Hey all - sorry it took so long to get this chapter written. I know you've all been dying to know what happens next. Unfortunately that darn real world gets in the way sometimes - but here we are now.
Thanks to my amazing beta - the wonderful DetectiveNikkiBenson040709. She gave me a ton of prompts in this chapter.
Thanks to all of you for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and setting up alerts. I hope all of you are enjoying the stories as much as I'm enjoying writing them.
I don't own Criminal Minds... at least not in this universe. Perhaps there is a parallel universe somewhere out there that I do. If you happen to stumple across it, let me know.
Now onto what you all really came here for, because I know it was not my scattered ramblings that caused you to press on that nifty little link that brought you here... on with chapter 5!
Happy reading and enjoy :D
"Here you go." JJ said handing half of the grocery list to Rebecca as they stood in the entrance of the grocery store. Chloe sat in the cart Rebecca was pushing. Henry sat in the cart JJ was pushing. Rebecca had graciously offered to help JJ with the grocery shopping.
"Okay, Chloe… we are in charge of cereal, milk, bread, and a whole bunch of other things. Do you want to hold the list for me?" Rebecca asked as she smiled at her young blonde haired brown eyed charge.
Chloe nodded eagerly and reached out for the list. "Uh huh. I wanna help."
"Okay. You hold this and then we'll head over to the part of the store where the stuff on our list is okay?"
"Okay" Chloe chirped as Rebecca started to push the cart.
"Bye Mommy" Chloe waved.
JJ laughed as she waved back. "Bye baby girl. See you in a little bit."
"Mama where Cwoe an Becbec go?" Henry asked.
"They're just going to a different part of the store to get the rest of what we need and then they're going to meet us at the register so we can be home in time to meet Daddy." JJ explained as she started to push the cart and Henry towards the produce section.
"Dada be home?" Henry asked.
"Yep Daddy will be home not too long after we get home, but first we have to buy food. How about some bananas?" JJ asked as she paused the cart next to the bananas.
Henry's eyes lit up. "I wike nanas." He said cheerfully.
"I know you do baby." She said kissing him on the top of the head. "Mommy put them on the list special just for you. And we need to get some grapes and some apples."
They continued to work their way through the store, eventually making it to the cracker aisle. JJ grabbed a packed of goldfish crackers off of the shelves.
"Fishies!" Henry said excitedly pointing at the package of crackers. Then he tipped his head in thought for a moment. "Mama we go visit Memo?"
JJ smiled. "Sure baby. You and Chloe can watch Nemo when we get home while Rebecca and I put the groceries away."
Henry shook his head. "No at home. We go to da akarium wid da tuwtwes?"
"You want to go the aquarium with the turtles?" JJ asked.
"Uh huh" Henry nodded.
"You had fun when you and Chloe went with Daddy huh?"
Henry nodded again.
"Okay, we'll ask Daddy and see what he says when we get home okay?" JJ was worried about Spence's on again off again headaches and how they would be affected by an enclosed space full of excited rambunctious children on a Saturday.
"Hello? Is anybody home?" Ashley yelled as she and her duffle bag came through the front door of the house.
"Ashley, sweetheart, what are you doing home? You just went back to school last weekend." Erin asked as she rounded the corner to the entry way.
"Mom… I… Kyle broke up with me." Ashley said as she looked at her Mom with a heartbroken look on her face.
"Oh sweetheart…." Erin said stepping forward and wrapping her arms around her oldest daughter. As she hugged Ashley and kissed her temple, she wished that it was as easy to fix the broken heart of your college sophomore daughter as it had been to fix a scraped knee when she was first learning to ride a bike at five. She did know of one thing that distracted five year olds from scraped knees and grown women from broken hearts, even if only momentarily. "How about some ice cream?" Erin asked softly as she rubbed her daughter's back.
"Rocky road?" Ashley asked as she pulled back slightly from her mother's embrace and wiped her face.
"Of course." Erin replied with a smile, "Why don't you go put your bag in your room and I'll meet you in the kitchen."
"Where's everybody else?" Ashley asked as she paused at the bottom of the stairs.
"David took your brother shopping for new soccer cleats since practice starts in a few weeks and he's outgrown his old ones and your sister…" Erin trailed off with a smile as she saw Courtney appear at the top of the stairs.
"Ashley! What are you doing here?" Courtney asked excitedly as she bounded down the stairs to greet her sister. At only two years apart, the sisters had always been very close. The first few months that Ashley had been away at college last year had been difficult for both Ashley and Courtney.
