Chapter 38

After their uncomfortable lunch with Emily’s parents they had returned to the BAU where JJ and Emily had acted as if they had coincidentally ran into each other in the parking lot. The blonde quickly made her way to her office and wasn’t seen for the rest of the afternoon. While Emily worked on her paperwork and handled a couple of phone calls for her assigned consults, the day dragged on. The last thing her mother had said was that she needed time to process ‘this news’.

Emily had a hard time keeping the anger from her expression when she said her goodbye’s to her parents. Her father had pulled her into his warm embrace and told her that it would be okay, that she shouldn’t worry. But how could she not worry, she had basically told her parents that she was fine if she never saw them again? All of these thoughts kept running through her mind while she worked on the cases, like so many times before since she started dating JJ she had noticed how much harder it seemed to be to compartmentalize.

While she portrayed being the cool and collected FBI agent on the outside, Emily was slowly suffocating. She felt as if she couldn’t breathe, she was afraid of what JJ would have to say about the revealed secrets when they’d arrived home. The drive from their lunch to the FBI building had been too short to start that conversation so both of them had driven in silence, lost in their own thoughts.

While Elizabeth Prentiss would probably never be all that happy with her daughter’s choice of a life partner she had promised to give it a chance. Her change of heart had probably a lot to do with Edward’s persistence, he just wanted his daughter to be happy. To say the least, Emily had been surprised to receive a phone call from her mother later that afternoon.

Her mother had told her that she wanted to see Emily. She’d surprised her even more when she told Emily that they should come over for dinner on Christmas eve and that they should bring Henry with them – since it would be nearly impossible to find a babysitter. The house was after all big enough to find a place where Henry could sleep while the Charity Event went on downstairs. Emily had told her mother that she would have to talk to JJ and that she would let her know what they would do.

A rerun of the yesterday’s events had replayed in her mind, she remembered the fear she had felt regarding JJ’s reaction as well as her mother’s final answer. And the relief that washed over her when her mother called her and later on when JJ and she had talked.

Though the profiler knew that it wouldn’t be easy and there would most likely be slip-ups she wanted to give her mother the chance to prove that they could be closer than they had been in a long time. JJ – who of course had a close relationship with her parents – understood why Emily wanted to restore her relationship with her parents, she had immediately offered to call her parents to make the changes to their plans for Christmas.

But Emily – even though she had been dreading to make the call, since she didn’t want to keep JJ and Henry from their family – had insisted that she should be the one calling to explain why they couldn’t arrive at the originally intended time. JJ hadn’t expected that there would be any problems, she knew that her parents were understanding and they also knew – even though they didn’t know any details – that Emily’s relationship with her mother was complicated to say the least.

At first when Emily sat down to make the call she had been nervously biting her nails, but by the time she had explained to JJ’s mom that her mother had asked them to come to her Christmas Eve Charity Event she had relaxed, and even a smile had appeared on her face. JJ, who had been in the same room playing with Henry, had smiled as well. By the answers she heard Emily give to her mother into the phone she could guess what her mother was saying to the brunette. Emily and Marie Jareau spoke for a good thirty minutes and by the time they were done a new schedule for the holidays was in place and the brunette felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

***

A couple of days before the holidays the BAU team found themselves sitting at their desks in the bullpen working on the paperwork for their latest case from which they had returned the day before, and helping on some consults while things where winding down at the office. Hotch’s team had been taken out of the rotation for the holidays and everyone had made plans. This year another team was going to take the cases that came up during the holidays.

Garcia was going to see Kevin’s family, Derek as usual was going to Chicago to visit his mother and sisters. Hotch was spending the days with Jack, Haley’s sister and his in-laws and his brother. Rossi never really told anyone what he was going to do besides the fact that he was an author, had a couple of ex-wives and a cabin – in the middle of nowhere, the team hardly knew anything about him. And Reid had a flight to Las Vegas booked, as usual he was going to visit his mother.

Morgan was leaning back in his seat with a file propped up on his knees. Reid was going through a file on his desk, his finger gliding along the ink before he flipped the page. Emily was bent over her file as well but Morgan doubted that she was actually reading. “Reid, what are your plans for the holidays?”

“My pl… plans? I’m going to Vegas, visit my mom.” The young genius shrugged; “Maybe read some books, I recently found some first edition Russian literature which I hadn’t read yet.”

“So that’ll keep you busy for what an hour?” Morgan asked the genius with a smile. With his eidetic memory and his reading speed the muscled profiler really wondered why the young doctor even bothered to buy books. “What about you, Prentiss?”

“The big Prentiss Christmas Eve Charity Event.” The brunette mumbled in reply.

“A Charity Event, black tie?”

“Yes of course, it’s hosted by my mother so it’s the whole nine yards and nothing will be left to coincidence.” Emily shrugged, unimpressed by what she was saying, after all she had been to many events just like this one. And while people who didn’t know what it was like always seemed to be impressed by the scale of one of these events it didn’t impress her in the slightest.

“So that would mean that Ambassador Prentiss wants you to take a date with you, doesn’t it?” He asked with a smile, he had been waiting for weeks for the perfect moment to ask Emily if she was seeing someone.

The brunette rolled her eyes but didn’t react.

“No reaction? I take that as a ‘yes’.” The special agent laughed deeply, he loved teasing his teammates. “So Emily tell us about your date, who’s the lucky person?” He used the word ‘person’ deliberately so as to not specify a gender.

“None of your business, Derek!”

“Wow! Prentiss cool down, I’m just teasing you!” He stood up and grinned at her with a smug smile, he grabbed his mug and walked away. He filled his mug in the kitchen and filled one for Garcia as well before he made his way down to the tech woman’s dark lair. He stepped inside the room and without knocking and handed Garcia her mug of coffee while he patiently waited until she was done with her phone call. He sat down in one of the chairs and picked up one of PG’s newest feathery and glittery pens, he teased her with the feathery side until she glared at him while she disconnected her call.

“Hi babygirl.”

“Hmm, I could practically hear you frowning all the way over here my chocolate thunder, what’s going on in that mind of yours?” She grinned, while she took a sip from her coffee; “I can see something is going on, you can’t hide that mischievous glint in your eyes from me.” She pointed at him with one of her flashy pens.

“Nothing’s going on with me, but something’s definitely going on with Emily. Does she have someone new in her life?”

“Why don’t you ask her?” Garcia suggested while she tried to hide her smile.

“Have you met our Emily Prentiss, she’ll never answer that question if I ask her directly. So I decided that it would be a good idea to ask our local oracle of knowledge.” He flashed one of his charming smiles in hopes that it would lure out the truth even though he knew that Garcia wouldn’t fall for his flattery like most women would.

“Right. And flattery will get you anywhere, my hot chocolate muscle man is that it?”

“Yes, babygirl it usually does.” Derek shrugged with a cheeky grin.

“I hate to disappoint you, but I haven’t heard a thing.”

“Oh no babygirl, you’re not getting away that easy. I believe that you know a lot more than you’re letting on, I would even go as far as saying that you are lying.”

“OH! Derek Morgan, I am in shock, I would never lie to you! Emily does not have a boyfriend!” The blonde tech analyst exclaimed loudly while she slapped him against his knee. Which was the only part of his body within arm’s reach. She leaned back in her chair, pushed her glasses higher up her nose and with one look dared him to repeat his claim. Truth be told, she wasn’t lying, well not completely actually she was merely holding back some of the details. Emily Prentiss did not have a boyfriend.

Derek didn’t say anything else even though he was sure that Garcia was hiding something from him. He sat in silence for a few minutes. He was a profiler, he would figure it out eventually, he was sure of it and if his suspicions were right he could only be happy for them. After all that was what he wanted for his friends, happiness.

Derek got up and turned in the doorway; “I will figure it out, babygirl. You mark my words, I will figure it out.” He promised. “Besides, who said that I was talking about a boyfriend? Now since you are obviously in the business of keeping secrets I hope that you’ll keep mine for a little while longer, would only be fair now wouldn’t it, babygirl?”

***

December was always a busy month, but this year Emily and JJ hardly had any time left between work and the usual day to day business. They were both running on empty and could hardly wait for the holiday’s to begin. Luckily for them Will had called to tell them that he was going to visit some friends for the holidays in Louisiana and that he wouldn’t be home, so Henry could go with JJ and Emily to visit his grandparents without them having to worry about being back home at a certain time or day apart from the day that they had to return to work of course.

Emily and JJ had been running around the house collecting everything they needed for their vacation at JJ’s parents house. They had decided that they would make sure that everything was ready so that they could leave early in the morning. Henry had been following either one of them whereever they went, he had been asking questions about everything they did. Every ‘what’, ‘why’ and ‘where’ that came to mind. When lunch time came around Emily had sat him down on a kitchen chair to make a sandwich for him and had explained to him that they where going to visit her parents. She had explained to him that Elizabeth and Edward were her parents just like nanna and poppa where JJ’s parents.

Henry had been silent for a while and Emily had turned around, she had smiled when she saw the frown on his little face. After a minute or so he had suddenly spoken up; “Mama? Are they my nanna and poppa too?” Emily had frozen at the counter with her back to Henry, she wasn’t sure what to say.

“Mommy isn’t here sweetie, it’s just me and you for now.” Emily replied quickly to Henry, avoiding the fact that she suspected that he was calling her ‘mama’. He had always called JJ mommy and she didn’t think that he suddenly started calling his mother by a different name.

That was the moment that JJ choose to enter the kitchen; “Who are your nanna and poppa?” JJ asked her young son while she ruffled his hair. For now also choosing to ignore what Henry had called Emily.

“Em’ly’s mommy and daddy.” Henry stated matter of factly.

JJ was stunned for a moment. Of course Henry had only one set of grandparents since Will’s parents had both passed away long before he was even born, though after knowing a little bit more about Emily’s parents she doubted if she could ever see them as grandparent material. JJ looked up at Emily who stared back at her unable to answer the question either. “Ehm … I don’t know honey.” The blonde kneeled in front of Henry and looked up at him; “Would you like that?”

“I like Em’ly and I like my nanna and poppa.” The little boy shrugged, making the statement with a logic that only a child could bring forth.

“Well, how about we see what Emily’s mommy and daddy are like tomorrow night?” JJ said hoping that it would avert the potentially disastrous situation from happening.

The brunette’s eyes shifted nervously from mother to son before she returned her attention back to the sandwich she was preparing, sighing in relief since JJ didn’t seem to notice what got her so on edge. She cut the bread into little squares and placed the plate in front of Henry who started munching on the sandwich.

JJ sat down next to Henry and watched him with a smile on her face; he looked up at his mother and smiled, a smear of peanut butter was already caked to his cheek. Emily was standing with her back to them; she quickly prepared some sandwiches for JJ and herself and sat down at the table. She pushed JJ’s plate across the table towards her.

It wasn’t until later that evening when Emily stepped out of the shower and put on her pj’s that she had to think about Henry calling her ‘mama’ again. If she was honest she had to admit that she liked it, she never asked for it but it made her feel special once the initial shock had worn off.

Ever since she started dating JJ, she had treated Henry as if he was her own. She didn’t have to but she wanted to, even though there had been moments where she had doubted her own ability to take care of a child, Henry had given trust and love back. At least as much trust and love as a three year old has to offer, he had wanted her to kiss his booboo away a couple of months ago. And one night when he was scared because of a storm raging outside he had wanted her to stay with him instead of JJ until he fell asleep. So she figured that she must be doing something right, but she had never expected him to refer to her as his mother. After all he had a mother and a father who both loved him very much and who would do anything to keep him safe and cared for.

And while she hadn’t initiated the name, it did worry her she knew for sure that Will wouldn’t like it one bit. Especially since he was already afraid that she was trying to take his place in Henry’s life, this would just be adding fuel to the fire. And she wasn’t sure about JJ either, she was Henry’s mother and they had never discussed this. Adding Emily’s name as a caregiver or a contact at the daycare was one thing but having Henry call her ‘mama’ was a whole other ballgame.

Emily watched her reflection in the mirror, she had always wanted kids for as long as she could remember but she had given up hope a couple of years ago. She wasn’t exactly young anymore and she didn’t want to have kids on her own, and back then JJ – who she had been in love with all along, had been with Will and she had never expected that she would ever have a chance with her. In fact she had been convinced that she would be alone for the rest of her life. But everything had changed and here she was together with JJ and her son and they formed a family, maybe not the traditional kind but a family indeed.

Emily sighed; she needed to talk to JJ. She descended the stairs and found JJ where she left her before she went upstairs to take a shower. She sat down on the couch next to JJ, watching the blonde while she finished the page she had been reading. The media liaison had looked up to smile at Emily in acknowledgment, before she turned her attention back to the book. Emily was leaning back into the couch cushions; she pulled her legs up onto the cushion and took in JJ’s appearance. The blonde finished the page and closed the book, placing it next to her on the couch before she turned in her seat towards her.

“We need to talk.” Emily stated with an apologetic smile.

JJ nodded in reply; “About Henry?” She asked the brunette, though she already knew what the answer was going to be.

“Yes, yes about Henry.” Emily confirmed what JJ had already expected. “I eh … didn’t ask him to call me that.”

“I know.” JJ replied with a smile, that grew even wider when Emily’s head snapped up. The brunette stared straight at the blonde. “You would never ask Henry to call you anything but your name. My best guess was that he started calling you ‘mama’ all on his own.”

Emily sighed in relief; “No, no. I would never ask him to call me that unless we’d talked about it and even then I don’t think that I would just go for it, I would be hesitant. I am not his mother and I am not trying to take anyones place.”

“Emily, I know. I know.” JJ smiled, she reassured her lover that she wasn’t mad or disappointed or whatever Emily might think she would be. After all it wasn’t anything the brunette had done. “I have to admit it was strange hearing Henry call you mama …”

“I am so sorry, it’s not right you’re his mother I’m just your partner. I will do anything in my power to protect Henry and to make sure that he has a happy youth and I love him with all my heart, but I’m not his mother or mama … and I …” The brunette was rambling and she knew it, words kept pouring out of her mouth and she was unable to stop them especially once she realized how strange it must have been for JJ to hear her son call someone else ‘mama’ even if it was her partner.

JJ raised her brow while watching Emily as the words tumbled out of her mouth until she couldn’t take it anymore. She quickly pushed herself up on Emily’s thighs until their faces where just a couple of inches apart. She leaned in even closer kissing the brunette – effectively smothering the train of words from Emily’s mouth – she leaned back and watched the brunette with a smile on her face; “As I was saying, the more I think about it the more I like it. I guess that it’s Henry’s way of telling you that he accepts you as a parent.”

There was a shocked expression on Emily’s face which quickly turned into a smile the second the words JJ spoke registered. Finally a smile appeared and tears of happiness filled her eyes. The blonde in front of her matched her smile and leaned in again their lips met in the middle. JJ’s hand stroked alongside Emily face in a comforting gesture. “I love you, Jennifer.”

“I love you too, honey.” The blonde replied with just as much passion. Suddenly she could feel Emily’s body stiffen underneath her. “Emily, what’s going on? What changed?” She asked in worry.

