"I-I guess I should just tell you this. Hotch and Rossi already know." Callahan took a deep breath. "My sister and brother-in-law died in 9/11. They were working at the Pentagon."
Reid winced. "So sorry. I can imagine this must obviously bring back a lot of painful memories."
"Yeah," Callahan agreed. She stared off into the distance, then shook herself out of it. "Anyway, I don't wanna be that weepy agent with the tragic past, so you don't have to walk on eggshells around me." She walked away to continue inspecting the plane wreckage.
Reid followed. "My mom has schizophrenia and I adopted my cousin after her parents died in a car crash…since we're sharing."
Callahan stopped and looked back at him in surprise. "My sister and brother-in-law had a baby girl, Meg. We took her in. Actually, Chris and I moved into their house. She's 13 and the light of my life."
"Jessica is 21 now and I could say the same about her…although she's going to have to share that title once Maeve gives birth. My wife," Reid clarified, seeing Callahan's look of confusion.
"Maybe we could introduce Jessica and Meg," Callahan suggested. "My joining the BAU has been hard on her, she could probably use a friend who's been in her position."
"I'm not opposed to the idea, but I should warn you, Jessica is Deaf and non-speaking. Meg would have to learn ASL if they're to become anything more than passing acquaintances."
"Ah," Callahan replied, caught off-guard. "Well, I suppose we could introduce them and then Meg can decide if she wants to put in the effort."
"Yeah, that sounds doable," Reid agreed.
Callahan smiled at him, then turned back to the plane wreckage. "This must have been the co-pilot's seat."
Workday over, Maeve locked the door to her lab and then turned around to properly survey her office. Jessica was absentmindedly squeezing Maeve's stress ball, which Maeve had never actually seen her use before. "Everything okay?"
Jessica reluctantly put down the ball. "I hate it when they get a case in Georgia."
Maeve frowned. "I'm guessing that has something to do with the incident you always refer to as 'Georgia'?"
Jessica looked at her in surprise. "Do you really not know which one that is?"
"You always avoid the details, and I didn't want to bring up painful memories unnecessarily."
Jessica sighed. "That was the one that started Spencer's drug issues."
Maeve winced. "That one. No wonder you hate Georgia."
"Yeah." Jessica grimaced. "I know I agreed to meet Kate's daughter—niece, whatever—and talk to her about what it's like being a BAU kid, but…what the hell do I say to her about things like that? There is no 'friendly advice' that will help when you're watching someone you love lying dead on the floor in a godforsaken shed on the other side of a video camera."
"Well, hopefully nothing like that happens to Kate," Maeve suggested encouragingly.
"It will," Jessica signed darkly. "Sooner or later, something like that happens to everyone in the BAU. I just hope for both Kate and Meg's sakes that Kate survives it when it happens."
"Didn't she get shot on her very first case? Maybe Kate's already used up her allotment of bad luck for a while."
"Yeah, and hopefully Spencer has too. Everybody needs to stop getting shot." Jessica finally grabbed her book bag and stood up. "I'm ready. Let's go."
Meg was just reaching the age where she considered herself far above such childish nonsense as trick-or-treating, so she was invited over for candy and a horror movie on Halloween. BAU luck being what it was, Spencer and Kate were too busy looking for a missing child to attend.
Meg seemed a little unsure of herself. "So…what's it like, being Deaf?"
Jessica shrugged. "What's it like, being hearing?" she responded, Maeve interpreting.
"Uh…I don't know. It feels normal, I guess?"
Jessica nodded. "There you go, then. I was technically born hearing, but I don't really remember it, so being Deaf is just normal to me."
"Oh. I guess that makes sense." Meg grabbed a chocolate bar out of a bowl, but did not unwrap it. "So…how long has your cousin worked in the BAU?"
"About ten years," Jessica replied. "And I've been living with him for almost that long."
"So that would have made you…how old?"
"I was twelve when he adopted me. About the same age you are now, right?"
"I'm thirteen!" Meg objected, affronted.
Maeve laughed. "Ah, to be young, and insist people recognize that you are older than they thought…"
"I'm a teenager!" Meg insisted.
Jessica laughed too. "Obviously. My mistake."