Erin smiled and shook her head as she turned to head to the kitchen. Her babies were growing up. Ashley was a college sophomore, Courtney was a high school senior working on picking a college from the numerous acceptance letters she'd received, and Tim, her precious baby boy was going to be a freshman in high school in the fall. 'Where has the time gone?' She mused as she pulled the ice cream from the freezer and three bowls down from the cabinet.
"Hey Mom?" Courtney asked as she and Ashley entered the kitchen a few minutes later pulling their mother from her memories of the years gone by.
"Yes?" Erin asked as she set dishes of Rocky Road ice cream in front of the girls as they sat down at the breakfast bar.
"Can we have family pizza, board game, movie night when Dave and Tim get home?" Courtney asked as pulled a spoonful of ice cream out of the bowl.
Erin smiled and glanced back and forth between her girls. "I think that's a lovely idea. What kind of pizza do you want? I'll call in the order and have David pick it up on their way home."
"Okay sport, do we have everything you need?" Dave asked his 14 year old son as they stood in the midst of the soccer gear at the sporting goods store. Dave was holding a pair of new soccer cleats, a new set of shin guards, several pairs of new soccer socks, and a few pairs of Umbros soccer shorts.
Needless to say the boy was growing like a weed. Last year they'd still been able to shop in the boy's section. This year they were in the men's department. Then Dave's phone rang and he fumbled for a moment to pull his phone out of his pocket while handing all of the gear to Tim who was holding up a warm up suit. Dave nodded, and Tim added it to the pile in his arms.
"Ciao il mia amante bella" Dave greeted his wife after looking at the caller ID. He grinned as he heard Erin's response on the other end of the phone. "Yeah, we're almost done. Okay. Okay. See you soon."
"What did Mom want?" Tim asked as he shifted all of the soon to be his new soccer gear in his arms.
"Ashley came home for the weekend so it's board games and movies tonight. Our mission is to pick up the pizzas your Mom ordered."
"Sweet" Tim said with a nod of his head. "Do you think she ordered cheese bread too?"
Dave shook his head and reached out and messed up his son's hair. "I think your Mom knows exactly how much of a hollow leg you have and ordered enough food to feed an army… or at the very least three hungry teenagers. Come on let's go pay for your gear and get out of here."
"Hi" Spence said as he entered the kitchen, having just gotten home from work and having gone through the living room already to say hi to Chloe and Henry. "Looks like you guys had a busy afternoon." He said as he surveyed the bags of groceries on the counter.
"Hi" JJ replied as she turned to greet Spence and he leaned down to kiss her and softly rubbed the side of her belly. "Mm" she moaned softly as he pulled away. "How did your appointment go?"
Spence shook his head. "They couldn't find anything either."
"Okay, so on Monday I'll call Dr. Green's office and get you an appointment. It's going to be okay baby… we'll figure it out." JJ said softly. "So, Henry asked if we could go to the aquarium. Do you feel up to it tomorrow?"
Spence smiled remembering how taken Chloe and Henry had both been with the aquarium when they went just before Christmas. "Sure, plus it will be nice to get out for a bit. I bet Rebecca would enjoy a day to herself."
At that moment, Rebecca entered the kitchen followed by Henry and Chloe to get a drink of water. "Why would I enjoy a day to myself?" She asked as she reached up into the cupboard and grabbed a couple of plastic cups for Chloe and Henry and pulled the jug of water out of the refrigerator and filled their cups halfway and then handed them to the kids.
Spence shrugged. "I just figured maybe you had some studying you wanted to do."
Rebecca smiled at her pseudo older brother. "Actually since classes just started again last week, I don't really have a whole lot of studying to do yet… what are you guys doing tomorrow?"
"Henry, what did we need to ask Daddy about when he got home?" JJ asked as she looked down at the toddler and took the cup that he was holding up since he was done with his drink.
Henry looked up at Daddy. "We go visit Memo, Cwush, and Skurt?"
Spence smiled. "You want to go to the aquarium and see the fish and the turtles again?"
"Uh huh" Henry said nodding eagerly.
"Chloe, what do you think princess? Do you want to go see all of the animals at the aquarium again?"
"Yep" Chloe answered popping the p. "The fish are pwetty."
"Alright, then we'll go to the aquarium tomorrow then." Spence said with a smile down at his progeny.
"You tome too Becbec?" Henry asked as he looked up at Rebecca.
