Title: The Interview
By: snoozie2105
Pairing: JJ/Rossi
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Rating: G
Disclaimer: As ever, I do not have any claims to CM or its characters.
Author's note: Many thanks to Michele, Annika and Tracia for reading drafts and making suggestions for improvement. You ladies are the best!
Summary: JJ and Rossi try to get their daughter into a good primary school ...

***

"Ready to go?" Jennifer Jareau Rossi asked her husband David as she poked her head into his office. "We've got to be there at three, and I don't want to be late."

He sighed, tossing aside the file he'd been reading. "Do we have to?" he asked, looking up, dread written all over his face. "Can't we just call and cancel?"

"No," she replied firmly, shaking her head. "We can't just call and cancel. Do you know how hard it is to get an interview at Brighton?"

"But Jennifer ..."

"Don't 'But Jennifer ...' me." She walked over to his desk and pulled him to his feet. "You've always known this day would come."

"Yes, but I'm not ready for Anna to start school."

JJ would have laughed if his expression hadn't been so serious, so morose. David Rossi had pursued, apprehended, interviewed and studied serial killers, serial rapists, serial arsonists and various other deranged people for better than half of his life, but he was petrified at the thought of sending his little girl to kindergarten. He had been wrapped around her finger from the moment JJ had told him that their family of two would soon become a family of three, and there had not been a moment since, no matter where he was or what he was doing, that his beautiful, intelligent, feisty, blonde-haired, dark-eyed daughter, Anna Jareau Rossi, wasn't on his mind.

JJ smiled and said gently, "Honey, whether you like it or not, she has to go to school. She'll be fine. She's thrived in preschool ... she's ready to move on."

"I know," he admitted as he let her smooth the lapels of his suit jacket and straighten his tie, "but when she was in preschool, she was downstairs. She was safe. We could be there in less than a minute and stop in to see her whenever we wanted or needed to."

"Yes, but she's learned everything she can there, and now it's time for kindergarten, time for her to get away from us. Don't worry so much."

He snorted. "That's easy for you to say."

"And why do you think that?"

"Because she's a daddy's girl."

JJ bit her tongue to keep from making a retort. She could remember plenty of times when Anna wanted her mama and her mama only. It would only make David feel worse if she brought those times up now, but still, she couldn't resist having her fun with him.

"Honey, I want you to make me a promise," she said as they walked hand-in-hand to the elevator.

Rossi shot JJ a suspicious look; her "promises" never failed to make him wary. "Maybe."

"Promise me you won't be smart or snippy the admissions director. You know how you get when you're the one having to answer questions."

"This is an interview, Jennifer," he argued. "Doesn't that mean that we'll have the opportunity to ask questions of our own?"

"If you were interviewing a suspect, it wouldn't."

"But this is completely different!" He jabbed the button for the parking deck. "We're talking about our daughter's education."

"Precisely. Which is why we have to nice and polite. Brighton is our first choice. Remember that. Please?"

"Why is it so important that she get into Brighton? She's already been accepted at Brookside and Hope Montessori and Prince William Day School ... we said we'd be happy with any of those."

"Yes, we did, but David, Brighton is the school. If Anna is going to get into a good college, she has to get a good start."

He rolled his eyes, grateful that JJ was busy brushing invisible lint off of her black jacket and didn't notice. "Okay," he agreed. "If it means that much to you, I promise. I'll not say anything that you'll regret."

"Good. And I swear, I'll thank you properly tonight."

"And I'm going to hold you to it."

"Oh, I know you will," she said, pulling him close for a soft kiss before the elevator doors opened. "But you're not just promising for yourself – you're promising for me and Anna too, so be good."

~*~

JJ and Rossi arrived at Brighton promptly at three and were ushered into the admissions director's office. Linda Callahan was a formidable woman in stature and demeanor; if Rossi had been asked to make a guess as to her profession, he would've said she was a warden, not an admissions director at a primary school, no matter how competitive or exclusive it was.

"Mr. and Mrs. Rossi," she smiled, a little too broadly, Rossi thought, shaking their hands in turn, "it's a pleasure to meet you. Please, sit down."

"Thank you so much for seeing us," JJ replied, eager to make a good first impression. "Your school is very highly recommended."

"We have a long tradition here at Brighton of accepting only the best, most promising youngsters," Ms. Callahan said proudly. "We're dedicated to keeping that tradition going. I'd like to start by getting to know the two of you, as so much of a child's success is determined by his or her parents. I read on your daughter's application that you both work for the FBI?"

JJ nodded. "Yes. I'm the communications director for the Behavior Analysis Unit, and David is a senior profiler who does private consultations and gives lectures to law enforcement officers around the country on the side. He's also written several textbooks and bestsellers."

