Friends!

After a wonderful and relaxing week at the cottage I am happy to be back writing for you all! I'm really excited for these next few chapters and I really think you all will love what I have planned!

So thanks so much for being patient while I was away, and enjoy!

-J

Chapter 7

The first wave of pain hit JJ early Thursday afternoon while Alex was still at school. Though she knew her due date was fast approaching, the blonde immediately brushed it off as Braxton Hicks; deciding the best way to deal with it would be to simply walk it off, pacing the family room as she tried not to get too worked up. Deciding not to let herself worry quite yet JJ eventually parked herself on the couch, putting on a talk show in an attempt to distract herself until she knew she needed to worry.

"Hey Mum, I'm home," Alex called when she came in the front door over an hour later. "Melissa drove us today and we stopped for milkshakes," she said, coming into the family room with a smile on her face. "I brought you one," she said, holding up a cup. "It's chocolate."

"Oooo give me," JJ said, accepting the milkshake from the teen before pulling her down to kiss her cheek. "Have I ever told you that you're the best?" She asked after taking a long sip. "Because you are. The absolute best."

"Glad to hear it," Alex laughed as she plopped down next to her blonde mother. "How was your day?" She then asked.

"Oh you know just great," JJ replied sarcastically. "So much excitement here by myself, where I watched TV and browsed some magazines," she said, choosing to leave out the pains that she had felt earlier. "Just another thrilling day in my life on maternity leave."

"Sounds like it," Alex laughed, pulling her backpack closer as she opened it up and began to rummage through her things. "Well I have good news though," she said. "I hardly have any homework, so we can do something fun tonight. Play some video games or whatever you want."

"That sounds great," JJ smiled, flinching when she was hit with another pain in her abdomen, knowing there was no way to hide the grimace on her face.

"What was that?" Alex asked immediately sounding panicked. "Are you okay? Is it the baby?"

"It's nothing," JJ replied, taking a deep breath. "It's just Braxton hicks," she said even though she was unsure. "It's completely normal."

"Contractions?" Alex asked, as JJ nodded her reply, continuing to rub a hand over her stomach. "Are you sure it's just Braxton hicks though? I mean what if they're real contractions? Was it just the one?" She continued asking questions, her voice sounding more and more worried with each one.

"Lex, honey calm down okay," JJ said, taking the teens hand as she did her best to look and sound calm herself. "I'm okay. Seriously," she assured her. "I've had a couple contractions this afternoon but I'm sure that I'm not in labour," she lied. "I've still got like a week and a half till I'm due and Braxton hicks are perfectly normal right now. You don't need to worry okay?"

"You're sure though?" Alex asked, looking skeptical. "I mean shouldn't we at least go to the hospital to be sure?"

"That's not necessary," JJ was quick to reply. "But I promise if that changes then we will okay? As soon as I think that I need to go then we'll go okay?"

"Okay," Alex nodded, sounding unsure.

"Okay," JJ smiled, leaning over and kissing the young brunette on the head. "Now why don't you go get that homework done and then we'll have ourselves a Nintendo competition okay?"

"Okay," Alex agreed, kissing the blonde on the cheek before grabbing her bag and heading up to her room.

Watching Alex head up the stairs, JJ eventually leaned her head back against the couch, taking a few deep, calming breaths as she once again began to rub her stomach. The blonde was doing her best to remain calm, but the truth was she wasn't sure she wasn't in labour. The truth was she was scared and she wasn't ready for the baby to come. Not without Emily there.

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"I hate this case," Emily groaned as she leaned her head over the back of her chair, sitting around a conference room table in the LA police department with the rest of the team minus Hotch. "We've been here for days and I feel like we've gotten absolutely no where," she complained. "I'm sick of it here. I want to go home."

"We all do Princess," Morgan agreed. "But I think we owe it to the victims families to solve this thing first," he reminded her. "And we haven't gotten nothing. We've learned a lot about these victims, and Baby Girl has found a ton of connections between them."

"Yeah but none of that has led to any suspects," Emily was quick to point out, obviously frustrated.

"Hey what's with the negativity?" Rossi asked. "We've had cases more difficult then this. What's with you?"

"It's just…" Emily hesitated. "Jen's due any day now and I just hate being so far away," she admitted. "This case is just getting under my skin and I can't even focus. I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize Princess," Morgan assured her. "We all get it. And trust me we're all doing our best to figure this thing out. I mean we all want to make sure we're home when JJ has the baby, but I think we need to make sure our heads are in it in order to do that."

