Chapter 3

Everything seemed to go downhill after Hotch was told the truth about JJ and Emily. He'd been unable to keep himself from telling Haley the minute he had stepped in the door, and after all of the horrible, gruesome, painful experiences she had shared with him about pregnancy and childbirth that evening he couldn't help but become more protective than usual of Emily, even in the office.

It certainly didn't help when they were pulled out on a case.

On the short plane ride to West Virginia he asked her four separate times whether or not she was feeling nauseas, thoroughly confusing the majority of the team, who were unaware of the pregnancy and who had never found Emily to be nauseas on a plane in all the time they'd worked with her. It got so bad that at one point JJ had to pull him aside and reprimand him for his ridiculous concerns. If Emily felt ill she would tell them. He didn't need to draw attention to her and arouse suspicion by repeatedly asking the same question. Hotch, for his part, apologized sincerely and promised to be subtler in the future.

That was until they landed in West Virginia and had to traipse through thick, deep mud to get from the makeshift runway to the local police station, one of the many joys of cases in small country towns. Again he outed his concerns, this time about her ankles, and again JJ had to explain to him that the sore ankles pregnant women complained of came from constantly carrying the weight of the baby. One did not get sore ankles from carrying something quite literally she size and shape of a small peanut. She also pre-empted any concerns about back pain, explaining that this was also a result of the baby's weight, and therefore irrelevant. She wanted to ask where exactly he'd been when his wife was pregnant, but she didn't, knowing the answer would that he had been with them. She thought that perhaps he was trying to make up for that now.

At the local PD, Hotch kept throwing sideways glances at Emily, and he had to thoroughly restrain himself from giving her a desk job and leaving her at the PD with Garcia. He told himself that, just as JJ had said, at the moment everything was perfectly normal. She wouldn't consider it a favour to be laid off work so early in her pregnancy. All the same, when he gave instructions to the team, he made sure to couple Emily with himself, ignoring JJ's disbelieving look.

The case was not a difficult one. In a town home to downwards of 300 people, a number which was constantly decreasing thanks to their fire-loving unsub, there weren't all too many suspects who fit the profile. In the end they found him doped out in a park and had him cuffed before he realized what was happening.

On the way back to Quantico, on Saturday morning, Hotch startled Reid, sitting just within earshot, by asking Emily whether or not she was experiencing an unsettled stomach, or breast pain, yet.

Thus, Reid was the third to know.

He confronted JJ, as Hotch and Emily seemed near inseparable, soon after they were off the plane.

"JJ, have you noticed anything strange going on between Hotch and Emily lately?" he asked curiously, observing them not too far away as they exited the terminal. As he did so, Garcia had just stepped aside, answering a phone call.

"No, I haven't noticed," said JJ, applying a dispassionate, bored tone to emphasize the casual nature of the situation, eyes scouring the car park for signs of where she might have parked her SUV.

"You— You haven't?" Reid confirmed, a little put off. He'd thought it was obvious. That JJ hadn't picked up anything at all gave him cause for concern. "Didn't you hear him asking those strange questions on the plane and in West Virginia? Was she nauseas, did her ankles hurt—"

"—We were almost knee deep in mud at that point," JJ pointed out. "My ankles were hurting. Maybe it just looked like Emily was in particular pain to him."

Reid considered this dubiously. "Then he asked her if her stomach was unsettled—"

"—Not long after he and Emily had returned from that makeshift burns hospital to question the last survivor of the fires," JJ rebutted. "It's just a bit unsettling, don't you think, Reid."

"—And if she had any pain in her breasts?"

JJ paused, frustration becoming evident on her face. Try as she might, she doubted that even she could explain away that one. "Okay, you're right…" she admitted reluctantly. Couldn't he have just waited until the evening? He would have found out then anyway, and it would have been on her terms, not his!

"Oh my God," Reid whispered, apparently oblivious to her frustration, eyes wide and unfathomable.

"I would have told you, but…"

"I can't believe Hotch is cheating on his wife and son!!"

JJ stopped and stared at him incredulously. "What?"

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Reid, a formidably un-Reid-like angry passion in his tone as he turned back to look at her, frozen where she stood. "Hotch cheated on Haley with Emily and now she's become pregnant! Do you know how many marriages end every year due to unfaithfulness in one or more of the spouses? Or how many of those couples have children together?? Children who suffer lasting psychological consequences???"

JJ opened her mouth, perhaps to remind Reid that he was one of these children, but no sound came out, and she watched powerlessly as he turned on his heel and stormed off towards Hotch, Emily, and Morgan. As he did so, she wanted to call out to him, contradict him, but was too shocked to do so. By the time she'd started moving toward him, she could already see the effects of her silence.

