Author's Note: No one is more surprised than me to have gotten another chapter out so here you go! Special thanks to Monkeywand, tannerose5, jenny crum, CeeCee333, Lalina92, delia cerrano, Kimd33, Flames101, RubyDragonJewel, AndreeaRaducan, Guest (welcome!), and CrazyPainter for the reviews!
Chapter Fifty-Four
Will put the car in park as he pulled in front of JJ and Hotch's house after a weekend with Henry. He put a smile on his face despite the pangs of sadness that he always felt when he dropped his young son off and turned in his seat. He frowned when Henry looked wordlessly down at his hands.
"Everything okay, buddy?"
Henry shrugged. "I guess so."
Will sighed. "Is everything okay home?"
"Yeah."
"Are you having any issues with Jack?" Will pressed on.
Henry's head shot up. "No! I love Jack!"
Chuckling at Henry's defense of Jack, Will rubbed his face with his hand. "Is it your mom? Is everything okay with your mom?"
At this, Henry's head fell forward again and he nodded. "Uh-huh."
"Is it Hotch?" Will pushed, thinking he was getting close to the truth when Henry cringed.
"No." Henry sighed, miserably. "I have to ask you something."
Will stiffened. "You know that you can ask me anything, any time."
Henry's leg bounced up and down and he glanced between the window and the floor. "Daddy, is okay… are you okay… with Mama marrying Hotch?"
"Did Hotch ask Mama to marry him?" Will asked, a little peeved that such a big change had happened with no one informing him.
"No," Henry admitted, "but Jack and I really want them to. But Jack said that I should ask you first because we don't want you to get hurt because you're my daddy and you always will be."
Will felt himself tearing up. As hard as it had been for him to watch Henry embrace this new family, he was very glad that Henry had Jack. He unbuckled Henry and pulled him onto his lap. "That's right. No matter what happens, I will always be your daddy and I will always, always love you."
Henry hugged him, tight. "I love you, too, Daddy."
"Are you ready to go inside now?" Will asked. Henry nodded, enthusiastically this time. "Well, then, let's go."
"Hey, guys!" JJ greeted, opening the door when the LaMontagne boys reached the porch. "I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to come in."
"Hi, Mom! Bye, Mom!" Henry shouted at her as he ran past, oblivious to his parents' laughter as he went. He didn't stop until he reached Jack's room, throwing the door open and startling the older boy.
Jack jumped and turned around in the chair at his desk where he had been doing homework. "You scared the heck out of me, Henry!"
Henry simply grinned. "Sorry. But I got it! I got my dad's 'ermission to marry!"
"Permission," Jack corrected. "You got your dad's permission for my dad to marry Mom?"
"Yeah," Henry replied, sarcastically, bouncing onto Jack's bed. "That's what I said."
Shaking his head, Jack pulled a piece of paper out of his desk. He wrote a line through the line that said "Henry's Dad". He reviewed the rest of the paper. "That's everyone."
Henry clapped. "Yay!"
"I guess this means that it's time for Uncle Dave." Jack let out a long, deep breath.
"Ooooh," Henry cooed. He paused for a moment. "Wait, I thought we wanted to go to Uncle Dave."
Jack bobbed his head back and forth. "We do, but my dad also says that Uncle Dave can cause lots of chaos."
Henry made a sour face. "What's chaos?"
"When things get all crazy like when Uncle Dave made his special punch over Labor Day and Mom had to have Uncle Dave help carry my dad into the car and he kept singing songs and whispering in Mom's ear and making her blush," Jack explained.
"Hahaha! That was funny!" Henry giggled.
Jack laughed, too, before sobering. "Yeah, but this time, it'll be us being the chaos."
Henry groaned. "I am not singing." He threw himself backwards on the bed. "How do we call Uncle Dave? I don't have his number. And I'm not allowed to use the phone."
"I have his number in my emergency phone," Jack answered.
"Is this an emergency?" Henry whispered in awe.
Jack tilted his head to the side. "Um, do you want my dad and mom to get married?"
Henry threw his hands in the air. "Yeah!"
"Then, this is an emergency." Jack tiptoed to the door. He peeked outside to make sure that no one was around before closing the door. He pulled his phone from his backpack and scrolled through until he found Rossi's number.
"Jack? Buddy? Are you okay? Are your mom and dad okay? Is it Henry?" Rossi shouted as he picked up the phone. Jack had never called him and Rossi's stomach fell to his knees when he saw the caller ID.
Jack was quick to assure him, "We're fine, all of us."
Rossi exhaled loudly, attempting to slow his heartbeat. "Why are you calling me, Jack? You're only supposedly to use this phone for emergencies."
"I know." Jack hesitated. "This is kind of an emergency."
"What's going on?" Rossi prodded after a few moments of silence.
Jack glimpsed at Henry, who was quietly encouraging him to speak. "My mom and dad are living together."
Rossi chuckled. "Yes, they are. But this isn't news to me."
"Well, they're going to have a baby, too."
"Still waiting for the 'kind of emergency', Jack," Rossi pushed.
"Just tell him, Jack," Henry whined.
Jack moaned before rushing out in one shot, "Henry and I were talking and we think that Mom and Dad should get married before the baby comes and we want you to help us get them married."
Rossi stilled on the other line. "You want me to help you get your parents married?"
"Well, yeah."
"Have you tried talking to them about it?" Rossi nudged.
Jack hummed. "Well, no."
Chortling, Rossi offered, "I suggest that you and Henry sit down with your mom and dad and explain to them why you want your mom and dad to get married. I'm sure they'll be willing to listen to you."
"Are you not helping us because you cause chaos?" Jack demanded.
"Who told you that I cause chaos?" Rossi said, indignantly. "Never mind. I'm pretty sure I know and I sure didn't hear your dad complaining about chaos after he got home that night."
"What are you talking about?"
Rossi grimaced. "Nothing. Nothing at all. Listen, Jack, I promise you that there is nothing that I can do to get your parents to marry each other that you and Henry can't get done on your own. Just sit them down and be honest. They'll listen to you. And if they don't, call me again and we'll talk about making a plan then."
Jack paused, thinking it over. "Okay, we'll talk to them ourselves. Thanks, Uncle Dave."
"Anytime, kiddo."
"Uncle Dave says that we should talk to them ourselves and tell them why we want them to get married," Jack disclosed. "He said that if that doesn't work then he'll help us."
Henry whined, "I liked it better when it was Uncle Dave telling them."
Jack laid on the bed next to him. "Me, too, but I guess we have to do what we have to do."
"When should we do it?"
"Tomorrow," Jack replied, firmly. "Or maybe the day after that."
Henry reached over and patted Jack's shoulder. "Yeah, that sounds good."
