Thank you again for reading and reviewing! This chapter: I is for Impressions (as in, first impressions). Hope you enjoy!
"Ugh, what?" JJ groans sleepily, rolling over to grab her cell phone off the nightstand, silencing it before it can let out another offensive ding. She blinks the sleep out of her eyes before re-lighting her phone screen, noting it is just barely seven-thirty. Who would dare be making her phone buzz and beep (for non-work related purposes, of course) at seven-thirty on a Saturday morning, the first day she's had off in weeks?
"Garcia," she sighs aloud, answering her own unspoken question. What the other woman was doing up this early on her first day off in weeks too, JJ has no idea, but knowing Garcia she supposes it quite possible she hasn't even gone to bed yet.
Stretching and rolling back toward the center of the bed, JJ clicks on the text message notification, blinking her still sleepy eyes as the brightness of a picture lights up the screen. It's JJ and Emily, sitting next to each other in a booth at a restaurant, maybe a bar, JJ doesn't immediately recognize the place. She's pretty sure it's Reid's arm and shoulder she can see at the edge of the picture, and Emily is looking in his direction, clearly mid-laugh. JJ, on the other hand, is looking at Emily, an expression of complete and total adoration clearly present on her face.
Scrolling down to the accompanying message, JJ can't help but smile as she takes in Garcia's typed OMG you guys r BABIES! followed by several heart-eye emojis, and only then does she realize how old this picture actually is. Her own face is clearly much younger, smoother, devoid of the faint lines she's beginning to notice around her eyes and smile when she looks in the mirror, and there's a certain roundness to it she can only think to describe as baby fat (and it's her own, not the kind she carried for awhile after the birth of each of her sons).
Zooming in on Emily's face in the photograph, JJ takes in her shining eyes, the slight curl to her dark hair, the way she holds herself – so elegant, so regal, but at the same time practically screaming out a lack of confidence in herself, so clearly overcompensating for how unsure she feels. The picture had to have been taken shortly after Emily joined the team, some thirteen years ago if JJ's quick mental math is correct.
She feels her smile grow as she takes in the photo as a whole again. She had been positively infatuated with Emily from the get-go, somewhere deep down inside she's always known that, but seeing it so plainly written on her face in this picture more than a decade old, long before they'd gotten engaged or shared their first kiss, before Emily died and came back to life, before JJ got married, had kids, got divorced, it makes her feel like this, what they have now, was somehow written in the stars for them, always destined to be.
JJ hadn't seen it back then, she'll be the first to admit it. Her first impressions of Emily had been positive, of course, she was clearly smart, and funny, and beautiful and JJ knew almost immediately that she wanted to be friends. She thought Emily might be fun to get drinks with, have the occasional movie night with Garcia, be someone with whom she could talk about her dating life. She knew she'd be a great asset to the team. If she had stopped to think about it, she might have known that Emily was somebody who could make her laugh, somebody who would hold her while she cried, somebody she could trust with everything that mattered to her. What she didn't know, though, what she couldn't have foreseen all those years ago, what she wouldn't have believed even if Garcia had woken her up thirteen years ago with a text message containing photographic evidence from the future, is that they share a home, a family, that she can only get a good night's sleep with Emily spooned up behind her with her hand resting on JJ's stomach.
In hindsight though, and JJ's literal wake-up call is proof, in hindsight it was there.
Typing back a quick I've never seen this picture before. Thanks, Pen!, JJ clicks the screen of her phone off and places it back on her nightstand. She briefly contemplates closing her eyes and trying to get a bit more sleep before sitting up instead, pulling a hooded sweatshirt on over her pajamas and shuffling out of bed. She can hear some movement and quiet voices coming from downstairs, and another thing she'll readily admit she never once saw coming is that Emily insists on getting up with the boys on the Saturdays they're all home, giving JJ a chance to sleep in. On days when she isn't woken by a text message, JJ normally sleeps until around nine o'clock and makes her way downstairs to find the kitchen a mess but her three favorite people smiling around the table with some elaborate breakfast they'd all worked to make together, a plate made up for her and ready to be reheated in the microwave.
JJ can make out the music halfway down the stairs, and it takes her a moment to place the verse of Crocodile Rock. Peeking around the corner, she can hardly hold back a laugh at the sight. Michael is sitting on the counter in his fleece pajamas, kicking his legs, his entire body shaking and an enormous grin on his face as he dances along. Henry, who is starting to look and act like such a young man most days, is clearly a child again, moon-walking across the kitchen floor in his sock feet. He makes it to the counter, grabbing a whisk to use as a microphone as he belts out the refrain: "Laaaaaa lalalalala! Lalalalala! Lalalalala!"
The fridge door closes and suddenly Emily appears, a carton of blueberries in one hand as she grabs Henry's hand with her other, spinning him around as they both laugh. She makes it over to the counter, setting down the carton and ruffling Michael's bedhead, singing along the whole time.
JJ's not sure she's ever seen her so…free.
"So this is what you do on Saturdays when I sleep in!" JJ speaks, announcing her presence.
All three freeze and JJ swears she sees a slight blush rise on both Emily's and Henry's cheeks before Michael hops down off the counter, running over and yelling "Mommy! Come dance!"
Grinning at his enthusiasm, she scoops him up and dances him around the room, focusing all her attention on her youngest knowing that Henry and Emily are still feeling a little self-conscious. The song ends and quiet, melodic piano notes take over and she can feel the energy in the room change.
"Hi, Mom," Henry waves, turning back to the counter and putting his former microphone to use to stir the pancake batter.
JJ sets Michael back on the counter, running her hand through Henry's hair in response to his greeting.
"Morning, Jay," Emily blushes again, meeting in the middle of the room to kiss her cheek.
"Elton John, really?"
Emily shrugs. "It's something we can all agree on?"
JJ laughs. "I knew I heard Henry singing Candle in the Wind in the shower the other day and I thought I was losing my mind!"
Emily joins in her laughter, moving to stand behind JJ as her arms encircle her waist. She rests her chin against the younger woman's shoulder, both swaying unconsciously with the music as they watch the boys work together on the pancakes, Michael dumping in blueberries as Henry stirs. "How come you didn't sleep in today?" she whispers.
This time JJ shrugs. "I had to see what you guys get up to on your early mornings without me. And I am so, so glad I did." JJ can feel Emily smile against her neck, and her own smile grows impossibly wider as Emily joins in with the chorus of the song to sing softly into her ear:
"Hold me closer, tiny dancer. Count the headlights on the highway."
JJ's hands grab Emily's where they rest against her stomach, pulling them even tighter against herself.
"You okay?" Emily asks.
"More than," JJ answers, honestly. "You know, when I first met you, I would have never, ever, ever imagined I'd wake up to find you in your pajamas, dancing and singing to Elton John in the kitchen with our kids."
Emily feels her heart skip a beat. "I'm full of surprises."
"That you are, Emily Prentiss. That you are."
