Chapter 23

JJ's parents were staying with her and Henry for Christmas this year. Normally, she would spend the Holidays at their house in Pennsylvania, but after her hospitalization, she was advised not to travel longer distances, and she surely didn't want to take a risk.

The team had a small pre-Christmas party at the office on the 23rd, and then everyone headed off to their own families. Morgan flew to Chicago to visit his mother and sisters, Reid went off to Las Vegas to see his mother, Prentiss expected her mother, Hotch spent the time with Jack, and Garcia had persuaded Kevin to fly somewhere with a lot of sun and a beach.

Rossi had thought about asking JJ if they could celebrate Christmas together, but hadn't expressed this idea when she told him that her parents were coming. He realized that she needed time alone with them to get them up to date, but he made a mental note to call her every day to see how she was doing.

JJ was quite nervous when her parents arrived on Christmas Eve. She wanted to get the talk over with as fast as possible, so they could enjoy the rest of the Holidays together.

"Jennifer, sweetheart! You look so much better than last time!" Mary-Ann Jareau exclaimed as JJ opened the door to let them in. Her mother pulled her into a tight hug and stroked gently over her hair, before she stepped inside and immediately sought out Henry. After embracing her father as well, JJ stepped aside and closed the door once he was inside.

"Mom, Dad, I've already prepared the guest room for you. You can put your things in there," JJ told them, reaching for Henry, who was happily squirming in his grandmother's arms. "Let me have him so that you can get settled, Mom," she said, clearly sounding more nervous at the upcoming talk than she thought she would be.

"Jenny, you're being jittery. Are you okay?" Robert Jareau asked a bit suspiciously.

"Yeah, sure," JJ lied.

Seeing that her father didn't believe her and was about to retort something, she quickly added: "Listen, I've got to talk to you about something, but I want you to get comfortable first. I'll fix us some coffee and then we can sit down on the couch, okay?"

"Jennifer, honey. Does this have something to do with what you mentioned on the phone recently? That you're back together with the baby's father?" Mary-Ann Jareau questioned.

"We're not together, Mom, but yes, it has to do with him. Would you please get out of your coats now and go into the living room? I really don't want to do this while we're standing here in the hall." JJ insisted.

Ten minutes later they were all seated around the living room table. JJ had made some coffee – decaf as she had to assure her parents – and was searching for the right words to start. Before she could do so, however, her father spoke again.

"You really have a way of attacking us with bad news."

"Robert, we don't even know yet if it is bad news," Mary-Ann tried to calm her husband down, laying a soothing hand on his forearm. JJ took a deep breath and then slowly began her explanation.

"Mom, Daddy, I'm not sure how you're going to take what I have to say, but please don't interrupt me, okay?" Seeing them nod, she went on, swallowing heavily, and then told them the whole story, from start to finish. Her parents' eyes widened more and more with every word she said, and when she ended, there was a deafening silence at first, as they processed everything they'd just heard. Their faces were unreadable, the expressions a mixture between anger, surprise and concern, and JJ didn't really know anymore how they would react now. She had been sure that their biggest concern would be that their daughter was involved with someone she worked with, which is why she conveniently left out to mention David's age, because that would most certainly be too much for them.

Much to her surprise, though, her parents stayed calmer then she'd expected.

"Jennifer, sweetheart, why didn't you tell us all of this earlier?" Her mother asked.

"Yeah," her father added. "I would have paid this scumbag a visit with my shotgun for hurting my girl so badly. In fact, I could still do it. Where does he live, Jenny?"

"Daddy, please!" JJ groaned, only to be interrupted by her mother.

"You know that I'm not that happy with your way of life, sleeping with your colleague and all when there are certainly rules against that in the FBI, but I won't judge you for it. It's your life and you can live it any way you want. But it makes me sad that you didn't tell us earlier. You should have told us when we were here last time."

"Mom, I know. And I'm sorry about that. But I was really afraid that Daddy would hurt David."

"Damn right I would have. I told you back then that I'm going to kill this guy, and I'm still standing by it." Robert Jareau grumbled.

"Daddy, please! Leave it alone. David has made quite a few mistakes and I was deeply hurt and disappointed by it, but it's not all his fault. I'm sure I've made mistakes, too. Besides, as I've said a couple of times now, we're in the process of working things out and becoming friends again."

At her daughter's almost desperate uttered words, Mary-Ann Jareau realized that Jennifer's feelings for her coworker ran much deeper than mere friendship.

