Is it just me, or does it feel really good that we are now into double digits, finally, on the chapter count?
Happy reading and enjoy :D
Emily smiled as she moved down the hallway towards the group congregated in the doorway of the waiting room. "The baby's here?" she asked as she stepped up beside Reid and looked up at him.
Reid turned and grinned at Emily. "8 pounds 4 ounces, all boy."
"Congratulations Reid" Emily said as she leaned up and hugged Reid. "That's quite a bit bigger than Chloe and Henry were though right?"
Reid nodded. "Chloe and Henry were each born three weeks early though… a fetus gains nearly a pound a week during the last four weeks of pregnancy." He explained knowingly.
"Well that makes sense then." Emily replied.
"How about you? Are you going to be okay?" Reid asked nodding to the bandage peeking out of the edge of Emily's shirt.
Emily winced; she'd hoped that no one would really notice other than Aaron, and perhaps Morgan since he'd seen firsthand what Doyle had done to her. "It's sore. It hurts, and getting it removed is going to be a bitch, but I'll be okay." Emily replied as Reid started to lead them down the hallway to JJ's hospital room.
"Battery's dead Fahey" Emily said from where she sat in the backseat of Fahey's car while he tried to turn over the engine.
"Jesus… Lauren" Fahey said, recognizing the voice of the woman in the back seat, and then feeling the cold metal of her gun as she raised it next to his head.
"How many men does Doyle have Jack?"
"Doyle? Shhh… I haven't seen that guy in…"
Emily cocked the hammer of the gun to let Fahey know that she meant business.
"Fif… fifteen, may… maybe twenty guys." Fahey replied as he shifted awkwardly in the driver's seat of his car where is sat parked on the dark street just down the street from The Black Shamrock.
"Any surprises?" Emily asked as kept the cocked gun pointed at Fahey.
"Just automatic weapons, it's mostly local mod guys… uh there's a little bit of IRA. Uh…" Fahey winced, "Lauren how about you do me a favor huh? How about you ease up on that gun, okay? I helped you and Clyde back in the day… I can help you now. Do you want to know where Doyle is?"
"I already do."
"Yeah, right. What are you gonna do, take him out on your own?" Fahey asked in disbelief.
"What are you gonna do, tell him?" Emily asked in a deadly threatening tone of voice.
Fahey's eyes got big as he watched Lauren in the rearview mirror. "Wait, wait, wait, wait." The blast of a gun was the last thing he heard in his right ear just before he lost consciousness.
Sean, Tsia, and Clyde stepped out of the shadows as Emily stepped out of the backseat of Jack Fahey's car while holstering her gun.
"God Emily," Tsia said as she peaked into the window of the car at the unconscious Fahey. "Did you really need to shoot him? I'm going to end up having to touch him now to clean that wound."
"Unfortunately, she did need to shoot him." Clyde replied smoothly. "Doyle would never believe that someone like Emily or Lauren would just let him walk away without a warning not to tell Doyle. He'd be able to sense a trap about to be sprung if Fahey wasn't wounded."
Tsia nodded in understanding, knowing that Clyde was speaking the truth. That didn't mean however, that she was looking forward to having to touch the greasy letch. "Okay so we wait for Fahey to wake back up and follow him?"
Sean nodded and looked at Emily. "Were you able to place the bug and the tracking chip on him?"
Emily nodded. "Tagged him as soon as he passed out."
"So we follow him and wait for him to contact Doyle." Sean said as he turned to look back at Tsia. "Once he's done that we grab him and see what else he knows."
Clyde nodded. "Alright, Sean and Tsia you tail Fahey and grab him. I don't want to be too close by, since I'll be expecting him to call me to try and play both ends against the middle."
Emily nodded. "That sounds like Jack, always looking out for himself."
Clyde nodded. "I'll go with Emily to stake out the perimeter of the warehouse and to be able to update Emily's team on our progress."
"So marriage, children, I never thought you would be one to settle down." Clyde said as they sat in the car watching Doyle and his team of mercenaries' movements. "It's tragic really."
"You think it's tragic that I'm happily married with a family?" Emily asked in disbelief as she turned from watching Liam and Doyle through the long angle lens of the camera to look at Clyde.
"No darling, it's tragic that I was all mouth and trousers and instead of just telling you I fancied you seven years ago, more than fancied you really."
Emily's eyes grew wide as she looked at Clyde, she'd felt the chemistry between them seven years ago, but had never had the courage to pursue anything with Clyde Easter.
