Disclaimer: I own nothing.
So here's my entry for the Wedding Bells Challenge. This gonna be a three-shot. I might make if four, depending on my mood.
Quick other note: I've also got Strauss still alive in this one and Maeve is unheard of.
Chosen Character: JJ
Assigned Character: Reid
Three Prompts: A wedding mishap, a bridal gown, and wedding vows
JJ sighed and hit the "off" button on her alarm clock and rubbed her eyes tiredly. It was the day of Garcia and Morgan's wedding and she was maid of honor which would require a lot of prep for the bride, all of which JJ would have to be present for. Henry would be with Will before the wedding and then getting picked up by Hotch before the whole commencement of the wedding at eleven in the morning.
She truly disliked seeing Will when dropping off or picking up Henry. Their divorce had been amiable, but it just reminded her that she was single and had been for two years now. She was raising her son all by herself and she had little to no contact with men outside of her team for that entire time.
Maybe she would hook up with one of Morgan's relatives that were coming into town.
Rising from her bed, she stumbled to her bathroom and started the shower. She was going to need several cups of coffee; it was six in the morning and Penelope and she had several hours of getting ready to do. Penelope's dress was so extravagant it took five minutes just to lace up the ties in the back properly.
As JJ stood under the scalding water, she couldn't stop herself from thinking about all the love going around in the world; Morgan had finally proposed to Garcia, Hotch had tied the knot with Beth after so many years of still mourning for Haley, Rossi and Strauss were still going strong, Blake had her husband.
In fact, the only person who hadn't found love other than her was Spence.
Spencer Reid.
Reid had always made her curious, even after so many years of friendship. He'd always been a little bit farther off from the whole team, keeping much of his life closed off from them. She wanted to know more about him, see who the "real" Spencer Reid was. He had an air of mystery to him that she didn't quite understand. In fact, she didn't understand much of him. He was the smartest human being alive that she knew and it baffled her that she didn't know how to react to that.
And he was attractive to her. She'd spent many hours watching him. True, he wasn't as buff as Morgan or strikingly suave as Rossi, but he had a certain air to him that just kept her stuck in her memory.
She could not believe she was thinking about Reid in the shower. Reid, of all people.
Getting out, she wrapped her towel around her body and started getting ready to go to the hair salon.
XXXXX
"Good morning beautiful bride!" JJ cooed as she entered the salon. She'd turned on her chirpy level and made it so she would seem happier than she actually was feeling. It wasn't that she wasn't thrilled for Penelope and Derek. All the romance in the air was just making her…lonely. So she would just have to start playing up the happy happy joy joy feelings.
Penelope was sitting on a salon chair as the hair stylist was beginning to curl her hair and she grinned up at JJ. "There's my maid of honor!" she called with a smile. "Sorry you had to get up so early. Emily should be here any minute. Isn't it wonderful she could make it from London? I'm so glad she could make it!"
JJ smiled at Penelope's babbling; it was obvious she was a bundle of nerves.
"Yeah," she said softly, thinking about Emily who was given time off to come and see the lovely nuptials. Internally though, she groaned. Coming along with Emily would be her hunky new British boyfriend, Andy.
Yet another reason to find one of Morgan's relatives.
XXXXX
Spencer Reid, despite his groomsmen status in the Morgan wedding, was assigned to the job of keeping watch over Morgan and Garcia's six month old daughter, Emma during the process of Derek getting prepared for his wedding. Reid didn't mind so much; he liked the little girl. Babysitting was the least of his concerns at that moment.
What his mind was really on was how alone he was on such a happy occasion.
He'd long wondered if he would encounter a story-like love, but it didn't seem possible. Women found him strange and unappealing in that he quoted facts that could be considered useless or he wore clothes that might be found in their grandfather's closet.
He certainly wasn't a Morgan or a Rossi, having neither the charming smiles nor witty sayings that either of them were talented with. But in some way he didn't mind. So what if he didn't find love? It wasn't that high on his list of things to do anyway. He was content with his life the way it was. Although he did sometimes wonder what he would be like with someone else by his side. With another person to complete his life. There had been couples all around him who had blossomed into full-fledged love affairs so it was possible it could happen to him.
Through his pondering, the sound of a baby's gurgle from his lap sounded. He looked down at the top of Emma's dark mahogany-haired head and smiled. "Hello Emma," he said in a babying voice. "Are you ready to see your Mommy and Daddy get married?"