Ms. Callahan did not seem impressed. "Our parents include diplomats, doctors, college professors, lawyers, CEOs, and the like, but I don't recall having FBI agents, at least during my time here, so I'm curious. What is your home life like? It must be anything but normal."

Rossi didn't like Ms. Callahan's assumption that their home life was unusual, and remembering his promise to JJ, he explained in an even tone, "It's very stable, actually. Jennifer and I both travel frequently, but since Anna came along, we do our best to make sure that we're never away at the same time for more than three days, four at most. My mother and our good friend and colleague Penelope Garcia take turns looking after Anna when we have to be out of town."

"So it's accurate to say Anna is well-adjusted? Despite the fact that you're away often?"

"Yes," JJ replied quickly. "She makes new friends and adapts to different situations well" – unlike her father, she said to herself – "but that isn't to say she's so easy-going that she doesn't have a mind of her own. She does. We want her to think for herself while respecting others."

"I see. What languages are spoken in the home?"

"English, with a few Italian words and phrases thrown in," Rossi said easily. "I want to teach her more as she gets older. We're planning a trip to Italy next summer to visit family I still have there."

"Good," Ms. Callahan murmured, making notes on Anna's application. "Traveling and seeing the world is important for a child's development – it gives her a sense of the world beyond that which she sees every day. Does she play any musical instruments?"

"No," JJ answered, "but she does like to sing."

"She's had voice lessons?"

JJ and Rossi traded glances as Ms. Callahan's face fell as quickly as it had lit up; it would've been easy to let the admissions director think what she wanted, but JJ couldn't bring herself to be less than honest. "She has a few CDs that we listen to in the car, and she sings along with her favorite television programs."

Ms. Callahan looked at JJ as if she were horrified. "She watches television?"

JJ twisted her fingers anxiously in her lap. "Yes, but only for thirty minutes or so in the morning, when David and I are getting ready for work, and often we'll watch a DVD together – she likes Cars, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles ... movies like that." She stopped short of mentioning that Anna sometimes liked to watch Forensic Files and Cold Case with Rossi.

"Never fear. If she is accepted," Ms. Callahan said brusquely – emphasizing the "if" – "our music faculty, which one of the best in the country, I should mention, will evaluate her to determine if there is any hope at all that she may develop musical talent with lessons and dedicated practice. What about sports?"

At that, JJ grinned, pushing aside her annoyance at Ms. Callahan; she might as well have said that Anna was tone deaf, but she could not demean Anna's athletic abilities. "She plays soccer – we started her when she was three – and she's very good. I'm not just saying that because I'm her mother and I attended the University of Pittsburgh on a soccer scholarship and played all four years; my team won our division's championship three times. I always knew that if I had children they would play at least one season, just to see if they liked it."

"Okay ... I'll just note here that she plays soccer at the mother's insistence – "

"She plays because she wants to, because she enjoys it," JJ interrupted tesily. "I would never make her participate in an activity that she didn't enjoy. When her first season ended, she asked to play again, so we said yes. She liked it. She plays because she likes it."

Ms. Callahan barely acknowledged JJ's clarification. "That may be so, Mrs. Rossi, but we may have to incorporate activities into her curriculum that teach her teamwork. Does she get along well with others?"

"Yes," JJ responded. "She's made friends with the kids at her preschool and she's only been disciplined once."

"For?"

"For giving a little boy who teased her and took her blanket and wouldn't give it back a black eye," JJ answered sheepishly. "Her teacher called us right away, and we went down to have a chat with Anna, to explain to her that acting out like that is never an acceptable way to solve a problem. But it's normal for kids to have their spats, isn't it?"

Ms. Callahan nodded. "Yes, it is, but should Anna misbehave here, she would spend her recess indoors and eat her lunch alone."

Rossi didn't need to touch JJ to tell that she was infuriated but trying to keep her cool. She cocked an eyebrow at Ms. Callahan and gave her a hard look. "Don't you think that's severe?" she asked, barely controlling her dismay.

"No, not at all. Children must learn to behave properly; if we have to take drastic measures, we will. But let's move on to academic interests – is she showing promise in any particular areas?"

"Right now," JJ explained patiently, though her voice was still strained, "Anna is mainly interested in Dora the Explorer and Sesame Street, but she does show an aptitude for math and the language arts. In fact, she can already do simple addition and read board books."

"Do you read the classics to her?"

"The classics?"

"Yes. There's a children's Shakespeare that we recommend as a 'summer reading' book before Brighton's term begins in the fall. Our third-graders read an easier version of The Tempest."

