A few days later, Jessica received a reply from Aunt Diana.
Dear Jessica,
I, too, like reading. As I'm sure Spencer has told you, I was a professor of 15th century literature. My favorite author is Margery Kempe. Her autobiography gives tremendous insight into life as a woman in the 15th century.
When I was very, very young, I wanted to be a princess. Then I wanted to be an author, and by the time I started seventh grade, I had made up my mind that I wanted to be a teacher. As much as I love gaining knowledge, I have an even greater love for sharing it.
Yes, Vivian and I were very close when we were young. She was four years younger than me, and for many years she idolized me. She would follow me around everywhere. Our parents had difficulty getting her to go to her own school instead of trying to attend all my classes with me. Not that it made much of a difference, because I often ended up trying to teach her what I'd learned in school. Vivian was my first student, and a large part of my inspiration for being a teacher.
By now, I hope Spencer has told you what happened between myself and Vivian. If not, ask him. I feel that it is better explained in person.
I do not get many opportunities to go shopping, but I shall ask the staff to remind me to send you a birthday card in January. Tell me how your driving lessons go; don't let fear of the past stop you from achieving whatever you set your mind to do. Vivian wouldn't want you to limit yourself on her account.
Love,
Diana
Jessica took out a pen and paper to write her reply.
That Friday, Spencer arrived home and found Jessica huddled on the couch with her knees drawn up to her chest, looking pale and staring blankly at the TV—which wasn't even on. Bianca had taken up a rather defensive position on the back of the couch, staring intently at the door and hissing at Spencer before recognizing him.
"Is something wrong?" Spencer asked worriedly.
"Mrs. Hertford accidentally locked me in the supply closet," Jessica replied, a haunted look in her eyes. "It was fifteen minutes before anyone noticed. Felt like longer."
Spencer winced in sympathy and sat down next to her. "I'm sorry."
"It was so dark…" Jessica continued. "I didn't even know how the door had gotten closed. I kept telling myself I was safe at school, that there had to be an innocent explanation, but…I couldn't stop thinking about Frank. When Mrs. Hertford finally opened the door again, I was almost afraid to come out."
"You're all right," Spencer assured. "You're out of the closet now, and you're never going back to that closet in New York."
Jessica's head snapped up. "I'm…out of the closet?"
"Yes, you are," Spencer insisted, completely missing the point. "You're safe in our living room now."
"You make it sound like I've come out to more people than just you, Penelope, Beth and Claire," Jessica commented, a trace of amusement finally making a dent in her panic.
Spencer frowned. "I didn't mean it like that."
"Of course you didn't," Jessica responded, restraining the urge to roll her eyes. She took a deep breath and finally uncurled from her huddled position. "So, how was the presentation?"
"A serial killer came to the presentation and used it as a lead-in to play mind games with us. But don't worry, we won and we rescued all the hostages. Busy day."
"Today was not a good day for education in this family," Jessica concluded.
"No, I suppose not," Spencer agreed.
The following Tuesday, the team went out on a new case. Jessica spent all day Wednesday anxiously checking her phone, but to no avail; it was becoming increasingly clear that the team would not be home for Thanksgiving. Desperate not to spend the holiday alone, Jessica decided to text JJ. "Are you and Will doing anything tomorrow?"
It was several hours before JJ responded. "No. New baby taking up all our time. Haven't even bought a turkey."
"We have a turkey, but the team is in Minneapolis," Jessica replied. "If I do all the cooking and dishwashing, can I spend Thanksgiving with you guys?"
This time, it only took about ten minutes for JJ to answer. "If you don't mind that we'll probably be more focused on Henry than on you, then you've got yourself a deal."
The next morning, Will picked up Jessica (and the turkey) and brought her over to his and JJ's house. JJ showed Jessica around the kitchen, then returned to the living room to give Henry his next feed. Once Henry had been burped and settled down for a nap, JJ and Will passed out on the couch.
Two hours later, JJ woke up…and instantly noticed that the baby was missing. Panicking, she woke Will and they searched the house. After frantically searching both the upstairs and the downstairs, they finally thought to look in the kitchen. Jessica was gently rocking a sleeping Henry in her arms while keeping an eye on multiple timers. Henry's bottle sat on a corner of the kitchen counter. Jessica nodded in greeting, then returned her attention to the timers.
"Babe, I think we just found our go-to babysitter," JJ commented, impressed.
"I will never underestimate the deaf again," Will concurred.
JJ waved to get Jessica's attention. "Will you be all right if we catch a bit more sleep?" she said and signed.
Jessica nodded.
"Appreciate it," Will replied, smiling. He led the way back out of the kitchen. "If we're gonna have her babysit, you're gonna have to teach me to sign."
