"REID! SHUSH! I'm so tired of you rambling off random statistics that have nothing to do with the case!" With that final remark, JJ ran out of the main office and slammed the door of her own, Leaving Reid, Morgan, Hotch, and Rossi staring after her openmouthed and Emily catching the case file before it hit the floor. Morgan turned to Emily,
"What was that?" He asked, as if she knew the answer to JJ's behavior. Seriously, JJ had been acting weird lately, like on some emotional rollercoaster. One minute she was laughing and teasing with the guys, the next minute she was crying hysterically or yelling at someone, usually Reid. Emily was just a little less confused as the guys, her profiling mind had a hunch on why JJ had been acting up lately. She turned to the very confused group of men,
"It's a girl thing." Prentiss turned briskly and headed for JJ's office. Morgan raised an eyebrow, Hotch smiled and went back to work, Rossi just headed for his office, leaving the boy genius still sitting at his desk looking very confused, and lost.
"I don't get it." Reid admitted. Morgan shot him a goofy smile and hit him on the back of the head.
"When you've been around women as much as I have, your oversized brain will start to figure it out. Now I'm going for some coffee." He turned and got up out of his chair, Hotch followed him.
"First good idea he's had all day." He mumbled to no one in particular.
XOXOXOXO
The door to JJ's office opened, and Emily slipped through. JJ was sitting there, rubbing her forehead, and swallowing an aspirin the size of a football.
"JJ I think you owe Reid an apology with the way you've been acting toward him." Emily chided. Why did she always feel like she had to play mom to a group of very annoying toddlers?
"Not my fault he wants to be a pain in my butt." Now that didn't sound very much like JJ.
"Do you have extra pads?" Emily shot back without any warning. JJ's mouth dropped open, and she sat down looking at Emily rather tiredly.
"I really need to stay away from profilers. How'd you know? What special body language and blinking rate did you read this time?" Came JJ's sarcastic remark. Emily laughed,
"I do happen to be a woman too JJ."
JJ smiled, and poked Emily.
"I'm still not entirely convinced. Yes, though, I brought extra pads." They laughed, Emily her big appreciative goofy one, and JJ her little giggle. "Don't tell the guys."
"Um, Morgan and Hotch already figured it out, but for a self professed genius," She glanced out the window at a still very confused Reid, "Reid doesn't have a clue."
The laughed again, and JJ hugged Emily.
"Thanks Em, I don't know what I'd do without you."
By: Indigoxsoul
For: Mattandthebadger
Rating: PG-13/T
Summary: On a quiet Saturday morning, Matt goes for his usual tea and scones with Alex and then discovers she’s been in an accident, but when he gets to the hospital, the doctor has quite a surprise for the both of them.
Prompt: Alex or Matt are in a car accident and the other has to look after them as they broke their leg/arm whatever and can't do everything on their own. They have a baby together. A complete accident and shock and doubt on Alex's part, but Matt manages to convince her it okay. They have the baby together in the end.
It was a peculiar sort of Saturday morning. The sun had risen and it bathed London in that golden light that is so characteristic of the mid-dawn hours. You would’ve expected it to be filled with a slow, slightly nippy warmth that would permeate the brumal pavement smothered in the shadows that lurked beneath the buildings and trees, but that wasn’t the case today. Today, the morning was both fair and cold. The blue sky was not a sign of kind weather, but of the windy days when the sun turned a chilled, pale face towards the earth. Yes, it was an altogether peculiar morning, fit for peculiar happenings.