“Oh my God, I’m sure that Will is going too love it as well.” Sarcasm dripped from each word while the brunette sighed. JJ smiled, shook her head in disbelieve and snuggled herself into Emily’s side. The brunette relaxed a little and dropped her arm around JJ’s shoulder.

“Probably not. But I’m not going to tell Henry to stop calling you mama, it’s so sweet. Especially since you had no idea how to react.” JJ kissed Emily on her cheek and chuckled; “That wasn’t the first time though, was it?”

Sometimes it was as if JJ was reading Emily’s mind, she had been asking herself if she should tell her that it wasn’t the first time that Henry called her mama. She hadn’t talked about it sooner because of the whole ordeal that happened when she arrived home; “Ehm, no. The first time was actually when you were sick and I took Henry with me to the store. I told you that we ran into Derek while we where there. Henry decided that it was the perfect moment to call me ‘mama’ for the first time. I acted as if he was asking for you but let’s be honest here that was wishful thinking, Derek is a profiler after all. And earlier this week he made it painfully obvious that he knows that something is going on.”

JJ’s head snapped up; “Why, what did he say? He didn’t say anything to me.”

Emily shrugged; “Derek was asking what our plans where for the holidays. So I mentioned the Charity. I thought it would be an easy out, but it only made things harder. He asked me if it was black tie and he immediately knew that I couldn’t go alone. Which I confirmed because that is how these type of events go after all. He started asking me who my date was and I kind of snapped.” The brunette admitted with an apologetic smile.

“What happened?”

“He just got up and left, I think that he went to see Garcia. Do you think she told him?”

“No, well not deliberately at least. But you know PG, she’s over-excited and happy for us but she would never tell someone on purpose. And Derek, he’s a profiler.”

“He knows.” Emily confirmed, it didn’t matter whether or not Garcia had said something. Knowing Derek he had probably known before he teased her, he probably even teased her to let her know that he knew without actually saying out loud that he knew about them. “What are we going to do about it?”

“For now, nothing. We’re going away for a week, we have the holidays coming up. Derek is on an early flight to Chicago in the morning. There is enough time to think about our action plan.” JJ shrugged, as usual being the voice of reason, she snuggled even more into Emily’s side. “Are you ready for tomorrow?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” The brunette answered softly; “I just want to tell you that no matter what happens tomorrow I love you and I want you to know that.”

“I know, Em.” The blonde smiled at the concern in her lover’s voice. “You’re not responsible for what your mother does. Besides it’s only one night, just a couple of hours and we’ll be on our way to my parents.

“But what if she says something…” JJ reached her hand up and pushed her finger against Emily’s lips.

“She won’t. Not in public anyway. Your mother is a politician, she knows how to handle herself.” The blonde smiled, she wasn’t worried about the Charity event, she was more worried about the time before the event – the dinner and Emily’s parents meeting Henry for the first time – and the morning after – the breakfast before they would leave to drive all the way up to East Alleghany.

“You’re probably right.” The brunette had to admit. “Let’s sleep, there are still some things we need to do before we can go to the Mansion.’’

***

Emily placed the dresses carefully on top of the bags they had prepared to take to East Alleghany and went back into the house. “JJ are you ready? We really need to go now?” She called out to the blonde who was still upstairs doing something. “Henry sweetie, come here we’re going to wait in the car for your mommy.”

“Where are we going, mama?” Henry asked while he took Emily’s outstretched hand.

“Here let me put your warm coat on.” The brunette said to the small child while she got down to his level; “Mommy and I are taking you to meet my parents and we’ll have dinner with them. You remember we talked about that yesterday?”

He chuckled and nodded his head while Emily zipped up his warm winter coat and put on his boots. “They have a really big house so we are going to stay with them tonight and tomorrow morning we’ll go to East Alleghany. And who lives there?”

“Nanna and Grampy!”

“Yes, that’s right.” Emily smiled; “Are you all warm and cosy?” She asked Henry knowing that he would dive into the snow as soon as he could wiggle himself out of her hand. And she would let him just like she did that morning when they had woken up to a world covered in a layer of white. She opened the door and allowed Henry to pass her. “Henry, you can be outside just until mommy’s here, okay?”

She didn’t get an answer, just an explosion of giggles when a snowball hit her against her chest. Earlier that morning Henry and she had been outside playing in the snow and Emily had taught him to make the perfect snowball all the while they had waited for JJ to come outside.

The blonde, who had been unaware of what was going on outside, had been caught by surprise as a heap of snowballs – one after another – had been flung in her direction by her son and partner. “Oh so that’s how you’re going to play it, Henry. First I teach you something only so that you can use it against me?” She chuckled and made a snowball which she threw in Henry’s direction without even trying to get close to him.

The front door opened again and JJ stepped outside; “Don’t even try to throw any snowballs at me!” She quickly said when she noticed that both Henry as well as Emily had a snowball in their hand. One glare from JJ and they both dropped their snowballs to the ground. She turned back to the door and locked it, Emily and Henry made their way to the car and the brunette was strapping Henry in his car seat when JJ joined them. “Do you have everything?”

Emily opened the door on the driver side of the car and sat down; “Yes, of course I have everything, it’s all in the back of the car.” The brunette answered while she backed the car out of the driveway onto the street. Soon they where on their way to the old Prentiss Mansion. It took them a little under an hour to arrive, the roads had been busy.

Chapter 37

Emily arrived at the house an hour later than JJ; she closed the door and made her way to the kitchen where she could hear JJ rummaging. She slumped down in one of the stools at the breakfast bar and watched JJ while she prepared an easy meal of mac and cheese for the three of them – JJ’s specialty as they mockingly called it. The blonde wasn’t bad either, but her meals where usually rather simple and easy to make, compared to Emily’s meals with origins from all around the world.

“Hi sweetie.” The blonde who had previously been singing to the radio said with a smile, her back still to the brunette while she stirred in the kettle on the stove. She was unaware of the brunette’s demeanour, though that wouldn’t last long.

“We need to talk.” Emily said followed by a loud sigh, without greeting the other woman while she threw her mail on the counter top. She had gone to her apartment after work before driving to the house and picked up her mail.

JJ turned around; a drop of tomato sauce fell off the wooden spoon she was clutching in her hand. “That sounds serious. Should I be worried?”

“Depends…” Emily’s voice trailed away, her hands pushed a card over the counter top towards the blonde. JJ placed the spoon back on the counter and wiped her hands on a towel, she hesitantly moved forward. Her hand hovered over the card, she watched Emily and when she nodded she finally picked it up.

She opened it up and allowed her eyes to fly over the words written on the inside of the card. “It’s an invitation to a Charity Event on Christmas eve?” The blonde spoke softly before she looked up at the brunette, who nodded in reply.

“My mother’s way of telling me she will be in town.” She admitted with a weak smile, before she studied her own hands.

“It’s on Christmas Eve.” JJ repeated softly.

“I know.” JJ turned towards the stove and picked up the pot to put it aside to make sure that the food wouldn’t spoil. She had been afraid that this would happen, she was aware that Emily still hadn’t called her parents and told them about their relationship or their living arrangements.

Besides that, Emily and JJ had already promised JJ’s parents that they would spend Christmas with them starting on Christmas Eve. The BAU team would be taken out of rotation for the holidays, which meant that they had December 24th off – they had planned to drive towards East Allegheny and arrive early in the afternoon. However, if Emily wanted to see her parents those plans would have to be changed one way or another.

JJ watched Emily’s reaction intensely while she leaned against the breakfast bar; “What does this mean? Do you want to go?”

Emily picked up the card and held it up; “I’m not sure. If you get this in your mail you might call it an invitation, but it isn’t. This is my mother summoning me to show up on Christmas Eve at her Charity Event to play the ‘good daughter’.”

The brunette made air-quotes and rolled her eyes; “Preferably one that she can be proud of and show off to her rich friends, one with a male boyfriend preferably who could be a potential husband one day.” She threw the card down again and sighed heavily.

“I hate it. I should have expected it and taken care of it before this arrived in the mail. I’m sorry. Usually I don’t give a damn about it and I play my mother’s games, if I don’t have a date she’ll make sure that someone is there to court me. Not that it ever works but she denies the fact that I like women. It has been twenty years since I first told her and she still calls it a phase and claims that I will grow out of it. I wonder how long she’s going to claim that.”

“Emily, maybe if you confront your mother with the fact that you’re in a relationship – if she sees how happy you are, that might change a couple of things.” JJ offered watching Emily intently, she had always known that the brunette and her mother didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things but this was the most elaborated explanation she ever got on how their relationship worked.

She was at a loss for words, how could she reply when her heart clenched in pain for Emily but she herself had never even had to deal with anything like that. Not from her parents – sure she had been worried to tell them about her relationship with Emily, though she had doubts deep, deep in her heart she had also known that her parents would always love her even though there was the possibility that it might have taken them a little time to wrap their head around the news.

Nevertheless, her fear had been deemed unnecessary. Her parents had seen how happy she was, how happy Emily made her and how good the brunette was with Henry. Maybe it would work for Emily and her mother in the same way, or maybe that was really wishful thinking … “I’m sorry, Emily. Maybe … I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t be, it’s not your fault. It’s just the way it is. Which means that I have to call my mother to explain a couple of things to her, again.” The brunette sighed; “However, I don’t know what to do. I’ve promised your parents that we would be in East Alleghany on Christmas Eve and I want to keep that promise, but now my mother comes and ruins it because she suddenly remembered that she has a daughter.”

“Em, I’m sure that if we explain it to my parents they will understand. And we can always drive home after the Charity Event or the next morning and we can still be on time. It’s not a big deal.” JJ shrugged it off lightly, Emily was already feeling bad enough, no need to add to her stress now.

“I don’t want to disappoint your parents, they have been so sweet and caring.”

“Em, she’s your mother. You need to talk to her and please don’t worry about my parents, we’ll cross that bridge if we have to, and like I said I’m sure that they will understand.” The blonde smiled and moved closer to Emily. She wrapped her arms around the brunette’s neck while she leaned back to look her in the eyes.

“I know.” She rubbed her eyes in frustration; “Believe me, I know. And I will. No matter what happens though, if she doesn’t accept you than I’m not going to that Charity Event either. These past years I didn’t really care if she tried to introduced me to DC’s most eligible bachelors, but now it would feel as if I where cheating on you if I went there because I know that she will still try to hook me up with someone. That’s just the way it is.”

“Honey, I don’t want to be the person who causes a rift between you and your mother.”

The profiler chuckled bitterly; “Don’t worry about that, there is already a rift the size of the Grand Canyon between us. It’s more of a courtesy that I’m considering calling her than anything else.”

“Em, that sounds really harsh.”

“It’s the truth.” Emily sighed; “Since we worked that case with the Russian’s, when my mother was here, I saw her three times and spoke to her on the phone probably just as many times. She turned to us knowing that I wouldn’t show her the door, she used me as leverage to get the BAU to do what she wanted us to do. That’s my mother for you, Strauss reminds me of her a lot. When we worked that case she asked me if I wanted to have lunch with her the very next day but before we could she called to cancel. She’s been in and out of the country, but most of the time she has been here I’ve picked up about it through the paper or through people who know her.”

The brunette sighed deeply, thinking whether or not she should tell JJ one of her biggest and probably best kept secrets or not – honesty was the best policy. “Whenever my mother calls to make an appointment only to cancel on me before we even get there … I … she…she makes me feel like I’m six years old again fighting for her attention and never getting it. Always waiting for my mother to come home and when she did she told the nanny that she was having a headache or she was on her way out again.”

“Oh Em.” JJ wrapped her arms around the brunette. “Why have you never told me this before?”

The brunette shrugged, a tear rolled down her cheek; “It’s too painful. We, in our line of work, see it all the time. People get seriously screwed up by the way their parents treat them. I can’t talk about this … not with just anyone.” The brunette admitted with a small smile.

“Good, because you should know that you can tell me anything.” The blonde replied, brushing a strand of hair away from the brunette’s face stroking her thumb along her jawline.

“Hmm, yes I’m still working on it.”

JJ pulled away from the brunette and smiled; “Well as long as we agree to keep working on our relationship and especially in sharing the tougher stuff we’ll be fine.” The blonde kissed the profiler gently before she pulled away and made her way around the breakfast counter. “How about you make that phone call to your mother to make an appointment with her while I finish this meal?”

Emily shrugged, but she did take her phone with her the livingroom, she waited for the line to connect to her mother’s number. She nervously picked her nails when her mother’s voice rang in her ears; “Elizabeth Prentiss.”

“Mother, it’s Emily.”

“Emily, I only have one daughter, the fact that you called me mother gave away that it was you. I take it you received my invitation?”

“I did, listen can we possibly meet tomorrow for lunch? There’s something I need to tell you and I don’t want to do it over the phone.” The profiler spoke softly.

“I take it you still work for the FBI?” The older Prentiss woman asked her daughter.

“Yes, I am still at the BAU? Why?”

“Just a question. I will see you at noon, were do you want to meet? You know what, just send me the address on my phone? I have to go, your dad’s waiting.” Elizabeth replied.

“Okay, say hi to dad from me and can you ask him to come with you tomorrow?”

“I don’t know Emily, I believe your father has a golf game planned with one of his friends. I will ask him. I really have to go now.” The older Prentiss’ woman replied quickly; “See you tomorrow, Emily.”

“See you tomorrow.” She disconnected the call and sat staring straight ahead for a while. Her hand drifted distractedly to her long raven hair, her hands caressing the long tresses. She wondered what tomorrow would be like. She must have been sitting there for a while though, which she didn’t realise it until JJ suddenly appeared next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder which startled her.

“Emily honey, are you okay? I called your name a couple of times but you didn’t seem to hear me.”

“Yes, I’m fine. I was just trying to figure out how to tell my mother about us.” The brunette answered softly; “My dad was with her, I asked her to invite him as well.”

JJ was surprised, Emily had never talked about her father, she had assumed that the brunette had no contact with him, didn’t know her father or she had lost him years ago. She had figured that Emily didn’t talk about her father just like she herself didn’t talk about Amy. “Would you like it if I came with you, or is this something you need to do alone?” She offered while she sat down next to the profiler, she wrapped her hands around Emily’s – a simple but comforting gesture.

“I don’t want you to be there, it’s probably going to be painful and …”

“Em, we’re in this together. I know it’ll be difficult but if you’re hurting I can’t look the other way, so I might as well go with you.”

“Jayje, you don’t know my mother … I mean, you’ve seen her once when she was on her best behavior. She needed us, my connection within the FBI, our team. What you saw was Ambassador Prentiss, not my mother. In a way you and her are a lot alike …” JJ opened her mouth to interrupt Emily telling her that she was nothing like Elizabeth Prentiss.

