Disclaimer: Bad grammar? Sucky story? Terrible spelling? Yeah, that's all mine. Other than that? I own nothing, just wish I did.

Author's Note: Thank you for all the lovely reviews! I'll be sure to reply all of you tomorrow! And again, this is self beta-d so forgive me for all the mistakes. If it gets too bad, just think how it'd be like for you to write a fic in my mother language (Considering, of course, that you're not brazillian, heh). ;p


Chapter IV

Jennifer Jareau's House

Woodbridge, Virginia.

As Saturday rolled off, Emily found herself in front of JJ's house. She had been there for at least ten minutes, trying her best to control her emotions; at least long enough so she could get out and knock on JJ's door. She wasn't having second thoughts, – no, Emily knew she couldn't run anymore – but she was really nervous. If she was being honest, she was starting to think that nervous didn't even begin to cover what she was feeling; her palms were sweating and she was painfully aware of the fact that her body wasn't responding to her brain. It felt like she was watching the whole scene from afar, willing her frozen body to get out of the car and at least ring the damn doorbell, but nothing would happen. She was pretty sure she was starting to draw people's attention; Emily knew it wasn't often a black car would just stop outside a house and stay there, but she just couldn't move. She was starting to feel pretty pathetic.

"Okay, Prentiss, get a effing grip!" She told herself, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. She was starting to feel lightheaded and that wasn't good. She needed to get out; one more minute inside that car and she would probably have a heart attack, or something.

Shaking more than she ever believed to be possible, she managed to open the door and make her way to JJ's front door. The blond lived in a nice, small, two-stories cottage that Emily thought it fitted the other woman perfectly. She knew that comfort was the most important thing to JJ, and even though her house wasn't big or extravagant, it was pretty obvious to any observer that it was a good place to live. Gathering all of her courage, she finally rang the doorbell and, shifting from foot to foot, waited for JJ to answer the door.

"Hey." The blond Press Liaison greeted her, the soft smile turning into a smirk as she noticed Emily's behavior. She couldn't believe how cute a nervous Emily could be. "I was beginning to think you'd gotten locked up in your car or something."

"Yeah," Emily chuckled nervously and brought her hands together, gripping them tightly in a futile attempt to calm herself. "I guess you could say I had some problems getting out of that thing. I'm here now, though."

"Yes. Yes, you are." JJ breathed, as if she didn't quite believe that Emily was actually there, in front of her. "For a moment, though, I thought you were having second thoughts about this."

"No!" Emily all but screamed, feeling the need to reassure JJ, as she noticed a small pang of hurt in the woman's voice. "It's just—" She took a deep breath, and stared at the beautiful pair of deep blue eyes that were focused on her. "This won't be easy, Jennifer. I know you want this, and you deserve it more than anyone else in my life, but I'm scared that it's going to be too much. I'm scared that you won't be able to handle it and our friendship will be damaged forever. I don't want that. You have no idea how much you mean to me."

JJ tried her best to ignore the butterflies that took over her stomach at hearing Emily's statement, but it was pointless. Everytime the brunette said something, she would fall even more hopelessly in love with her, and she knew that nothing Emily could say would change that. Yes, she was well aware of the fact that she knew practically nothing about the woman standing in front of her, and that for all she knew, Emily could be a completely different woman than she believed her to be, but somehow she had the feeling that whatever secrets the brunette held, they would only make her feelings towards her stronger.

"I'm not gonna run, Em." She said, taking Emily's hand on hers. "I know I'm asking a lot of you, and I wouldn't-- I won't turn my back on you just because it might be too much. I think you deserve more than that."

"Good," Emily said, breathing a sigh of relief and grinning at JJ. "We'll see if you'll still think like that later," she joked.

"Emily, are you a killer?" Jennifer asked, her face serious, her eyes focused on the brunette in front of her.

"No, I'm pretty sure I'm not." Emily answered, slightly puzzled by the question. However, when she was starting to panic, JJ grinned, and she immediately relaxed.

"Then you have nothing to worry about!" The blond joked, and disappeared inside for a second, before coming back with her bag and jacket in hand. "So, what do you say we get out of here?"

"Yeah, let's go." Emily agreed and made her way to car hoping that the day would end up well.

~*~

Emily Prentiss' House

Washington D.C.

The ride to Emily's place had been quiet, though both women would agree that it hadn't been uncomfortable. They talked about minor things, but mostly both woman kept to themselves, thinking about the changes they were about to face. JJ was thoroughly surprised when she found herself in one of the wealthiest suburbs of Washington; she'd always pegged Emily for the apartment type - the whole single, wealthy woman thing. To say she was shocked would be an understatement, but she quickly figured out that she would probably be feeling like that for the rest of the day - she was about to dive head first in Emily's life and she couldn't really expect not to be a little blown away by the sudden changes.

