A/N: If I hadn't re-read Moving On, I would have missed this. But a promise is a promise.
Chapter 6
The caravan of BAU team members met up at the first rest stop on the trip to Atlanta the Wednesday before Labor Day. Aaron, Beth, Jack and Dave were in one vehicle. The Morgan family, including Fran, was in another. The star, and reason for the trip, was in the LaMontagne Traverse along with his parents, Grandma Sandy, Michael and Declan. Henry and Jack ran off to burn off some energy after sitting for nearly three hours. Declan winked at Will, moving towards the restrooms. "Give it a good home," Will drawled.
Declan laughed. "You know it Will." Savannah and JJ got Hank and Michael's diapers changed and let them run with the older boys.
Within the next five minutes, the rest of the crew showed up. The Cruz family in their vehicle and Garcia, Kevin and Reid in Tara's SUV. Emily was flying into Atlanta to meet them on Thursday.
The adults all stood around a picnic table, enjoying some snacks and beverages while all the kids played. The Cruz girls were happy to watch the little ones. "Aaron," Cruz said, "how much longer for this leg?"
Aaron smiled. "It's another two hours to Gastonia; we check in and relax, beating the rush hour traffic in Charlotte."
"What's the plan tonight Hotch?" Morgan asked, taking a handful of Teresa Cruz's snack mix.
"You all are on your own for dinner. There are plenty of options by the hotel whether it is sit down or fast food. If you want to order in, we highly recommend Marty's Pizza," he smiled.
"I've got the number on speed dial," Beth smiled.
Kevin looked at him. "Where are you going?"
"Dave likes the Outback restaurant," Aaron said.
"You buying?" Kevin asked, looking at Dave.
Dave smiled. "Kevin, I'm buying the ribs for the party at Zach's tomorrow night."
"I'm bad," Kevin said to the laughter of the others.
JJ looked at Beth. "How's that tomorrow without Caleigh?"
Beth smiled. "Caleigh's kitchen is beautiful and big. And I know my way around it. With some help, we'll all make it work. I know Zach will enjoy the home cooked meal with a day off."
Fran rubbed her arm. "You know we're all in to help. I just wish she was there."
Beth smiled. "So does Caleigh. But she had her first appointment with Dr. Lisa last week. She fell in love with her and has more buy in now on being home. She and Lex are going to spend the weekend with her family. She needs that right now." Savannah nodded her head in agreement with a smile.
"Just as long as Lex doesn't mix it up with Munchkin," Jack smiled, grabbing a handful of Teresa's snack mix, washing it down with some water from the bottle he was drinking.
The group looked at Beth. She smiled. "Munchkin is Rachel's cat. She and Lex's first meeting didn't go well." The group all laughed.
"Who's helping Zach with the cleaning and such around the house?" Sandy asked. "I know he's capable, but with his schedule….?"
Aaron smiled. "Pedro's sister Gabriela just lost her job." The team looked at him. He smiled. "Not in a bad way. Gabby was the nanny and did light housekeeping for an Atlanta couple for over ten years. The couple both recently got promoted with their jobs and are moving to the LA area. They begged Gabby to come with them, but she wants to stay in the area. All her family is there."
"When Zach heard the news," Beth added, "he almost hired her on the spot. The family gave Gabby a wonderful compensation package, so she's happy right now to work a few hours once a week. When the kids get back to the area next February with the baby, she'll be fulltime with benefits that Jose and Kelly have already set up. The kids are ecstatic," she smiled.
"That sounds perfect," JJ smiled.
Aaron looked at his watch and then the group. "You all can leave when you want. But it's our experience that Charlotte afternoon rush hour traffic is brutal. We're going to be at the hotel in Gastonia by three."
"Fourth worst on the east coast," Reid intoned.
"Mount it up troops," Morgan smiled. He looked at Hotch. "We're following you."
By three-thirty the pool at the Best Western in Gastonia was getting a work out from the BAU crew. Two hours later, each of the groups went their separate ways for dinner. They met up later as the kids enjoyed the pool before bedtime.
