A soft groan escaped Emily's plump lips as she rolled over in the bed, landing in a pile of blonde hair strewn around JJ's neck. Her dark eyes slowly fluttered open, taking in the appearance of her girlfriend. She was absolutely beautiful- the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Not only just for her body (although that was absolutely delicious to look at as well), JJ was perfect in every way one could think of. She was gentle, soft in every aspect, her skin feeling like silk against Emily's fingers. She sighed softly, burrowing her face into the blonde's neck. The commotion caused JJ to stir awake, slowly glancing down at Emily.
JJ grinned, remembering the night before. Although they had quite obviously hooked up quite a bit beforehand, last night was a different experience. The raw emotion of their deep conversation to resolve their argument combined with a lack of touch within one night allowed the two to absolutely ravage one another in the best way possible. It wasn't just sex, they "made love", although JJ hated referring to it as that. It sounded...fake, as if they were trying to be in a porno. She would rather just describe the way Emily's tongue fit perfectly in her and oh god.. Her fingers.
She gulped heavily, closing her eyes once again to shake away the thoughts. They had been up till quite a late hour doing their thing and had gotten little sleep, but knew they needed to wake up in time for JJ's family's Christmas party. Emily was a bit hesitant to go, but JJ had eventually convinced her that her mother truly wanted her there so she could get to know her. (deep down, JJ also knew her mother wanted to apologize. She also wanted Emily there for comfort.)
Emily placed a gentle kiss on the crevice in JJ's shoulder, begrudgingly rising from the bed while stretching her arms above her head. JJ's bright green eyes popped open to examine her girlfriend's body, fighting the urge to let a moan fall out from her mouth. While Emily was beautiful in every way, holy shit, she was also so fucking sexy. JJ bit her lip, allowing her eyes to fall as she checked her girlfriend out.
"My eyes are up here, baby." Emily teased, leaning forward to place a gentle kiss on the blonde's lips. JJ rolled her eyes, leaning up to wrap her arms around Emily's neck to pull her even closer, the two kissing for a moment. They consumed each other's natural taste and smell, adoring it. "Okay, come on, we have to get ready." Emily mumbled against the other's lips, before pulling away and leaning over the side of the bed to grab her shirt. She slid it on her body, climbing out of the bed.
JJ, however, had fallen back against the pillow in defeat at the lack of affection her girlfriend was currently giving her. She knew there was a possibility that if she acted poorly enough, perhaps Emily would notice. And this the brunette did, suddenly climbing on top of the blonde and staring down to connect their eyes. "Jayje?" She said softly, teasing her skin with the edge of her fingertips. The blonde huffed softly, although had to fight a smile at getting her way. "Come on, don't be a fucking brat." She leaned down to whisper in her ear, noting the way JJ's back arched at the name. She grinned, climbing off her girlfriend and making her way into the bathroom down the hall.
The blonde whined softly, watching her girlfriend leave the room. She should have guessed Emily would torture her as much as possible, it was her speciality. After all, she had tortured her for days with their quite so obvious tension before they had hooked up the first time. She adored the brunette despite it, rolling up so she could get dressed as well. Well, dressed wasn't quite the right word. More like throwing on a pair of sweatpants and her sports bra.
She slowly made her way down the hallway and went into the kitchen, looking outside. The world around them was covered in a layer of snow and JJ grinned, leaning back against the counter. She loved this kind of weather- it was so beautiful and the fact that it was so pretty on Christmas morning made it even better. Christmas morning with Emily.
The pot dinged, alerting her that it was ready and she poured herself a cup of coffee, waiting a moment for it to cool off. Emily was taking quite a bit more time than normal in the bathroom, and it worried JJ a bit. Although she knew Emily knew JJ had forgiven her, she wondered how Emily had coped with it the night they were fighting. She hadn't noticed anything new in the sheets, but she wasn't exactly paying attention to that as Emily burrowed herself in between JJ's legs. However, she trusted Emily.
Eventually, the brunette came out. JJ certainly didn't expect for the brunette to enter the living room wearing a new set of bright red lingerie, and her heart almost stopped. Emily looked absolutely sinful, her hair strung up in a pony tail and the new clothing hugging her body just right- although, more so, the lack of clothing left nothing to the imagination. "Holy fuck, Em, wow," she groaned softly, looking at her girlfriend. "You're so hot," she bit her lip, looking up into the dark eyes of Emily.
