A little primer on the Rossi-Strauss family. Roll with me on this one, we'll get to the action.
Will poured two cups of black coffee and slid the carafe back into the machine on the kitchen counter. Summer sunshine was already streaming through the window, illuminating the countertop where his wife sat, with her feet tucked underneath her. He set a mug of coffee in front of her and when she reached for it, he pulled back.
"What the hell were you thinkin' Jennifer?" He hadn't planned to confront her so early in the morning, but couldn't help himself. "Good God, you're lucky Dave and Strauss didn't have your crazy ass arrested.
"You're angry," J.J. shoved her long straight blonde hair over her shoulder before taking a sip from her mug. "I understand."
"I'm confused," Will pulled out a frying pan and laid it on the stove. "You threw a glass and according to the way Dave was screaming last night, it almost hit–"
"I didn't see the baby–" she bit out through clenched teeth, how many times did she have to say it? She sounded like a broken record, he should have believed her. The fact that her husband thought she was lying, cut her to the core.
She pressed her fingers to her temples, closing her eyes, certain that her head would explode at any moment. Unfortunately, memory loss was the only hangover symptom she didn't have. She knew, with painful accuracy, that she threw a glass at Strauss, but for the life of her, she couldn't piece together why. "Do you really think I would do something like that on purpose?"
"Even if you did–" he cracked eggs into the pan, with lumps of cold butter. "There's no excuse for that."
"I didn't." a harsh edge to her voice, "I told you I didn't see him!" He should have believed her, she would have never hurt Rossi's child intentionally. It was the fucking fiance she couldn't get over.
"I don't care about that," Will tried again, " You haven't been yourself, Chere…I think you need to call your therapist– You're bitter and angry and I don't know why. You need more help than I know how to give you." He tilted the pan, without looking at her.
"I don't want to do this right now," she sat the mug down and slid off the barstool. "Henry will be up soon and I need to get him ready for the day."
"Henry's with your momma," Will pointed out, "she came and got him last night while you were out raisin' hell."
J.J. sucked in a breath, outraged, with her hands on her hips. "You couldn't even watch your own child–"
Will cut her off. "We had this planned for a month, Jennifer. You know that. Your mom was looking forward to it and Henry was excited to go with her. What did you want me to do?"
"I expected you to tell her no!" J.J. snapped, "He's four! You can't just send him off like that." She stalked into the living room, she would have walked out the door if she knew he wouldn't follow her.
"That's not what you're upset about," he turned off the stove and followed her into the living room.
"Strauss suspected her mother of kidnapping the baby, she held a gun on her mom to get him back. You sent Henry off to another state with mine!"
"You trust your mom with Henry." Will pointed out. "Don't you?"
"Yes, o-of course I do" she stammered, "but that's not the point!"
"So don't pretend that you're mad about him going on a trip that you planned. Why the hell did you even go to Dave's house? They could have had you arrested and I couldn't even be mad if they did."
"Well they didn't," J.J. said, mindlessly picking up Henry's toys and tossing them into the wooden toy chest.
"Because they're decent people."
"Are you implying that I'm not?"
The chime of the doorbell cut off Will's response, instead, he scratched the back of his neck. Hanging back away from the front door. "Whoever it is, I hope they're ready to duck and cover."
"This better be good!" J.J. stalked to the front door, her blonde hair swishing over her back. "I'm trying to have a fight with my husband!" She ripped open the door, where Penelope stood on the porch. With a gift bag in one hand and a greasy brown paper bag in the other.
"Oh boy," Penelope bit the inside of her cheek and cautiously held out the bag of fast food. "You might want to take this before the bottom falls out."
J.J. resisted the urge to yank it out of Penelope's hand. Garcia wasn't at fault for her foul mood. "Thanks, now can you figure out how to turn off the sun." J.J. winced, ducking back into the house, everything was too bright.
"Would if I could…" Penelope didn't wait for an invitation inside. Instead, she gave Will a slight wave and followed J.J. up the stairs, using her phone as a flashlight.
"I don't want to talk about it–" J.J. threw out over her shoulder, "if you're coming in here, be ready to sit in silence." She said as they stepped off the staircase and turned the corner towards her bedroom.
Dave got outside as soon as the sun was bright enough for him to see the patio. He wanted to get out there and clean up the glass before anyone woke up. His mother and Erin might want to have their coffee out there, not to mention, Mudgie would need to go out to do his business. For now, the front yard was fine, but that wouldn't last forever. With that thought in mind, Dave turned on the hose and aimed it at the whiskey stains on the pavers. He'd already swept the patio and vacuumed the whole thing with the Shop Vac. It was almost silly to vacuum outside, but the kids and the dog played out there. Often barefoot. He didn't mind the balmy Summer air on his bare arms and the cheerful twittering of the birds in the trees that bordered his property. Not a bad way to spend the morning. He knew there would be a pot of coffee waiting for him because he started the pot before he walked outside. He needed it. He'd gotten up with Carlo several times throughout the night, not that Dave was complaining.