"And now I've gone and thrown a spanner in the works haven't I?" Clyde realized as he looked at Emily and realized what he'd missed out on. "Let's forget I said anything shall we?"
"Clyde," Emily started to speak.
"No darling, really I should have kept my peace. I'm very happy for you. Really." Clyde replied. "Now, what are Doyle and his boys up to?" Clyde asked as they watched two SUVs pull to a stop in front of the warehouse. Doyle exited from the second car and started barking commands like the former IRA Captain that he was.
"You know there are other ways to catch Doyle than doing this." Clyde said as they met up with Sean and Tsia after spending the afternoon and early evening watching the warehouse and then tailing Doyle to The Black Shamrock.
"But are there quicker ways?" Emily asked.
"No, no, I don't suppose there are considering we're here, he's here, and all the kings men are almost lined up in position." Clyde replied. "Well, then… I suppose since we're moving forward with this, I'll go and call Agent Hotchner and meet up with your team at the field office while you finish getting ready." Then he turned and walked out of the room.
"Are you sure you want to do this Emily?" Tsia asked. "We know that Doyle and his men are at the warehouse. You don't need to use yourself as bait and basically hand yourself over to him."
Emily looked at Sean and Tsia, her two closest friends from their days with JTF-12. "Actually I do. Hopefully we'll capture or kill him right now, but remember if things go south, don't come after me. Contact the Clyde. If we have to take him at the warehouse, I'm the only thing that will distract him long enough for us to have a chance at bringing him in… and if you're honest with yourself, you know it too."
Tsia nodded her head, knowing that Emily spoke the truth. "Okay, tracking device." Tsia said holding out her hand that contained a small device.
Emily undid the snap and zipper of her pants and placed the tracking device in the hollow of her hip, and used medical tape holding it down in place. She activated the device and glanced at Tsia who nodded as she looked at the iPad screen, letting Emily know that it was working.
"All set?" Sean asked as he stood facing away from Emily while she placed the tracking device.
"You can turn around Sean" Emily said with a smile as she thought about the very different demeanors of the remaining two male members of the JTF-12 team. Clyde was very much a 007, James Bond, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Bond girls and all; while Sean was an unassuming, a family man through and through, a gentleman to the core.
"Okay, I think you know how everything here works." Tsia said as she showed Emily the supplies that she and Sean had laid out while Emily and Clyde had been doing surveillance.
Emily nodded as she took in the table with the bullet proof vest, flash bang grenades, a semi-automatic snub nose machine gun, and of course ammo. Yes, in the course of her adult life she'd certainly become more than familiar with these items, she thought to herself as her eyes perused the equipment and then she started to prepare.
'It was only a matter of time before the team reached her.' Emily thought to herself as she sat tied to a chair in the warehouse. Then she could hear what she assumed were Doyle's footsteps on the cement floor behind her.
Doyle stopped behind the chair that held the woman he'd once thought he knew so well. He settled his left hand on her shoulder, his fingers gripping her throat. "Where's my ring?"
"I don't know." Emily replied thinking of how she always kept the ring in her safe at home. She wanted to have something of his father's to give to Declan someday, something that showed he wasn't a completely horrible man, something that showed Declan that his father was capable of love.
"I spent seven years in hell because of that ring," Doyle said as he reached down and began unbuttoning her shirt, "so now I'm going to give you another gift, one you won't lose so easily." He said as he pulled her shirt open, exposing her bra and chest.
Emily twisted and turned, trying to see what Doyle was doing where he'd walked to the far side of the room.
"Four-leaf Clover should be a nice addition to your other tattoos." Doyle said as he pulled the cover off of a cart and wheeled it over next to the chair where Emily was bound.
Emily tried to control her breathing and show no fear as she looked at the machine next to her.
"You still have two, right?" Doyle asked as he turned to look at Emily.
"Yep, and that's enough ink." Emily said with a shake of her head. "Thanks."
Doyle chuckled. "Ink," he said as he knelt down in front of the machine and turned it on, "North Koreans can't afford ink. No, no, they brand themselves." Doyle said with a shake of his head as he looked up at Emily.
Emily's eyes went wide as she realized what Doyle was going to do.
Doyle picked up the wand and walked behind Emily.
Emily attempted to fight against Doyle, not wanting any permanent marks left on her body that could remind her of him.
"The more you fight, the more this'll hurt." Doyle said as he pulled her back by her hair and pressed the wand to the unblemished flesh of her left breast. He doubted he would be so easily forgotten when his mark was emblazoned just over her heart.