"Sleep first," JJ insisted.
"You had me at sleep."
Later in the day, Spencer was somewhat confused to receive a text from JJ, raving about Jessica's ability to cook while holding a baby. He decided to ask Jessica about it. "Did you really cook Thanksgiving dinner while holding Henry the whole time?"
"JJ seriously thought I did that? She must really need sleep. No, I only held Henry while I was waiting for stuff to cook on the stove and in the oven. Once I needed to actually handle the food, I put Henry down."
"That makes a lot more sense," Spencer replied, relieved. "So, did you have a good Thanksgiving?"
"Would have been better if you were here, but it wasn't terrible."
"We just wrapped up the case, so we should be home tomorrow."
"Good. There'll be leftovers, don't worry."
"I look forward to them."
The next Friday, Jessica stared in horror at the news of the team's latest destination. "You can't go to Georgia! You're not allowed to go to Georgia ever again!"
"I'm no more likely to get kidnapped in Georgia than I am in any other state. Besides, our unsub is targeting women, not men."
"Nothing good ever happened in Georgia!" Jessica insisted. "The Trail of Tears! The Civil War! The Ku Klux Klan!"
"Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta on January 15th, 1929."
It took a minute for Jessica to come up with a response to that. "You're not there to catch Martin Luther King."
"I'll be careful." Reid sighed and put his phone back in his pocket. He'd been doing such a good job not thinking about what happened the last time he was in Georgia…until Jessica brought it up.
The following night, Jessica got a text from Morgan. "Your cousin just got a girl asking for his number."
"Do you think she's the unsub?" Jessica replied.
"No, our unsub is definitely male," Morgan assured.
"Do you think it's some kind of trap?"
"No, I'm pretty sure she was genuinely interested."
"Was she confused about what kind of doctor he is and wanted medical advice?"
"No, he impressed her with a magic trick."
"She'll be the unsub's next victim," Jessica concluded, convinced that this had to go wrong somehow. It was Georgia. Everything went wrong in Georgia.
A few hours later, Morgan texted her again. "Have you considered pursuing a career as a psychic?"
"What happened?" Jessica demanded worriedly.
"That girl WAS the unsub's next victim. Luckily, we got there in time."
Jessica wasn't quite sure what to make of this. "Well, I suppose that makes her the perfect match for Spencer, then."
When Spencer got home, he was unsurprised to find Jessica waiting to interrogate him. "So, tell me about this girl who likes magic and has our bad luck when it comes to kidnapping," she demanded.
"All I did was give her a flyer with our unsub's sketch and then save her life," Spencer replied. "I haven't really gotten to know her."
"Do you think you will get to know her?" Jessica prodded. "Saving her life is a good start for any romance."
"She has my number. She'll call if she wants to."
"Do you want her to?" Jessica asked slyly.
"…I wouldn't be opposed to the idea," Spencer conceded. He bent down to pick up Bianca, who was complaining loudly about not being immediately showered with attention.
A week later, the team flew out to Arizona to deal with a cop-killer. That night, Garcia went to pick Jessica up from JJ's house. She rang the doorbell repeatedly, then finally realized that JJ's doorbell wasn't reworked to incorporate a visual signal and therefore Jessica would have no idea Garcia was ringing it. She sent a text instead, and Jessica finally opened the door.
"Why exactly does JJ need a babysitter when she's on maternity leave?" Garcia asked curiously.
Jessica shot a slightly uncomfortable glance at the staircase. "Well, she said she and Will wanted a night out, but I don't think they ever came back downstairs. JJ's not answering her phone either. I'm not sure if they're sleeping or doing other things, and I don't want to risk interrupting 'other things'."
"Their car's in the driveway," Garcia signed thoughtfully. "I'll be right back." She headed up the stairs, returning less than thirty seconds later. "I hear snoring. I think it's safe to say they're asleep."
"Do you think we should wake them?" Jessica asked uncertainly.
Garcia shook her head. "Let them sleep a little longer. I haven't gotten to spend time with my—what's the sign for G-O-D-S-O-N?"
"Godson."
"Godson! Thank you. I haven't gotten to spend time with my godson lately." Garcia leaned over her godson's bassinet and cooed at him.
Jessica sat back down on the couch and took out the math worksheet that Henry had scarcely given her time to work on. She loved him, but he really could be fussy sometimes.
Several hours later, a somewhat embarrassed JJ thanked them for their help and shooed them out the door. Apparently, she and Will really had meant to go out…they'd simply decided to take a nap first, and slept right through the alarm they'd set. And Jessica's texts. And Garcia's repeated doorbell-ringing.
