Chapter Seven

"I'm from Spain. Through my Mamá I'm Italian, Romanian and Portuguese descendent and through my Papá I'm German, Bulgarian and Russian. We met in the library."

Hotch tried to call Corena but she didn't want to move from Dena's side. JJ gave Corena's plate to Dayna. JJ was impressed that Corena had gone with Dena so soon. She wasn't a fan of strangers wanting to touch her eyes.

"You don't like broccoli?" Dena asked as she saw Corena's plate.

"No." Corena said.

"Have you tasted broccoli?" Dayna asked.

"We have tried and she won't eat it." JJ supplied.

"I don't like peas. Let's try this you eat a tiny piece of broccoli and I eat a pea." Dayna said cutting a tiny piece of broccoli from her plate and a pea from Corena's plate.

Corena's face said it all. She didn't like the plan but she went along with it. She felt something that told him to trust Dayna. There was something in her.

"How did you do that?" JJ asked.

"Growing up I was a picky eater and like your daughter I didn't like broccoli. One day Mamá got fed up and made that deal to me. I didn't know she was allergic to peas."

"What happened?" Ashley asked.

"We were by ourselves nothing bad happened thank God but since that day I hated peas. She understood why I didn't like them." She said and Henry walked towards her.

"You got baby here." He said pointing towards his belly. "Like Aunt Ash."

Ashley started coughing. Reid and Dayna smiled at each other.

"So it's true then you're pregnant?" JJ asked.

"We are. I just found out last week." Dayna replied.

"Congratulations!" Emily stated.

"Thank you."

"No wonder why Corena is sitting with you! She's Daddy's little girl through and through. When I was pregnant with the twins she wanted to be with me only. That's how I found out I was pregnant."

"Okay time to admit. Yes I'm pregnant." Ashley said. "I found out two weeks ago."

"How did Erik took it?" Prentiss asked.

"He's ready to buy the baby a motorcycle." Ashley replied.

"He's thrilled then."

"Yeah he is."

"Why isn't he here?" JJ asked.

"He had his shift." She said as she picked up her phone to check.

"Someone has a nice bling bling in her hand." Morgan said and everyone turned around to see.

Ashley blushed. "He just proposed this morning."

"So when is the wedding?" Rossi asked.

Hotch knew that JJ had noticed Rossi's tone he was avoiding looking at her.

"We don't have a date yet since he was running late but for sure we want it to be before my bump starts to show." Ashley answered.

"That's nice. Congratulations!" Emily said getting up from her chair and grabbing her purse.

"Thanks." Ashley answered. "You're leaving already?"

"Yeah. I'm meeting with someone." Prentiss said.

"Who might that someone be?" JJ asked.

"You name the sin not the sinner. His in town for a few days and I ain't in a case at the moment." Prentiss replied.

"Don't tell me it's sexy accent, badge and gun?" JJ asked.

"Yes he has the sexy accent, badge and gun but it's not the person you think. It's not Mike Rawson." Prentiss replied. "I gotta go I'm running late."

"Excuses!" Garcia yelled.

"Sh. You wake up babies!" Corena stated.

"Sorry." Garcia said.

Two hours later, everyone had already left. Jack, Henry and Corena were already sleeping. Hotch was brushing his teeth while JJ was browsing the channels in the TV.

~C~CM~CM~CM~CM~CM~CM~M~

"So what happened between Rossi and Ashley?" JJ asked.

"Rossi and Ashley started to hang around as friends and making it easier after she had joined the team. She wanted to be more than friends but because of their age difference he rejected her after that day they only have a professional relationship. You know she met Erik through Rossi while we were working a case." Hotch replied as he finished washing his teeth.

"Wait, I still don't know how it happened." JJ said as she kept her eyes on him as he walked to his side of the bed.

"We had just arrived in North Carolina and we were having dinner when this guy suddenly stops and says hi to Rossi and how is good to see him again. Rossi introduced him to us. After Emily and Ashley leaves he starts questioning about Ashley."

"I thought he lived here in DC." JJ said.

"He does but he was on vacations during those days. Next thing I know he's sending her flowers to the BAU. That's when Rossi told me everything." Hotch answered.

"What happened?" JJ asked.

"We were all sitting down in the roundtable room when Garcia comes in with a bouquet of flowers. Morgan asked her who were the flowers weren't for her but for Ashley. Ashley got up from her desk to get the flowers and then smiled when she read the card." Hotch said.

"Don't stop talking." JJ said.

"Okay as we were about to take off I heard a loud slap and I heard her say that he had his chance and he blew her up now she was giving herself a chance with someone that really wanted to be with her and not be afraid."

"I imagine you walked right in and cool things off." JJ said.

"Yes I couldn't afford a third world war."

"Now I see who the guy she talked about was! She waited for him even though Erik kept asking her for an opportunity. I told her to do it. She couldn't keep waiting for someone who wasn't ready to accept his feelings and when he did it was already too late."

"So how come you don't know much of the details?" Hotch asked.

"She really didn't want to talk about it and I didn't want to be obnoxious even if I wanted to have a face for the guy and now that I do I feel sorry for him." She said and then started laughing. "I know who Emily was meeting with. She's so busted."

She got her phone and began to text. Hotch told her he was going to sleep. They were later woken up by two screaming children. Hotch and JJ fed them, changed their diaper and put them to sleep again.

"You still want more?" Hotch asked in the morning as everyone asked for something completely different from each other.

"Yeah don't you remember we talked about this a long time ago?" JJ answered.

"I believed you had forgotten about that as I did." Hotch said as he smiled.

"If I remember correctly you wanted more kids than I did." JJ replied.

"Okay I give up." Hotch said.

"Mommy, I want cereal." Henry said as he felt ignored.

"Which cereal?" JJ asked.

"Cheerios." Henry replied.

"Mommy, I hungry." Corena said.

Jack helped get the milk out and getting the cereal out. Hotch and JJ couldn't believe how much he was growing and what a big helper he was.

"Mommy, I juicy." Corena replied.

Corena hadn't just finished her rant when one of the twins woke up. Hotch tried helping with Corena but she didn't want him she wanted JJ. Hotch walked towards JJ.

"I'll take care of this one. You go with the rest of them." Hotch said.

"She still doesn't want you?" JJ asked.

"Not at the moment." Hotch replied.

"She'll come into her senses one day." JJ replied and walked back to the kitchen.

"Silence!" she stated.

Henry and Corena had a big face of oh. Hotch watched JJ giving Henry and Corena what they wanted. He fed Kailani, changed her diaper and put her back to sleep.

"Jack, what do you want waffles or pancakes?" JJ asked.

"Pancakes. I want pancakes." Jack replied.

"Pancakes it is for the three of us." JJ added.

She got out the waffle maker and began to mix the pancake from scratch and waited for the waffles to be cooked while she got the strawberries, bananas, butter and honey out of the refrigerator. She felt Hotch's arms around her.