Even Rossi couldn't believe that. "Isn't The Tempest advanced for third-graders?" he wanted to know.

"Not really, and, as I said, Mr. Rossi, they study an easier version. What do you read to Anna now?"

He shifted uncomfortably; this woman had to have been an interrogator in a previous life. "We read Where the Wild Things Are, Miss Rumphius, Guess How Much I Love You, Zen Shorts, and Curious George and Winnie the Pooh ... we only have about a thousand books."

"May I ask who purchased Zen Shorts for her? If I may be frank, it doesn't seem to go with the other books you mentioned," she chuckled with a hint of a sarcastic smile.

"Her godfather, Dr. Spencer Reid," JJ replied defensively. "They read it together almost every time he comes over. She throws a fit if they don't."

"'She throws a fit'?"

JJ knew she'd made a mistake as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Yes, Ms. Callahan rubbed her the wrong way, but she wanted Anna to go to the best school; she didn't want to let her daughter to pay for her inability to keep her cool. "She just gets upset."

The questions continued for another fifteen minutes, and by the time the interview was finished, Rossi wasn't sure who looked worse for it – JJ or Ms. Callahan. It had been like watching a tennis match.

At last Ms. Callahan sighed and removed her glasses. "I must admit, Mr. and Mrs. Rossi, I'm concerned that your daughter is not the sort of student we're looking for."

JJ stood abruptly and planted herself in front of Ms. Callahan's desk, her hands on her hips. "What do you mean Anna is not the sort of student you're looking for? So she won't wouldn't be an opera singer. So she didn't play the violin or the flute. So she watches television. She's bright, beautiful, capable, full of life and eager to learn ...."

"I mean, Mrs. Rossi," Ms. Callahan replied, standing to challenge JJ, "that Anna will not be successful here. She clearly will have to apply herself to fit in, and from what I've gathered, she will have difficulty doing that."

"Oh, yeah? Well, let me just tell you that I wouldn't want Anna to change just to fit in at your snooty school, no matter how good or how bad it is."

Ms. Callahan looked stricken. Her voice was cool and dismissive as she cleared her throat and replied, "It seems as if we agree on that point, Mrs. Rossi."

"We certainly do agree on that point. Our Anna is her own person, and I'll be damned if she loses her spark, her personality, just because we want her to go to a good school. I'd put my money on her any day against one of your students."

"You've made yourself obvious, Mrs. Rossi. Thank you for coming in."

~*~

That night, JJ sighed heavily as she took off her robe and slipped into bed beside Rossi. "You okay?" he asked, placing the psychology journal he'd been reading on the nightstand on his side of the bed.

"Fine."

"Want to talk about it, babe?"

"What is there to talk about? Anna is not going to that school. In fact, I doubt she'd be going even if she had been accepted. They'd take Anna and make her into a Stepford child. Battle ax Callahan would see to that personally."

Rossi nodded sympathetically as he took JJ in his arms and rubbed her back slowly. "I didn't like her from the moment we met her."

"I didn't, either," she admitted, "but for once, I was hopeful that I was wrong, that maybe she wouldn't be as cold as she seemed. What a bitch! How she gets to decide who gets in and who doesn't is beyond me! I did my best, David – honestly, I did – but I wasn't about to sit there another minute and let her demean our daughter!"

"I'm proud of you, babe. You stood up for Anna, for yourself ... for us. You're a wonderful mother."

She smiled against his warm, solid chest; he always knew what to say to make her feel better. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too. Now what do you say you we forget this afternoon and move on to other more interesting, more imprtant things?" He scooted down in the bed so that they were eye-to-eye, nose-to-nose, lips-to-lips. "Like you keeping that promise you made in return for the promise I made you? You've got to give me credit for keeping my mouth shut ...."

"I do," JJ giggled, "but I think that since I'm the one who got so upset this afternoon, don't you think I should be rewarded?"

Rossi shook his head and grinned as his hands traveled slowly down JJ's body and lifted the hem of her silky nightgown. "How do you figure that?"

"I'm tired, I'm stressed ...." She rolled over on her back, pulling him on top of her. "I need you to relax me ... I'll never get to sleep if I'm still worked up over this afternoon ...."

"You seem okay to me," he teased as he divested her of her gown. "You were even laughing for the first time all afternoon and evening a moment ago."

She drew his head down to her neck and wrapped her legs around his waist. "Please, honey ..." she pouted.

He cocked his head as if he were considering her proposition very seriously. "Oh, okay ... since you asked so nicely. But next time," he added as he kissed his way down her body and slipped off her panties, "you're going to be the one making the promise not to get smart or snippy, or you won't be getting this ...."

***