"What time are you going to head out in the morning Hotch?" Will asked.
"We hit the Perkins for breakfast around eight and head out. That puts us in Lawrenceville around one."
JJ smiled. "Since we're staying at the house, do you mind if we join you?" Aaron shook his head with a smile.
"Plus there is dinner prep," Sandy said. Beth smiled at her.
Hotch looked at the group. "If you don't want to leave that early, that's up to you."
Tara shook her head. "If we're having dinner at Zach and Caleigh's, I'm there to help out with that dinner prep."
"You rock woman," Garcia said. "Kevin and I will be ready to roll." Reid nodded his head.
Teresa looked at Mat. "We're in on that," he smiled. Tess looked at her parents.
Beth smiled, rubbing her shoulder. "There's a big ass pool in the backyard."
"Sweet!" Tess smiled. "I can sleep in the car until we get there."
-00CM00-
Will softly whistled his appreciation as he followed Hotch onto Delta Queen Avenue. "You did it right kids," he said, looking at the house. Declan was riding with the Morgan family to get to the hotel to meet up with Emily.
"Is that where we're all staying dad?" Henry asked.
"Yes, it is," JJ smiled.
As Hotch and Will pulled their vehicles into the driveway, a garage door went up. Zach smiled at them, waving.
Jack threw off his seatbelt, throwing open his door. He ran at Zach. Zach pulled him into a hug, pulling Jack off the ground. "Miss you bro," Zach said, tightly hugging Jack.
"Back at you bro," Jack said, putting his head on Zach's shoulder.
Zach looked at Henry getting out of the LaMontagne vehicle as he put Jack down. "You remember your cleats Hank?"
"First thing on my packing list," Henry said, flying at Zach. "I can't wait," he excitedly said as Zach pulled him into a hug.
Zach got them into the house. Jack and Henry were already heading to Jack's room with their luggage. Zach looked at Dave. "Do you mind taking the sofa bed downstairs?"
"Hell no Zach," Dave smiled, heading towards the steps in the laundry room.
Zach showed the LaMontagne family their bedrooms with the bathroom between the rooms. "Do you have an airbed for him to sleep on," Zach said, as Michael deeply yawned with his need for an afternoon nap, resting his head on Zach's shoulder.
Sandy smiled with a wink. "We're bunking together. It's all good."
"Make yourselves at home," Zach smiled at them, handing Michael to Sandy.
He walked into Aaron and Beth's bedroom. "How's my wife?"
Aaron smiled. "She's good – she's spending the weekend with her folks."
Zach looked at Beth. "Zach, she's fine now that she's met Dr. Lisa."
"Good," Zach smiled. "I still miss her."
"We get it son," Aaron said, opening his and Beth's suitcase.
By three, the Lawrenceville Hotchner home was alive with guests. Zach had welcomed them all, pulling Emily off her feet for a huge hug after Tara and her group picked up Emily at the airport.
"I love you too ding dong," Emily smiled. "But us girls need to get into Caleigh's primo kitchen to help with dinner prep."
Zach smiled. "It's Beth, JJ, Savannah, Teresa and two grandmas. They've knocked it out."'
"Then I guess I'm drinking with Rossi," Emily smiled.
"Damn I miss your snark," Zach said, kissing her cheek, getting the last group into the home.
Three hours later, the team feasted on Zach's BBQ ribs, baked potatoes, and fresh corn on the cob that Dave and Will found at a local veggie stand along with a mega fruit salad and garlic bread. As the kids were finally released into the pool, Dani flew into the pool area barking a hello and diving in. She was followed by Rashad and Miguel doing the same.
Zach looked around to the see the neighborhood gang show up. "You thought we'd miss this?" Victoria smiled, handing AJ to Beth as Andy greeted Dave.
Alec smiled at Zach. "And we come bearing desserts."
"You guys are the best," Zach smiled.
"No Zach," Josh Willingham said. "You're dad's team is. We're here to honor that."
