Disclaimer: I don't own.
A/N: Most of you probably already know or have an idea who the daddy is, especially if you've read anything else I've written. This chapter will clear that up for the reader. So far this has been my favorite chapter to write. I hope you enjoy it.
Emily winced when she got the not so politely worded email from Hotch advising her that JJ would be available to liaise with Interpol per her request. She felt a small twinge of guilt but pushed it aside. She knew she'd done the right thing by contacting JJ. Right now Emily needed her more than Hotch did. He could get over it.
She ran a hand over her slightly distended stomach in awe. She was going to be a mom.
She glanced up as her desk phone rang. "Prentiss."
"Well, it's a done deal." JJ's voice announced.
"I know. I got a lovely letter of acceptance from your boss." Emily snickered. "I'm fairly certain he wants to kill me."
JJ chuckled. "Be forewarned, Penelope is not happy with you."
"Should I anticipate a virus?" God only knew what kind of hell Garcia could unleash.
"I think we both know there is no way to anticipate anything that Pen sends you." She snorted, "You just deal with the fall out."
"Was it that bad?"
JJ sighed. "Worse."
Emily heard the emotion in JJ's voice and couldn't stop from asking. "What happened?"
"Pen was surprisingly belligerent, Reid argued, Morgan insulted me and Rossi started giving advice on good places to visit." She laughed.
"What about Hotch?" She grilled, imagining that she could already see the way JJ's eyes glazed over as she bit her lip.
"He was disappointed that I didn't talk to him about it before hand but he will support my decision." She sniffled. "He said that my job would be waiting for me when I decided to come back home."
"You still okay doing this?" Emily had to ask even though she worried that she wouldn't like the answer JJ gave her. She knew that she would be sorely disappointed if JJ changed her mind but she had to give her the option.
"I'm committed, Em. Like it or not I'll be there by the end of next week."
They said their goodbyes and Emily relaxed in her office chair. She did feel a bit manipulative but she really needed a friend. Plus she really needed to figure out what to do about her baby's daddy. She read the last email that Morgan sent her. He wanted to come and visit. Boy wouldn't he be in for a surprise?
She grinned as her phone indicated that she had a text. "Look baby, its daddy. He doesn't know about you yet because your mommy is a chicken." She read the email and picked up on both the hurt and the anger it conveyed regarding her decision to have JJ come over from the BAU. If he was mad now she could hardly imagine how he'd feel when she told him her other news. "Let's hope you're not stupid like your mom." Emily said to her stomach, and then despite everything, grinned at how ridiculous she was being. It had only been a short time since she realized that she was expecting and she was already over the moon about the life she carried inside her. Who would have known?
Sighing lightly she returned her focus to the files in front of her. Life at Interpol was much different from the BAU and she was honestly having trouble finding her groove. The personal upheaval in her life wasn't helping. Her phone buzzed again and she groaned at the interruption. Not bothering to look at caller id she answered the call.
"So I guess this means that you don't want me to fly over for a visit?"
Emily winced, wishing she took better precaution before answering the phone. "Derek. Hi." She nervously bit her lip. "I'm glad you called." She paused for a moment. "You know that I would love for you to visit. Any time you wanted, it's just been crazy here. There is still so much to learn, so much protocol that is so different from how we operated. Sometimes I wonder if I was crazy for making this move."
"Why JJ?" He questioned abruptly.
"Because JJ handles the press better than anyone else I know, and I'm hoping she can teach the group that I have over here how to do it as well." She honestly answered. "Plus I think it would be good for JJ to get away."
Morgan sighed. "She's having a hard time." It was a statement, not a question.
"It hasn't been easy." Emily replied. "You know she didn't just flip a switch and decide not to marry Will." Emily's defense of JJ was automatic.
"I know that, it was just odd, one minute she wants to get married and the next minute she's got the worst case of cold feet I've ever seen."
