Everybody stared—though JJ hadn't made a sound, it was obvious that she was freaked out.

"His name is John—that's what she called him."

"You remember?" Emily and Will said in unison.

She looked from her husband to her sister-in-law. "I remember him, but not her."

Across the way, Derek asked, "Why's that?"

"They both hurt me physically, but it was his idea to begin with. He got my face, but she got my legs, feet, and everything else, including the drugs. I don't know why I remember that."

"But it's good that you do." Derek said encouragingly. "It means that she's more vicious than he is, and that he's probably submissive to her. In a pairing like this one, you don't often see the male being submissive to the female. Do you remember anything else?"

"Only that she seemed to enjoy the whole thing, and pushing John around. It's like she didn't think too highly of him."

Suddenly, something else occurred to her. Something about a warning…

"JJ?"

She jumped when the realized they were all staring at her again.

"You went somewhere just now." said Will. "Where?"

"I was brought to the hospital a van, right?"

Will nodded. "Uh-huh."

"I don't remember who said it, but one of them said that they would be back." JJ shivered. "What do I do?"

"We'll be extra vigilant," Emily decided. "But you shouldn't be alone if you go somewhere."

"Okay. I have confidence that you all will protect me, but it still scares me."

"Of course it does," Will told his wife. "But if anything does happen, you can be rest assured that I will lead the charge to find you again."

All at once, JJ was filled with peace. She didn't know if it was merely because of the sound of Will's Louisiana accent, or if it was because he was her husband and she was his wife, but she was more at peace than she had been a moment ago.

There was also part of her that contemplated jumping his bones later on.

JJ turned to Penelope. "This guy, John, he's who was dead in the van?"

Nodding, Penelope reviewed her laptop screen. "Yes, and I'm not making this up, but his name really was John Smith."

Beside JJ, Emily leaned back in her chair and groaned. "Asa was right—he said the man who bought the van off him was named John Smith. I thought he was messing with me."

"That was very much the name his parents gave him, although who knows if they thought that through."

"Are either of the elder Smiths alive?" Spencer asked.

"No, but… oh, no…"

"What?"

Penelope was looking at the screen again. "John has a sister named Cora, and she's been in and out of the joint a few times."

"For what?"

"Illegal firearm possession, and multiple counts of trespassing." Penelope sighed as she continued to summarize what she was reading. "Last year, her kids were taken away and put into the foster care system after she was pulled over for a DUI. The kids were in the car."

Emily wrinkled her nose and had a sudden urge to go hug and kiss all of her children.

"Uncle John didn't want to take them?"

"He lived with Cora and the kids, according to these records, but he wouldn't have been suitable to be their guardians because his litany of grievances was just as bad as Cora's was."

Rossi interjected quickly, "Before we all go down a rabbit hole, I have to ask—what happened to the father of Cora's kids?"

Upon further investigating, Penelope said, "Oh, no. It looks like he ran away after they lost custody of the kids, and he drank himself to death less than a day later."

Out of the corner of her eye, JJ noticed Will shift slightly in his chair at the mention of the fate of Cora's husband. Nobody else had noticed, and for a fleeting moment, JJ had wondered if what had bothered Will about the 'drank himself to death' line was an ongoing thing, and she'd just forgotten with her memory wipe, or if she'd ever known at all.

In the next second, JJ wondered how she could comfort him, and was back to thinking about Will's bones at home. Would he want it?

Meanwhile, Will was thinking about how he needed to explain of the deepest skeletons in his closet to his own wife.

Luckily for the LaMontagnes, Emily interrupted their thoughts.

"I want to have a chat with Cora Smith, to see if she can give us any insight to her brother, and who he could have possibly taken up with."

She looked over at Spencer.

"Please take Rossi, Will, and Bellamy with you to Cora Smith's house."

Now she turned to Penelope.

"Is Cora employed?"

"Surprisingly, yes. She works at a secondhand store in the shopping district called There And Back Again." Penelope replied. "I'll send everyone the information they need."

Emily approved of this and shifted her attention yet again, this time to Derek.

"Please bring Luke and Tara with you to the Smith house and look around, even if Cora isn't home. Report back to me ASAP."

"You got it."

Everybody left quickly, and when the room cleared out, it was just Penelope, Emily, and JJ. She couldn't put her finger on what it was, but something just felt… off.

"Okay," she moved her laptop to the side. "What's the matter with you two?"

"Huh?" Emily said, startled. She'd already been thinking of her children again.

"Shot memory," was JJ's fast response.

Penelope wasn't buying her friends' words. "Is one of you pregnant and covering for the other, or something?"

"Yes," they responded in unison, although it was all Emily could do to keep from adding that she was probably in the family way, too.

"I was kidding!" Penelope said in surprise. "Which one of you is it?"

"Me." JJ said.

Penelope made to congratulate her, but hesitated when she saw that JJ was far from enthusiastic.

She put work aside and came around the table to sit on JJ's free side. She and Emily arranged their chairs to both face their friend's—it was time for a Girl Chat.

JJ sat back in her chair and splayed her hands over her middle. "I don't even know how far along I am because I don't remember making this kid. I only just got a call from the doctor's office right before I came back in here."