Emily cried out in pain as Doyle began to brand her. Smoke and the acrid smell of burnt flesh swirled in the air just in front of her.
Doyle no more than finished buttoning her shirt back up than there was the sound of automatic gunfire just outside the room. "It looks like you live to fight another day love; because I didn't bring a gun in the room with me. Quelle surprise." Doyle said as he slipped back into the shadows of the room.
Emily fought against ropes that bound her, unwilling to believe that Doyle was going to escape. She couldn't continue to live like they had been for the last few weeks… the kids… god the kids. "I'm in here! I'm in here!" she yelled out hoping that someone from the team would get to her quickly enough that they could still go after and catch Doyle.
"I got her!" Morgan called out as he ran into the room and slid to his knees next to Emily working to get her untied.
"Doyle…" Emily choked out.
"It's okay princess, we've got you. You're safe now." Morgan said as he gave up on untying the knots and pulled out his knife to cut the ropes.
"No… he's running, that way." Emily said nodding her head towards the shadowed corner of the room where she'd last seen Doyle.
"Has anybody got Doyle?" Morgan asked into his mike as he carefully cut Emily's bonds.
Morgan winced at the sudden increase in noise as the panic increased that Doyle might have gotten away. But a breath of relief swept through the entire team mere moments later when JJ voice swept through everyone's earpieces announcing "I've got Doyle."
"Look who I found just sitting around in the waiting room" Spence said as he entered his wife's hospital room.
"Hey guys" JJ whispered as she looked up from the blue bundle in her arms to the team in the doorway.
The team huddled in close around the bed trying to catch a glimpse of the newest member of the BAU family.
JJ glanced at Spence, who nodded at her as he wrapped his arm around her and sat on the edge of the bed next to her and then grinned again as he looked down at the newest baby Reid.
"Guys," JJ said as she tipped her arms allowing the team to see the baby more easily. "This is Joshua Wyatt Reid."
Rossi nodded and smiled. "God is my salvation and little warrior. Interesting choices." He said pulling a page from Jason Gideon's book and telling the team what the names meant.
Reid's eyebrows rose up on his forehead. "You know the meanings of names off the top of your head?"
"You're not the only who reads a lot Reid." Rossi replied dryly. "Plus Erin's been trying to talk me into writing a novel as a way to get my mind off of the cases, which means I have a book of names that she got me to use to pick the names of characters." He said. He wasn't going to mention that they'd also been toying with the idea of adopting.
JJ smiled and shook her head at Spence who was pouting that he hadn't gotten to share the meaning of the baby's name with team. "We wanted a name that would be special and mean something, just like Chloe and Henry's names." JJ said as she looked around at the team. "So…" JJ paused as she got choked up. As happy as she was to be holding Joshua, she couldn't help but think of the baby who wasn't here… the baby that would never be… Jason Brendan.
Spence ran his hand lightly down JJ's back, kissed her temple, and whispered in her ear. "Are you okay?"
JJ nodded. "So, Elle, would you like to hold him?" she asked as she looked at Elle.
"Of course," Elle smiled as she reached out to take the baby from JJ.
Spence smiled and looked down at JJ who nodded, deciding that they definitely wanted Elle and Will to be Joshua's god parents. Then he grinned. "So who had March 7 in the baby pool?"
Morgan looked around the room to see if any of them had picked that date. When no one answered he looked back at Reid and shrugged. "My notebook's in my desk at the office. I'll have to look when we get home."
A short while later, after Joshua had been passed around and everyone had a chance to hold the newest member of the family; a nurse came in and announced that visiting hours were over.
"We should probably head to the hotel anyway." Hotch said. "It's been a long few days."
Emily nodded. "I have to come back in the morning and have them check my" Emily waved her hand in the general vicinity of the bandage on her chest.
"Are you gonna be okay?" JJ asked in concerned tone of voice as she noticed the size and location of the bandage Emily was wearing.
"Yes." Emily replied. "It hurt like a…" Emily paused looking at the baby, "well it hurt a lot when Doyle was doing it. But when the dermatologist used a laser on it, they gave me the good drugs. Even though you were in labor for almost 20 hours, I think I still have a few hours left before I can technically operate heavy machinery." Emily said with a laugh as she tried to keep the mood light after the ordeal they'd all been through in the last few weeks.
"Yeah what gives with baby number 3 here taking longer than either Chloe or Henry?" Penelope asked.
