A/N: Chloe had her three month scans today, but has to wait a week to see the results. She has felt fantastic, so there isn't really any signs that the scans will be bad. Yet, her family are experiencing scanxiety, fear and worry that is physically debilitating over the scans of a child with cancer. Please keep her and her family in your thoughts and pray for positive, clear results!

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or any of its characters and affiliates.


~I wanted to tell her that I loved her, and not in the complicated way I loved our parents, but in a simple way I never had to think about. I loved her like breathing~ - Brenna Yovanoff


February 15, 1990

The next morning hadn't brought much improvement for JJ. She had still been in pain, was still vomiting bile, and just felt all-around lousy. Reluctantly, Sandy had bundled her into the car and taken her back to the hospital to try and get her pain managed.

Sitting at the table as he ate his cereal, James as watched as his father sifted through the morning mail.

"Bills, bills, bills, and more bills. Do they think we're made of money?" Michael sighed. "It was hard enough before"

James sat up a bit straighter, setting his spoon back in the bowl. "Is JJ's treatment expensive Dad?"

Michael nodded sadly. "Really expensive. Radiation and chemo do not come cheap. Not to mention all the pain medications, feeding tubes, the feeding pump...her resection surgery alone would've been enough to put us out of pocket if we had to pay it upfront"

"That's sick that they charge so much. What happens if a kid from a really poor family gets cancer? What do they do?" James asked.

"Get the treatment and spend the rest of their lives struggling to pay it. James, your mother and I will be paying JJ's medical debt for the rest of our lives, and I've always considered us to be reasonably well off," Michael explained. "But I don't want you to worry about it, ok? It's under control"

James nodded, turning his eyes to the mail on the counter. Seeing a familiar logo peeking out from beneath the bills, his eyes widened.

Swiping it from beneath the letters, he turned and ran for the stairs.

"James! What was that?" Michael yelled after him.

"I'll explain later Dad, I promise!" James yelled back, stuffing the letter in his schoolbag after he'd reached his room. Throwing his books in after it, he threw the bag over his back and bounded down the stairs. He almost made it to the bottom before his father blocked him off.

"James," Michael said warningly.

"It's nothing bad Dad, I promise. It's not a porn subscription or anything like that. It's something for JJ but I want to keep it a surprise," James explained. Michael grinned.

"It's not a porn subscription for your eleven year old sister, is it?"

James laughed. "No Dad, I promise it's good. I just want it to be a surprise for everyone"

Michael sighed, stepping aside with a smile forming on his face. Playfully swatting the back of James' head, he grinned.

"Get to school you monster"


By the time James returned home that afternoon, Katie at his side, JJ was home again, comfortably resting on the couch with Topple and Mister Moses tucked in beside her.

Taking Katie's hand, James led her over to the adjacent couch, where they both sat down as JJ lazily cycled through the TV channels.

"How was your day JJ?" he asked, putting an arm around Katie's shoulders.

"Hospital, needles, drugs...I got a new tube because I puked mine up right after we got there which is so weird because I shouldn't be able to puke up the type of tube I have, and then right after I got the new tube, I had a nose bleed!" JJ rattled off, her voice rising and falling dramatically as she spoke. Katie giggled at JJ's theatrics, while James just grinned.

Turning to Katie, James pressed a quick kiss to her lips as they settled back properly on the couch.

"You're gonna make me throw up," JJ muttered. James turned back to his sister, raising an eyebrow at her.

Just moments later, JJ grabbed the nearest vomit bowl, bringing it to her mouth in time to catch the combination of bile and stomach contents that had decided to make an appearance.

Katie grimaced as James got up to help his sister.

"You good?" he asked, taking the soiled bowl from JJ's hands once he was sure she had stopped throwing up. When JJ nodded, he walked over to the garbage can that was specifically for JJ's use, dumping the bowl into it.

Before heading back, he grabbed the envelope that was sticking out of the front pocket of his backpack. As he passed the couch, he pressed it into JJ's hand.

"What's this?" JJ asked, looking up at her brother in confusion as he sat down beside Katie once more.

"Open it and have a look," James replied as their parents wandered into the room and took a seat on the only vacant sofa in the room, directly across from JJ.

Frowning, JJ slowly opened the letter, her hands shaking as she did. Carefully, she slid the letter out of the envelope, unfolding it as she let the envelope fall into her lap.

James watched as JJ's eyes scanned the first few lines of the letter, before her entire face lit up in total surprise.

"A WISH!?" she shrieked, looking up at James with a smile brighter than anything James had ever seen. "I GET A WISH!"

Sandy and Michael looked at their son in amazement.

"Make-A-Wish?" Sandy clarified. When James nodded, she broke into a huge smile, getting up and crossing the room to hug her son.

"James...that's so sweet of you to do that for your sister," she said warmly.

"Mom! I wanna hug James first!" JJ chimed in, making everyone laugh.

Pulling away from his mom, James walked back over to his sister, wrapping his arms around her and smiling as she cuddled in close.

"Thank you James," JJ whispered as Michael slid the letter out of her hand to read it. Katie smiled as she watched the two siblings interacting.

'The Make-A-Wish Foundation would like to inform you that Jennifer Jareau has been approved for a wish!'

"Don't waste it," James said softly, smiling down at his sister.

"Promise I won't," JJ replied, holding up her pinky. James grinned, hooking his pinky around hers and holding on for a few moments before letting go.

"What are you gonna do with it Jaybird?" Michael asked, smiling widely as JJ scanned the letter once more. "Disneyworld?"

JJ shook her head. "No, not Disneyworld. I'll pick something"

"You don't have to use it straightaway. You can wait until you've finished treatment if you like," James explained. JJ nodded, folding the letter carefully and tucking it away in her journal, which had become somewhat of a companion of hers over the previous weeks.

"I have the best brother ever"