"So Will doesn't know yet—just us."

JJ nodded. "The only reason a baby has been on the radar at all was because I had a full physical at the hospital, and getting my blood drawn was part of it. I asked Will what would happen if we found out that the universe had chosen to make us parents again, and he said he would be happy. The results just came back."

"So there's definitely a baby in there?" Penelope said, putting the pieces together.

"Yes, but there aren't any available appointments until Monday morning."

"How do you feel?"

"I honestly don't know—I just met my husband and children all over again yesterday, and I promised Henry that my memory lapse doesn't change a thing about being his mother, or how much I love him, Will, Michael, and Emiliana. Henry was really concerned."

"I bet your promise cheered him up, though."

"It did."

"Good. What did Will say about the possibility of LaMontagne baby number four?"

"Basically that we'd be in for a hell of an adventure, and that he'd stand with me, even if it took me a long time to come around to the idea of the kid."

Penelope made a noise of approval. "JJ, the level of devotion Will has to you is incredibly beautiful, and not just because you're his wife and the mother of his children. You two are soulmates, and each one of you lights up when the other person comes into the room."

"I swear your guys' actual souls are connected." Emily added. "One time, on a very, very long day that started as a day off, the team was overseeing a hostage crisis, and Will very willingly walked into it to be a peacemaker. "

"What the hell?!"

"Oh, yes. He blindsided all of us, but your first reaction was to try to follow him."

"What happened?"

"You were so upset that Derek and I had to physically restrain you twice."

"Wow."

Emily nodded. "The day ended with becoming Missus LaMontagne."

"Wait, really?"

"Mhm. Rossi threw you and Will a surprise wedding." Emily laughed at the surprised look on her sister-in-law's face. "Yours and Will's bond has always been like that, though. Penelope and I have stories for days about it, but your husband is as solid as they come."

"He's going to be happy, JJ, and not just because he said he would be." Penelope tacked on. "Even if you weren't suffering from the memory loss, I know that he's going to wait on you hand and foot."

JJ actually giggled at this thought. "Penelope, how many times have you seen me pregnant?"

"Including now, four times."

"And how was Will towards me the last three times?"

"More charming than usual, and very patient, especially when the cravings kicked in." Penelope smiled as memories came to mind. "Seriously, though, the amount of things that you and Will have weathered together are incredible, but what's even more incredible is that you two always come out on top."

"So things will be fine…"

Penelope gave her friend's hand an affectionate squeeze. "They will, JJ."

"Good, because there's one more thing I have to tell him."

"What's that?"

"I used FaceTime to call my mom, and we talked for awhile. By the end, she dropped everything, and now she's leaving from Canada to come see me."

Penelope pushed on the bridge of her glasses as they slid down her nose a little bit. "Wow. Who's in Canada?"

"My aunt, her husband, and their four kids."

"So then Sandy is going to get a hotel room, and you're going to stay with her when she gets in?"

"Probably the night, too. Do you think Will's going to be okay about that?"

"He respects you a great deal. He'll have wanted it for you."

"In fact," Emily tacked on thoughtfully. "You more than deserve that time with Sandy. Take the weekend, okay? Don't come back until after your appointment on Monday; just drop me a line."

"Emily, are you sure?"

"Yes. This case is important, but your sanity and the baby are more important." Emily said firmly. "Take the time, JJ. Please."

"Thank you. I will."

JJ exhaled heavily and felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She turned to her bespectacled friend.

"Thank you, also, Penelope. I'm so glad you and Emily are my friends."

"We're glad you're our friend, too—we've always been a trio, the three of us, and we've gone through a lot of crazy things together. This is just one more."

Emily chimed in, JJ, are you feeling better now?"

She smiled at her friends. "I am. What can I do to help now?"

"Ask Penelope."

"You can help me compile a list of people in the lives of the Smith siblings." Penelope stood and held her hand out to JJ. "Show me how good you are at walking without the crutches."

"The doctor did say that practice was encouraged…"

"Even more reason to get up now. Come on—Emily and I won't judge you."

"Definitely not." Emily agreed. "You've got this."

Wobbling like a newborn giraffe and with a lot of support, JJ took Penelope's hand and and worked on getting to the other side of the table. Penelope fussed over all the while, much like an anxious mother hen.

Suddenly, Emily's phone beeped with a text from TJ.

Is it wrong that I bought these already? I was going to wait until you got home to show you, but I guess I failed.

Thereafter followed a picture of a pair of green baby shoes. They were covered in a lion pattern.

Emily's heart and stomach fluttered simultaneously as she remembered back to how one of her first serious conversations with TJ had been about two pairs of baby shoes she'd bought that day. Those very shoes were to be worn by Milo and Kiley, the babies they'd made out of love, two days later.

Now here was a new pair of shoes, for another Jareau child they were both hoping for and looking forward to.

Emily's response was prompt. Not wrong at all, Theodore—I love them. Let's take some 'extra measures' later to make sure there will be someone to wear them ;)

TJ's response was even faster. I like the sound of that, Mia. Can't wait.

XO