"I know," Emily sighed. "You're right. I think I just need a minute," she said, standing up from her seat. "I'll be right back," she said before heading towards the bathroom, knowing she needed to step away in order to really focus herself.

Stepping into the bathroom, Emily immediately headed for the sinks, filling her hands with water before splashing her face. "You need to focus Emily," she said to herself, looking at her reflection in the mirror over the sink. "Jennifer is fine. The baby is fine and you are not going to miss his birth," she continued. "You need to focus. These families need you. Just focus," she said, taking a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself and put her mind in a better place. The profiler was anxious for a lead, wanting nothing more than to solve the case so she could get home to her girlfriend, daughter and future son.

"Emsters," Garcia's voice interrupted the brunette from her thoughts. "Hotch needs you back in the conference room," she said. "We've got something."

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JJ had just gotten up to get herself a glass of water when she was hit with another contraction; clutching her side as she leaned against the kitchen counter, just as Alex made her way down the stairs. "Hey Mum I was thinking that I'd make us din…" the teen began before noticing her mother's stance. "Mum," she questioned worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," JJ answered through laboured breaths. "J-just a…just a cramp," she attempted to lie, Alex immediately seeing right through it.

"Mum," Alex repeated in concern. "I don't think it's just a cramp," she said carefully. "How often has this been happening?"

"In the last hour...every twenty minutes or so," JJ admitted, standing up straight as the pain subsided. "But I'm not…I mean I'm fine," she said.

"Mum you need to go to the hospital," Alex said, moving closer to the blonde. "I think you're in labour. You need to see Dr. Morrison."

"No," JJ quickly shook her head. "No I'm not. I can't be," she said. "I…your mom's not here."

"I know that," Alex said calmly, knowing she needed to be the rational one. "But we can call her," she said. "We'll call her and she'll come home. It'll be okay. But you really need to go to the hospital."

"I…" JJ began, stopping herself from arguing when she saw the look on her daughter's face. "I'm scared," she then admitted quietly.

"I know," Alex nodded with a small smile. "But it'll be okay. We just need to go to the hospital," she repeated. "I'll call the Hastings and see if someone can drive us. I'll call Mom on the way. It'll be okay," she said taking the blonde's hand in hers. "So can we please go to the hospital?"

"Okay," JJ nodded, her eyes glassy with tears, obviously scared.

"Okay," Alex smiled. "I'm just going to call Spencer. I'm sure Melissa will drive us," she said, heading to get her phone.

"Lex," JJ called, stopping the teen, who turned to find JJ once again holding her stomach, a look of fear on her face. "Could you ask them to hurry?" She said. "I think my water just broke."

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"Hey Mom it's me again," Alex said as she began leaving Emily a 3rd voicemail, while she stood outside JJ's hospital room an hour later. "Look I know you're probably busy with the case and that's why you're not calling me back but I just wanted to keep you updated," she sighed. "Mum's water definitely broke and she's in with Dr. Morrison now. I don't know what's going on there but if you could try and get back I'm sure Mum would really like that…she's…well she's a little freaked out and she really needs to talk to you," she explained. "So if you could at least call me back that would be great. I…just please call me back," she repeated before hanging up, immediately running her hand over her face in frustration.

"Still nothing from your mom?" Spencer, who had decided to stay with Alex and JJ, asked as she came up beside her friend with a bottle of water in hand.

"She's not answering," Alex replied, accepting the water from Spencer with a small smile that didn't quite look sincere. "I've left three messages but she hasn't called back yet. That hardly ever happens."

"Well the team must be out in the field," Spencer told her. "Have you tried calling anyone else? Maybe Penelope?"

"Mum told me not to," Alex replied, leaning against the wall. "She said if Mom's not answering or calling back then the team must be following a lead or something," she explained. "She doesn't want me calling and interrupting or anything. She said Mom will get back to me as soon as she can but…but I'm worried she's going to miss this."

"Well I don't know much about having babies but I'm sure we've got some time," Spencer said. "You'll probably hear from your Mom before the baby gets here."

"Yeah but she's in LA," Alex pointed out. "It's not exactly a short flight."

Searching for a way to reassure her friend, Spencer bit her lip in thought. "Maybe they're already on their way home and that's why she isn't answering," she suggested. "Maybe she just isn't getting service or her phone died. I say you give it another hour and then you call Penelope."

"Yeah…okay," Alex nodded just as JJ's doctor came out of the blonde's room. "Dr. Morrison. Is everything okay?"

"Everything's looking great so far," the doctor smiled. "The baby and JJ are both doing really well."