Emily grinned at her, knowing just how hot she looked. She had bought the set a week or so ago, excited to show it off on Christmas morning and tease her girlfriend into having to wait until the next chance they were alone. "See something you like, JJ?"
The blonde rose from the chair she had perched herself and slowly slipped her way over to Emily, running her hands down the sides of the brunette. "This is one of my Christmas presents to you," Emily said softly, whispering in the blonde's ear. "You can see the second one. However, you'll have to wait until the next time we have time to ourselves to see the last one," she gently nibbled on her girlfriend's ear. JJ threw her head back and moaned softly, annoyed at how much of a tease she was being. Deep down though, she was enjoying it.
"I hate you, Emily," she declared as Emily skipped back to their room with a giggle. She followed her girlfriend, taking another seat on the bed. "Can I at least watch you get dressed?" She pouted slightly. The brunette laughed softly, nodding.
JJ watched as her girlfriend got ready for the night ahead of them. She didn't mind just watching, Emily was so beautiful and was just good to even look at. This, however, didn't stop Emily from continuing the teasing by shifting the dress down her body a little bit too provactively, and maybe running her hands down her body a little bit more than necessary.
The dress she was wearing was beautiful within itself. It was a lacy red dress with the sleeves trailing down her arms and coming to a puffy exit. She had on a pair of nice black pantyhose and heavy boots that gave her an extra few inches. On her arms were a couple gold bracelets, as well as another one around her neck. She had curled her hair so it fit loosely around her neck and JJ realized just how much she felt for Emily. Of course she knew she loved her, but it was dawning on her just how much.
"I have a gift for you, Em." JJ said softly, looking at the brunette who had taken a seat next to her with a smile. "And don't say, "oh, JJ, you didn't have to, I don't need anything, I have everything, blah blah bullshit."" JJ grinned, reaching under the bed to pull out a neatly wrapped small box. Emily looked at her with wide eyes then the gift- freezing a bit. She had never gotten a gift in this way before- intimate. Of course her friends had given her gifts, but JJ… she swallowed heavily, grabbing it from her girlfriend and slowly playing with the edges to neatly open it. She noted how familiar the small white box looked, and lifted the lid, beginning to laugh as she observed the necklace residing inside. "What? What is it? Tell me you don't already have one," JJ watched fearfully.
"JJ," Emily broke her own laughter to say, taking a moment to contain herself. "I got you this exact same thing with my initial instead." The brunette looked at the blonde who had begun laughing as well, lifting the necklace out. It was a small charm necklace with a little charm that held a J. She adored the fact that JJ had gotten it for her, but also that they had the same idea for what to get.
The blonde leaned forward in the bed to capture the brunette's lips while laughing, not able to believe they had gotten the same. It was funny, but deep down… it made JJ wonder if it was some sort of sign from the world.
--
The morning went by fairly quickly- after they shared their gifts they helped one another put on the necklaces with wide smiles. Emily, just as JJ had done, watched her girlfriend get ready for the party (even the boring part where she put on her makeup. She believed she didn't need it, but wouldn't stop it either.) and was in awe of how beautiful the blonde was by the end of it. She was wearing a sequiny mid-length dress with a pair of simple red pumps. She was just as beautiful as always.
At some point, the two had managed to climb in the car and begin driving to their destination. Emily called Spencer and wished him a happy Christmas as well as the rest of their friends, realizing how good her life was. She was heading to her girlfriend's mom's house for a christmas party, she had the best friend she could ask for, and a great group of friends. However, it didn't stop her heart from panging in her chest when she thought of her own mother. She supposed she could shoot her a quick text to wish her happy holidays, but she knew she shouldn't. She was too angry in the moment, and supposed the feeling was probably returned- although it was only because she wasn't the perfect daughter that the ambassador craved. JJ noticed Emily getting lost in her thoughts and leaned to the side to connect their hands, tossing her a soft smile. JJ was sad for her girlfriend that she didn't get to spend the holidays with her own family, but knew Emily had adjusted to it over the years. The blonde just hoped her family was adequate enough.
"Listen, you're sure this is ok, right?" Emily said as they arove in JJ's hometown, noticing the small shops lining the streets and the carolers singing outside one of the many churches.
