AUTHORS NOTE:
Well, it's not a week later but since this is done I figured it wouldn't hurt to get the update posted. Please, let me know what you think so far!
JJ was pacing.
And not that usual kind of pacing she did in the bullpen when something was bothering her or she was trying to work out the details of a profile or a case. This was the kind of pacing that would only occur when JJ was completely and totally overwhelmed with something.
It had been a long time since she had felt like this. In all honesty, she couldn't remember the last time she did. If she had to guess, she would assume it was back when she and Emily were still trying to hide their feelings for each other from the rest of the world. But that felt like a lifetime ago now.
They had been together for almost 11 years. Eleven amazing and incredible years. Sure, there had been bad days. Days where the job took a toll on both of them and threatened to ruin them. Working next to the person you love and putting your life at risk every day was difficult, but they knew that what they had was strong and worth fighting for. Neither one of them was willing to just throw in the towel because things got hard every once and awhile.
This was something different though. Her son was getting older and something about that was tearing her up inside.
When Emily and Henry had come home yesterday afternoon, the blonde was suspicious right from the start. Henry had just a little too much energy considering he had just come from soccer practice and when JJ asked him how it was, he responded that it was awesome, leaving her to know for sure in that moment that something wasn't exactly right. When she tried to discuss it with her wife, she had been answered with a searing kiss instead of words, a typical Emily move when she was about to try to convince JJ to let Henry do something that JJ had already told him no to or something Emily knew JJ wasn't going to want to let him do.
She was even more convinced something was going on when Henry made his way into the kitchen and without word started to put away the dishes that were clean on the drying rack on the counter, a chore she had been asking him to do for several days in row to no avail. The blonde almost lost it when he followed that up by taking out the trash, without being asked, for the first time in months.
Not knowing what else she could do, JJ decided to play along. Instead of asking anything further, she sipped on her wine as she cooked a meal for her family, smiling at the fact that the little family she had around her never ceased to surprise her.
Finally, Emily spoke up as they were finishing up their meal. It had been filled with small talk since they had sat down but as soon as Emily asked the question, JJ knew she was about to get to the bottom of things.
"So, what do we have going on tomorrow night babe?" the brunette asked, glancing at Henry very quickly, but not quickly enough for her wife not to notice. Henry immediately started to study the plate that was nearly empty in front of him as if it was the most fascinating thing he had ever seen.
"Can I be excused?" he interrupted, not sure he could sit still long enough to deal with watching his Mom's discuss his pending date type evening with the girl of his dreams.
As JJ opened her mouth to tell him no and to sit back down and start explaining, Emily instead smiled at him and nodded affirmatively. The young boy was up and out of the kitchen before JJ could even blink.
"Okay, are you going to tell me what is going on or am I about to be voted off the island?" JJ asked looking over at Emily who was chuckling while poking the remaining bits of her pasta on her plate. "You two have been acting weird since you got home."
"No we haven't Jayje," Emily replied taking the last of her wine and gulping it down with one swig.
"Babe, you and I both know that Henry doesn't do chores voluntarily," the blonde replied, finally catching her wife's eye. There was a twinkle in them and JJ is dying to find out why.
"Alright, come here," Emily said standing up and pulling JJ by the hand to the walk in pantry near the back door. It was the place the two of them went to have private conversations now a days. Back before Henry was older it was the place the two of them had gone to make-out without the prying eyes of a toddler on them.
"Must be serious," JJ said not at all entertained by being back in the closet with her wife.
"Henry asked a girl out today," Emily said as soon as the door had closed behind them, the smile on her face unable to be hidden even in the dim lighting of the pantry. JJ's eyes went huge, wider than Emily had ever seen them. The blonde sucked in a breath and held it. Emily waited for a few moments, until she was sure the blonde was going to pass out from lack of oxygen. "Breathe babe."
JJ lets out the breath.
"What do you mean he asked a girl out today?"
"Uh, pretty sure it's self-explanatory," Emily replied with a chuckle behind the words. She reached out and grabbed onto JJ's shoulders to hold her steady on her feet. "Jayje, he's growing up. This is a good thing."
"How is him growing up a good thing?" JJ exclaimed.
"You knew he was going to start dating sooner or later. We've talked about this," Emily said cautiously seeing the tears forming in the blonde's eyes.
"I didn't think it would be this soon," JJ replied quietly, her eyes darting down to look at their feet. She could feel the tears pooling in her eyes though she wasn't exactly sure why they were there.
"He's almost 16," Emily replied. When JJ didn't respond to her words she continued. "It's going to be fine Jay. It's not a real date anyway. She's just coming over to study tomorrow after his soccer practice."
The brunette tilted the smaller woman's chin up so she could meet her eyes. Emily could see how sad her wife looked and she did the only thing she could think of to make her feel better. She bent down slightly and captured her lips in her own. It was soft and gentle and tender. The kind of kiss that was meant to heal instead of incite something more. When it ended, the tears weren't lingering in JJ's eyes anymore.
"Do we know this girl?" JJ asked.
Emily shook her head side to side and frowned slightly.
