Chapter 20

"Please, have a seat," JJ said once she and Mrs. Rossi had entered her office, freeing a chair from a load of case files that had piled up all over her office. She pulled another chair from behind her desk, and sat down next to the older woman.

Looking at her, JJ realized again that Rossi must probably resemble his father more than his mother. A few weeks back at the mall she had already noticed that there was only one physical trait he shared with his mother, and that was her eyes. They were the same dark brown color, and she looked at JJ with the same intense glance as Rossi always did. It was almost as if they could see right into the depths of her soul.

Clearing her voice, JJ started to speak first. "I'm so sorry that you had to find out this way, Mrs. Rossi. We really should have told you earlier."

"Don't worry, this is not your fault. You don't have to take responsibility for my son's mistakes," Rossi's mother answered resolutely.

"I know, but it would probably have been better if we had told you right away, when we met at the shopping center. I just... I just couldn't. You looked so proud of him that I just didn't have the heart to tell you what a -" JJ stopped in the middle of the sentence, not wanting to use bad names describing the son in front of his mother, no matter how true they might be.

"A scumbag he was?" Rossi's mother finished for her. "It's okay, don't hesitate to speak your mind. I have all kinds of names for him in my mind right now, and believe me, none of them are very flattering."

JJ smiled at her outspoken demeanor.

"Please, would you tell me what happened between you and David?" Gracia Rossi asked then. Sighing deeply, JJ was not sure if she should tell her everything, but as she saw her uneasy posture, Mrs. Rossi added: "Please, do not spare me with the details. I need to know how badly my son has screwed up."

Slowly, JJ began to talk. "David and I spent a night together in spring. I got pregnant, despite being on the pill, and when I told him about it, he was a bit overwhelmed, I guess."

"You don't have to sugarcoat the words, sweetheart. I can imagine he said some incredibly stupid things." The other woman supplied.

"Well, yes, he did. But I've wondered ever since, if things had turned out differently if I hadn't stormed out of his office. Maybe I should have insisted on talking things through right away. Maybe we wouldn't be in this mess now." JJ said, running a hand through her long, blonde hair.

"Don't blame yourself. This is all my son's doing. I'm afraid to say that he has always had a habit of talking before thinking. Go on, what happened then?"

"He had made it clear that he didn't want to be a father, so I told him to stay away from me. I was enraged when I said it, and after a while, when the first anger had been gone, I was to proud to make a step towards him, to try to talk to him again. We agreed to keep our distance from each other outside our jobs. I thought that maybe if he had some time to think about everything and get used to the thought of becoming a father, he'd come around eventually. Which he did. I just didn't think it would take that long." JJ explained.

Gracia Rossi looked at her in surprise at her last sentences.

"Well, yes," JJ continued. "The scene from earlier was sort of a relapse. Different kind of freaking out this time."

"What happened?"

JJ was still feeling a bit uneasy in telling all of these things to Rossi's mother, but she also knew that the woman sitting next to her wouldn't stop questioning until she heard the whole truth. So she took another deep breath and went on.

"I better start at the beginning," JJ elaborated. "A few weeks ago, after we met at the mall, I was in hospital for a few days due to premature contractions. This was obviously what he needed to realize what he was about to lose. We talked, and I agreed on working things out with him. I told him that for mine and Henry's sake, I would have to take things slowly, but that I was nonetheless willing to let him into our lives. We were mostly talking on the phone from then on, as I'm not really comfortable yet with spending more time with him outside of work, but I really thought we were finally on the right track. Until he got all jealous and possessive with me a few minutes ago, which had nothing to do anymore with the baby steps he'd agreed to take with me."

Mrs. Rossi shook her head, understanding completely what JJ was saying. This behavior on her son was not new to her at all. "Lapsing from one extreme into the other, that's typically David, I'm afraid to say."

JJ nodded. "Exactly."

"What was he accusing you of?" Rossi's mother kept inquiring.

"He suspected me of having an affair with a colleague, when he saw us standing in the breakroom together, yelling at poor Agent Anderson to keep his hands away from me and his baby. I know, after I've waited so long for it, I should really appreciate that he's finally referring to the baby as his, but the way he said it was just over the top."

Mrs. Rossi looked at her warmly, smiling gently, before she asked another question. "If you don't mind my asking, but you mentioned a Henry earlier."

JJ's face lit up at the mentioning of her boy's name. Smiling widely, she replied: "That's my son." She reached over to her desk and grabbed the framed photograph she'd put up there, and handed it over to Rossi's mother. The older woman's eyes began to shine.

"Oh, what a beautiful little boy! How old is he?"

"He's thirteen months old." JJ answered.

"What about his father?"

"He is not in the picture." JJ shook her head dismissively, and Mrs. Rossi seemed to understand what it meant.

