This chapter was not supposed to take this long to write - but I realized I had to figure out a few background things for this story... so it took a bit longer. Sorry about that. So then I planned to write the weekend away - then my sister, her boyfriend, and her dog came to visit last night... and just left a few hours ago... so I'm finishing this chapter now... but don't worry - you'll see at least one more chapter tomorrow - although hopefully more than that :D
I also know that several of you are wondering -'''What about 'The Road Before Us' and 'Though the Road was Never Smooth'?" - I assure you I'll be refocusing on those stories as soon as this one is done... and no worries - this is 'only' ;) going to be 20 chapters.
I don't own Criminal Minds.
Happy reading and enjoy. :D
"Who's up for a drink?" Morgan asked as he stood up from his desk and dropped the case file on his desk.
"Ooo who's up for five?" Emily asked as she raised her hand.
JJ let her head tip back as she chuckled at the antics of her teammates.
"Count me in." Rossi replied.
"I don't know…" Reid replied waiting to see what JJ wanted to do and trying to think of a valid reason for him not to go if JJ didn't want to.
"Oh stop with the 'I don't know', you're in kid." Morgan said as he looked over his shoulder at Reid. "JJ?" he asked as he turned around to look at JJ.
"Ugh, I'd love to, but I'm gonna take a rain check." JJ replied straightening the stack of files in her hands and thinking about how all she wanted to do was go home and cuddle up with Spence. She knew he'd think up some excuse to get himself out of going.
"Oh" Emily sighed, patting JJ on the shoulder.
"Hotch, you up for a beer?" Rossi asked Hotch moved past him towards the doors of the bullpen.
Hotch paused and turned to look back at Rossi. "Sure"
At that moment the door to the bullpen opened and a stranger in a suit spoke. "Agent Hotchner?"
"Yes" Hotch replied. He bit his lip as he was handed a manila envelope and a clipboard to sign as well as a pen.
"What is it?" Emily asked as Hotch scratched his name onto the paperwork on the clipboard.
Hotch glanced down for a moment at the manila envelope in his hands. "Haley's filing for divorce." he said as he looked up at the team "I've been served."
The team all stood in shock as they watched Hotch walk out of the bullpen. All of them looked on in shock and sadness, most notably Emily, who was wearing her 'that sucks' face. With the sad news about Hotch's marriage, Spence didn't need to worry about making any excuses to excuse himself from drinks with the team. The team forgot all about going out for a drink as they each headed home.
JJ sighed as she unlocked the door to her apartment and walked into the heavenly smell of dinner cooking. She followed her nose to the kitchen, where she found Spence making dinner dressed in a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and an old beat up Cal-Tech sweatshirt.
Spence turned to face her and JJ dropped her purse and briefcase on the kitchen table for the moment and stepped forward wrapping her arms around Spence. "When are we going catch a break?" JJ asked as she rested her cheek against the comfortably worn cotton of Spence's sweatshirt.
"What do you mean?" Spence asked rubbing his hands over JJ's back.
"It just seems like ever since Elle's shooting… it's been one thing after another… the last year has just been hell." JJ said as she looked up at Spence.
Spence nodded in agreement as he mentally listed off all the events that had left the team reeling at one point or another over the course of the last year. It had all started with Elle's shooting… well to be honest it had really started with the bombing in Boston a few years ago, but that was a whole other issue. Elle's shooting had led to her questionable shooting of a suspect and her leaving the team without so much as a goodbye. Then there'd been Morgan's arrest in Chicago and the team's original run in with Frank Breiptkopf. After that, he'd had his run in with Tobias Hankel and dilaudid. With barely any time to get their feet on solid ground, the team had to chase down Frank again after he killed Sarah in Gideon's own home. Then there was the disaster of a case on the college campus in Arizona a few months ago, quickly followed by Gideon leaving the team for parts unknown. Top the whirlwind of the last 15 months off with Garcia being shot… and Hotch's divorce… no wonder JJ was feeling worn down and just a little bit defeated. "It's going to be okay JJ. We'll get rested up over our holiday break… it's going to be okay."
JJ nodded against his chest and then leaned up to kiss him. "Speaking of the holidays, what do you want to do?"
"What are our options?" Spence asked.
"Well, we can…" JJ trailed off as her cell phone began to ring in her purse on the table.