As she got out of the car, in front of Emily's house – or well, mansion, in JJ's opinion – she noticed that they were in a typical family neighborhood. It was clear by the toys in the gardens and the children running up and down the street. It confused JJ, but she couldn't help enjoying the atmosphere of the place; it was clearly impossible to be unhappy in a place like that. Even after everything she'd seen on her job, the woman liked to believe that there were safe places to live, and she was pretty sure Emily's neighborhood was one of them.

As they made their way to the door, her eye caught some movement to her side, and she couldn't help but to chuckle as she saw a teenage boy trip on something and fall next to them. Looking over to Emily, she saw the brunette was even more amused than her, watching as the boy got up and cleaned up the dirt from his clothes and looked back at them, a sheepish smile playing on his lips.

"Hey, Mrs. Prentiss." The boy said, waving with one hand while the other one moved over to the back of his neck, scratching it slightly. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing great, Connor." Emily said, smiling at the boy. "What about you?"

"Great, great," he answered, still looking like a kid who was just caught with a hand in the cookie jar. "Could you please tell Sam I'll be waiting here for her?"

"Sure thing," Emily answered. "I don't think she'll be long."

"Okay, thanks again Mrs. Prentiss." Connor thanked, looking a little more comfortable. Then, looking at JJ, he nodded and smiled, "Mrs. Prentiss' friend."

"Mrs. Prentiss?" JJ teased, as she followed Emily inside the house, confused by what had just happened outside.

"Well, what can I say? The kid is polite. I've told him for lord knows how many times that it's Emily, but it's no use, so I gave up." Emily said, shrugging and winking at Jennifer, just before another teenager came running from the kitchen. The blond figured the girl was probably a year younger than her sister, or close to that, at least. She had bright green eyes and a beautiful red hair flowing just above her waist. JJ raised an inquiring eyebrow at Emily, but the woman was too busy smirking at the girl in front of them. "You know, I think you should tell your boyfriend that he has to work on his hiding skills because he's not doing a very good job trying to sneak out of the house."

"Ugh! I swear to God, sometimes he can be the stupidest person I've ever met!" The girl exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "What did he do this time?"

"Tripped over something, fell right in front of us." Emily answered, her smirk growing bigger.

"Boys," The girl muttered, shaking her head. She then noticed JJ standing awkwardly next to the door, and smiled warmly. "You must be JJ."

"Ah, right, sorry," the elder brunette said, mentally kicking herself. "Sammy, this is JJ, my friend. JJ, this is Samantha."

"I'm the annoying teenager who lives next door." The girl said, smirking as Emily rolled her eyes at the statement. "Mom and Aunt Emily have been bff's for years."

"It's very nice to meet you, Samantha." JJ said, shaking the girl's hand.

"Oh, call me Sammy, or Sam, please," Sammy said, shrugging. "Samantha is too formal."

"Sammy, got it."

"Good," Emily interrupted, taking something out of her pocket. "Now that you've been introduced to each other, your boyfriend is waiting for you outside Sammy. Go hang out with him. And thanks, again."

"Any time," Sammy said, grinning as she saw Emily waggling fifty dollars. She quickly got the money, kissed Emily's cheek and left, saying her goodbyes on the way out. "You're the best, Aunt Em! Bye, JJ!"

"Yeah, right, bye, kiddo!"

Emily turned to JJ, grabbing her jacket and putting on the hanger, before she motioned to the living room. She figured since the house was so quiet, Alexis and Sophie were probably watching a movie or something upstairs. They certainly could be very quiet when they wanted to.

"Did I scare you off yet?" She asked, as JJ followed her through the house. She could see the woman, – though not a profiler – was taking in everything in her surrounds.

"No," JJ answered, rolling her eyes. "And you won't."

"Yeah, well, you just hang in there," moving to the kitchen, she turned to face JJ. "Can I get you something to drink? Water, wine, beer?"

"A beer would be nice," the blond woman answered, sitting on one of the benches in front of the kitchen counter, as Emily took two beers out of the fridge and handled her one. "You have a lovely house, Emily." She paused. "If you don't mind me asking, though, why such a big one?"

"Yeah, well, I guess it's time to spill the beans." She tried to joke, but JJ saw through the façade. "Okay, but just remember you promised not to run."

"For the hundredth time, Emily, I won't run." JJ declared seriously, holding Emily's gaze.

