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Chapter Sixteen:
J.J. appeared early in the morning with his go-bag in one hand and a bag of food in the other.
"I made scones," she said. "My boys ate them last night so they're edible."
"You didn't have to do that," Reid said.
"Well they're a step down from the Iris Bakery I can guarantee that."
After she set the plate on the table she gave him a hug. "I'm so sorry about Jane."
"Me too. J.J. me too," Reid said and let go.
He took his go-bag. "How was the case?"
"We got the guy just before he was about to kill his next victim."
"That's great J.J. that really is."
"But that is not why you called and asked me to come to your place early," she said.
Reid quickly put his go-bag in his room and brought his notebook and laptop out.
"I need help organizing the funeral and I don't want my in-laws to get too involved. Not that I don't love them. I'm just afraid that if I don't have a firm plan in place they'll try to take control of it away from me. Some of them might even suggest moving her remains back to New Mexico."
"But that won't happen," J.J. said. "I still don't understand, why me? Why not Garcia or Morgan? Garcia also sends her love by the way but doesn't want to crowd you."
"Jane was closest to you of all people," Reid said. "She latched onto the closeness between us and built something more. You're one of the three J's in my life. Jane called it my lucky letter."
"That's sweet," J.J. said. "I'll try to help as best I can. Where do you want to start?"
Reid opened his note book and they sat down at the kitchen table. "I want to know what readings you think sound best. These are what the funeral director suggested…"
They worked at it for more than an hour and by the end Reid was feeling much more comfortable with his funeral plans. At that point Jenna walked in.
"Hi Aunt J.J." she said cheerfully.
"Hey Jenny Jen," J.J. said and gave her a quick hug. "How's my favorite girl?"
"Okay," she said with her head down.
"I know you must miss your mommy. I am here for you and so is the rest of Daddy's 'team family.' Okay?"
"I know," Jenna said. "Did you bring anything to eat? Everyone who comes here does."
J.J. laughed. "As a matter of fact I did. Have you ever had scones?"
She nodded. "Yep, whenever Daddy goes to the coffee shop he gets one for me."
"Then you must be a scone expert because your Daddy drinks a lot of coffee."
Jenna laughed.
J.J. went a placed the scones in a paper bag in the oven reheat them. She helped Jenna set the table while Reid made coffee. Much like Rossi and Morgan, she kept Jenna entertained as best she could with stories about her sons and the trips they took. Anything to keep Jenna's mind off the sadness for the briefest amounts of time.
There was a sudden knocking on the door. Reid opened it to find Ally Caudel with a suitcase at her feet.
"I got on an early plane in and wanted to see how you were doing before I got to the hotel," she said and then gave him a big hug.
Ally was the opposite of Jane in many ways. Ally was constantly full to the brim with energy where Jane was more laid-back. Ally was something of tomboy compared to Jane. Ally loved the thrill of her job where Jane loved the organization of hers. But they were the best of friends and few things separated them.
She then hugged Jenna.
"I'm so sorry about the loss of Mommy. Just know that you have a whole family coming to look out for you okay?"
Jenna looked at a loss for words as Ally rummaged through her purse. "I brought you something. It's been a while since I've seen you so I thought you'd like this."
She present her with a Barbie doll. A ballerina Barbie doll to be exact. Jenna looked angry. Reid and J.J. saw it but before they could do anything Jenna took the doll and threw it to the ground.
"I DON'T WANT ANY TOYS! I DON'T WANT ANY MORE FOOD. I WANT MY MOMMY BACK!" she screamed and ran back to her room.
Ally stared at them. "Has she been like this the whole time?"
"No," Reid said calmly. "I think she is just getting tired of all the change. I'll go to her."
"Maybe I should have come earlier like I wanted to," Ally said.
Reid doubted seeing a relative who she only saw once every few months would have helped. "I need to go to her," he said and left J.J. and Ally together.
"Go away," Jenna said from buried beneath her blankets.
"Jenna what you did wasn't nice," Reid said softly. "You may be hurting but that doesn't mean you can hurt other people's feelings."
She didn't say anything. Reid sat down on the edge of her bed.
"Jenna it hurts me too. I'd like nothing better than to throw things everywhere, stomp my feet, and tell the world to stop bothering me," Reid said wiping away a tear. "But I can't do that because I know it won't make Mommy come back and I need to be strong for you."
Jenna emerged from the blankets and clung to him.
"I miss her so much Daddy," she said and cried into his arms. Reid held her for a long time as she cried, stroking her hair.
After she ran out of tears, Reid turned to her. "Feeling better?" he asked.
She just nodded.
"Why don't you get dressed? A lot more family members are going to be wandering in soon. Okay?"
She nodded again and Reid closed the door behind him. To his surprise he found Ally in J.J.'s arms.
"It is just going to be so hard without her," Ally sniffled. "She was my older sister who I called at crazy hours and she was always there to listen. She always had something funny to post on my Facebook page when I was feeling down. What am I going to do without her?"
J.J. looked up at Reid. He mouthed the words "thank you" and she understood. J.J. was family to all who knew her.