JJ smiled. "I blame Spence. Did you see how big our boy's head is?" she said with a smile as she pulled the swaddling from Joshua's head just enough so that everyone could see how large his head was.
All of the women winced sympathetically.
"Why is that fact that he has a big head my fault?" Spence asked. "The average newborn's head circumference is 14 inches or 35 centimeters. Joshua's head is only slightly over 14 inches."
Morgan laughed. "JJ's blaming Josh's big head on the fact that his Daddy has a big brain, pretty boy." Morgan said as he clapped Reid on the shoulder.
"Oh" Reid replied somewhat sheepishly.
JJ smiled and leaned into Spence's chest. "Don't worry, baby. I love your big brain. I think it's sexy."
"And on that note, I think it's time we give JJ and Reid some time alone with Joshua." Rossi said with a chuckle as he headed for the door.
"Dave's right. We'll see you in the morning." Hotch replied with a smile.
One by one the team members said their goodbyes and filtered out until just Morgan was left. "Here Reid, Penelope thought you might need these." He said as he handed Reid his and JJ's go bags.
"Thanks man, see you in the morning." Reid said as he took the bags from Morgan.
Spence sat the go bags in a chair off to the side of the room and went back to sit next JJ on the bed again. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired" JJ yawned. "This guy wore me out." She said as she ran her finger lightly over their baby boy's cheek.
Spence smiled as he reached down and ran his hand over the baby. "Is it strange that even though he's our third baby, I'm still absolutely amazed and in awe that he's finally here?" he whispered into JJ's ear.
JJ shook his head. "If it is, then we can be strange together, because I am just as amazed and in awe as I was every single time before." Then she yawned.
Spence stood up from the bed and slid his arms under JJ's. "Come on buddy. You wore Mommy out today. She needs her sleep." Spence said as he cradled their son in his arms and leaned forward and kissed his wife softly. "Get some sleep. Joshua and I will just spend some time together for a little bit and then I'll take a shower and get some sleep too.'
JJ nodded as she started to drift off, exhausted from her incredibly long adrenaline fueled day. "I love you Spence."
"I love you too JJ." Spence replied, kissing JJ one last time for the night just as her eyes drifted shut and she fell asleep.
JJ no more than reported that she had Doyle, than she felt the slow trickle of water seeping through her pants and down her legs. Spence was going to be upset. She'd promised him that she tell him when she went into labor right away this time… and considering how moody she'd been all day, she'd probably been in labor since at least when they were preparing to come on the raid.
Should she probably have listened to Hotch and staid back with Pen? Yes. Was she glad that she hadn't since it ended up with Doyle being caught? Hell yes.
Then JJ panted as she felt a contraction. Her fingers gripped her gun tightly. "Zoe, Ashley, I need your help." She called out as she rubbed her free hand over her belly while she kept her gun aimed at Doyle.
"Hang on baby… we need to find Daddy and get to the hospital before you decide to be born." JJ whispered softly under her breath so that it wouldn't be picked up by the mike. The last thing she wanted was for Spence to find out that she'd gone into labor along with 25 other people over the coms.
Zoe and Ashley were quickly beside her.
"Are you okay?" Ashley asked in a concerned voice, noting that JJ didn't look like her normal self… well at least the version of JJ she'd been the few times Ashley had met the woman.
JJ nodded and looked to Zoe. "I need you to go in the warehouse and find Spence…" JJ paused realizing the she couldn't afford for Zoe not to know who she was talking about right now, just in case. "Reid… I need you to find Reid… I just went into labor."
Zoe's eyes grew wide; she nodded and then sprinted off into the warehouse for her own version of a manhunt.
JJ looked at Ashley. "Have you taken your marksmanship test at the Academy yet?" JJ asked.
Ashley nodded.
"Did you pass?" JJ asked.
"With flying colors ma'am." Ashley replied in confusion.
"Have you learned the five fundamentals of making an arrest?" JJ asked as she focused on breathing deeply and staying calm. She was trying to avoid thinking that she was going to give birth at a crime scene.
Ashley nodded. "Immobilize, control, handcuff, search, and transport." She said growing more confused.
"Good; you're going to need to use them." JJ said as took her gun and pressed it into Ashley's hand. she turned her to cover Doyle and turned to look around for another agent. It was too dangerous to send Ashley alone, even if she had the proper training. It was also too dangerous to leave Doyle unsecured, in the open, and with a weapon.