"Okay, well… I'll be right back, okay?" JJ nodded and Emily quickly left the kitchen, leaving the other woman alone with her thoughts. She moved back to the living room, and began to walk around aimlessly, looking through the little things that she hadn't noticed before. The portraits hanging on the wall caught her attention, and JJ found herself staring at the most amazing pictures she'd ever seen in her entire life. She liked to believe that she'd seen Emily smile, but it was nothing compared to what she was seeing now. It was beautiful, beyond that, even; like the woman in those pictures didn't have a single care in the world. Like she'd found a reason to live and didn't need anything else. In those pictures, reflected in those smiles, JJ could see only happiness, pure and raw. It brought tears to her eyes, ones she quickly wiped away as she heard steps echoing from the stairs.

She knew what she was about to face; she'd seen it in the pictures, but she didn't think that any amount of warning would prepare her to the sight that she met as she turned around as her name was called.

Jennifer heard herself gasp as she saw two girls running inside the living room following Emily. She would have had to be blind not to notice the similarities between the woman in front of her and the children who had just appeared. Suddenly, it dawned on her why Emily was so scared that she would run away; she was pretty sure that was exactly what most people would do. Flee, take the easy way out, run before things got heavy - but this just wasn't her. She had promised Emily she wouldn't run away, and besides, she wasn't sure she would ever be able to. The sight in front of her was enough to bring tears to her eyes again. JJ always thought that Emily would be very good with children; she just didn't realize the reason for that was because the brunette already had children of her own.

She was pretty sure Emily wasn't married; not only because the brunette didn't wear a ring, but also because she knew that Emily wouldn't flirt with her the way she did – and it was flirting – if she had been committed to somebody else. It just didn't suit her. But JJ couldn't help but wonder if there was someone. Surely those two girls had to have a father?

"Jennifer, I would like you to meet my daughters, Alexis and Sophie," Emily's voice brought her out of her musings, and JJ couldn't help but smile as the two girls let go of Emily to look at her. "Alex, Soph, this is Jennifer Jareau, mom's friend."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Jareau." both girls said at the same time, making JJ's grin widen.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you too."

Emily watched as her daughters began to whisper something to each other, and couldn't help but to roll her eyes at them; she knew exactly what they were talking about, and as long as they didn't mention anything to JJ, she would be fine with it. It just wasn't the time for that conversation yet. JJ already had too much on her plate, and although she seemed to be dealing pretty well with it, she just didn't want to push her luck.

"Is Ms. Jareau going to stay for lunch, Mommy?" Alex asked, her face expectant and a big grin on her lips.

"Yeah, will you, Ms. Jareau?" Sophie echoed, her expression matching her sister's. Emily could practically see the cogs turning inside her daughters head, and she wasn't really sure if she wanted to know what they were planning. Because Emily knew her kids well enough to know what that smile meant, and it was nothing but trouble.

"You two can call me JJ." The blond said, smiling softly at the girls, and watched in fascination as they both turned to Emily, lifting a perfect eyebrow, just like their mom would do when silently questioning something. Upon receiving a small and barely noticeable nod from Emily, they turned back to face her, their smiles even bigger.

"Okay, will you stay for lunch, Ms. JJ?" Jennifer couldn't help but chuckle at their antics. She was sure she wouldn't be able to hold the tears much longer.

"No Ms., just JJ." She said again, as she leaned her body so she could face the girls eye to eye. "And yes, your Mommy invited me over for lunch, if that's okay."

"Sure it is!" Sophie exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Gonna be fun, right Al?"

"Yes!" Alex agreed, and then moved to whisper something in JJ's ear. "Mommy is the best cooker!"

JJ turned to face Emily, just in time to see the woman shaking her head, though the smile in her face couldn't probably get any bigger.

"Alex is exaggerating; I'm not the best cooker." JJ couldn't help but to smile at the small blush that made its way over Emily's cheeks.

"I'm sure she's not." JJ said, winking at the little blond girl. "You don't give yourself enough credit, Em."

Emily's cheeks got even redder after that statement, and JJ just smiled even more as the girls began to giggle.

"Yeah, erm, well," Emily stammered. Cleaning her throat, she continued, "Mommy is going to get lunch ready, and talk with Jennifer, and I'll call you Munchkins when it's done."

"Okay, Mommy!" They both said in unison, and took off upstairs.

"No running inside the house!" Emily yelled after them, shaking her head as they stopped dead in their tracks and started to walk instead of running. She then turned to JJ, and motioned towards the kitchen, "Shall we?"

The blond nodded, whiping her tears, and followed the brunette, who was preparing herself to explain everything that had just happened. It was time to tell JJ everything, and hopefully, to start building something with the younger woman. She just hoped everything would work out.