Erin checked the alarm clock on the nightstand beside her. The LED display showed 5:45AM. That was fine, only because she didn't have a choice. Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she yanked David's robe over her shoulders then lifted Carlo from the bassinet beside her.
Carlo screamed, red-faced, fat hot tears rolling down his cheeks. He squirmed in the bassinet, his feet and arms were covered by a soft cotton bodysuit that was just a mite too big.
"Shh…" Erin scooped him into her arms and offered him the nip. "You'll wake the whole house."
He squirmed in her arms, with no interest in milk. Maybe he needed to wake up a bit first. Cautiously she laid him on her shoulder, rubbing his back. He nuzzled his face in her neck in response, still fussy, but significantly calmer than before. She loved having him close, with his weight against her chest, grounding her to the present moment. She couldn't afford to think about anything else with Carlo in her arms. "Yeah…" she cooed, stroking his back, she loved all her children of course she did, but it didn't come easy to her. When Cassie was born, Erin hired a nanny to take over the night shifts. Then, when Erin realized the nanny wasn't doing it right, even though Erin had no idea what right meant. Somehow, the newborn stage got progressively easier with each kid. It was all the things that came after the sweet, warm newborn snuggles that she hadn't mastered.
There were a million and one books on how to bring adolescents successfully into adulthood and she thumbed through one or two. Consulted peer-reviewed research articles when Cassie entered middle school and again, while in the hospital with Carlo, needing something to do. Apparently, Paul was now deeper in the clutches of puberty. He'd taken to preening in front of the mirror, looking for facial hair. That, at 15 still had plenty of time to show up.
Now, Allison, her ten-year-old was an absolute dream. With her, Erin had all the knowledge left over from Cassie and Paul, to be able to usher Allie and Carlo through the world with a more gentle hand.
"What a way to wake up." She carried Carlo over to the recliner across the bedroom, beside the window, and got comfortable. Pulling back the drapes, she had a great view of the backyard. "See your dad?" She angled Carlo so he was facing the window, his eyes were open and she liked the idea that he could see Dave hosing down the patio.
She checked the clock on the nightstand again, then changed his diaper on the king-sized bed. It was almost time to get the younger kids up for Summer school. Cassie decided to keep her Summer Break sacred for friends and fun. While Allison thrived in the classroom and Paul needed some extra help.
Allison was still taking the bus and Erin wasn't in a hurry for her to grow up any faster.
She changed Carlo's clothes and swaddled him in a muslin blanket. Then walked to the bedroom just past the nursery to Allison's room. Erin knocked lightly on the door, the crack underneath the door was still dark.
"Allie…" Erin called out softly, stepping lightly towards the bed. Allison faced the wall, still sound asleep. She laid one hand on Allison's shoulder blades, "Allison… someone's here to see you."
At that, Allison rolled over, just enough to look at her mother. "Is he awake?" She sat up, shoving her back up against the headboard. Then held out her arms eagerly, "can I hold him?"
"He wanted to say 'good morning' before you went off to summer school." Erin adjusted Carlo's swaddle, then laid him in Allison's arms. "Don't let his head fall," she cautioned, squatting down to grab the pillows off the floor. She shoved them underneath Allison's elbow to help her support his head.
"He's so cute," Allison beamed with pride as she looked down at her little brother. "He looks kinda like Dave if Dave were an alien."
"He'll have to grow into his ears, too, I'm afraid…" Erin gently traced the shell of his ear, "but he's perfect to us."
Erin tore her eyes away from Allison and Carlo when a knock on the doorframe got her attention. "Good morning," Dave leaned against the doorframe, taking in the scene. "It's almost 6:30 AM Allie, if you're riding the bus, you need to get moving."
Allison looked up at him pleadingly, "can you take me? I need a few more minutes."
"He'll be here when you get home." Erin pointed out, with a smile. "You have to go to school."
Allison shook her head, "But Dad's picking me up from school to see a movie. I won't get to see the baby until bedtime." Peter liked to take each of his kids for an evening, just him and the kid. Since Allison was the youngest, she went at the beginning of the week.
"I'll take you," Dave relented. "I'm making breakfast, it'll be ready in 15 minutes. I'd like to have you at the table with us."
"Thanks, Dave!" Allison beamed at him, "I'll be there."
"You need to get dressed," Erin took Carlo and laid him on her shoulder. "You can hold him again when we're downstairs."
Allison scrambled out of bed, grabbing her outfit off her desk chair. "I'll get dressed, will you braid my hair?"
"Of course. Bring your brush and hair ties. I'll see you downstairs," Erin walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Beside Allison's room was Paul, already, he was playing heavy metal on his laptop, when Erin knocked on the door.
