After JJ and Emily heard the gunshots go off in the hallway, and Will's protest, they had no way of knowing who had fallen. This made JJ fall down the worst rabbit hole possible, and it was only the feel of Emily beside her and baby Abigail stretching out inside her that kept her anchored to reality. But then she stopped talking altogether.

Emily noticed, and because she already knew that her own spouse was back in the city and safe, she distracted herself by taking care of her her sister.

"JJ, sweetie," Emily patted her cheek. "You have to stay with me now."

In a daze, JJ responded, "I can't be a widow. I just can't be."

"You are not a widow. Not today. We both know that Will has always had an inordinate run of good luck—the man is indestructible."

JJ just made a humming noise as she felt a hard kick from Abigail—she'd used both heels. "I'm so scared, and how am I going to raise four kids alone?"

Emily suddenly recalled an old conversation she'd had with Will during one of her first nights she'd moved in to the LaMontagne house upon coming back from London. He had requested of her that should anything bad ever happen to him, she would be the one to take care of JJ and the kids. Emily agreed because she loved the whole family, but even if Will had never asked, she would have still done it. Her loyalty to the LaMontagnes and the love she felt for them would never die.

So, Emily worked even harder of taking care of JJ. She held her until she stopped shaking, and caressed her hair and her cheeks with her hands to soothe her. JJ had always been respondent to physical touch. Emily even kissed the top of JJ's head.

"You won't ever have to be alone, Jayje. I've got you." Emily kissed JJ's crown again. "I've got you."

After a few moments, JJ let out a shuddering breath and whimpered, "Thank you so much."

"You are very welcome. Here."

"What are you doing?" JJ asked suddenly.

Emily was unbuttoning the top of JJ's button-down shirt. "Do you trust me?"

"Always."

Emily placed a hand on JJ's bare chest, over her heart.

"Breath for me, Jennifer." she soothed. "Just breathe. You can do it."

JJ did, and in spite of her feelings, she focused on the sound of Emily's voice as she continued to say nice things. Her body's rigidity lessened, and even Abigail's jarring kicks weren't as intense.

"Thank you, Emiliana." she finally said. "What about Elias?"

Emily wrinkled her nose as she felt a kick adjacent to her ribcage. "Eli is restless, but he's fine. Let's just focus on you and sweet baby AJ for now."

"You sure?" Emily's act of selflessness wasn't lost on JJ at all, and she didn't know how to repay her, or if she'd ever be able to.

"I'm very sure. Hey, you're slipping…"

The room was baking now, and both pregnant mothers were beginning to sweat. She took off her her shirt, and she still had her bra and undershirt on, but it was very easy to see Abigail squirming around as she waited to be born. If the room was any hotter, they would have lost more layers already.

Emily caught JJ's discarded shirt and began to wipe her down before she held her again.

"Breathe for me." she said. "Breathe for Elias, for AJ, for Ana, for Michael, for Henry, for Will. All you have to do is breathe."

JJ did.

Sometime later, Emily had taken off the dress she was wearing, and was down to her own tank top and underthings, and a pair of shorts. She didn't care that JJ saw, and JJ didn't bat an eye at it; they had both shared hotel rooms together during out of town cases for a decade already. It was just a bonus that they didn't judge each other.

But then she heard the same thing that Will had.

"JJ," she said suddenly. "I hear a helicopter!"

JJ had just been catching her breath as yet another contraction passed, and she was pulling herself into a sitting position.

"What? Where?"

"Outside!"

Concentrating hard, the duo both heard the helicopter that was to become Will's deliverance. But they also heard Caroline rushing to stop the escape.

They could only listen after that as everything unfolded, and as Caroline planted herself in front of their door. The only saving grace was that the walls were very thin.

Then Emily's heart jumped into her throat. "JJ, I hear Will!"

At that particular moment, JJ had been feeling so defeated that she had only half-heard what Emily had said. This ordeal was really starting to get to her. She would always be a wife and a mother before she was an agent, so it was one thing for an unsub to go after her, but it was absolutely crossing a line to go after Will, or any of their kids.

Now, she didn't know if Will was dead or alive, and she had no idea if her first three offspring knew anything was wrong… or where they even were. She was also in labor with a baby that her own estranged mother-in-law had plans to rob her of.

JJ had never felt so miserable and scared before, so she didn't know how to handle what Emily was telling her now.

"I can hear Will!" Emily said again.

"Don't you lie to me, Ana."

JJ's tone was dangerous and foreboding, so Emily sobered up—this was the pet name that little Emiliana LaMontagne went by so both of them didn't respond together. Even after all these years as friends, however, JJ had only ever called her sister-in-law by her last name, or else 'Em,' or 'Emily.' Referring to her as 'Ana' was brand new territory altogether.

"I promise," Emily said in a begging tone. "That I'm not lying, and that I really can hear your husband out there! Just listen!"

To distract herself from her aching body, JJ focused on listening to the people out in the hallway, and she wasn't disappointed. In fact, she felt her heart fill with hope.

That was Will's voice! He was alive!

With Emily, she listened as Will and the others did their best to talk Caroline down from any further madness, but they also screamed both times the gun went off.

"JJ? Emily?" called Will after a few minutes had passed. "It's all over, and I'm safe, so we're going to work on getting you two out!"

JJ felt like her brain was finally shutting down, so Emily picked up the torch.

"Okay, Will!" she called back. "We haven't moved!"

It took a moment, but Will broke the door down, and came running across the threshold first. Spencer was right behind him.

Will checked on Emily because he had been genuinely concerned for her, but after Spencer assured him that he'd take care of her, the detective moved his attention to his wife.

Meanwhile, Spencer spoke gently to Emily. "What do you need right now? Do you need to push, or anything?"

"No," Emily let out a gasp and held out a hand. "But a contraction is about to come!"

Spencer held Emily's hand and helped her through the pain, flashing back to when Rebel had been in this situation, too. He'd learned on the fly how to braid her hair, as well as a number of Irish swears. Emily didn't seem to be at the point of swearing in foreign languages yet, and Spencer was thankful for that. He loved her like a sister, but it was really freaking him out to see her in so much pain.

Doing his best to keep an even tone, Spencer said to her, "Deep breaths now, deep breaths… there you go…"

When the contraction subsided, Emily collapsed into her friend's arms.

All of her walls were down, and all of the bravery and responsibility she'd put into protecting JJ and Abigail had been handed off to Will.

Because it was all over.

They were free and safe. Elias was even on the way.

So Emily wept from relief, pain, and joy.

"It's all over." Spencer told her. "It's all over. You're safe."

Emily echoed his words. "It's over, we're safe. It's over, we're safe…"

Just a few chapters left!