March 2018
Kids' Ages
Jack Hotchner - 12
Henry LaMontagne - 9
Elaine Hotchner - 6 next month
Olivia Garcia - 5
Michael LaMontagne - 2
Grace Hotchner - 2
Hank Morgan - 18 months
Jules Reid - almost 5 months
Josiah Hotchner - 7 weeks
James Hotchner -7 weeks
*Savannah is 27 weeks pregnant
*JJ is 22 weeks pregnant
*TW: MENTIONS OF BLOOD, SUICIDE, AND MISCARRIAGE*
LaMontagne
She had to save her. She had to. Just beyond that door was her sister, lying in the bathtub, covered in her own blood. If only she could open the door, maybe she could get there soon enough to stop the bleeding. Only, the door wouldn't budge. No matter how much she pushed and prodded, it wouldn't open. It seemed an eternity before the door magically swung open.
The room was bright. Too bright. As if the sun shined solely in this place. It was a startling contrast from the eternal darkness from which JJ had come. She squinted against the light as she stepped onto the cold tile floor.
Once her eyes adjusted she found her sister was not lying lifeless in the porcelain tub, but standing in front of a vanity mirror. In front of her, sitting on a cushioned stool, is a little girl no more than three years old, with long honey-blonde hair and an ankle-length white dress.
Roslyn turned toward her younger sister, a bright smile on her youthful face. She looked stunning. She wore a matching dress and her brown hair was the same as it had been before that tragic day. In fact, she looked exactly the way she had before Ethan Howard got to her. Young, beautiful, at peace, happy even.
"Hi, Jenny," she greeted cheerfully, setting the brush she had been using to brush the little girl's hair down on the counter. "Bailey, come say hi, to your Mommy," Roslyn prompted.
JJ's eyes widened, looking between her sister and the little girl. This couldn't possibly be her, could it? They had lost their baby so early on, they didn't even know if it had been a girl or not. That's why they chose the name Bailey.
The toddler, lept from the stool, rushing toward JJ. Looking at her face, JJ knew it was true. This beautiful little girl was her daughter. She sunk to her knees as tears came to her eyes. Bailey looked so much like Will, except for small parts that actually resembled Roz as a child more than JJ.
Bailey leaped into her mother's open arms, clinging as closely as she could with JJ's bump in the way. JJ stoked her daughter's hair and though she couldn't feel it she knew it was as soft as silk.
"I'm so sorry, I couldn't keep you," JJ cried to her daughter. "Your daddy and I wanted you so badly. We love you so much."
Bailey seemed unfazed, happy to be in her mom's arms. "I know. But Mommy, I 'ad to go. You can't'ed' 'ave Mikey and sissy if you 'ad me." She dropped her attention down to the bump, placing her small hands on it. "'Er name is Rose. You gonna love 'er. I pick'ed 'er for Daddy and you. Mikey too. I mad'ed sure they was per'fec."
JJ sobbed even harder. "I love you so much, Bailey."
"I love you too, Mommy."
JJ began to feel a force, like a strong wind pushing her away from her daughter and sister and toward the open door.
"No! I don't want to go!"
Roz smiled sadly. "I'm sorry. You have to."
The force was unstoppable. JJ felt herself being pushed out of the door while Roslyn and Bailey waved at her. She was desperate to be with her daughter, reaching for her unsuccessfully as the force got stronger, tossing her into the darkness. She fell and fell, soaring downward through the abyss. She wrapped her arms around her belly protectively, preparing for the crash landing in 3… 2…1….
JJ jolted awake as tears streamed down her face.
"Jen? Are ya alrigh'?" It was Will, ever the sweet, loving husband.
"I saw her, Will. She was with Roz. She was beautiful."
"Who Jen? Who'd ya see?"
"Our baby. Bailey. She was beautiful. She looked like you."
"It's been four years ya'know. Today."
"Yeah, I know."
As hard as the miscarriage had been on Will, he wasn't stupid enough to think that it hadn't been even harder on his wife. It was she who had carried their baby for those 17 weeks. It was she who had to physically go through all the pain. It was she who thought her body had failed.
"Lets s'ay in bed for a li'le while."
JJ nodded tiredly, shifting comfortably into her husband's arms.
There, in their bedroom, in the early daylight hours, two hearts fully found each other again.