“No, Jayje listen to me. You’re a media liaison, you know how to handle yourself in all types of situations. I have seen you play your intelligence down to make some of the cops we work with feel comfortable sharing information with you they wouldn’t have shared with us otherwise. My mother’s years as an ambassador have given her similar skills, she knows how to play people, use them as her pawns and get you to do what she wants you to do. To be honest my mother would make a good profiler. Tomorrow I’m having lunch with her, we’ll be in a public place she won’t want to make a scene. She’ll be polite and will most likely deny who you are or what you mean to me. She will refuse to call you anything but Miss or Agent Jareau, that way she can keep distance because in her mind you will be the person who put me up to this and it won’t matter what I tell her.”

“So what you’re telling me is that it won’t be pretty … but Em, we’re in this together. You went with me all the way to East Allegheny, not knowing what to expect, I think that I will be fine spending an uncomfortable hour with your mother during lunch. And like you said before, I’m a media liaison, I know how to handle myself.” The blonde couldn’t help but smirk at getting Emily back with her own words.

“Looks like I can’t stop you.”

“No, no you can’t.” The blonde answered with a smirk. “Now, can we eat?”

“Yes, we can. Where’s Henry?”

“He was totally worn out when I picked him up at the daycare, by the time I left the parking lot her was already sleeping so I took him upstairs before I started dinner.”

“Can I go and get him?”

“Of course you can, I’d better start reheating everything. Again.” She claimed with a mock sigh, she planted a quick kiss on Emily’s lips before she pushed herself up and retreated to the kitchen. Emily made her way upstairs, she quickly disappeared into their bedroom and retrieved a shirt from the closet. She unbuttoned her blouse and dropped it to the bed. She pulled the shirt over her head and made her way to Henry’s room.

Emily had been dreading the approaching lunch hour all day, it had been hard to concentrate on anything but the clock on the opposite wall. JJ had tried to get her mind off the upcoming lunch date, even Garcia – who had been clued in by JJ – had tried but nothing had worked. The lunch hour came and Emily got up – thanks to her fidgeting everyone knew that she was meeting her mother for lunch – she grabbed her bag and strode towards the double glass doors.

“Hey Em! Have fun with the Ambassador!” Morgan teased right when she was pushing the door open. The brunette huffed and let the door close behind her, she knew that he was just teasing her and let it go. This time.

JJ followed a minute later calling out that she needed to run some errands on their lunch break and left in a swirl of golden hair, almost running after Emily. When she exited the elevator on the parking level she thought for a second that Emily had already left – if she had, she would have done it to protect JJ but it would have hurt the blonde tremendously. She had been mistaken because Emily’s Jaguar pulled around the corner and stopped in front of her. She breathed a sigh of relief and stepped into the car. She scanned the area surrounding them and leaned over the center console to give Emily a quick peck on her cheek. The brunette smiled and drove off, they reached their destination quickly.

JJ quickly grabbed a hold of Emily’s hand before the reached the door of the establishment; “Emily, I’m here for you and I love you. We’ll be fine no matter what happens today.”

“I know, I love you too.” The brunette decleared before she pushed the door open and released JJ’s hand. She immediately noticed her parents, her mother’s impeccable straight posture sitting in one of the chairs to the back of the establishment, her father was seated besides her. She guided JJ to the table and stopped besides her mother. “Mother, it’s good to see you. I think you remember Jennifer Jareau.” Elizabeth Prentiss got up, a tiny but strict smile playing on her lips.

“Emily dear, it’s good to see you.” She gave Emily three air kisses before turning her attention to JJ, who she gave a hand; “Of course I remember Special Agent Jareau, though I’m not sure why you brought her with you Emily, you could have informed me.”

Emily ignored her mother while she turned towards her father, who had quickly followed his wife, he was a little taller than Emily with broad shoulders and a friendly face. The brunette was immediately enveloped in a heart warming hug courtesy of her father. She stepped away from her father’s embrace; “Dad, this is Jennifer Jareau. JJ this is my dad, John Edward Prentiss.”

The older man held his hand out to JJ; “Please, call me Edward, it’s nice to meet you.”

Emily watched JJ and her father introduce themselves to each other but she was annoyed by her mother and was tempted to role her eyes, that was her mother always cutting right to the chase. “Can we sit down and order something first.”

She knew that her mother was probably already sensing where this conversation was going, she could see it in the change of demeanor in her. She suddenly seemed even more closed up than usual, a simple hand gesture towards the other chairs at the table.

Emily and JJ sat down and in a matter of seconds a waiter arrived at their table with the menu’s in his hand. One of the perks of having dinner with her mother was that she would always make reservations as ‘Ambassador Prentiss’, which meant that people would always fly for them. After all, having a recommendation from a high placed Ambassador would be good publicity.

They ordered and when the waiter left Emily turned her attention to her mother; “I received your invitation to the Christmas Eve Charity, I know that you want me to bring a date. I wanted you to meet who I’m bringing, that’s why I brought JJ with me.” She waited to see if her mother caught on to what she was saying.

“Emily, please not this nonsense again.” Elizabeth exclaimed in such a fashion that it could only be heard by the occupants of their table, but nonetheless it was obvious that she was irritated to say the least.

“Mother, please it’s not nonsense, you know that just as well as I do.” The brunette sighed, she hated always having the same argument with her mother whenever the topic of relationships was brought up.

“Emily dear, it is nonsense. You told me years ago that you had feelings for women, but I have never seen any proof of it.”

“Seriously mother, proof?” The profiler asked wondering if her mother was serious about not believing it because she’d never seen proof. “You’ve never seen your so-called proof because there was never anyone in my life who was important enough to bring home – until now. Besides that, with the way you react to this topic it isn’t really a topic to address if it’s not nescesary.” She said reaching for JJ’s hand, she entangled their fingers and turned JJ’s hand towards her she leaned in and placed a kiss on JJ’s hand.

“I love Jayje, I really do. There have been other women – sorry sweetie for bringing this up now.” Emily apologized to the blonde, the last part of the sentence softly, she realized that they had never really talked about past relationships or lovers in detail, and she didn’t want to hurt JJ by revealing anything unexpected. The blonde nodded and flashed an understanding smile.

“There have been several women, but no one nearly as important as JJ and Henry. He’s JJ’s son, the cutest little kid you’ll ever meet.” Emily smiled broadly while she watched JJ’s proud smile appear on her face, the blonde mouthed thank you. The bruette nodded before she turned her attention to her mother since she was the main source of the problem; “There was no one I wanted to spend my life with, but everything changed now. I don’t want to hide this any longer. And before you say it, a phase doesn’t last twenty years, mother.”

At that moment the waitress returned with their lunch, the conversation halted, her eyes quickly shifted from one person to the next before she rapidly placed the plates in front of them and spun on her heels to get out of their way. An Ambassador and FBI agents sure knew how to make sure that no one dared to disturb them unless they where asked something.

Elizabeth watched her daughter for a second while she waited long enough for the waitress to be out of earshot before she started speaking; “But Emily …” Her mother tried to reason with her – even though she was a grown up and perfectly capable to make her own choices.

“There are no reasons to keep this hidden or to act like it doesn’t exist. You can either try to accept this – given that you’ve known about it for twenty years, I would say that you’ve had more than enough time – or this will most likely be the last time we see each other.”

“If this is the way you are why did you always show up at my Christmas Eve Charity with a guy on your arm?” The older Prentiss woman asked wondering why her daughter had chosen to do that, her eyes shifted between her Emily and JJ.

“Elizabeth, please…” Emily’s father interupted his wife for the first time. He hated that she and his daughter could never see eye to eye, he loved them both and he was always caught in the middle.

“Edward, hush.” Elizabeth said softly.

“Don’t tell me to hush, don’t you hear what your daughter is saying?” Edward Prentiss turned towards his daughter; “This is important.”

“Edward, I know what is important. Why should our daughter make her life even more difficult? Everything she does is like a kick in the stomach, she always chooses the hard way.”

“Our daughter is a grown-up, she can make her own choices as long as her choices make her happy, that is all I’m asking for. How can you not see that she’s happier than we’ve seen her in a long time. Did you not see the look in her eyes when she told you that no one is as important as JJ and her son.” Edward smiled at his daughter and her girlfriend.

“Because there was no one special in my life, I figured that it was easier to go along with your wishes the one time a year I see you instead of fighting against it.” Emily hated admitting it, she thought that her way of reasoning was quite hypocritical, she wanted to be accepted, yet in the past decade she had never really tried to fight for the acceptance she needed so dearly. She hated admitting that she wanted – no needed – her mother in her life as much as she claimed to not need her.

“Honey, I have always thought that this was just another one of your rebellious actions against me. Can you blame me, Emily? If it wasn’t a crazy hairdo, black make-up and that God awful music it was wrong friends, going out late at night while you were grounded, and if it wasn’t one of those you would find something else to rebel against.

Like that time you told me that you were pregnant at fifteen. Do you even know what that could have done to my career? I always thought that this was just another nail on my proverbial political coffin when you announced that you were gay. I was the Ambassador of a country known for their bigotry, a country where gay people are threatened and every so often even killed and you tell me that you’re gay. What am I supposed to think, Emily? I’ve never seen any evidence of your pregnancy just like I’ve never seen proof of you being a lesbian.”

“Proof mother, you needed proof? I had an abortion when I was fifteen because you told me long before I actually got pregnant that I wouldn’t have a home if I ever got knocked up. So when it happened, Matthew – who wasn’t even the father – took me to a doctor. And when I tried to tell you why I was so depressed you wouldn’t believe me, because there wasn’t any proof. Matthew saved my life mother, and that was the start of his own downfall. That is something I have to live with all my life since I couldn’t do the same thing for him.”

Emily sighed deeply – thinking about Matthew always made her sad – she fought to keep her tears hidden. She hated that she hadn’t been able to help him the way he had been there to help her. She sighed deeply and looked down at her hands, trying to control her emotions. A quick glance to her side showed a very calm JJ, if she had been surprised by the revelations made by Emily herself or her mother, she didn’t show it. Though that didn’t sooth Emily’s feelings, JJ might as well be hiding her true feelings behind her ‘media liaison’s face’.

After all JJ was exceptionally good at her job and if she didn’t want to show her true feelings she wouldn’t show them to you, it worried Emily but there was no time to deal with this right now. “Do you really think that it would have been easier to understand if you caught me in bed with some women? You basically told me to drop the act, you told me that I was on my own which was followed by another rant about me doing everything in my power to ruin your precious career.”

“Emily you make it sound like my career was more important than you.”

“You made me feel like it was …” The brunette sighed, they had never talked about any of this. Sure, when she was still living at home she would throw it at her mother when they where at each other’s throats but they never sat down and really talked about it.

“I was brought up by nannies, while we lived all around the world for your postings. The longest we ever stayed anywhere was two years. Every time I had to make new friends, learn new languages and try to find my way in new cities. It was difficult and I made my fair share of mistakes trying to fit in, but I never lied about the things that happened. But that is not the problem here.” Emily waved it away, it wasn’t important. “If I come, I mean if we decide to come and make the changes to our plans with JJ’s parents, I need to know that you can accept us as a couple.”

JJ’s smiled at Emily, her hand squeezed the brunette’s in a soothing, comforting gesture. It gave Emily the strength to look straight at her mother.

“Emily, I want you to be there …” Her mother paused, she always had a flair for drama when she spoke, she pursed her lips before she continued; “If that means that Agent Jareau will be with you that is fine by me … but keep in mind that this is something I have to adjust to and that doesn’t happen overnight. I want you to be there.”

“Please, Mrs. Prentiss, call me Jennifer or Jayje.” JJ spoke up for the first time since she had been introduced.

The older Prentiss woman nodded; “Jennifer, I would like it if you could accompany my daughter to the charity event.” The words sounded and the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes but it was a start.

“Jennifer, what my wife is trying to say is that you’re welcome to join our daughter to our Charity Event and that it is a true pleasure to meet you.” Edward spoke with a genuine smile, in between words he glared at his wife.

“I’m proud of you.” JJ murmured when she laid down in the bed next to Emily.

The brunette looked up, confusion on her face; “Why?”

“You stood up to your mother and you made her see what you want and you didn’t back down. I can only guess how difficult that must have been. So I am proud of you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why?” The blonde asked, this time she was the one who was surprised.

“I’m sorry because I never meant for you to hear about it this way.” Emily stared up at the ceiling, the guilt she was feeling was too much. She couldn’t look at JJ, not now.

“About what Emily, that your mother and you don’t get along? I already knew that.” JJ shrugged; “Or about the abortion you had when you where only fifteen years old?”

The guilty look on Emily’s face showed what she meant more than anything else, though JJ was glad since the brunette wasn’t trying to hide her feelings like she used to. She was even the one bringing it up in a conversation, no longer was she hiding behind her compartmentalisation skills or her special agent Prentiss face.

The blonde crawled closer to Emily and rested her head on the brunette’s shoulder; “Honey, you have nothing to be sorry for. I admit that it’s hard to imagine to ever take such a step especially after having Henry but your situation – being fifteen and alone – didn’t give you much of a choice. You did what you had to do.” The blonde raised her head, she made sure that Emily was watching her before she continued.

“You did what you had to do, to the best of your knowledge and abilities. Don’t keep beating yourself up over it, like I’m sure you have been doing for the past two decades. It’s not worth it and there is nothing you can do to change it, you have to move forward.” JJ moved away from Emily’s embrace and turned to face the brunette, she reached her hand up to stroke alongside her face, along her jawline. “I love you, Emily.” She leaned in and kissed her.

“I love you so much. You make me feel so special. And just look at Henry, he adores you. You make him feel safe and cared for even though you don’t have to. You always make sure to include him if it is at all possible and when I was sick you took care of him. And I’m sure that has been an adjustment for you as well, you were alone for such a long time and suddenly you have a girlfriend who also brings a child into the relationship.” JJ positioned herself in front of Emily, straddling her thighs.

“We’re both old enough to know that our partner had a past but we’re together now. What happened before doesn’t matter to me, as long as we’re honest with each other. I also understand that there are things that you haven’t told me, that’s alright too. It’s only natural, you can’t know everything about each other. I’m sure that my parents still have some things that the other doesn’t know, as long as those ‘secrets’ aren’t deal-breakers I’m sure that we can make it through though at times it might be trying but neither one of us is a quitter.”

The blonde hooked her finger underneath Emily’s chin and raised it to make sure that the brunette looked up; “I love you – trust me – everyday a little bit more than I already did. And I’m proud of you. I’m going to say it until you believe it, I don’t care how many times that will take.” The blonde stated with a determined smile on her face. “Face it, you’re stuck with me.”

“I like being stuck with you, more than I can ever show you.” Finally the true meaning of JJ’s words seemed to hit home for Emily. Her previous worried face turned into a small smile, which only brightened more when JJ placed her hands on the brunette’s shoulders.

However, this time it was Emily who took the lead. Her hands came to rest on JJ’s ass, she pulled the blonde closer to her and Emily kissed JJ passionately. The blonde had her hands entangled in Emily’s dark hair holding her close as well while they battled for control. JJ had the upper-hand due to her position straddling Emily, but the brunette was physically stronger.

