Weather conditions for Christmas 1978: Snowy

Disclaimers: I do not Criminal Minds or its characters, including Elizabeth Prentiss, or Sandy and Roslyn Jareau. I do own all OCs, including JJ and Emily's extended family, siblings, the doctors, etc.
Spoilers: None
Rating: K+

I will update this section later but for now, I would like to give a shoutout to my reviewers/readers so far. Thank you all so much! I am having so, so much fun writing this, and I hope you are all enjoying just as well. We are up to nearly 65 reviews, for only 20 chapters – that is amazing, thank you!

Here is the milestone we – you – have been rooting for and waiting on since Jenny was born! I hope you all enjoy it. I have lots in store for our girls!

Baby Stats:

Juliet: 26 weeks (5 months) – adjusted age 17 weeks (3 months). 6.9 lbs. 18 inches long.
Lucas: 26 weeks (5 months) – adjusted age 17 weeks (3 months). 6.8 lbs. 17.5 inches long.
Jennifer: 24 weeks old (5 months) – adjusted age 16 weeks (3 months). 5.4 lbs. 16.8 inches long.

Notes: I meant to have it up on the eighth, but life got in the way. I've been trying to spend more time off the electronics, so I am not working on things as frequently. This chapter is on the short side, but here it is – the chapter you have been waiting for! Also, more of the Prentiss Family! :)

Btw, I looked up the weather for this day, and tried to get as close to the actual forecast as possible.

Kids in this chapter:

Jacob: 10 years old (turning 11)
Emilia: 8 years old

Enjoy! :)

1 month later – Thursday, December 21st, 1978
(4 days left)

*Prentiss Residence – early afternoon*

"Mamí!"

Elizabeth sighs as she comes through the kitchen from the laundry room.

"Yes, Emilia?"

"I wanna go outside!"

It is not often that Elizabeth and James's oldest daughter throws a fit, but even at 8 years old, sometimes it is the only thing she wants to do, all day long.

Especially on days like today.

When the Weather Channel forecasted today's weather as not only "high winds", but literally marked them as "dangerously high winds". And that coupled with it being December and only 33° outside?

It means that all 5 older Prentiss children are stuck indoors. The youngest two, Claire and Grace, are 5 months old, and do not have an opinion. They are also currently taking a nap in their nice, warm, cozy Nursery.

"I am sorry, Emilia," Elizabeth tells her for the fifth time. "It is far too windy out. You will catch a cold or an earache for sure, if you were to go outside. And do you remember that the Weatherman said the winds were going to be dangerous, higher than they usually are?"

"Yeah, well, maybe he is dumbbutt, and a liar!" The little girl pouts.

"Emilia Elizabeth!"

And that is another thing that does not happen often.

In fact, it is less than 10 times that Emilia has been "middle-named" in her entire eight years, and five months.

"I wanna go outside, Mom!"

Elizabeth has had it.

"No, Ma'am, you are certainly not going outside! Your father and I have both explained why, and that is final. You may go play in your room or the basement, or you can go to the Calm-Down Corner, until you can act appropriately."

"I wanna go OUTSIDE! MOMMY! I… wanna… GO… OUTSIDE!"

"Emilia, come on!"

The little girl actually pauses in her tantruming to see who yelled her name this time.

It's Tristen. He could not hear the TV in the living room due to her yelling. and came to see what the big deal is.

"Just hush already! It's too windy and too cold, and Mom and Dad have said no a thousand times, so just drop it already!" And with that, Tristen huffs, spins around, and stomps back to the living room.

I… WANNA… go… OUTSIDE!"

It would be amusing that she alternates between screaming words or just speaking them, if it were not the sixth time in the last several hours that this conversation had happened.

And because of that, Elizabeth sighs as now, James comes up from the basement, where he was playing with Amaya and Malachi.

"What is going on in here?!" He demands, looking from his oldest daughter to his wife.

"Your child has decided to tantrum today." Elizabeth tells him simply, getting fed up with Emilia's behavior.

Usually she would have the patience to deal with it but not today. She is exhausted from the last several months' events, and just does not have the willpower to stay calm in this situation.

"Emilia Elizabeth Prentiss, what has gotten into you today?"

"I wanna go outside, Daddy!"

James tries to explain, gently, with, "It is too windy out right now, 'Milia," But her shouting tells him he needs to be "serious Papa" at this moment.

"Emilia Elizabeth, I want you to go up to your room, and sit on your bed until you have calmed down. Then, you may come down and join the rest of the family, once you have calmed down."

