A/N
Ratings and disclaimer from the first chapter apply.
Chapter 2.
As they entered the dining-room again Emily saw the back of two people. A tall dark haired man and a petite blonde woman. When Jack called out their names they turned around and as Emily looked at the blonde woman, Jack's daughter, she felt her breath caught in her throat. There was just something about that blonde woman, she was beyond beautiful but there was something more, something Emily couldn't pinpoint but just looking at her gave her a warm feeling inside. She almost missed when Jack called her name to get her attention.
"Elizabeth, Emily, this is my daughter Jennifer and her fiance Nathan." Jack said and then turned to his daughter.
"This is my Elizabeth and her daughter Emily." he continued.
Elizabeth instantly wrapped Jennifer up in a hug.
"So good to finally meet you Jennifer, I've heard so much about you." She smiled as she pulled back and looked at Jack's daughter.
She was strikingly beautiful with piercing blue eyes, just like her father.
"I'm glad to finally meet you too Elizabeth. This is Nathan, my fiance." Jennifer said and turned to her fiance who immediately stretched out his hand to say hello. Elizabeth however ignored his hand and pulled him into a hug as well.
"Nice to meet you Nathan." she said as she withdrew from the hug.
"You too Elizabeth." Nathan said and smiled.
Emily stood a bit behind her mother and watched them say hello to each other, her eyes strayed towards the blonde every other second, she just couldn't help herself. Suddenly she felt her mother's hand on her shoulder and heard her voice.
"Jennifer, Nathan, this is my daughter Emily." Elizabeth said proudly.
Emily smiled and took a step forward, Nathan held his hand out which she took and shock politely. Then her eyes turned to the left and instantly locked with a pair of the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. Her mouth suddenly felt dry and it felt like the temperature in the room had rapidly increased. There was a moments awkwardness as it appeared both women were a bit uncertain how to greet each other. A simple handshake or a hug? They were going to be stepsisters so why wouldn't they hug? Jennifer acted first and tentatively moved closer and gave her 'stepsister' a quick hug before looking back at her.
She was incredibly beautiful and as her eyes found the other woman's dark ones she suddenly felt a strange feeling in her body. She had no idea what it was or where it came from but she shook it off.
"Nice to meet you Jennifer." Emily said.
"Please, call me JJ, everybody does. And it's nice to meet you too Emily." JJ said and smiled.
Emily smiled back but as Nathan wrapped his arm around Jennifer's waist her smile faltered.
"Nathan, how about you and I go to the living room, I have a bottle of 12 year old Macallan that really needs to be opened." Jack said and put a hand on Nathan's shoulder.
"Sounds good Jack." Nathan said and followed his father-in-law into the next room.
"So, what do you girls say about some more wine in the garden before the rest of the guests arrive?" Elizabeth asked.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea Elizabeth." JJ said and smiled.
Elizabeth put an arm around each girls shoulder and led them back to the back yard. Emily tried to focus straight ahead but failed every time, she just couldn't help herself from turning her head slightly to get a glimpse of Jennifer. When they reached the place under the oak tree where Emily and her mother sat a while ago, Elizabeth removed her arms from the girls shoulders and motioned for them to take a seat.
"I'm just gonna go and get you a glass Jennifer, I'll be right back" Elizabeth said with a smile before she turned and walked back into the house.
Both women followed her with their gaze and when she disappeared into the house they glanced at each other.
"So..." Emily started.
"So..." JJ repeated.
"Do you also live here in Milwaukee? "Emily asked, trying to keep a conversation going.
"No, we live in Green Bay, about two hours away. You?"
"I live in Chicago" Emily answered.
"Oh so you're a big city girl then?" JJ said with a smile.
Emily laughed.
"Yeah I guess you could say that but I love getting away from the big city chaos every now and then. Mom has a cottage by lake Minocqua so I spend a lot of my free time there." Emily explained.
JJ nodded.
"It's really nice there, though I haven't been there in years now but I remember it was really beautiful."
"It is, you should come visit there sometime." Emily started.
"I mean you and Nathan." she finished.
"Yeah? That would be wonderful." JJ said sincerely and was struck by how quickly she'd come to like this woman.
"When are you and Nathan getting married?" Emily asked and felt a pang in her heart the moment the words left her mouth. She had no idea why but she really didn't want to know when this gorgeous woman was getting married.
"We haven't set a specific date yet but in a couple of months. It will not be before dad and your mom's wedding." she answered.
"Are you married?" JJ asked.
Why am I asking this? Of all the things in the world we could small talk about I just had to ask if she's married.
"No, I'm not married. I'm not even dating anyone at the moment and with the laws in this country marriage really isn't on the map for me." Emily said, suddenly feeling like she'd said too much by the look on Jennifer's face.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to be so blunt and just dump that information on you. I'm sorry..." Emily said a little meekly.
JJ was still processing what Emily just said and what she meant by it when it clicked.
"You're gay..." It was more a statement than a question.
"Yes, sorry I didn't mean to come out to you like this, not that I'm not out. I'm very out and I'm not ashamed of who I am it's just I don't usually come out to people I've just met like within the first half hour and-" JJ put a hand on Emily's arm to stop the rambling woman.
"Emily! Emily? Calm down, take a breath." Emily met Jennifer's eyes and immediately she was silenced and completely mesmerized.