Aaron shook his head as Pedro smiled at him. "It's our honor Aaron," Pedro said, shaking his hand.
-00CM00-
The BAU team, with their VIP passes, was standing by the dugout as Jack and Henry came up the dugout steps, wearing their practice Brave uniforms and helmets for batting practice. Henry's had number 37 on the back of his shirt. Morgan looked at Will. "Your old number from your ball playing days?"
Will proudly smiled. "Yup." Morgan rubbed Will's shoulder with his own smile.
Sandy and Fran with Michael and Hank broadly smiled from the Schuerholz suite along with Teresa and Tess Cruz. Mel, the baseball fan was with her dad.
JJ hollered at Henry to get a picture which he ignored. Beth smiled, putting her arm around JJ's shoulder. "Sorry mom, it's all business. They've got a job to do," she winked. "I'm sure Jack schooled Henry on the ride here."
"Beth, they've been texting for days. Thank goodness that doesn't eat up our cell plan," JJ smiled.
Their job was to stand behind a screen in centerfield. The Braves in the outfield, mainly pitchers and reserve players shagged balls hit to the outfield and tossed them to the boys. The boys, with their baseball gloves on, put them into a bucket. The team, with full buy-in on Henry, tossed most of them to him.
Charlie Culbranson, one of the Braves' reserve players, hollered at Henry. "Hank! You ready for my fastball?"
"Bring it on!" Henry replied. While Charlie didn't give Henry his "A-game" throw he put some zip on it. Henry expertly caught it and tossed it to Jack to put in the bucket. Since the ticketed fans weren't in the stadium yet and it was quiet, the BAU team could hear the Braves' players praising Henry. He and Jack shared a high five, smiling, as Jack took a thrown ball from Kolby Allurd, a pitcher who had been brought up from Triple A Gwinnet. Jack smiled at Kolby with a point.
"A memory of a lifetime for him dad," Dave smiled, rubbing Will's shoulder.
"Hell Dave, me too," Will drawled. Emily rubbed JJ's back with a smile.
The team watched in amazement as Zach, Freddie and Nick Markakis buried balls into the outfield seats. "Holy shit," Declan summarized.
Just then a horn sounded. "What's that?" Reid asked.
The team looked at Jack pointing around to Henry. "By MLB rules," Hotch explained, "batting practice is forty-five minutes. But it's also the time the boys have to get busy. And they only have ten minutes to do it." He nodded towards the outfield as Jack raced towards the left field foul pole, grabbing balls the player didn't get, tossing them towards the bucket. Henry went towards the right field foul pole, doing the same.
"This is where they get their workout," Beth smiled.
"That's not fair," Garcia growled.
"It's part of their jobs Penelope," Dave said.
"Right! Their jobs! I get it."
"Cool your jets Mama," Morgan smiled, rubbing her shoulder.
The boys got all the strays and grabbed the bucket handle together. "Henry we stop behind the pitcher's mound and help in the infield."
"Got it Jack," Henry smiled.
By the time the boys finished in the Atlanta August heat, they had worked up a sweat. The boys ran towards the dugout with the bucket. Zach appeared on the top step. "Nice job guys," he smiled, high fiving them both. "Get into the tunnel." Zach winked at the group. "I've got 'em," he smiled, disappearing down the steps behind the boys.
Tara looked at Hotch. "What does that mean?"
Hotch smiled. "He gets them cooled down with a shower and they have dinner together."
"I suggest we all find a cooler place as well," Beth smiled. Ten minutes later, the group was in the Schuerholz suite.
"Wow," Kevin said, looking around the suite.
"Welcome all of you," John smiled as Michael and Hank ran to their parents. He looked at JJ and Will. "Don't worry about pictures," he smiled. "I've got the PR staff on it. They've got a summer intern," he winked. He looked at Beth and Aaron. "How's Caleigh?"
"Settling in and adjusting," Aaron smiled, shaking John's hand.
"Thanks again John," Beth said. "We really appreciate this."
