Rating: T

Disclaimer: I do now own Criminal Minds.

Author's Note: For this chapter again, thanks to littlegreenbottle for all the medical help and idea contribution! Now for some happiness! I figured after the last couple of drama-filled chapters, I could sprinkle in some happiness for my loving readers and reviewers. Also, if you're a reader and not a reviewer, please take a second to comment and let me know what you think! I really appreciate all the feedback!

Hayley sat at the end of Emily's bed, cross-legged reading Ramona and Beezus to her mother. Emily would laugh along with the story. She was slowly getting stronger. JJ brought a blank sketchbook up to the hospital, so Emily could start strengthening her muscles. Every now and then, Emily would get frustrated by her drawing (or lack there of) and crumpled the paper. Henry sat on the floor against the wall, playing video games on his phone with his headphones singing loudly into his ears. Emily took aim and threw the crumpled ball at her son, laughing as he jumped slightly as the ball whizzed into his peripherals, occasionally hitting him squarely in the face.

"I'm hungry," Hayley whined softly. She looked around and no one seemed to pay attention. "Ahem," she coughed, "I'm hungry." She nudged Emily's foot and smiled.
"Oh, I thought that was part of the story," Emily responded with a matching smile. After five days of recovery, she could have a conversation. She quickly gained back her speech, but the struggle was how quickly she became tired. Emily could converse for a few sentences before getting exhausted, and then, she would lay back and just listen to the conversation around her.

"H, why don't you go take Hayley to the vending machine?" JJ said, talking to her teenage son. He didn't hear her due to the sound in his ears. "Hit him again," JJ laughed as Emily crumpled another piece of paper and threw it in Henry's direction.

"Do I look like I'm wearing a target?" He laughed as he picked up the paper and threw it back, hitting Hayley instead.
"What did I do? I just said I was hungry!"

"H, you're my son. Thus, automatically a target for my mayhem."

"Hmm," he thought. "I'll take what I can get. Come on, Hales. Let's go find you food."

"No candy," JJ reminded as Henry took a couple of dollars she offered. As the two kids left, a doctor slipped in for rounds.

"So how are you feeling today, Emily?"

"Fine. I'm ready to get this damn tub out of my skiddlypup." The doctor looked at her with a tilted, confused gaze.

"Umm, Em, that's not a word," JJ interjected. "Are you sure you're feeling better?"

"Yes, I'm okay, and it is a word. Well it's sort of a word." The doctor started scribbling onto the notepad in front of him. "No, none of that silent note-taking. Remember Cooper?" She asked JJ.

"Who?"

"The detective I was partnered with when we worked the case in New York with the ambulance bomb thing," Emily reminded her, already feeling the exhaustion returning with a vengeance.

"Oh yeah, he got shot."

"Yeah, him. Well when I went to go see him in the hospital before we left, he was joking about how he was standing in front of a beautiful woman with a tube in his skiddlypup."

"I remember him. You gave him Met tickets and he couldn't stop flirting with you." Emily nodded at JJ's memory, leaning back against the pillows as she took a deep breath.

"Did that conversation tire you out?" The doctor asked. After Emily nodded again, he wrote a note on the clipboard. "How does your leg feel today?"

"Itchy," Emily responded.

"Well that's good because you have anywhere between 9 and 20 weeks until the cast comes off," JJ joked as Henry and Hayley entered the room.

"Don't remind me," Emily mumbled.

"Your cuts and bruises have healed nicely. We have a physical therapist and an occupational therapist coming by to talk to you about the intensity of the recovery therapy you will need." Emily nodded, taking the time to catch her breath. The doctor smiled and said his goodbyes as he left the room, making a few notes on the clipboard as he left.

"Hey Mom, I've got a game soon. We should probably head out." JJ nodded and started to get up.

"Love you," Emily said, holding JJ's hand. JJ smiled and leaned down to place a simple kiss against Emily's lips.