"Adrenaline, the thought of losing Will permanently sent her into a tail spin. Had Rossi not thrown a wedding together it would have probably been the longest engagement in history."
"So this isn't you trying to get more than just mileage distance from me?"
"No. This is me being selfish and using my business need to maybe help a friend."
The line was silent for a minute before Morgan announced. "So I'm thinking Thanksgiving."
"Thanksgiving?" She croaked.
"I have some vacation, I think I'll come and visit you during Thanksgiving." He clarified.
"Won't your mom and sisters be upset?" Mentally she was calculating how big she would be at Thanksgiving.
Derek groaned, obviously not having thought about his mom's reaction to her only son missing a cherished family tradition. "It's only one holiday, they can do without me." His tone wasn't very convincing.
Emily chuckled and called him on it. "Listen, it doesn't matter, I do want you to visit, whenever you can fit it in. If Thanksgiving won't work I won't be offended."
"I really want to see you. I think we left some things unfinished."
"Unfinished?" Emily squeaked.
"Maybe that's the wrong word." Derek replied. "We should have talked about what happened…"
Emily braced herself as he paused, then swore.
"Damn it. I've got to go, looks like we've caught a new case." His voice dropped an octave, "plus I think this is a conversation that we need to have in person."
Her heart fluttered. "Okay."
"I will see you soon, Emily." He promised.
"I'm counting on it." She placed her phone down on the desk and stared at it for a minute. That would have probably been a good time to tell the father of her baby he was going to be a dad. Maybe. Probably not, that wasn't the kind of thing you shared over the phone, was it? She dropped her head on the desk. Maybe she could write him a letter?
It was almost an hour later while reading a file on drug trafficking that her phone rang again. Sighing at the interruption she answered with a brisk "Prentiss."
"You better make damn sure you watch her back while she's over there with you."
Emily smiled at the terse directive. "Yes, I understood that clearly from your email earlier. Hello, Hotch, how are you?"
"I'm pissed that you went to my agent before you came to me." He bluntly stated.
"Yes sir, you made that clear as well."
"Damn it, Emily." Hotch paused, as if unsure what he wanted to say.
"You did tell JJ you supported her decision."
"I do," Hotch snapped, "but it doesn't mean that I like it."
Emily smiled leave it to Hotch to be as unabashedly honest as always. "I'll take good care of her and promise to return her to you unscathed."
"I'll hold you to that promise." He replied gruffly. Then as if almost an afterthought, "I assume that you are settled in and doing well?"
"I'm fine, Hotch."
"You're missed here at the BAU, you know, you ever want to come back…" He let the statement drop off.
"I might be a little happier to hear that if I didn't know that you said that to all the girls." Emily joked.
Hotch chuckled, the sound sweeter for its rarity. "You always were a wise ass." He sighed, "I won't keep you. Stay in touch and let me know if there is anything you need."
Emily was grinning as she sat the phone down again wondering when she could expect to hear from Dave, Reid, and Penelope.
~~CM~~CM~~CM~~
The day had finally come JJ took one last look around her small home and took a deep breath Hotch would be there shortly; almost as quickly as the thought entered her head the doorbell rang announcing his arrival.
JJ climbed into the passenger seat and sighed. Her emotions were all over the place now that she was truly on her way. Her goodbye with Will had been tense. She sensed that he was slowly coming to the realization that they weren't going to reconcile. Especially after her telling him that it would be a good time for him to find other living arrangements while she was gone. He hadn't even stayed to oversee her departure with Hotch. Which had been fine with JJ because having Penelope there had been hard enough, Pen hadn't stopped crying, which made JJ cry, which made Henry cry. Tears made Henry cranky, which hopefully would make him sleepy because the drive to Dulles was not going to be fun otherwise.
"You want to explain to me again why you thought this would be the best time of day for a flight out?" Hotch looked over at JJ questioningly as they made their way through the rush hour traffic.
"I wanted to make my leaving as annoying as possible so you didn't forget me too quick." She quipped, smiling warmly at the handsome man.