That weekend, Spencer and Jessica set out their Christmas decorations. Not fifteen minutes after they finished, Garcia showed up with more decorations, and she seemed a bit put out that she couldn't decorate their apartment from scratch. She had already gotten to Hotch and Emily's places, and once she used up what she'd brought for the cousins (and tried and failed to get a friendly greeting from Bianca), she then recruited Jessica to join her in decoration-mobbing the rest of the team.
Claire's sixteenth birthday was that week, and her sweet sixteen party was to be held on Sunday. On Saturday, Jessica and Beth took the Metro up to White Flint Mall to shop both for Christmas and the party. "How did you convince your mom to let you take the Metro with me?" Jessica asked curiously.
"I told her that your FBI agent cousin has been letting you ride the Metro on your own for a year now, and if he thinks it's safe, she should too." Beth leaned against the window and sighed. "And meanwhile Claire gets to go to the DMV and get her permit today. You guys will both get your licenses before I can even get my permit…"
Jessica shuddered. "I think I might stick to using the Metro anyway."
Beth gave her a flat look. "Car accidents aren't that common, you know. I bet Spencer could give you the exact statistics on how rare they really are."
"Statistics won't bring my parents back," Jessica retorted. "Besides, Spencer's team just got back from catching a serial killer who shot people while they were driving."
Beth raised an eyebrow. "Do you plan to spend your entire life avoiding anything even remotely connected to any serial killers? Something tells me that sooner or later, that list would rule out everything on the planet. In fact, it already includes your own bedroom!"
Jessica scowled. "Thanks for reminding me."
Beth sighed again. "Fine, look at it this way: are you going to let the serial killers ruin your life? Or are you going to hold your head high and show the world that nothing is going to keep you down?"
"I'd prefer not to give the world an excuse to throw more crap at me."
Beth gave up. "Well, I'm going to get my license as soon as I can. Maybe some day you'll let Claire and me drive you around."
On Christmas Eve, Garcia, Prentiss, Reid and Jessica all went to see a local production of the Nutcracker. Afterwards, the three girls got into an argument about whether the snowflakes, flowers or party guests had had the best dance, while Reid offered up random facts about the history of the Nutcracker. None of the girls paid him much attention.
Then Reid asked Garcia whether she thought David Morrissey would be the Eleventh Doctor, and the four of them began an entirely new debate that lasted the whole way home. Reid and Jessica's argument continued into their apartment, only ending when Bianca put her paws on Jessica's knee and yowled her displeasure. The cousins scolded their cat and decided it was time for bed.
For Christmas Day, JJ and Jessica made the same arrangement they'd had for Thanksgiving, only this time Reid was able to join them. Jessica did the bulk of the cooking while JJ made sure Reid got some quality bonding time with his godson.
"Oh, would you look at that, he's smiling at you," JJ said happily.
"He doesn't smile at just anyone," Will added.
"Hi Henry?" Reid said tentatively. "Merry Christmas?"
Henry reached out and latched onto one of Reid's fingers.
"No, my finger is not your Christmas present."
Henry reached up with his other hand to grab another one of Reid's fingers.
"But I suppose I can let you borrow them for a little while."
Henry started randomly pulling on Reid's fingers.
Reid pulled back just out of reach. "Here I have five fingers…four…three…two…one…" He closed his fist completely and tapped it on his other fist. "Wait…what's this?" He opened his fist again, revealing a quarter. "That's not a finger!"
Henry stared at the quarter in awe. Then he stared at his godfather in awe. Then the quarter. Then his godfather. Then he gurgled excitedly.
Will laughed. "You're gonna have him convinced you're a real wizard."
JJ winked. "He is a real wizard, right Spence?"
"Oh yes, I'm totally a wizard," Reid agreed. He leaned in close to Henry. "But I can't turn into a big black dog. Sorry." He made a mental note to buy Henry a stuffed black dog.
"What have I missed?" Jessica asked from the doorway.
"Your cousin is making sure Henry doesn't confuse him with Sirius Black," JJ informed her.
Jessica turned to Reid. "Well, how long is it going to take you to learn how to turn into a dog?"
"I don't think Bianca would like me developing that trick," Reid argued.
Jessica nodded. "Good point. I guess you'll have to stick to being a godfather, not a dog father."
"Uh…" Will said, slightly lost.
"We're going to have to find someone else to be Henry's dogfather," JJ explained, laughing.
Henry reached up and pushed Reid's fingers into a fist, then tried to open them again. Guessing what his godson wanted, Reid repeated the appearing quarter trick several times, to Henry's increasing delight.
"I think he's happy with his wizard godfather," Will stated.