Alright everybody, this one's the last chapter for this little story! At first I wasn't going to write Christmas (because it's September and I don't want to think about winter yet), but I decided to write it anyways because I just couldn't resist ending the story with a happy Christmas day! I really hope you guys like it.
I plan on starting my next story right away, but I actually thought of doing something a little different. My next story idea was pretty serious (and dramatic), so I kind of wanted to write something a little happier and light first, so I thought I might do a story of just some little moments. Probably not a case, just happy family things. So I wanted to hear from you guys! IF there's anything you'd really like to read…maybe some JJ/Emily moments, JJ/Alex, Alex/Emily…team stuff whatever you guys want tell me and I'm going to try and write them in! Any ideas you might have let me know! I have a couple things I want to do, but I'd love to incorporate any of your ideas where I can!
Thanks for sticking with me through another one! Keep an eye out for the next and please send your ideas! -J
Chapter 10
"Alex….Alex wake up….Alex it's Christmas you have to get up…." Lily whispered into Alex's ear. "Alex," she repeated, earning a groan from the brunette.
"Too early," Alex mumbled, burying her face in her pillow, attempting to ignore the tiny blonde who was currently sitting on her back.
"But it's Christmas!" Lily exclaimed loudly, bouncing a little, which earned another groan from the teen. "We have to go see if Santa came. Come on we have to get up!"
"Lily we can't," Alex said, turning over and knocking the five-year-old off her back, the blonde falling beside her in a fit of giggles.
"Why not?" Lily asked, her big blue eyes begging the teen.
"We can't go down without the parents," Alex explained. "They're not up yet, so go back to sleep for a little longer and then we can all go see what Santa brought you okay?" She said, rolling over on her side and closing her eyes, hoping her cousin would listen to her, but knowing it was highly unlikely.
"I'll go wake mommy then," Lily said instead, jumping out of bed and running out of the room.
Hoping Adam and Sara would be able to distract the small blonde for a little while longer, Alex pulled her blankets up to her chin, closing her eyes. She instantly felt herself drifting off again, almost back to sleep by the time she felt the bed dip beside her. Knowing it wasn't Lily returning, Alex squinted open an eye, the sight of blonde hair on the pillow beside her telling her that it was JJ.
"Still dark…too early," Alex muttered scooting in closer to the blonde.
"I know," JJ mumbled, wrapping her arms around Alex and pulling her in closer. "…Left Lily with Em…need more sleep." She said, her eyes closed as she let herself begin to drift back off to sleep, Alex's face buried against her shoulder.
"Merry Christmas," Alex whispered with a yawn.
"Hmm you too," JJ replied sleepily as she felt the teen's breathing begin to even out indicating that she had fallen back asleep. JJ kissed the top of Alex's head before she too let sleep take her. The pair had been asleep nearly ten minutes before someone else came into the room, standing in the doorway and watching the two sleeping females in disbelief.
"Jen are you serious?" Emily yelled as she came into the room.
"Hmm? What?" JJ asked sleepily, her eyes still closed, as Alex grumbled and further hid her face in JJ's shirt.
"You just left me in there with that little bouncing blonde," Emily whined, getting into the bed on the other side of Alex. "She jumped on me until I got out of bed," she said, poking Alex in the side as she heard the teen giggle.
"Where is she now?" JJ asked.
"I don't know probably jumping on everyone else in the house," Emily replied grumpily before cuddling up close to Alex, burying her face in the teen's dark locks. "Merry Christmas baby," the older brunette said, kissing the back of her daughter's head.
"Merry Christmas," Alex replied, reaching behind her to take one of Emily's hands in hers.
The three fell into silence, cuddled up together, all awake and yet too tired to move from their current position. The past few days had been filled with nothing but family time, everyone getting ready for Christmas and enjoying their time together. JJ, Emily and Alex were loving having not only the Jareaus, but also Elizabeth, and at times the team around, but the three had barely had any time together so they were happy for this moment alone. Their moment was short lived though as Lily came bounding back into the room.
"Mommy said we can go downstairs now," Lily shouted loudly. "You have to get up!"
"Alright Lily Bug," JJ groaned, reluctantly releasing Alex and rolling over so she could sit up. "We're coming little one just hold your horses."
"I don't have any horses Aunt JJ," Lily giggled, running over to the side of Alex's bed to greet her Aunt. "Merry Christmas!" She said, reaching out her arms for the older blonde to lift her up.