At that moment, one of the FBI snipers came around the corner of the building to stow his gear.
"Excuse me" JJ called out as she waved the Agent over.
"Ma'am, what are you doing out here? You shouldn't be here… this is a crime scene." He said warily as he took in the very pregnant women before him as he pulled out his credentials and displayed them.
"I know that Agent... Parker" JJ said glancing at the name on his credentials, attempting to maintain her patience as she held up her own ID.
"I apologize, ma'am" the agent replied, instantly realizing his error as he looked back up at JJ, who was technically his superior even though she was with a different agency.
"It's alright. Do you have any weapons on you right now?" She asked as she nodded at him.
"Just my side arm." He replied. "The only other weapon I had with me was my riffle and that's already broken down and ready to be stowed."
JJ nodded. "I need you to leave your sidearm with your gear. I'm in labor and I need you to assist Agent Seaver with taking Doyle into custody. That gun is the only weapon that's going over there." JJ said as she nodded at Ashley and then towards Doyle. "He has a weapon on his person, but he's too dangerous to potentialy introduce another weapon into the situation. He has a gunshot to his right arm, his left hand, and I think the second bullet went through to his right shoulder as well."
The Agent nodded as he unclipped his gun from his belt checked the magazine and then handed it to JJ hand grip first with the safety on. "I'd feel better if you had a weapon to cover us from here ma'am."
JJ nodded "Alright then, I'll keep my gun. Ashley, use his weapon to cover him." JJ said as she switched weapons with Ashley. "You're going to disarm Doyle by kicking away his gun. Then Agent Parker's going to cuff him, and search him. Okay?" JJ asked taking a deep breath as she felt the baby move. "Stay with Doyle. Once we have more Agents out here we'll worry about transporting him. He's going to need first aid."
Ashley nodded and started towards Doyle.
JJ reached out and grabbed Ashley's shoulder and halted her. She leaned in and whispered in her ear. "You have the gun; you have to go first and since I'm covering you, you need to approach from a different angle so you won't block my line of sight. I can't cover you if I can't see Doyle." JJ whispered in Ashley's ear. "You're going to do fine. Just stay calm, remember to breathe, keep your gun up, and stand in a ready stance. Don't take your eyes of Doyle."
Ashley nodded as she took several step sideways to the left and led Agent Parker to where Doyle lay.
JJ watched from a distance, focusing on making sure that Ashley and Agent Parker were covered as she waited anxiously for Zoe to find Spence. She watched as Ashley kicked the gun away from Doyle where it had fallen and then moved back so that Agent Parker could cuff him and search him and then once he'd determined that Doyle was clean, he started first aid.
About that time, Spence came running out of the back of the warehouse, followed by Morgan, Emily, and Zoe. He skidded to a stop just next to JJ as he took in where her gun was aimed. "Morgan" he nodded towards where Ashley and Agent Parker were with Doyle.
"We got it." Morgan replied in understanding. "Come on Emily, let's go help Ashley." Morgan said as he pulled out his gun and took over covering Ashley and Agent Parker.
Emily too pulled out her weapon as she and Morgan approached where Doyle was, down on the ground. "Zoe, come on. We'll need all the hands we can get right now." Emily said.
Zoe nodded and followed behind Emily and then set about helping Agent Parker with applying pressure to Doyle's wounds while they waited for the ambulance to get there.
JJ sagged in relief at being able to holster her weapon.
Spence wrapped his arm around JJ once the safety of her gun was on and it was holstered. "So much for going to the hospital as soon as you're in labor this time around, huh?" Spence asked as he helped JJ walk over to the truck and helping her lean back against it. "Let me get the ambulance over here."
JJ shook her head. "Doyle is going to need the ambulance. He's got at least two gunshot wounds… probably three." She said as she took a deep breath.
"You shot him three times?" Spence asked as he looked around to see if there was an SUV nearby.
"No, just twice." JJ said as she panted. "The second shot was a through and through of his hand… I think, but I couldn't tell for sure."
"Okay… do you think you can walk to the SUV?" Spence asked.
JJ nodded and Spence helped her stand back up. "I just want to get to the hospital and have this baby." JJ said as she and Spence made their way to the SUV.
Spence nodded and rubbed his hand across JJ's lower back as he helped his wife walk to the SUV. "I just want us to make it to the hospital before the baby decides it's time for him to make his appearance."
The team watched with smiles on their faces as JJ and Spence sat curled up together with Joshua on the jet. Looking at the scene in front of them, it was hard to believe the terror of the last three weeks had happened.