Spence and JJ both bristled at the sound, hoping that it didn't mean they had a case. The team just really needed some down time. Hopefully they could manage to not have any cases for the next few days then they'd have a couple weeks off for the holiday break. Of course that didn't mean that they wouldn't be recalled if a case came in requiring there expertise… but at least the chances of them being needed were a little bit slimmer since the whole team would be on leave.
"Jareau" JJ said as she answered her phone, not bothering to look at the caller ID. She glanced at Spence and grabbed Spence's hand and led him to the living room and then dragged him down to sit next to her on the couch. "Will, slow down. I can't understand what you're saying. Have you been drinking?"
Spence's eyebrows lifted on his face in concern as he listened to JJ's side of the conversation.
JJ looked at Spence. "Hang on Will; I'm going to put you on speakerphone so Spence can hear you too… oaky?" At Will's agreement, JJ pulled her phone away from her ear and put the phone on speakerphone.
"Cher… I made a big" Will said and then paused as he hiccupped "mistake… I shoulda known better after the last coupla of times… but… he's my bes' frien' other 'n y'all…. I trusted 'im" Will said slurring his way through his attempt at explaining what had happened to JJ and Spencer.
"Will, what did Charlie do?" Spence asked as he scooted closer to JJ so that they could both talk into the phone if they needed to.
"That… son of a bi.." Will hiccupped "itch lied to me. Been lyin' to me the whole time we" Will hiccupped again "been together."
JJ turned her concerned eyes to look at Spence.
Spence managed to stay calm as they tried to get the story of what happened, or at least as much as they could out of a clearly very drunk Will. "Will, JJ and I can't follow you… what happened? Can you start at the beginning?"
"Yeah… I can" Hiccup "I can do that" Will replied. "So what happened was…" Will continued as he told the story of what had happened.
Will pinched the bridge of his nose as he looked down at the phone in his hand. Charlie's phone. Charlie's phone that he'd picked up and read the text message when the phone went off, because he thought it was his own phone.
At that moment Charlie made his way into the living dressed in lounge clothes and fresh from the shower.
Will tossed Charlie's phone to him. "You should probably get back to Allison. Apparently she bought some new lingerie that she's really excited for you to see." Will said angrily.
Charlie looked down at the text on the screen of his phone and his shoulders slumped as he read the text message Allison had sent him. When he'd apologized to Billy, he'd told him that he'd wanted to see where things went between them, that in order for that to happen, he was willing to break up with Allison.
"I guess even though you were willin' to break up with Allison… you jus' never got aroun' to it." Will said his accent getting stronger in his anger.
"I can explain cher… I…" Charlie started.
Will shook his head. "Charlie, save it. I don't want an explanation. But you have to make a choice. You can't keep leading Allison on. You either end it with her or we're done."
"Billy what are you thinkin'? You and I will never be able to have more than what we have right now. Seriously cher, what do you think all the guys at the station house would think of us bein' together…. I know you think that shouldn' matter, but it does." Charlie said.
Will sighed "I get that you're scared about what people will think. You don't think I am too? But you can't keep leadin' Allison on. She has a right to know… hell I had a right to know you were still with Allison. I'm sorry Charlie, I want this to work out… but not like this. You have to choose. Like this, somebody's gonna get hurt."
Charlie shook his head. "You're livin' in a dream world Billy... our friends… the guys at work… they'll never accept this... accept us. Why'd you have to go an' break up with JJ? We could have had normal lives and still had each other."
Will grimaced at the implication. "So I guess we're done then."
"I guess we are." Charlie replied and walked out of Will's house slamming the door behind him.
"That was last Friday" Will said as he finished telling the story to JJ and Spence. "I found out today at work that he proposed to Allison and she said yes."
"Oh Will" JJ sighed feeling for their friend whose feelings had been jerked around more in the last several months than any person deserved in a lifetime. "You know… Spence and I haven't figured out how we're spending the holiday yet… but why don't you spend part of your holidays with us. It'll give you a chance to get away for a while and clear your head."
"Thanks guys. I appreciate that." Will replied, the emotional exhaustion of the last few days creeping into his voice.
"It's no problem Will. You've definitely been there for JJ and I over the last several months. This is the least we could do for you." Spence replied.
JJ nodded in agreement and squeezed Spence's hand in silent agreement. "We'll give you a call in a couple days to work out plans, okay?"
