JJ moves around her kitchen, making dinner for her son when her phone rings.
"Jareau."
"JJ, hi." Ryan says and JJ pauses.
"Ryan… let me get Henry."
"Wait.. I…" There's a long pause and JJ hears the woman sigh. "I'm in Virginia."
"You're….Oh." JJ purses her lips. "Does Spencer know?"
"No. It… it was spur of the moment, and now… now I'm thinking it was a bad idea. Spencer's not really good with surprises."
JJ laughs. "You think?"
Another sigh and JJ rubs her forehead. "I didn't mean to be rude." She pauses to think.
"Look, just come here and we'll… if anything, you can spend some time with Henry."
"Are…are you sure?"
"Yeah, of course. We need to talk anyways."
"Oh….alright."
JJ gave her directions before hanging up. She wondered how Spencer would react, if she should call and tell the man. Maybe Ryan had an idea. Was she really going to help Ryan?
Criminal Minds || What Happens
The doorbell rings and Henry runs to the door. "I get it!"
"No sir. You do not answer the door."
He pouts, but waits for his mother to come and open the door.
"MAMA RYAN!" He screams when he sees the person on the other side and raises his hands to be picked up, which the other woman does immediately.
"Hey, baby face." She kisses his cheek. "How's my little man?"
"You really came! Mommy, Mama Ryan here! She here!"
JJ nods, looking at the woman. She looks older than the last time she had seen the woman, tired.
"I see her, buddy. How are you, Ryan?"
Ryan tears her eyes away from the boy in her arms to look at JJ. She shrugs a little.
"I'm okay."
JJ can't imagine what it feels like to lose a baby and then with the drama that had been going on. JJ knew that she had caused a lot of that drama. She smiles, a little sadly.
"That's good."
Henry watches the two women for a second before their silence gets too much. "Mama Ryan, I show you Snug. He's so big now!"
"He's so big? You're so big! Have you been eating your veggies?"
"Yeah, Mommy makes me. They gross. But Daddy like 'em so I pretend."
He wiggles to get down and grabs her hands. "Come see Snug!"
Ryan returns to the living room a little while. "He's watching a movie."
JJ nods. "Spencer's out with Garcia today. She told him he needed to have some adult fun."
Ryan looks confused. "Adult fun? Should I feel jealous, because I…kind am."
JJ smiles. "Oh no, Garcia's very happy with her boyfriend and sees Reid as a brother. They're probably out doing something childish. Pen's always trying to give Spence a second childhood."
Ryan nods before picking at the other woman's bills. "I… I had a plan to come out and make him talk to me about the baby and us and Will and when I got here, I guess, I realized that I had to face him too you know. It's…"
"hard?"
"The hardest. I know I screwed up, JJ. I never should have pushed him away and then lied about being in love with someone else."
"It really messed with his head."
"And yours, I bet."
JJ shrugs. "It was immature of Spencer and I to even think about messing around so quick after your guys' break-up."
"Did he run straight to you?"
JJ turns to look back at the woman, who looks a little broken. She doesn't know whether to tell the truth or not.
"I mean, I know that he thought about it. That you guys kissed or whatever pretty quickly after, but that night….did you guys…."
"We didn't do anything. He got drunk." JJ tells her, watching her. "Ryan, I'm sorry about.."
Ryan raises a hand to stop the woman. "You love him. I know what that's like. I would have tried to steal him away too."
JJ laughs and rubs her head. "I can't believe we're sitting around here, talking about Reid like this."
Ryan looks at her, cocking an eyebrow.
"I just keep thinking about when Gideon introduced him to the FBI. He was scrawny and couldn't look anyone in the eye. God, and his fashion sense."
Ryan smiles. "I've seen pictures from Elle. I know."
"After Georgia though… he killed his own kidnapper. He saved himself. We didn't really do anything, you know? It's just… It changed the entire way I looked at him, but sometimes, I remember the nerdy little socially inept kid and can't believe-"
"That you fell in love with that?"
"That I'm still in love with that."
Ryan bites at her lip. "Yeah."
"I know he loves you, Ryan. I'm not going to get in the way of that, but I don't know if he'll…. If he'll let himself be with you again. He's not really the type to give seconds chances. He'll admit when he's wrong, but he holds grudges and… and I know that he still thinks about what you said about you and Will."
"I just said that because he was talking about being with you! I…" She sighs and rubs her temples. "It was stupid. This whole thing was stupid. I… I didn't know what to do. I had just lost…I…" She shakes her head.
JJ watches the woman in front of her.
"Did you know why Henry wanted to call me Mom?"
"Because you lost your baby. He wanted you to feel better and replace the one you lost."
"I told him he didn't have to, but… I have to admit, I like it. I love your son, JJ, so much."
"He's very lovable."
"I'm not going to walk away from him. Whatever happens with me and Spencer. As long as you let me be around him, I will. I'm honored that he even considers me to be like you. Regardless of how I feel about you and Spencer, you're a great mom."
JJ remembers the e-mail and smiles weakly. "You're a great mom, too, Ryan."
Ryan stares at the woman, her eyes getting glassy before she looks away. JJ reaches to touch the woman's shoulder when she hears her sniffle.
