It came to no surprise that Emily's and JJ's house was noisy throughout the night, but even still, everyone made it to breakfast in good spirits, DJ included. She only woke once, around one-thirty, shrieking from a nightmare. Emily and JJ tag-teamed to get her back to sleep, singing to her and telling her fairy tales. It worked eventually, and she slept soundly.
After breakfast, once everybody was dressed, fed, and ready for their trip to Alexandria, it came time to have a quick Skype chat with Elizabeth, Sandy, and Rex, but Emily was getting the jitters.
"Come on." JJ soothed her, sidestepping out of the way as DJ came barreling through, chasing Lilo so she could get her vest fastened on her. "I know our parents agreed to wait until the day after tomorrow for their first meeting with Haley-Esmée, Hope, and Henry, but we've got to tell them about the new kids now, otherwise one of them will make a dumb joke about us miscounting our children."
Emily actually cracked a smile at that. "They've also probably seen the email about the registries now, too… and DJ told me that she is very curious about our parents."
"I suppose we have to satisfy her curiosity now, esepcially since she's never had grandparents before."
Since they were over in the dining room, JJ got Emily to sit back at the table with her, and she opened her laptop up and opened the Skyping program.
"Are you ready?"
Emily took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Yes."
Pleased, JJ gave Emily's hand a gentle squeeze and proceeded to dial her parents first.
Sandy answered the call from her iPad, and when she came into view on the monitor, she was genuinely surprised.
"Hello, you two." she greeted them. "What's up?"
"Mom, is Rex there, too?" JJ asked.
"Yes." the older blond nodded. "Is this about the email concerning the gift registries to Babies R' Us and Toys R' Us?"
Emily let out a nervous giggle. "Actually, yes. We just need to conference my mother in from New York. Will you get Rex while we do that?"
Sandy did as asked, and while that was happening, they called Elizabeth, who answered from the computer at her home office.
"Well this is a lovely surprise." she grinned at them. "How are you two doing this morning?"
"Quite well." Emily said as JJ quickly adjusted the settings on the program so all the parties could see each other. "Uh, mother, Sandy and Rex are on the other line from Pennsylvania."
Elizabeth greeted her friends and then looked her daughter square in the eye through the camera on her computer.
"Little One, what is going on?"
"Back in February, we met a very special girl in Louisiana by the name of Danielle Jasmine Paget," Emily explained. "And it was our job to look after her because she'd been separated from her mothers. She imprinted on us while we had had her, and we imprinted on her, too, but we couldn't help it because she's extremely loveable."
Emily looked at JJ, who sighed, preparing herself to tell the harder part of the story; now that DJ was theirs, her story was part of their story, and it would tug at her heartstrings for as long as she lived.
"To make a long story short, DJ and her mothers—both of whom were expecting—moved to Falls Church after we parted ways, and they were both a lot younger than we are, so we told them to call us if they needed help for anything since Falls Church is only an hour away by train."
"What happened to DJ's mothers?" Rex asked, his tone laced with apprehension.
"Esther and Harper passed away from complications they sustained in a house fire the night before last."
There was an audible, collective gasp from the other three at JJ's answer, and Sandy asked, "What about the children?"
Emily beckoned to DJ, who had been cradling Lilo and watching the conversation just out of range of them camera.
"Come here, baby girl." Emily called. "Please?"
DJ came equipped with many quirks, but one that she lacked was the willpower to resist Emily, so she approached and sat on Emily's lap, still holding her puppy as she took in the sight of her new grandparents for the first time.
"Everyone," JJ addressed her mother, her stepfather, and her soon-to-be mother-in-law. "This is DJ, and she's ours now."
Sandy, Rex, and Elizabeth all greeted her warmly, and DJ liked them—she really did—but talking to them on a video monitor instead of in person, was really throwing her processing skills out of whack, so after a polite hello and an introduction to Lilo, she told them all she couldn't wait to meet them and then politely excused herself.