They'd decided to spend a few days before Christmas, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day with JJ parents, her brother and sister-in-law, and her nieces. The day after Christmas, they'd be driving back home. The amount of presents JJ had for her family members had necessitated driving instead of flying or taking the train.
After a couple days at home, they were meeting Will in Vegas. It'd give Spence a chance to visit his Mom and hopefully a loud New Year's Eve in Vegas would distract Will from his broken heart for a little bit.
"Spence" JJ said softly, pulling her knees up to her chest as Spence came in the bedroom. "there's something I need to tell you about before we head to my parents tomorrow for Christmas."
"What is it?" Spence asked softly noting the hesitation in JJ's voice as he climbed into bed next to her and took her hand.
JJ cleared her throat. "When I was eleven…my…" She paused for a moment and then started again. "I told you about my parents and my brother… but I had an older sister… "JJ said as she looked at Spence. "When I was eleven, she…" JJ paused for a moment searching for the right words, "she …"
Spence wrapped an arm around JJ and rubbed her shoulder comfortingly and leaned down and kissed her forehead as he patiently waited for JJ to explain.
JJ swallowed the lump in her throat. JJ wasn't used to telling people. She'd grown up in a small town. Everyone in her hometown had known what happened. She'd never had to explain to anyone before. She cleared her throat again. "When I was eleven, my sister committed suicide." JJ murmured in a soft and slightly vacant tone of voice.
Spence turned in the bed and wrapped his other arm around JJ, holding her tight as she rested her head against his chest and told him all about her family growing up and the aftermath of her sister's death. She didn't want him to be blindsided or to accidentally bring up something that might cause awkwardness over the holiday.
JJ sat on the queen sized bed watching as Spence stood in the middle of the room, taking in the sights of JJ's childhood bedroom.
"Who's Mia Hamm?" Spence asked as he picked an autographed photo of JJ and a brunette up off of the bookshelf. JJ and the other girl were both in soccer gear in the photo.
JJ smirked and pointed at the wall behind Spence at where a poster hung. "She was a part of the US Women's Soccer Team."
"Oh" Spence replied as he sat the photo back on the shelf and turned to face JJ. "So you had a lot of teddy bears." He said nodding at the teddy bears on the bed that sat against the pillows, and then at the teddy bear in his girlfriend's arms.
"What's wrong Spence… are you jealous?" JJ asked with her arms wrapped around her favorite childhood bear.
"No" Spence replied just a little too quickly, to which JJ raised an eyebrow and sat the bear off to the side and stood up walking over to Spence and took his hands.
"You know," JJ whispered as she pulled Spence back to the bed by the hands "you're the first boy other than my Dad and my brother that has ever been in my room."
"JJ" Spence squeaked in a high pitched voice "your Dad…"
"Was joking about you sleeping on the couch baby" JJ replied with a laugh as she sat on the edge of the bed and spread her legs, pulling Spence in between them and then stretched up to kiss him.
Spence moaned as the kiss became heated and followed JJ as she lay back on the bed. He kicked off his shoes and crawled up on the bed after her as scooted back further onto the bed.
JJ moaned as her boyfriend planted soft kisses on her neck, her jaw, her collar bone, her chest… and then she opened her eyes when she felt him stop. "Baby, what's wrong?"
"JJ, your teddy bears are watching us" Spence murmured as his eyes glanced at the teddy bears by the pillows.
At Spence's claim, JJ tipped her head back to look where Spence's gaze rested. The teddy bears did in fact look like they were watching them. And then JJ laughed out loud at the humor of the situation as Spence buried his face in her neck.
JJ led Spence down the stairs of her childhood home and into the kitchen where her parents sat reading the paper.
"Good morning" JJ greeted cheerfully as she reached up in the cupboard and pulled down two coffee cups for herself and Spence. She filled both cups just over three fourths of the way full and handed one to Spence so that he could load it down with sugar. She opened the refrigerator and pulled out milk for her own coffee.
"Good morning dears" JJ's Mom replied, laying her section of the newspaper down on the table to look at their daughter and her boyfriend. Her eyes grew wide as she watched Spencer ladle spoonful after spoonful of sugar into his coffee and then top if off with a dash of milk. She stood up from the table and headed into the kitchen proper where JJ and Spencer were leaning against the counter next to each other enjoying their coffee. "What would you like for breakfast?" she asked.
