Updating again! I really don't want to have to ask you guys every time I post, but can you please do me a quick favour and review? It is really discouraging to see two or three (if I'm lucky) reviews with each chapter. I really appreciate you all reading, but it would be nice to receive some feedback. Let me know what you want to see more of or tell me what you liked best. I don't know. I just love reviews. Anyway, enjoy chapter 7!


Rubbing her tired eyes, JJ looked at the clock. It had just hit five and there was knocking at her door. She got out of bed and covered Ben and Tyler up. They often slept in the master bedroom when their father was away. JJ pulled a sweater on and went downstairs. There was more knocking, except it was quieter this time. She looked out the window beside the door and saw a woman with dark hair, holding a bag. Since Grace had gone missing, they had left their front light on at night in case she came home. She quickly put the alarm code in to stop it from sounding and opened the door.

"JJ," the woman said, opening her arms.

"Emily," Jennifer said in disbelief as she accepted her friend's hug. They stayed like that for a few moments until JJ invited her in. "You're here."

"I had to," Emily said with a faint smile on her face. "You need me."

Both women walked into the house and Jennifer turned on some of the lights that lead to the kitchen. JJ led Emily to the guest room and flipped on the light. The guest room was on the main floor and was usually used as a play room. It was tidy, which JJ was thankful for. It was a fresh light blue colour with white covers and it had drawers that were opposite the bed. There were high ceilings and it was an extravagant room for a barely used guest room.

"Are the boys okay?" Emily asked as she placed her duffle bag onto the bed.

"We had a bit of a talk after bath time," JJ said with a scoff as she folded her arms.

"What kind of talk?"

"Why they're boys and why Grace and I are girls. It went well," JJ said as she closed the curtains. "But they know that it's probably better to wear clothes around the house. They love running around naked."

Emily laughed. "What did you tell them?"

"Just that we have different parts for different reasons and they're supposed to be private parts," JJ told her friend. "They thought I'd give them the same talk I gave Jack the other day."

"Aw, they're growing up," Emily said after she chuckled a little. "I mean, they're all gonna grow up at some point."

"And when the time comes, Grace will get a talk...or a sign," JJ said. "God, Emily, thank you for being here."

"It's nothing, JJ," Emily said as she took stuff out of her bag. "I want to help you, you can't go through this alone."


"Be quiet because Aunty Emily's sleeping in the next room," JJ told her boys as she put her index finger up to her lips. She was in the middle of packing the boys' lunches when they came downstairs. They all went and made breakfast for themselves.

"So, why is Emily here?" Jack asked. "Aunty Emily's not supposed to come until Easter."

"Um, she just thought it would be nice to visit in January," JJ answered as she put sandwiches into containers one by one.

"Is Aunty Emmy here to find Grace?" Benjamin asked as he jumped up onto a bar stool with a banana in his hand.

"Ben, please get something else," Jennifer said. "Tyler, you too. A banana isn't enough. And no, Ben, Emily is not here to find Grace."

"Good morning," Emily said as she opened the guest room door. She walked down the hallway, into the kitchen and greeted everyone.

"Em, sorry to wake you," JJ said as she zipped up everyone's lunch bags. "Boys, please sit down and eat your breakfast." She then turned to Emily. "Do you want anything?" She asked.

Emily shrugged. "I'm fine for now," she told her friend. "I ate on the plane."

"Emily," JJ said as her face fell. "That's not enough. You have to eat. Do you want toast? Or pancakes? We can go out–"

"I wanna go out!" Henry said. "I wanna go out for breakfast!"

"Henry, please," JJ said, pouring orange juice into four cups. "You guys need to be out of here in half an hour. Tyler, your collar isn't straight."

"JJ, I'm fine. I'll think about it when the boys go," Emily said.

"Are you sure?" JJ asked, buttoning Tyler's uniform polo up. "You can grab anything you want."

"You are SUCH a mother!" Emily scoffed. "Jayje, I'm fine."

"Okay," JJ said softly. "Hey, Jack, Lucas is driving you to football tonight, okay?"

Jack nodded as he brought his empty bowl over to the sink. He was a very fast eater.

"What time?" He asked.

"Five thirty," JJ answered, reading from the little notepad that sat beside the house phone in the kitchen.

"That's early," Jack commented. "Did Coach say why?"

"No but it ends early, so there was probably a conflict. Can you help Ben with his soccer stuff? He's going straight to soccer after school."