"Great, that's great," Alex said, still nodding absentmindedly. "And we….still have a lot of time right? Before he gets here I mean?"

"Yes," Dr. Morrison laughed. "JJ's only about 3cm dilated so we've got some time. May be in for a pretty long night actually."

"Oh good," Alex replied. "That's good."

"Still waiting on Emily?" The doctor asked, having heard from JJ that the brunette was out of town working.

"I can't get a hold of her," Alex admitted. "And I'm not really sure how quickly she can get here when I do talk to her," she explained. "I just don't want her to miss anything."

"I know," Dr. Morrison smiled. "But we definitely have some time," she assured her. "Just keep trying. I'm sure you'll get her eventually. For now though I really think JJ could use some company," she suggested. "Maybe keep her distracted for a little while."

"Okay," Alex smiled, knowing how nervous JJ was.

Smiling, Dr. Morrison gave Alex a pat on the shoulder before making her way down the hall, Alex watching her go before turning towards Spencer. "We should get in there," she said, nodding her head towards the door. Pushing the door to the room open, Alex put a smile on her face, while silently praying her mom would get there soon.

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"Alex honey, have you heard from your Mom yet?" JJ asked some time later when she and Alex were alone; Spencer having decided to give the pair some privacy while she waited in the waiting room.

"No not yet," Alex bit her lip. "She's still not answering," she said, not missing the look of worry flash across the blonde's face. "You know maybe I should just call Penelope or Derek," she then suggested. "Or I could call Hotch!"

"No, no," JJ was quick to deny. "I don't want to ruin the case," she said, knowing that if Emily wasn't answering then they had to have gotten a lead they were following. "She'll call back as soon as she can. What about my parents? Have you talked to them?"

"They said they'll be here as early as they can in the morning," Alex replied, wishing she had better news. "And Grandma Liz is still in Paris. She's trying to get a flight, but she probably won't get here until tomorrow."

"Right, okay," JJ nodded just as she was hit with another contraction; leaning forward in pain as Alex quickly took her hand.

"Don't forget, deep breaths," Alex did her best to coach her Mum through the pain; having been told by one of the nurses how to help.

"Oh God," JJ groaned when the pain finally subsided; falling back against the pillows as she struggled to get her breathing back to normal. "Oh God," she repeated, releasing Alex's hand to wipe tears from her eyes just as Dr. Morrison came back into the room.

"How are we doing in here?" The doctor asked as she moved towards the bed to check JJ's charts.

"Well I've been better," JJ replied, her worry clear in her voice. "Really ready for this to be over."

"Well unfortunately it's going to be a while before that," Dr. Morrison said. "But trust me it's all worth it in the end," she smiled. "Now I know we're still waiting on Emily, but do you have anyone else who will be with you during the delivery in case she doesn't make it?"

"Oh uh…" JJ began to stutter, hating to even consider Emily not being there when their son was born. "Well I guess Alex will be with me. Right Lex?" She said, turning towards the teen whose eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh right," Alex nodded, hoping she didn't sound too unsure. "Of course," she said, plastering a smile on her face. "I'll be here. I just…I'm just going to go check in with Spencer," she then said, not waiting for a reply before rushing out of the room, heading straight for the waiting area where Spencer was busy doing homework.

"You okay?" Spencer asked confusedly, seeing the look of panic on her best friend's face. "You look a little sick."

"Could you call your mom?" Alex asked frantically. "Ask her to come? Please?"

"What? Why?"

"Because she's had babies before," Alex said, lowering her voice when she realized that she was shouting. "My Mum wants me in there for the delivery if Mom doesn't make it on time," she explained. "I don't want to do that! I'm only 14! I don't want to see all that! I'm already freaked out and nothing has even happened! I can't be in there," she said, missing the fact that Spencer was biting her lip in attempt to keep herself from laughing. "Please can't you ask your mom to come?"

"Lex the odds of my mom not being at work right now are slim to none," Spencer told her. "And I really don't think JJ needs my mom right now. She's scared. She needs you."

"She needs my Mom," Alex corrected her.

"Yes, but she's not here right now," Spencer said. "So I'm pretty sure you're the next best thing. I know you're freaked, but I really think you need to be there for her right now," she said, taking Alex's hand. "It'll be okay. I mean your mom could still get here in time."

"Yeah but…" Alex began to argue.

"No buts," Spencer was quick to interrupt. "She'll get here," she repeated. "But I think it's time you make sure that she gets your message," she suggested giving Alex a pointed look.

"You're right," Alex nodded, realizing that she needed her mom just as much as JJ did right now. "It's time to call Penelope."