Emilia rolls her eyes, defiantly crossing her arms, and stands her ground for all of 15 seconds before James adopts the "don't you dare" look.

And that is how she knows she needs to listen, otherwise, she will get her TV and computer privileges taken away, as well as having to write out a plan for better behavior next time, and a note explaining why how she acted was not the way she should have acted.

She does stomp up the staircase, though.

James knows he has to take it as it is.

She is allowed to be upset about not going outside – what energetic, wilderness loving 8-year-old wouldn't be upset about that? – but she also needs to realize that James and Liz are not keeping the kids inside as some kind of punishment.

The Weatherman literally categorized the wind today as "dangerous, and a threat to property and persons". The winds have already gotten up to 20 mph, with gusts nearly double that, and it is supposed to get worse, so…

Yeah, Emilia can be pissed about not being able to go outside, but she still needs to realize her behavior is not appropriate.

2 days later – December 23rd, 1978
2 day left

*Prentiss Residence*

Now…

Two days later.

James and Elizabeth have a secret…

No, they're not pregnant again, come on!

Michael has given them wonderful news.

Jennifer is officially over 5 pounds – 5.41 pounds to be exact – and she is almost 17 inches long, just mere centimeters from it.

She is coming home soon.

Weather permitting, she may even be home within a few days.

Weather not permitting, and she will be home sometime next week.

Emilia has no idea.

James and Elizabeth speak with Michael each afternoon/night. He updates them on what is going on.

He wants it to be a surprise.

He wants her to be so surprised, but happy, at the same time. She deserves it. She is like a daughter to him; her happiness is important to him.

Emilia's parents agree.

They want her to be surprised, but happy, as well.

Quote of the Day:
"Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, "I'm possible!"
2 days later – Christmas, 1978
Home for the Holidays

*Prentiss Residence – around noon – Elizabeth's point of view*

"James!" I shout to my husband.

Today is Christmas. Since we have five babies only months out of the NICU, James and I are going to spend it with Michael, his wife, Sandra, and their kids, to keep from being lonely, as well as protecting the babies.

Then, later this week, we will slowly begin taking in our family members, introducing them a little at a time to the little ones.

Right now, however, we need to keep the amount of people interacting with the babies – with Claire and Grace, or Jules, Luke, and Jennifer, – to a minimum. Their immune systems are very weak, and with it being Winter, there are more sicknesses out there than usual.

We did not want to risk it. Michael did not want to risk it with Juliet and Lucas, but James and I are worried about Claire and Gracie, as well.

Even though they were just born 3 weeks early, – as opposed to nine weeks (Jules and Luke), or eight weeks (Jenny), – their own immune systems cannot protect them from something like the common cold, stomach bug, etc.

Now back to the topic at hand…

Right now?

Right now, I just hung up the phone from speaking with Michael.

He has some wonderful news.

"James!"

I shout it again, sounding a little crazy, but can you blame me?

"Jam–" I walk into the kitchen, and run directly into my husband. "–Oh, there you are."

"What is going on?" He says it with a slight laugh.

"It's time!"

His smile kind of fades out.

"What? Already?"

I feel like a little kid, a little kid on, well… on Christmas.

"He just called, said they were ready, and we could bring her over whenever."

It takes us 15 minutes to get ready. We wait for my mom, Penelope, to arrive so she can watch the others while James and I bring Emilia to the car.

She questions it, but we just tell her we have a surprise for her, and that we have to take a little drive to go and see it.

James even puts a blindfold on her, so she does not see that we are pulling into the Jareau's driveway.

"Step out, Emmy," I hear James tell her while I go up and knock on the door.

"Come on, Daddy! Can't you just tell me?!"

It is fairly amusing to see this – our eight-year-old daughter being led up the front sidewalk, which has a light dusting of snow on it, while blindfolded. I imagine that if the Jareaus had any neighbors, this would be quite the sight to see.

"No, 'Milia," James replies to her. "I can't tell you, but lift your foot right here, – there you go, – now do it again, and again…. And one more time. Now, we are on a front porch, and I am going to knock on the door, okay? Your surprise is inside this house."

"Oh, Daddy!" She suddenly gasps. "We're at Misser Michael's house!"

I raise my eyebrows in surprise at this. She has only been here a few times, – usually the Jareau kids come to our house, – so how did she know where we are if she was blindfolded?

James pauses with his fist raised ready to knock. He looks down at our daughter, asking, "Yes, we are at Mister Michael's house. How did you know that Emmy?"

"'Cause I remembabled it, Daddy, that's how!"

"You mean you memorized it?"