"I'll do it," Emily said as she went into the laundry room. She knew their house like the back of her hand. She stepped into the laundry room and to no surprise, the laundry machine was going. There were two full clothing baskets on the floor and in the corner of the room, there sat a few sports bags and two hockey sticks. She spotted Grace's dancing bag and some of her leotards and tutus were hanging over the dryer. Emily went through the bags until she found the one with Ben's name on it. Aaron had written it in icing-looking stuff. All the parents did it. She picked up the blue bag and carried it out to the kitchen.

"Grace's insulin's coming today," Henry said. "Isn't it?"

Grace's insulin always came on Monday morning. JJ or Hotch would always collect it as they were leaving to drop the boys at the bus stop. Grace's insulin delivery had been halted since her disappearance and the pharmacy was incredibly sympathetic about it. They'd sent cards and letters and all and they said they'd be ready to send supplies as soon as Grace was found.

"Not today, Henry," JJ said as she cleared the boys' bowls. "Someday." The boys went off and got ready. Emily approached JJ and set Ben's soccer bag on the chair.

"Do you want this anywhere?" She asked, fiddling with the handles.

"Just leave it there," JJ said softly, in her usual motherly-like tone. She was putting the boys' lunch boxes into their backpacks.

"Do you like being at home?" Emily asked as she sat at the kitchen counter. She picked at the fruit that sat in the bowl in the middle of the island.

"Depends," JJ said shortly as she wiped the countertops down with a purple rag. She sighed as she bent down to pick up one of the kids' toys. "Some days are nice, but most days are...I don't even know."

"Is that why you like working away so much? Because you're good at being a mother and a federal agent," Emily said with a smile. JJ had brought the purple rag into the laundry room and taken out a yellow one and placed it on the counter. She ran a glass under the tap and got water for herself.

"Thanks, Em," JJ said before taking in the entire glass of water. "I like working away because it's a new case every day and I get to catch the bad guys, but I like working at home because it's something new every day and kids are only small for so long...I really don't want to miss them grow up."

"JJ, you need to relax at some point," Emily said softly as she eyed the clock. "Let me walk the boys to the bus stop."

"No, Emily, you're a guest," JJ said, bringing Benjamin's soccer bag to the front door. She looked tired and worn out. It was to be expected of a mother of a missing child, but Emily wasn't used to seeing her best friend this way. "Boys! Let's go!"

The boys came downstairs with their hair combed and their teeth brushed, like usual, and they went to the front door to get ready. Each of them put their indoor shoes into their backpacks and put on snow boots. Emily watched as JJ helped the younger boys put their coats on. She looked so soft and gentle, like her edges weren't quite defined yet. This environment made Jennifer look like a feather amongst leaves. Emily couldn't quite explain it, but she knew it made her feel a certain way.

"I'm just walking the boys–" JJ began before Emily interrupted her.

"Up the road and to the right. I know," the brunette said with a soft smile. "Do you want me to come?"

"If you want," JJ said as she grabbed her keys from the terrific porcelain bowl that sat on the table in the foyer. In that bowl there were mostly things that didn't have a place. There were bouncy balls and papers and toys from Kinder Eggs and all sorts of stuff that should be thrown out. She put her peabody coat on and unlocked the door.

"I put my stuff in the closet, didn't I?" Emily asked as she walked into the foyer. JJ was making sure Ben and Tyler had their stuff as her friend opened the closet and got her coat and boots. "London isn't nearly as cold as here," she said.

"We've had wonky weather," JJ commented as she smoothed over Tyler's golden hair with her left hand. His hair was so soft and it was starting to get long.

Once Emily had gotten ready, she closed the closet and JJ let the boys out. They usually walked to the bus stop on their own since it wasn't too far away, while whoever was home drove Grace to her school. It wasn't too often that a parent walked the boys to the bus stop.

"It's not really cold today," Jack said, itching to take his coat off.

"Don't even think about it," Jennifer said as she caught hands with Benjamin. Tyler and Henry were up ahead, walking side by side.

Emily walked beside JJ and Ben. The sidewalks were quite large, given it was a small, sparse neighbourhood. The houses were pretty far apart and you had to walk down the road to get to the next one. There were loads of trees and every house was sort of private. Each driveway was long and each mailbox looked the same. You would probably call it toy town, except each house was different and not at all the size of a toy. Emily enjoyed walking through the neighbourhood, admiring the trees and the birds and the snow that was everywhere.

"What's going on at school today?" Emily asked casually, stuffing her cold hands into the pockets of her black peabody coat.

"We're doing eye tests," Tyler said. "To see if we need glasses."

"Me and Ben already have glasses," Henry said. "But they test everyone because they have to."

Emily nodded. "That's cool. What else are you doing at school?"