"Shit, I probably should have asked beforehand." JJ teased, looking at Emily who had turned to her in fear. "I'm just kidding, babe. My mom was the one who invited you, everyone wants to meet the girl that has "made me the happiest my mom has ever seen me." They don't care that you are a girl, if that's what you are getting at. My mom likes you. I promise." She affirmed, nodding her head at the girl as she focused her eyes on the road ahead of her.
"Fuck you, JJ." Emily scoffed, although the corners of her lips were turned up ever so slightly. "I'm glad I'm coming, though."
The blonde turned to look at her for a moment, smiling at her with wide eyes. "I'm glad you are coming, too."
--
The two approached the small green door on the big farmhouse, holding a bag of gifts and the other holding a small tray of brownies. Emily, however, wasn't paying attention to the door and was instead focused on the vast farmland surrounding them. "I can't believe you lived on a fucking farm." She laughed softly, using her free arm to wrap it around JJ's shoulder, the blonde scooching closer due to the cold breeze flowing through them.
After a moment of waiting after knocking, the door flew open to reveal Sandy and another blonde male who looked eerily like JJ. "Jennifer!" Sandy exclaimed, pulling her daughter into a hug, forcing the boy next to her to take the tray of brownies. "And Emily, of course!" She did the same to the brunette, who hesitated for a moment before hugging back. She hadn't gotten used to the affection from this family quite yet.
JJ stepped inside the warm house, looking around for her family. She noted mostly familiar faces, but observed there were a couple strangers as well. However, she turned to her brother and pulled him into a hug. "Henry!" She grinned, patting him on the back. The boy hugged her back, lifting her up and spinning her around.
Emily had heard of this boy, but never had seen a face to put the name to. His name made sense, as all of theirs did. Henry turned to the brunette and flashed her a small, popping out his hand for a shake. "Henry Jareau. Nice to meet ya. I've heard quite a bit about you from recent texts from this one." He winked at the brunette as she shook his hand back, returning the smile.
"Emily Prentiss." She said simply, retracting her hand and putting it into the pocket of the jacket she was wearing. There was a lot of commotion throughout the house, mostly from the kitchen where Emily assumed they were getting ready for dinner. However, throughout the house she could also hear children running around and shouting every so often.
"I'm going to go look for my nieces." The blonde nodded and stepped away from Henry and Emily, leaving the brunette. She began to panic for a moment, realizing she was being left alone and watched as Henry followed his sister with a wide grin. Sandy had made her way back to the kitchen, where Emily hesitantly walked. She noticed a place where she could hang up her jacket and slowly slid it off her body, hanging it up.
The brunette looked around the kitchen, taking in the sight in front of her. Sandy was near the oven, scolding a random teen girl for not having started the pie cooking yet, a few adults sipping off drinks in the corner. She wished she had alcohol surging through her veins at the moment, perhaps she would be able to talk to new people if so. Realistically, she knew she would be nervous with or without it, but it might possibly help.
She sighed softly, taking a seat at the table where a few people were conversating. "You must be JJ's girlfriend, right?" a voice broke through Emily's thoughts, and she immediately turned to the culprit. It was a girl with slightly curly hair and a thin plaid dress.
"Yes, that's me." She confirmed, nodding slightly.
"I'm so glad to meet you. I'm proud of you for being you. What are your pronouns?" The brunette cocked an eyebrow, turning her head ever so slightly. Pronouns?
"Um, what?" She said softly, curious as to what exactly the girl meant.
"Oh, I just mean what your pronouns are- she/her, he/him, they/them, neo?" The girl continued, looking at the confused brunette. She assumed that she would know what she meant, but apparently not.
"Um…. she/her." The brunette said quietly, a small blush crawling on her cheeks. She had never questioned it nor had been asked it before. "Sorry, I don't, I'm not very good with this stuff. Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I'm educated," she smiled sheepishly. The curly haired girl paused for a moment before rising from her seat and walking away from the brunette. Emily burrowed her face in her hands. How had she already made a fool of herself?
She always did this. She always said something stupid to embarrass herself. She shook her head, standing up from the table and making her way back to the coat rack, sliding it on her body. She already needed fresh air and walked outside, taking a seat on the bench on the porch. What she hadn't realized was that Sandy was watching her leave the room and had quickly left her own conversation to follow the brunette.