Reid-Garcia Household
A shrill cry broke through the darkness of the Reid-Garcia home. Spencer woke up with a start. His daughter needed him. Padding on the carpet to the bedroom next door, Spencer found the baby in her crib, face beet red as she cried.
Spencer lifted her out, cooing softly. "Oh, Bug. You're okay. Daddy's here." The cries were getting worse, louder, and more frequent. Spencer started to worry that the baby was going to wake up Penelope or even worse, Olivia. His best friend's little girl was not a morning person. Even Derek Morgan was terrified of the five-year-old girl when she was woken too early.
A quick check told him her diaper was still fresh. He tried to feed her a bottle but she spit it back out. He went through everything he could think of to help his daughter but nothing was working. Penelope found him in the nursery desperately trying to rock the baby back to sleep.
"What time is it?" Spencer questioned.
"Quarter past four," Penelope resided as if from memory. "Want me to take over?"
Spencer didn't. He wanted to soothe his daughter. He wanted to be her superhero. However, he knew he needed help sometimes, so he handed all fourteen screaming pounds of the best gift he ever received over to the woman he trusted most with his life.
Practically the second Penelope's perfectly manicured hand touched Jules' tiny head, she gasped.
"Baby Genius is burning up!"
Spencer rushed for his daughter. While Penelope's assessment was slightly overdramatic, Jules did seem to be running a low-grade fever.
"Maybe you should call that nurse woman," Penelope mentioned. Ever since Spencer had taken Jules home from the Hospital, he had been in contact with the woman who had kept an eye on her until he could get there.
Spencer nodded, making sure Jules, who was now starting to calm, was safe in Penelope's arms before going downstairs to make the phone call.
"It sounds like she's just teething. You can give her half a teaspoon of children's Tylenol. She should be back to sleep in no time," Stephanie told him calmly.
They spoke for a few minutes before Spencer felt confident that Jules was alright. It was less than ten minutes after he had given the baby her medicine when her eyes finally began to close. Spencer rocked her back and forth, running his thumb through her dark hair until the crying was replaced by snores. Allowing his head to fall back against the rocking chair, Spencer began to nod off. The beeping started quiet, muffled through walls. Then it grew louder and louder until it couldn't be ignored anymore. Spencer lifted his head and rubbed his eyes with one hand. Jules was still sleeping peacefully in his arm, completely undisturbed.
"How's our girl?" Penelope asked, coming to stand in the doorway.
"Better. She finally fell asleep about half an hour ago." Spencer looked at his watch and then down at Jules. "I guess I should get ready for work."
"Just stay here. Baby Genius obviously needs you. I'll let Rossi know."
"Thanks, Pen."
"Anytime, Super Dad."
Garcia
Penelope thanked the waiter when she sat down the plates of food in front of them. She had only worked a half day that day so she made the decision to take Olivia out for an early lunch. After they ate, they were going to meet Derek, Savannah, Fran, and Hank at the park.
She and Olivia made mostly small talk for the majority of the meals. Olivia expressed her worry that she and Ellie wouldn't be in the same class for the first grade come the fall. Penelope assured her that that would most likely not be the case, and even if it was, she was sure the girl would do perfectly well on her own.
Now, Olivia looked downcast. Her chin rested on one hand, she seemed more interested in the chipped table than on her plate.
"What's wrong, my gumdrop?"
"How come I don't have a dad?"
Penelope stared at her daughter for a few long minutes.
"Well, uhm, well, see your Dad is a guy who, well, uhm," Penelope licked her lips, searching her brain for something to say to her five-year-old daughter that would explain the situation. "Your dad, he never really wanted to be a Daddy, and so when we found out about you, he decided that he didn't want to be in our lives. But that's okay, right? We've got all your uncles and aunties, and Grandpa Dave."
"Yeah. And ourselves. And we're really cool."
Penelope smiled. "That's right! We're the Garcia Girls!" She stuck her hand in the air, and Olivia stretched to smack it.
Morgan
It was mid-evening in the Morgan household and emotions were running high. It had been a year and a half since Hank Spencer Morgan had been born and it was finally time for his first haircut. Needless to say, his parents had certain emotions when it came to the topic. Neither wanted to see their little boy grow up, but it was time to bite the bullet.
"I'm not sure I'm ready for this," Savannah mentioned, entering the living room with Hank on her hip.
"We got to get it over with at some point."
"You're right," Savannah sighed. She sat Hank down in his high chair in front of Derek.
"Alright! Let's get to cutting."