"Merry Christmas Munchkin," JJ said kissing her niece's cheek. "Hey you two sleepy heads," she then called towards the two brunettes who were still lying lazily in the bed. "Time to get your cute butts out of bed."
"Yeah come on Alex! Come on Aunt Emily!" Lily yelled excitedly. "It's time to see what Santa brought!"
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"Alex look at this!" Lily shouted excitedly holding up the baby doll that Santa had brought her.
"Lily indoor voice please," Sara laughed, shaking her head at her daughter's excitement.
"That's awesome Lil," Alex smiled from where she was sitting beside Emily, a pile of her own presents surrounding her.
Emily had told herself that she wouldn't go overboard on Christmas, but as she hit the malls with JJ beside her she just kept thinking about all the Christmases she had missed with her daughter; spoiling both Alex and Lily a little more than she should have. Alex had gotten new sweaters and pajamas, a few news books and the iPod she had asked for; thanking Emily and JJ with each new box she opened.
"Oh that one's from us," Adam said, watching as Alex picked up a small box at the top of her pile.
Ripping open the paper, Alex revealed a small velvet box, opening it to find a charm bracelet with a small ruby slipper charm on it.
"Oh my God," Alex whispered, looking up at Adam and Sara, with wide, surprised eyes. "This is so nice."
"Adam picked it out," Sara told the teen proudly.
"Well it seemed fitting," Adam shrugged, trying to act like it wasn't a big deal, when he was really very excited to see how happy the teen was with her gift.
"Thanks Uncle Adam," Alex said standing from her seat so she could hug JJ's brother. "Thanks Aunt Sara," she said, hugging Sara as well. "I love it."
JJ watched this interaction with tears in her eyes, moved by how easily Alex had accepted her family in her life, and touched by how much her brother seemed to care about Alex as well. "Let me see," JJ called out, waving the teen towards her. "Wow Adam this is gorgeous," the blonde smiled, showing the bracelet to Emily beside her. "Way nicer than anything you've ever given me," she joked.
"Yeah well I like Alex better," Adam laughed, earning a glare from his sister and a smack from his wife.
"Will you put it on for me?" Alex asked, holding her wrist out to JJ.
JJ took the bracelet out of the box, opening the clasp and putting it around the teen's slender wrist. "Looks great," the blonde smiled, still holding Alex's hand.
"I love it," Alex exclaimed happily. "I can't wait to show the girls."
"It really is beautiful guys," Emily agreed, having heard about the bracelet from Sara who wanted to make sure Emily was okay with her and Adam giving her daughter such an extravagant gift. "Lex hun JJ and I have something else for you," she then said, holding up an envelope for the younger brunette.
"You already got me a lot," Alex said, looking around at the pile of new things from Emily and JJ.
"I know, but this one's special," Emily insisted, pushing the envelope into her daughter's hands. "Just open it."
Taking the envelope, Alex peeled open the back and took out the papers inside. "Plane tickets?" Alex asked, looking up at Emily and JJ questioningly.
"To Chicago," Emily smiled, watching as Alex's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Really?"
"Really," Emily nodded. "We're leaving the day after tomorrow. You, me, JJ and Spencer."
"Spencer's coming?"
"Yep," Emily laughed. "I thought you might like getting to show her around. She can meet Rachel."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Alex practically yelled, throwing her arms around both Emily and JJ's necks. "Does Rachel know?"
"We talked to her parents to make sure Rachel would be free to spend some time with us, but they haven't told her yet," Emily explained. "They thought they'd let you do that."
"Can I go call her?" Alex then asked, pulling back and looking excited.
"Of course," Emily laughed. "Just don't be too long okay?"
"I won't, promise," Alex replied. "Thank you…again," she said kissing first Emily's cheek, then JJ's. "You guys are the best," she called before running for the stairs to call her best friend from home.
"That's a pretty great gift," Andrew said from where he was watching the interaction on the couch beside Sandy.
"Yeah, well she's been asking about going back to Chicago for a while now," Emily replied. "We talked to Dr. Sullivan and she thought that going might make the holidays easier for Alex."
"She seems to be doing really well," Sandy pointed out, knowing that Alex struggled quite a bit during Thanksgiving.
"We've been trying really hard to talk about her parents all week," Emily explained. "We wanted to make sure she knew it was okay to talk about them. I know she had a really good talk with Jen the other day, which I think really helped."