It didn’t take long for them to loose their clothes, their hands roamed over each other’s bodies. Emily eventually won, she eased JJ down and allowed her hands to roam over JJ’s sides while she placed kisses along her throat. The blonde’s breath hitched which made Emily smile deviously. She knew exactly where to touch the blonde, and she loved seeing her in the throws of passion underneath her.

Chapter 36

Emily pushed the door open and Henry tiptoed inside, his finger still against his lips while he approached the bed, she smiled at his adorable antics. He quickly crawled onto the end of the bed and on hands and knees he made his way towards the top. Emily was sure that JJ was awake but pretending to be fast asleep, knowing that Henry loved being able to wake someone up. “Wakey, wakey!” He said much louder than a whisper, placing his small hands on top of his mother’s upper-arm while he pushed her onto her back. JJ pretended to wake up, wrapping her arms around Henry who buried his face in JJ’s neck. “You sick, mommy?” He asked her softly.

“Yes sweetie, I am. But I’m feeling a whole lot better now that I got you’re here.” The blonde smiled and mouthed ‘thank you’ to Emily who was leaning against the doorframe. The brunette could see that the blonde wasn’t really doing any better, she was probably still feeling just as miserable as she had been feeling when they first woke up early in the morning. In reply she shrugged at the blonde and approached her, she sat down on the bed leaning in to kiss the top of JJ’s head – which felt warm, warmer than usual – but the blonde pushed the other woman away gently. Emily watched JJ with a confused look on her face; she wasn’t sure where JJ’s reaction came from.

“Are you running a fever?” She asked the blonde who shrugged in reply. “You sure, you feel hot.”

Henry was still sprawled out on top of his mother, clutching his little arms around her neck. Emily wanted to reach her hand out to feel if JJ had a fever but the blonde slapped her hand away mid-air. “Don’t.” She said as sternly as she could muster.

“I just want to know if you have a fever.” She sighed; “Can I get you anything? Tylenol, something to drink or eat?”

“Take Henry.” Was all JJ could get out, clapping her hand over her mouth. The second Emily picked Henry up JJ pushed herself off the bed in the direction of the bathroom. The brunette could hear her loose what was left of her stomach contents into the toilet and was unsure what to do; stay with Henry or help JJ. In a split second she decided that JJ at this point had her priority; “Henry, stay here. Don’t go anywhere while I go an check on mommy, okay?” For a second she wondered if she had closed the gate at the top of the stairs when she came up but there was no time to check it.

Henry nodded his blonde head in an exaggerated gesture and dropped his body back onto the centre of the bed, cradled between the pillows and the fluffy sheets. Emily approached the bathroom door quickly, she checked back one last time to see that Henry was still in the same spot on the bed and opened the door. Within a split second she found herself in the same position she had been in this morning when she first woke up, holding back JJ’s long blonde tresses while her free hand reached for the glass on top of the sink. The stale smell of the vomit rose to her nostrils, almost making her gag as well but she turned her face away and breathed through her mouth. She wasn’t used to taking care of another person like this, she never had too.

Finally the noises beneath her stopped and she dared to watch, JJ leaned back against the wall and gratefully took the glass the brunette held in front of her, while she reached out to flush the toilet.

“Go away.” The words out of JJ’s mouth stopped the brunette’s hand mid-air, at first she thought that she must have misheard it so she continued to push the flusher, but the blonde repeated it, this time there was no doubt; “Go away, Emily. You did not sign up for this.”

“Did not sign up for this? What are you talking about?” She was confused as to what JJ was referring too.

“Me being sick, having to take care of me and Henry. You didn’t sign up for this.” The blonde looked miserable, extremely miserable. Leaning her head in her hands, her hair hanging in front of her pale face. She looked frail, sitting on the white bathroom tile with hunched shoulders.

“Then tell me, where should I sign up, Jayje?” The brunette was annoyed; “I told you. Promised your parents that I would take care of you and Henry. Do you really think that I will run away from you when you’re sick? That I will go to my apartment and come back when you feel better, or maybe not at all because I realise that you and Henry are too much of a hassle? Did you really just assume that I am that shallow?”

JJ opened her mouth to say something – she was feeling quite miserable and seeing the full force of her statement reflect in Emily’s dark brown eyes – made her feel even worse. She knew that she had hurt the brunette by doubting her but she couldn’t take her words back, the harshness of her own statement was ringing in her ears. With Emily’s family history and her experience with previous relationship’s JJ should have known how much her comment would hurt Emily. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her because she did; it was just that she didn’t expect her girlfriend to take care of her when she was sick.

She had noticed that Emily almost lost her own stomach contents while helping her and she didn’t want the brunette to get sick like she was and maybe, just maybe it had been a stupid idea to ask Emily to pick Henry up for her just because she wanted to see him, no – needed to see him. She now exposed Henry to whatever she was having and she really didn’t want to pass it on to anyone else.

When she heard the distinct sound of Emily gagging she remembered all the times she had puked her guts out when she was pregnant with Henry, and all the times that Will turned his back on her and told her that he couldn’t deal with the stale smell, even though he had been part of the reason why she was feeling so miserable. He hadn’t been helpful at all.

She was afraid to hear the same disgust in Emily’s voice, so in her mind it had seemed easier to ask her to go away. But now that she looked up at the woman slumped down on the edge of the tub besides her she doubted her whole thought process. Emily wasn’t like that, she would be there to help her if only she would let her help, and even if she didn’t want the brunette to stay JJ was sure that she would even if it was just to keep an eye on Henry.

The blonde wanted to say how sorry she was but her train of thought was interrupted by Emily’s phone. The dark haired woman jumped, she had been so focussed on JJ that she didn’t expect something like that. She quickly retrieved her phone and without looking she answered the call. “Seriously girlfriend, you and I got a huge problem!”

Emily frowned – first JJ and now Pen, she was starting to get annoyed really fast – she pulled the phone away from her ear when the high pitched comment reached her ear; “Get in line…” She mumbled through her teeth, hardly loud enough for anyone to hear. “Pen, what are you raving on about?”

“What am I raving on about? Really Emily, really do I need to explain to you how this works?” Emily stood up from the bed; she left the room and stood in the hallway.

“Pen, what are you talking about?”

“Jayje of course, my poor sweet boo is sick and you don’t even call me!”

“P, it’s probably just the flu or something, she’s looking a whole lot better than she did this morning.” Emily said, knowing that it was hardly the truth but she really didn’t feel like dealing with Garcia right now, not after being chewed out by JJ for trying to do the right thing.

“I don’t care what you call it, even if it is just the flu as you put it I should know about it! Heck, a broken nail is reason to let me know, that is my Jayje you are talking about!” The blonde on the other side of the line exaggerated.

“Broken nails … right. Sorry Pen, I think I need to change my phone speed-dials because right now I have my lady on number one while it should have been you all along. I apologize; I didn’t think that the flu was a good enough reason for you to be called out of your bed. Believe me it won’t happen again.” Emily spoke in mock congruence while she rolled her eyes, no reason to let Garcia know that JJ and she just got into an argument.

“Do not role your eyes at me, missy!”

Emily pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it for a couple of seconds before she reattached it, making sure that the camera wasn’t working. She had after all seen Garcia pull a lot of technical mumbo jumbo to take control of computers before, so there was no reason to think that she couldn’t hack a phone; “Pen, can I just tell you how she’s doing?” She said more than a little annoyed.

“You better or I’ll come over there and see for myself.” The blonde claimed loudly and Emily knew not to mess with her because she would do it – she would stand at their door within twenty minutes, which was exactly how long it took from Garcia’s apartment to their house if there wasn’t any traffic, and that was something Emily really couldn’t use.

“Alright alright, hold your horses. Jayje’s doing fine, well not fine but better. She probably caught the flu or something but she slept most of the night and morning.” Emily frowned; “I went to pick Henry up and I just arrived home with him. Which you probably already heard from your chocolate hunk.”

“I never reveal my sources.” Garcia said in a serious tone of voice.

“Maybe you shouldn’t make it so obvious if you don’t want a trained FBI agent to figure out the truth.” Emily joked lightly, loosing a little of the anger she had been feeling because of JJ’s comment.

“I don’t know what you mean.” The blonde stated on the other side of the line.

“We didn’t see you last night, nor did we call you. About thirty minutes ago I left the parking lot of the supermarket where I ran into Derek, and now with just enough time to get home you call me. It’s a simple game of elimination, if you had known before you would have called sooner. You didn’t call the land-line because you didn’t want to risk waking JJ up, neither did you want to call me on my cell if there was a chance that I was still on my way home with your Godson in the car.” Emily smirked; “In fact if I had picked up the phone you would have ripped my head off for reckless endangerment or something since Henry was in the car with me. They didn’t just give me the title of ‘profiler’ because they like me so much.”

“Okay, I guess I’m busted.” The blonde giggled; “Is my poor Jayje awake, can I talk to her?” Emily looked around the doorframe and noticed that JJ was still in the bathroom since the bedroom was empty. She made her way across the room and glanced around the corner. Henry had crawled onto his mother’s lap who was still seated on the floor with her back against the cold tile. She wasn’t able to see the younger woman’s face because her long blonde hair was blocking it from the view. But every now and then Emily noticed that her shoulders shook.

“Can I let her call you back, P?” The brunette spoke fast but urgently.

“Yeah, I guess, tell my little Sugar Plum to call me asap.”

“Sure will, P.” Emily said while disconnecting the phone.

Emily watched JJ from the bedroom, the younger woman hadn’t moved from her position against the cold bathroom tile. Henry had made his way to her and crawled up against her, his arms wrapped around his mommy. The blonde stroked the young boys hair absentmindedly while she tried to hide from him that she was crying. However, she wasn’t able to keep a pained sob from escaping her lips every now and then, and each time Emily’s heart broke a little bit more.

Maybe she was doing the wrong thing but she knew that she had to do something. She at least had to try and get JJ from the cold bathroom tile and back into bed with a couple of Tylenol preferably, even if the blonde didn’t want her here or claimed that she hadn’t signed up for this she wasn’t going to leave. There was no way she could ever justify doing something like that to herself. She stepped forward with a fake smile on her face; “Henry, sweetie it’s nap time.”

“No, don’t wanna!” Henry exclaimed loudly.

“Well you have to, honey.” Emily insisted while she picked him up and carried him to his room. JJ pulled her knees up to her chest; her face was still hidden behind a curtain of blond tresses.

“No, Em’ly don’t wanna! Mama!” Emily made quick work of undressing the small child and placing him in his crib.

“Just for a little while sweetie, you can see mommy when you wake up, okay.” The boy sniffled but nodded. Emily kissed him on his forehead and made her way over to the door, she looked back at him and he stubbornly sat up in his bed, his little arms crossed in front of his chest. The brunette had a hard time closing the door on him but she knew that she had other matters she needed to take care off. She almost reluctantly made her way back to the master bedroom and sighed when she noticed that JJ still hadn’t moved from her spot on the floor in the bathroom.

Emily approached JJ; she leaned down and helped the blonde back up on her feet. The blonde broke down; Emily wrapped her arms around her and mumbled soothing words to her. “I’m sorry, Em. I am so sorry, please don’t leave.”

“I’m not leaving. But you got some explaining to do, I never figured you to be so insecure. I thought that I had been clear about my intentions.” The brunette said while she guided the younger woman back to the bed. She made sure that JJ was comfortable before she returned to the bathroom and cleaned up the paper towels that where on the floor and rinsed out the glass and the sink. She opened the window to make sure that the stale smell of vomit could leave the small room and returned to the bedroom. The second she set foot in the room JJ tried to get up, she rushed to her side and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Emily, I am sorry, so sorry.” The brunette smiled weakly and brushed her hand along JJ’s face.

“I know. It’s okay.” She replied softly, she stared straight ahead she didn’t want JJ to see the pain in her eyes.

“No it’s not. I hurt you.” JJ’s own tears had dried but the tear streaks where still visible on her face. For a split seconds Emily let her eyes glide towards her face and she noticed that JJ’s blue orbs where filled with the same pain and humiliation to boot. She wanted to turn away, she couldn’t look at her; she knew that she was not to blame for what happened but it was too difficult to look at JJ right now. The self-doubt was excruciating. But the media liaison was fast, she reached her hand out and stopped Emily from turning her head away. The brunette focussed on a point above JJ’s head, it was easier to compartmentalize when she focussed on a blank point instead of a face filled with emotion.

“Look at me.” The blonde begged.

“I am.” She replied softly.

“No, you’re not. Dammit Emily, look at me!” She sighed and changed her line of sight to the blonde’s face. “I am sorry, I was out of line, I should have never said the things I said to you because you are right, there is no reason for me to believe that you will walk out on me the first time something doesn’t go as planned. I never should have compared you to Will because you’re not like him.”

“No, I’m not…” Emily felt drained, so much had happened in a short amount of time.

JJ sighed; she wrapped her arm around Emily’s shoulders and eased them down on the bed. She spooned Emily and wrapped her arm around her, her face buried against Emily’s neck; “I am sorry. Will was an ass when I was sick during my pregnancy; he told me that he couldn’t deal with someone who was sick. When I heard that you gagged, I … I made my own conclusions and told you to leave out of self-preservation.”

Emily didn’t say anything, but she took a hold of JJ’s hand and held it close to her heart. She could understand JJ’s reasoning now, but every time she learned a new detail about Will she liked him less and less. If you loved someone wouldn’t you do anything for them? Wasn’t that what love meant?

“I don’t walk away just because you’re sick.”

“I know that … can we please call it a lapse of judgment.”

“Yeah, let’s call it that.” Emily replied softly, a relieved sigh sounded in her ear a smile appeared on her face. She pushed herself up on her elbow, JJ immediately wanted to pull her back down; “I’m not going anywhere, let me just get rid of my shoes.” The brunette explained with a chuckle; while she reached down to unzip the boots she was wearing. She carelessly dropped them next to the bed and reached back to pull the blanket over them while she eased back into JJ’s embrace.

They where both exhausted and it didn’t take long before sleep took over. It wasn’t until Henry crawled into the bed with them and snuggled against Emily that she woke up, only to find that they had all been asleep for two hours. She made a mental note of the fact that Henry once again had managed to climb over the railing of his crib. JJ stirred behind her and rolled onto her back. “You awake?” She mumbled softly while she covered her eyes with her arm.

“Yes, Henry climbed over the railing again.” Emily sighed while she tickled the small child who shrieked before he started giggling in that very infectious way only children can chuckle.

“I know, we should get him a real big boys bed soon.”

“Are you feeling any better?”

“Yes, I am feeling better.” The blonde lifted her arm a little bit, just enough so that she was able to look at the other woman who had turned towards her. She smirked when she noticed that her son had crawled on top of Emily looking back at her with a huge accomplished grin. “What do you think sweetie, should we get you a real big boy’s bed?”

“Yeah! I’m a big boy I’m three!” He answered happily while he held up four fingers. Emily and JJ laughed while the brunette corrected the number of fingers and Henry reached out his arm towards his mother for good measure to show her how old he was.

“Well yes, three fingers. You are a big boy.” JJ replied happily. Emily knew that she was faking it – it was what mother’s did.

