"So, you have your memory back?" Garcia asked as she bit into her pizza.
"Not really, but I'm ok with it. I remember enough to let it go," Spencer replied.
A week had passed since Spencer recalled his time in the before. He didn't tell anyone what happened except for J.J. and he wanted to keep it that way. Not that he wanted to keep more secrets, it just felt personal and he'd rather not live it again.
It was Friday night and they had tried to meet at a local bar, but the loudness had an unexpected effect on Spencer. He almost instantly got a headache and felt sick. Once they left and got him somewhere quiet, he started to feel better. So, they ended up going back to Luke's apartment for pizza and beer, water for Spencer.
"Good for you," Luke said before tipping back his drink.
"Did the doctor say when you can return to work?" Garcia asked.
"I can start back anytime I feel ready, but I can't go in the field until I'm cleared by the neurologist," he said. "I have an appointment with them in two weeks."
"It'll be good to have you back, brother," Luke said with a smile.
"Thanks," Spencer said with a shy smile.
J.J. looked at her watch and frowned.
"Ugh, guys, I don't want to be that person, but we should get going. Will's dropping the boys off early tomorrow," she said as Spencer started gathering their trash to throw away.
"This is the first time they'll be back with you since all of this?" Garcia asked as she helped Spencer.
"Sort of. We've seen them a few times, but it'll be the first time they come to stay for a few days. Will and I still need to work out a schedule."
"How's he been about all of this?" Garcia said softly as Luke and Spencer walked off to the kitchen.
J.J. made an 'eh' face and shrugged.
"He's been patient about the entire thing, though I can read his anger clearly. I'm just glad he isn't the type to put the kids in the middle of this."
"That is good. I give him credit for that. Shows the kind of man he is," Garcia said and then looked quickly at J.J. as though she'd said something wrong. "Not that I mean anything by that."
"It's fine. He is a good man and like I told him, this wasn't something I chose. If I had the choice, I would never break up our family. But that's not how it worked out. I'm head over heels in love with Spence and to try and pretend that isn't how I feel, isn't fair to any of us."
A big grin stretched across Garcia's lips.
"Do you know how much that makes my heart soar to hear you say that?"
J.J. didn't get a chance to answer as Spencer and Luke entered the room again. Spencer walked straight toward her, his arm lightly touching her lower back as he placed a kiss to the top of her head.
"Ready?" he asked.
"I am, thanks again for tonight guys. Sorry to be a party pooper," she said with a smile.
"It's fine. We'll find something to do," Garcia said.
"Oh, I'm sure you will," J.J. teased as her eyebrows danced up and down.
"Ok, ok, that's only cute when I do it," Garcia said shooing them toward the door.
They all said their goodbyes before Spencer and J.J. were on their way home. While driving Spencer looked over at J.J. curiously.
"When do you think you want to tell everyone?"
"About the baby?" she asked.
Spencer nodded when she glanced quickly at him before returning her eyes to the road.
"I don't know. I mean, Emily knows which is the most important," she said.
"Tell me what you're really thinking," he said as he reached for her hand and held it tightly.
She glanced at him again and could see him watching her. Damn profilers.
"Honestly, I'm scared. I'm scared that the boys are going to be mad at me. I'm scared at what Will is going to say, though his opinion doesn't matter as much."
"That's understandable. It's not like we planned for this … though not using a condom probably wasn't the smartest idea," he said thoughtfully.
"What do you feel?" she asked timidly.
"I guess, a little scared for the same reasons you are. But I'm also really excited. I never thought I would get the chance to be a dad, let alone have that child with you."
J.J. couldn't help smiling at his words.
"I'm excited too. I don't want you to think I'm not," she said squeezing his hand.
"I know," he replied, lifting her hand to kiss the back of it. "We wait until you feel ready and then we'll tell everyone."
"Have you told your mom?" J.J. wondered.
"Not yet. With all of the chaos and recovery … I never really took a moment to tell her. Maybe we could go see her for lunch one day and tell her together."
"That would be wonderful. Why don't we go Sunday? The boys would be happy to see her."
"It's a date," he said
(xxxxx)
Morning came too quick. By 6am there was a knock at the door. J.J. still in her pajamas and her fluffy pink robe, swung the door open. Michael was happily awake and dove right into J.J.'s arms, while Henry stood yawning with his hoodie pulled over his head.
"Good morning, little bug," J.J. said as he snuggled Michael in her arms. "I missed you so much!"
"I missed you too!"
Michael ran off to find something to do as J.J. pulled Henry into a hug.
"Hey bud, why don't you go lay down a little longer. I'll make pancakes when you wake up," she said.
He nodded and slowly trudged off to his bedroom. Will handed J.J. the boy's bags.
"I'll be working the next four days. If you need me though, just call."