"I…" Rebecca paused looking back and forth at JJ and Spencer. She didn't know how to respond. It wasn't that she didn't want to go, or that she couldn't go, but she didn't want to invite herself along on a family outing.
"Henry, Bec can come if she wants to, but she might like to go do something else tomorrow, and that's okay too because she spent the whole week with you." JJ said to Henry as she brushed his blonde hair out of his eyes. Her baby boy was in need of his first haircut, but she wanted to put it off just a bit longer if she could. He looked so cute with the way his hair curled just so at the ends. It reminded her of when Spence had longer hair. She'd also really liked when he cut his hair too though, she thought fondly as she rubbed her belly where the baby was kicking as if to remind her that he might be the lifelong reminder of just how much she enjoyed it when Spence got a haircut.
Rebecca smiled. "Actually, if you don't mind, I think the aquarium sounds like a lot of fun."
"Okay then." JJ said with a smile.
"Daddy?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah princess?"
"Will you come play wif us?"
"I'd love to princess, but I need to help Mommy."
"It's okay baby. Go play with Chloe and Henry. I'll put the groceries away and start dinner."
"I'll help." Rebecca replied stepping towards the counter and pulling out groceries and starting to put them away.
Spence sat down on the floor with Chloe and Henry to play and smiled as he heard JJ and Rebecca's laughter from the kitchen. He wasn't sure what they were talking about and chances were he was better off not knowing. JJ and Rebecca were as thick as thieves when they spent time together.
After pizza and several competitive rounds of board games, the Strauss/Rossi clan settled in the comfort of the living room to watch a movie. Erin sat cuddled into David's side with her head resting on his shoulder.
Ashley was laying with her head in her mother's lap while her Mom played with her hair like she used to when she was a little girl. Sometimes a girl, no matter how old she was, just needed her mom. Suffering from the breakup of her first long-term relationship definitely qualified as one of those times.
Courtney sat next to Dave, cuddled into her Step-Dad's side. She considered herself a lucky girl with not one, but two fathers who loved her, her sister, and her brother.
Tim was stretched out along the couch. His head was on the armrest. His legs stretched over Courtney's lap and his Dad's lap. Then, just because he could, and because he was 14 and decided it would be funny, he slid a little lower and poked Ashley in the forehead with his big toe.
Ashley grabbed Tim's foot the third time he poked her with his toes and held on tight while she tickled the bottom of her baby brother's very ticklish foot and then it became a free for all as the three teenagers wrestled with each other in the midst of a tickle war that their parents weren't fortunate enough to manage to escape.
"Are you excited for today?" Haley asked Jack as they stood in front of Emily and Aaron's condo door.
"Yeah." Jack replied nodding as he looked up at Mommy.
Haley smiled. She knew Jack had been looking forward to going to the indoor play area all week long. Since it was the middle of winter he was going a bit stir crazy having to be inside all the time. Today would be a chance for the five year old to run and play like he was outdoors, but indoors.
"Hey" Emily said as she opened the door with Seth on her hip and let them in.
"Hi Seth" Jack said in a happy excited voice as he stood up on his tip toes to see his baby brother's face.
Seth waved his hand in Jack's direction and shot him a drooly grin as he squealed happily.
Emily knelt down so that Seth was at Jack's height and they could see each other more easily.
Jack held out his hand and Seth reached out gripping on to his big brother's finger and held onto it while he happily babbled.
"Hey, there you guys are." Aaron said as he entered the entry way with Avery.
"Daddy!" Jack squealed happy to see his Dad.
"Ack!" Avery squealed as she wiggled and squirmed in Daddy's arms to be put down so she could see Jack.
To make things easy, Aaron knelt down and set Avery down on her feet just as Jack rushed at them. It turned into a big group hug as Avery hugged her brother. Jack attempted to hug Avery and Daddy at the same time. Aaron wrapped his arms around his two oldest children and smiled. It was amazing how all of the problems of the world went away in the simple moments spent with his children. "How are you buddy? Did you and Mommy have a fun week?"
"Uh huh" Jack nodded.
"Yeah, did you have fun at school?"
Jack's head bobbed eagerly.
"Are you ready to go have lots of fun?" Aaron asked as he stood up and moved to grab everybody's coats.
Jack nodded again.
Haley laughed as she watched Jack practically vibrating with excitement at getting to run and play. Then she turned to look at Aaron. "Did you get a chance to look over the information I sent you about soccer?"
Aaron nodded as he handed Seth's snowsuit to Emily. "I did. I think soccer would be great for Jack."