"Mom, you don't have to make us breakfast." JJ replied.
Spence nodded. "Just coffee is fine Mrs. Jareau."
"And I thought we discussed this last night Spencer. It's Sandy." JJ's Mom said raising an eyebrow at Spencer. "And you cannot start your day on only coffee. Go sit at the table." She said shooing them to the table.
Pete Jareau smirked over the top of the newspaper as he watched his wife enjoy the opportunity to play mother hen to their fiercely independent daughter and her boyfriend. JJ seldom brought home boys to meet her parents, but when she did, it meant something. He studied the tall lanky boy who was following their daughter to the table. He'd picked up on how polite the boy was last night, but he wanted to spend some time alone with him to get a real feel for the boy his daughter was choosing to spend her time with.
"Good morning Daddy" JJ said leaning over behind her father's newspaper and kissing him on the cheek.
Pete Jareau chuckled deeply. "Good morning sparkplug."
JJ grinned at the old nickname that only her Dad called her.
"Sparkplug?" Spence asked as he looked back and forth between JJ and her Dad.
JJ's Dad laid his newspaper down on the table. "You know what a sparkplug does in a car?" Pete asked.
Spence nodded, well aware of a sparkplug's purpose due to his PHD in Engineering. "The sparkplug delivers the spark from the ignition system to the combustion chamber. Did you know…" Spence replied, about to go off on a tangent regarding the history of the sparkplug.
JJ reached over and set her hand on top of Spence's and squeezed, stopping him as he prepared to launch into a nervously rambled history lesson.
Pete Jareau nodded. "A car won't start without a sparkplug no matter how much gas it has in the tank, no matter how sleek and pretty it is, no matter how fast it can be… it needs that initial spark for anything to happen. JJ served that purpose on the soccer field. She made things happen. She was always able to get the team moving… so I called her sparkplug."
Spence nodded in understanding, and thinking about everything he knew about JJ, he could definitely see her being a motivating force in any athletic competition.
"So what's the plan for today?" JJ asked just prior to taking a sip of her coffee. "When are Chris, Kari, and the girls getting here?" she asked, inquiring about her brother and his family's arrival.
"They are going to be here tomorrow" Sandy said as she sat a plate full of pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs down in front of JJ and Spencer each. JJ had always been skinny, but good lord she and Spencer both looked like they lived off of coffee alone more often than not. A mother could tell these things.
"Which gives me the time to finish up Laney and Alexis' Christmas presents" JJ's Dad said. "Spencer, are you any good with your hands? I could use some help with the finishing touches on the girls' presents." He asked referring to the gifts for JJ's nieces, nine year old Laney and five year old Alexis.
"Sure… I'd love to help, sir." Spence replied.
"So we need to put in the finishing touches and then put on the roof." Pete said as he stood looking at the nearly finished dollhouse that sat on the workbench in his shop.
Spence nodded. "You know have you thought about wiring it for lights? The lights shining out the windows of the house would make a nice night light."
Pete tipped his head in thought. "Won't that be a fire hazard?"
Spence shook his head, his engineering skills rearing their head. "We can use led lights and operate them on battery power. It will take a little time to do the wiring, but I think the effect will be well worth the time."
Pete's eyes widened as he turned to look at Spencer. "And just what does an FBI Agent know about wiring a dollhouse for power?"
Spence cleared his throat. "I … uh… have a PHD in engineering." He replied with a shrug.
"Huh" Pete grunted, suitably impressed by his daughter's boyfriend and his intelligence. "Well, make a list of what we'll need, and then we'll go to the hardware store."
"Do we need anything from town?" Pete asked Sandy as he and Spencer walked into the living room where mother and daughter sat chatting.
"No honey. Where are you going?" JJ's Mom said as she turned to look at her husband.
"Spencer here came up with the brilliant idea of installing lights inside Alexis' dollhouse." Pete replied clapping Spencer on the shoulder.
JJ smiled and stood up and walked over to Spence. "Are you enjoying using you degrees?" she asked teasingly as she wrapped her arms around him.
Spence blushed at JJ's attention in front of her parents.
"Degrees?" JJ's Dad asked as he turned to look at JJ.
"Mm hm" JJ replied. "Spence has PHDs in mathematics, chemistry, and engineering plus bachelors in psychology and sociology."
