"How's she doing?" Emily murmured when Lucy emerged from the bedroom, quietly shutting the door behind her. "Any better?"

Lucy sighed, shook her head. "Still wheezing," she whispered, "But her fever seems to have broken."

Shaking her head sadly, Emily followed her into the living room, settling next to her on the couch. "Poor tyke," she said. "It just breaks my heart seeing her like this."

A few days earlier, they'd rushed Aurora to the emergency room when they noticed her lips were blue and her breaths came in noisy wheezes, punctuated by barking coughs. The doctor diagnosed her with croup and gave her an injection of steroids, then sent them home.

That night, they'd taken two hour shifts watching her to make sure she didn't stop breathing, soothing her and keeping her calm, but it was an exhausting night. As were the two nights that followed.

Ultimately, they'd decided that it was best that they cancel their plans to fly back to the States to celebrate Thanksgiving with the team.

Lucy nodded her agreement, reaching out to twist a lock of Emily's hair around her finger. "Are you disappointed about the trip?" she asked.

"I was so excited to introduce Aurora to everyone," she lamented. "My little sunshine – I wanted my family to meet her..."

"I know," Lucy agreed, leaning in to press her forehead against Emily's. "I wanted to show her off too." A beat. "And eat a big Thanksgiving meal I didn't have to cook."

Emily kissed her quickly. "So, how are we going to celebrate now?"

She laughed a little. "A full night's sleep might be nice...but I think we're a way's off from that." She sighed. "Maybe we should just float it until Aurora's feeling better."

Emily gave her a pointed look. "By the time she's better, Clara will come down with something. It's a never ending cycle."

"True. I guess we should just do something low-key, like order pizza and watch some movies. Maybe a quickie in the shower," she suggested.

Grinning, Emily said, "That sounds amazing, actually." She pulled Lucy into an embrace, toppling them over so they could lay in each other's arms. "Almost as amazing as a nap."

They only got about ten minutes into their attempt at napping when there was a knock on the door. Emily groaned, muttered, "If whoever it is wakes the baby, I'll kill them..."

Lucy sighed, scrubbed a hand through her hair as she sat up, watching as Emily shuffled to the front door. "Who is it?" she called out.

A beat, then several voices all started speaking at once.

Lucy's brows raised in confusion. "Em?" She followed the sound of voices, only to come to a surprised stop at the scene before her. "Wh-what are you guys doing here?" she asked. Then, she flung herself into the arms of their friends, one by one.

Rossi chuckled as he wrapped his arms around Lucy. "We heard you guys couldn't come to us, so we brought Thanksgiving to you."

Lucy gave a watery smile, a wet little laugh. "You didn't have to fly all this way just for a weekend," she insisted.

"Nonsense, lovey," Garcia trilled, elbowing Rossi aside, "We came because you're family and you need to be with family at Thanksgiving."

Reid waved awkwardly. "They made me come," he confessed.

"Well, we're very glad you did," Emily said, stepping back to let them inside.

"So, where are my little darlings?" Garcia asked, already having lost interest in them and now eager to greet the children.

"We just put Aurora down for her nap," Emily said, "But Clara should be up any minute." She glanced at her watch. "She was a grizzly bear this morning, so we're letting her nap later than usual."

Lucy stage-whispered, "She gets it from Emily..."

Rolling her eyes, Emily said, "I'll go check on her."

Still in awe of their unexpected guests, it took Lucy a few moments to remember her manners. "I'm afraid we haven't done much in they way of grocery shopping lately," she confessed, "But we've got coffee and lots of tea." She moved into the kitchen to start the kettle.

When they all settled in the living room, Emily returned, a sleepy-eyed Clara propped on her hip. "Guess who's here to see you?" Emily whispered to her.

Clara rubbed her eyes with her little fist as she surveyed the newcomers. It only took her a few moments to decide whether their guests were worth getting excited over – she started squirming to be put down, then flung herself in Garcia's arms. "Gigi!" she squealed.

"My little Clare-bear," Garcia replied in the same ear-splitting note. She squeezed the child tightly, kissing her over and over (and leaving behind bright red lipstick marks). "I missed you so much!"

When Garcia's affections got to be too much for her, Clara gently pushed her away. She informed Garcia very seriously, "I gots a sissy."

Garcia couldn't help but laugh at just how mature the child acted – entirely too like her mothers. "I know, little one. You're so lucky – I always wanted a sister. Do you love her so much?"

She shrugged. "Wowa gots sicky..."

"That's very sad, but I'm sure you're taking very good care of her." She smiled at the girl. "Go give Papa Rossi a hug," she instructed.

"PAPA!" she hollered, flinging herself into Rossi's arms then.

It was Rossi's turn to melt at the little girl's affections. "Hello, Cara," he murmured, tweaking her nose. "It's very nice to see you again – you've gotten so big."

She nodded, puffing out her little chest proudly. "I's gonna be FREE!" she said, holding up three fingers.

Emily laughed at her enthusiasm and natural chattiness (which she definitely hadn't gotten from her...). "Say hi to Uncle Reid," she prompted.

Reid looked rather alarmed by the prospect. "She might be carrying the croup virus, so I'd really rather not..."

His protests fell on deaf ears, though, because Clara had already latched herself onto him with a cry of, "Weed!"