Well I'm back! I have honestly been crazy busy and my free time has mostly been spent sleeping, but I hope everyone will stick with me anyways! I've had the idea for this story for a while but after the last one I honestly wasn't sure if I was going to do this one now or not, BUT this story is kind of necessary for my next couple stories to go the way I have them planned in my head (yes I have several more stories thought out). So I hope you like this one!
Thanks for reading! -J
Chapter 1
"Mom have you seen my scarf?" Alex called from the top of the stairs on a cold Saturday morning.
"I hung it up with your coat," Emily replied from the kitchen where she was currently making pancakes.
"Oh thanks," Alex said, coming down the stairs and kissing the older brunette on the cheek.
"Well I thought that was a better place for it than the floor," Emily teased, raising an eyebrow as the teen grinned.
"Oh I must have dropped it," Alex laughed, knowing she had definitely thrown all of her things on the floor when she got home from school the previous day, in a rush to get over to Spencer's.
Alex and her friends had finally completed their first term finals and had celebrated at the Hasting household the previous night; a celebration, which involved a lot of chocolate and plenty of dancing around Spencer's bedroom. Having plans to go skating with Logan though, Alex had woken up early in order to return home so she could get ready to go meet the blonde boy.
"We have time to eat before I have to bring you right?" Emily asked as she added another pancake to the top of the stack she had made.
"Definitely," Alex nodded with a smile. "There's no way I'm missing out on pancakes," she said, grabbing plates and utensils and heading for the table.
"Jen, breakfast is ready," Emily called up the stairs. "Are you coming down anytime today?"
"One minute," came JJ's reply, as Emily grabbed the plate of food and made her way over to the table where Alex was waiting.
"What's she doing up there?" Emily asked the teen who had been upstairs last.
"No idea," Alex shrugged. "But it sounded like she was throwing things around when I was up there. And there was a lot of muttering going on."
"Great," Emily said sarcastically as the sound of the blonde's footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs.
"Em I'm not going to Rossi's tonight," JJ said as she came into the dining room wearing a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt, slumping down into the chair beside Emily and putting two pancakes onto her plate.
"What do you mean?" Emily asked in confusion. "You have to go, Garcia will lose her mind if you don't. She's been going on about having a proper family dinner for weeks, you know that."
"I have nothing to wear," JJ pouted, pouring syrup on her pancakes before pushing her plate away, deciding she no longer wanted them.
"What are you talking about?"
"Everything I put on makes me look fat," JJ replied crossing her arms over her chest.
"Jen," Emily said, throwing a glare across the table at Alex who had snorted. "Honey you're not fat. You're pregnant."
"Yeah and I look like a whale," JJ said, gesturing towards her now six months pregnant belly. "I'm huge and everything is swollen. I'm not going."
"Baby you look beautiful," Emily assured her, pulling the blonde's hand from her crossed arms. "You're having a baby Jen. You've never looked more gorgeous."
"Yeah JJ you look great," Alex added trying to help her mother out. "Everyone will be really bummed out if you don't come tonight, and we'll all have to listen to Garcia complain. You have to come."
"Come on honey," Emily said, stroking a hand through the blonde's locks.
"You really think I look beautiful?" JJ asked, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Always," Emily replied, making the blonde smile.
"Alright."
"Thank you," Emily said, leaning forward to kiss the tip of JJ's nose. "Now eat your pancakes. You need to feed that little guy in there," she said, placing a hand on her girlfriend's stomach. "We need to make sure he grows up big and strong like his mommy."
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"What time do you want me to pick you up?" Emily asked as she pulled up in front of the skating rink, seeing Logan waiting out front for Alex.
"We're going to have lunch after so maybe like 2?" Alex suggested, already pulling her seatbelt off and turning to her mother.
"Okay I'll be here," Emily replied, leaning forward to kiss the teen. "Be good and call if you need me to come earlier."
"I will," Alex promised. "Love you," she called before getting out of the car and immediately running towards Logan, who had a big smile on his face.
Emily watched as Alex threw her arms around the young boy, the two sharing a chaste kiss before heading inside, hand-in-hand. As much as Emily had disliked the fact that Alex had a boyfriend at first, she couldn't help but like the young blonde, who was always polite, and who seemed to treat her daughter well. She knew the teen was head over heals in her first crush, and while she didn't know how long it would last, she liked seeing her daughter so happy.