“Is it okay if I take a quick shower? I’ll make something light to eat, we’ll see if you can handle it.” Emily asked JJ, pushing a strand of hair out of the blonde’s face.

“Yeah sure. How about we go downstairs to watch a movie, sweetie?” The blonde asked Henry. He jumped up and was already on his way out of the room when JJ called him back. “Henry, get back here. You know you can’t go downstairs alone.” Henry sulked and came back to the bed, leaning his arms on the bed and cradled his head in his hands while he watched JJ and Emily move through the room. The blonde pulled her robe on while the brunette grabbed a change of clothes and a towel.

“Jayje, you might want to call PG back before she comes knocking down the door. She was pretty pissed that I hadn’t informed her that you where sick.” Emily said before she closed the door to the bathroom behind her.

JJ picked up her phone and told Henry that she was ready to go. The little boy actually sighed in relief when he pushed himself off the bed. The blonde rolled her eyes while she unlocked the gate at the top of the stairs and patiently waited while Henry sat down at the top of the stairs and took the stairs one after another sliding down on his butt.

JJ prepared a sippy cup for Henry and placed the DVD in the player before she sat down and dialled Garcia’s speed dial number. The phone was picked up in a matter of seconds as if the technical analyst had been waiting for her call. “JJ! Thank God! I swear if you hadn’t called me I would have come over. I swear I told Em I would! I told her that she should tell you to call me as soon as possible …”

“PG!” JJ had tried to get a word in a couple of times but she couldn’t so she just sat by and waited for the rant to end. When Garcia finally stopped talking she attempted to explain why she hadn’t called sooner; “PG, I am sure that Emily would have told me to call you sooner …” But she wasn’t able to finish her sentence before the tech started rambling again.

“What do you mean would have called sooner, do you mean that Em didn’t tell you that I asked her specifically to tell my sweet boo to call me ASAP! I told her! I knew I should have come by, I should have just gotten into Esther and drive over there.”

“P! It’s not Emily’s fault. It’s mine …”

“Jayje, sweetie pie what’s the matter?” Henry was sitting on the couch completely engrossed in the movie that was playing on the screen. The blonde rubbed her forehead – a headache was throbbing behind her eyes – she got op and walked into the kitchen where she sat at the counter from where she could keep an eye on Henry.

“I said something stupid, Pen. Real stupid.”

“But you are alright aren’t you, and Emily is too, right Jayje?” Garcia was silent for a couple of seconds waiting to hear what JJ had to say but when she didn’t say anything she urged the blonde a little more; “Jayje, you two are alright, aren’t you?”

“Yes, yes we are … now.” JJ replied barely above a whisper.

“For God sake, Jayje could you be any more vague please!” The tech analyst exclaimed in a high-pitched voice.

“We are okay. I just made a really bad judgment call this morning. It was stupid, we talked about it. We are fine, but I can’t get the hurt look in her eyes out of my head.”

“Jayje, Emily loves you. I have never seen her the way she is with you. Don’t doubt her.” The tech analyst spoke seriously.

“I know, Pen! I just snapped at her and I was so out of line …”

“You want to tell me what happened?”

The blonde sighed – she rested her head in the palm of her hands, her fingers entangled in her long blonde tresses – she wasn’t sure where to start, so the beginning would be as good as anywhere; “I woke up this morning feeling really nauseous, so I got out of bed and went into the bathroom. Emily must have heard me because she was behind me within seconds – holding back my hair, giving me a wet towel and water. She was perfect. Will and I had agreed that I would pick Henry up early in the morning, Emily offered to do it for me even though the two of them don’t really see eye to eye. She also offered to take Henry with her to the store to give me some time to allow the medication to work and to get some more sleep. I was still exhausted. Like I said she was perfect.”

“Okay, so far so good. She’s an angel. I always knew that she was special, a real catch. I never understood why she was single.”

“P! Make me feel even worse, why don’t you?”

“Okay, sorry. Go ahead, because so far I have not heard anything horrible from your side.”

“Right, so Emily came back with Henry. I had just woken up and I was so happy to see him but the second I moved my stomach turned and I ran off to the bathroom again. Emily made sure that Henry stayed where he was before she came after me. The same thing as before happened, but Emily gagged and turned away from me. You know how I told you about his reaction.”

JJ said checking if Henry was still engrossed in his movie – Will and she had agreed to never bad mouth the other in front of Henry – before she continued; “How he told me to never bother him when I was struggling with my morning sickness or whenever Henry or I were sick. How he couldn’t handle sick people. At that moment when I heard Emily behind me saw her turn away I just flashed back to that moment. I promised myself to never allow someone to treat me like that and I snapped. I told her to go. Literally told her to leave me. I told her that she didn’t sign up for this.”

“Jay, what do you even mean by that, didn’t sign up for it? She’s being this awesome person and you tell her to go. Anyone would be hurt by that!”

“I don’t even know what I meant by it!” JJ looked down at her hand. “I guess that for a moment I just wasn’t thinking straight …”

“Honey, from where I am standing you haven’t been thinking straight for a while now.” The technical analyst chuckled loudly from the other side of the line.

Despite the way she was feeling she had to laugh at Garcia’s comment. “True. But P how can I fix this. I mean really fix it.”

“You just take care of yourself and let her take care of you and Henry, and when you’re better I will babysit Henry and you can show your lady some good lovin’ and I am sure that she will forgive you. Let’s be honest here. all you really have to do is look at her with those blue orbs of yours and she is putty in your hand.” Garcia babbled on, JJ was too emerged in the phone call to notice anything besides the patterns on the counter top blurred by the tears in her eyes and Garcia’s voice in her ear. That was until a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind, she could feel the brunette’s breath tickle her ear and waited for the words to come, breathlessly.

“You have nothing to fix, we’re fine.” The brunette said loud enough for JJ to hear but not for Garcia. JJ turned towards Emily and smiled weakly, the brunette wiped away a stray tear that ran down her cheek. She reached for the phone and took it from JJ; “PG? I don’t know what JJ told you but we are fine, more than fine. I will take care of her and you will see us on Monday at work all bright and shiny.”

“Em’ly you better make sure that’s right or you’ll have to deal with me!”

“Yeah, yeah. Talk to you later PG!”. Emily answered completely unimpressed with the Tech Analysts threat before she disconnected the call. “Jayje, don’t worry. Relax, watch the movie with Henry and I will make something to eat.”

JJ got up from the stool, she reached out her hand and touched Emily’s cheek lightly; “Why are you so perfect?”

“Ohhh, I’m not. But just for future reference remember this moment when I’m having one of my less than perfect moods.” The profiler answered with a chuckle. Before she turned to the counter and opened the fridge to see what she could prepare for a late lunch only to remember that she left the groceries in the hallway when she came home with Henry – who was eager to see his mom. She retrieved the groceries and started placing the items in the cabinets and fridge before she made a jelly sandwich for Henry – cut up in little squares and brought it to him in the living room. The little boy sat down on his knees in front of the table and dug into his sandwich.

Emily returned a couple of minutes later with two plates handing one to JJ before she sat down herself and started munching on the toast she made. The rest of the weekend was spent comfortable in their house. Either lounging on the couch watching a movie, or in bed. JJ was gradually feeling better, and by the time Sunday night came around she was determined to go to work come Monday morning.

Whatever it was that JJ suffered from, neither Emily nor Henry caught it. The weekend at home being pampered by Emily and Henry had done wonders. But by Garcia’s reaction upon the healthy return of JJ you would have thought that she had faced death on her weekend off. That was at least what the reaction of their whirlwind known as Penelope Garcia ran into the BAU bullpen and wrapped her arms around the frail blonde in a bone-crushing hug.

“So did Emily stay with you all weekend?” Morgan asked from his position perched on the edge of Reid’s desk – with a little bit more interest than he usually would have – with a smirk on his face.

“Yes, she did.” JJ smiled; “Emily refused to leave while I was sick, especially since I had Henry with me.”

“It’s not like I had anywhere else I needed to be.” The brunette answered with a shrug.

“Good thing you where available for all of JJ’s needs.” Morgan answered with an even bigger smirk.

It took a few minutes and a glare from Hotch to finally calm down all the commotion in their bullpen. Everyone returned to their desks and pulled the first file from their respective piles to start processing the paperwork.

Chapter 35

The BAU team had finally closed their latest case; the team took it hard – like they always did when a case involved missing kids. Four kids went missing in a matter of days, the families kept hope because they didn’t find any bodies. But when they finally found the unsub, they also found the lifeless bodies of three of the children. In finding the unsub and one of the children alive they counted themselves lucky, gruesome as that may sound.

They honestly didn’t expect to find any of them, for the most part of the week the unsub had been a complete ghost. He came in, snatched away the kids, and left no evidence to speak of. Thousands of people had joined up to volunteer in the search since the news about the missing children broke. Though it wasn’t people that found the Unsub, nor was it the BAU team – they where still trying to figure out where their Unsub was hiding out when a broken tail light in a simple traffic control revealed the Unsub’s true identity, he was caught red handed with one of the children in the back seat bound and gagged covered by a blanket.

While they didn’t find all the answers themselves, the team let out a sigh of relief when the news reached them. It was now to the counsellors to help the families of the murdered children to grieve and to help the ones that survived to move forward. The little girl that survived was left in the capable hands of the doctors at the hospital she was taken to and her parents. The unsub was in jail while the case against him was being built, and it was strong. He was not getting out for a long, long time if even at all.

However, the team was exhausted and they couldn’t have been happier to go back to their hotel rooms and grab their go bags. They where used to living out of their bags and most of their belongings never left their it hence they were packed quickly. Everyone had been eager to leave and Emily and JJ had been no exception. They wanted to go home and sleep in their own bed. Even though they had shared a hotel room on this case, it was always different than being home – they needed to be pro’s if they ever wanted to get a chance to stay together and keep their jobs.

JJ had been tired all week, feeling like she was running on fumes. She was simply exhausted by the time they started to pack their luggage and when they reached the airport she’d been half asleep in the back of one of the SUV’s. Emily had to nudge her gently before it even registered that they had arrived.

The two of them followed the others to the small aircraft and sat down next to each other. Soon the blonde was passed out against Emily’s shoulder. Reid, who noticed, smiled at the brunette and handed her a blanket, which she draped over JJ’s sleeping form with a thankful smile. The lanky doctor shrugged and smiled back before he sunk into a chair as well and averted his attention on the book he retrieved from his brown leather book bag, it took mere seconds before he was completely consumed by the words in front of him.

Derek returned from the kitchen area of the plane with a mug of coffee and sat down across from Reid with his signature headphones perched on his bald head, and soon his eyes were closed as well. No one knew if he actually slept or if he was just listening to the music, no one ever asked him either. Rossi and Hotch sat in the back of the plane silently discussing the case or something of that nature. Emily looked around the plane one last time making sure that no one was paying attention to them before she placed a kiss on JJ’s head and relaxed into her seat as well. She wrapped her arm around JJ’s body underneath the blanket, hidden for anyone with wandering eyes.

Once they set in for the landing usually everyone would wake up, but JJ didn’t wake up when the pilot warned them to fasten their seat belts – like she usually did – and when Emily finally managed to wake her up she was really out of it. At first the brunette figured that the blonde had just been in deep sleep when she woke up, but it didn’t get any better.

All of them where exhausted but no one seemed as affected by the case as much as JJ was. Emily flung her own bag over her shoulder and helped JJ up, Derek grabbed JJ’s bag and followed the two women out of the plane. Once they reached the parking lot Emily spoke up to the team before anyone else could make any suggestions; “I’ll take JJ home, I’ll stay at her house tonight to make sure that she’s okay. It’s not like we haven’t shared a room before.” The brunette replied with a smile. JJ just smiled weakly, she didn’t even try to object. The team nodded in agreement, all were of course thinking that JJ was single since Will and she broke up, except for Garcia none of them was any the wiser.

Soon the brunette was driving them home, with trouble she helped JJ up the stairs and into bed. She was worried about the blonde’s demeanour – it wasn’t like her at all. As soon as the blonde hit her bed she was out cold, Emily undressed her as much as she could without waking the blonde up again knowing that it wouldn’t make much of a difference anyway and placed the blankets on top of her.

The brunette decided to take care of their go bags and their laundry before she went to bed herself, at least that way she could keep an eye on JJ. She gathered their go bags from the car and brought them to the laundry room where she started to divide their laundry and turned on the washing machine before returning to the bedroom upstairs.

JJ was still sleeping and seemingly hadn’t moved and inch since Emily had left the room. Emily readied herself and crawled into bed next to JJ, she couldn’t help but notice the heat that radiated from the blonde’s body. JJ seemed to be resting comfortably however, so she let her sleep.

The next morning however, Emily woke up to the not so pleasant sound of JJ throwing up in the en-suite bathroom. It jump started Emily’s reaction, she was out of their bed in seconds and into the bathroom where she found the blonde next to the toilet. She responded quickly by holding her hair back and handing JJ a glass to rinse out her mouth. Emily placed her hand against the younger woman’s forehead. “You’re burning up, here brush your teeth and then it’s back to bed for you.” The brunette said in a gentle voice. JJ looked miserable enough and she wouldn’t be surprised if the other woman had a pounding headache.

JJ just nodded her head and started to brush her teeth after which she made her way back to the bed under the watchful eye of the profiler. The blonde mumbled something softly which Emily couldn’t hear because of the ruffling from the blankets she was placing on top of the blonde and the softness of her voice. “What did you say?”

“I need to get up soon.” The blonde mumbled.

“Honey, I’m not telling you what you can or can’t do, but I don’t think that you should get out of bed any time soon, you’re sick.”

“Will’s expecting me to pick Henry up soon.”

“Jayje, don’t you think that it’s better that Henry sees you when you’re feeling better?” Emily asked, it didn’t feel right telling JJ what she should or shouldn’t do in regards to her son, but she knew that she had to step in if she thought that it was in Henry’s best interest. She thought that it was what she needed to do if she wanted to be considered as a caregiver for Henry.

“No, I want to see Henry. After this case … I just need to.” For the first time since they took their seats on the plane JJ actually spoke up and for a moment her usual spark returned.

Emily considered her answer for a couple of seconds before she replied; “Okay, but then I’m going to pick him up and bring him home while you stay in bed.” Given the case that they had worked, she always knew that these type of cases where even harder on agents with children. But now that she lived with JJ and Henry she could now truly understand how important it was to come home and wrap your arms around your own child. She had always known that it was a given that Hotch and JJ wanted to go home to hug their sons as soon as they arrived, now that she was living with JJ and Henry she herself was actually feeling the same way.

“I can’t let you go, you and Will…”

“Jayje, Will and I have to manage we can be civil, it’ll be the first time since we got together that I’m picking Henry up on my own, but if we stay together – which is certainly what I’m planning on – I’m pretty sure that it won’t be the last time. We’re both adults and I’m sure that we won’t say or do anything to each other in front of Henry. I’m sure that we’ll be fine, don’t worry about it. And if he does get in my face I will just have to show him whose boss.” Emily rolled her eyes and grinned at the blonde with a twinkle in her eyes trying to lighten the mood; “When did you tell Will you’d be there?”