"I was rambling wasn't I?"Emily asked a little embarrassed and was very aware of the hand still holding her arm.
"Maybe just a little."JJ said and winked.
"But really Emily it's totally fine, I have absolutely no problem with you being gay and I appreciate your honesty. Even if it wasn't your intention to come out to me right away, I'm glad you did. We're going to be 'sisters' soon anyway." JJ continued and instantly that funny feeling she'd managed to push away, returned.
Something about referring to herself and Emily as sisters, even though they weren't biologically related felt, well wrong. That was the only word she could think of to describe it but she had no idea why.
Emily looked down at her lap and tried to ignore the little voice in the back of her head that was telling her the reason she didn't want to be Jennifer's stepsister. She was very grateful when Elizabeth chose that exact moment to return with a wineglass for Jennifer and some more wine.
The three women sat outside and enjoyed the summer breeze and each others company until it was time to go back inside as the rest of the guests were starting to arrive.
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During dinner Emily had a hard time keeping herself from seeking out Jennifer. The truth was she failed completely. Every now and then as she looked up towards where Jennifer was sitting she caught the blonde woman looking back at her but in a wink of an eye she'd averted her eyes.
Jennifer didn't know what was wrong with her, why couldn't she stop looking in Emily's direction? A few times she noticed that Emily was looking back at her and when their eyes met for a split second Jennifer looked away quickly, hoping the other woman hadn't caught her staring at her.
By the time dessert was finished people had started to mingle, some were dancing and Emily had walked back out to the garden to get some air. She was sitting in the garden swing with her head tilted back slightly, gently swinging back and forth while looking up at the beautiful evening sky.
"Hey..."
Emily sat up and looked to her right, Jennifer was standing beside the swing with two wineglasses in her hands.
"Are you okay?" the blonde asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just getting some air and then I kind of got stuck here in the swing. It's insanely relaxing." Emily said and smiled.
Jennifer smiled back and took a step closer to the swing.
"Mind if I join you?" she asked.
"No not at all." Emily answered and gestured for Jennifer to take a seat.
"I brought some wine if you want?" JJ said tentatively.
"Thank you, I'd love some." Emily said and took one glass from Jennifer's outstretched hand.
Her fingers brushed over Jennifer's and both women simultaneously looked at each other. Emily knew she held Jennifer's gaze for far too long but she couldn't look away. Jennifer was feeling exactly the same yet she did nothing to break the spell they seemed to be under. The sound of someone calling Jennifer's name brought the two women back to reality.
"JJ? Are you out here?" Both Emily and JJ looked over to the back porch and saw Nathan standing there, apparently a little tipsy.
"Yeah I'm here." JJ answered.
"Come back inside babe, I wanna dance with you."
"In a minute Nate, I was just about to sit down and talk with Emily. Go back inside, I'll be there in a while." JJ said and wondered why she was feeling slightly irritated that her fiance had interrupted them.
Interrupted what exactly? She couldn't quite explain that part but she felt interrupted.
"Sorry about that." she said and sat down on the swing beside Emily.
"It's fine." Emily said, she had no idea why Jennifer was apologizing.
"No need to apologize." she continued.
JJ looked at her and smiled then looked down at the wineglass in her hand.
"It's a nice party." Emily started.
"Yeah, they're really happy. I haven't seen my dad this happy since before my mom died."
"My mom calls me every week and for the past I don't know... 5 years or so, every call has started with how she'd never find anyone. She's made me promise her to look after her and take her out on trips when she's old and lonely." Emily said and chuckled.
"So when she called and told me she was getting married, no one was happier than me." she continued.
"I can understand that. I never thought I'd see dad smile again, like really smile, the way he smiles when he looks at your mother." JJ said.
Emily looked up and met her eyes, she smiled.
"I can tell he makes her really happy, he seems like a really nice guy." Emily said.
"He is and I'm so glad he met Elizabeth, they really are perfect for each other." JJ said.
"I'll drink to that." Emily said and clinked their glasses together.
"So, Emily Prentiss, what do you do for a living?" JJ asked and put her left arm up on the backrest and turned slightly towards Emily.
"I'm actually an FBI agent." Emily said and took another sip of her wine.
"No way? For real?" Jennifer exclaimed.
"That's so cool, wow... I'm so impressed!" she continued, honestly feeling really impressed by the woman before her.
Emily laughed.
"It's not that impressive." Emily said.
"Are you kidding me? It definitely is, I mean it's the FBI!" JJ said ecstatic.
"It's my job." Emily said and shrugged like it was like any other job.
"So what do you do? Or are you not allowed to say that?" JJ asked curious.
"No, I'm allowed." she just couldn't help but smile at the adorable blonde beside her.
"I work in a terrorism task force, we run down potential terrorism leads and proactively identifies threats that may impact the area and the nation." Emily explained.
"And that's not impressive?" JJ wondered with a smirk.
"Anyway, what about you Jennifer Jareau? What do you do?"
"Ugh, I don't even wanna tell you now that I know what you do." JJ answered and finished her wine.
Emily nudge her arm lightly.
"Come on." Emily nudge her again and smiled.
"Alright alright, let me just get some more wine first. I'll be right back." She got up from the swing and hurried back to the house.
A/N
Thanks for the reviews and alerts, I really appreciate it!
I hope I got the geography part somewhat right. Since I've never traveled further than Scandinavia's borders, google is my friend :)