John smiled, looking at the team. "The honor is mine to have you all here. Welcome to SunTrust Park. Make yourselves at home," he waved around the suite to the spread of food and drinks.
Dave looked at Derek. "Can I buy you a cold one?" he smiled, heading for an iced down tub of beer bottles.
"Rossi, you know I like traveling with you," Morgan smiled.
"I'll take one too," Mat smiled.
The team and the boys experienced a memorable night at SunTrust. The team all gushed at Zach, Jack and Henry coming out of the Braves' dugout in their home uniforms together. Zach played catch in front of the dugout with the boys.
Casey Motter announced the National Anthem. The Braves lined-up in front of the dugout. Zach had each of the boys standing in front of him. All three of them had their baseball caps in their right hands, over their hearts. Zach had his left hand on Henry's shoulder.
Caleigh looked around the living room of her parent's home with a smile. They had the MLB package on their satellite system, thanks to Caleigh and Zach's Christmas present. "No tears?" Mike teased with his arm around Sarah.
"Screw you Mike," Caleigh growled.
"Damn Sis," Mike smiled. "Is that you being pregnant or hanging around Dave too much?"
"Both," Caleigh snarled with a smile. Tom and Rachel smiled at each other.
Caleigh's phone pinged with a text. Too cool Sis! Luvs ya! Caleigh smiled at Caleb's text.
While the two boys mainly sat behind a netted area by the dugout with their helmets on, letting the "real" batboys do their job, they loved the experience of being so close to the team and the field, watching the game there. "I'd give my eye teeth to experience that," Will said.
"A true Cajun saying," Dave smiled.
"It's gotta be awesome for them," Declan added, smiling at Emily.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, with the Braves behind by one run and two outs, Freddie laced a double down the right field line. Zach, batting next, drilled a fast ball. "That's gone," Morgan said as the ball landed in the second deck of the left field seats.
Snitker looked at the boys. "Get out there and do your job!" he barked, winking at Maddux. Doggie smiled as the boys tumbled out from their protected seats.
"Pick up the bat Henry," Jack said. Henry raced towards homeplate and picked it up, running back to Jack. The team in the suite all pointed with smiles.
The boys watched Zach share a high five with Freddie after touching home plate and Nick coming up to bat next. He did the same with the boys. Freddie, following him to the dugout, high fived the boys as well.
Henry looked at Jack. "What do I do with the bat?"
"Hang on to it," Jack smiled.
John moved next to Penelope and nodded her towards the back end of the suite. "Agent Garcia," he whispered.
"Yes sir," Garcia said.
John smiled. "I'm the semi-retired old fart they humor around here. Humor me as well."
"What do you need John," Garcia smiled.
He handed her a business card. "That's my personal assistant, Chantel's card. She's going to be sending you a bunch of pictures and video tomorrow to your FBI account. Think you can cut down your cyber walls and do something with all that?"
Garcia smiled. "The Bossman and the team will have a wonderful team presentation Tuesday morning that said Bossman will not expect before we get into the crud of our jobs."
"I get a copy of that," John whispered. "And thank you Penelope for the job you do."
"Thank you," Garcia blushed.
The Braves beat the Red Sox 5-4.
-00CM00-
The group at the Hotchner home was up late, waiting for Zach and the boys. Zach had already texted Beth that the three of them hit a Golden Arches drive through on the way home. Michael was soundly sleeping.
Henry blew in, brimming with excitement. "Mom and dad, you can't believe what I've got!" he said, laying his bounty on the kitchen table. They all noticed how he was dressed. "First off, this is what the guys wear in the lockerroom after batting practice," he said showing off his Braves' cool dry t-shirt and sports shorts with the Braves' logo. Zach winked at the group, dropping Henry's sports bag. Henry then produced Zach's homerun bat Jack handed him, signed by Zach. Next was his practice uniform, already laundered and folded.
"But OMG guys!" Henry said. Sandy smiled. "Look at this!" Henry unfolded his uniform shirt, signed by all the Braves players.
JJ walked up to Zach with tears in her eyes. "I think we're even," she smiled pulling Zach into a hug.