"I'm so sorry. Now I'm even more upset with David for what he did. I'm sure he knows what you've been through with your son's father, doesn't he? He should have known better than to make the same mistake!" She exasperated.

JJ nodded, remembering how Dave had stepped up and had been there for her after Will had left. Feeling Mrs. Rossi take her hand and squeeze it reassuringly, JJ felt an instant bond between them. She knew she could trust the other woman unconditionally. Rossi was damn lucky to have a mother like that, she thought. Seeing the sad look and disappointment in her eyes, JJ wanted to show her another side of her son. She fumbled in her purse, and took out her wallet to pull a photo of Rossi playing with Henry from it, which she had taken on one of the many evenings Rossi had spent with them after Will's departure. "He loves Henry, you know. After his father left me, Dave was there for me like no one else. It makes it even more difficult for me to understand why he would act the way he did," JJ whispered, feeling the tears begin to form in her eyes.

They kept on chatting about how JJ and David had met, about her time with Will, and about how Dave had supported her after the end of her relationship with the cop for quite some time, and Mrs. Rossi grew angrier at her son with every minute, as she, much like JJ, could not comprehend, what made him act like this.

"His father would turn over in his grave, if he knew about David's behavior," Gracia Rossi muttered after a while. "This is not how we raised our son," she said almost apologetically. JJ smiled at her. "I'm certain of that, Mrs. Rossi," she assured her.

Thinking for a moment, JJ realized at Mrs. Rossi's mentioning of her husband that she wanted to know more about the Rossi family. She noticed now that she and Dave had never actually talked in detail about his childhood or his family, about either of their lives before they had met. She knew he'd had a happy childhood, his love and admiration for his parents were shining through the few times he had talked about them and his past, but besides that, she practically didn't know anything about him at all.

Before she was able to ask, Dave's mother began to tell her about it, already having seen the questions on JJ's face. "David's father and I got married quite young. We both wanted to have a couple of children as soon as possible, but it took a few years until David finally arrived. I had already had two miscarriages when he came. After that I tried to get pregnant again, but when I lost another three baby's in the early stages of pregnancy, we both accepted that it wasn't meant to be. As sad as I was, as my husband and I both were, we settled in with our only son. He was such sweet boy, and after all we'd been through, he was special to us. We were so proud of him, all along the way, and we did the best we could to provide for him. We tried not to spoil him too much, but despite raising him with strong values, we also allowed him to have many liberties. I have to admit that I was never entirely happy with how he chose to live his life, and he made a lot of mistakes over all those years, but deep down, he has always been a good man." Her eyes became dark and clouded, and she added: "Until now."

"He's still a good man, Mrs. Rossi. He just forgets it sometimes, and then people around him get hurt." JJ said melancholy.

Gracia Rossi reached her hand out and gently patted JJ's cheek. Smiling sadly, she said: "I've always hoped that he would find a nice girl like you, even though he doesn't deserve you at all." JJ chuckled silently at Mrs. Rossi calling her a girl. It was something that hadn't happened in quite a while. She wanted to add to it, but Mrs. Rossi stopped her. "I know you can't and you won't just simply take him back after all he's done. I understand that, and I will accept and support every decision you make." The sad look in the old lady's eyes almost tore JJ apart. She didn't deserve to suffer for her son's stupidity, and JJ knew exactly what could make her feel better.

Taking her hand, she said softly: "Mrs. Rossi, I can promise you one thing. No matter what comes out of me and Dave, I want to make sure that our child knows his grandmother. He or she will be lucky to have a wonderful person like you in his or her life."

Mrs. Rossi's face immediately lit up again, as she whispered under tears: "Thank you, Jennifer."

Although she was still more than just a little bit mad with her son, she was just as happy that she was finally, after so many years and after almost giving up hope, becoming a grandmother. Looking into Mrs. Rossi's dark brown eyes that were now shining with happiness, JJ knew she was doing the right thing. Even if she and David might never be together as a couple, they were nevertheless connected through their child for all times. The mere thought of spending more time with him than at work still made her heart ache; no matter how much she missed him, she just couldn't forget that easily, how bad he had treated her, over the last months and again today.

"Thank you again, Jennifer," Gracia Rossi said affectionately, and leaned over to pull JJ in a tight hug.

"Not at all, Mrs. Rossi," JJ replied softly.

"I think it's time for you to call me Mama. As far as I'm concerned, you're family now. And I hope that I can make David see reason and get him to understand that as well."

JJ smiled at her gently and nodded. With her help, she knew they could get out of this as friends again. She didn't want to think of anything further yet, that was something only time would be able to tell, but for the sake of their child, she wanted them to be friends.

"Now I'm going to have to pay my son another visit," Gracia Rossi continued, standing up from her chair. Taking JJ into another tight embrace, she said: "I hope we will meet again soon."

"We will," JJ ensured her.