Hotch came out of the galley with a cup of coffee and sat down in the booth next to Emily and across the aisle from where JJ and Reid were curled up on the couch with the baby. "So while you were in labor I received an interesting phone call." Hotch said.
"Oh?" JJ asked puzzled.
"It seems that you stopping Doyle and taking charge of the situation really impressed some higher ups. They're giving you your choice of assignment to any job you want, within a certain set of guidelines, of course." Hotch replied with a proud smile on his face at his former agent's recognition. "I'm sure your boss at the Pentagon will have the full details for you. I was just asked to let you know so that you could start thinking about where you'd like to be assigned."
A large grin lit up JJ's face and she turned to look at Spence, making eye contact with him. Spence knew exactly what JJ was asking with her eyes, and nodded in agreement. After all, he'd always told JJ that he fully supported her in her career, whatever she decided; he just wanted her to be happy.
"That's easy," JJ said as she turned back to look at Hotch, "and I don't really have to even think about it. I want to be back with the BAU."
Hotch smiled faltered. "I'm sorry JJ, but they aren't going to let you take a demotion to rejoin the team." Hotch said sadly.
Rossi shook his head. Leave it to the SOBs in charge, the PTBs to decide that you could have anything you want… just not what you really want. Then an evil grin spread across his face. "Hotch, would a profiler be considered a step up in pay grade for JJ?"
Hotch wrinkled his brown in thought. "Yes… it would." he said slowly, unsure if that was what JJ wanted to do.
Rossi turned back to look at JJ. "How would you feel about being a profiler? I think between Jason, the rest of the team, and I, we can get you up to speed in no time."
JJ glanced at Spence.
"I support you, whatever you want to do JJ." He replied as he gently squeezed his arm around her.
JJ looked back at Hotch. "I know I've always told you I liked my job as the liaison for the team, but if being a profiler means being back on the team, then I'm in."
"Well then, welcome back to the BAU Agent Jareau." Hotch replied with a smile. "We can work out the details later. For right now, you should just enjoy your maternity leave." Hotch said with a smile as Joshua grunted and kicked his legs in his Mommy's arms.
"I am so looking forward to sleeping in our own bed again." Emily said as she unlocked the door to the condo with a sleeping baby Seth on her shoulder.
Hotch nodded his agreement as he followed her in the door with a sleeping Avery on one shoulder and two diaper bags over his other shoulder. He'd go down and get the rest of their things once they had the kids settled.
Avery and Seth had been very excited to see Mommy and Daddy, but their excitement wore them out. They'd crashed in the car on the way home from Nana and Papa's house.
Emily sighed as she collapsed back onto the couch and stretched out her legs on the ottoman. "It feels so good to be home and to not have Doyle hanging over our heads."
Aaron sat down next to Emily and rested his arm along the back of the couch behind her. "I agree. What's going to happen to Doyle, now that Clyde and Sean took him into the custody of Interpol?"
"They decided to put him in the Supermax unit in Red Onion, at least for now." Emily replied as she rested her head on her husband's shoulder.
"Are you going to be okay with him being that close to us?" Aaron asked.
Emily shrugged. "It's at the other end of the state, and all of his known associates are dead. He's in a maximum security prison, so that's really the best we can ask for right now."
Aaron nodded, knowing how much it had bothered her that even someone like Ian Doyle was sent to Camp 22 in North Korea.
"So, I've been thinking," Emily said as she twisted in her seat to look at Aaron. "we should look at getting a house."
"Are you sure? You love this place and it has a great view." Aaron said as he pointed to the wall of windows that showed off the panoramic view of the National Mall, including the United States Capitol building, the Washington Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial.
Emily smiled as she remembered all the times that she and Aaron had spent looking out at the view together while they were dating. "I am. I love this place, but we need more room, and the kids need a yard to play in now that Jack and Avery are older, and Seth will be starting to walk soon."
Hotch smiled and leaned down to kiss Emily. "Alright then, we'll buy a house."
Jake giggled wildly as he and his Daddy play wrestled with Clooney on the living room floor. Clooney lay peacefully and contentedly on the floor as Jake climbed on his back and tried to ride him like a horse. His only response as Jake attempted to gallop on his back was to let out a long sigh.
Morgan shook his head and scratched Clooney behind the ears. "You sure put up with a lot don't you boy?" he asked as he continued to pet and scratch the dog's head while he reached over with his other hand and scooped Jake off of poor Clooney's back.