Reid, naturally not the most confrontational guy (to put it lightly), had become enraged by Hotch's infidelity, and his betrayal of both Haley and Emily. As she approached she couldn't make out the words, but she could certainly hear his tone of voice, and his frantic gesturing told a story of their own. It was Reid like she'd never seen him. Beside him, Emily and Hotch appeared confused, and their every attempt to intervene was overridden.

Had it just been those two, Hotch and Emily, standing there it might have blown over, it might have easily been explained away, but Morgan's presence precluded the possibility. Hell, it did a lot more than that…

"Morgan, stop!" JJ called out, but too late, seconds later his fist was colliding with Hotch's face. Startled, he stumbled backwards, swearing and clutching his nose as blood streamed from it.

"Are you out of your mind??" he yelled furiously. "Assaulting your superior officer—?!"

"Don't you dare fucking reprimand me, Hotch. You fucking bastard!" Morgan spat. "You have a wife and son, for Christ's sake!" Unsure what to do, he paced furiously, unable to watch as Hotch, who had been doubled over, came to stand at full height, but unable to remove himself from the situation either. He swore repeatedly under his breath to blow off steam. Meanwhile, Garcia had snapped her phone shut mid-sentence and was running over.

"Derek, you'd better have a brilliant-as-fuck explanation for this!" she cried, shooting Hotch a worried look as Emily pressed a wad of tissues to his streaming nose. "And you'd better give it to me in five seconds or less!"

"Baby girl, you don't know what this sad little twat did to Emily," Morgan protested, breathing out heavily, heart pumping from the adrenaline.

"Enlighten me!" she replied snappily, but it was Emily who replied.

"I will," she interjected firmly. "This is all because JJ and I haven't been honest with you these past 11 months. I'm sorry."

"This is about you and Jayj?" Garcia confirmed, eyes narrowing. "Okay, which one of you is the homophobic fuckwit who decided to start a fight over the best damned news I've heard all year?" When nobody replied, mostly due to their shock or lack of understanding, Garcia pedaled on. "Well?" she demanded. "Derek, explain this to me!!"

Morgan waved his hands defensively, uncomprehendingly. "Slow down. Slow down, baby girl!" he begged. "All I know is Reid comes over here, mad as hell, and he tells me that Hotch got Emily pregnant, cheatin' on his family!"

"Morgan, your cute little ass is really even dumber than I thought," Garcia deadpanned. "Hotch has nothing to do with Emily being pregnant, other than the fact that he knows about it, like everyone but you and Reid did up until a few minutes ago. His concern was totally natural, sweet even, guys, and you blew it totally out of proportion!"

Obviously thinking he'd cleared the blame by his admission of noble reasons, Morgan made to offer bashful congratulations to Emily, only to be interrupted by his girlfriend, still furious with him.

"Derek, for the love of chocolate, you should have known better than to come over here, fists flying, before you got the story straight!" she told him, shaking a finger in his direction threateningly. "Now because of your hotheadedness you've hurt Hotch for no goddamn reason! …Are you okay, Hotch?"

"I'm fine," Hotcher grunted, shaking Emily off and holding the blood-soaked tissues up with one hand, offering the other one to Morgan roughly. "But if you ever do that again—"

"Yes, sir," Morgan agreed gratefully. "Sorry about that."

Hotch nodded acceptingly and moved to lean on the nearest car, completely and utterly shell-shocked.

Nobody said anything at all until JJ appeared behind them. "So guys," she said hopefully. "Emily's at 7?"

-

As her teammates congregated by the window in Emily's living room, sipping drinks and laughing in as natural a manner as you might expect after the days many tense turns, JJ exchanged an anxious look with her wife, hovering by her side in the kitchen. It was almost time to go out there and reveal to them all what they already knew, with one exception: the results of that afternoon's tests.

Further exceptions, this time to the statement that all were all already aware of the good news, were Emily's mother and JJ's parents and siblings, all milling uncertainly around the room, entirely unsure what they had been called over for— what they were celebrating with the drinks in their hands.

All noise evaporated as Emily and JJ entered the room, replaced by a cautious, almost tangible silence. No one greeted one another, or mentioned how long it had been since they'd spoken last, even though it had… Anticipation hung heavy in the air. It could have been split with a knife.

"Friends, family…" Emily began soundly, but beyond those words she found herself mute, and touching her arm affectionately, JJ took over.

