Don't own Criminal Minds

Chapter 5: Real Mature

Derek was finishing a consultation when he heard an out-of-place but familiar giggle. Soon his door busted open and Sophia sprinted around his desk to jump in his lap. Ashley followed slightly breathless, but smiling broadly.

"What are you doing here, princess?" He said hugging Sophia tightly.

"We're visiting Uncle Josh and Mom had an interview." She replied succinctly.

"An interview?" He queried. Ashley shrugged, but her daughter replied to Derek.

"Mommy had an innerview at the 'Partment of Ed." She was getting impatient, but her mispronunciation was endearing and he tickled her before cocking his head in obvious question.

"Yeah, working with the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools."

"When will you find out?"

"Within the next week, the job starts in September and I would have to quit my job within the next few weeks, sell the house, pack up all our stuff, and move to a house here. It kinda scares the living crap outta me."

"Mommy said crap." Sophia told Derek in a child's whisper.

"We'll forgive her this once," Derek said kissing Sophia's curls. He opened his "Fun Zone" drawer and let Sophia pull some stuff out. He wanted to talk to Ashley in semi-privacy about this new development. "Jerry is alright with this?"

"He has to be." Derek crinkled his brow and Ashley elaborated, "He's back on drugs. I wasn't going to put her through that. When they were infants, I knew they wouldn't remember not seeing their dad, but now after everything I can't make her do that. She'll wonder why Jerry has stopped coming around and why he looks funny when he does try and I… It's a horrible thing to go through with somebody you care about and a six year old doesn't need to deal with that. Really, I don't want to deal with it again. I went to the judge; he said that we could move because Jerry's behavior affected Fi's wellbeing. Everybody deals with pain differently and Jerry's way is to do drugs."

"That son-of-a-bitch."

"Actually, Millie is a really nice lady." She responded dryly; her lips quirked to one side. "Derek, you… it's not fair to compare Jerry to you. He's failed so many times… he has addiction problems…. I don't want to make excuses for him, but he's a good person and he loves us. No matter how messed up he is, he still loves us. There are many men who would be a lot worse."

"But there are a lot more that would be much better."

"Please, don't. He gave me two beautiful children who I love…loved…love dearly. Even with all this hurt and pain, I still don't regret having his kids."

"I know that."

"Derek, if you want to be around Sophia, you have to let go of your hatred for Jerry. I know he does a lot of things to piss people off. He's an idiot, an addict, and an asshole sometimes, but he's still her dad. We care about him. And I don't want hostility around. You're a better person than that, you're a better person than him, so just let it go."

"Mommy and Derek, can we go to lunch? I am so hungry!" Sophia stated as she tugged on Derek's pant leg.

"That's why we came. We wanted to see if you wanted to go to lunch with us." Ashley said.

Derek swooped up Sophia into his arm and then he slid the other arm around Ashley's waist. "I would love to go to lunch with two beautiful girls."

A few weeks later, Derek was hauling a large leather couch into a DC-suburban townhouse. Ashley's brother, Josh, on the other end; Josh yelled that his sister totally owed him a few thousand beers for this move. Derek knew Ashley had acknowledged the comment because there was a drawn-out snort, and then the sound of two beers hissing as they popped open.

"O, my muscle men, will you accept this gift of my undying thanks," Ashley said as she genuflected. Josh swatted at her; the slap barely grazing her arm, but he and Derek accepted the beers nonetheless. They finished moving in all the furniture and Ashley ordered pizza.

"One thing I am going to miss about Chicago is the pizza." Ashley bemoaned as she bit into the average pizza-slice.

"Trust me lil' sis, it's the best pizza in the world. I've been stationed in many places and nothing compares to Chicago deep-dish." He bit into his slice and made a face, "Thanks a lot, sis, now you've got me craving some Lou's."

"Are you saying that Lou Malnati's is better than Giordano's?" Derek inquired flabbergasted.

"Giordano's, eww, disgustin'." Sophia interjected, obviously brainwashed at the tender age of six, and Josh hi-fived his niece.

"Yeah, Derek, are you sure you're even a Chicagoan." Ashley ribbed. Derek stuck his tongue out at the three snickering Lou's lovers.

"Real mature," Ashley and her sister-in-law, Kathy, said simultaneously which sent the table into more titters.

Before

"Agents, this is Ashley Barton, the children's mother." The lead detective introduced and Ashley willed her lips to go up in the corners but her mouth just twitched.

"Hello, Agents."

"Miss Barton," They returned with equally grim faces. The team then split up and began talking quickly amongst themselves and Ashley returned to her broken toy state. However, she wasn't allowed to remain in that state for long before the blonde agent tapped her on the shoulder with a sympathetic look.

"Miss Barton, I am Agent Jareau. I was wondering what you can tell me about your ex?" Ashley's forehead creased in confusion.

"Oh," Realization dawning, "You mean Jerry, we were never truly together, but that's beside the point. Jerry is a genuine fuck-up, but he's a nice person and he loves his kids dearly. I would even venture to say that he loves me, too, but our relationship is merely platonic. The twins were the result of a drunken wedding night when we were both feeling vulnerable. Jerry has been an addict since… well since forever. He did all kinds of things, X, weed, 'shrooms, coke really anything he can get his hands on and he loved to drink," She pauses to rub her hand over her face. "He… he's been clean for two years now, I would never have let him see our kids in his drugged-out state. I fought tooth and nail to keep my kids safe, but Jerry understood that. That's why he worked to get clean; he's a good person with a horribly addictive personality. He also tends to piss off the wrong people. He has a sense of humor that can make some people laugh and others to want to slit his throat." She paused again shaking her head. "He pays his child support and he never contested the things I said in court. He just worked to make himself a good father, it took him years but he did it. Even when I wouldn't let him see them, he still paid his child support. He's not a bad guy, he's just a fuck-up. Now he's made the biggest fuck-up of his life."

"He's a victim here, too."

"Agent, as much as I care about Jerry, I'm sure you'll find that Jerry isn't as nearly innocent as you think."

"Just 'cause you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the circus has left town."-George Carlin