Chapter 19
We made it back to Virginia just in time to get changed and head to my mom's house for thanksgiving dinner. She once again had invited the entire team over, as well as their families, so there were plenty of us to cram into their three bedroom townhouse. Why just the two of them needed a three bedroom is beyond me, but she's dying so I'm just going to let her live in whatever way she wants.
I need to stop thinking like that, but I'm just trying to prepare myself for when it eventually happens, less than two years from now. And it doesn't help when she randomly brings up things in conversation like 'I wanted to be cremated and my ashes scattered off the golden gate bridge,' or 'I think I'm going to write my own eulogy.' She's accepted her death, it's the rest of us that have to come to terms with it.
"Do you need any help ma?" I asked, walking into the kitchen after dropping my coat off in the spare bedroom.
"Can you start carrying food out to the dining room?" She said, grabbing a pair of oven mitts. I nodded and grabbed two covered dishes, walking back out the door and towards the dining table.
The doorbell rang as I sat them down so I walked over and opened it, Greeting JJ, Will, and Henry.
"Hi,"I said, giving JJ and Will both a hug before taking Henry from his mom's arms. "Come on in, you can put your coats in the guest room, second door on the right."
JJ handed her coat to Will and he walked down the hallway to put them away.
"Are we the first ones here?" JJ asked as she followed me back into the kitchen.
"Rossi got here about 10 minutes ago, he's down in the wine cellar with Patrica."
"And Spence?" She asked.
"Oh he's-"
"Right behind you." He said, seemingly coming out of nowhere. "I was talking to my mom, she said Happy Thanksgiving by the way."
"Good. Now you can help my mom and I can have Henry cuddles." I said patting his chest with my free hand.
"I would have helped your mom anyway," he said kissing the top of my head before walking past us and into the kitchen. He grabbed a couple of dishes and disappeared back out the door.
"He's so whipped." JJ joked. "And you've only been together, what, three months?"
"10 weeks, 4 days, 17 hours, and 26 minutes." I corrected, laughing slightly. "But there's an old Buhdist saying that 'when you meet your soulmate, remember that the act to bring you together was 500 years in the making.' It makes thinking about this whole situation a little less unconventional."
"Soulmates?" She asked, a smile on her face. "You believe in that kind of stuff?"
"The earth is millions of years old, and this galaxy is not the only one that exists. The idea that there is some greater force out there, working to bring people together at certain points in time is not that far fetched."
"I get it," she sighed. She sounded almost disappointed.
"You okay?" I asked, adjusting Henry in my arms because he was drooling on my dress.
"It's just... if they, soulmates, do exist. What do you do when you meet yours but you're already tied to someone?" She motioned to Henry and I realized what she meant.
"Well, soulmates aren't always romantically involved." I offered. "They could just be a great friend, that you would do anything for and that you couldn't stand to lose."
She grabbed my hand and dragged my down the hallway into the guest bedroom.
"But, say someone had a kid with someone, has this whole life with someone. And then realizes that their soulmate is someone else, someone that they feel such a strong connection with that it physically pains them to be without the other sometimes?" she asked, he words barely above a whisper.
"Jayj, what are you talking about?" I asked, starting to get concerned.
"I think I'm in love with-"
"You ladies just about ready to eat?" Penelope asked, popping up out of nowhere. "Woah, JJ, what's wrong?"
"Nothing," she said, wiping her eyes."Tash was just telling me this beautiful story about buddhism and soulmates, you should hear it sometime."
"O-okay. Yeah, I'd love to hear it. I have my own theory on soulmates that I'd love to pick your brain about sometime." She said, not sounding half convinced. "But everyone's here, your mom wants to go ahead and start eating.
"Okay, we'll be out in a second Pen." I said. She nodded and walked back out of the room.
"We'll talk later." I said grabbing JJ's hand and squeezing it. She nodded and wiped her face one more time, and grabbed Henry from me before we walked out to join everyone at the dining table.
"Everything alright?" Will asked as JJ took a seat beside him. She just smiled and nodded, adjusting Henry so that he was sitting on her lap.
I took the last available seat which was between Spencer and Jack, Hotch's five year old.
"What don't we all go around the table and say what we're thankful for," Patricia's daughter,Elena, suggested. "I'll start. I just got a promotion at work and I'm so thankful for the opportunity."
"I'm thankful for my beautiful wife, my amazing daughter, and my equally amazing Step-daughter." Patrica said, raising her glass. Step-daughter. That just sounds weird. "And, if she'll have me, I'm thankful to be becoming a grandma in the summer."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," I smiled, resting my hand on my stomach.
"I'm thankful for my family, my amazing oncology team, and I'm extremely grateful that the lord has blessed me with another day on this earth." My mom said, once again bringing a somber mood.
Penelope went next, then Derek.