She was met with a half-hearted, half-asleep grunt. Which was as good as she was going to get from him so early in the morning. She turned the knob and pushed the door open with one hand. wrinkling her nose, as the smell of Eau de 'Teenage Boy' drifted into the hallway. Paul's room had a faint, unique smell of Axe body spray and old socks. She made a mental note to deep clean his room sometime this week.
He fumbled with the keys on his laptop and turned the music down, then popped out of the desk chair to stand in front of the mirror. He was fully dressed in jeans and a collared shirt.
"Still on the mustache hunt?"
"Uh-huh," he curled his top lip under, angling to see it in the light. "I think it's finally coming in."
Erin went over to the nightstand and turned on the lamp, not even the best light would make the hair appear on his face. "Paul, Honey… She ran her fingers through his dark hair. "You have plenty of time, just be patient."
"Ugh!" He flung himself into the chair dramatically. "You guys set me up for baldness," He grumbled. "I'm eating at school."
"Do you need lunch money?"
"Dad did mine, but Allie needs some," Paul answered, scrubbing his eyes. "He forgot."
"Thanks for telling me." She patted his arm sympathetically, Summer was supposed to be about taking a break from school, but Paul's grade in Science proved that he needed help. "I'm sorry you had to get up so early."
"Ugh." He groaned into his pillow. "I hate this."
"I know," she patted his arm again and headed for the door. "Come down before you leave." She called out, over her shoulder, closing the door behind her.
Carlo wiggled against her shoulder, he was getting hungry. She walked past Cassie's room. The door was wide open and the lights were off. Erin peeked inside, just enough to see that the bed was made and Cassie's backpack was gone. Her eldest child was either on the lam or downstairs having breakfast. Erin would have put money on Cassie being downstairs. She had a car but didn't abuse the privilege.
"Cassie?" Erin called out, ducking into Cassie's bedroom and pulling back the curtains. The sensible part of her knew that Cassie's white Chevy Malibu would be in the driveway. Her heart leaped into her throat and her stomach lurched as she stared down at the empty slab of concrete.
"Where's Cassie?" She rushed down the hallway and down the stairs. "Dave, Mrs. Rossi, did you see Cassie?"
Dave stood at the stove flipping pancakes onto a plate. Before he could answer, the front door opened, and in walked Cassie. With a gallon of milk in her left hand and a plastic bag of Smart Water dangling from her wrist. "We needed milk," Cassie explained.
"Oh shit," Erin passed Carlo to Mrs. Rossi, who was seated at the table expectantly. "Oh shit, oh shit…" Erin hugged her daughter's face, kissing her curly blonde hair.
"M-mom, I'm fine! The milk is getting heavy." Cassie said, pulling away to put the milk on the counter.
"Tell me when you're leaving," Erin said, taking Carlo back. She sat down at the end of the table and tried to get him to latch.
"Okay, well…I'm leaving in 10 minutes." Cassie said, sitting down at the table. "I'm meeting Denise for breakfast."
Erin nodded, Denise, Cassie's best friend, lived two streets over from Erin's townhouse. "Do you need money for breakfast?" Erin got up and grabbed her purse off the coat rack beside the door. "Here," she handed Cassie the bag with one hand because she was holding Carlo. "Take $50, in case you need gas." Usually, Cassie covered her own gas and a minuscule part of the insurance with her allowance but it wasn't a teenager's responsibility to help shuffle her siblings around for 3 weeks while their mother was away.
"Coffee, Tesoro?" Dave offered, pretending that Erin's reaction was perfectly normal. He pulled mugs down from the cabinet. "I made a fresh pot," he poured himself a cup, then began flipping pancakes off the griddle and onto a plate and gave it to Allison.
Erin shook her head. "No, thanks."
"My turn!" Allison beamed brightly, set her plate of pancakes on the table, then held out her hands for the baby.
"Eat your breakfast and then sit on the couch," Erin said, getting up from the table. She went to the kitchen and handed Carlo to Dave. Then, as promised, she went to work braiding Allison's hair.
20 minutes later, Allison finally handed Carlo off to Erin, then rushed upstairs to get her backpack.
Dave grabbed his keys from the drawer beside his recliner. It was a safer place than leaving them on a hook by the door, if there was a break-in, the unsub would have to look for the keys. Although, now that he thought of it, he had a family now, and leaving the keys by the door would be better than inviting a bad guy into their home. "Allie, let's rock and roll." He called for his soon-to-be-step-daughter.
"Coming!" Allison stepped off the staircase, swinging her backpack across her shoulders.
"Here," Erin pulled her wallet from her purse and pressed a $20 bill into Allison's hand. " Have a good day, Put this on your lunch account."
"Thanks," Allison kissed her mom on the cheek, then pecked Carlo's head. "See you guys later."
Dave kissed Erin's cheek and rubbed Carlo's head. "See you guys in an hour."
"Be safe," Erin said.
"Ready to blow this popsicle stand?" Dave teased, shoving his wallet into the pocket of his jeans.
Allison grinned, shaking her head, her long auburn braid swishing down her back. "You sound like my dad!"