Lost in thought for a few minutes Emily eventually shook herself from her thoughts, putting her car back into drive and pulling back onto the road in the direction of the mall. Emily had told JJ that she needed to make a stop after dropping Alex off, a plan in her head, wanting to make JJ feel special since she seemed to be pretty down lately. Not wanting to leave JJ home alone too long in case she convinced herself she couldn't go to Rossi's again, Emily found the closest parking spot she could when she got to the mall, quickly heading inside and making her way to the jewelry store, looking for the perfect surprise for the blonde who had her heart.
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"So you're having dinner with your mom's team tonight?" Logan asked as he and Alex skated around the rink; her hand held firmly in his.
"Yep," Alex replied with a smile. "According to Garcia we don't have enough proper family meals. So Rossi is cooking up some big Italian feast for us. Garcia's helping too apparently, but I have a feeling Rossi will keep her on chopping vegetables or something."
"I like Garcia," Logan laughed. "She's pretty interesting."
"She's definitely the crazy aunt of my strange little family," Alex agreed. "She always has the craziest ideas, but she just really cares about everyone," she explained. "She doesn't really have any family of her own so I think it's just really important to her that we all get together from time to time."
"I think it's cool," Logan smiled. "I mean it seems to me that your mom and the team all have pretty small families, but they all created this bigger family to make up for that. It's nice."
"It is," Alex nodded. "You know I would have invited you tonight, but Garcia was very clear about it only being family."
"It's alright," Logan laughed. "I mean obviously I would have loved spending the extra time with you," he said, giving her hand a squeeze. "But Rossi kind of scares me," he admitted, as Alex began giggling.
"Rossi's harmless," she insisted. "I mean he's protective but the guy wouldn't hurt a fly."
"If you say so," Logan replied shaking his head. "But I have no doubt that the man would personally hunt me down if I ever messed with you."
"I'm pretty sure they all would," Alex laughed. "Guess you better not test that theory."
"I guess not," Logan agreed with a smile, feeling Alex squeeze his hand just a little tighter. "I'm really glad we're doing this. This week has been so busy, it's nice to finally get to spend some time together."
"I agree," Alex nodded. "This was a good idea. I haven't been skating in forever. I think the last time was like 2 years ago with my dad."
"Well then I'm glad I thought of this," Logan smiled, slowing them down as he led Alex towards the side of the rink out of everyone else's way.
"What are you doing?" Alex asked as she allowed the blonde boy to lead her, grabbing onto the boards on the side to keep her balance once they had completely stopped.
"I just want to stop for a minute," Logan said, reaching up to tuck a piece of Alex's dark hair behind her ear. "So that I can do this," he said, leaning forward and pressing his lips against hers, feeling the brunette smile into the kiss.
"Good call," Alex laughed when Logan finally pulled away, loving the happiness she could see in the blue eyes in front of her. "Come on," she said giving the blonde a quick peck before pulling at his hand. "I want to keep enjoying this."
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Just like she said she would Emily picked Alex up at exactly 2pm, watching as the teen took her time saying her goodbyes to her boyfriend, giving him only a quick peck, before heading for the car, knowing her mother was watching. JJ had stayed home to take a nap, giving Emily strict instructions to wake her by 3pm so she could get ready for Rossi's.
"Did you have a good time?" Emily asked when Alex got into the car.
"I had a great time," Alex replied, her smile giddy as she buckled her seatbelt. "What have you guys been doing?"
"Just catching up on chores," Emily explained. "Made a quick stop at the mall too after I dropped you off. Picked up a little something for Jen," she said. "It's in my purse."
Grabbing Emily's bag from where it sat at her feet, Alex peered inside, finding a long, black, velvet box. "Oh it's in a nice box, it must be good," the teen teased as she opened up the box revealing a simple, yet elegant diamond bracelet. "Wow."
"Do you think she'll like it?" Emily asked.
"Well if she doesn't I'll take it," Alex replied with a smile. "It's gorgeous. Is today some special day I forgot about or something?"
"No," Emily shook her head. "Jen has just been so hard on herself lately. I just wanted to do something to make her feel special."
"Well aren't you a good girlfriend," Alex laughed.
"I try," Emily smiled as they pulled up in front of their house.
"Are you going to give it to her today?" Alex asked as they got out of the car.
"Yeah," Emily nodded. "Sometime before we leave tonight. She's having a nap right now. I have to wake her up by 3pm."
"Okay, well I'm going to run up and shower," Alex explained. "What time are we leaving here?"
"Probably 5pm."
"Awesome," Alex replied, already heading up the stairs, careful to tread quietly so as not to wake JJ.