"Thank you, will do," she said with an awkward nod.
Will nodded back before walking away. J.J. wondered if it would ever stop hurting seeing him. She imagined the guilt would never go away. She slowly closed the door and went to watch TV with Michael.
A couple hours later, Spencer strolled out of the bedroom to find a fort of blankets and sheets covering the living room. He could hear J.J. talking with Michael. He walked to the entrance of the fort and made a knocking sound.
"Password?" Michael's little voice sounded.
"Brussel Sprouts?" Spencer said.
Michael laughed. "Eww no."
"Uhhh, how about monster breath?"
Michael erupted into giggles again. "Nooooo."
Spencer heard his phone ping. He pulled it from his pocket and saw it was a message from J.J. He opened it up and smiled.
"Chase is on the case," he said reading the message.
"You did it!"
Michael pushed aside the blanket flap and waved for Spencer to come in. Spencer got down on his knees and crawled into the surprisingly spacious tent. He sat down next to J.J. and smiled.
"Wow, this is quite the fort, Michael," he admired.
"I'm Chase, not Michael. Mommy is Skye. You can be Mawshall," Michael explained.
"Oh, my apologies. Chase, I love your fort."
"Mommy, uh, Skye and I made it," he said proudly.
"You did a great job."
"We are weadin. You wanna wead with us?"
"Michael, there are two things in this world I never say no to. Coffee is one and reading the other," Spencer said.
"Here, you wead now," he said handing the book to Spencer.
"Morris the Moose Goes to School," Spencer read the title.
For the next twenty minutes they read the book, taking turns to act out different parts of the book together. When they finished, Michael's stomach let out a loud growl.
"Mommy, I'm hungwy. I want pancakes," he said.
"Ok, let's go ahead and get started. I can make more when your brother wakes up," J.J. agreed.
They were just putting the pancakes on the table, when Henry wandered out of the bedroom. His hair was standing in all directions. Reminded J.J. of Spencer.
"Good morning, feel a little better?" J.J. asked.
Henry nodded as he adjusted his glasses. He plopped into an empty chair and scratched his messy hair. Spencer came walking out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of fruit. He smiled brightly when he saw Henry.
"Good morning, Henry! How'd you sleep?"
"Hi Uncle Spencer," he said groggily. "Good."
They took a few moments preparing the drinks and plates before Henry looked to his mom, more alert.
"What are we gonna do today?" he asked.
"I figured I'd leave that up to you and Michael. Any suggestions?" J.J. said as she sipped her Orange Juice.
"Park!" Michael yelled.
"No, we always go to the park," Henry complained.
"What about the please touch museum? Have you been to one of those before?" Spencer asked.
"No, what's that?" Henry said.
"It's this cool place where you can explore different rooms that are built just for kids. For example, they have a dinosaur room where you can dig for fossils or climb through a dinosaur skeleton. Or climb on a boat and pretend you're a captain of the ship sailing through a hurricane and have to get to safety," Spencer said dramatically.
"Wow, that's sounds so cool! Can we go mom?" Henry said as his face lit up with excitement.
"Sure," J.J. said as both boys let out a whoop of happiness. "Finish eating and we'll get dressed to go."
(xxxxx)
"I will save you Princess," Spencer called out as J.J.'s head poked out of a second story play castle.
"Hurry, please! The evil king and his pet dog won't let me leave," she said sadly.
"I'll just use the front door since it's oddly missing," Spencer said making J.J. giggle.
"Not so fast, you'll have to get through me and my dog, Chase," Henry said as he jumped out of the castle's doorway holding a cardboard sword.
Michael followed behind barking and jumping up and down. Spencer lifted his cardboard sword and swung it at Henry who swung his back. The two of them battled playfully, both pretending to be injured but fighting on. Finally, Spencer stabbed Henry between his arm and chest. Henry clutched the sword as though it were stuck and fell to the ground, dying a slow painful death.
"I'm a good dog," Michael said looking at Spencer.
"I knew you were under the king's evil spell. You are now back to your regular kind self," Spencer agreed as he patted Michael's head.
"Go save the Princess," Henry whispered from the ground.
"Oh, right. Princess J.J. I'm coming for you," he said as he ducked into the castle and crawled his way through the tiny rooms and stairs until he reached her. "My fair maiden, you are free."
"My hero," she said as she placed her hands on his cheeks and gave him a quick kiss. "We will be married at once and the kingdom is ours."
"Good thing cause I'm pretty sure I'm stuck in here," Spencer said making everyone laugh.
After they made their way out of the castle, J.J. looked at her watch.
"We've been here for four hours already. Why don't we go get something to eat?" she suggested.
"Can we go to Rocket's?" Henry begged with his hands clasped together.
"It's fine with me," J.J. said as Spencer nodded.