"You're in love with him, am I right?" she stated.

"No!" JJ answered much too quickly to sound convincing.

"I think you are, darling. You can deny it, but your eyes give you away, when you speak about him," her mother said softly.

"Is that true, Jenny?" Her father asked.

"No... I mean... I don't know," JJ sighed. "I guess I was in love with him before we spent the night together. I mean, he was like my best friend after Will had left, always there for me and Henry, and I could easily imagine having more with him. But he hurt me so much that I still have problems with trusting him again. I honestly don't know what I want at the moment, and I don't really want to think about my feelings for him right now. We're on our way to having our friendship back, and this, plus the fact that we're soon going to be raising a baby together, is enough for me to deal with for now. Can you understand that?"

Both her parents nodded at their daughter's pleading looks.

"Fine, but I still want to meet this guy," Robert Jareau insisted.

"You will, Daddy," JJ smiled. "But only if you promise to behave and not to hurt him."

"We'll see," he answered grumpily, already knowing that he would never deny his girl any request.

They continued talking about David and the baby for quite a while, and JJ also told them about Rossi's mother, whom their parents also insisted to meet as soon as possible.

"I want to know the people my grandchild will be spending time with after all," was her mother's comment on that.

JJ's parents had turned out to be more understanding than she had thought they would be. She had actually expected her mother to demand altering her lifestyle to fit more with her conservative views, which meant getting married to Rossi now that she knew they were approaching each other again, so she appreciated it a lot that she left it be for now. JJ was sure, though, that she would bring the topic up one day, most likely as soon as the baby was here.

As JJ had predicted, they were pretty disappointed, because she hadn't told them everything earlier. Explaining to them that she hadn't wanted to hear their reproaches and that she also hadn't wanted to worry them, JJ was relieved that her parents understood in the end.

After a while, their talk faded into a chat about lighter topics, about Henry, or how things were going in Pennsylvania, and before they knew it, it was dinner time. Mary-Ann insisted on preparing supper, while JJ and her father played with Henry until JJ's phone rang.

Peeking at the display, JJ saw that it was Rossi.

"Hi Dave," she answered at the third ring. Seeing her father's curious and not so pleased glances as he realized who the caller was, JJ stood up and walked over to her bedroom. It was not necessary that the old man overheard what she was talking with Dave while he was most likely still angry about him.

"Hey Jennifer. Are you having a good day?" Rossi greeted her.

"Yes, now I do." JJ answered.

"So, you already talked to your parents? How did they take it?" He wanted to know, sounding a bit concerned as he hoped they hadn't lashed out at her.

"Better than I thought, actually. We're okay," JJ told him.

"That's good to hear," he said relieved. "I... I just called to check on you. You okay?"

"Yes, I am." JJ smiled when she heard his words.

"And the baby's okay, too?"

"Yeah."

"And Henry?"

"Henry too," she chuckled.

"Good." Dave sounded content.

"And how are you?" JJ wanted to know from him.

"I'm fine," he replied quickly. He was about to say something else, when he heard JJ's mother calling in the background.

"I'm sorry, Dave," JJ apologized right away. "I gotta go. Dinner's ready. Is there something else you wanted?"

Yeah, I want to be with you and Henry, he thought, but he didn't say it out loud. Instead he answered. "No, not really. I'll call again tomorrow if that's okay with you."

"Sure," JJ said, having a feeling that there was more. "Dave, you're not alone right now, are you?" She'd never liked it, when someone had to spend Christmas on his own.

"Not for long. My mother's coming over and we'll attend Christmas Mass later," he said. Hearing the concern in her voice, he quickly added: "And tomorrow she's going to drag me to brunch with the whole family. There'll be quite a few aunts and uncles and cousins that I haven't seen in a while. And haven't missed for that matter, but my mother insists that I go with her."

"Good," JJ smiled. She was relieved, for her own sake, that he wasn't alone over the Holidays, because she probably would have invited him over if he were, and she wasn't sure if she or her parents were ready for that yet.

"Well then, dinner's waiting. Merry Christmas, David."

"Merry Christmas, Jennifer. Call me if you need anything, will you?"

"Of course. Thanks for the call, Dave," she gave back.

"Anytime," he replied, and before he could stop himself, he added: "It was nice to hear your voice." Hoping that this hadn't been too pushing, he blew out a breath, when he heard her answer:

"Yours too, David."