He opened the door to the garage, ushering Allison out the door. "Your dad's a good guy, I'll take the compliment."
Just as the door closed behind them…
"Why does David take your daughter to school?" Erin wasn't completely sure that the garage was closed as Dave pulled away before Carmelina posed her question. Dark, piercing eyes peeked over the top of her coffee mug, anticipating a response. The first thing Carmelina had said to her all morning.
Erin shifted Carlo on her shoulder, walking into the living room to lay him in the bouncer. Her arms were sore but handing him over wasn't an option. "He offered because Allison wanted to spend a little more time with the baby before she left."
Carmelina hummed disapprovingly and pushed herself away from the table to refill her coffee cup. "I see."
Erin's hackles raised, whatever was going on with Carmelina, she had to take it out on someone, but Erin was not volunteering. "Is there a problem here?"
"No, but I've never seen my son so…" she added creamer to her coffee and stirred it with a spoon. "So domestic, I think it suits him."
"He's had a lot of practice, my kids love him and he would take a bullet for them." Why did she feel like she had to defend her family? Probably because she'd been doing exactly that from the minute they became a couple.
"I can see that," Carmelina smiled softly. "It's about time he did something with this house besides using it as a place to change his clothes."
"He's hosted the occasional party, before." Erin opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water aside from the door full of condiments and the new gallon of milk and water was the only thing in there. Dave's housekeeper had come while they were away and cleaned everything out.
"I don't want to take Carlo into a store," Erin reached for her phone on the countertop. Dave wouldn't mind stopping for groceries on the way home, as long as she made him a list of things that she and the kids enjoyed. Three teenagers ran through a pantry of snacks faster than she and Dave could restock.
"I agree," Carmelina crossed into the living room, the door separating the kitchen from the living room was wide open, so they could watch Carlo. She scooped Carlo out of the bouncer and brought him back to the table. "He's too cute for the public. All the blue-haired bitties will try to kiss him." To prove her point, she kissed the top of his head, leaving behind a stain of pink lipstick. "I'm an old lady, I know how they think."
"No one is going to the store. In fact, I'm going to ask David to lie down when he gets back," Erin pulled out some take-out menus from the drawer beside the stove to plan their lunch and dinner. "He was up with the baby every 20 minutes."
Carmelina frowned, that was the mother's job. "Back in my day–"
Erin bit her tongue, but it didn't work. "It's a good thing we're not there anymore," She kept her tone light and conversational, but the meaning was clear. There was so much she wanted to say. She wanted to tell her mother-in-law to mind her own business. She wanted to tell her that Dave deserved to be involved in caring for their child as much as he wanted to be. She wanted to say that being a parent was more than paying the bills and hanging around on weekends while the mother did everything else. She wanted to say that David took absolute pride in their family and wouldn't settle for anything less than giving 100% to them. She settled on, "David is an excellent father, don't take that away from him."
"Fine," Carmelina pushed away from the table and laid Carlo in the bouncer. "Evidently, we need a break from each other. I'm going to my room."
Well…shit. That wasn't how Erin expected that to go. Alone with the baby, Erin sat on the sofa with Carlo in the bouncer at her feet. She flipped through the channels just for something to do and finally settled on a random home makeover show to play in the background. She hadn't been alone with Carlo for an extended period of time, ever.
Keeping him away from her, the first time they were alone, felt wrong.
She scooped him out of the bouncer and laid him on her knees, facing her. His big grayish-blue eyes looked up at her in awe, as his sweet delicate mouth twisted into a smile. Angelic was the only word she could think of to describe it. How could she have ever considered not keeping him? The woman who had that thought died as soon as he was placed in her arms. "Hi…"
In the space of ten minutes, Carlo had gone from a happy, content, easy-going child, to screaming his head off. Erin was trying everything she could think of, but he was too upset to nurse and his diaper was clean. With no other ideas, she stripped him down to his diaper. Then opened one of his hands, checking all of his fingers, then the other.
There was no way he could have gotten anything on his feet since they were always covered.
"What's wrong with him?" Carmelina came out of her room, irritated at being disturbed. "I'm guessing you put him down for 2 minutes."
Dave opened the sunroof of the car and made the usual turn into his neighborhood. The sun shone high above the clouds, even for midmorning, with a nice breeze cutting through the usual humidity. He'd gotten Allison off to school without a problem and she smiled the whole drive there. That in itself was an accomplishment, she was at the age when being cool in front of her classmates was starting to become important and she thought he was cool. After that, he made a quick stop at Costco and bought a few groceries and a new baby carrier. He was floating on Cloud 9 when he pulled into the driveway.
"Here." Erin held out her cell phone, "hold the light and shine it over his leg. I don't know why he's so upset, but…" she glanced over at the baby carrier on the counter, which she hadn't touched since taking it off the night before. It was likely covered in glass shards and she didn't care enough to fight with cleaning it. They would buy another one. "Help me check him over and then we don't have to talk to each other for the rest of the day if that's what you want."
