Chapter 30

The next morning at the early hour of seven am, Dave was woken up by the cheerful voice of his mother, bursting into the room and immediately bending over the baby.

He jerked up from the chair in which he had spent the night in a pretty uncomfortable position, refusing to leave Jennifer's and the baby's side.

"Mama, what are you doing here?" he hissed quietly, not wanting to wake JJ or his daughter up.

The little girl had been up and screaming every few hours, demanding to be fed, and they both didn't get too much sleep, so Dave was quite relieved when they'd finally managed to calm her down for more than just two hours at a stretch.

"What do you think, Davey? Taking a look at my first grandchild of course!" Gracia Rossi retorted.

"What time's it?" Dave muttered, glancing at his watch and continued: "Mama, it's barely seven! Couldn't you have waited for another hour or two?" Remembering their phone call from the evening before, when he had spent at least fifteen minutes to convince her not to come over at once but wait until the morning, he shook his head. His mother was incorrigible.

He was actually surprised that the team hadn't turned up already as well. He'd briefly talked to Hotch, informing him about the baby and asked him to tell the others, stressing that there was no need for them to come by before the next morning, but he reckoned that it wouldn't be long before at least Garcia was to show up.

He'd also phoned JJ's parents, who were quite surprised about how fast things went, and who promised to take the earliest flight from Pennsylvania they could get. They had sounded a bit cold towards him when he first said his name, and he couldn't blame them of course, but when they heard the exciting news, their aloofness had been gone quickly. It didn't tell him anything about how they would act towards him when they met him in person, though, but he knew that he deserved any kind of resentment they would have for him after hurting their daughter so deeply.

Getting up from the chair, he stretched his sore muscles first before he went over to his mother.

"Oh, Davey, she's so beautiful!" Gracia Rossi whispered with tears in her eyes, taking her son's face into her hands and giving him congratulating kisses onto both cheeks.

"And the name is wonderful, too!" She exclaimed as quietly as she could.

Dave hadn't wanted to tell her on the phone, saying that he wanted it to be a surprise until they introduced their little baby to her officially, but persistent as she was, his mother didn't give up until he had informed her about all the details.

"Hey, what's going on in here?" They suddenly heard a sleepy voice.

Turning around, they saw Jennifer trying to sit up in her bed. When she realized that it was Dave's mother whose noise had woken her up, a bright smile formed on her face.

Mrs. Rossi went right over to JJ's bed and drew her into a tight hug.

"Oh, congratulations, Jennifer! This is such a beautiful little girl!" She kissed JJ as well, and almost didn't want to let go of her anymore. "I'm so happy!"

"Thank you, Mrs. Rossi," JJ replied.

"Now, what did I tell you? You can call me Mama!"

"Right, Mama."

Before they could say anything else, Hannah began to stir in her crib, and within seconds, the room was filled with her loud cries. Dave bent down and lifted her up, pressing her to his chest and rubbing her back while whispering soothing words into her ears.

Mrs. Rossi stared in amazement at the wondrous transformation that had happened to her son when she saw how naturally he handled her. A few more happy tears made it down her cheeks as she silently thanked her Creator for giving her this moment.

JJ was amazed, too. Nothing reminded her of the seemingly cold-hearted and stupid bastard anymore that Dave had been only a few short months ago. Thinking about the previous night when he had firmly stood by her side, doing anything to help her take care for Hannah, she was beyond relieved that she wouldn't have to raise her alone. She deliberately blocked out the thought of Dave as anything else but the baby's father, the last thing she wanted to think about at the moment was what might come out of her and him, but seeing him with the baby convinced her that – even if they might never get together as a couple – he would never walk out in their child.

Dave paced around the room, rocking his girl in his arms, and had no intentions of handing her over to Jennifer or his mother, who was eagerly waiting to hold her granddaughter for the first time. JJ exchanged a look with Mrs. Rossi, and both grinned widely. "She already has him wrapped around her little finger," JJ chuckled.

"Davey, let me have her for a minute, please!" His mother demanded.

Reluctantly, he went over to where she was sitting next to JJ's bed and gave her the baby.

"Dave, you'll get her back," JJ snorted, laughing at his less than pleased expression. "It's not like your mother's going to run out of the room and kidnap her."

"Who knows," he muttered to himself, and added firmly when Hannah let out a few short whimpers: "JJ, I'm telling you, it's Daddy's arms she likes best!"

Deep down, of course, he was more than happy to see his mother having her biggest wish fulfilled. It had never occurred to him how much his mother really wanted grandchildren. Sure, she'd been complaining about the lack of Rossi grandbabies on every possible occasion, but it was only at that moment, when he looked at her with Hannah in her arms, that he realized the dream that had come true for her.

While Gracia Rossi was fully concentrated on Hannah, JJ realized that her nanny was still taking care of Henry, and how much she missed him and wanted him to be there with them.

"What's the matter, JJ?" Dave asked her softly, seeing her contemplating expression.

"I was thinking about Henry."

"You know, I called the nanny again last night, and she's going to watch him for as long as we need her," he tried to soothe her.

"Yeah, I know, but I miss him. I'd love to have him here," JJ sighed.

"I'm going to call her and have her bring him here, okay?"

"That would be great. Thanks, Dave."

He pressed a soft kiss into her hair and stepped out of the room.

Coming back ten minutes later, he brought three plastic cups of coffee with him. "I thought you might want to have some as well," he said. "Yours is decaf," he winked at JJ.

They spent the next hour chatting lightly, taking turns in holding Hannah, and letting the nurses fuss around JJ and the baby once the doctor had made a quick stop to check up on them, until the nanny arrived with Henry.

"Ma-ma! Da-da!" he squealed happily as soon as he'd spotted JJ and Dave.

Congratulating JJ and cooing over the newborn for a moment, the nanny excused herself again after a few minutes, leaving the family by themselves again.

Mrs. Rossi couldn't have been more surprised when she heard Henry referring to her son as "Da-da!" Smiling contently, she realized that she might have not only one but two grandchildren in the near future if her son and Jennifer were able to work out their problems, and she made a mental note to try everything within her power to help them with that, because the blonde young woman was everything she'd always imagined in a daughter-in-law.

Seeing Henry bouncing up and down on Dave's lap, she immediately fell in love with him.

"You're such a beautiful little boy, and you look just like your Mama!" she called joyfully.

Henry was a bit shy with her at first, burying his face in Dave's neck, but they all knew that it wouldn't take long for him to take the elderly lady to his heart.

First of all, however, his little sister was more interesting for him.

"Ma-ma! Ba-by!" he exclaimed excitedly, reaching his arms out to try and touch her.

"Yes, Henry, that's your baby sister Hannah!" JJ told him gently. "Do you want to say hello to her?"

"'Nah!" Henry squeaked, trying to get out of Dave's arms. Dave carefully placed him into JJ's free arm, and they all watched raptly how Henry curiously examined his little sister.