Pete turned to look in Spencer and took in the man beside him. The more he got to know about him, the more he liked him. JJ clearly loved Spencer; that had been enough for him to be accepted into their home for the holidays. Spencer treating their daughter with respect had earned his trust. Spencer being a man who valued an education and knowledge had earned his respect.
Peter Jareau had always valued knowledge and known that an education was the key to unlocking the door to a better life. His father had emigrated from France after World War II with nothing more than a small bag of belongings and the dream for a better life than the decimated life he'd left behind;his whole family had been wiped out in the war and the family farm had been in ruins. Pete himself was a first generation natural born citizen of the United States. His father had worked long hard hours for his only son to be able to finish high school and learn a trade so that he might succeed farther than his parents. Pete had worked long and hard to provide his own children even more opportunities than he'd had. He'd never been more proud than the days his son and his daughter had graduated from college with the world at their feet. Yes, the more he got to know Spencer Reid, the more he liked him.
"So, Spencer seems very nice." Sandy told her daughter as they worked together on getting the last of the Christmas baking done while Spencer and Pete worked out in Pete's workshop, having returned from the hardware store a while ago.
JJ smiled. "He is. I love him."
"I know, I could tell" Sandy replied with a teasing smile in her daughter's direction.
"How did you…" JJ glanced up at her Mom.
"A mother knows sweetie... that and I spent so much time watching you and Chris after…" Sandy trailed off thinking of her third and oldest child, their daughter Annie. Every year got a little bit easier, but the pain of losing a child never went away, not completely.
JJ wiped her hands off on a nearby dishtowel and then turned and hugged her Mom, tears in both Jareau women's eyes as they remembered the missing third person in their cookie baking extravaganza.
The first year after losing her sister, JJ had wanted to hide and runaway from everything that reminded her of her sister. She'd gone from being a girlie girl to being a bit of a tomboy as she started spending time with her brother. She'd gone from playing with dolls, Barbies, and tea parties with an indulging older sister to climbing trees and playing soccer with her older brother. Soccer of course had paid off in ways that she couldn't even begin to have imagined the first time she'd kicked the ball at her brother. Soccer had led to a college scholarship and getting out of small town America. College had led to her listening to former FBI Agent and best-selling author David Rossi speak at Georgetown when she was trying to figure out what she should do with her life. That talk and reading Rossi's book had led to applying to the Academy and a career with the FBI, which ultimately had led to her meeting Spence.
The next day JJ's brother, Christopher, and his family arrived. Spence had managed to win over JJ's nieces, Laney and Alexis with his cool magic tricks. Alexis was delighted to be the center of attention as Spencer's assistant during a magic trick. After all, what five year old didn't like it when quarters were pulled from behind their ears? Laney, being nine, had asked Spencer to repeat the magic tricks over and over again as she attempted to figure out how he did it.
Laney and Alexis each yawned from where they sat with their grandparents in the rec room in the basement.
"I saw that kiddos" JJ's brother Chris said to his daughters. "I think it might be time for bed, what do you think Mommy?" he asked turning to his wife Kari.
"Daddy's right girls," Kari replied glancing down at her watch, "its time for bed."
"Nooooo" Alexis whined. "I wanna stay up with you and Daddy and Auntie JJ and Spencer and Grandma and Grandpa." The little five year old whined, afraid she would be missing out on terribly exciting things by going to bed.
"Can't we stay up just a little longer?" Laney begged.
"You know Laney," Pete said speaking up to stop his grand-daughter's protests "I think I may have seen grandma set aside some cookies for a bedtime snack and then I think I'd like you to read me a bedtime story. I'm awfully sleepy." He said forcing a yawn which caused both little girls to yawn.
JJ and Chris grinned and caught each other's eyes, recognizing the trick from when their Dad would put them to bed as kids.
Pete and Sandy Jareau smiled as they watched their grand-daughters run across the rec room and up the basement stairs after hugging and kissing everyone goodnight, and then stood to follow them.
Sandy paused as she made her way across the room. "Good night dears. Stay up for a while and have fun. Your Dad and I will take care of getting Laney and Alexis put to bed and you can sleep in a bit in the morning too." She said as she leaned in and kissed Chris and Kari each good night on the cheek first and then turned and repeated with process with JJ and Spencer.
