Today is my birthday!
Sandy reacted to the newest turn of events before Clifford even had a chance.
Faster than she knew was possible for herself, she exited Walsh's office and scanned the bullpen for any sign of JJ's people. They couldn't have all gone.
Finally, she spotted the war room and made straight for it, stopping just short of going in—she had no desire to see anything that she would want to erase from her brain. Watching her child collapse was already enough. Drawing this close to the door would do.
She knocked on the open door and was promptly greeted by Spencer, Rossi, Penelope, and Captain Walsh.
"What's wrong?" Spencer asked upon seeing the stricken expression on Sandy's face. "Is JJ okay?"
Sandy shook her head. "Not exactly. Clifford and I were fighting, and Jenny didn't handle the stress well."
"Oh, no."
Rossi arched an eyebrow. "Did she collapse?"
"Yes."
"But where are Will and Emily?" blurted Penelope.
"They're looking after her." Sandy looked around at the people assembled in front of her. "Could one of you call for an ambulance?"
Walsh pulled out a walkie-talkie clipped to her belt. "I've got this. All of you go."
Sandy hurried away with Spencer, Rossi, and Penelope on her heels. It was almost chaotic when they returned.
Clifford was now experiencing all kinds of guilt about being a source of JJ's distress. All he wanted was to make it up to her. But Will was running interference. Reading his wife's mood and body language, the lieutenant was working to keep his father-in-law at bay. He felt it wouldn't be good idea for Clifford to get any closer.
At this point, JJ was awake and sitting up, but she was leaning heavily against Emily as she gathered her bearings again. Her father's insistent tones were hindering the recovery process. Emily remained quiet and patient as she held her partner. She deserved a stable anchor in all this.
Rossi stepped forward and physically steered Clifford away from Will.
"Come on, Mister Jareau." he said sternly. "Come on."
"But my daughter isn't well—I need to make sure she's okay!"
Rossi continued, like the good man in the storm that he was. "I understand. There's nothing more that you can do here, but JJ will be getting the help she needs."
Clifford grew bewildered. "Then what should I do?"
"One step at a time—let's go find your family."
Clifford just nodded and let Rossi steer him out of the room altogether.
Their departure left the others to give Emily and JJ a wide berth. Things were now at somewhat of a critical juncture.
"Hey, Jayje. Hey in there." Emily patted her friend's cheek when she saw her drifting off. "Clifford left the room."
"Good." JJ huffed. "I don't want to see him for awhile."
"Understandable. I'm going to need you to sit up now, okay?"
JJ nodded as Emily helped her into a sitting position; she couldn't even say anything because her heart was beating so fast. This was becoming a hell of a day.
Her breathing techniques were failing her. This was all so much. And too real.
Emily grew more concerned. "Jennifer, you're looking a little green."
"I'm feeling it." JJ admitted.
"Are you going to vomit?"
"No, but I…"
JJ fainted again before she could get the rest of her thought out.
Everything was a flurry of activity after that.
Because Will was afraid, he requested that Emily join them in the ambulance for the ride to the hospital. But she wouldn't have denied him.
Rossi promised to hold down the fort. Spencer got to work with contacting their teams out in the field. Penelope could even be seen telling Sandy that she was going to arrange for her and the others to get to the hospital. Emily was proud of them. Now she could focus on JJ without anything else hanging over her head for awhile.
"Hey."
Emily found Will in a chair beside JJ's bed, from where she'd left him to take a phone call. JJ was asleep. The nurses had advised to let her sleep the shock off so she could wake up naturally. Will and Emily agreed that this was a good idea.
"How's JJ doing? Was she talking in her sleep again?"
Emily gestured to how the LaMontagnes were holding hands, even JJ so deep in slumber.
"She was crying." Will sighed pitifully. "She didn't stop until I held her hand."
"Wow." Emily remarked. "So she hasn't woken up at all yet?"
"No."
"Then she doesn't know about…?"
Will shook his head. "Not yet."
Emily gave her friend a pat on the shoulder. "How are you?"
"Extremely delighted. I'm also pinching myself because we even got a little more than we bargained for…"
"But…?"
Will exhaled noisily. "A hell of a lot has happened since JJ and I left the house today."
"I believe it." Emily sympathized. "Will, if you and JJ ever need anything, you can count on me."
"Thank you, Emily. It's already a big relief to me knowing that someone who JJ has always been in sync with is the one out in the field with her, protecting her and fighting crime."
Emily beamed. "Meeting JJ is one of the best things that has ever happened to me in my life."
Will smiled, too, but now seemed to be thinking his words through meticulously. Emily saw the man's hesitation a mile off.
"You can tell me anything, Will." she said gently. "I won't be offended."
"If I'd never entered the picture, would you have chosen JJ?"