(xxxxx)
No one had realized how hungry they all were. They barely spoke while they ate, and it wasn't long before all of their plates were empty.
"Today was fun," Henry said. "Thanks."
"Yea! Fun!" Michael said as he wiggled in his seat happily.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Spencer said with a smile.
J.J. looked at Spencer and gave him a loving smile in return. She decided it was time.
"I know this hasn't been easy on you guys," J.J. said softly.
Henry shrugged and Michael just blinked at her.
"I haven't been around much and then with Uncle Spencer's recovery … I just hope you know how much I love you both and that I'm going to do my best to be around more. Your father and I are meeting this week to put together a set schedule, so you'll know when you get to be with me," J.J. explained.
"I like that," Michael said.
"Me too," Henry agreed.
J.J. swallowed as she looked at Spencer. He reached under the table and grabbed her hand. He gave her a reassuring nod as she turned back to the boys.
"Your dad and I plan to keep things as normal as possible for you, but there are a few things that will change," she said.
"Like you and Dad living apart?" Henry said.
"Yes, and if you are ok with it, Uncle Spencer and I would like to move in together. Find a house for us all to live in."
Michael looked at Henry, who looked back at him. Then Henry looked to his mom and Spencer.
"Yea, I'm ok with that. I like having Uncle Spencer around," Henry said.
"Me too," Michael agreed.
"Are you sure? I really want you boys to be honest about your feelings. We know this is difficult for you and you may have questions or concerns …"
"I'm sure. I mean, as long as I get to see Dad too, I don't mind. A lot of my friends at school have divorced parents, so it's not like I don't know how it all works," Henry said.
"Henry, I think it's important that I tell you, I have no plans on taking over your Dad's role. I will always be Uncle Spencer and that's one thing that won't change. And like your Mom said, I want you to always be honest about how you feel. If you think I'm doing something wrong or you are upset about something, I hope you'll tell me or your Mom. I want this to be as easy as possible on you and Michael," Spencer said.
"Ok. I understand," Henry said with a small smile.
"Me too," Michael said, though they doubted his 3-year old mind could fully grasp it.
"There's one more thing that's going to change," J.J. said.
Spencer could feel her pulse racing. He squeezed her hand tighter in encouragement. They were in this together, no matter what.
"We hadn't planned on having a big change like this, but Mommy's having a baby," J.J. said softly.
"For real?" Henry said, his face not showing his emotions.
J.J. nodded as did Spencer.
"Good, now maybe Michael will find someone new to annoy," he said with a grin.
J.J. and Spencer laughed.
"I don't want a sistew," Michael said. "You bettew buy a boy."
"It doesn't work like that Michael! It's in her belly," Henry said rolling his eyes.
"Mommy ate the baby?" Michael said with his face scrunched in disgust.
They all burst out laughing at his innocence. The rest of the drive home they talked about different baby names and when they thought the baby would be born. The boys promised not to tell Will, J.J. wanted to do that in person. He had to hear it from her. She would tell him when he came to pick the kids up.
By the time they got home, Michael was sound asleep. Spencer carried him in and put him to bed, while J.J. sat with Henry on the couch watching TV.
"Mom?"
"Yes, bud?"
"Can I ask a question?" he said still looking at the TV.
"Sure," she said running her fingers through his blonde hair.
"It's kind of weird … and well … I think people may make fun of me if my Uncle is with my Mom," he began.
"Ok," J.J. said worried about what he'd say next.
"Do you think Uncle Spencer would be mad if I didn't call him Uncle anymore? If I just called him Spencer?"
"Sorry, didn't mean to eavesdrop."
Henry and J.J. turned around to see Spencer standing in the doorway to the living room.
"Henry, you feel free to call me whatever you want. I don't mind," Spencer said with a smile.
"Ok," Henry said with his own smile.
"But now I have an important question for you," Spencer said seriously.
"What's that?" Henry asked.
"Do we pig out on ice cream sundaes or do we pig out on popcorn and candy?"
"Ice cream sundaes!" Henry said excitedly as he scrambled off the couch and into the kitchen.
Spencer detoured over to the couch and leaned down to give J.J. a kiss. She held his face in her hands tightly as they kissed. When they broke apart, she smiled brightly at him.
"Did I ever tell you how much I love you?" she asked.
"You have and it's the greatest three words I've ever heard," he said with another quick chaste kiss.
"Don't eat too much dessert, I have a little treat for you later," she said with a smirk.
Spencer laughed as he went into the kitchen to help Henry make sundaes.
(xxxxx)
A/N: Sorry for the delay my friends! This isolation has kept me oddly busy – imagine that. Hope you are all staying safe and healthy! I hope this brings a little joy to your day – lots of fluff for you to feel good with. Hopefully I can update quicker this time! xoxo