Hank was surprisingly good sitting as still as a 1-and-a-half-year-old could while strapped into a seat. Derek kept it short, only shaving down the sides and trimming down the top.
Stepping back to admire his work, he smiled. Not too bad. Beside him, Savannah let out a choked sob.
"He doesn't look like a baby anymore! He's growing up too fast."
Derek put his arm around Savannah's shoulder, pulling her closer, and kissing her head. "And next week we'll be sending him off to college," he teased.
Savannah smacked his chest. "Derek Morgan! Don't joke like that."
Hotchners
Emily woke up 13 minutes before seven A.M. when the sunlight began stinging her eyelids. Stretching with a groan, she narrowed her sights on Aaron on the opposite side of the room rocking Josiah in his arms while the baby nursed on a bottle. Aaron turned around when he heard rustling and smiled at his wife. "Good morning, Beautiful."
"Morning. You been up long?"
Aaron shook his head. "Josh woke about ten minutes ago, hungry as always. James hasn't woken up yet."
"He's like his mother," Emily said with pride. James had been the quieter more relaxed twin all seven weeks of their lives. His very existence was completely unknown to anybody until just a month before Emily had delivered, choosing to quietly hide behind his brother. It was quite a shock to the expectant parents and the ultrasound tech when there was a second heartbeat was detected. Thankfully Rossi and Garcia had taken it upon themselves to get everything the parents would need for a second baby so that on February 2 at 4:14 and 4:27 A.M. when Josiah David and James Alexander Hotchner were born the Hotchners could transition from a family of five to a family of seven with ease.
"Speaking of sleep, think I can squeeze in a few extra minutes?" Emily wondered, flopping back.
Before Aaron could respond, a knock sounded at the bedroom door.
"Sorry, Honey, Jamie might go for that but I think your other four children are ready for the day."
Sure enough, when the door opened, Ellie came barreling into the room still dressed in her Princess Aurora pjs. She first went to Aaron stretching on her tippy toes to be able to see Josh. "Good morning, Joshie." She then went around her father to the other crib. "Good morning, Jamesy." Finally, she crawled up onto the bed and threw her arms around Emily. "Good morning, Mommy."
"Good morning, Ellie-Bellie," Emily greeted, kissing her daughter's head before sweeping her dark hair out of her face. Though the eldest Hotchner daughter was practically the female version of her father in both looks and in personality, she had inherited Emily's severe bedhead.
"Hey! What about me?" Aaron questioned.
"Oh, yeah." Ellie hopped off the bed and ran to give her dad a hug before getting back into bed with her mom. "Mommy, I'm hungry."
"Okay, Baby. Let's go see what we can find for breakfast." Ellie left the room first followed by Emily after she crossed the room to kiss her husband.
"Let me get him back to sleep and then I'll meet you down there," Aaron told her, rubbing Josiah's back.
Emily staggered into the kitchen and began rummaging through the cupboards and fridge finding something for the family to eat. She settled on eggs and toast just as Jack walked in wearing plaid pajama pants and an old Stanford shirt of his dad's. He came over and hugged her around the waist. Emily ruffled his hair. "Big game today, you excited?"
Jack shrugged. "I guess so. We're playing Riverside and they're really good, but Dad thinks we can beat them."
"Well if Dad thinks you can then I'm sure you can. Do you wanna make the toast?"
Jack grabbed out the toaster and began making toast four pieces at a time.
Emily used the six eggs she had to make breakfast. "Dippy" eggs for Jack, scrambled eggs for Elaine and Grace, and a ham and cheese omelet for Aaron. For herself, she poured a very small bowl of cereal. She made a mental note to get the grocery shopping done as soon as possible.
By the time all of the food was done, Aaron was in the dining room sitting Gracie in her booster seat. She carried the plates into the room with Jack's help before sitting down on Aaron's right across from Jack.
"Why aren't you having eggs?" Aaron asked, eyeing her bowl of Cap'n Crunch.
"We ran out," Emily told him nonchalantly. She didn't mind eating something of less nutrition so long as her family was well-fed.
Aaron's eyes widened. "Here." He slid his plate toward her and began to reach for her bowl.
"Aaron, I'm fine. You have a game you have to coach. You need your nutrition. I'll go shopping tonight once the kids are asleep."
"Emily, I am the man of the house and your husband. I will not sit here and eat the better food, while you or any of the children go hungry. Besides your recovery from birthing twins. So eat."