Matt would’ve missed it had he not rolled out of bed with the sole purpose of seeing a certain Alex Kingston at the shop on the corner for tea and scones slathered with generous helpings of cream cheese. Normally, he would lounge in bed and wait for the feelings of guilt about the things he ought to be doing and the slow aching of his back to finally chase him from the covers. Not today, today he had plenty of motivation to get his lazy butt out of bed and greet the crisp morning with hooded eyes, hair that stuck in every direction but down, and a wrinkled T-shirt. Ah, he would spend a few minutes despising life of course, that much was a given. But once his momentary hate for the morning hours had passed, he would remember the Kingston and her fantastic hair and hop out of bed with a spring in his step and a grin on his face. So, he was already up, showered, dressed, and heading out the door at the ungodly (at least ungodly for a Saturday morning) hour of half-past-eight.
He arrived at the shop fifteen minutes later and flung the door open, whistling an unnamed tune. Alex wasn’t here yet. That was a little unusual. She was a habitually punctual woman - but perhaps she’d just wanted a few extra minutes in the warm recesses of her bed. He went over to the counter and ordered their tea and the scones and a tub or two of rich cream cheese, as was the usual custom of his and the Kingston’s Saturday morning, and then claimed the corner booth. Minutes passed, he took a sip of his tea. His gangly knee began to bounce out of a nervous habit. Alex was rarely late. He still clung to the belief that she’d slept in - so he shot her a text message.
Ten more minutes passed. He tried to stay casual, calm - maybe her phone was off? Maybe she’d forgotten? But it wasn’t like her to forget. A few more text-messages later and he opened the little packets of cream cheese and begrudgingly spread it on a scone and took a bite. What ought to have been an enjoyable, flaky, and creamy bite instead seemed only flat and thick on his tongue. He quickly gulped some more tea to wash it down. Five more minutes and half his now lukewarm cup of tea later, a napkin became a limp paper crane. He glanced at the clock that read 9:45 and decided to call.
He dialed her number and fought the urge to pace from worry. The dial tone droned on and on.
“Come on, Kingston, pick up,” he muttered, fingers curling around the paper crane, crumpling and unfolding it in his worry. When it became obvious she wasn’t going to pick up, he hung up his phone and frowned. Maybe he should go over - just to see if she was okay. He got his coat and put it on, dumping their tea and scones in the trash.
He was halfway out the door when his phone rang. He jumped and fished it out of his trouser pockets. His face fell when he didn’t recognize the number. He picked up anyway.
“Hello?”
“Is this Matt Smith?” it was a female voice on the other end, but none he recognized.
Matt frowned and nodded despite the knowledge that the person couldn’t see him. “Yeah it is, who’s this?”
“Hello, Mr. Smith - my name’s Jenny, I’m a nurse at Beckenham Hospital and I think you’d better come down.”
Matt was already rushing out the door and tripping over his feet. “What?”
“Ms. Kingston’s been in an accident. You’re on her contacts form.”
He spluttered for a few moments, hopping in his car and turning the key in the ignition before he even had time to think as to why of all people Alex had puthim on the form. “I’ll be there in ten,” he replied, quickly hanging up so he could concentrate on his driving and not get into an accident himself. It seemed the whole world had stopped as he sped along as fast as the speed-limits would allow - sometimes faster -
She couldn’t be badly hurt.
Not his Kingston.
His heart was pounding as he parked the car rather haphazardly and slammed out the door and up the steps of the hospital. He skittered to a stop in front of the registration desk and gasped out, “Alexandra Kingston?”
The nurse was running through her computer far too slowly for his liking and he was trying to catch his breath when a voice from behind him called, “Mr. Smith?”
He whirled to see a nurse in blue scrubs standing there, she gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m Jenny. Alex is in surgery at this point. I’ll take you to the waiting room.”
His heart stuttered in his chest and his throat constricted as he ran up to her, knowing he had to look a fright. “S-Surgery?”
“She’ll be fine,” she reassured, apparently not wanting to worry the poor lad any further as she walked briskly down the hall and deposited him in a comfy-looking waiting room with a bubbling fish tank. “Dr. Craig’ll be out when she’s stable.”