"Art," Benjamin said with a smile on his face. "We get to do art!"

"What kind of art?" Emily asked.

"Finger painting," the little boy replied. "I'm gonna make a picture for Grace."

Arriving at the bus stop, JJ let her son's hand go. The boys all shared the same bus stop despite going to different schools. Jack's middle school bus stop was right beside Henry, Tyler and Ben's bus stop. There weren't any other kids at the stop since there weren't many kids in that neighbourhood. It was nice and peaceful and they spent a few minutes standing and talking. The boys played in the snow while they waited, much to JJ's dismay.

"Jack's bus is coming," JJ said as she watched the yellow vehicle round the bend. Jack's bus always came first. The younger boys' bus came about five minutes later.

The bus pulled up and JJ and Emily said goodbye to Jack. JJ gave him a kiss and let him go. She folded her arms and watched as the bus took off with her son. She checked the time on her watch and looked at her friend.

"Does Grace ever come with you to drop the boys off?" Emily asked.

"Not really. They can usually walk themselves and get on the right bus, which is great when both of us are working, but I feel bad letting them doing it when I drive their sister to school," JJ said. "I thought about leaving a little earlier and dropping the boys off, but that's almost two hours in the car each morning and it's a lot of gas."

"I get it," Emily said.

"But I do bring Grace every once in a while, when she's got an appointment or something. She usually just sits on the bench with Ben, though. She doesn't play in the snow unless she's at home or school," JJ said. "I miss her."

"Is this their bus?" Emily said as she spotted another bus coming around the bend.

"Yeah," JJ said. "Boys!"

"Coming!"

The bus pulled up and JJ kissed Henry, Tyler and Benjamin and watched them get on the bus. Ben and Tyler usually sat together, while Henry sat with his friends. JJ and Emily waved to them as the bus left.

"Couple minutes early," JJ commented as she looked at her watch. "Do you want to go out for coffee? Tea? There's a new coffee shop in Capitol Hill, actually...it just opened a few weeks ago. I went in and I knew you'd love it."

"That sounds nice," Emily said as the two women made their way back to the house. "I was on my laptop on the plane and I was looking through emails and I came across a video you sent two months ago of Grace–"

"The dog one?" JJ asked.

"Yeah," Emily said as a smile crept across her face. "She was signing to the dogs and getting frustrated when they barked at her. That girl."

JJ laughed. "It's a favourite of mine," she said. "And what about the one where she's playing piano? Beethoven, I think."

"That one, too," she said. "She's amazing, JJ, I wish she could be here so I can hear her...no, I wish she could hear herself. But that dog video...she's great with them. Have you thought about getting her one?"

"We're getting one whenever a trained one is available," JJ answered, much to Emily's surprise. "We applied when the triplets were almost two, so we should have one soon. They're telling us around summertime. June, maybe?"

"A trained dog?"

"Yeah," JJ said. "We've been wanting one since we found out Grace had type one."

"JJ!" Emily exclaimed, turning to her friend. "That's exciting! What are you getting the dog trained for?"

"It'll be a hearing dog and a diabetic alert dog. Emily, Grace has been wanting one since she learned sign," JJ said. "So for her to finally get one...I don't know, I'm just so happy."


Emily and JJ arrived home and made tea for themselves. JJ went into the office to grab the case files while Emily turned on the TV. JJ was opening drawers and sifting through cabinets when she heard her friend's voice coming from the living area.

"JJ?" She said warily. "JJ."

"I'm here," JJ said, rushing out of the office with a large stack of files. She squinted so she could see the TV and continued walking over to her friend.

"Look," Emily said breathlessly. She pointed to the screen, where the local news station was talking about a body. A small girl's body.

"A girl's body was found in a forest near Rock Creek Park this morning at six. The body has not been identified, but there is excessive bruising and haemorrhaging, as well as fractures to the skull and ribs," the news anchor said.

"It's not Grace," JJ said, dropping the excessive pile of papers and folders on the couch. She walked towards the TV and grabbed Emily's forearm with considerable strength. "It can't be Grace."

"JJ," was all Emily could say. She was speechless. What if the little girl was Grace? It couldn't be. JJ knew it wasn't. But things were so unpredictable. Her baby girl was so fragile and Jennifer knew Grace couldn't cope well with pain. Both women looked at each other and blinked to clear the tears that had started to form.

"That's my little girl," JJ choked out as she collapsed beside her best friend. It was going to be a long day.


I'm starting on chapter 8 right now, so reviews will totally help me in terms of improving it and keeping you all interested. I hope you liked this chapter. Have a great week!