"I couldn't forget you if I tried." He winked over at her. "That reminds me. Jack made you a card." He reached beside his seat and handed her a card made out of construction paper with hearts drawn all over it.
The wink had her heart tripping, the card had it breaking. "Have fun in England JJ and Henry. I will miss you. Love, Jack." JJ read the card aloud and sniffled at the reversed J's. "This is so sweet." She traced the J in Jack with her finger. "Please tell Jack I said thank you and let him know that I loved the card."
"I'll make sure he sends you one for all the holidays. He'll get a kick out of it." He reached over the console and squeezed her knee. "He'll be very happy to know that you liked it."
Thankfully Henry did indeed fall asleep by the time they had hit I-66. Otherwise the sight of his mother in tears would have set him off once more.
"I didn't think it would be this hard." JJ admitted, biting her bottom lip.
"You don't have to do this JJ. I'll smooth out any repercussions."
His offer had the tears starting in earnest. "I made a commitment." She wiped at them embarrassedly. "I'm sorry, this is me being silly. I'm fine. It's not like I'm not coming back, right?"
They were stopped at a light and he turned to her fully. "You better be coming back. I have enough people pissed at me for approving this temporary assignment. Besides the only reason I agreed to it was because you promised it would only be six, worst case eight months." His complete recall of her statement coupled with his penetrating stare had her heart kicking up again.
The rest of the ride was quiet. Both of them were realizing that this would be the last opportunity they would see one another for quite a while, and both were feeling the loss already. He surprised her when he parked the car rather than dropped her off in front of the airport while giving her a clipped. "I told you I would see you off."
Henry, exhausted from the excitement of the last few days was dead to the world, barely stirring when Hotch lifted him from the car seat. "Let me help you get through checking your bags."
JJ, not eager to part with him, readily agreed and allowed him to use his badge to escort her to where she would board the plane. He was able to lay Henry down on a bench and sat down across from him.
It seemed as though they just sat down when the attendants began to announce the boarding of United Airlines Flight 1020 from Washington Dulles to London Heathrow.
JJ turned to Hotch, her voice breaking. "That's us." She stood up and made a move to go and pick up Henry.
"JJ." His voice stopped her and without a thought she turned and threw herself into his arms.
She didn't concern herself with any thoughts of impropriety. Her feelings for the man far surpassed any concern that she was being inappropriate. "I am going to miss you so much," she sobbed.
"Just make sure you don't forget me." He eased back to look down at her, his eyes conveying what neither of them were quite ready to admit.
"How could I?" She questioned, looking up at him with red-rimmed swollen eyes.
"Then you won't mind if I give you something to remember me by." Then his mouth was on hers, hot and demanding.
"You're not making this any easier." She mumbled against his lips, reluctant to break away completely.
He smiled. "No, I'm sure that I just made things more difficult, but I'm afraid it was necessary." He pressed another quick, yet chaste, kiss on her lips. "At least it was for me."
"You have crap timing." JJ stated as she pressed her mouth to his and allowed him to deepen the kiss once more. She was thrilled that the man kissed like he did everything else, expertly.
Breaking from the kiss, Hotch stared down at her. "You let me know when you're ready to talk about this." He stepped back as they announced her flight once more.
JJ watched as he moved over to Henry, gently waking and setting him up. She couldn't hear what was being said but she watched as her son solemnly nodded at Hotch before hugging him tight. Then his sweet little hand was grasping hers.
"Make sure you call me when you land." Hotch thumbed a tear from her cheek. "I don't care what time it is, I want you to call me." He placed another soft kiss against her lips. "Take care of your mommy for me Henry." He gently tousled her son's hair. Then he was gone, leaving her confused and conflicted and oddly jubilant. Aaron Hotchner most definitely had feelings for her.
Thank you for reading! Also, I just want to give a huge thank you for those that have taken the time to review and follow this story. It truly means a great deal to me.