With that she left him alone. The only sound was the ripple of the water in the tank as Matt stood there helplessly, not knowing what to do. He fell a step back and sank into a chair, wondering at how a morning could go so wrong so quickly. Finally, the beating of his heart and the rushing of blood in his ears quieted and he stood to pace back and forth, waiting on Alex for the second time. The hands on the clock struck 10:00 - had it really only been fifteen minutes since he’d sat in the coffee shop, mildly worried? Now he was pacing frantically, hands in his pockets while his chest clenched with terror. The nurse had said she’d be fine - but what if she wasn’t?
She had to be.
They’d only just begun. It’d been only a few months since he’d asked her out to dinner on the night after her return from LA. She’d shyly accepted, but that shyness had melted to a beautiful confidence and grace as she took the lead on the dance floor. They’d been dating ever since and he had plans... so many plans... and he’d be damned if he lost all he’d found now.
Time passed and he was forced to jaunt to the bathroom and get something from a nearby vending machine. He sat there, munching on his packet of crisps and feeling every bit as worried as a young man could when finally,finally a doctor in a fresh lab-coat strode into the room and gave him a smile.
He really wished people would stop smiling like everything was okay. Alex had been in surgery, she was hurt. Nothing was okay.
He set aside his crisps and jumped up. “How is she?” he demanded.
Dr. Craig took a breath and gave him a sympathetic look as he checked over his clipboard. “Very fortunate,” he stated with the lilt of a Scottish brogue. Matt’s mouth felt dry as he continued. “She’ll have a concussion and she broke her right wrist, there was quite a bit of internal bleeding that we managed to get under control, and there’s two broken ribs, one of which narrowly missed her left lung.”
Matt felt a bit dizzy as the doctor continued to assure him that everything was fine and that Alex was lucky. That word had a certain sort of way of not settling right with him. How could she be lucky in this sort of situation? He felt indignation smoldering in the pit of his stomach until it was chased away when he caught the word “Baby” in the slough of words.
“Hang...Hang on a minute,” Matt interrupted and Dr. Craig gave him a withering look. Matt ignored him and frowned and scratched his head. “Did you say‘baby’?”
He nodded patiently and continued, “Yes, I said they’re both very fortunate that the baby wasn’t harmed.”
“She’s pregnant?” Matt’s voice rose an octave or two.
The doctor’s brow furrowed, looking puzzled. “You didn’t know?”
“No...” Matt ran a hand through his fringe and then looked very hard at the man. “You’re absolutely positive she’s pregnant?”
“I saw the ultrasound myself, she’s nine weeks pregnant, Mr. Smith,” he replied firmly.
Matt felt lightheaded and sat. Of course, he and Alex had had sex. She’d assured him that they didn’t need to be careful. She couldn’t get pregnant - or at least it was extremely unlikely. Matt knew that. This... was completely and utterly unexpected. He’d thought if his plans (really his daydreams) were to work out, then they’d end up having a child through surrogacy... or adoption. This - he hadn’t even dared to hope for and here it was, practically dumped in his lap.
“You can go see her now, if you like,” Dr. Craig said gently. He stepped towards the door with the clear intentions of Matt following him. Matt rose and followed him in a numb state. The doctor led him down the catacombs of halls to Alex’s room in the ICU, then slid the glass door open and ushered Matt inside.
Matt quickly pumped some hand-sanitizer into the palm of his hand and rubbed it through, then rushed to her side and sat. His mouth had turned to sand as he sat there with the wonderful, impossible Alex Kingston. She seemed a mere shade of the woman that he’d expected to see for coffee that morning. The blinds were drawn and in the half-light of the room she was a ghostly color. An IV or two slithered between the blankets and into the exposed flesh of her arm. Her curls were damp and limp, and he smoothed them back from her cool forehead. A bruise was forming there, and he bent down to kiss her forehead as if he could kiss it away. She shivered in her drug-induced sleep, and he drew the covers up around her and squeezed her uninjured hand. Her right arm was in a cast. Matt took a breath and sank into the chair next to the bed, holding her hand.