Yes, she was more apt for this job, she realised. The media liaison was used to delivering unexpected, unwelcome news after all…

"Mom, dad, Ms Prentiss, Jessica, James… team. We've invited you here to share some very special news with us that we hope you'll not only accept… but be as happy to hear as we have been made happy because of it." She paused, allowing her guests to process the weight of the situation, perhaps guess at its nature, before going on. "Emily and I have been married for six months and we're expecting a child. From the results we received today, it looks to be a healthy one at this stage. …I won't try to explain why we felt we had to keep this from you, but I hope that your reactions will tell us that it was unnecessary, and that our fears were unjustified."

"We understand if you need some time," Emily assured them, eyes locked directly on her own mothers, "But the fact is that each of you in this room is here because we, JJ and I, want very much for you to be a part of this child's life. So we hope you'll consider it and know that, whatever you choose… we'll appreciate the effort it would have taken you to do even that."

JJ frowned as she watched Emily's mother's face transform, and feeling Emily begin to shake beside her, she found herself calling out. "Ms Prentiss!"

The ambassador froze by the door upon being addressed directly. "Don't ask me to accept this, Ms Jareau, because I can't. There aren't pretty words enough in your vulgar little head to explain to me why this monstrosity had to occur, let alone beyond my notice—"

"If you're anything like my mother, Ms Prentiss," JJ continued kindly, regardless of the insult, "You'll have wanted grandchildren, am I right? Admittedly, you'll have wanted them to grow up with a mother and a father, but though our individual expectations and desires are different, the fact is that we all want what we think is best for our children, and… I'd just like to remind you that even though this child's conception exceeded those expectations, those desires… that alone can't mean that this child deserves to grow up without the influence of someone so important to its mother, or that you deserve to live estranged from the family you've desired such lovely things for. Despite everything, we're talking about your grandson… and we're talking about the daughter you gave birth to yourself."

Emily glanced away as her mother sought out her gaze. "Everyone in this room is here because we want you to be a part of this child's life," she repeated quietly. "Mother, we've never been as close as I'd have liked… The truth is, I'd like you to be a part of my life again too."

Emily's mother faltered as the gazes of her daughter's supporters all fell upon her, knowing that if she left now not only would she ruin her daughter's evening, but she would also poison the atmosphere here, and ruin everyone's. Selfishly, a part of her wanted to do just that, but she would not be the mother who just stormed out of her daughter's life in full view of the innocent parties. She had to be diplomatic about this… That's what she told herself when she returned to the space where she had previously stood, beside Mrs Jareau. She had to be diplomatic about this, that was why she was staying. It was certainly not in response to her daughter's plea, not one bit… Not because secretly, she wanted to be a part of her daughter's life too… Reaching down to the table, she retrieved her wine glass, and on the spur of the moment, raised it. "To… To my daughter," she said, falteringly, voice choked with some strange emotion that neither she, nor Emily could identify, "To my daughter, and her… wife."

Across the room from her, a man with a crooked nose also raised his glass, quickly followed by those gathered around him.

JJ's heart sank as the attention then turned on her own family, who stood huddled together in a corner, uncertain what to do. Their darting eyes convened in silence. Each struggled for an appropriate response. To express encouragement without… expressing encouragement.

Finally, JJ's father raised his glass to the couple. "My little button, and her wife," he toasted, ignoring the looks his own family was affording him in favour of the happy smiles that had washed over Emily and JJ's faces at his acceptance. "I've waited almost 30 years to see my baby girl this happy, and if this woman here is the cause of that happiness then I've no place to judge… It was a woman who made me happiest myself, after all…" He turned to his wife and took her hand in his lovingly. "Darling, you know our daughter. She's a good girl. She knows what she's doing. I only hope you'll support her too."

Following their father's lead, both Jessica and James expressed genuine support, but JJ's mother was still hesitant.

"Mom…?"

Ms Jareau's eyes snapped up at being addressed directly, and without another word, she fled the room, slamming the door behind her, no words to express what she was feeling.

Her husband sighed regretfully. "I'll speak to her…" he began, but he was interrupted.

"No, I will," Ms Prentiss cut in. "I think I understand how she's feeling…" she shot her daughter a look. "She just needs to be reminded where her priorities lie… Thank you for that, Jennifer."

"Mom…"

"I love you, Em."

Emily let out a noise halfway between a laugh and a sob. "I love you too, mom."

Ms Prentiss nodded curtly, leaving the entire party smiling after her as she left… but for once, Emily found herself suspecting that her mother's display had been about a little more than politics, than desperately needing the people around her to support her...

As she left, her mother found herself suspecting the same thing.

"To JJ and Emily!"

-

Finis