"Where do you want me?"
"Just hold the light," Erin said, as the flashlight's beam flickered off for the third time. "I need you to stand over him and hold the light so I can see what I'm doing."
"I'm trying!" Carmelina shot back, over Carlo's cries. "it keeps cutting off–"
"You're touching the screen!" Erin yelled, keeping one hand on Carlo's soft, bare tummy. He was cold, in only a diaper and sprawled out on the dining room table like a Thanksgiving turkey, but that was the best light in the house and she needed to see every inch of him. She used the other hand to separate the creases in his leg. She was being overly cautious, surely there wasn't glass in his leg. She'd pivoted and removed him from the strike zone, but the carrier on the counter told a different tale. It was covered in microscopic shards from the glass, they would never come out. She'd have to throw that one out and buy a new one.
Carlo's face was bright red, tears and snot dripping everywhere. ''I'm sorry,' echoed in her head. She was, so very sorry. 'I'm sorry you were caught in the middle of something that had nothing to do with you. I'm sorry you got hurt.'
"Don't touch the screen," Erin snapped, "just hold it up."
"Got it," Carmelina shined the light as instructed. The folds behind his knee were red and angry, "I can't see anything."
Dave parked and got out of the car, a high-pitched wail seemed to float out of the house and into his ears. Shaking his head, he was imagining it. Phantom baby cries…that's all it was. He heard Carlo while he was in the shower, all the time. Only to find the baby asleep a minute later.
Still, he left the car in the driveway, when he'd normally park in the garage, and took off at a run for the front door, reaching for his keys. He shoved the house key into the deadbolt lock and let himself inside.
"What the hell is going on? I could hear Carlo from the driveway!" Without another word, he picked up the baby and grabbed a blanket off the sofa. Carlo clutched at the collar of Dave's T-shirt for dear life, his fingernails were a tiny bit too long against Dave's neck. "Shh…What the hell were you two doing? Checking him for ticks?"
"She cut him," Erin's blood boiled. "That idiot cut him when she threw that glass!"
"Where?" Dave held Carlo out and away from him so he could see what she was talking about. "I didn't notice anything last night."
"Neither did I. It's behind his left knee."
Oh if Dave hadn't been holding Carlo…"Rinse out the sink." His tone went hard, "We'll give him a bath."
"Put some baking soda in the bath water," Carmelina said, "to speed up the healing."
"Shh…" Dave held the bottle and gently swayed in front of the sofa in the living room, with Carlo in the crook of his arm. "Your dad's got you now." He turned to look at Erin, who was sitting on the couch. "Your momma's so mean for picking on you like that." He winked in her direction just to let her know he was kidding. He tried to keep things lighthearted, but there was an edge to his voice. The muscles in his neck tensed, and Carlo's warm, gentle body against his, and suddenly felt like he was holding a space heater.
The more Dave thought about it, the worse he felt.
What kind of person threw anything at someone while they were holding a baby? Out of everyone on his team, he'd expected more rational behavior from J.J. she had Henry, and she wouldn't hurt a child. That's what he'd always believed, but this new version of Jennifer Jareau was hard and angry. He couldn't read her and she obviously had a problem. Whatever it was, there was no excuse for her behavior.
They were lucky that there was only a small scratch on Carlo's leg, if it had hit anywhere else, they would be in the hospital right now instead of hanging out in their living room. "I gotta go!" Dave blurted out and laid Carlo in his swing across the living room. "I need to get out of here."
Erin got up to strap Carlo in the swing and turn it on. "Where are you going?"
"To commit a felony, or get ice cream. I'll decide in the car." On any other day, that line would have been funny, but he was serious. "You should call my accountant and then the attorney."
She knew exactly where he was going, she would have gone to Jareau's house and confronted her too, but someone had to stay with the baby. "It would be best if you left your weapon here."
"Yes Ma'am!" He barked, slamming the door behind him, and waking the baby.
Dave whipped his car into J.J.'s driveway, the smell of burning rubber lingering in his wake. He didn't care that Penelope's car was parked in front of him and he was probably blocking Will's car. It didn't matter, Dave wouldn't be there long enough for it to matter. He thought his anger would dissipate while he drove, but it only grew. He'd put the gas pedal on the floor as he drove, and when he looked back on it, he would regret the reckless driving. The anger towards Jennifer Jareau only grew the more he considered her transgressions. Rage spread like a wildfire in his chest, he stepped onto the porch and leaned on the doorbell. "Goddammit, Jareau!" His fist pummeled the wooden door. Open this fucking door and face me!"
Will yanked the door open but didn't invite him inside.
"I can't let ya in here, Dave." Will was far too calm for Rossi's liking. He was almost remorseful as he stood in the doorway, blocking the entrance. "You're pissed off and I don't blame you. I'm pretty upset with J.J. myself, but if I let you in, you're gonna say some shit you don't mean and then you'll want to apologize in a few days. Then J.J.'s going to lose her shit and say things that she doesn't mean and I don't have the energy for the J.J. and Rossi apology cycle."