Slowly, the door opened after Emily had already gotten comfortable with a cigarette between her lips and her lips pulled up to her chest. "Emily?" The older woman said softly, slipping on her own jacket. She took a seat next to Emily and watched as the brunette panicked, going to set out her cigarette. "It's okay. Have an extra?" Emily paused, but opened her pack and gave her one, setting it with her own lighter. "Are you okay?" Sandy asked before taking a puff off her cigarette.
"Haha yeah, I'm fine." The brunette said softly, noting the way the snow fell so naturally in the unlit world.
"Did your family have a lot of christmas parties when you were a kid?" Sandy asked, turning to look at Emily who slowly looked at her.
"If by parties, you mean balls that were meant to just drink, gossip and raise money- then yes. If you mean stuff like this- family giving gifts, dinner, mistletoe, then no." She sighed softly, taking another puff. She enjoyed the way it burned her lungs in the best way possible.
"This must be a lot for you, then?"
Emily paused for a moment, scanning the older woman's expression. She couldn't read it very well and hesitated to tell her the truth, but arrived on it nonetheless. "It's strange seeing how happy everyone there is. There was always drama at the ambassador's balls and me trapped away in my room listening to some stupid shit - oh, I'm sorry. I don't mean to be vulgar." She laughed softly.
Sandy scooted closer to her, wrapping an arm around her. Emily paused for a moment, but eventually leaned into the motherly touch. She had never experienced something like this from her own mother, it was a bit of a strange experience. However, she enjoyed it nonetheless and fought the tears forming in her eyes.
"You can curse all you fucking want, " Sandy joked, nudging her slightly. "Beside the jokes, Emily, I understand how strange this must be for you. Is there anything I can do to make it easier for you, so you want to come back?"
Emily weighed her options, unsure of whether she should continue her talk of feelings or push the woman away. Realistically, she wanted someone that represented a mother and knew that pushing her away was not the way to achieve that. "It's only strange because I never had a family. It was just my mother, father until I was 7, and I. Of course we had plenty of maids and cooks for our travels, but it's not the same as family. I don't know my aunts, uncles, I'm not even sure if I have grandparents. You guys are all so close, and I just.. I don't want to intrude."
At this point, JJ had been listening in at the door. After finding her niece she played with her for a moment before going to find her girlfriend. She knew she would most likely be unsure of who to talk to and wanted to help her out, she didn't expect to find out that her and her mother had run outside to talk for about 15 minutes now. She was glad that her mother was there so much for her girlfriend, but Emily hadn't even shared these things with her and she was a bit confused as well as hurt. Was she scared to tell her things?
"Oh, Emily," the older woman pushed a fallen piece of hair out of Emily's eyes and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "I'm so sorry you never got to understand the beauty of family. I want you to know that you now have a place in ours. However you want that to look. I already love you, and I have seen you change my daughter. I want you to be in our family forever. You aren't intruding, we all want you here. I know it may not seem that way because of Jessica, but she's just a bit… strange." She chuckled softly, causing the crying brunette to crack a smile. "We are here for you, Emily."
The blonde pushed the door open, looking at her girlfriend and mother. "Everything okay, guys?" Emily immediately brightened up seeing JJ, and stood up from the bench. Sandy looked over at her daughter and nodded briefly. She slowly pushed herself up from the bench with the help of the brunette and gave her hand one last squeeze before heading back into the house.
JJ walked over to Emily and wiped one of the stray tears away, furrowing her eyebrows. "Are you okay, Emmy?" The brunette smiled brightly at her girlfriend and leaned forward to place a kiss on her lips, wrapping a hand around the back of JJ's neck.
"I'm perfect, JJ. Now come on, let's go back inside. You have to introduce me to everyone."
--
The group of people were sat around the table, digging into the literal feast consuming the middle of the space. There were all sorts of foods- a large turkey, mashed potatoes, veggie stew, green beans, some sort of berry juice, mac and cheese. Emily chuckled a bit, thinking of just how white they all seemed. Emily wasn't exactly non-white, but she had certainly grown up with more culture than her girlfriend. She would have to teach her her own tricks she had learned.