Having nothing to putter around the house with since she had already spent the day cleaning up, Emily headed into the living room, grabbing her book off the coffee table and stretching out on the couch. She was only a page in when a black ball of fur leapt onto her chest, effectively blocking her view of her book.
"Hey furball I was trying to read that," she chuckled, scratching behind the kitten's ear. "Were you not getting enough attention buddy?" She asked as Sergio simply purred in response, maneuvering his head so that Emily scratched just the right place. "Sorry little guy, I thought you were napping with Jen. Did she kick you out of the bed? Don't take it personally Serg. She's just not much for cuddling these days since she's got that little personal heater going on," the brunette continued talking to the cat. "Don't worry though. You've still got me and Lex," she said kissing Sergio's head as he rubbed it against her face.
Abandoning her book, Emily continued to talk to the cuddly kitten, Sergio basking in the attention. Seeing that it was almost three though the brunette eventually had to lift the kitten patting his head once more before placing him on the ground. Grabbing the bracelet from her purse, which was still sitting in the foyer, Emily headed up the stairs, figuring now was a good a time as any to give JJ her gift. Hearing Alex blow-drying her hair in her room, Emily headed straight for the master suite, opening the door to find JJ sprawled out on the bed, lying on top of the covers wearing only a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Laughing silently at the sight, Emily made her way to the bed, sitting down a stroking a hand through JJ's blonde locks.
"Jen," Emily called, JJ simply groaning in response. "Jen it's time to get up," she repeated, leaning forward and placing a kiss on the blonde's forehead. "Come on, time to get ready."
"Don't wanna," JJ mumbled, throwing an arm over her eyes.
"Baby it's 3pm," Emily replied. "You wanted to get ready remember? Time to wake up," she tried again, receiving no reply from her tired girlfriend. "If you get up now I'll give you a present."
"Present?" JJ asked, quickly removing her arm and looking at Emily expectantly. "What kind of present?" She asked skeptically.
"This kind," Emily replied, placing the jewelry box on JJ's stomach.
"What's this?" JJ asked, her blue eyes meeting brown ones filled with happiness.
"Just a little something because I love you," Emily replied with a smile. "And because I'm happier than I've ever been. You've made me happier than I've ever been," she said, tucking the blonde's hair behind her ear. "Now open it," she said nodding her head towards the box.
Reaching tentatively for the box, JJ slowly lifted the lid, her eyes immediately widening as she viewed the bracelet inside. "Em," she gasped. "It's beautiful," she said, her eyes immediately filling with tears. "I…this is…I'm…thank you," she stuttered.
"You're welcome," Emily replied happily, loving that she had basically left the normally well-spoken blonde speechless. "I just wanted you to have something to remind you just how much I love you."
"You're amazing," JJ sighed, shaking her head as she leant forward, grabbing Emily by the neck and pulling her into a searing kiss. "I don't know what I did to deserve you," she said when she finally pulled away, leaving Emily gasping for breath. "I love you."
"I love you too," Emily smiled, pulling the blonde in for another, less intense kiss. "We should probably get ready though," she said, breaking the kiss but keeping her forehead leaning against JJ's.
"Yeah…right," JJ agreed. "Where's Alex?"
"In her room getting ready. Why?"
"Well since we both still need to shower I just thought we could save some time," JJ suggested, a smile immediately lighting up the brunette's face.
"I think that sounds like a very good idea," Emily agreed, giving the blonde a quick peck before standing, taking the blonde's hand in order to lead her towards the master bathroom. "A wonderful idea indeed."
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"Wow Emster that's some bracelet," Garcia said later that night as she admired JJ's new jewelry while the team sat around Rossi's dining room table, waiting for the Italian man to join them so they could begin dinner. "You sure you don't have any brothers I can date?"
"Sorry Pen," Emily replied from her seat between JJ and Alex. "Still an only child."
"Drats," Garcia exclaimed. "Guess I will have to settle for living vicariously through Jayje."
"Guess so," Emily laughed, as JJ took her hand in hers.
"Alright people," Rossi called as he came into the dining room, carrying the last bowls of pasta and placing it on the already full table. "I hope you are all ready to eat, because there is enough food here for a week," he said, having spent most of the day cooking with Garcia by his side 'helping'.
"This looks amazing Dave," Haley said from where she sat next to Hotch; Jack on her other side in his high chair.
"Smells incredible too," JJ added.
"Well I think this calls for a toast," Morgan suggested. "Rossi my man, you care to do the honours?"