"Great, I'll go ahead and take care of getting him signed up." Haley replied. "Here's Jack's bag for later." She said as she sat Jack's backpack off to the side. "Have fun today Jack." Haley said as she knelt down to say goodbye to her little boy.
"Bye Mommy" Jack said as he leaned and hugged his Mommy goodbye.
"Bye Jack. Be a good boy." Haley said and then kissed Jack on the forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Whoa… cool" Jack said as the family entered the indoor play area and were greeted by the sight of an eight foot climbing wall, a jungle gym, a tree fort, a ball pit, several slides, teeter totters, and an open area where some of the kids were playing tag, and playing ball.
"You boys have fun. Avery, Seth and I will be over here." Emily said pointing to the area that was set up for the toddlers and babies.
"Hey Will, do you…" Elle trailed off at the sight of Billy walking around the living room while holding onto Daddy's hands while Will walked behind him. "Look at you Billy!" Elle said proudly with a smile on her face as she pulled out her phone and turned on the camera taking a couple pictures of Will and Billy and then turning on the video camera to catch the scene on film to send to her mother.
After a few moments of filming the scene, Elle set her phone off to the side and entered the living room. Will stopped walking a little bit away from Elle. "Hey buddy, go see Mama. Go on… you can do it."
Elle held her hands out towards Billy. "Come on baby, come and see Mama."
Billy bounced on his legs as he held onto Daddy's hands and leaned towards Mama.
Will slowly pulled first one hand and then the other out of Billy's grip until the baby boy was standing on his own, even though he wobbled slightly and then regained his balance.
Elle smiled as she watched Billy standing all on his own, his little head turning from side to side as he looked around the room.
Billy shrieked excitedly as he looked around the room. Then he wobbled again. This time he didn't regain his balance and he fell down on his diapered little butt.
Elle watched the shocked expression cross Billy's face and then he sniffled a little. He scooted forward on his hands and knees and crawled to his Mama and into her lap.
Will shook his head. "Maybe tomorrow." He said as he crossed the room in a few strides and sat down on the floor next to Elle.
"He's only 10 months. He'll walk when he's ready and he's never stood like that all on his own before." Elle said and leaned over and kissed her husband.
Will nodded. "Yeah I suppose we shouldn't rush him. Before you know it he'll be asking for the keys to the car and we'll be wondering where the time went. Won't we big guy?" Will said as he reached over and tickled Billy's tummy.
Billy giggled and gave his Daddy a toothy grin.
"Okay big guy how about a nice big smile" The photographer said as she looked through the viewfinder of the camera at the gorgeous family in front of her.
Morgan smiled as he continued looking at the camera in front of him and reached over and tickled Jake's tummy where he sat in Penelope's lap.
Jake giggled as he squirmed under Daddy's fingers.
The photographer laughed and snapped the shot. It was too cute to pass up and she had a feeling it would turn out well. "Okay Dad how about we stand you up behind the bench and stand Jake up on the bench. Mom, you stay where you are."
After several more very cute poses, the Morgan family's photo session was over. They bundled up Jake and headed home.
Penelope got lost in her thoughts from a few weeks ago about having another baby as she glanced back into the back seat to look at Jake who was busy playing with a truck in his car seat while they headed home. She smiled as she watched her 19 month old son mutter to himself as he played. He was absolutely adorable. Everyday he looked a little bit more like his Daddy. His curls were filling in from being just light fuzzy baby hair to a full head of hair. He had a bright smile with cute little dimples and he was so cheerful. Why wouldn't she want another baby?
"Hey baby girl, what are you thinking about? I can hear that beautiful brain of your whirring away from way over here." Derek said as he glanced at Penelope briefly and then turned his eyes back to the road.
Penelope turned back around in her seat from watching Jake and turned to look at Derek. "Do you ever think about us having another baby?"
"I…" Derek paused and pulled over to the side of the road, not wanting to endanger his family or anyone else on the road with distracted driving on his part. "What brought this on?"
Penelope shrugged. "At New Year's I was teasing JJ about how she really wasn't helping out the girl to boy ratio by having another boy. I just… Jake's going to be two in a few months… and I… another baby would nice. Don't you want to have more kids?"
Derek glanced in the rear view mirror and smiled when he saw Jake making truck noises while playing with his truck. Then he turned to look at Penelope. "Baby girl… I hadn't really thought about it. I never knew that I wanted a family until Jake was on the way. I was always terrified that I wouldn't be able to protect a family from everything that happened to me when I was a kid. The world is a scary place… but you've brought so much light and sunshine into my life mama. How could I not want to have more kids with you?"