He wanted to reach over, to put his hand over his belly and somehow feel the unexpected, fantastic growing life that was hidden there. He wondered vaguely if it was a girl that he would give horsey-rides to and play tea-party with, or a boy that he would teach to play football. He thought that it must have Alex’s hair and would inevitably be every bit as clumsy and awkward as its father and for that he felt a bit sorry.
It was so impossible, so improbable. It seemed so queer and yet so right, the knowing that he was going to be a father. It was like the world had flip-flopped in a marvelous way, turning upside down. Yet it had left him still standing - if not breathless in wonder. He couldn’t believe it, and yet he had to come to grips with it. There was no other option.
******
When Alex woke, everything hurt and she was utterly confused. Her eyes slowly opened and everything seemed so white. Then, everything came back to her as to why she hurt and what exactly had happened and...dear lord.
Alex let out a little groan and felt like she couldn’t move for the life of her and that might be the most frustrating thing about it. She was surprised by a warm hand covering hers and a rumbling, low voice that she definitely recognized.
“Hey, Beautiful.”
She turned with some effort, wincing as she did, and her eyes focused on Matt’s gentle
face hovering a few feet away. She squeezed his hand and shifted in bed. “Hey...I- what happened?”
“Got into quite the accident, you’ve been out for a while,” he supplied, scooting closer to her. Alex frowned.
She took in his wrinkled T-shirt and mussed hair and then finally asked, “How long have I been out?”
“You weren’t...out the whole time per say, just not lucid,” he replied, a slow smirk spreading across his face. Alex’s eyes widened slightly, remembering that she could get really,really sloshed on morphine.
“How long?” she repeated again.
“Two days,” he replied, reaching over to play with her curls. “Don’t worry about it, Kingston.”
She let out the tiniest of gasps. “You didn’t stay the whole time, did you?”
He scratched his head and looked at her a bit sideways in a peculiar way as if he was avoiding her disapproving gaze. “I went home a few times, but yes - I stayed.”
Alex sank back against the pillows and sighed softly. She wanted to berate him for not looking after himself - but the fact that he’d stayed this whole time with her vomiting from being sick on morphine...not to mention she had probably said some spectacular things... She looked up at him and gave him a tiny, sheepish smile. “Thank you.”
He smiled back. “You’re welcome.” They were quiet for a few moments and Alex considered going back to sleep until Matt got the look of supreme and divine remembering. “Oh!” He reached around him for a tray. “The doctor wants you to try and eat something.”
She looked at it, nausea and hunger warring in the pit of her stomach. “Oh.” She attempted to lift her arm to reach the tray and sit herself up a bit better, but frowned and stopped. Her right arm felt limp and useless. She looked over at it and stared stupidly at the cast.
Right. She’d broken it... she’d remembered panicking at the numb pain and the sight of her wrist bent at an unnatural angle as she struggled to get out of her car.
“Yeah, it’s broken in two places,” Matt told her gently.
She sighed and then looked disparagingly at the plate of food. “How am I suppose to eat it without my dominant hand?”
He gave her a small smile. “Here- one minute,” he pressed a button on the side of the bed and it rose her slowly into a more upright position. She winced a bit at the pain in her midsection.
“You broke some ribs,” Matt explained before he scooted closer and placed the food on his lap and picked up the spoon.
Alex gave him a wary look as he melted some brown sugar on the hot oatmeal and then poured a little milk in from the carton. He stirred it around and then filled the spoon. “Open wide, Kingston.”
She blushed. “I’m not letting you feed me.”
“C’mon, better than getting it all over you,” he chirped and gave her a bright smile.
When Alex was still stubborn, he began making airplane noises and then guided the spoon on a winding path to her mouth. She blinked at him in shock and accepted the bite.
“Ha!” he cried in triumph, “It works on adults too!”