"Thank you," Meg grumbled.
"So, how are you doing, now that Kate spends half her time traveling the country?"
Meg shrugged. "It sucks, but I know she's out there being totally kickass, so that's cool."
Jessica was tempted to comment on how Kate had gotten injured during her very first BAU case, but if Meg wasn't upset by that, then it was probably best not to drag it up. Jessica turned to the TV instead. "So, is Dracula cool with you?"
"Sure."
"Okay. Be aware, we are going to be playing it with closed captions."
Meg wrinkled her nose in distaste, but recognized that arguing would simply make her look bad. "Okay."
"Oof!" Maeve grunted. "I think the baby has opinions on that."
"You could always put the movie on mute and watch it like I do, and then the baby doesn't get traumatized by a movie that's way above his age range," Jessica joked.
"No, no, I'll just muffle my stomach with pillows," Maeve decided.
"If this is supposed to be some PSA against teen pregnancy, it's working," Meg commented. She finally unwrapped her chocolate bar and popped it into her mouth.
"Good," Maeve said decisively. Jessica went over to the TV and popped the DVD in.
When Spencer returned from a case in Montana, he looked very awkward and wouldn't quite meet Maeve's eyes. "I, uh…have a confession to make."
Maeve frowned. "What's wrong?"
"I…our unsub was a woman living in a fairy tale delusion, and I…I ended up having to pretend to be her Prince Charming to convince her to surrender without bloodshed. I even had to remove my wedding ring so she wouldn't see it and fly into another homicidal rage…"
Maeve stared at him. For a long moment, there was total silence. Then, she burst out laughing. "Well, that's a crime-fighting technique I'd never heard of before. But if you were doing it purely to save lives, then I'm not going to count it as cheating."
Spencer let out a sigh of relief and finally looked up at her properly. "Thanks. I swear, I was just doing my job, nothing more."
"I know. I trust you." Maeve smiled mischievously. "But I like the idea of having my own Prince Charming. Why don't you show me exactly what you did to talk this woman down?"
"Well, I had one of her shoes that she'd left at a previous crime scene…" Spencer went to the closet and grabbed one of Maeve's shoes at random. "Excuse me. May I approach?"
Maeve nodded, curious to see where this went.
"Please, just give me the chance to speak. I've looked for so long. I've searched this entire city, trying to find the right person…"
Some time later, the couple had gone very far off-script, and they were lying in bed together. Maeve rested her head on Spencer's chest. "Okay, new deal: you have my full permission to flirt with unsubs to make them surrender, on the condition that you then come home and do the same thing but better with me."
"I can live with this deal," Spencer agreed.
Jessica was a few minutes late getting to lunch, and she was slightly bewildered to see all her friends eagerly watching her walk up to their table. "There you are!" Jeffrey exclaimed. "What can you tell us about the Selfie Killer?"
"The what?" Jessica responded, confused.
"You don't know about the Selfie Killer?" Mateo signed incredulously. "Your cousin was on the news about him!"
Jessica shrugged. "I don't generally ask Spencer for details about his cases, and I had way too much homework to be watching the news yesterday."
Lydia pouted. "So, he's all 'no comment' at home too? You don't get any insider scoops?"
"He'd probably tell me more if I asked, but I didn't. Why? What's this unsub doing?"
"He killed Tara Harris and posted a photo of her dead body posed like she was taking a selfie," Lydia explained.
"Am I supposed to know who that is?" Jessica asked blankly.
Eve snorted. "Lydia, you do realize you're talking to the girl who only uses Facebook for the instant messenger?"
Jessica shrugged again. "Sorry, I've seen way too many stories about homicidal stalkers to feel comfortable posting about myself online. Besides, I honestly don't get the appeal of selfies. What's wrong with mirrors?"
"…your technophobe cousin is a terrible influence," Lydia concluded, sadly shaking her head. "I'm surprised you guys even have wi-fi at your place."
"Spencer used to like the unlimited research potential of the internet…before a certain incident put him off it," Jessica explained. "He emphatically prefers researching out of books now, but he'll still use the internet if he runs out of physical research material. Plus, he knows I use it."