Emma just blinked at him and her tongue poked out of her mouth.
Looking at a baby in front of him was like looking into a life that he didn't understand. With potential love came the potential for babies. Women wanted babies, didn't they? Or some women?
He honestly didn't have a ton of experience with females. There'd been several flirtations he'd gone through throughout the years, such as Lila and Austin. But a serious relationship wasn't something he'd experienced.
"Hey Reid," Morgan said, buttoning up the wrist of his shirt. His face was beaming as he came into the room where Reid was babysitting. "How's my princess behaving? Is she doing okay? She gets a little finicky when she's not with Penelope." Smiling, he held out his arms to take Emma and he started to coo to her. A giggle escaped her mouth and Morgan tickled her. Reid handed Emma over to her father and smiled.
The bond was so strong between parent and child and he sometimes wondered what it would be like to feel such a thing. At least from the parent's perspective. He knew what it was like to be on the child end of the deal seeing as he had such a relationship with his own mother.
It was like when he saw JJ with Henry.
As soon as the name JJ entered his mind however, his brain went out the window. He didn't know why, but he could never stop thinking about the shade of her hair. It was the perfect honey blonde that made him think of summertime. And the sweet floral scent of her that remained with him even a few hours after she was gone from his sight. He didn't know why. She just stuck in his mind whenever he saw her. The Mediterranean blue of her eyes popped out and his heart skipped a beat every time their eyes met.
It was unhealthy of him, being stuck on a woman who clearly wasn't interested in someone like him. She'd been married to a Southern cop for several years and had a son with him. Though they were divorced now, she needed someone like Will.
And Reid just simply wasn't that person.
"Are you ready to walk down the aisle?" Reid asked with a smile as Morgan bounced Emma in his arms. He needed to distract himself from thinking about JJ. He shouldn't have been thinking about her in that way anyway. So he was going to focus on the happy occasion of the moment.
Morgan just grinned at him and kissed the top of his daughter's head. "Hell yes," he said. He raised an eyebrow at him. "How about you, Pretty Boy? When do you plan on getting married?"
He just smiled. "No plans yet," he said. "Maybe someday, maybe not…" And yet as his voice trailed off, his head was filled with thoughts of JJ.
"We'll have to hook you up with one of my cousins," Morgan joked.
"Maybe…"'
XXXXX
"Oh my god!"
JJ's head snapped in the direction of Penelope's shriek and she raised an eyebrow. That didn't sound good. Patting her hair stylist's hand, she signaled for her to stop. Rising from her salon chair, she hurried over to where Penelope was fanning her face. Tears filled her eyes, but she was trying her hardest not to let them spill.
"Garcie?" she asked calmly. "What's the problem?"
"M – my dress is –" she sputtered.
"Slow down," JJ said. "You're talking way too fast. What's wrong with the dress?"
"There's – " Penelope paused to cover her mouth with her palm. "There's a tear in it on the skirt. Down, right there."
JJ looked down at the train of the dress and sure enough found a small tear in the silk of the dress. Biting her lip, she sighed. "Oh, I see it," she said. "Garcie, it's not that big of a tear. We can fix it in no time."
"Jayje! This has to be fixed!" Penelope cried, beginning to pace.
"What needs to be fixed?" Emily asked, leaning her head to the side so she could see around the mirror she was sitting in front of. "Is everything okay?"
"I'm panicking!" Penelope wept. Her mascara was beginning to run and JJ, feeling it was her duty to clean up her bride friend, began to dab at her with a handkerchief.
"You're making a mess of your face," she said softly.
"No! My hormones are making a mess of my face!" she cried. "I don't know what's going on with me!"
JJ tilted her head to the side and smiled sadly at her best friend. "Oh honey, you're getting married today," she murmured. "You're about to take the biggest step of your life." She knew how that felt. Though it had taken years with Will before they got married, she knew how it felt to be taking that giant step. And unfortunately her step failed. She'd taken the leap and it had led to a divorce and her son being split between his parents.
She really needed to find some love at this wedding.
"I miss my baby," Penelope said with a trembling bottom lip.
"I know," JJ said, patting her shoulder. "But right now let me fix this little mishap with your dress and then we can get you down the aisle."
And I've got to get my mind off of Spence and those fabulous eyes of his, she thought to herself.