"Jake you can't do that." he said as he settled his son in his lap.
"Cooney" Jake screeched as he reached out towards the beloved family dog.
"Yeah Clooney's your bud isn't he?"
Jake nodded his head as he leaned forward to attempt to reach Clooney.
"You have to be nice to Clooney. You can't climb on him, okay? Just pet him okay?"
"Tay" Jake said as he held his little hand out and petted Clooney on the snout. He giggled as Clooney lifted his head and pressed his cold wet nose into his hand.
"Hey, how are all my boys?" Penelope asked as she came in the room and sat on the floor beside Derek and Jake. She smiled as she watched Jake play with Clooney.
"You're boys are fine baby girl." Derek replied with a grin. Just as he was about to lean in to kiss his wife, his son interrupted.
Jake turned from petting Clooney and noticed Mommy sitting next to Daddy. "Mama!" he squealed in delight and reached out for her.
Penelope scooped Jake up in her arms and pulled him close as she gave him kisses all over his face.
Jake giggled until Mommy stopped kissing him. Then after he caught his breath he lifted his head off Mommy's shoulder and placed his hands on either side of his Mommy's face as he patted her cheeks. "Hi!" he said in his cute baby voice.
"Hey cher, welcome home." Will said as he looked up from where he and Billy were seated on the floor playing.
The soon to be birthday boy squealed happily at seeing his Mommy and held out his arms to be picked up.
"Hey there's Mommy's favorite little guy." Elle said as she scooped Billy up in her arms.
"Hey, wait, what about me?" Will asked as he stood up with a pout on his face.
Elle chuckled. "Honey, there's nothing little about you." she said with a grin on her face. "You're my favorite big guy though and I missed you very much this weekend." She said with a wink at Will just before she leaned in to kiss him hello.
"Hey," JJ said softly as she entered the kitchen so as not to startle Rebecca. To her surprise though, Bec wasn't alone in the kitchen.
"Oh," Anderson said as he jumped up from the table. "I should uh… get going um…"
Rebecca smiled as she stood up from her seat at the table. "Thanks for helping me out with Chloe and Henry today, Chad."
"I… uh… yeah, you're welcome." Chad replied as he glanced at JJ and then Reid who had just appeared in the doorway. "So… I'm gonna go… but I'll see you on Friday?"
Rebecca smiled. "I'm looking forward to it."
Anderson turned to look at JJ and Reid and cleared his throat. "Congratulations." He said as he nodded at the baby boy in JJ's arms. "Okay… I'll uh… see you." he said flustered as he turned on his heal and headed for the door.
JJ and Spence both turned and watched as Anderson let himself out of their house. Then Spence turned and gave JJ a on the temple. "I'm going to go take a shower quick and change. Then I'll be back down." He said as he turned and carried their go bags up the stairs with him.
"Okay" JJ said as she leaned up and gave Spence a peck on the lips. She watched as Spence headed up the stairs. Then she turned to look back at Bec. "Spill."
Rebecca laughed. "Okay, okay, I will; but first let me see the baby." She said as she made a gimme motion with her hands.
JJ handed Joshua off to Bec and smiled as Rebecca looked down at her newest young charge.
"Oh I can see it right now. You are going to be a heartbreaker just like your big sister and brother." Bec cooed to the sleeping baby boy.
"Okay so now tell me what all of that was about with Anderson." JJ demanded as she and Rebecca headed for the living room.
Rebecca smiled. "Chad asked me out for dinner on Friday." She said as she sat down on the couch next to JJ.
"Really?" JJ asked.
Rebecca nodded and bit her lip.
JJ smiled. "That's great! So the two of you must have hit it off this weekend huh?"
Rebecca shook her head. "No this weekend he and the other agents were really focused on checking the house and the yard… but then after Will went home and the other agents left last night, Chad offered to stay the night again, just in case is what he said… Then this morning he offered to stay until you got home and he asked me out just a little bit before you got here."
JJ smiled as she and Rebecca sat and continued to talk, occasionally cooing over the baby for a few more minutes. Then JJ decided to go take a shower and change as well.
"Hey, how was your shower?" JJ asked as she walked into their bedroom where a wet headed fresh from the shower Spence stood in a t-shirt and lounge pants sorting the clothes in their go bags into the hamper as he unpacked them.
"It was good. What are you doing?" he asked as he glanced up at his wife.