"So, how about a game of pool?" Chris asked as he stood up from the sectional sofa.
"Oh, here we go." Kari said as she turned to look at Spencer when the Jareau siblings stood up from the couch and moved over to the pool table. "It will start off friendly, but before you know it Chris and JJ's competitiveness will get the better of them. One of them will beat the other in pool and then the loser will challenge the winner to either air hockey or darts and it will go on and on." Kari said to Spencer.
"Do you guys want to play? Couples?" JJ asked as she looked back and forth between where Spence and Kari sat on the couch and her brother Chris.
"Well this is new." Kari said turning to Spencer as she stood up off the couch "you are the first to ever be invited to join the competition."
"Come on Kari, let's show 'em how it's done." Chris said pulling his wife into a lengthy good luck kiss prior to her taking the breaking shot.
"Eww" JJ laughed and threw a cube of blue pool cue chalk at her brother. "Spence and I don't need a visual demonstration of why I have two nieces." JJ teased as she leaned back next to Spence.
JJ stood at the side rail of the pool table trying to determine which shot was the best shot. Then she turned and looked over her shoulder at her boyfriend. "Spence, which shot is better?" JJ asked as she pointed to a few different balls on the table.
Spence stepped up behind JJ and rested his hands on her hips as he looked over her shoulder at the pool table, taking in the angles and placement of the balls as he worked out the best combination of shots that could potentially clear the pool table of their balls. They were stripes. "I think this one" Spence said as he pointed at a ball sitting along the side rail by one of the side pockets.
"Spence, that's a nearly impossible shot." JJ said as looked at the ball Spence was pointing at.
Spence shook his head. "It looks harder than it is. If you aim the cue ball for right here." He said pointing to the rail next to the ball, "it should hit just hard enough for the 12 ball to go in the side pocket, and it will set up your next shot."
JJ turned to look at Spence's face as he finished pointing things out on the pool table. It amazed her that he was able to figure out in advance which shots to make in which order to completely clear the pool table. She leaned her head forward and kissed him on the cheek.
"What was that for?" he asked.
JJ just shrugged. "So the 12 ball in the side pocket huh?" she asked. "I don't know… are you sure?"
"Yeah, here, let me show you." Spence said as JJ lifted her pool cue. He leaned over the table, pressed close behind her and placed his hands on the pool cue over the top of hers. "Hit the cue ball right here, but not too hard." He whispered in her ear as he helped her line up her shot, showed her where to aim, and showed her the correct amount of force to use.
Chris' eyes lifted on his forehead and he smirked at the opportunity to tease his sister, but he'd wait until her shot was over.
Spence stepped away from JJ so that she could take her shot and then watched as the cue ball moved across the table with just enough speed and force and struck the 12 ball in the side just hard enough that it moved off to the side and into the side pocket. The cue ball stopped relatively close to where he'd anticipated that it would and JJ's next shot was set up.
"I did it!" JJ said excitedly and turned to face Spence, throwing her arms around him and kissing him.
"If you two keep it up, JJ isn't going to be the only one with nieces or nephews." He said as he grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at his sister. He laughed and ducked as JJ threw the cube of cue chalk at him. Yep, it was still just as fun to tease her now as it had been when they were kids.
Kari just shook her head and smiled as she took in her husband and sister-in-law's sibling antics.
A few short days later Christmas was over for another year, JJ and Spence had driven home to DC, unpacked, re-packed, and hopped a plane to Vegas. They were both eager for some warm weather. It would be nice to see Diana again and spend some time with her. They were also hoping that a few days away from New Orleans over New Year's would help get Will's mind off of his problems. He was meeting them at the airport and then they were headed to their hotel.
Joe smiled as he saw a familiar young couple enter the doors of the hotel followed by what he assumed was a friend as he noticed that the three were talking together as they approached the front desk of the hotel. "Mr. Reid, lovely to see you again." Joe said as the party reached the front desk.
"Joe" Spence greeted with a nod, "how are you?"
"I'm well" Joe replied, "and I also was able to book you into a suite like you asked. I took the liberty of checking you into your room already, so you are all set, unless there is anything else I can do for you?"
"No thanks Joe." Spence replied with a smile and a shake of his head as Joe handed him the three keys to their hotel suite.