Despite this, Emily wasn't complaining as she shoveled food into her mouth. JJ refused to stop for McDonalds on their way, and she was absolutely starving. She took a big bite of her mashed potatoes before an older man across the table aimed a question at her. "So, Emily, you go to school with JJ? Are you excited to graduate?"
The question caused Emily to freeze once again. Their family was genuinely interested in other people outside of themselves? She had never experienced another family wanting to get to know her- she didn't have friends growing up and those she had in her youth their families despised what she represented. "Oh, um, yes sir, I'm excited. I'm a bit nervous about what to do after, although I'm thinking of going to graduate school for international affairs."
The older man nodded, the brunette observing that it appeared there were conversations beside the one she was currently speaking in. It was strange- if there was a dinner with the Ambassador only one person was allowed to speak at once. Although it was a bit overwhelming, Emily also found it nice. It made it clear that he was genuinely interested in her. "Are you trying to follow in your mother's footsteps then? Sandy told us about your mother being an Ambassador."
It made both JJ and Emily choke on their current bite but Emily quickly swallowed her interruption with a cough and sent him a slight smile. "No, sir. I want to go into foreign affairs analyzing- possibly in domestic security. However, I'm also considering going into forensic psychology. I'm taking a gap year nonetheless to travel," her gaze flicked over to JJ and they both smiled slightly.
The older man grinned at their interaction. "Glad to hear you have a plan. I'm Robert, by the way, JJ's grandfather and Sandy's father. I'm the cool one," he winked, leaning forward to shake Emily's hand.
--
Throughout the night, there were all kinds of good conversations with both Emily and JJ's family, but also between Emily and JJ. It wasn't only during dinner, there was a time during gift opening that they were also able to cut in on a small conversation about JJ's family. She told Emily all about who everyone was and her favorite memory with each, at least those she knew. There was a couple she didn't, but it didn't bother her too much, neither her nor Emily. It was reassuring that Emily wasn't the only one who didn't know people, especially her own girlfriend.
Emily was alarmed that multiple people had gotten her gifts as well, especially Sandy and Jeremy (JJ's dad, who she had noted didn't speak much. She assumed she wouldn't get along too well with him after hearing how he had left them for a couple years after Ros' death. However, she had also gotten him a gift as well as Sandy.) She was in awe that people in JJ's family genuinely seemed to care about her despite barely knowing anything about her and surely hoped the two of them worked out so she could come back year after year. In the short time she had met and known them, she loved each and every one of them- but especially Sandy.
Sometime around midnight, the people who didn't have their own room within the house left the party with loud goodbyes and hugs, including JJ's grandfather who gave both his granddaughter and Emily big hugs. It left Emily a bit alarmed, she hadn't felt the affection of a grandparent ever in her life. She now understood why some people loved old people so much, some of them were the sweetest people to exist. Emily smiled as JJ led her to her childhood room and examined it, taking note of all of the cheesy things.
A picture of her sister was perched up on JJ's side table, and Emily took in her beauty. She was a beautiful young girl and the brunette knew she would have loved her- both from her energy in the photo of her hugging JJ, but also from what she had heard from her girlfriend. Sadly, that's the only place she got info from about her. The rest of them refused to even speak of the girl and Emily could tell that bugged JJ a bit, but she never spoke up about it either.
However, that wasn't the only decoration in the blonde's room and Emily laughed. It was very clear that JJ wasn't straight just from the way her room appeared- there was quite a bit too many rainbows ("I didn't know what it meant, I just liked them!"), pictures of soccer players looking a bit too fine for their own good ("You can't check them out, I only could when I was 13 and not dating anyone!" "I'm not, I swear," "Whatever, liar."), and even a picture of only Kristen Stewart in Twilight, Robert covered up by another picture.
"Seriously, Jayje? You were still in denial even after this?" Emily scoffed, teasing the blonde whose face was bright red.
"Listen, it's not like the town I grew up in was the greatest about this stuff…" She said softly, smiling as she buried her face in her hands to try and stop the blush continuing to bloom all over her face.
"Tell me more about it." The brunette took a seat in the window, making room for the blonde to crawl in the space between her legs. JJ slowly crawled over and crawled in between them, wrapping her arms around Emily's waist and burying her face in the girl's chest. Emily noted her behavior and let her take her time in talking about her childhood.