"She hurt my kid," Dave's hands flexed at his sides, he knew the vein in his forehead was throbbing. "What if someone had thrown something that hit Henry? What would you do?" In return, Will turned into a blank wall, blocking the doorway.
"I hear ya," Will turned to a table beside the front door and came back with a vial. "We used this when Henry knocked his chin on a doorknob."
Will had to be kidding, Dave wanted to knock the vial from his hand. There was no way this could be resolved with a bottle of Liquid Bandaid. "Your wife threw a glass that hit my infant and you think offering scraps from your first aid kit is good enough!" Dave stepped one foot over the threshold, shoving his way inside the house. "Not even close. Jennifer Jareau, get your ass down here and face me!" Dave bellowed, standing at the bottom of the staircase. "Why'd you do it, huh? Do you hate me so much that you tried to take out my kid?"
"Rossi!" Penelope gasped in surprise at the top of the landing. Even though she saw him pull up, she wasn't prepared for his anger or the 'ready to kill' expression on his face.
"Move it, Penelope." he bit back his anger a touch. As he started up the staircase. "This is between me and her. Everyone else needs to get out of my way or be prepared to get caught in the crossfire."
"Don't go up there, Rossi," Penelope put her hand on his shoulder. "You don't need this confrontation. Go home and be with your baby."
"Don't tell me where to be," He snapped, pushing past her. "I told you to stay the hell out of my way!"
Back at the Rossi residence, Derek pulled his truck into the driveway, surprised that it was empty aside from the older model Chevy. This was stupid. The whole thing was stupid… lines in the sand were clearly being drawn. When Penelope told him he was going to check on J.J. he couldn't stomach the idea of going to comfort her when she didn't need it or deserve it. Penelope had left his house in a huff when he refused to go with her. Somehow he knew that the team wouldn't be the same. Maybe he was the traitor and the High Court of the BAU would ultimately hang him for treason, but it didn't stop him from stepping onto Rossi's porch and softly knocking on the door.
"Agent Morgan?" Strauss didn't hold back her surprise but didn't unlock the screen door. "David's not here."
"Actually, I'm here to see you. I said I'd come back to clean up the mess from last night and pick up Bridget and the puppies."
"It's alright," she waved him off. "David took care of the mess."
He held out the small vase of carnations and sunflowers. "This is a peace offering, I'm sorry that we got out of hand last night. It won't happen again."
This time, she unlocked the door but still didn't open it.
"Thank you for saying that." Eyeing him carefully, she added "and you know how your coming here is going to be perceived by your team?"
"I do." He nodded once, half expecting her to send him away. "What J.J. did was wrong. She's my friend, but I can't side with her on this one and I don't care what anyone else has to say about it."
"Alright." She opened the door because she couldn't tell him to get lost. "Then you better come inside before we all melt in the heat. We found a small cut on the baby, so you can guess where David went."
"He went to J.J.'s. I'd want to go off on her too." Derek surmised, rubbing the back of his bald head. The situation was worse than he thought. "Is the baby okay?"
"He didn't need stitches," Erin said as if that explained everything. She led them into the living room. "He had so many tests in the hospital, I'm surprised it bothered him." It wasn't lost on her how lucky they were. If the shard of glass had hit him anywhere else, Carlo would have been right back in the hospital. "I really thought I'd shielded him. The glass must have bounced up when it hit the ground."
"This is on J.J." Morgan's voice went hard, there were things that were acceptable and things that weren't. In the wrong hands of an angry woman, a scotch glass turned into a projectile missile. "You didn't deserve that and I'm sorry that it happened." Derek swept the room with his eyes. "Where is the little guy?"
"In his swing," She gestured to the baby and flashed Derek a curious expression. "Do you want to hold him or something?"
"Kinda…yeah." Derek shifted his weight from foot to foot. When the hell would Rossi get back? "Uh… if nobody minds."
"Rossi!" J.J. called out, from the top of the stairs. Her arms crossed over her chest. Hiding in your bedroom to avoid her problems seemed like a good plan until her problem came barging through the front door. "You need to leave."
Dave gave a harsh and bitter laugh, "I need to leave? Your ridiculous stunt could have put my son in the hospital. Did you know that a piece of glass bounced up and hit him? Or were you too fucked up to care?"
"I told you last night that I didn't see him!"
"That's either an outright lie or a convenient excuse!" If it weren't for Penelope teetering on the steps between them, Dave would have wrapped his hands around J.J.'s neck and been done with it. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
She bristled at his words, tightening her arms across her chest. "Don't speak to me like that in my own house."
Another harsh, barking laugh escaped Dave's throat. "Oh, that's awfully hypocritical of you. Jennifer Jareau doesn't like being disrespected in her own home. Now you know how I feel. We're not even talking about how you disrespected my home. You threw a glass at the mother of my child while she was holding my baby."