"Here's to our big, crazy family, who keeps getting bigger and crazier," Rossi began. "And to many more nights just like this one," he said as everyone raised their glasses.
"And here's to our wonderful host and chef," Emily added.
"Here, here," Reid chimed in as everyone began clinking their glasses together.
It didn't take long before everyone was passing around dishes, each filling up their plates with the wonderful smelling meal. For a few minutes everyone was silent, taking a moment to appreciate Rossi's cooking.
"This is awesome," Alex eventually said, effectively breaking the silence.
"Mmmhmm," most of the table agreed; their mouths full.
"Better be careful Rossi," Morgan said. "Now that we know that you can cook like this, we're going to make you do it all the time."
"Hey I helped," Garcia reminded.
"Yes Penelope was an excellent sous-chef," Rossi said. "She chops vegetables like no one I've ever seen before," he added as Alex giggled.
"Thank you," Garcia replied happily, missing the note of sarcasm in the older man's voice.
"So Alex are you still seeing that boyfriend of yours?" Haley asked, between feeding Jack his baby food and eating her own meal.
"Yeah," Alex smiled. "We actually went skating today."
"Oh that's so cute!" Garcia exclaimed. "Did he hold your hand?"
"Yes Penelope, he held my hand," Alex replied with a laugh, shaking her head at the excitement on the blonde's face.
The rest of dinner was spent chatting about various things, everyone enjoying their time together. When everyone had finished up Morgan, Reid and Hotch were volunteered by Garcia and Emily to clean up, while Rossi and the ladies headed into the family room, where Garcia immediately grabbed Jack from Haley. Garcia and Alex sat on the floor to play with Jack, while Haley, JJ, Emily and Rossi sat together on the sofas to continue their chat.
"So are you getting excited JJ?" Haley asked.
"I honestly can't wait," JJ replied, rubbing her stomach. "I mean I'm a little nervous, but I just can't wait to meet him."
"What about you Emily?"
"I'm definitely starting to feel antsy," Emily smiled. "We're planning on starting work on the nursery soon, so that should keep us sufficiently distracted for a while though."
"Did you guys finally settle on a theme?" Rossi asked, having heard the couple discussing the matter several times throughout the workweek.
"We picked the animal theme we showed you guys last week," JJ replied.
"If Jen doesn't change her mind again before we get started," Emily teased.
"I haven't changed my mind that many times," JJ argued, glaring at the brunette.
"You have so," Alex said, getting up from the floor and making her way over to Emily, taking a seat on the older brunette's lap; Emily immediately circling her arms around the teen's waist. "Last week you went from under the sea, to zoo animals, to Winnie the Pooh, to no theme at all, before finally going back to the animals."
"And then there was the safari animals versus circus animals versus zoo animal debate," Garcia added from where she was still sitting on the floor.
"The circus animals eventually winning," Emily laughed.
"Okay, okay maybe I've changed my mind a few times," JJ admitted. "But I just want it to be perfect."
"And it will be," Emily assured her with a wink as Alex leaned back against her.
"You know I think Baby Girl was right," Morgan called as he, Reid and Hotch came in from the kitchen. "We don't do this enough," he said, sitting down on the floor with Garcia and Jack.
"Well our schedules don't really allow for it," Reid pointed out as he sat next to Emily and Alex.
"Yeah but you guys are usually home one or two weekends a month," Alex said. "We should try to make it a monthly thing," she suggested as Emily placed a kiss on her cheek.
"I agree," JJ smiled.
"Fine but if you people think I'm cooking every time you're dreaming," Rossi said.
"I think we can take turns with that one," Hotch replied. "Except Reid is exempted from any cooking duties," he joked.
"Hey! I can cook," the genius defended himself.
"Sure you can buddy," Emily said, patting his leg as everyone began laughing.
The laughter continued as the team continued to poke fun at the young doctor, who was also laughing as Garcia shared a story about the time she had invited Reid over to bake cookies with her; an event, which had ended disastrously. Just as Garcia got to the end of her tale the sound of a cell phone ringing filled the room. JJ's shoulders visibly sagged as she recognized the ringtone of her work phone, Emily pulling Alex closer as she too recognized the sound.
"Really?" Morgan said sounding disappointed.
"Really," JJ said, pulling out her phone and getting up from the couch so she could answer it in the other room.
"Well there goes the rest of the weekend," Garcia huffed, knowing the team was about to get called in as Hotch excused himself to follow the media liaison.
"Well it was fun while it lasted," Emily said, kissing her daughter's head, unaware of just how stressful her week was about to become.