"Do you use it for anything besides homework and instant messenger?" Lydia asked curiously.
"I play a few web browser games," Jessica replied. "And of course the internet is for cat photos."
Lydia sighed in relief. "Oh good, you do know some important regions of internet land."
"Are you familiar with Sudworth Place?" Garcia asked.
"Are you going to ask me random questions about every case in Boston?" Jessica replied. "No, I don't know where that is."
"It's a halfway house for troubled kids. Our unsub started volunteering there just a few months after Reid adopted you," Garcia explained. "Wait, no, our victim. Ugh, this guy is so disgusting I got mixed up."
"'Disgusting' guy volunteering at a place for troubled kids? I don't even want to know, and I'm very glad that CPS didn't get it into their heads that Deaf equaled 'troubled'."
"Yeah, me too," Garcia agreed. "From what you've told me about them, it sounds like they basically treated you as a problem child."
"More like a problem who happened to be a child," Jessica corrected. "For all their faults, they did at least seem to recognize that I wasn't being deliberately difficult, which is probably how I avoided Sudworth Hellhole."
"To be fair, you weren't this guy's type," Garcia admitted. "But our unsubs could very well be in your age range."
"If that's your way of asking me whether I knew anyone who got sent to a place for 'troubled kids', the answer's still no. Nobody whose name I remember, anyway. I unfortunately did not get the 'superhuman memory' gene."
"I wonder how long it will take to see whether Reid Jr gets the gene," Garcia mused.
"I think Spencer's actually hoping NOT to pass that along," Jessica commented. "He makes no secret of the fact that his memory has its downsides."
"Well, we all love him either way," Garcia promised. "And we will love Reid Jr either way."
"Amen," Jessica agreed.
For Thanksgiving that year, the LaMontagnes wound up visiting relatives in Louisiana. Maeve's parents were invited over, on the condition that nobody object to Jessica doing all the cooking again. Bianca predictably took offense to the presence of visitors, and had to be shut in Jessica's room.
"So, Maeve tells me your work friends are out of town?" Mrs. Donovan asked curiously.
"JJ and her family are visiting relatives in New Orleans, Morgan has gone to his family in Chicago, Rossi just discovered his long-lost daughter and is spending the holiday with her in San Francisco…"
"I think Mom was just asking about the friends you usually spend Thanksgiving with," Maeve cut in, before Spencer could rattle off the holiday plans of the entire BAU.
"Sorry," Spencer said sheepishly.
Mr. Donovan raised an eyebrow. "This agent just discovered a long-lost daughter?"
"Yeah, according to Garcia," Spencer confirmed. "I don't really know the details, though, it happened during a case and I was very busy."
Mr. Donovan shot a pointed look at Maeve's stomach. "Does our grandchild have any potential half-siblings we should know about?"
"Dad!" Maeve exclaimed furiously, while Spencer turned very red. "Spencer's past romantic relationships are none of your business!"
"Hey!" Mr. Donovan waved toward the kitchen, getting Jessica's attention. "Was your cousin here a regular C-A-S-A-N-O-V-A before meeting our girl?"
Jessica shook her head. "To my knowledge, there's been only one other woman with whom he had anything resembling a romantic relationship, and the key word there is 'resembling'."
"No parade of women through the house?"
Jessica gave Mr. Donovan a strange look. "Definitely not. Have you met Spencer? He didn't need anyone to 'make an honest man' out of him; he was already there."
"That's enough. Leave the poor boy alone," Mrs. Donovan scolded her husband.
"I swear to you, I have been completely faithful to your daughter, and to my knowledge this is my firstborn," Spencer promised.
"Although you did kind of already have the surprise kid with Jessica," Maeve pointed out.
"Kind of," Spencer agreed. "And considering I've only seen my father once in the past twenty-two years, I suppose it's possible that I might have one or more surprise half-siblings out there."
Maeve put a hand on her stomach. "Well, I'm sure our baby could do with some aunts and uncles…so long as they don't take after your dad too much."
"He'll have plenty of honorary aunts and uncles in the BAU," Spencer replied.
"And a pair of loving grandparents and a very good chef for a cousin," Mr. Donovan added.
