham and cheese sandwiches with just a smear of mayo. He liked to drink milk. He liked yogurt covered raisins and sprouts as snacks. Emily hummed to herself as she packed his lunch for preschool and smiled fondly. Somehow, she had lucked out and ended up with a son who actually liked eating healthy food.
"Now you understand that we're both going to work today, right?" JJ was saying to Harrison as she tied his tie - yes, his tie. Harrison had got it into his head that he wanted to wear a tie with his shirt and sweater vest today, and neither Emily nor JJ could think of a single reason why he shouldn't be allowed to. She grabbed a comb and parted his hair on the left, combing the rest of his dark hair to the side and leaning in to give him a big smooch on the cheek. "You are gorgeous, Mr. Harry, and you're going to make all the little girls fall in love with you today."
"Ew, girls are gross!" he shrieked, giggling. JJ feigned hurt feelings and pretended to start to cry. Emily, hearing this exchange, came out of the kitchen and joined in the game.
"You don't like girls?" she asked, pulling JJ into a hug. JJ pretended to sob into her shoulder, but she was hiding a grin. "But I'm a girl, and Mama's a girl. Don't you like us anymore?"
Harrison held up his arms until Emily picked him up, then he gently stroked JJ's hair. "Don't cry, Mama. I still love you, even if you're a girl." He kissed her cheek and JJ burst, cracking up laughing and seizing him to tickle him.
"And we love you, you goofball," she roared playfully, tossing him on the couch as he squealed with laughter. "Now go find your shoes, or we'll be late."
In the car Emily broached the subject of separation with him again. "Mama's coming back to work today," she said. "So you're going to be at preschool with Jack until the end of the day, and then you're going to go home with Jack and his mommy, and one of us will come and get you. Do you understand?"
Harrison nodded. "What if Andrew is mean to me again?" he asked fearfully. Ever since the panic attack incident, Harrison had been incredibly wary of the bigger boy.
"Then you stand up straight, and you walk over to Sarah or one of the other teachers, and you tell them that Andrew is being naughty," Emily said firmly. "But we have to go and catch the bad guys today, so we need you to be a brave boy and go to school. Can you do that?"
Again, Harrison nodded. He looked scared, but determined. And though he hugged each of them extra tightly before letting them go, Emily and JJ were able to leave without incident.
Surprisingly, it was Emily who cried in the car. JJ was torn between laughing at her and comforting her. "Do you wanna talk about it?" she asked finally.
"I don't know. Maybe it's just me being a normal, paranoid mother, but I'm terrified about leaving him," Emily sniffled, pulling a tissue out of her pocket and dabbing at her eyes. "He's so little."
"But this is hardly the first time you've left him there," JJ said, confused.
"Jay, all the other times I've left him there, I've left him there with YOU," Emily explained. "But now you're here with me, and he's all alone, and what if he can't handle it?"
"He's going to be fine," JJ promised, sending up a quick prayer that it would be so. "He'll spend all day playing, and then Hayley will pick the boys up, and we'll go pick him up for dinner. And then once you see that it's fine, we'll do it all again tomorrow. Life is happening to us, baby. It's moving on, and changing in good ways."
They pulled up outside the FBI building and Emily let out a shuddering breath. "We can do this," she said firmly.
"So what have I missed while I've been away?" JJ asked, as they walked into the building hand in hand, only letting go once they walked through the front entrance. "And I don't mean the cases. I'm sure Hotch will fill me in on the official stuff. I mean the gossip. Who's dating who? Are there any new faces? Tell me everything."
"Uh, well, Garcia's showing, but you know that, you saw her on Saturday," Emily laughed, glad to have the subject changed. "And you know the way she and Morgan act - so there have been a couple of junior agents who assumed the baby was his. I thought Hotch would blow a fuse, but he just laughed. He actually laughed!" Emily smiled at the memory. "And Garcia was right, you know. He really does have a sexy laugh."
JJ swatted her arm. "Is his laugh sexier than mine?" she demanded playfully. They boarded the elevator, hitting the button for their floor.
"Baby, you know no one is sexier than you," Emily murmured. She leaned in and kissed JJ, pressing her up against the wall of the elevator and deepening their embrace until the bell rang and the doors opened, forcing her to pull away. JJ stood for a moment, slightly dazed at the unexpected kiss, before gathering her mental faculties enough to get off the elevator.
They walked through the bull pen and JJ turned to head up to her office. "Hey, who's that guy?" she asked, discreetly pointing to an unfamiliar man sitting a couple of desks away from the cluster where Morgan, Reid and Emily say.
"That is Special Agent Denny Bartlett. He transferred from the St. Louis field office, and by all accounts came very highly recommended," Emily said. JJ looked the man over. He was definitely attractive. Despite the fact that he was sitting down, he was obviously tall. He was broad shouldered, with big green eyes and sandy brown hair. He had a boyish face, with a charming smile. JJ's best description of him would be that he was 'pretty', and she whispered this to Emily with a giggle.
"Most of the women on the floor agree with you," Emily smirked. "And probably most of the women from the floor above and below probably agree with you too, if they've seen him." Suddenly she frowned. "Jay… Are you actually attracted to him?"
Mindful of the need to be discreet, JJ brushed her hand over Emily's arm. "I'm marrying you," she said softly. "I'm not gonna stand here and pretend I don't have eyes - he is a very attractive man. But I'm in love with the most beautiful woman in the world. I have no intention of straying, understand?"
Nodding, Emily sat down at her desk with a small smile. "I might understand better if you buy me lunch later," she said quietly, her eyes twinkling.
"It's a date," JJ promised, heading up to her office. On the way up she stopped and introduced herself to the new agent - as media liaison, it was her job to know the ins and outs of everything and everyone in and around the BAU. "Hello, I don't believe we've met. I'm Jennifer Jareau, but everyone calls me JJ. I'm the BAU's media liaison." She held out her hand for him to shake, and he rose from his seat and took her hand in his, flashing a smile that was in danger of making her knees tremble. This man wasn't just attractive. He was dangerously gorgeous.
"I'm Denny Bartlett, but my friends call me DB," he introduced himself with a chuckle. "Looks like you and I have something in common, Miss JJ: people are too damn lazy to remember our whole names."
JJ grinned at him, barely noticing that her hand was still in his. "I always thought it was because I'm blond, and my parents didn't harbor too much in the way of expectations for my intelligence - it's just about impossible to misspell JJ, you know." She winked at him, and he laughed, a deep, melodious laugh.
"I'm sure that's not true. I mean, you're managing to walk and talk at the same time, so that speaks highly of your intelligence… in fact…" He reached out and gently lifted a couple of strands of her hair playfully. "Are you sure this isn't a wig, and underneath it all you're not a super smart brunette?"
It was JJ's turn to laugh. "Nope, this is all natural," she assured him.
"Well then, you are a very beautiful woman," he said softly, finally releasing her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Miss JJ."
"It's nice to meet you too, Agent Bartlett," JJ said, aware of how intimate their introduction had become. She knew without looking that Emily was boring holes in her back with her gaze.
"Please, call me DB," Bartlett said. "All my friends call me DB, and I'm hoping I can count you among them."
"Welcome to Quantico, DB," JJ said before escaping to her office.