"Aw you, my chocolate god, say the sweetest things." Penelope said as she leaned over to kiss Derek briefly and then wiped tears from her eyes.
Derek smirked. "Besides I remember how much fun making Jake was … so I can only imagine how much fun making another baby with you will be when we're actually trying."
"You, my dark knight, have absolutely no idea." Penelope said in a sultry voice that caused a shiver to go down her husband's spine.
"Trust me baby girl, I definitely look forward to finding out." Derek said in low voice as he leaned over and kissed Penelope one more time. Then he took her hand in his, checked his mirrors, and pulled back out in traffic to head home.
"Dada wook Memo and Dory!" Henry said gleefully as they stopped to look in the large wall length tank that housed the tropical fish. Sure enough, Henry had managed to spot the brightly colored Clown fish and Blue Tangs. The tank was a beautiful mixture of blues, reds, oranges, yellows, and every other color imaginable as all of the tropical fish swam in the large exhibit. Then divers swam up to the window and waved at all of the kids.
Chloe gasped. "What are dey doing?"
"They're probably making sure everything is safe for all the fish in the tank." Rebecca said as she looked down at Chloe in the stroller.
"How do dey breathe?" Chloe asked.
Spence smiled. At three years old, Chloe was constantly asking questions about the world around her. He loved it and how smart his little girl was. He knelt down next to the stroller and pointed at the divers. "Well do you see how they have masks over their faces and that hose that goes to their mouths?"
"Uh huh" Chloe said nodding.
"Well the mask lets them see without the water getting in their eyes and the hose has air for them to breath. See the hose goes to the tanks they're wearing on their backs. That tank holds the air for them to breathe. Do you see the bubbles that it looks like they're blowing?" he asked as he pointed to the bubbles coming out of the divers' regulators.
Chloe nodded.
"Those bubbles are because their breathing underwater. The air they're breathing out makes the bubbles." Spence explained.
"Oooooh" Chloe replied.
After some time spent looking at all of the fish, they'd moved on to the Upland Tropical Rainforest exhibit.
"Fwogs!" Henry chirped as he saw the bright blue Blue Poison Dart Frogs hop along inside the habitat.
"Look Mommy, monkeys!" Chloe said as she pointed to the monkeys in the habitat.
"I see baby." JJ said as she knelt down next to Chloe and Henry in their stroller. "Do you see all the pretty birds?" she asked as she pointed to the tree branches that held brightly colored parrots and other rainforest birds.
"Wots dat?" Henry asked as he pointed to the furry creature that was hanging upside down from a tree branch.
"That's a sloth" Spence explained as he leaned over the back of the stroller to look at Henry.
"How about we go watch the dolphin show?" JJ said, rubbing her lower back as she stood up from kneeling next to Chloe.
"Is he kicking?" Spence asked in concern as he stood back up and wrapped an arm around JJ's waist and rubbed her back.
"I'm fine Spence. It was just a twinge." JJ replied.
"Are you sure?" Spence asked in concern.
"Trust me; I will definitely let you know right away when I go into labor this time." JJ said smiling fondly as she looked down at Chloe and Henry in the stroller. "Now let's go see the dolphins."
JJ smiled as she watched Chloe completely mesmerized by the dolphins as they danced and played in the pool down below. They jumped through hoops. They danced across the surface of the tank. They played catch with one of the trainers. Then it was time to feed the dolphins and they picked volunteers out of the audience.
"How about you sweetie?" one of the trainers asked Chloe who was sitting on the end of the second row in Rebecca's lap. "Would you like to feed the dolphins?"
"Otay!" Chloe replied excitedly her eyes growing wide. "Bec you come wif me?"
"Sure Chloe, I'll come with you." Rebecca replied and glanced over at JJ who was seated next to her.
JJ nodded and smiled as she watched Bec and Chloe take the couple of stairs down to the deck of the pool. Then she turned to Spence. "Baby will you get the camera out of the backpack please?"
Spence chuckled and nodded as he bent down to the backpack resting by JJ's feet and pulled out the camera and handed it to JJ.
"Where Cwoe go?" Henry asked looking at Mommy.
"She and Bec are going to feed the dolphins." JJ explained. "See?" she said pointing out Chloe and Rebecca down on the deck of the pool.
Down on the pool deck the trainer was introducing Chloe to Sally the dolphin. The dolphin closed its eyes and sighed as Chloe petted it on its bottle nose.