"That's great," Sandy smiled.
"She's a really great kid," Adam said. "I mean Lily Bug over there loves her," he said gesturing to the little blonde who was currently preoccupied with her new dollhouse. "And I just think she's great."
"Oh really, we couldn't tell Uncle Adam," JJ teased. "When did that happen anyways? You guys have been here all weekend and I've never heard her call you that."
"Actually she introduced us to her teacher as her Aunt and Uncle on Thursday," Adam replied. "She called mom and dad her grandparents too."
"Really?" JJ asked sounding both surprised and emotional.
"Jen does that really surprise you?" Emily asked, taking the blonde's hand. "That girl loves you so much, obviously she would look at your family as her family too."
"Yeah…it's just really nice to hear," JJ shrugged, wiping away a tear, which was in a large part due to hormones.
"Emily, JJ," Alex voice called, as the teen could be heard running back down the stairs. "I almost forgot to give you guys these," she said, handing each woman an identically wrapped box.
"Of honey thank you," Emily said, accepting the box from the teen.
"Elizabeth said it was her job as Grandmother to buy presents for the parents so she took me the other day to pick these out," the teen explained. "Go ahead, open them."
Sharing a glance with each other, both Emily and JJ began to unwrap their gifts, pulling off the paper to reveal velvet boxes. Opening the boxes both women let out identical gasps as they revealed the silver necklaces inside.
"Lex," JJ whispered, covering her mouth in surprise as her eyes once again filled with tears.
"It's an infinity symbol," Alex explained unnecessarily. "And those are all of our birth stones on the side there," she pointed out. "Mine, Emily's and yours, and then that one is for May since that's when the baby is due. The guy said that if the baby comes early or late we can get the stone switched out, but I wanted to make sure it was in there for now. Do you like it?" She asked, looking from one woman to the other.
"It's beautiful honey," JJ said. "Thank you so much."
"Yeah…this is…this is just perfect," Emily agreed, placing a hand on the teen's cheek before pulling her closer to kiss her forehead. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Alex replied with a huge smile. "I just wanted you guys to have something that represented our family," she said, smiling as both women placed an arm around her and pulled her in close.
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"That was fantastic," Adam said later that day as everyone finished up their dinner, pushing his chair back from the table and placing a hand on his now full stomach.
"Yes that was delicious," Elizabeth, who had joined the Jareaus earlier that afternoon, agreed. "You did a wonderful job Sandy."
"Thank you Elizabeth," Sandy smiled. "Sara and Jenny helped as well though, so I can't take all the credit."
"You didn't help Emster?" Garcia teased.
Having no family in the area, Garcia, Rossi and Reid; who planned on visiting his mother before New Years, had joined the Prentiss/Jareau clan for their Holiday celebrations. Hotch was spending Christmas with Haley, Jack and Haley's family while Morgan had travelled to Chicago, where he planned to stay; flying back with Emily and JJ when they can back from their trip in the city.
"I provided the wine," Emily said sticking her tongue out at the technical analyst childishly. "Plus the Jareau ladies kicked me out of the kitchen."
"That's because you've been doing the cooking all week Em," JJ said. "You deserved a break."
"I like cooking for everyone," Emily said with a shrug.
"And she learned from some of the best," Elizabeth added. "She was always hanging out in our kitchens with the cooks, convincing them to teach her things," she remembered, making Emily smile at the fact that her mother had actually recalled something from her childhood.
"Mommy can me, Alex and Penny go play now?" Lily asked from her seat between Alex and Garcia, who she had become very fond of.
"Only if they want to go play honey," Sara laughed, shaking her head as her daughter looked from Alex to Garcia with big, pleading eyes.
"Oh how can anyone say no to those Jareau blues?" Garcia said. "I'm in Goldie Locks. What about you Lexi?"
"Definitely," Alex agreed, ruffling Lily's hair, making the little blonde giggle. "You coming Reid?" She then asked, turning to the genius whose company she always enjoyed.
"Sure," Reid agreed, following the three females down the hall where most of Lily's new toys were currently residing.
"You know the rest of you should go sit in the living room," Emily then told the group. "Go relax. I'll clean up here and then bring some coffee and cookies in later."
"No Em I'll help you," JJ said, already standing to begin collecting plates.
