Born
Song: One Night Only - Jennifer Hudson
Prompt: Born
JJ hated being the center of attention. She hated leaving and taking Garcia, Prentiss and Hotch with her, when Reid needed them all right now. She hated leaving things unfinished. But more than anything, JJ hated being out of control.
She hated pain, too. But JJ was sure that she could take it.
Hotch looked calm, but gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles were white. Prentiss kept her focus on him, not JJ, and was a horrible back seat driver. Garcia, who was usually a comfort, was especially irritating, telling her to breathe.
Like JJ could forget something that obvious.
"Hotch, turn right here. Right! Right!" Emily insisted shrilly. JJ winced.
"Prentiss, I know. I drove Haley to the hospital. JJ's contractions are ten minutes apart. She has time."
In the back, JJ flushed, humiliated. How the hell did Hotch know how far apart her contractions were? What business was it of his? She just wanted to have this kid and get back to work.
She wasn't ready. The nursery wasn't finished. Will hadn't installed the car seat. JJ didn't even have her hospital go-bag. What was she going to do.
"Will?" she said, distracting herself by calling her husband. "Meet us at the hospital? Because, I'm in labor. No, Henry can't wait! He's impatient like me!" she snapped. "Okay. Love you, too. Bye," JJ breathed, feeling like she could finally relax.
"Is he coming?" Garcia asked and pain seized JJ's abdomen again.
"Yes..." she answered softly, trying to keep her temper. "Now please be quiet, so I can breathe..."
--
When JJ was giving birth, she swore she would never do it again.
She regretted everything. The night she and Will...well...got busy, the confidence she had prior to going into this godforsaken delivery room. Why the hell didn't anyone tell mothers-to-be that labor was the worst thing ever? That the pain was bad enough that it felt like you were about to die? No one told her that, or the other important things, like the room would be uncomfortably cold, and that she should not have worked with people who could read body language for a living, because it was starting to rub off on her.
She could tell when Will was irritated with her, despite his patient smile. When the nurse was going to do something painful. When the baby was okay, and when he was in distress.
JJ could never be one of those elegant women, so put together that they didn't need pain medication and only moaned softly. She screamed. She dug her fingernails into Will's hand. In the end, she was very nearly too exhausted to push.
"I see the head," Will passed along and JJ screamed at him to "Get it out!"
When it was over, she stared in awe.
JJ always thought new mothers were crazy when they said all the pain was worth it, but staring at the tiny face of her newborn son, she knew she would soon join the ranks.
"Hey, Henry. It's Mom."