With both Jessica's workload and Maeve's midsection steadily increasing in size as the holidays approached, Gideon started helping out around the apartment whenever Spencer was away. One day when Spencer had gone to Utah, Jessica even asked Gideon if he could take over cooking duties—which really said a lot about how swamped she was.
"Sure, I can do that," Gideon agreed. "Now, is that just when Spencer is busy, or are you asking me to do the cooking for the remainder of your term?"
"No, no, no, do not let Spencer know how much you're helping us!" Maeve insisted. "You know he'll find a way to blame himself for not contributing."
"Besides, he's actually a pretty good cook himself," Jessica chimed in. "And I think he likes waiting on Maeve hand and foot."
"Well maybe I want to do some things for myself!" Maeve snapped ill-temperedly.
Jessica raised an eyebrow. "You want to cook for yourself? I've tasted your cooking. Even if you weren't pregnant, I'd be asking Gideon."
"…yes, I am a terrible cook, but I can fluff my own pillows!" Maeve retorted.
"I'm sure Bianca appreciates having fluffed pillows around," Jessica joked.
Gideon laughed. "Does this mean Maeve has finally won her over?"
Maeve shook her head. "I'd say it's more like she's finally accepted that I'm here to stay and no amount of hissing will get rid of me. She still refuses to snuggle with me."
"It's a shame," Jessica agreed. "She'd rather lie on my textbooks than Maeve's lap."
"Not that I have much of a lap any more," Maeve added.
"Well, let's hope that Bianca takes to the baby the way she did to Henry," Gideon mused.
"I think she probably will," Jessica replied. "Even animals tend to recognize that young humans are more vulnerable and less of a threat…at least, less of a deliberate threat. They also recognize that small children are less likely to understand boundaries and don't mean any harm by it."
"Good to know," Gideon concluded. He opened a cupboard and finally started making dinner.
Maeve and Spencer collectively agreed to neither visit nor host anyone for Christmas, enjoying what would almost certainly be their last chance at a quiet Christmas for a long time. The rest of the team took this to mean they should simply shower the couple with baby stuff in the days leading up to the 25th. By the time Christmas morning dawned, they were both relieved simply to escape the deluge.
Except, of course, that Jessica had also purchased gifts for them both. Spencer fetched the gifts from under the tree while Jessica cooked breakfast, and the couple opened their gifts with some slight trepidation. To their surprise and relief, Maeve had received a set of floral bookmarks, and Spencer had received a Star Wars themed chess set.
"What, no baby stuff?" Maeve asked.
Jessica looked around at the piles of diapers, baby clothing and toys. "I think the baby has enough presents by now. I was buying presents for you."
"Thank you for recognizing that impending parenthood is not the sum total of our identity now," Spencer stated.
Jessica poured out a cup of flour before responding. "You didn't stop being an individual with your own life when you adopted me, so why should this be any different?"
"The baby will need a lot more attention than you did," Spencer pointed out.
Jessica shrugged. "Still doesn't mean you stop being an individual."
Maeve lightly smacked Spencer. "Why are you arguing with her when she's on our side?"
"Sorry," Spencer signed sheepishly. "Thanks."
"Merry Christmas." Jessica turned away to grab the baking soda.
Spencer turned to Maeve. "You know, we should probably start drawing up a schedule, make sure that neither of us will get overworked or burned out."
"You mean, make sure that we each have some time to be ourselves?" Maeve replied.
"Exactly," Spencer agreed. He glanced at the nearby pile of wrapping paper. "I've also been thinking…JJ and Will got matching rings with Henry's birthstone. Maybe we should do that too…once we know what it is."
"Well, my due date's next month, so I think that's ruby."
"Garnet," Spencer corrected. "Ruby is July."
"…well, I was thinking red, anyway," Maeve defended. "I'm a bit surprised you're interested in birthstones, though—isn't that an astrological thing?"
"Partly," Spencer conceded. "But there's also varying religious traditions associated with them. The first-century historian Josephus believed there was a link between the twelve stones on Aaron's breastplate, the twelve months of the year and the twelves signs of the zodiac. Translations and interpretations of the passage have varied widely…"
"…so, what does garnet traditionally symbolize?" Maeve cut him off, not especially interested in a history lesson just now.