"Oh no, no," Elizabeth intervened, standing up and taking the plates from JJ. "I'll get that Jennifer," she insisted. "You go in the other room and put your feet up. You get some rest for that little one," she said placing a hand on JJ's small baby bump.
"Thank you Elizabeth," JJ smiled, knowing there was no use arguing with Emily's mother. "Come on the rest of you. You heard the ladies," she then said, leading the rest of the group towards the living room.
"Thanks mom," Emily said as she and the older brunette began collecting things from the table and bringing them into the kitchen.
"You know JJ has quite the family," Elizabeth said, making small talk. "They're great."
"They are," Emily agreed. "And they've really taken to Alex, which is great. The kid adores them."
"She does seem incredibly happy with everyone here," Elizabeth stated. "That necklace looks beautiful on you by the way," she then said, pointing towards Emily's neck where her new necklace now sat.
"Oh yeah, it's great," Emily smiled. "Thank you by the way. Lex told me you took her and bought these. I mean you really didn't have to do that."
"Oh please it was nothing," Elizabeth brushed off. "And it was all Alex really. She was really excited about picking something for you two. And she really wanted it to be about your family," the Ambassador explained. "It was really nice to see. She really loves both of you."
"She's such a great kid," Emily said, putting down a stack of plates and leaning against the counter to face her mother. "You know I never imagined that this would be how I would be ending my year," the younger brunette confessed. "I mean having Alex here, being with Jen, a baby on the way and surrounded by family. And you. I never thought I'd be celebrating Christmas with you here too."
"You have come a long way this year haven't you," Elizabeth said. "You've done really well with Alexandra and you and Jennifer make a wonderful couple. You're great together."
"Thanks mom," Emily replied emotionally. "I'm really glad you're here."
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"Is Lily already asleep?" Emily asked Alex later that night, catching the teen as she came out of her bathroom in her pajamas.
"Yeah she's passed out," Alex laughed walking into Emily's arms, sighing as the older brunette rested her chin on top of her head, rubbing a hand up and down her back.
"You going to bed too then?" Emily asked.
"Yeah I'm exhausted," the teen yawned, burying her face in her mother's shirt. "Today was really great."
"It was wasn't it," Emily agreed, pressing a kiss on the top of Alex's head. "And you're doing okay with everything? I mean are you…I don't know what's I'm asking," she laughed.
"I'm really excited to go to Chicago," Alex replied. "That really made me feel better about everything, so thank you. I've been really wanting to visit them…you know the cemetery."
"I know," Emily nodded, stroking the teen's long brown hair.
"Hey are you two cuddling without me?" JJ called quietly, coming up from the stairs to find the two brunettes still holding each other tight. Making her way down the hall the blonde immediately came up behind Alex, reaching her arms around both brunettes. The three stayed like this, standing together in silence, all three happy and yet exhausted.
"I need to go to bed," Alex eventually mumbled from her place squished between Emily and JJ. "Or else I'm going to fall asleep standing up."
"Alright get to bed," Emily laughed, leaning down to kiss the teen's cheek. "Love you kiddo."
"Love you too," Alex replied, hugging the brunette once more before turning to face JJ. "Love you JJ," she said, kissing the blonde's cheek.
"I love you too," JJ replied, releasing the teen so she could head to her room. "Night," she called, Alex waving before shutting her bedroom door behind her.
"You ready to head to bed Agent Jareau?" Emily then asked, taking the blonde's hand in hers.
"Mmm hmm," JJ nodded sleepily, allowing Emily to lead her down the hall towards their room. "You know today was pretty perfect."
"Yes it was," Emily agreed. "We have quite the family."
"That we do," JJ laughed. "This definitely goes down as one of my best Christmases ever though," she said, turning the brunette around to face her as the stood in the middle of their bedroom, wrapping her arms around the taller woman's waist before giving her a light kiss. "I love you. You know that?"
"Mmm I do," Emily replied pulling the blonde in for another, more passionate kiss. "I love you too, by the way," she laughed when they finally pulled apart. "You know, I do have one more gift for you."
"Oh yeah," JJ replied, already playing with the hem of the brunette's shirt as she began to back them towards the bed, suddenly feeling much more awake. "And where is this gift?"
"It's…" Kiss. "Right…." Kiss. "Over…" Kiss. "Here…" Emily said, pulling the blonde in for one last breathtaking kiss before pulling them both down onto the bed.
The End
Until Next Time That Is!