“Don’t mock me! I’m sick, worried and … Eleven this morning, he would have Henry ready for me to pick him up.” Emily checked the clock on the bedside table and nodded.

“Sorry sweetie, I won’t mock you again.” Emily said leaning down and kissing the top of JJ’s head. “I’m going to take a quick shower, do you want me to get you anything?”

“No … yes … sleep but you can’t get that for me.”

“Okay, then sleep.” Emily replied before she retreated to the bathroom. She didn’t take long, but by the time she returned to the bedroom JJ was fast asleep. Emily adjusted the blankets around her lover and went downstairs when she was dressed to make herself some breakfast. She still had some time left before she needed to pick Henry up and she decided to go check on JJ one last time.

With a steaming mug of tea in her hand she ascended the stairs to their bedroom. She placed a plate of crackers and tea on the bedside table and wrote a note to JJ telling her that she was on her way to pick Henry up and that she would also go to the store to get groceries and medication. And to call if there was anything she needed. She quietly left the house and locked the door behind her hopping that JJ would be okay for the time that she would be away.

Luckily it didn’t take her long to pick Henry up, Will didn’t like the fact that JJ was sick but insisted on seeing Henry. Emily had to explain to him the nature of their latest case so that he would understand why it was so important for the blonde to see her son. Given that he was a police officer he could understand how important it was for JJ to see her son. To make sure with her own eyes that he was safe and happy.

Facing the cruelty of mankind – especially directed at kids – would do that to an agent, they needed to hold their kids in their arms to really comprehend that they were safe. His own knowledge as a cop made Emily’s argument easier. Soon she was on her way to the pharmacy and the grocery store with Henry in his car seat.

The little boy was talking about his week with his dad; though his stories were at times hard to follow, nevertheless it was nice to hear him talk in an enthusiast tone of voice. She helped him out whenever he didn’t know how to say a certain word; sometimes figuring out what he wanted to say was more like a guessing have than anything else. “Where’s mommy?” Henry asked after a minute of silence. Emily’s stopped the car in front of a traffic light and turned slightly in her seat to give her answer to the little boy.

“Mommy’s feeling a bit sick. She wanted to come pick you up but she was really tired so I told her to sleep just like when you were sick a while ago, remember that?” She smiled at him when he nodded before she turned back to see the light turn green. “The two of us are going to the store and get some medicine for mommy to make her all better and then we go home. Does that sounds like a plan?”

“Yes. Good plan.” Henry answered with a determined nod of his head, which made the brunette smile because Henry was so much like his mother when he acted so overconfident, way too overconfident for a almost three year old boy.

Emily smiled while she averted her eyes from the rear view mirror. She pulled into the parking lot at the grocery store and retrieved the little boy from the back seat. She placed Henry in the kids seat on the cart and entered the store; she quickly gathered what they needed. It took Emily a while, especially because Henry kept asking for stuff and grasping at items whenever they were within reach. JJ had learned to deal with her son’s grabby hands but Emily was struggling, she was not that experienced with it and it took her longer to get the groceries and deal with Henry.

When she was collecting the last items on her list and turned back to the cart to place them inside, the small boy started to squeal ‘Unca Derek!’ loudly from his seat in the grocery cart. Emily’s head snapped up looking around to see if it really was Derek that Henry saw or just someone who looked like him. “Where is uncle Derek?” She asked the little boy. Who happily pointed his hand in the direction of the FBI agent who raised his hand and waved at them with a broad grin.

Emily spun around on her heels and looked guiltily up at Derek, both JJ and Emily knew that Henry might as well be the one who told their secret, especially with him getting more and more talkative by the day. “Hi Derek.” She said with a smile when he reached the two of them.

“Well well well, if it isn’t my lil’ man Henry and Emily.” Derek said with a smile while he raised his hand at the small boy; “High five!”

Henry slapped his small hand against the inside of Derek’s much larger hand and giggled loudly, it had been a thing between the two of them ever since Henry was old enough to kind of understand what was asked of him.

“Seeing you here with Henry and no JJ in sight means that she’s still not feeling well?” Derek asked while he picked Henry up into his strong arms.

Emily nodded; “Yes, she’s sick. Probably the flu or a stomach bug or something similar. Henry was with Will but after the case we had she insisted on seeing him, so I picked him up. That plus a nearly empty fridge sent me on my way.” Emily told Derek as a way of explaining what happened earlier in the morning.

Derek nodded; “You gonna stay with her all weekend?”

Emily occupied herself with pushing the cart towards the check-out counter before she answered; “Yeah, I think I will, it’s hard being sick and having a child to look after and doing it all on your own.” Her cheeks turned a deeper shade or red; but right now was not the time nor the place to come clean about their secret.

“It’s good to know that JJ has someone looking out for her now that it’s just her and my lil’ man Henry here.” Derek said with a smile.

“Oh, stop it any one of us would have done the same.” Emily declined the comment Derek made, knowing that it was true. The line of work had made them more than friends – they all found themselves in a way estranged or too far from their family and had taken each other on as a surrogate family – and they would do a lot more than regular colleagues would. They had to trust each other with their lives, which put them in a unique situation to begin with.

Derek shrugged; “True, but you didn’t hesitate you stepped right up to the plate and actually did it.”

Emily shrugged and didn’t say anything – what could she really say. That moment however, Henry choose to speak his mind; “Mama.” He said while he reached out towards Emily. The brunette snapped her head up at him in shock, which she quickly hid behind a blank facade – usually reserved for work – while she reached her hands out to take Henry from Derek. “Mommy’s home buddy, we’re going there soon, remember I told you she’s sick.”

“Mama.” Henry mumbled against Emily’s neck while he laid his head down on her shoulder, resting heavily against her chest.

The brunette placed her hand on his head and gently ruffled his hair; “He must be really tired.”

“He must be.” Derek said with a smile; “You know what, let me help you with this. Is there anything else you need?”

“No, I was just retrieving the last items when we ran into you.”

“Okay then, lets get out of here so you can get Henry to his mommy.”

“Thanks.” Emily replied with a thankful smile.

Emily led the way to her car in the parking lot with Derek next to her pushing the grocery cart forward. Emily unlocked the car and wanted to place Henry in his car seat when she remembered that she needed to pick up some medication for JJ at the pharmacy. “I need to get some medication for JJ at the pharmacy.”

“Okay, go take care of that and I’ll put the groceries in your car and bring the cart back and give you your keys at the pharmacy if you’re not back when I am done.” Derek offered with a genuine smile.

“Thank you.”

“Anything for my favourite people.” Emily smiled and turned on her heels, she quickly walked towards the pharmacy to buy the medicine JJ needed and to get back home.

Luckily it wasn’t busy and it was quickly her turn to pay and she was back on her way to the car when she saw Derek approach with a broad smile on his face. “I was actually kind of surprised to see your car here, I figured that you would have taken JJ’s car because of the car seat. Those car seats are not easy to install into another vehicle, I tried it once or twice.” Derek said, handing her the keys back.

“Oh .. yeah no, I was with JJ when we were called in on our last case so instead of driving separately, we used my car. Will promised to check out some issue JJ was having with her car for her while we were gone. So the car seat was still in my car.” Emily quickly explained, occupying herself with Henry – hoping that Derek wouldn’t see through her lies.

“Okay, well I better get going, I was going to do some work on one of the properties. See you on Monday, bye bye big man!” Derek said with a grin while he held his hand up once more for Henry to slap. “Tell Jayje to get well soon.” Emily smiled and thanked him once again before saying goodbye to him.

She quickly made her way back to her car and placed Henry in his car seat before she drove the two of them home. She checked her watched when she parked the car, noticing that she had been gone for almost two hours, she hoped that JJ had been alright on her own. She turned around in her seat and addressed the small boy; “Henry sweetie, mommy’s sick so we have to be really quiet when we go into the house, she might be sleeping. We can be really silent, right?” For good measure she raised her finger to her lips.

Henry mimicked her and nodded before he whispered back; “Silent.”

“Exactly, silent.” Emily whispered back before she got out of the car, she took Henry out too. “Stay with me, honey.” The brunette told JJ’s son before opening the trunk and retrieving the grocery bags from it, they made their way to the house.

She slipped the key into the lock and turned it, Henry ran inside towards the stairs where he waited impatiently for Emily to follow him, jumping from one foot to the other. JJ had taught him that he wasn’t allowed to climb the stairs on his own. The brunette placed the grocery bags on the floor and followed the impatient child up the stairs, keeping a close eye on his movements and helping him out when ever he needed a hand.

When they reach the top of the stairs Henry rushes off to the master bedroom tentatively reaching for the doorknob, which is just out of reach for him. The brunette smiled at him and opened the door, Henry pushes his little finger against his lips and raises his head to look up at Emily. “Go ahead.” The dark haired woman whispers to the young boy while she pushed the door open.

Chapter 33

It had been a couple of days since JJ and Emily arrived at JJ’s childhood home, and they were settling in perfectly. After the often high stress cases they worked the peace and quite of the small town came as a blessing, even JJ reluctantly admitted that living in a small town had it’s own charm. Though both just as easily agreed that city life had a lot more to offer.

Emily had made a joke about coming here once she retired, which in her case could be any day now if she cracked open that trust fund of hers. JJ had raised her brow but didn’t say anything. They never really discussed money; JJ knew that Emily was rich; that she might not even really need her job if push came to shove; yet they had never talked about it.

But now that JJ thought about it she wondered if Emily was just making fun about it or if it was the reality, could she really retire if she wanted too? And where would that leave her and Henry? Since JJ didn’t want to start this discussion around her parents, she decided to push it to the back of her mind, but she knew that if they got more serious they would have to discuss it.

Both of them were enjoying their free time together with Henry and JJ’s parents. JJ and Emily visited Pittsburgh one afternoon while JJ’s parents watched Henry. They had a lovely dinner together in one of the many fine establishments. However, since they only had a week off the end of their holiday was approaching fast.

One afternoon, Emily and Henry were playing in the backyard when JJ stepped outside holding two mugs full of steaming hot coffee. She sunk down in one of the chairs on the back porch and watched her girlfriend and her son play together.

She loved the carefree laugh that erupted from Emily’s throat – one that she didn’t hear all that often when they were working, not even when they were going out with Garcia. Sure the brunette laughed, but not the way she was laughing right now while playing with her son. The blonde praised herself lucky because she knew that many women who had children had trouble finding a new partner.

The brunette didn’t see that JJ came outside and sat down on the porch and the blonde didn’t make herself known. She just wanted to enjoy watching them together without her interrupting them. If she wanted them to live together as a family she knew that she needed to give Emily her alone time with Henry, just as much as she needed her alone time with her son – something which Emily seemed to notice often before JJ did, and Emily made sure that she had that time whenever she could. For now she would just enjoy watching them play together. It was awesome to see her girlfriend and son bonding the way they were. It made her feel even more secure about the future.

The screen door opened and Mary stepped outside; the older woman sat down next to her daughter and smiled while she watched her grandson and her daughter’s girlfriend. “She’s really good with him.”

“Yes, I know.” JJ replied with a proud smile, she reached down and picked up the coffee mug; “I brought it for Emily but I decided that I didn’t want to interrupt them, I’ll get her a new one when she’s done playing.”

“Thank you!” Mary smiled gratefully while she took the mug from her daughter. “How are things at work?”

“Good. You know, difficult cases but I like what I do.” JJ smiled – she knew that her mother didn’t understand the reason why she choose this job, nevertheless she knew that her parents were proud of her after all what she did made the world a little bit better – her eyes still fixed on Emily and Henry.

“What about your relationship with Emily. Do they know?”

“Garcia knows.”

“You know that’s not what I meant, Jennifer.” Mary smiled; “She’s your best friend and from what I heard, also Emily’s friend. I would have been surprised if you would have been able to keep this from her. Besides that, she told me she’s known as your teams’ personal oracle last time we visited you. The woman is very talkative and not at all shy, I would have been worried if Penelope hadn’t known about your relationship with your other best friend.”

JJ rolled her eyes; “You’re right, there is no way we would have gotten something like this past our local oracle, besides that Pen has been helping us out whenever we needed some alone time or when we wanted to go on a date. It’s been difficult asking Will to take Henry solely because I want to go out on a date with my girlfriend. He accepts it, but he’s not happy about it and he claims that he’s always suspected that Emily wanted something more.”

“Did she?”

“Yes.” The blonde answered in honesty.

“You knew her before you knew Will, why did your relationship change only recently?”

“I guess … no, I know that Emily never thought that I could love her in that way. She was the one who told me to go after Will in Miami when we worked his friends case, she specifically told me to go after him.” JJ smiled, knowing now what she’d missed all of those years, she almost wished that they had figured it out earlier, but she knew that there was no use living with ‘what if’s’ because they could never happen thus useless pondering about.

“Emily settled for being my friend and you have to believe me that she never tried anything. She’s an honourable person.” Mary nodded and smiled while she watched her daughter, a silence fell between them, a comfortable one, both nursing over their own thoughts as they sipped their coffee.

“Jennifer, if the two of you are happy, why did you not tell your friends? You always tell me that they’re your family away from home.” Mary sounded curious, not resentful. She knew that JJ loved her and her father but that she also needed her friends and that she found a wonderful surrogate family in her co-workers.

“We have been talking about it, since we work on the same team our relationship could potentially cause problems. It’s difficult, we have the same rank so that isn’t the problem per say. If either one of us had been a superior one of us would have certainly lost their job, definitively. Since we have the same rank we don’t know what might happen, especially due to the fact that our Section Chief is not a fan of our team. One, or maybe both of us might loose our jobs and we don’t want to force our team to lie for us so that we can keep our jobs. So for now we decided that we keep quiet and see where this leads and we will make a decision regarding our future together in a little while and act accordingly.”

JJ turned her attention back towards Emily who was still playing with Henry on the grass in the backyard. “I love her. I really do and she understands me. She knows that I’m an independent woman and she accepts that from me, so when we were talking about the future and our jobs, Emily told me that she would resign to make sure that I could keep my job. She knows that I want to earn my own money to take care of myself and Henry. I don’t want to lean on her or trust that she’ll pay for our expenses. Will never got that, it bothered me that he would continue asking me to quite my job.

The way that he assumed that I would become a stay at home mom and even after he claimed that the stress at work induced my labour, he used that as a reason of why I should be at home with Henry. Emily isn’t like that, she either knows what I want or she listens to me. Because there is only one me, while there are five profilers. And as much as I love her for being that selfless I can’t let her do it, she fought to get that job, really fought. She has risked so much to keep it. I can’t take it away from her.” JJ bit her lip while she thought about what she had just confessed to her mother. She really did love Emily and she didn’t doubt that they had a future together.

Mary watched her daughter intently; she wondered if she should ask what JJ meant by Emily having to fight to keep her job. The choice was made easy for her, when Emily – with Henry in tow – approached them on the back porch. A little out of breath, her hair in a messy ponytail and her jeans were actually covered in grass stains. JJ smiled at Emily’s appearance, she had never seen the older woman looking quite like this.