When they arrived in the hotel suite, Will went to his room to drop his gear and settle in, while JJ and Spence did the same then they met back in the living room of the suite. They visited Diana in the afternoon and then had checked out the nightlife in the casinos along the strip. The sun was just coming up in the city that never sleeps when Spence and JJ managed to pour a very drunk Will into the bed in his room and stumble back to their own room and face plant in bed for some much deserved sleep. They'd spent the night babysitting their heart broken unlucky in love but very lucky at the craps table friend as he attempted to drown his problems with Jack, Jim, John, or any other liquor that the servers on the casino floor had handy.
"Ugh" Will moaned from the backseat of the Jeep as it bumped over the rough dirt road in what could quite possibly be the middle of nowhere. "What are we doing out here? If they wanted people out here they'd build a damned road." Will grumbled as his incredibly hung over body was jerked from side to side by the rough road once again and he reached up, grabbing on to the cross bar of the Jeep to steady himself.
JJ snickered as she looked sideways at Spence. As entertaining a drunk as Will was, he was grouchy when hung over.
Spence and JJ gotten up after a few hours of sleep that morning, had lunch, lounged by the pool for a bit and of course discussed the best method to help their friend. They'd agreed that they had to find another way to get Will's mind off of his problems. It was debatable if his liver would survive another night like the last and even if it did, they certainly didn't want to watch their friend fall victim to alcoholism as he tried to find solace from his problems in the bottom of a whiskey bottle. So they'd made arrangements with Joe to rent a Jeep for the rest of the day to drive out to the Grand Canyon. This time of year they would be able to watch the sun set over the Grand Canyon in the late afternoon.
Spence pulled the Jeep to a stop in the parking lot and glanced into the back seat at Will who sat with his head leaning back against the headrest. He imagined Will's eyes were probably closed, but it was impossible to know for sure as Will was wearing sunglasses. "We're here."
Will sat up and nodded weakly, wishing he'd managed to refuse to come with on this outing, but he hadn't wanted to let down JJ and Spencer. After all, they'd graciously invited him along on their trip and they'd made sure he'd made it safely back to the hotel room and hadn't choked to death on his own vomit. The least he could do was come on the little road trip they'd planned over lunch while he slept. Of course he hadn't known when he agreed to come, as they dragged him out of bed and shoved him into the bathroom to take a shower, that he'd be riding in the back of an open top Jeep for two hours and then be pitched about while they drove down a dirt road.
"Oh my god! This is amazing!" JJ said as she and Spence stood at the farthest point out on the horse-shoe shaped cantilever glass bridge over the Grand Canyon. The sun was just beginning to set and it was a sight to see when combined with the red rock walls of the canyon, the clear blue sky about them, and sparkling Colorado River a few thousand feet directly below where there feet stood on the glass floor of the Grand Canyon Skywalk.
"You know, this bridge is no small feat of engineering" Spence said as he stood with his arms wrapped around JJ's waist while they watched the sun set. He explained just exactly what it took to build a glass observation bridge 70 feet out from the wall of the Grand Canyon that could endure not only its own weight and the weight of pedestrian traffic, but also the windy conditions of the Grand Canyon itself.
Spencer's words washed over Will as he stood taking in the calming, peaceful, tranquility of the Grand Canyon that surrounded them as they stood 70 feet out in mid-air over the Grand Canyon. He thought about what a bitch of a year 2007 had been for him. Then again, 2005 and 2006 had been just as taxing on him emotionally, if not more so. So, why should this year have been any different? Things had to change for the better soon.
He could vaguely hear Spencer telling JJ about how it had taken eons and eons for the various combinations of the Colorado River, wind, volcanism, and continental drift to form the Grand Canyon.
That was the beauty and the tragedy. Everything changed. He could wish that he had his old life back all he wanted, but he was forever changed. Change was like the tide of an ebbing and flowing river. He could try and stand against change and fight it, but the rocky walls of the Grand Canyon had tried that and it hadn't worked so well. His only other option was to embrace the change and go along for the ride like in the brochures for the white water rapids excursions he'd seen in the lobby.
The tension in Will's shoulders released as he made peace with the changes happening in his life. You couldn't move backwards. Trying to move backwards was like trying to stand still. The proof was all around him of how well that worked. You could only move forward. Life demanded that you do so. And in moving forward the change could sculpt your life into something magnificent. After all look at what a little water had done to some bedrock.