"Okay Chloe" the trainer said. "Now we need to feed Sally. Rebecca might need to help you okay?"
"Okay" Chloe said with a nod of her head as the trainer held up the bucket of fish for her. The fish were slippery so Rebecca helped Chloe to grab one to feed to Sally the dolphin.
Sally chirped and chortled in dolphin noises as Rebecca and Chloe pulled out the fish to give to her. Then after feeding the dolphin they climbed back to their seats.
"Did you see me Mommy?" Chloe asked with a large grin on her face at having gotten to feed the dolphin.
"I did baby. I even got a picture of you petting the dolphin and a couple of you feeding the dolphin too." JJ replied with a smile.
"Her name is Sally." Chloe said, her eyes lighting up as she spoke about her new dolphin friend.
JJ and Spence smiled as they listened to Chloe chatter on about the dolphin.
After the dolphins, the family made their way to the Wings in the Water exhibit to see the sharks, stingrays, and a green sea turtle. Henry and Chloe oooed and ahhed as the watched the sharks and stingrays swim by. Then the sea turtle swam by.
"Mama tuwtwe!" Henry exclaimed as he leaned forward excitedly in the stroller.
"I see baby. The turtles are your favorite aren't they?" JJ asked as she knelt down next to Henry.
"Uh huh" Henry chirped as he bounced up and down in the stroller watching the sea turtle swim past the window. "Where his odder arm?" Henry asked.
JJ looked at Henry in confusion for a moment and then looked back out the viewing window and noticed that Henry was right. The sea turtle was missing a flipper. She looked over at Spence who was at the moment reading through everything about the sea turtle.
Spence stepped back over and knelt down next to Henry and Chloe. "This turtle's name is Calypso." Spence said as he pointed out the viewing window as the turtle made another pass. "He was rescued from a bay when he was littler than you. He only weighed six pounds back then. When they found him, he was really sick and had a bad owie on his flipper. He was so sick and his flipper was hurt so bad that they couldn't fix it, so they had to remove it so that it wouldn't make the rest of him sick."
Henry scrunched his face up as he thought about what Daddy said and he watched Calypso swim past the window again. "I glad dey save him." Henry said and turned to look at Daddy.
"Me too buddy."
"He bigger den me now."
"Yeah he is. That's what happens when you eat all of your vegetables. You get big and strong. In fact, did you know that's all Calypso eats is vegetables?" Spence asked as he turned to look at Henry and Chloe.
JJ and Rebecca chuckled as they listened to Spence subtly telling Chloe and Henry to eat their vegetables and watched Calypso swim a little bit longer before moving on to the next exhibit.
JJ chuckled as she glanced back into the back seat and noticed that not only were Chloe and Henry sound asleep from the car ride home, but so was Rebecca.
Spence reached across the console and took JJ's hand in his. "How are you feeling?"
JJ turned back from looking in the back seat and settled back comfortably against the seat for the hour or so drive home. "Good. It was nice to get out today and stretch my legs a bit. I think I'm going to sleep really well tonight." She said with a sigh as she rested her head against the seat. "How about you baby? How's your head?"
Spence nodded. "Okay. No headache so far today."
JJ rubbed her thumb over the back of Spence's hand comfortingly. She knew he'd been suffering silently with the on again off again headaches and that when he had one, they could be pretty intense. "I'll call Dr. Green's office on Monday and see when he can get you in."
Spence nodded. "Okay… I just… I'm scarred JJ."
JJ nodded and lifted Spence's hand up and kissed each of his knuckles. "I know baby, but we'll figure it out. I'll see if they can get you in on short notice, or what they can do to work around your schedule."
Jason hummed along to the jazz music he had playing on the stereo as he chopped garlic and scooped it up throwing it in the pan along with the peppers he was currently sautéing.
"Mm It smells amazing in here Jason." Sarah said as she slipped into the kitchen with a couple of bottles of wine. She set the bottles of wine on the counter and wrapped her arms around Jason's waist and leaned up to kiss the man she wished she would have realized she wanted to spend the rest of her life with 30 years ago.
"Mm" Jason moaned into the kiss and then smiled down at Sarah as he pulled away from her lips. "Hello Sarah"
"Hello Jason. So what are you making for dinner?" She asked as she smoothed down the front of his shirt and turned to look at what he had in all of the pans on the stove.