"I realized how good shower and fresh clothes sounded." JJ said with a wicked grin on her face. Then she peeled her shirt off over her head and threw it at Spence.
"Hey" Spence's muffled voice came from behind the shirt as he pulled it off his face.
JJ laughed as she quickly dropped the rest of her clothes in the hamper and headed for a nice hot shower.
Spence shook his head and finished unpacking while JJ took a shower.
"Feel better?" Spence asked as JJ sat in the middle of their bed combing out her hair.
"Mm hm" JJ replied and leaned over and kissed Spence. As she was pulling away from his lips she heard it. "Shh listen."
Spence smiled as he listened and heard the light steps and whispering of Chloe and Henry out in the hallway. JJ and Spence both turned to look at the doorway just as Chloe and Henry made their appearance.
"Hi guys, did you have a good nap?" Daddy asked.
Henry nodded with big eyes as he looked at Mommy and Daddy. Something was different and the little boy's brain was racing as he tried to figure out what it was.
"Can we come in?" Chloe asked softly
"Sure, you can come in baby girl. Come on, you and Henry can come and cuddle on the bed with Daddy and me." JJ said as she patted a spot on the bed next to her.
"Come on Henry." Chloe said tugging on her little brother's hand as she headed towards the bed.
Henry followed behind Chloe until they reached the edge of the bed. Then Daddy lifted them up onto the bed one at a time.
Suddenly it clicked in Henry's brain what was different. "Where da baby go?" he asked as he looked at Mommy's belly as he curled up against her.
JJ chuckled that her little guy was such a smart boy. "He's down stairs with Bec… do you want to go meet him?" Mommy asked as she glanced back and forth between Chloe and Henry.
"Him hewe?" Henry asked with big eyes. "He pway with us?"
"Sorry buddy," Daddy said over the top of Chloe's head, who sat in his lap. "but, he's pretty little so it's going to be a little bit before he can play with you and Chloe."
Henry's face scrunched up as he thought. "How wittwe?"
JJ smiled at Henry's curiosity. "He's little like one of Chloe's baby dolls."
"Dat wittwe!" Henry said as he looked up at Mommy.
"Yeah it is. That's why he can't play for a while… but I bet he'd like to meet you. He'll probably even recognize you guys." JJ said with a smile.
"Can I hold him?" Chloe asked intrigued at the prospect of a live baby.
"Not by yourself, but when Daddy, Bec, or Mommy helps you, then you can." Daddy said as he looked down at Chloe.
"Okay" Chloe replied. "Can we go meet him now?"
"Sure" Daddy said lowering Chloe back onto the floor and reaching out for Henry.
"Dada, I wide?" Henry asked with a big puppy dog expression on his face.
Spence chuckled. "Sure, climb on." He said turning so that Henry could climb on his back for a piggy back ride downstairs.
Mommy held out her hand to Chloe as she stood up from the bed. "So did you have fun playing with Uncle Will and Billy this weekend sweetie?"
"Uh huh" Chloe nodded as she took Mommy's hand and they headed for the stairs. Chloe held tight to Mommy's hand as she hopped down the stairs one at a time.
"Hey guys" Rebecca smiled as she watched JJ, Spencer, Chloe, and Henry make their way down the stairs.
JJ sat down on the couch and Chloe climbed up next to her as Rebecca handed her the baby. Then Rebecca excused herself so that the family could have some time to bond with the new baby. Spence sat down in the seat Rebecca vacated and then Henry slid off his back. Spence pulled Henry into his lap.
Chloe held onto Mommy's shoulder as she knelt on her knees to get a better look at the baby. Her golden curl covered head tipped to the side as she studied him for a moment. Then she declared. "I like him."
JJ laughed. "Good, then we'll keep him." She said as she reached over and tickled Chloe's belly. "If you sit down Sweetie, you can hold him for a minute, okay?"
"Uh huh" Chloe nodded eagerly as she plopped on her butt next to Mommy.
"Wut him name?" Henry asked.
"His name is Joshua Wyatt." Spence said.
"Hi Doshiea" Henry said as he waved at his baby brother.
"No, baby boy, J-o-s-h-u-a." JJ said as she looked at Henry, drawing the name out for him to hear it better.
"Dat wut I tay. Doshiea."
JJ bit her lip to keep from laughing at her funny, smart little boy while she supported most of Joshua's weight were he rested in Chloe's arms while Henry climbed over into her lap to better be able to see the baby. Then Spence scooted closer and wrapped an arm around her as they watched their three children interact together.