"I'm thankful to be surrounded by such amazing and great people." Emily said, no emotion and very scripted like.
I glanced around Spencer at her, trying to read her face, but I couldn't. I narrowed my eyes at her and she turned to look at me, just shaking her head, like she was telling me to drop the subject.
"-all three of them are healthy, and my mom has been having more good days then bad lately, so I'm also thankful for that."
I leaned back towards the table as Spencer finished talking and cleared my throat.
"I'm very thankful for everyone at this table, and I'm thankful that none of the aromas coming from the table have made me sick yet." I said, still trying to figure out not only what was wrong with JJ but what was going on with Emily.
Jack said something about being thankful for Santa Claus and everyone laughed before we went around the rest of the table.
"Alright, that's everyone. Let's eat!" My mom said, clapping her hands together.
"You don't not have to tell me twice." I said, reaching for the bowl of mashed potatoes that was sitting right in front of me. I scooped a spoonful, and maybe a little extra, onto my plate before turning to look at Jack.
"You want some potatoes bud?" I asked.
"Yes please." He said, grinning.
.........
After everyone finished eating and we got cleaned up, everyone dispersed to go their separate ways. The only ones left at my mom's house now are me, Spencer, and Elena. Mom and Patricia are making us put a Christmas tree up as a family, since it's our first year all together. And also, very well could be my mom's last Christmas tree, though nobody would say that.
"Honey, did you tell your dad about the twins yet?" My mom asked, rounding the corner with her arms crossed.
I was sitting on the couch beside Spencer and I shook my head. "Not yet, I was waiting until we hit the second trimester."
"Well, that would have been wonderful information to have about ten minutes ago." She sighed. "Needless to say, he knows now, and he's not too thrilled that you didn't tell him."
"Well, I wasn't too thrilled when he married someone a year older than me, I guess we'll both just have to deal." I sighed.
"Okay," Elena said, coming out of the guest room all bundled up. "I'm ready to go get a tree."
"You look ridiculous," I laughed, noticing the multiple unnecessary layers of jackets she had put on. "It's not that cold outside."
"Says you, I've been in Florida for the past ten years, I forgot what cold was."
"Are we all ready to go then?" Patrica asked, wrapping a scarf around her neck.
We all nodded.
There was a tree sales stand set up about three blocks down the street from mom's house so we walked, dragging a wagon behind us to bring the tree home in.
"Was everything okay with JJ earlier?"Spencer asked, bending down to whisper in my ear.
"I'm not too sure, I'm going to call her when we get home." I sighed, sticking my hands in my pockets because they were cold.
"Will you guys know the genders before Christmas?" Patricia asked, pulling is from our conversation. "I'm trying to figure out a couple of gifts still."
"I have an appointment on the 20th, they said they may be able to tell then, but it just depends." I said, stepping around a pile of ice so I wouldn't slip.
"What about names?" My mom interjected. "I want to get everything embroidered."
"Penelope gave us a very long list of unique names the other day," Spencer said, his arms slipping around my waist as we walked.
"Some of them weren't terrible." I laughed. "But it's hard to find something that sounds good with a hyphenated last name."
"Hyphenated?" Elena asked.
"Yeah, if we do eventually end up getting married, I plan on keeping my last name, it just makes it easier to give the twins both of our names." I explained.
"Well, yeah. If I had seven PHDs, I'd want to keep my last too." Patrica joked.
"It's only three."
"Well, that's three more than I have." Elena said, "can I borrow some of your eggs when I start to have kids so they're at least good at math? Because lord knows they won't get that from me."
...........
"Charlie is a pretty neutral name. Charlie middle name Sheppard-Reid." I suggested, looking at the list Garcia had given us since I had time to kill in the car on the way home from my mom's. "If one of them ends up being a boy, his middle name could be Spencer, if you want."
"I like it, Charlie Spencer Sheppard-Reid." He nodded. "Or Charlie Meredith Sheppard-Reid for a girl."
"I love it. It's a mouthful, but it's cute." I laughed. "So definitely Charlie for one of them?"
"Yes, definitely Charlie." He smiled, before parking the car in his parking spot. "I've got to go get some stuff from my apartment, I'll meet you in like ten minutes."
"Okay," I mumbled before walking the opposite way. I took the stairs straight to the second floor and walked down the hallway, turning the corner to my apartment door, almost tripping over someone.
"Shit, Natasha, I'm sorry," JJ whispered, holding Henry close to her chest as she stood up off the floor.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, concerned, before unlocking the door. Only then was it that I noticed that she had two large duffle bags with her.
"Do you mind if we stay here a few days?" She asked, her voice sounding as if she was on the edge of a break.
"Of course," I said before grabbing her bags for her, "what happened?"
"I left him." She said, taking a deep breath. "I left Will."
Sorry it's been a while....college has been rough 🙃
Let me know some idea, or some things you guys may want to see!
