It's been nearly 4 months since my last update. I APOLOGIZE for my extreme belatedness!

I just want to point out that I write for my own entertainment/relaxation, and that fanfiction is just a hobby for me. But if I were someone who had subscribed to this story, I'd be pretty pissed at the author! And for that I am truly sorry! This chapter is dedicated to you, my awesome readers and supporters, and to one in particular: Astanley1991, who gave me a "kick in the pants"!

Anyway, onto chapter eight! This is set two months after the events of chapters six and seven. (So JJ is about three months pregnant here.)

Usual disclaimers apply! I don't own a thing besides my own imagination!


"One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: that word is love."- Sophocles


Two months later:

Today was just another day working for the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI in Quantico. No new cases, just a simple day filled by paperwork, boredom, and gossip.

Gideon passed the time in his office catching up on making new pages in his book of victims his team had saved. He was also thinking about his plans for the upcoming weekend; he and Sarah were planning a trip to Ohio to see his son Stephen, whom he hadn't seen in about two years. They were going to reconnect and to meet Stephen's new fiancée, Andrea. Jason was genuinely excited about the trip, but also a bit apprehensive. He just hoped the team wouldn't get called away on a case in the next few days.

Hotch worked on reports for Strauss, but kept getting interrupted by phone calls. So he spent most of the day doing consults over the phone for minor cases deemed unnecessary for the BAU team to fly out to work on in person.

Morgan couldn't focus on his paperwork. He decided to go see what Garcia was up to. Prentiss followed Derek; she too just couldn't concentrate on work when it looked so nice outside. 'Well at least we're not at a crime scene or in a morgue,' she thought.


Dr. Reid was filling out papers, the stack taller than usual because they'd had several cases in a row with very little downtime in between. He worked at a slower pace than usual, his mind preoccupied by thinking about JJ.

Their relationship was such a good thing for him. He didn't worry so much about relapsing and talking about what happened in Georgia has gotten easier. And doing so seemed to have put JJ more at ease as well. Reid knows he's in love with her, but he's too afraid to say those words, those words that every woman wants to hear from her boyfriend. I love you. Spencer's apprehensive because he'd never told a woman that before, besides his mother. And voicing 'the L word' to JJ would set things in motion. He had daydreams about marrying her and adopting the baby developing inside of her. It would be the perfect solution to his anxiety of fathering a child and passing down the gene that would predispose any of his potential offspring to mental disorders, specifically schizophrenia.


JJ had given up on the files. There was just too many, just too much horror. She was now comparing prices on cribs online. Even though she was about three months along, JJ hadn't bought much yet in the way of baby stuff. She had stocked up on maternity clothes, even buying outfits that will fit her at nine months pregnant. She looked down at her belly, getting bigger and rounder every week. She knew why she'd been putting off buying baby clothes, a crib, a car seat, and bottles. Uncertainty.

JJ was certain she was going to raise the baby herself; she'd made that decision the day she took the pregnancy test. But she was very uncertain about how she would be able to raise her child.

JJ lived in a small, one-bedroom apartment. When she'd moved in, she decided it was good enough for one person, especially for one person who was never home. Plus, the rent was low, so she could afford to wear more expensive clothing and have money for fun things like concerts, dining out, movies, and the occasional girls' night out with her coworkers. Now her apartment was a problem because she didn't have a spare bedroom for a nursery.

Her job was also a problem. Hotch had told her that she would have an extended maternity leave, but what was she going to do after that? Working for the BAU was not a typical nine-to-five job, and days like today were the exception. The team traveled all over the country and could be out of the state for days at a time, with very little advanced notice. Her family lives in Pennsylvania, so they couldn't watch her child. (Let alone the fact that she still hadn't told her parents, brother, and friends back home about her pregnancy yet). And how could she hire a nanny when she worked this kind of schedule?

Another uncertainty in JJ's life was her relationship with Reid. Things had gotten pretty serious since Reid had left New Beginnings Rehabilitation Center. They always sat side by side on the BAU jet and ate together when the team was on the road. When they were in Virginia, Reid liked to spend time at JJ's apartment. The pair spent evenings reading pregnancy books, looking at baby items online, getting to know each other on a romantic level, and just talking about life. But they reserved their kisses for times when they were behind closed doors, or when there were no team members around. They also had a rule that Reid would not spend time in JJ's office in Quantico.