"Yeah, that! We went out of our driveway, turned right, drove for six minutes, then turned right again, then left, then stopped at the stop sign, then drove straight for 1 minute, and then turned left again."

"Yes, I suppose that is how the drive went."

James looks to me with a what the fuck? How'd we not know our child could do that? expression, but I just shrug my shoulders.

He looks to be… fumbling with a response when Emilia speaks up again.

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"Can we go in now? It's cold out here."

"Oh, right. Yes, we sure can." James knocks on the door then, and Michael answers with an amused look on his face.

"I was wondering what we three were doing. Come on in! It sure is cold out there." He takes our jackets and scarves, hanging them. "Well, my mom is in the kitchen, would you like me to ask her to put on a pot of fresh coffee, or whip up some hot cocoa?"

I ask for some coffee while James and Emilia say they would like some hot cocoa, well, actually, Emilia says "warm milk with chocolate". She sometimes has a hard time remembering a certain word or how to phrase a sentence.

I believe it is because English is not actually her first language. When she was born, we spoke Arabic. Her first word, however, was in Spanish, while the last four years, she spoke both French and a teensy bit of Italian. She only used English when speaking with relatives living here in the United States.

Finally, after saying that, Emilia asks to take her blindfold off, and James says yes.

It takes her a moment to adjust to the light, but as soon as she sees it, she lights up.

Michael's father, I am assuming, is sitting on the couch, holding a tiny little baby, who is bundled up in a purple, butterfly-print blanket.

"Oh, my gosh!" Emilia squeals, nearly tripping over her own feet in her hurry to the couch.

"Jenny! Mamí, look! She's came home!" I chuckle at my daughter's enthusiastic reaction. "Can I hold her, por favor?" Michael comes into the room then with our drinks, and he, too, smiles at Emilia's happiness. Setting the tray of drinks down, he says,

"First, before you hold her, I would like to introduce, Liz, you and James, to my mother and father. This is Kenneth Jareau, and my mom, Karen Jareau. Mom, Dad, these are Emilia's parents, James and Elizabeth Prentiss. Their daughters, Claire and Grace, were in the NICU, and then the Baby Nursery with Jennifer, Jules, and Luke."

The man – Kenneth – nods in our direction, while Karen goes to shake both of our hands. Michael bends down beside Emilia, saying, "'Millie, these are my parents, Kenneth and Karen, but you can call them Mister Ken and Miss Karen, or even Mister and Miss K, whichever is easier for you, okay?"

It may seem like a small thing, but Michael accommodating her like that, knowing that she has trouble with certain pronunciations and so on, it is nice to see that happen. It feels good to know that James and I do not have to worry about him becoming upset with her over not being able to enunciate certain words or phrases.

Emilia, though, nods, because sometimes, she is shy around strangers. She will usually speak to James or myself, in a language she does know, instead of speaking directly to that person.

"Okay, Misser Michael." She whispers. "Now, can I hold Jenny, pease?!"

"Yes, you may, but after you change into your clean clothes, alright? So that Jenny gets as little germs as possible."

James had sent an outfit of Emilia's over earlier. And Michael's mom, Karen, steam pressed it.

He goes to get it, and I help her change in the downstairs bathroom. It is a red dress with dark green trim around the edges, black tights, and little black dress shoes. I pull her hair into pigtails, tying them off with green ribbons.

"Now, you may wash your hands, 'Milia. Then you can go and hold Jennifer!"

"Okay, Mamí!"

She eagerly does so, and I have to catch her when she reaches for the doorknob. As soon as I have the door opened, however, she shoots out of the room, down the hall, and straight for the couch.

I just follow behind, chuckling softly at her excitement.

"I'm all clean, Misser Michael! Can I hold her now, por favor?!"

And then…

The moment my little girl has waited for since meeting Jennifer Jareau in that NICU five months ago…

"Sit here, 'Millie. And we will place a pillow here, and here. Now, hold your arms like this, and… here we go."

I look around.

Michael's dad has the video camera and James is taking photos with our… polaroid camera? When did he get that?

Never mind…

I have far more important things to pay attention.

My daughter, my sweet, sweet little girl, absolutely lights up, as soon as Jennifer is placed in her arms. Her whole entire body… softens.

"Hi, Jenny," She breathes out. "I am… Emilia. And we are… gonna be… best fwiends, forever and ever."

I figured that was a pretty good Christmas present, and Jennifer was going to have to come home at some point. She is big enough, and has no sicknesses, so everything else (tube feeding, medicines, etc.) could be done at home.

Please review and let me know what you thought! :)

Next up: Jenny's first night home
Then: a short chapter for the end of December
After that: Babies' First New Years!