Sean McCallister sighed as he closed his cell phone. He apparently had been transferred to a wrong number. Instead of reaching Emily Prentiss, he'd spoken with a Penelope Garcia. He'd have to try to get in touch with Emily later. Right now he had an important meeting to get to. He stepped out of the hallway alcove that he'd stepped into to call Emily and back across the hall to the conference room and one of the many meetings for which he'd come to the States.
"Ah there you are Sean." The Director of the CIA said as he came across the room to meet Sean. "There are some people you need to meet and then we'll get this meeting started." He said as he led Sean across the room to the far end of the conference room where the Secretary of State and Director of the FBI sat speaking with Jennifer Jareau Reid.
"Where are Seaver and Hawkes?" Rossi asked as Emily and Penelope entered the round table room. He'd taken to calling Zoe Hawkes by just her last name, partly to keep things equal between the two cadets, but also because he realized that he called everyone else on the team by their last names for the most part.
"They had to take a test at the Academy." Emily explained.
"We've all seen the news." Hotch said as he handed the iPads and case files. "Mass murder in Miles City Montana. Six people shot and killed at a gas station."
"Robbery?" Emily asked.
"No apparent motive." Rossi said as he flipped through the case file.
"Any security footage?" Reid asked as he glanced up at Hotch.
"No. No cameras. No witnesses. Ballistics say we're looking at two shooters." Hotch replied before turning back to the screen and pulling up the victims.
"Well something at the station must have triggered them. It doesn't look like they had much of a plan." Morgan said as he looked up from the case file.
"This could end up being a high body count in a hurry." Elle added as she flipped through the case file.
Rossi nodded. "Spree killers often repeat themselves."
"Wheels up in thirty. We need to get to Montana tonight." Hotch said as he grabbed his files and headed out of the conference room.
"The unsubs are becoming more and more confident," Reid said to Emily and Elle as they waited for the medical examiner to open one of the drawers in the morgue. "which means their weapons are becoming more and more personal. The excitement of the brutality allows them to overcome their human inhibitions. Why is this one covered?" he asked as he stepped around the end of the tray to take a look at the victim's body.
"It's the store clerk. Guy got it pretty bad."
Reid pulled back the sheet to take a look at the bloody beaten remains of the victim. "In mid-evil times this would be just another Monday." Reid said as he dropped the sheet back down on the victim.
"He was sodomized with a tire iron." The medical examiner said with a slight degree of horror and discomfort in his voice.
"That kind of overkill suggests he was the root of their aggression." Emily replied as she turned to look at Elle and Reid. "Maybe their zeroing in on what's really pissing them off."
Elle nodded. "Well I think it's safe to say that when we do find out who they are, we'll find a history of sexual abuse in their backgrounds. I don't think we'd be seeing that component in the overkill if they didn't have a history of sexual abuse in their backgrounds."
"So then what happened?" Reid asked as the team sat playing cards together on the jet.
"I think what I told Ray about Sidney giving Amy the heroin got through to him and made him see who Sidney really was and just what exactly she'd gotten him into." Morgan said as he tossed a peanut in his mouth. "Then he let the little girl go… and then it was the shootout." He continued as he tossed a few more peanuts in his mouth.
"Hey, you're eating the winnings." Elle said poking Morgan in the shoulder. "There is one thing that we can be glad about though."
"What's that?" Emily asked with laugh as she watched big tough Derek Morgan rubbing his shoulder where Elle had poked him.
"With all the other people they killed without batting an eye, they let that little girl live." Elle replied.
Hotch nodded. "Even the most ruthless criminals detest people who hurt children. It's why child molesters do so poorly in prison."
"I'd also venture to guess that Sidney Manning saw her own destroyed innocence in her half-sister as well. It probably saved that girls life." Rossi added wondering with a shake of his head how anyone could do what Gary Manning had done to his daughter to their own child, let alone any child. It was true the sins of the father did visit themselves upon the son... and the daughter.
"See you later pretty boy" Morgan teased as they headed for their vehicles.
Reid shook his head as he paused and turned to look at Morgan. "You know Morgan; someday you really are going to have to get over your jealousy of my good looks."
"Oh ho… burn." Elle said as she came up between them and slipped her arms through both of theirs, leading them over to where their vehicles were parked. "Tell JJ I said hi chico." Elle said lifting her head and messing up Reid's hair before she headed over to her car. "I'll see you all tomorrow." She tossed over her shoulder before she climbed in and started the car and then drove out of the hangar.
Emily laughed as she watched Morgan, Reid, and Elle's antics. They were like the brothers and sister she always wanted as a kid. Then she turned to Aaron. "How would you feel about stopping on the way home for a drink with an old friend of mine?"