It wasn't that they wanted to keep their relationship a secret from the team; they just didn't want their friends to make jokes and inject themselves into it all. Their relationship was between the two of them, and even though the team was family, JJ and Spencer didn't need them knowing every little detail.

But the uncertainty JJ was feeling came from not knowing how to define their relationship status. She thought of him as her boyfriend, and Reid called her things like sweetheart, darling, dear, and honey (always in private of course). JJ knew she'd need to move to a bigger place, and in her mind she could imagine the two of them living together. However, she was too afraid to voice such ideas. Thoughts like 'Would Reid really help when the baby was here, even though it isn't his child?' and 'Would he want to marry me someday?' swirled in her mind. Their first date had been only two months ago, and under normal circumstances she'd say things were moving too fast, but being pregnant changes things.

The thing that would give her confidence and security was one little word, four letters long and starting with an L. JJ was certain she loved Reid, and it wasn't just her hormones. She had never felt this way about any man before. The emotion evoked when she thought about him was so real that it petrified her. But JJ told herself that she wasn't going to be the first to say it. She needed Spence to be the one to say "I love you." Because then it wouldn't all be in her head. It would actually be real. And JJ would be able to pluck up the nerve to ask him those questions that plagued her when she was trying to sleep.


Morgan knocked on Penelope's door in his assigned knock rhythm. "Come on in here, you sexy chocolate god!"

Derek rolls his eyes and smiles. As he enters the room he smells a rich vanilla scent. "Whatcha up to Babygirl? And what is that divine smell?"

The flamboyant technical analyst, who has pink streaks in her hair this month, was wearing a yellow dress with a purple belt. Her fingernail polish, earrings, bracelet, necklace, shoes, and even her glasses are all the same shade of purple as the belt. "That, my stud muffin, would be my new Glade PlugIn with vanilla scented oil. Sometimes it gets musty-smelling in here, and you know I can't have that!"

As Morgan laughs, Emily pokes her head in, "Mind if I join you guys?"

"Come on in my pretty! And your coffee cup too!" Garcia's chipper voice goes low, in a playful growl she continues, "Just as long as you don't spill it!"

"I promise I won't!" laughs Prentiss as she closes the door behind her, something Morgan forgot to do.

"Pinky-swearsy?" asks Garcia in a childish voice.

"I pinky-swear!" responds the brunette as she and Garcia link little fingers.

"Okay, I trust you." Penelope looks at Prentiss and Morgan, "Now, let's get down to business. Today we're going to get some answers! Operation Lovebirds is underway!"

Emily asks, "Morgan, how are you going to get Reid alone?"

"I'm going to take him down to the cafeteria, and then while we're eating, it's interrogation time!"

"And Garcia, how are we getting JJ in here?" asks Prentiss.

"Once Morgan leaves to collect Reid, I'll call her in here. And once she's here, you stand in front of the door to block her in!" replies Penelope.

"But what are you going to say to her to make sure she comes?" asks Morgan.

"I'll tell her I have cookies. We'll use her pregnancy against her!" Garcia then begins to cackle like a cartoon witch.


"To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead." – Bertrand Russell


When I started working on this chapter, I just couldn't stop! It was close to 4,000 words, so I brought out the imaginary scissors, *snippy snip*, and thus, two chapters were born! Part one (which you've just read) is more serious, aside for the fun foreshadowing at the end of course. Part two is basically all fluff.

Also, I'm a self-acknowledged Grammar Nazi, and I know that all throughout elementary school the teachers told us that you couldn't start sentences with 'and' or' but' or 'because', and that a sentence needs a subject and a predicate. But I recently reread Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games books and I've been artistically inspired! Sometimes fragments spice up stories! Another thing I've been working on as a writer is being more descriptive and paying attention to the little details, so let me know how I'm doing!

Please review, I LOVE FEEDBACK!