Hotch's Niece | Criminal Minds

Parenting

JJ announced our profile to the press after we ordered lunch. Morgan, JJ, Emily, Rossi, Reid, Uncle Hotch and I all sit around the conference table, Izzie on Reid's lap, watching the press conference that has just gone live. Morgan and JJ both wanted Chinese, and no one disagreed, so each of us had chopsticks in our hands, although Reid's were wrapped with a rubber band, as he can't use chopsticks, which I found hilarious. I'd tried to teach him, but he was pretty much a lost cause.

"So, Avery, how's your first case going?" Rossi asks, as we really haven't seen much of each other.

"Well, I get the feeling that caring for a two year old isn't exactly standard procedure, but I have to say, not bad," I say.

Uncle Hotch snorts. "Yeah, this neck of the woods has an excessively understaffed CPS unit, so we're going to figure out something as far as sleeping arrangements for Izzie tonight,"

I frown. "There are no other family members in the area? Or even family friends who can take care of her until we find something more permanent?"

Uncle Hotch shakes his head. "The closest relatives that JJ could track down are in Massachusetts, and they can't get here until sometime tomorrow or even the next day, depending on flights. Apparently there's a pretty bad storm in Boston right now, and there's no other airports open with the weather that actually fly out to Kentucky. And we can't hand Izzie off to a family friend..." Uncle Hotch trails off, and I pick up where he left off.

"Without the consent of a mentally stable and healthy family member or someone who has guardianship," I think out loud. "What about Alison Rowland?" I ask, rotating my spinny chair back and forth.

Emily sits forward, having spent the most time with the woman. Apparently, Emily reminded Alison just slightly of Jackie, whom she had apparently been very close with. "The hospital wants to watch her for a few more days, they found her depressed and severely traumatized, and 'in no condition to decide the wellbeing of a child'." Emily quoted from the report sat on the table next to Emily's lunch.

"Does Izzie have godparents?" I ask.

"Luke and Alyssa Smith. Killed in a plane crash last year, Mark and Jackie never changed the names on the papers." Morgan says, shrugging apologetically.

"What about us?" Reid asks. He's been very quiet all lunch and I nearly jump when he speaks beside me.

"Sorry?" Hotch says, at the same time that Rossi chimes in with a "Pardon?" and Morgan with a "Come again?".

"Well, both Avery and I have spare beds in our hotel rooms, so why couldn't one of us take care of her for a few days? An officer could watch her if need be while we work, and she's already plenty attached to Avery," Reid reasons.

Everyone falls silent, trying to come up with a reason as to why not, and JJ throws in a quip of "She's pretty attached to you too, kiddo.".

Uncle Hotch and Rossi share a look. Finally, Rossi sighs. "Congratulations, Avery and Reid, you're parents!"

This comment causes Uncle Hotch to choke on his water and give Rossi a look like Oh hell NO, Dave, and Rossi just shrugs an unapologetic shrug. Reid and I, on the other hand, share an embarrassed smile, both with bright pink cheeks at Rossi's strange way of wording it.

"Izzie can sleep in my room tonight," I offer, and Hotch nods.

"Just the two of you," Hotch says pointedly.

I roll my eyes. "Yes, Uncle Hotch,"  Spencer blushes even harder and JJ giggles softly under her breath.

And of course Emily leans over to JJ and stage-whispers an "But I ship it!", causing JJ to laugh loudly and Hotch to glare at the brunette who'd made the comment.

"Wow, Hotch certainly glares at y'all quite a bit, doesn't he?" I lean over, whispering to Reid. Without even noticing, I've let my Southern accent slip through, and Reid gives me a strange look.

"What?" I ask, still not aware of what I've done,"

"What's with the accent?"

I blush, hard. "I spent eleven years of my life in Georgia, I have a little bit of an accent,"

"How come I've never heard it before?" Reid inquires. I shrug, chewing on my lip.

The honest truth was, I'd always been the kid that never really fit in anywhere, that was always the outcast. Heading to college, I realized that my Southern accent was going to make me stand out even more, and that was the last thing that I wanted. So I'd tried to pronounce things in the same way that I, now living in New York with my parents, had heard the other New Yorkers pronounce things. And it worked. Everyone at NYU thought I was born and raised in Manhattan, and treated me as if I had been. I finally fit in, and so, arriving here at what was the most important job I'd ever have, I wanted nothing more than to fit in. New York City appeared to be a good place to be from, as all the agents I'd met said nothing about it, and no one detected an accent. Until now.

"Guess it's kind of worn off," I lie, and Reid frowns, obviously not convinced.

I have bigger problems at the moment, as I don't have the first clue about parenting, even if it's just a night or two. I mean, I've babysat before, but that was pretty much just my neighbours' kids, and they were like 8 and 6, not little like Izzie Rowland is.

Oh wait--maybe JJ can help me figure out what I'm doing, she has a young child, right?

After we wrap up lunch, Hotch sends us all out with new tasks. The morgue has something new for us, so Rossi and Morgan are going to head there, JJ and I are going to work with Garcia on creating a list of possible suspects, Emily is still on Alison duty, as we are hoping she might know something more about the woman who attacked Jackie. Lastly, Hotch and Reid are on damage control, responding to "the homeless woman down the street is the killer" calls and taking the statements of people who thought they were witnesses. Apparently, it happened every time a killer's profile was released to the media, and normally they had JJ handle it, but this time, with a female killer, a woman taking statements may not be the most intelligent idea.

And I'm a mom for a few days. Yes, taking this job was definitely a good idea.