"What a beautiful and polite little girl." Elizabeth complimented. "Where is she from, originally? Not stateside, it sounds like."
"DJ is from France and she's 'wired differently,' as she puts it, but we'll explain that when you all arrive," said JJ. "Because we have one last surprise—her siblings. They're ours now, too; their mothers left a letter for us, asking us to adopt their children if anything ever happened to them. They didn't want them to be apart or alone."
"Please don't keep us in suspense!" Rex blurted. "Does DJ have brothers or sisters?"
JJ laughed at how squirrelly her stepdad was being and this time beckoned this time to her sisters, who had also been watching nearby, their new baby nieces happy as clams in their arms. When they heard Rex ask the question, they deposited the babies in JJ's and Emily's arms before going to check on DJ, Haley, Hope, and Henry.
"DJ came to us with two baby sisters." JJ said, indicating each baby in turn. "We have Haviva Violet and Helena Lily. We'll tell you more about them when you all come to see us, but the girls are almost exactly a week younger than Haley, Hope, and Henry are. We call them Viva and Lanie."
"They're gorgeous." Elizabeth complimented. "Now I really can't wait to go to the shops."
"Don't you go without us!" Rex reminded her.
JJ raised her eyebrows at her stepdad. "What's happening?"
"Elizabeth invited us to come stay with her at her place in The Plaza and sightsee in the city before we go to Quantico to come see all of you."
Sandy checked her watch. "If you'll excuse us now, there are still some things we have to pack before we go to the train station in Philly."
Elizabeth also had to sign off, so JJ and Emily bid goodbye to their parents before also signing out of Skype and closing the laptop lid.
"Should we be worried?" Emily asked JJ. "Mother will spoil Sandy and Rex the way she spoiled you at Thanksgiving, and The Plaza is just blocks from Toys R' Us Manhattan, which is the biggest Toys R' Us in the country, if not the world. The three of them loose together in a place like that? Oh, boy…"
JJ laughed. "I'd say let's not think about it."
From within JJ's arms, Haviva gave an impatient whine, so JJ held her up so they were face-to-face.
"What do you think, baby princess?" JJ kissed Haviva on the cheek. "Should mommy chill out so we can all go have some fun on our shopping expedition?"
Haviva just gurgled and let out a sigh of contentment.
"See?" JJ said to Emily as she returned the baby to her favorite cradling position. "Even Viva says not to worry."
JJ got up with Haviva, walking her towards a different part of the house as she explained about what they were going to do next.
"Well, kid," Emily said to Helena, who was laying in her arms and resting her cheek against her breast, making a cushion out of it. "Here's hoping our first family trip isn't too chaotic, hm?"
Helena's only response was to snore—she had fallen asleep.
Amused, Emily kissed her new daughter's little fingers. "You're going to be my most chill baby, aren't you?"
Helena yawned, snuggled closer, and slept on.
After a long day of shopping, the family returned home with DJ, Haviva, Helena, and even Lilo provided for.
Exhausted, but happy, JJ and Emily laid down in their bed together, discussing what to do the following day, part of which would include inviting Penelope over so she could help them file and expedite the girls' adoption papers.
At one point, they realized that they were both so exhausted that it would do them some good to get some sleep before the babies woke again for their next feeding time. Emily was almost asleep, but JJ was awake, thinking.
"Emmy-cat?"
Emily responded to her nickname sleepily. "Hm?"
"We've got both my little sisters here, six kids and even a dog now in a house that we bought together, and we're getting married next week and going on our honeymoon to Montego Bay; I don't think I could ask for more because my heart has never been so full. I love you so much."
In the gloom of their bedroom, Emily turned over to face JJ, pulling her close and kissing her soundly.
"My heart is also full, and there aren't enough words to ever tell you how much I love you." Emily kissed her again, smiling when she turned to putty in her hold. "I can't wait until the wedding."