"Garnet symbolizes protection, friendship, trust, commitment and love. It's also said to keep the wearer safe during travel."
"We are definitely getting you a garnet, then," Maeve concluded.
"But what if your labor is early or late?" Spencer protested.
Maeve shrugged. "Get one for the baby and one for Jessica. Garnet will still be her birthstone regardless."
"True." Spencer glanced back at the kitchen, where Jessica was wrestling with a bag of very clumpy brown sugar. "Protection, friendship, trust, commitment and love…all good traits for her."
"She may not be one for romantic commitment, but she's certainly committed to her friends and family," Maeve agreed.
JJ was struggling, Reid was trying to 'help' by profiling her PTSD, and JJ really wished he would just shut up. "The humvee, was that in the file?" she asked.
"Yeah. You almost caught him, he set an IED to take out your convoy, and I know you were wounded…"
"I was pregnant," JJ confessed.
She could see in Reid's eyes the moment he understood the full import of what she'd just said. "And being around me, knowing that Maeve is nine months pregnant, isn't helping," Reid realized.
"No, it's really not," JJ confirmed. "I am trying so hard not to begrudge you your good fortune, but seeing you, and hearing everyone go on and on about it…it's rubbing salt into the wound and I…"
"I'm sorry. I can ask everyone to stop," Reid offered.
JJ shook her head. "No. No, this stays between us."
"I don't have to tell them the real reason why," Reid continued. "I could just tell them that the baby has taken over enough of my life outside work that I don't want him taking over my life at work as well. I'm not going to share anything you don't want me to, JJ, but please, let me do something. I don't want to be the reason—or at least a reason—that you are hurting."
"And I don't want my problems to stop you enjoying what should be one of the most joyous times in your life," JJ retorted.
"Too late now," Reid pointed out. "You've told me, and I can't just un-know this. You know I can't."
"Guess I'm not doing a very good job at not begrudging you your happiness," JJ admitted bitterly.
"I forgive you. Just…" Reid sighed. "I don't know what word it is you're looking for. I wish I knew a magic word that could make this all better, but…"
"There is no magic word that makes this all better," JJ said darkly.
"Probably not," Reid agreed. "But I'm still going to try to find anything that could help, even if it's just a little bit."
"You have enough on your plate, Spence, don't worry about me."
"I will never have too much on my plate to care about you."
JJ let out a long sigh. "Thank you." She swallowed. "This all stays between us, okay?"
Reid nodded. "Okay."
Maeve had gone on maternity leave, so Jessica began driving herself to school each day. Then on the morning of her birthday, Gideon drove over to their place to pick her up. He honked the horn before remembering that Jessica couldn't hear it; luckily, she noticed him anyway.
"Good morning," Jessica signed. "You do know it's a school day, right?"
"I know," Gideon confirmed. "I'm here to drive you to school."
"Okay…thanks?" Jessica opened the door and got into the passenger seat. "You do know that I'm capable of driving myself without Maeve?"
"Yes, but then if I pick you up after class, your car gets left on campus," Gideon explained. "And we've got dinner plans."
"Oh, okay." Jessica buckled her seatbelt.
"Happy birthday, by the way," Gideon continued.
"Thanks."
"I'm losing track…how old are you now?"
"Old enough that if you were a stranger, I'd be offended by the question," Jessica joked. "But in all seriousness, I'm twenty-two now."
"Pretty big age gap between you and your impending sibling of sorts."
"At this point, I'm thinking of him more as a nephew of sorts," Jessica responded. "…also, is it wrong that I'm kind of hoping Maeve doesn't go into labor today? I don't want to end up sharing my birthday with the kid."
"Perfectly understandable," Gideon assured. "Birthdays are days that are meant to be all our own. But on the bright side, I'm told that the first pregnancy usually results in a longer labor, so the kid might not be born today anyway."
"For Maeve's sake, I hope that doesn't happen and she just doesn't go into labor until at least tomorrow."
"Enough about Maeve. It's your day today, and let's not start it by making you late to class." Gideon finally took the car out of park and drove out of the garage.
