Christmas

Christmas time.

What once was JJ's favorite time of the year for more reasons than she could have counted. The overall joyful mood, the cold weather, exchanging gifts with the team at Penelope's annual party, taking Henry to see Santa at the mall, and her anniversary with Emily, just to name a few.

She'd been looking forward to all of those but one this year.

JJ and Emily had come to a – for the most part – mutual agreement at the beginning of the month that it would be for the best if their relationship came to an end.

This had sort of killed JJ's holiday spirit entirely.

Having to break up with someone you truly loved just before the holiday season. How much worse could it get?

She'd done everything she'd planned for the season, but with much less enthusiasm. There was now a new photo of Henry grinning on the lap of Santa Claus hanging on the wall. Penelope's party had been pleasant, where JJ easily kept her distance from Emily while still maintaining polite conversation. However, the entire time, she'd wanted to burst into tears.

And now Christmas Eve was here, and JJ was alone because Will had Henry this year. JJ was trying to pass the time without thinking about Emily or drinking. So far, it wasn't working, and memories of the previous year's Christmas filled JJ's head as she poured herself a glass of dark red wine.

She took it to the couch where she planned to curl up under her favorite blanket and drown her sorrows in the wine. After she set down the glass and went to retrieve her blanket, she turned the radio on just to see what was playing.

When JJ heard the opening notes of "All I Want For Christmas is You" she started bawling.

Of all the things that brought back painful memories of her and Emily's relationship, it was this song. It meant a lot more to them than it did to some people who just thought of it as another holiday love song, and sort of a cheesy one at that. This song was part of the beginning of their relationship.

She wondered if Emily was listening, too.

There was then a knock on the door, and JJ ignored it, figuring it was last minute carolers, though it was much too late in the evening for that. She found no reason to get up from the couch.

When the knocking persisted, JJ groaned and got up to answer it, and when she opened the door, she saw the exact raven-haired woman who'd been haunting her memories just moments before.

"Hey," Emily whispered softly, her pale cheeks already cherry-red from the cold. "I…I miss you. And I wasn't sure how you were feeling but I think—"

Emily stopped when she saw that tears fell down JJ's cheeks. JJ pulled Emily in from the freezing outdoors and into a warm hug. "I miss you too."

"Breaking up was a dumb decision, wasn't it," Emily said with a soft laugh.

JJ could only nod.

"Merry Christmas, sweetheart," She said softly before pulling Emily into a long, deep kiss.

JJ's Christmas was finally happy again.