"No, this is the first time I've seen her. Henry said she's somewhat new to the school." JJ instantly reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone, but before she could press a button, Emily put a hand on top of it. "What are you doing?"
"Calling Pen," JJ responded simply as if it was the dumbest question her wife had ever asked. "We need to know everything about her if Henry is going to date her."
"No, we aren't going to stalk Henry's date," Emily said as she took the phone from her wife and moved it quickly as JJ tried to snatch it back. "We agreed."
"I don't remember that."
"I can call Will and Ashley and they can remind you of the conversation we all had about it if you want," Emily replied back with a smirk. JJ sighed heavily, knowing she had lost. "Babe, it's going to be fine. You just have to relax. She's just going to come over, do homework with Henry in the living room and maybe eat dinner with us."
"Fine," JJ replied with a sigh, knowing there was no point in arguing about the subject.
"Mmmm," Emily said now pulling the blonde into her body closely. She knew she had already convinced JJ to allow the date to happen and since they were alone, she figured she shouldn't waste the opportunity. "Now, since we are already here..."
"Mom!" the sound of Henry's voice could be heard just outside the kitchen.
Emily let out a frustrated sigh before giving JJ a quick kiss on her nose.
"Yeah?" JJ shouted back, her eyes never leaving her wife's in front of her.
"Do you know if we have any batteries for my controller?" he shouted back.
"Homework before video games, that's the rule!" JJ hollered back at him. The two women heard him groan in his own frustration. The blonde, who still hadn't broken eye contact with Emily, pulled the brunette impossibly closer. She captured Emily's lips in hers, one hand holding the brunette tightly on the back and another her neck. Emily's hand was already roaming under JJ's shirt near the waist of her pants and the other was buried in the blonde's hair.
Suddenly a loud knock at the pantry door caused both women to detach instantly.
"Get a room!" Henry shouted as he pounded on the door, laughing to himself as the door swung open and both his mom's glares were glued to him. He dodged JJ's playful swing at his arm, but he wasn't quick enough to move out of Emily's grasp as she grabbed a hold of him, wrapping both arms around his body tightly, holding him in place.
He squirmed as JJ started to tickle his sides and finally broke free, still laughing as he made his way up the stairs to his room.
The two women watched him go and eventually Emily glanced next to her, seeing JJ's eyes starting to fill again in the corners.
"When did he grow up?" the blonde asked.
Emily didn't reply and instead just pulled her wife to her side as she kissed the side of her head.
But that question had lingered in the back of JJ's mind since last night and it was the question that had been overwhelming her to the point of pacing right now. When did Henry grow up? It felt like yesterday that she had given birth to him and now here he was, about to walk in the door with a girl for a date. Okay, so maybe it wasn't exactly a date, but it was pretty close.
The sound of the door opening in the front causes JJ to stop her pacing and she hears voices coming from the hallway.
"Mom?" Henry's voice calls out. A few seconds pass before Emily appears first in the kitchen, Henry right behind her and a young brunette trailing closely behind him. Emily sees the tension on JJ's face the second she walks in and can't help but chuckle a little to herself as she places a quick kiss to her wife's lips. "This is Claire," Henry says upon seeing JJ and moving so Claire could be seen.
"Hi Mrs. LaMontagne, I mean Ms., I'm sorry," Claire stops, unsure and embarrassed immediately, not sure what the proper name to call the blonde in front of her was.
"Please, don't worry about it. My name is Jennifer. But everyone just calls me JJ," the blonde replies, her media liaison smile from all those years ago easily attaching to her face.
"JJ, right," Claire replies shaking the older woman's hand. She smiles warmly before turning to look at Henry and then back to JJ. "Okay, now I see the resemblance between the two of you for sure! But you don't look old enough to have a son Henry's age!"
"Aw, thank you Claire," JJ says with a little laugh. Okay, maybe she could learn to like this girl after all, she thought.
"Well, we better get to it," Henry says turning away from the kitchen, wanting to get away from his mom's before either could say something to embarrass him.
"Alright, I'm thinking we just order a pizza in a little bit, that sound good kid?" Emily asks watching as both Henry and Claire start to move out of the kitchen and out of sight.
"Yeah sure, thanks Mom!" Henry replies before disappearing into the living room.
Emily turns to meet JJ's eyes as soon as he is gone.
"Come here," she says pulling the younger woman to her tightly and wrapping her arms around to hold her in place. JJ allows her body to relax on the older woman's and lets out a sigh, closing her eyes at the feeling of Emily's heart beating against her cheek. "What do you think? She seems nice, huh?" Emily finishes.
"Mmmm," JJ hums, her eyes remaining closed and her arms latched around her wife's waist. "She is very nice. But it doesn't mean I have to be happy that my son is old enough to date."
"I know it's hard for that momma bear in you to let go of her little boy but just remember, he's a great kid Jayje. He's smart, strong, respectful and kind. You raised him right and it's all going to be fine."
"We did," JJ replies quickly finally opening her eyes and pulling back slightly to look at the brunette. "We raised him right. All of us. And I'm proud of him and the young man he's turning into. I guess a part of me just misses that little boy that needed me."
"He still needs us," Emily replies. "No matter how old he gets, he will always need us."