Emily opened her mouth to argue but Aaron cut her off, handing her his fork. "No arguments," he told her sternly before taking a large bite of the sugary cereal that he famously hated.
After breakfast, it was a frenzy trying to get everyone ready and out the door for the game. Aaron loaded the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen while Emily fed Jamie and then changed the twins, got them dressed, and packed the diaper bag. After Aaron helped Grace get changed, Emily did her hair, and then both of the girls in matching braids. By the time that was done, Aaron had Josiah and James in their car seats, and made sure Jack had everything he needed, and the girls' busy bag packed with toys. All Emily had left to do was make sandwiches and make sure the cooler was packed. Once that was done, she was able to lock up and rush out to the car, only five minutes behind schedule.
The game itself went surprisingly well. Jack's team came out the victors by over fifteen points. On the way home, all five children passed out in their seats. Emily glanced over at Aaron, who kept glancing in the rearview mirror at the kids. "We made that."
"Yeah," Aaron hummed. He took a hand off the wheel and reached for Emily's hand. He brought it to his mouth and kissed it. "I'm proud of us."
"Me too," Emily smiled.
They had just barely made it through the door with all of the children when two cars pulled into the driveway. When Emily opened the door, she was surprised to see not only JJ, Will, Henry, and Michael but also Penelope and Olivia standing on her porch.
"What're you guys doing here?"
"Hotch called us. Said to bring the kids over and to take you shopping. Guess he thought you could use some kid-free time with your best girls."
"An' I'm here to help keep an' eye on the chil'ren," Will added.
"So get your sweet ass out here and let's go shopping!" Pen exclaimed before turning to Olivia. "I love you, girlie. Be good for Uncle Aaron and Uncle Will, and make sure not to be too loud near the babies." She kissed her on the cheek before sending her inside. Henry followed, holding Michael's hand. Will made up the rear after kissing his wife goodbye. Emily returned inside to tell the children and her husband goodbye and grabbed her purse.
All was going well until she got close to the front door and Grace threw herself at her feet, crying as she clung to her.
"Wanna go, Mommy!"
Emily felt her heart break but she hadn't gotten a moment alone in the last two months and she was desperate for time with her best friends.
"Oh, Gracie, Baby I'm sorry, but Mommy needs some time with just Auntie Jenny and Auntie Penny." She sunk to her knees and cradled her daughter. "Mommy has to go, but when I get home we can play Candy Crush. Does that sound fun?"
Grace nodded her head, wiping her eyes.
"Okay, then that's what we'll do. I need you to go play with Daddy. Mommy will be back before you know it."
Gracie finally walked away allowing Emily to slip out the door.
The three girls decided on taking JJ's car because Penelope's bug was too small to hold all of the groceries, and Emily's was full of car seats.
At the store, they took their time going up and down the aisles with coffee in hand.
"So what's going on with you and Alvez? Emily questioned Penelope.
"Nothing! Why would you say that? Nothing."
"Woah! Way to get defensive," JJ teased, bumping Pen's shoulder.
"I'm not getting defensive. There's just nothing going on with us."
"So then what's up with all the flirting? Sure doesn't seem like nothing."
"All we're saying is you could do a lot worse than Luke Alvez," JJ said as they moved into another aisle. "He's cute, he's funny, and he's great with kids."
Penelope sighed. "If I admit I like him, will you too stop bugging me about it?"
Emily held up two different types of yogurts, and JJ pointed to the one on the left, so she put it in the cart that Penelope was pushing. "We'll stop bugging you about it if you ask him on a date.
Penelope rolled her eyes. "Fine! One date, but if it goes bad, I better not hear a peep about it for the rest of our lives."
"Deal," The other two girls said in unison.
That night after Emily got home and they had dinner and got all five children to sleep, she and Aaron flopped into bed.
"We did it, we survived another day as parents to five," Emily said breathlessly. She was so exhausted if she closed her eyes, she might fall asleep instantly.
"Let's go to sleep," Aaron told her, scooting closer so they could cuddle. Just as Emily's eyes fell shut, a cry broke through the quiet. It was James, her always present mom brain told her.
"I'll get him," Aaron offered, starting to sit up.
"No, I'll do it."
Another cry joined the first. Josiah was awake now and even angrier than his brother. So much for arguing over who was getting up. Both Aaron and Emily forced themselves out of bed. Two of their children needed their help and Aaron and Emily would always answer that call.