"Love you too. Get some rest. I'll be back later tonight."

"Bye Momma," Hayley said, JJ picking her up slightly so she could kiss Emily's cheek.
"Bye munchkin. Good luck in the game, H. Love you both."

"Thanks," he replied before kissing Emily's cheek. "Let's go little one."

"I'm not that little," Hayley replied with a slight whine as she took Henry's offered hand.

"You're little enough to have to be picked up to give Momma a kiss."

"That's cause the safety bar is up."

"Still little," Henry mumbled as they walked out of the room.

"Children," JJ laughed as she tried to settle the bickering. She was glad that life was becoming more normal as Emily recovered. She knew it would take time both for Emily to fully recover and for life to be back to the chaotic normal they cherished. Until then, JJ focused on the moments where her children would smile and when Emily would laugh. As JJ left the room, she paused slightly, blowing a kiss to Emily, who was already drifting into sleep.

"How ya doing, Jayje?" Garcia asked as the blonde tech shuffled around the Prentiss kitchen.

"It's day by day I guess. I'm glad she's getting better, but I miss her. I want her to be here with us," JJ paused as she took a sip of her red wine. "I would give anything to have our life back to normal."

"Kitten, I hate to break it to you, but your life hasn't been normal ever really," Garcia laughed. "It's not about to change anytime soon."

"And why is that?" Garcia passed JJ a wrapped box. "Pen what is this?"

"Open the box, Jayje." JJ slowly started unwrapping the box. Inside was a silver frame. The photo was a black and white sonogram. JJ looked up at Garcia.

"Really? Pen, congrats! Oh my god. That's amazing," JJ hugged her best friend. She lifted the frame so she could get a better look, her gentle fingertips tracing the engraved letters spelling aunt at the top of the frame. "I'm so happy for you."

"Yeah?" Garcia asked, unsure of the timing of her pregnancy.

"Of course! How far along are you?"

"A month. Derek is already flitting around me like I'm a fragile moody wreck."

"Oh you know he just loves you," JJ laughed, moving to the living room to put the new frame on display. "You of all people know how ridiculously overprotective he is."

"Yeah, I do love my man, but if he tries to lead me down the stairs again, I'm going to take his handcuffs and hook him to the bed. It wouldn't be the first time," Garcia said with a wink. "But this time it would serve the single purpose of getting him away from me."

"That's definitely not something I ever needed to hear," Abby said, walking into the kitchen.

"Sorry, squirt," Garcia apologized with a smirk. "Speaking of sex, how are you and Max?"

"Please do not use that word so close to my daughter's name." JJ quickly intercepted.

"Max is fine. I think he sent Momma flowers."

"That's sweet. Did he ever pick up his shirt?" Garcia asked as Abby started shaking her head.

"I'm sorry. When did he leave his shirt here?" JJ questioned, turning to put her hands on her hips. Her foot tapped against the hardwood floor of the kitchen.

"Oh, Abs, don't you hear the doorbell?" Garcia quickly lied, sending Abby out of the kitchen with a subtle push. "How's Emily?" The blonde tech changed the topic hurriedly.

"Better. She's still having trouble with conversations because she gets tired so quickly. Her injuries have all healed, and she'll be on crutches for a while with the cast. She's going to start occupational and physical therapy soon."

"When are you heading back up there?"

"I think I'm going to leave soon. Dinner's ready, and you're here."

"You don't want to stay for dinner?" Garcia asked; before the accident, JJ would never pass up on family dinner, though now, she was opting to spend time with Emily even if she was just sitting watching her wife sleep.

"Nah, you got it under control, right?" Garcia nodded sadly as JJ grabbed her purse and headed for the car.

"Wait did Momma leave?" Hayley asked as she came running down the stairs.

"Yeah, sorry sweetie, but you've got me." Garcia tried to cheer up the younger blonde. Hayley nodded despondently.