After a couple minutes of silence and Emily watching the snowfall on the fields surrounding JJ's house, JJ finally spoke up. "My family was obviously very accepting- we were religious, but we weren't RELIGIOUS. We just prayed sometimes, and went to church on Easter. After Ros' death, we stopped with all of that even." JJ shrugged slightly, sitting up in front of the blonde, noticing that the brunette's attention was set solely on her. "But the town was different. I basically went to a Catholic school where we were taught homosexuality was a sin and didn't truly exist but was built on feelings from 'Satan', and there was only one gay person that I knew of in the entire place. His name was Michael. I can't even.. I can't even explain how he was treated, Emily. I saw the way they treated him, and I thought it was okay. I… I ignored the way Samantha William's ass made me feel and turned it into anger towards him and towards anyone like that for years. You know that," she chuckled slightly. "Not that I'm excusing my behavior at all, but it's not like I just thought of it on my own." She said softly, leaning forward to kiss Emily's cheek.
The brunette looked at her, unsure of what to say. However, she realized she should probably ensure the blonde it was okay. "You know exactly how my mom acted, I understand being… manipulated? That's not the right word, but…. Anyway, I understand what it's like to feel like you have to feel a certain way. I never got far with that, but all I wanted was to win my mom over. That's why I slept with Ian, and I got pregnant, and had to get an abortion. Somehow, my mom had less of a reaction to that than when I came out for sure. You would think…" She paused, looking at the blonde who was listening. "Anyway, I have forgiven you. And I'm sure Michael has too. I knew one too, a Michael, I mean. He helped me in so many ways."
"Wait, how old were you? It was in Italy right?" JJ tilted her head.
"Yeah?" Emily said softly, confused.
"Michael moved to Italy when he was 14 to live with his grandma to get away from our town. I wonder if it's the same guy." The blonde leaned forward and connected their hands, raising Emily's to press her lips to her palm.
The brunette chuckled. "That would be crazy. Michael was friends with Matthew and I, I hope he's alright after Matthew's death last year. I haven't thought about that kid in years, geez." She pondered for a moment, but eventually pulled JJ into a hug. "Anyway, I'm glad you had a good family, though." The blonde buried her face in Emily's neck, gently placing a kiss there.
"I am too, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them. Even if they didn't treat me the greatest as a teen, they still were there for me through everything and I am so grateful for them. I hope you get to see them plenty of more times so they can be there for you as well,"
Emily nodded, shifting so she leaned back against a wall next to the window. "I hope so, too. " She flashed her girlfriend a smile and pulled her in closer, turning her gaze to outside the window. "A month ago I never would have expected my life to look like this- your crazy ass being with me, your beautiful family." Hearing how Emily described her caused JJ to playfully smack her, but the two of them laughed nonetheless.
"I never expected it either. I hope it stays this way. I know things have been rocky with us so far, but," she paused for a moment, pulling away to look at Emily who was staring out the window at the snow and was a bit overwhelmed at the way her heart swelled in her chest seeing the way Emily sat so naturally looking at the beauty of the world and realized all she wanted was to do this for the rest of her life- watch the snow fall outside of a big house after spending a life of traveling together. There was nothing more in this moment that she wanted more than to grow old with this beautiful girl. "I want us to last." She whispered, laying back down on the brunette.
Emily kissed the top of JJ's hair, consuming the way it smelled. It smelled briefly of the turkey they had for dinner, but also of the cinnamon candle lit in the corner of JJ's room near her bed. She loved everything about the blonde- absolutely everything. She also wanted them to last as the blonde had said. Seeing JJ with her family in her natural, comfortable state only confirmed that. Watching JJ laugh while playing with the children of the family made Emily wonder if maybe she did want kids someday. Kissing JJ under the mistletoe when no one else was in the living room, getting caught by her mother who playfully scolded them, this is what she wanted. Perhaps she was too young to know such a thing, but she was sure of it at that moment. She wanted to build a life with JJ.
She wrapped her arms more tightly around her girlfriend, both of them silent as they turned to look at one another. "I love you, Jennifer Jareau." Emily said softly, leaning forward to consume JJ's lips against her own.
JJ smiled against her touch and kissed her back, pulling her even closer by a hand around the back of her neck. "And I you, Emily Prentiss."