Emily stepped up onto the porch; “Hey, I didn’t notice you come outside.” The brunette said a little out of breath, before she leaned down and kissed JJ who eagerly kissed her back.

“I’ve been here for a while, I watched you and Henry play, it was cute. I didn’t want to interrupt you. Oh, by the way I had some coffee for you but since you were playing and my mom came out I gave it to her. Sit down. I’m going to get you some now.”

Emily stopped JJ from getting up; “Sweetie, I’ll get the coffee. Do either of you want a refill?” JJ certainly didn’t get her love for coffee from a stranger, both Jareau women held up their empty mugs for Emily to take. The brunette quickly disappeared into the kitchen to return minutes later before she sat down in one of the empty chairs.

A day later Emily was organizing their bags in the back of her car while JJ was inside the house talking to her parents, promising them that they would visit them more often than she had in the past and extending an invitation to visit them in Washington DC soon.

Emily had really enjoyed her stay at the Jareau home and she had felt extremely welcome. Mary and William Jareau took her into their family without doubting their daughter’s sudden change of heart when it came to who she loved. The brunette felt more at home with JJ’s parents than she ever felt with her own parents, it was strange the way some things seemed to work out.

Emily made her way from the car to he house and stepped inside the hallway where JJ just took Henry from her mother’s arms. Emily halted by the door, though not for long; “Emily, honey come here.” Mary Jareau said before she enveloped the brunette in her loving arms. “I trust you to take good care off my daughter and grandson. And we’ll see you soon, or so my daughter promises me.” Mary said with a mock glare directed at her adult daughter who always promised to come by more often but with her busy work schedule never quite seemed to make it.

“Mom, I can take perfectly good care of myself, thank you very much.” JJ replied a little embarrassed by her mothers comment while her cheeks coloured a deeper shade of pink.

“Yes, I know you can and I am sure that Emily knows that too, but if you two are together, taking care of you and Henry becomes one of her tasks. Just like I am asking you to take care of Emily, honey.” Mary answered with a smile; “You’re a family now and it’s important that you both see it that way, especially since my grandson is involved.”

“Mom! We know that. You have seen it with your own eyes, Emily is really good with him.” JJ exclaimed; “She loves him, there’s nothing she wouldn’t do for him. What more can I ask for?”

“It’s just a reminder for the both of you because I know that Emily doesn’t want to take Will’s place, but no matter how you turn it if you two are moving in or at least spending time at your place Jennifer, Henry is bound to see Emily more than Will. So she becomes a part of his family. That is unavoidable. I am just reminding the both of you that you are a family and that you should act as one.” Mary smiled – little bit of mother’s advice had never hurt anyone before.

Emily’s skin tone matched JJ’s before she spoke up, tears glistened in her eyes; “Thank you for the trust you put in me and I promise that I will take good care of your daughter and grandson.” Emily stepped forward and hugged the older woman while a tear of relief rolled down her cheek.

She felt loved and accepted by people who she didn’t even know a mere week ago. JJ’s father was next in line for a hug, his large calloused hand stroked up and down Emily’s back in a caring gesture before they released their hold on each other. Emily stepped back and smiled, quickly wiping away another stray tear before she offered to take Henry from JJ. The blonde took her turn to hug her parents and thank them for the wonderful week they had before they headed out to the car. At the end of the driveway they waved at JJ’s parents and their drive home started.

JJ and Will had agreed beforehand that JJ and Emily would drop Henry off at his apartment once they arrived back in Washington. JJ had all too happily agreed to that – she was glad that Will and she were able to talk about Henry in a civil way and that neither one of them felt the need to keep the other away from the small child, she hoped that their relationship would always stay that way – so once the city skyline came in sight in the early afternoon she turned towards the back seat and smiled at a still sleeping Henry.

“He’s still out for the count. Well at least he’ll be awake when we drop him off at Will’s. It would have been a shame if he slept all afternoon when he’s there.” JJ spoke softly before she turned back to the front seat and smiled at Emily. “It’ll be weird not having him around for the next three days when we spend almost a full week with him.” She mumbled softly.

“I suppose. I think that I’ll be able to come up with a thing or two to keep your mind off it.” Emily smiled while she wiggled her brows in a teasing manner.

“I’m sure that you can, Prentiss!” JJ replied with a chuckle.

“Oh, don’t act like you don’t like what I am talking about Jayje! No offence but after spending a couple of days in your parents house, in your childhood bedroom I think that it is safe to assume that you just like me might have ehm … certain needs that need to be taken care off.” The brunette said stopping mid-sentence to check the rear-view mirror before continuing.

“You bet I do.” The blond answered turning slightly pink at her admission before she turned to gaze outside the window while increasingly familiar looking streets flowed by. Emily parked the car when they finally reached Will’s neighbourhood and waited till JJ returned.

Her fingers where impatiently drumming on the steering wheel to the beat of the song she was softly singing. It took maybe five minutes for JJ to return but Emily’s impatience was growing by the second, she wanted to go home, the long drive had taken its toll on her. She was ready to go home and drop down on the couch, call a restaurant for a food delivery and relax, preferably with JJ in her arms. The brunette was lost in thought and she didn’t see JJ approach the car, she jumped a little when the door opened and the blonde sunk down into the car seat next to Emily.

“He’ll bring Henry back on Sunday night, around seven.” JJ said while she fastened her seatbelt. “How about we call Pen and see if she would like to get some dinner with us? I want to thank her for all her help these past months.”

“I like the plan but I would really like to spend the evening with you, just the two of us, can we please do that?” Emily said with a smile. “I know that Pen deserves a thank you, a really big one at that. Without her it would have been nearly impossible to have a regular date and she saved us quite a couple of times from revealing our secret.” Emily said with a grin.

“What do you want to do tonight?”

“Order some food and settle down on the couch, watch a movie. Go to bed early…” Emily said clearly stating the meaning behind her words with a wiggle of her brows.

“I think I like your idea.” JJ agreed with her lover.

Chapter 31

Hair was blown into Emily’s face as she got out of the car, and no sooner had she lifted her hand to push the brown locks aside, she noticed that the front door of the house had opened. An older version of JJ stood on the porch, to who she smiled and raised a hand in an odd wave-like gesture before turning toward JJ.

The blonde had retrieved Henry from his car seat and set him down on the dusty ground. The small boy ran as quickly as he possibly could on his small wobbly legs towards his grandmother, who kneeled down and gathered him in her loving arms.

JJ quickly followed Henry and soon found herself wrapped in her mother’s arms; “Jenny, it’s been way too long again, look at Henry! He’s grown so much!” Her mother’s voice raised in complete awe at the little boy’s changes since the last time she saw him.

“I know, mom. He’s growing up way too fast.” The blonde smiled happily, her mother released her hold on her and stepped backwards. She gave her daughter the once over. JJ looked happier than she could remember seeing her daughter in a while, usually she only saw that kind of happiness when the blonde was talking about her son. But lately she had been hearing the happiness over her voice while they were on the phone or on the computer whenever they skype’d.

“Mom, this is Emily Prentiss?” JJ said while she turned towards the brunette who stood leaning against her car watching the scene in front of her unfold in front of her through her dark sunglasses. The elderly woman made her way towards the brunette, and Emily Prentiss who had been raised with all the right etiquette from a young age, immediately pushed herself off the car and lifted her sunglasses up into her dark hair. She held her hand out to shake the older woman’s hand; “Mrs. Jareau, it is so good to meet you.” She said sincerely.

However the elderly woman was having none of it. She handed Henry back to his mother and pulled Emily into a slightly awkward hug; “Thank you for being such a good friend for my daughter when she needed someone.”

“She’d do the same thing for me, Mrs. Jareau.” Emily answered with a shrug.

“Now, now … stop calling me Mrs. Jareau. Call me Mary instead, I insist.” The elderly Jareau woman replied with a smile. The older woman and her daughter had a lot of similar traits and the brunette took an instant liking to the older woman and the feeling seemed to be mutual. She just hoped that JJ’s parents would still like her when JJ broke their news to them. “Let’s go inside for a nice cup of steaming hot coffee and baked goods, just the way you like them.” The older woman smiled at her daughter; “You’re father should be home soon, darling.”

“Just go inside with your mother, I’ll retrieve our bags from the car and bring them inside.” Emily said before she turned back around to the car and popped the trunk.

“Emily, leave them till later.” The blonde knew that Emily was stalling. She understood that it couldn’t be easy to meet the parents, especially if you were raised by her parents, judgemental know-it-all’s who couldn’t stop proclaiming their own ideas as the only possible truth. It wasn’t that hard to imagine what the brunette was fearing right now. “Everything is fine, trust me.” JJ talked softly while she pushed the button to close the trunk. “Just breathe and follow me.”

Normally, the situation would have been amusing, but not today. She swallowed hard, breathed in and followed the blonde into the house. Like any other house she entered, the profiler scanned the rooms she was led through, taking in every detail. A regular person wouldn’t notice it because she wasn’t too obvious about it, but JJ knew that she did it. After all she had seen her do it a thousand times before and to be honest, she herself would probably do the same.

She guided Emily down to the living room and gestured to the couch, Emily sank down, sitting a little straighter than usual, but that was also something that other people wouldn’t notice. Nevertheless, JJ saw it and she put Henry down on the floor to explore the room.

Mary Jareau had disappeared into the kitchen while the two women settled on the couch side by side. “Where’s your father?” The brunette asked the blonde.

“Mom said he’ll be home soon. He’s probably somewhere out back but I’m pretty sure that mom already called him to tell him we’ve arrived.” JJ smiled, briefly turning her head towards Emily before she refocussed on Henry; “He’ll be here soon.”

“Knowing my daughter I take it that you too love a good cup of coffee, Emily?”

“Yes, Mrs. Jareau.” The brunette replied politely; “In our line of work you need coffee to keep going most of the days, so on our odd day off we’ll crave it.”

“It’s Mary, Emily.” The older Jareau woman insisted with a smile, while she placed a tray with steaming hot mugs of coffee on the table along with pieces of pie, home baked pie which smelled deliciously.

“That looks and smells absolutely delicious, Mrs… Mary.” Emily said, changing her tune half-way through the sentence when she once again wanted to address JJ’s mother in a proper way, the way she had learned to respect older people from and early age on. But it helped that Mary stared at her when she didn’t say her name and didn’t stop staring till the brunette pronounced her name. The woman erupted in a bright smile and picked the tray up to bring it back to the kitchen.

As soon as she left the table, Henry took his chance and made a run for it. Before anyone could react to his actions he was already swinging his hand towards the pie and mugs on the table. However before he had a chance to grab anything and potentially burn himself, JJ grabbed his hand and picked him up.

“Henry, do not take anything off the table without asking me, you know the rules.” The blonde spoke sternly to her son while she reprimanded him. The small boy put out his bottom lip in a nearly perfect pout while he looked up at her with his big blue eyes. “Do not use that face on me, I invented that face!” JJ mocked the small child with a chuckle, soon Henry and Emily were chuckling along with her.

“Serves you right, honey.” Mary replied while she sat down in one of the recliners; “That’s what you get for using that face on your father and I countless of times when you were growing up. You had that face perfected at a young age but Henry, he beat you.”

The front door opened and JJ’s father stepped into the hallway greeted by the laughter of all three women. “Jenny, welcome home sweetie!”

“Daddy!” JJ said while she quickly got up and soon found herself wrapped in the warm and loving embrace of her father. The love between the two of them was obvious. Henry found himself squished between his mother and grandfather but he didn’t mind, he embraced both of them as best as he could with his small arms. JJ let go of her son while she stepped back allowing her father to spend some time with his grandson. “Hi Henry, how have you been?”

“Good!” The small child exclaimed loudly, clasping his arms around his grandfather’s neck. The older man hugged the small child before his eyes seeked out his daughters friend.

“You must be Emily.” He said with a welcoming smile while he held his hand out.

“Yes, Emily Prentiss. It’s good to meet you, sir.” The brunette said while she stood and took his hand to shake.

“Nice to meet you too, Emily. Please call me William.” His smile was genuine – Emily only hoped that it would stay that way. William Jareau sat down in a chair next to his wife across from Emily and JJ with Henry in his lap. The small child settled down easily when his grandfather shared his piece of pie with him. They talked for a while about little un-important things while they shared their coffees and pie.

“Hey sweetie, how about we get the bag with your toys out of my car. Would you like that?” Emily said while she looked down at the small child seated on her lap. He nodded his head with his thumb in his mouth and squealed a happy laugh when the dark haired woman picked him up and excused herself to the other adults before she left the room to retrieve the bag with Henry in her arms. Henry waved happily at his mother and grandparents over Emily’s shoulder when they rounded the corner.

When JJ turned back towards her mother she couldn’t help but notice her mother’s cocked brow and without saying she knew what she wanted to ask. “We’ll talk tonight when Henry’s in bed.” She promised her mother, while her father looked up questioningly.

Soon Emily returned with Henry, who was after her while she carried the bag that contained his toys and his diaper bag; “I figured you might need this one as well.” She said with a loving smile directed towards the blonde before she sat down next to her and handed Henry some of his trucks.

After a while JJ’s mother got up; “I’ll better get started on dinner.”

“Mary, is there something I can do to help?”

“You’re a sweetheart, but that is not necessary.”

Emily smiled; “I would love to help, I really enjoy cooking and JJ told me you do as well.”

“Well, okay then I guess that we can give these two some time to catch up.” Mary said with a smile while Emily followed her, they both retreated to the kitchen.

After dinner – when JJ put Henry to bed in her old room – they all sat down in the living room. JJ was nervous and she knew that Emily was doing no better, so she decided that she was just going to bite the bullet. She knew that her mother was already convinced that something was going on, and there was no use in worrying the older woman any more than necessary. She had seen her mother eying her more than once over the last couple of hours. “Mom, dad, I told you that I broke up with Will, and that I met someone new.”

“Yes, honey why? Is something wrong? Did something happen to you or Henry?” Her father asked worriedly. “Last time you gave us a phone call to tell us that you were pregnant and in a relationship and now you drove all the way here?”

“Honey, that sounds so serious. What’s going on?” Her mother asked almost simultaneously.

“No, mom, dad, nothing is wrong. Don’t worry everything is exactly the way I want it to be. Emily and I … we’ve been together for a while now.” JJ took Emily’s hand in hers and smiled lovingly at the brunette; “I’ve never felt this way before, not with anyone. Not even with Will. I know that it’s sudden and that it may come as a surprise, but I hope that you can accept this.”

“Sweetheart, when did this happen?” Mary asked her daughter softly while she observed them.

“A few months ago.” JJ made a point of looking straight at her parents while she spoke; “Emily and I have been friends for years as you know. But recently, I realized that I felt something deeper for her, everything started to change. I made sure that I dealt with Will before I tried to figure out what it was that I was feeling.”

“Does this mean that you never loved Will?” William asked his daughter, he had a straight face not showing what he was feeling at all when he looked straight at JJ.