"And I'M SORRY!" J.J. exploded, anything to make him leave. "I told you that I didn't see the baby and that's the truth." Her voice went softer with a touch of regret. "I didn't see him, Dave. Of course, I didn't see him." What kind of monster did he think she was?
"Why'd you do it? I expected some shit from the team, but you all know exactly what we've been through to get my son here." Of course, the team knew, they were right beside him and Erin the whole time Blake and Stephen Gideon were stalking her. Then the team helped find Carlo after he was abducted from the hospital. "Why would you, of all people, hurt my family?"
A beat of silence as J.J. considered the question and then, "Talk to the man, Jennifer," Will cut in, from the bottom of the staircase. "He's not wrong."
"I...I don't know why I did it." J.J. sputtered, she hadn't expected Will to take Dave's side.
"Sure you do," Will's cajun accent got stronger the more upset he became. "You're not a violent person, so you picked up the glass and threw it on purpose. What is it? Are you jealous of Strauss all of a sudden? You got a crush on Rossi?"
"Of course not!" J.J.'s cheeks bloomed with color, "why would you think that?"
"Because of how you're acting," Will said because it didn't take a profiler to figure this one out. "If I had a crush on somebody I'd want to take out the competition."
Penelope pressed a hand on her own mouth to hold back her gasp, she still stood on the staircase, between Rossi and J.J.
"That's not why…" J.J. protested, with a harsh laugh.
"Oh," Dave's tone mocked her, his eyes narrowed into slits when he looked at her."So you do have a reason."
Ever the good host, Erin poured lemonade into a glass and sat it on the table in front of Derek.
"Look at him," Derek gestured to the baby in the crook of his arm. "He is chillin' with Derek Morgan." Nobody was more surprised by that than Derek; he wasn't exactly the baby-whisperer. "I guess he didn't mind being interrupted."
Erin laughed and took a sip of her drink, then said, "I don't think he's been sat down for longer than 10 minutes since we brought him home."
"Forgive me for saying so, but after all, you two have been through…" He let the sentence trail off, nobody needed a reminder of all they had been through. "I don't think I'd put my kid down either."
"I just…" she played with the corners of the napkin underneath her glass, suddenly unsure of how she wanted this conversation to go.
"Strauss," his voice went soft and he grazed the top of her arm to get her attention. "You can tell me. It's not good to keep things all bottled up inside." Derek didn't give himself time to regret it, who did she have? Rossi? He was good, but nobody wanted to tell their significant other every single thing that went on in their heads. Who else did she have? Her mother, who Strauss had to hold a gun on in order to get her to help find her missing baby.
She tore her gaze away from the wooden tabletop, "Don't call me that," she cleared her throat, meeting his eyes. "Not here, in my home. My name is Erin. If you want to be my friend who holds my baby, instead of a coworker, you have to call me by my name."
He nodded, another line in the sand had been drawn.
"Then I guess you'll have to call me Derek."
"Ooops… time to hand him over," Erin instructed as Carlo started to fuss. Derek had been holding him for several minutes. They'd moved into the living room because it was more comfortable than the dining room table. Derek held the baby on the sofa and Erin took Dave's favorite recliner across the room.
"He's getting hungry." She offered him the bottle that she made minutes ago, anticipating that he would need it. But he turned his head away and settled down as soon as she put him on her chest. "Or he just wanted his mom."
"As a certified and unashamed mama's boy, I'm tempted to agree with Carlo. There's no place safer or more comfortable than with my mom."
"That's the thing about little boys," Erin adjusted Carlo so he could take the bottle. "They never outgrow their moms. My son calls me when he finds new hair somewhere on his body. Which is a little weird."
"I got him beat," Derek jumped in.
Erin laughed good-naturedly, "You know you have a few years on a fifteen-year-old."
"Not that many. As I was saying, I was away at college, picture it. I'm in my dorm room, standing in the mirror. When I found an eyelash on my cheek. That had never happened before so I ran to the payphone in the hallway and used my laundry money to call home."
They laughed together at the image of skinny Derek Morgan bum-rushing kids in the hall just to tell his mom about an eyelash. "Really, I think I wanted to know she would answer the phone."
"And did she?" Erin leaned forward, invested in the story.
"Of course. And she didn't waste any time to start yelling at me for using all my quarters."
"You know, your team isn't going to think kindly of you after this. It's not unusual for Aaron to stop by, everyone expects that, but," she pointed to herself and then to Derek, a dark expression crossing her face. "You and I? That's never going to fly."
Derek shrugged, taking another sip of his drink. "They'll be alright. Apparently, we're all doing things differently around here."
Somehow, Dave let Penelope talk him into taking his scream session somewhere other than the staircase.