Back at the hospital, JJ quietly read a book as Emily continued to sleep. "Jen," Emily mumbled as she slowly woke up.

"Hey you," JJ responded, quickly bookmarking her page, so she could give her full attention to her wife.

"Hmm, I love you," Emily said, her voice slowly getting stronger as the haze of sleep lifted.

"I love you too."

"Jen, what happened?"

"What do you mean?"
"Why am I here?"
"You don't remember?" JJ asked, worried about her wife's lapse of memory. "I'll be right back," she reassured as she went to go talk to a nurse. "Ma'am, is it normal for my wife not to remember her accident?"
"Yes ma'am. It's typical for coma patients to not fully remember the events prior to their comas. It's also likely she has problems remembering what happened earlier in the day. Your wife is Emily Prentiss?" JJ nodded. "Her doctor made a couple of notes that her daily memory was better as is her speech and conversational level. Nothing mentions the accident. I don't think anyone has asked her about it."

"Okay. Thank you ma'am." JJ returned to Emily's bedside. "Sorry," she apologized. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Umm," Emily paused as she thought back. "We were on the plane coming home from Bali, and I thought you were asleep. I was just watching you." She paused again, taking a moment to breathe, as she willed her body to cooperate long enough to share her memory with her wife. "You caught me watching. You said you loved me, but to stop staring at you." JJ nodded remembering the moment fondly.

"Yeah it was creepy."

"Not creepy if I'm staring at the beautiful woman I love." Emily tilted her head to the side to find JJ's blue eyes. JJ smiled sweetly. "So what happened?"

"You got hit by a drunk driver. Your car flipped."

"What happened to the driver?"

"She died on impact. She was speeding and ran a red light."

"I'm sorry, Jen," Emily whispered, her voice losing its strength as her exhaustion took over. JJ nodded and looked into Emily's eyes, the same eyes she had missed so much. "You look beautiful, but, baby," she paused. "You lost weight you didn't have to lose."

"I lost you, and I lost control," JJ replied sadly, looking down ashamed of her down spiral.

"Lost control?"

"Yeah, our kids are something else you know. My god, Abby and Nate were so strong. I don't think I ever saw that boy cry. He just swooped right in and took care of everyone. And Abby, she was so caring and stayed so strong for Hayley. Henry made breakfast and dinner everyday. They kept up the family dinner tradition and everything. Hayley, oh that sweet girl, she missed you more than anything. Oh my god, she wanted nothing more than to wake up and have you there to hug her and put her hair into pigtails. Our kids are crazy about you, and it made me so happy and so unbelievably sad at the same time."
"Why sad?"

"Because you weren't there to see how important you were."
"What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything." Emily looked at JJ with an unbelieving stare. JJ shook her head. "I lost it. God, it hurt so much to not have you there. I helped the paramedics stabilize you, and I can't stop thinking about the way your body crumpled with the glass shattered around you. I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't sleep. I'm so used to falling asleep with your body next to mine, your warmth comforting me and keeping me safe. I lost it, Em. I couldn't give our kids the attention they needed because they reminded me of everything I had to lose. I couldn't be a mother to our kids when they needed me the most because I was so overwhelmed by the thought of life without you. It was a pain that was so consuming I didn't have the energy to get out of bed. I'm sorry, but as you heal, I heal. Then, we're one step closer to becoming a family again. I'm just," JJ paused, the tears continuing to stream down her face. "I'm just not strong enough to do any of this without you, without your love. It made me realize just how much I need you and just how much I love you. It's a feeling I can't begin to put into words."

"Look at me," Emily requested, her voice still soft, but this time with understanding and love. JJ bit her lip and tried to force herself to look at her wife. "It's not your fault. I understand, and I love you." Emily tugged JJ's hand to her lips and placed a gentle kiss to the back of JJ's hand. The tears continued to fall, but this time, JJ's tears were of relief and of happiness.