"Sure" Aaron replied as he took Emily's bag from her and opened the back hatch of the SUV placing them both inside.
"Hey what are you still doing awake?" Spence asked JJ as he entered their bedroom.
"Oh, hey" JJ said with a smile as she looked up from the troubling files that she was attempting to make heads or tails of from her meeting earlier today. How was anyone supposed to catch an escaped fugitive with less than half of the information that was known about the man, especially a man like Ian Doyle? She closed the file of mostly redacted information and slid it into her briefcase, locked it, and set it off to the side of the bed.
"Hey yourself" Spence said as he sat down on the edge of the bed next to JJ and ran his hand over her belly. Then he leaned in and kissed her. The baby kicked happily under the palm of his Daddy's hand. Spence smiled as he pulled out of the kiss. "It's hard to believe that I ever thought this was weird." He said nodding at her belly.
JJ nodded and set her hand on top of Spence's. "I know. It's all gone by so fast. But the next few weeks until he's ready to make his appearance are going to go especially fast."
"Especially if he takes after his big sister and brother and makes his appearance about three weeks early." Spence said with a smile and leaned in and kissed JJ again.
"Mm" JJ moaned as Spence's lips separated from hers. "Just so I don't forget, I was able to get you an appointment with Dr. Green for next week. His receptionist was expecting the call and told me that if anything comes up they can move the appointment, we just have to let them know."
"Okay" Spence nodded his forehead against hers and then kissed her again.
"Spence" JJ moaned against her husband's lips, "you need to go shower and get ready for bed."
"How about a bath and you join me?" Spence asked as he nuzzled against JJ's neck.
"You drive a hard bargain Dr. Reid." JJ moaned again as her head tipped back and Spence took full advantage of her exposed throat. She moaned again as his lips left her neck; he sat up and pulled away the covers. Then, Spence stood up and helped JJ out of bed. Hand in hand they headed for the master bathroom and a bubble bath for two.
Emily smiled as she led Aaron through the classy, dimly lit bar to meet one of her oldest and dearest friends.
"Emily Prentiss" Sean said as he stood up out of the booth, then he saw Aaron and looked at Emily. "And might this be the fine and noble Aaron Hotchner?"
Emily laughed. "Sean McCallister, Aaron Hotchner; Aaron, Sean."
"Hello" Aaron said leaning forward to shake hands with Sean.
Sean nodded at Aaron as they finished their handshake and then wrapped Emily in a friendly hug causing her to laugh again. The sound was music to Sean's ears as he hadn't heard Emily laugh much on the last case they'd worked together seven years ago, and he didn't suppose he would hear her laughing again after he told her the news he had.
"Sean, how are ya?" Emily asked as she pulled back from the friendly hug.
"Good" Sean replied as he released Emily. Then they all three moved to take a seat in the booth at the back of bar he'd asked Emily to meet him at. Naturally he sat facing the door, knowing what he knew.
"So, I was going to call you back, I just got busy on a case." Emily said after she, Aaron and Sean were comfortably ensconced in the high backed leather booth.
"I… I had to be in DC anyway." Sean said softly in his Scottish brogue.
Emily grew concerned as she watched Sean and his mannerisms at the moment.
"Ian Doyle vanished from prison."
Emily's eyes went wide as she sat in shock and she reached over into Aaron's lap to grab his hand.
"Interpol can't find him."
"What are you saying?" Emily asked in a concerned voice as her mind ran over all the possibilities.
Sean looked down, realizing how much the system had failed them, failed Emily after all she'd sacrificed seven years ago to capture the man in the first place. After a moment of contemplation, his eyes snapped up to meet Emily's. "He's off the grid Emily."
"Do you think he's headed here?" Emily asked in concern as she thought of how this would affect everyone.
Sean sat speechless as he looked at Emily. This wasn't supposed to have happened. Ian Doyle should be nothing more than a story they never told anyone. If he found out how the bastard escaped… well that wasn't the issue now. He'd attended a meeting regarding Ian Doyle's escape and the task force being put together to capture him. He was warning Emily now, and then he was going to go home to take his own precautions to protect his family.
"Am I... are we in danger?" Emily asked with a slight waver in her voice.
Sean paused as he looked down to gather his thoughts and then looked back up at Emily again. "We all are."
Aaron swallowed and squeezed Emily's hand as they contemplated just exactly what that meant with everything that Emily had told him about Ian Doyle a couple of years ago.