Instead, he followed Will into his and J.J. 's cozy living room. Any other time, Dave would make himself at home there. Not today and if he didn't get the answers he wanted, he'd likely never set foot back in that house. "Okay," Dave took a deep breath, in an effort to calm himself down. "Just tell me what the issue is."
Dave felt like he'd been wrung out when he pulled into the driveway. His little coffee klatch with J.J, Will, and Penelope had gone nowhere. He'd given it an hour of his time, before heading home. He knew where he belonged and as much as it sucked, it wasn't with J.J. and Penelope.
He put the car in gear and drove, this time he obeyed the speed limit. If just barely.
Closing the door behind Derek, Erin pulled out her cell phone and dialed Dave. Not that she expected him to answer. The visit from Derek had rattled her. They'd had a nice time together, but if he could drop by unannounced, what was stopping the rest of the team? Who's to say that the next visitor would be so pleasant?
"Hey, I-I know it sounds crazy," Erin spoke into Dave's voicemail. "I don't want to be here right now, there's too much happening with your team and I just want to get away from all of it. Call me back so we can talk." She hung up the phone, shaking her head, knowing that she sounded like a character in a bad suspense movie. She would wait for him to come home and talk to him.
An hour later, Dave fumbled with his keys in the lock of the front door. The house was far quieter now than when he left it.
"You look like you took a beating," Erin was in the dining room, setting the table and dishing up plates of Chinese food, for lunch when Dave walked through the door.
"Feels like it." He toed off his loafers beside the door and flexed his feet on the hardwood floor. "Where's my son?"
Erin pointed to the bassinet beside her, "napping. We had a nice visit with Agent Morgan, it put him right out." She set a serving spoon beside the styrofoam container. "Did you get my voicemail?"
"No Honey, I'm sorry. Wait." He paused at this new piece of information. "Derek came by?" Dave didn't know why he was surprised, Morgan was a good man. He tried to protect Erin and Carlo last night, of course, he wanted to check on them.
"He wanted to clean up the mess from last night and take Bridget and the puppies."
Dave pointed to the small vase of flowers on the counter, he didn't expect that from Morgan. "He brought you those?"
Erin set the last plate on the table before raising up on her toes and kissing Dave's cheek. "It was a nice gesture. A peace offering."
"Yeah," Dave walked softly over to the bassinet and checked on Carlo. "We'll go with that."
"Did you get the answers you wanted?"
"Not really." Dave dropped into the dining chair beside her and fished the bottle Will had given him earlier out of his pocket. "Will thought he could placate us with a half-used bottle of Liquid Bandaid. Like that would help anything."
"What did you say?"
"I basically told him to fuck off before bulldozing into his house and the only thing I learned from all that is that J.J. doesn't have a crush on me."
"Well that's a relief," Erin deadpanned, with her hand on his arm. Her tone turned sincere. "I'm sorry you didn't get the answers you wanted."
"I don't care." He pulled a container of lo-mein towards him and piled some on a plate. "I thought I could be her friend and help her, but she doesn't want my help. She can stay away from us until she works her shit out."
"I have faith that you two will work it out," Erin's words were meant to be comforting. "You don't have a choice unless one of you wants to transfer."
"What if I don't want to work it out?" Dave pondered the idea, did he really need someone in his life who was so resentful of his new family? He was finally happy with his lot in life, did he want to bring someone into his circle, who didn't want the best for him? "I could hang it up and be done with the whole BAU for all I care."
"You want to work it out," Erin said, with a note of finality. "Petty grudges aren't in your wheelhouse."
"Petty, no but I hold resentment over big things, like throwing dangerous material at my wife and kid. You guys could have been seriously hurt…"
"But we weren't." She offered placatingly, "I hate that Carlo got caught in the middle of this, but it barely grazed him–"
"That's a damn miracle! If J.J. can throw a glass without a second thought, what else is she willing to do?" He shook his head, clearing the thought out of his mind. "I don't want to think about it."
They ate in comfortable silence, the kids were out doing who knows what and weren't expected to be home until later. Mrs. Rossi had already eaten, leaving the happy couple to have lunch on their own. After a few minutes of easy, comfortable silence, Dave said, "What if we got out of here for a while? We could go up to the cabin."
He expected her to balk at the idea of going out of town after they'd just returned from New York. He thought she would say that the baby was too little or the kids needed to be home for Summer school.
Instead, she sat her fork down and thought about it. She could live with him thinking it was his idea. "I could hire a tutor for the kids when we get back." She didn't love the idea of being caught between her man and his team. If Derek Morgan felt he had to come by and apologize, it wouldn't be long until others followed suit. Clandestine meetings with team members in her home weren't on her list of things to do. "When would you want to leave?"
"Can you pack tonight?" He threw out the idea on a whim. The cabin at Little Creek wasn't going anywhere, but he didn't trust that shit wouldn't further hit the fan in the near future.
"Yes." She thought of the clothes in the basket that were washed the night before. It would take almost nothing to pack for herself and the baby. The older kids already had go-bags in their closets. "Let's get out of here."