She chewed and swallowed. “Only because I was so surprised, you git.”
“I’m not a git,” he insisted, looking mildly hurt and guiding the spoon to her mouth again.
She relented. “You’re not.”
An hour passed in the same way. Matt would feed her, making airplane noises purely for the fun of it and Alex would give him withering looks in between bites. She had to admit that it was slightly embarrassing, having to be looked after like this. However, Matt seemed a little preoccupied, as if he was thinking about something else and had something to say. She wondered what it could possibly be that made him a little more jumpy and clumsy than usual. The way he’d get that far-off look in his eyes for a few seconds and snap back to reality just as quickly. She’d never seen him like this. Her eyes flicked around the room for some sort of explanation and then caught sight of a black sheet that was attached to the whiteboard on the wall. She squinted and recognized it immediately.
An ultrasound.
Matt blinked at her when she didn’t open her mouth to accept another bite. She pushed the spoon away and frowned.
Matt set the food aside and then looked at her in concern. “Alex? What’s wrong?”
“What’s that on the wall, then?” Alex asked, looking at him.
He looked puzzled and then looked at the wall where she’d pointed. When he spotted the ultrasound, his entire face lit up. He stood and walked over, gently taking it down and then coming to sit by her again.
“It’s an ultrasound.”
“I know, what of?” she asked, it came out more cross than she’d intended. What was he playing at?
He licked his lips and then held it where she could see it, then pointed. “The technician told me that’s the head...you can’t see a heartbeat yet or anything,” he rambled.
“Whatof?” Alex demanded, though somewhere in her mind, a fuzzy realization was growing there that she simply wasn’t ready to accept.
Matt looked up at her with a boyish smile. “Our baby.”
Her breath caught in her throat and she stared at him, really stared. She tried to find any hint of a joke in his eyes, the twinkling of mischief, something - but there wasn’t any. She bit her lip and she crossed her good arm around herself. “Matt, this isn’t funny.”
He sat back and shook his head. “I’m being serious, love - it’s our baby, I was just as shocked as you were.”
“But-” her fingers despite herself went to trace the outline of the picture, “I don’t get pregnant.”
“Apparently you did-” he paused and then amended, “We did.” He scooted a bit closer and leaned his head on her shoulder, his arm snaking carefully so his fingers could rest on her stomach. “Can’t say I’ve ever been happier, Kingston,” he whispered.
A million emotions were warring within her: Happiness, shock, surprise, and the awful heartbeat of terror that throbbed through her being. She wasn’t exactly twenty anymore. A pregnancy this late was going to be risky... for her and the baby. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth. As desperately as she wanted to be excited as a new mother should, she was just far too scared of disappointment - of disappointingMatt. A part of her knew it was stupid to make excuses - she’d always wanted a second child and now it was here, wrapped in a pretty bow, and here she was wondering if this was even what she had hoped for. But it was, and it wasn’t. She had never wanted to beterrified.
“Alex?”
Bless, she was crying. She sniffled and took a deep breath and looked up at him. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he kissed her wet cheek and gently dried her face with a tissue.
She swallowed and leaned her head on his chest. “I’m scared, Matt,” she admitted in a quiet whisper. “Everything’s just so...”
“Upside down?” he finished for her with a knowing smile.
She looked up at him with surprise and nodded. He carefully wrapped his other arm around her and pulled her close. “I’m here,” he murmured. “No matter how this happens, I promise you, I’ll be here.”
How had he known that was all that she had needed to hear? There was an ferocity in his voice that left her breathless. She looked back up at him and smiled. “Pinky promise?”
A smile spread across his face and he took her good hand and firmly locked pinkies, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. “Pinky promise, Kingston.”
She sighed softly and nodded and took his hand, guiding it to rest on her stomach with hers. Her eyes closed and somehow, though it felt like her entire world had flipped upside down, since Matt was here - she knew she’d be okay.