"Close, but no cigars," Zach said. "You were huge for Jack and me that day. I'll never forget that," he said, kissing her cheek.
Dave looked at Zach. "You guys beat the best team in baseball tonight." He smiled. "This team is on the cusp of something big," he beamed. Aaron smiled at Beth.
"This was a huge win for our confidence as a young team," Zach smiled, sharing a high five with Dave.
-00CM00-
Zach lifted the lid on his laptop in the kitchen later the next morning as the team stood around eating their egg bake brunch. He already had the Skype session going with Caleigh. "Hi you," he smiled at her. "How you doing?"
"I'm good," Caleigh smiled.
"And Lex?"
Lex barked a greeting. Caleigh laughed. "Munchkin sneaks out from under mom and dad's bed to eat and use the litter box when Lex is sleeping." Zach laughed. Zach swung the laptop around so she could see everyone. "I miss you all so much! Especially you standing around in my kitchen and I'm not there."
"We love you Mother Goose," Morgan smiled into the camera. "You just take care of that little one."
"I second that medical opinion," Savannah smiled.
"Thank you both," Caleigh smiled.
Henry, between bites of his egg bake, regaled Caleigh with highlights of his night. Caleigh smiled. "I'm so glad you got that Henry. We all watched last night. Fox Sports South told the audience about you when Zach hit his homerun."
"Chip and Joe are the bomb," Jack smiled, shoving in another bite.
"Hi sweetheart," Dave smiled into the laptop camera. "We do miss you."
"Back at you Uncle Dave. But I'm at peace with this decision," she said as she rubbed her expanding belly. She looked into the camera. "Did I pass the test?"
"Rossi is totally busted Caleigh," Reid smiled. Rossi wagged a finger at him to the team's laughter.
"Aaron, when are you leaving for home?" Caleigh asked.
Aaron smiled. "After we finish eating and get the kitchen cleaned up. We all agreed when we set out on this weekend we didn't want to mess with Labor Day traffic on Monday."
Caleigh smiled. "Mom and I will have dinner for you tomorrow night at our house after you get home."
"Me too?" Reid asked.
"In your dreams Doc," Caleigh snarked. The group all laughed. "Travel safe all of you. I miss you."
"We miss you too," Emily said. "But hang in there loves. Declan and I can't wait to see you."
"Same back to you both Emily," Caleigh smiled.
"Love you much babe," Zach said. "I'll talk to you later tonight." The team all added their good-byes.
-00CM00-
Hotch walked into the Round Table room precisely at his usual time Tuesday morning. He noticed Mat Cruz at the table. Sitting down, he looked at Garcia. "What have we got?"
Garcia hit the button for the video screen. "A prezzie," she smiled. "John Schuerholz is a nice man."
#####
A/N: First off – the Reid statistic about Charlotte traffic is only me getting a bit of the good doctor into my FF. Author privilege.
Shagging baseballs is players getting warmed up while lazily chasing balls hit into the outfield by the other players on the team taking batting practice.
In my original story of this FF verse, JJ took care of Jack the day Haley died. Zach has never forgot that.
Here's where I get a bit long-winded. After my stint filling in for mom, I stayed at home to support an elderly parent who had just retired. I have my own basement apartment. I love my privacy and have a wonderful place to write.
But dad is now approaching 86 YO. He has his good days; and his bad days. His bad days are not fun days in my world.
I ran into a bit of a small windfall of money this spring. So I'm taking a trip on Thursday. My first, by myself, in over twenty years. This baseball fan is going to see the Green Monster, aka Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. And I'm going to be hanging out with a dear and wonderful Twitter friend that I originally met here at FF with her doing reviews. I need the break. Badly. Hehehehehe I know I'll get an earful about writing the Braves beating the Sox. *whispers* Why I did it.
After that, I may sneak in a Matt story in September.
Then it's a baby story in October!
But for now, I need the down time. Writing for you all is a temporary nightly escape that I love to do. I dearly need the real one.
*Knightly bow*