“I loved him, but not the way I should have loved him, which is why I never agreed to marry him. It felt like love but not like the mind blowing kind of love that will last for the rest of my life. You know that he repeatedly asked me to marry him before and after Henry was born. And I declined each and every time, and it didn’t make things easier.” JJ sighed; “But we kept going nevertheless, struggling on. It didn’t feel right and it wouldn’t have been fair to him to marry him.”

JJ’s father nodded before he stood up; “I need to think about this.” He turned and disappeared into the kitchen, seconds after he left they could hear the screen door slam.

It was no flat out rejection, but it hurt nevertheless. Emily hadn’t said a word but she saw the blonde’s usual confidence crumble in front of her. She wrapped her arms around the younger woman and held her close. Her mother watched the two of them intentely. Her daughter sobbing in the arms of her new lover – a woman – something she had never expected her daughter to find.

Love in another woman, it was sudden but somehow she had expected it when she watched the two of them interact. The glances – when they thought no one watched them. And the way Emily had stuttered when she’d asked her if she had a family of her own – the way she’d turned bright red and stared toward the living room where JJ was talking to her father before she asked a completely ridiculous question about the food that they were preparing. One she was sure Emily knew the answer to before she asked it.

Emily’s eyes crossed with Mary’s, the older woman got up and for a moment the brunette was afraid that she would walk out of the room after her husband. The older Jareau woman sank down on the other side of Jennifer and wrapped her arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “Honey, don’t worry about your dad. You know him, he needs some time to process all of this. He .. we just want you to be happy and it doesn’t matter with who, as long as they treat you right.” The older woman smiled at the brunette; “We aren’t homophobic, you know that. You just have to understand that it is quite an adjustment. You’ve never shown any interest in women, and after thirty two years you come home with a – if I may say so lovely – woman.”

“Do you really think that daddy will be fine with it?” The blonde sounded almost child-like while she spoke, as if she was really scared out of her mind that she had caused her father to love her any less.

“Honey, you may be a gun carrying FBI agent who can silence a room filled with reporters in an instance and who has a child herself. You’ll always be your father’s little girl.” JJ’s mother lifted her chin making eye contact with her daughter; “He knows it’s a cruel world out there and he’s just worried for you, and he needs to process what you told him in his own way before he reaches out to you. Which I am sure he will.”

“What if…”

“Honey, no what if’s … he will.” JJ’s mother said almost sternly.

Emily got up; “Let me go talk to your father.” She quickly turned on her heels and left the room before either woman could say something to her.

She pushed the screen door open and allowed her eyes to adjust to the darkness outside. Once she was able to see past the veranda into the garden, she could see William Jareau sitting in a chair staring into the darkness. “Sir, can I talk to you?” Emily asked politely.

He looked up at her, he seemed surprised but gestured to the chair next to him before he looked straight ahead into the darkness. Emily sank down into the chair. “Sir, I know that this is sudden but I want you to know that I have loved your daughter for years. And I…”

“What do you mean, years?”

“Ever since I started working with the BAU.” Emily admitted for the first time to someone who wasn’t JJ or Garcia. They sat in silence for a while, Emily contemplated her next move carefully before she spoke up. “My parents, we never had a good relationship. My mom is an Ambassador, she was always busy with her job and keeping everyone happy in whichever country she was working. Everything always revolved around my mother’s work. My father was hardly ever around and if he was he and my mom fought about his infidelity.”

“Why are you telling me all of this?” William Jareau asked while he looked at the woman besides him.

“Because I know how much you love your daughter and I know how much she loves you. I would hate it if me loving her would cause a rift between you and JJ. She doesn’t deserve that, and neither do you or Mary. You’re not like my parents, not by a long shot. My mother has known for years that I’m gay, still she denies it and every time we do meet she asks me if I finally found Mr. Right. And whenever she has a chance she will try to set me up with a friend of the family, a son of an Ambassador or a divorced man or a widower. She won’t stop and while I’m used to being ignored by my mother, it hurts each and every time.”

“Emily, this will not cause a rift between me and my daughter. I love her, nothing she does can ever change that. Nothing.” He sighed; “I just know how difficult it can be, to be … different, not everyone will accept you as a couple. There are so many things that will make life difficult for JJ, Henry and for you. Don’t worry, I am not out here because I’m ignoring Jenny. It’s quite a lot to take in, especially if there have never been any signs before.”

Emily nodded in silence.

“Let’s go inside.” The older man said while he got up and waited for Emily to follow him. As soon as they entered the living room JJ stood up and closed the distance between them.

“Dad, I’m sorry for …”

“Stop, sweetie. You have nothing to be sorry for.” JJ sighed in relief and fell into her father’s arms.

Chapter 30

Though JJ had said that she would drop Emily off at her apartment that wasn’t what she had planned at all. She knew that Emily would go home with her, just like every other day lately. In fact, they’d spend hardly any time apart and the blonde treasured each and every moment they did.

While driving them home, Henry safely asleep in his car seat and Emily silently sitting next to her, the blonde started to get worried. Emily was silently staring outside the window; she had hardly spoken all evening. JJ watched her, trying to gage the situation, something didn’t feel right but she couldn’t put her finger on what the cause could be.

Maybe the older woman was just tired, or maybe the case had hit her harder than expected, though at first sight JJ could see no connection to Emily as to why it might have been hard on her. It wasn’t like it had involved kids, which always hit them harder than any other cases.

“Em?” The blonde spoke softly as not to disturb her sleeping son in the back seat. “You okay?”

“Hmm … Yeah, fine?” The brunette answered before she re-focussed her eyes on the street outside.

JJ raised her brow at the non-conclusive answer she received from her partner. It worried her even more if she was quite honest, but she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. Now was not the time to figure out what was bothering Emily. First she had to get them home and get Henry to bed.

JJ flipped the light switch and closed the door to her son’s room behind her and quickly made her way towards her own room and the en-suite bathroom. A quick shower gave her some more time to think and allowed her to wind down a little, but Emily’s behaviour was still worrying her a little. The blonde dried her hair and brushed her teeth before she returned to her bedroom. The brunette was already in bed, leaning against the head board with a book placed against her knees.

The blonde sat down on the mattress, which dipped underneath her weight and Emily looked up and smiled sadly before she re-focussed her attention to the book. To be honest, the media liaison doubted that her partner was actually reading. Her eyes were staring straight at the page without changing focus. She reached out and grabbed the book between her fingers; closed it and placed it on the night stand. She turned towards Emily and kissed her gently. “Can we talk?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Will you tell me what’s been bothering you?” She wasn’t going to beat around the bush, she went straight for it.

“Why are you asking? I’m fine. I told you already.”

JJ tried to control the urge of rolling her eyes, sometimes she really wondered who the profiler of the two was. She sighed; “Emily, you have hardly spoken since we left Quantico and you seem distracted.”

Now it was Emily’s turn to wonder who the profiler was, she rolled her eyes before commenting; “Jayje, it’s nothing.”

“Well if it’s nothing then why are you acting this way? It’s obviously something that’s bothering you.” The blonde reasoned; “It can’t have been the case we worked because as horrible as it was for us it was just routine. Besides that, you seemed fine on the flight home. So what gives?” The determined look on JJ’s face made it clear that she was not joking around and that she demanded an answer, the real answer.

“It’s stupid…” The brunette mumbled. “Probably even childish. I would prefer it if we could just stop talking about it.”

“C’mon Em, if it got you this upset it can’t really be that stupid. Besides, you’ve seen me at my most vulnerable, maybe now it’s your turn to show me all of your stupid childish worries?” She smiled and leaned forward, once again kissing the brunette.

Emily had an increasingly hard time to compartmentalize when she was around the blonde. It was as if the young woman could see straight through her no matter how hard she tried to hide her true feelings and deepest fears. She no longer possessed the ability to keep them hidden from JJ, and that resulted in a rant.

Emily blushed a dark shade of red, she closed her eyes and lowered her head; “It’s stupid … but I don’t know how I’ll get through a whole week alone … I mean since we got together, we’ve spend so much time together that I think I’ll go stir crazy if I’m at my apart…” JJ pressed her lips against Emily, finally stopping the words that were spilling from the brunette’s mouth.

“Stop talking.” JJ demanded; “and listen to me. Who said anything about being alone? I actually hoped that you would join me on my trip to East Alleghany. It’s a 200 mile drive and you know I love Henry but I don’t think he’s able to hold a conversation for a few hours, and a long drive like that could become quite boring easily.”

She shrugged lightly with a smile on her face. “I couldn’t really tell the others that I was going to ask my girlfriend to join me on a trip to my parents’, because she’s become such an important part of my life that I want her to meet them. And I know that it might be early in our relationship but it feels right. Besides, who knows when I’ll have time to visit my folks again?”

Emily’s mouth was agape; she was just staring at JJ. “You ehm… want me to go with you … meet your parents? Jayje, maybe you should ehm… take Henry to your parents spend some time with him.” She tried to decline JJ’s offer, nerves grew within her and she was having a hard time processing her thoughts and forming words.

“Did you not hear what I was just saying?” The blonde smiled, she wasn’t teasing Emily, she did find it kind of funny that a woman as well spoken and travelled as Emily Prentiss was afraid of meeting her small town, loving and caring parents who didn’t care for politics or labels. “I was talking out loud, right?”

The blond feigned confusion while she watched the brunette, thinking of a way to make clear to Emily how serious she was about this; “I really want you to meet my parents, they are sweet and kind. They will love you, I’m sure they will. Please come with me, it’s only a four hour drive; if things get awkward we’ll be home soon enough. Though I really doubt it’ll be necessary.”

“But they don’t know about me, Jen!” The brunette exclaimed.

“My mom knows I’m dating someone, she knows I’m happy.” The younger woman squelched. “Happier than I have been in a very long time.”

“But they don’t know it’s me?”

“Well, no.” The blonde bit her lip; “Em, they want me to be happy, they don’t care who I’m happy with. You have nothing to worry about they will love you!” JJ moved closer to her partner and leaned in; “Honey, please come with me, you’ll see everything will be fine.”

“As if meeting parents for the first time isn’t bad enough already, you want me to come with you and drop the bomb of our relationship on them while we are standing on their porch? Really Jen, does that make any sense to you?” The profiler reasoned with her girlfriend.

“Yes, I want to do this face to face so that I can show them how happy we are together, and Emily, this really is not something I want to tell over the phone.”

The profiler sighed. “Okay.”

“Please Emily? I really want you to come with Henry and me to East Alleghany.” The blonde was almost begging her girlfriend now.

“I said okay, didn’t I?” Emily gave in easily; she knew that she would eventually anyway; who could deny JJ anything when she used those blue orbs on them.

The next day, JJ took care of the arrangements with her parents and Will, he didn’t like it one bit that he had to give up his weekend with Henry. But having lived with JJ for almost three years he knew how demanding her job was and how rare it was for the whole team to have a complete week off, so he didn’t really give JJ a hard time, thankfully.

Emily had gone home to her apartment, which she didn’t really consider as her home anymore, to pick up some things she needed for a week away. When she returned she found JJ packing the last of Henry’s toys into a bag, when she sneaked up on her and wrapped her arms around her.

The blonde startled while Henry squealed when Emily came into view. He dropped his toys and rushed to his mother and Emily, when he reached them he wrapped his small arms around one of JJ’s and one of Emily’s legs in an awkward hug. Emily bent down and picked the squealing kid up and hugged him tightly. “I’m ready. Hey, I was wondering, can we take my car?”

“Why? Because it’s a sleek and sexy Jag instead of a boring family car and it’s a four hour drive?” JJ replied with a smile.

“Well, yeah, there is that. But it’s also a very comfy car with nice leather seats and all the latest technology to make it an easier four hour drive.”

“Okay, if you don’t mind Henry’s car seat on that smooth leather seat for all that time we can take your car. I’m not that attached to mine.” A grin crossed JJ’s features as she picked up the bag and carried it down.

Within an hour they where ready to go, Emily backed the car out of the driveway while JJ called her mother to let her know that they were on their way to East Alleghany. JJ had installed the DVD player in Emily’s car for Henry to watch, and while he was engrossed in his cartoons the adults talked.

They were well on their way when JJ turned towards Emily, she glanced over her shoulder and noticed that Henry was asleep and didn’t look like he would wake up any time soon. “Emily, there is something I should tell you.” Instinctively her fingers touched her necklace tracing over the delicate gold curves she had memorized years ago.

“That sounds serious.” The brunette remarked while she kept her eyes focussed on the road ahead.

“It’s not, well it is but it’s just a little family history.” She bit her lip figuring out where to start; “You know that I have no siblings, right? Or that’s the official version, I guess.” Emily nodded, snapping her head in JJ’s direction at the second part of the sentence.

“So what’s the unofficial version?” She asked quickly while she changed lanes.

“I have a sister, had a sister. Amelia, she hated her name, we always called her Amy or AJ.” JJ smiled; “She’s the one who dubbed me JJ, she was six years older, I always looked up to her. She … ehm … when I was eleven she committed suicide. She’s the one who gave me this pendant; I always liked it and wanted to have it. When she gave it to me I was overjoyed. She killed herself soon after she gave it to me, I didn’t understand it, I begged and prayed that I would give it back if I could just have my sister back. I didn’t understand back then that she gave me the pendant as a way of saying goodbye to me, I was only eleven.

My parents were broken, I guess they never really recovered from it, and no matter how many times I go over those memories I can’t find a reason or clues as to what caused her depression. She seemed happy, so no one saw it coming. I wanted to warn you because my parents have all of these mementos around the house, pictures and trophy’s she won with soccer. And her old room, it’s still there… I don’t know if anyone ever goes in there, but it’s like a time capsule, it’s the same way it was all those years ago. It’s best you know this before we enter the house.”

Emily had been listening intently to the blonde’s words, by the time JJ finished she had parked the car but the younger woman hadn’t noticed. She actually jumped when Emily moved closer to her and wrapped her arms around her as best as she could. The FBI Agent calmed down considerably, it wasn’t that she kept her past a secret; it was just that people never asked her if she had any siblings, they just assumed she didn’t.

Somewhere in the midst of it all, Henry woke up from is slumber and squealed at the top of his voice when he saw a giant advertisement for ice cream outside. With his arm outstretched towards the giant ice cream cone he yelled ‘Me wants ice cream!’.

“The kid has a point, how about we get something to eat and ice cream before we drive any further. We passed the halfway mark, but we still have some miles to drive before we reach East Allegheny.” JJ nodded while she wiped her damp eyes with her sleeve. Emily occupied herself with Henry to allow JJ to compose herself a little more before she had to face her young son who wouldn’t understand why his mother was crying.

It was a good two hours later when Emily rounded the last corner and drove through the gate of the house that Jennifer Jareau grew up in. A small but homely looking farm, the complete opposite of any house Emily ever grew up in.

Soon, she had the car parked besides an older model SUV, she cut the engine and inhaled a large gulp of air. JJ reached her hand out and grasped the brunette’s hand in hers; “It’ll be okay, you’ll see. Trust me.”