Emily understood exactly what he meant. "Yes. I've always thought that JJ and I were married in a previous life, but if she had ever been seriously interested in this one, I would have chosen her. Why do you ask?"
Will shrugged. "It's just something that I realized, ever since you skipped out your job in the U.K. without a second thought to come save JJ when she was abducted."
"I would do it again if I had to. I would even take the hit for JJ on any day of the week if it meant she'd be able to come home to you." Emily hugged Will. "I'll be standing by that, every day until it is my time."
Will felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "May I ask you something else?"
"Go for it."
"If anything ever happens to me, would you look after my family?"
Emily didn't have to think about this. "Yes."
Relief was now even more apparent in Will's voice. "Thank you again—I just realized that neither of my sons have ever known life without you."
Emily's heart turned over when as realized that Will was right. Even when she'd been away in London, she had Skyped with JJ so often that Henry had grown up in front of her on the screen. She'd also been told of Michael and introduced to him through video calls. Henry had even once used Skype to ask a question concerning girls because he had been too embarrassed to ask him parents. Emily really was a fixture in the lives of her favorite family.
JJ finally began to stir.
She'd been dreaming vividly of being pregnant, but the dreams were soon crashed by memories of what had happened at the precinct. This jolted her awake.
She even gasped.
"Easy, darlin'. Easy." Will sat with JJ and held his hand to her heart. "Just breathe. "You've got this."
JJ focused on Will's touch, and she was calm enough, she grew aware of her surroundings. Her itchy faux-cloth gown. Her too-small bed. The medical equipment she was hooked up to. The plastic bracelet she'd been tagged with. Even the humming of the overhead lights. She was in the hospital. Yuck.
She turned to her husband. "Babe, what happened?"
Will kissed JJ's cheek. "What's the last thing you remember?"
"My parents were at the precinct, practically ready to kill each other because of an argument." JJ said in surprise. "That was real?"
"Oh, yes. Anything else you remember?"
"Collapsing, and Emily taking care of me."
"That was also real." Will confirmed. "In fact, she came over with us in the ambulance."
JJ's heart jumped and she looked around. Emily was watching from a few feet away. Her face was a mixture of joy and relief.
JJ beckoned to her. "Please come here. I need to hug you."
Emily had never been so happy to hold JJ. This was her dearest friend in the universe.
When she was in JJ's embrace, it was as if time had frozen. Emily knew JJ was just as fond of her.
As they pulled apart, the brunette said, "I'm so glad that you're doing better."
JJ smiled bashfully at her. "Thanks for looking after me."
"I will always have your back."
Beside them, Will opened his mouth to speak—he wanted to inform JJ of the news that she needed to be delivered of—but his ringing phone cut him off.
"Who's calling?" JJ wanted know.
Will checked his phone screen. "Primrose. Can I give her an update on you?"
"Yes, please. Will you call Dave, too?"
"You bet, cher." he kissed her on the lips this time. "I'll be right back."
Emily interjected, "Will, what about…?"
He winked at his friend. "You tell her."
Before Emily could protest at the responsibility that she'd been given, Will was already out in the hallway and closing the door behind him. JJ shot her a deadpanned look.
"Tell me what?" she pressed.
"Is everything coming back?" Emily asked.
"Yes."
"Will suggested to your EMT during the ride that you might be pregnant. You are."
JJ's heart did a series of loops that she'd never felt before because she was just so surprised. Everything repeated when she saw that Emily was giving her her trademark million-dollar megawatt smile.
"Okay, what?" JJ asked. "Is there something else?"
Emily nodded. "Mhm. You're carrying twins."
JJ's heart turned its biggest loop yet.
"Oh, my goodness." she rubbed her middle with both hands as she processed this new piece of information. "Oh, my goodness."
Emily spoke fast, to keep her partner from falling down a rabbit hole. "I saw your babies on the ultrasound monitor in the ambulance. Will did, too."
"How did he react?"
"Will cried because he incredibly happy."
"Sounds just like him." JJ leaned back on the bed. "We weren't planning on Henry, although the second baby was planned for—he or she just went to Heaven too soon. Michael is our sweet rainbow. Neither of us thought he'd happen, and we almost gave up, but he happened. He's the love that we didn't know that we were even missing until he was here."
"Your sons are precious people." Emily said softly. "I adore them."
JJ pulled back her hospital gown to have a look at her middle. It was regularly very flat because she was a fitness buff who worked out for fun, but now she definitely noticed that there was a curve to it. Hers and Will's newest children were in there. JJ just hadn't been paying too much attention to her body lately because she'd been either occupied with caring for her sick children, or else being the one laid up in bed, ill. Perhaps being pregnant was her new normal now.
JJ looked to Emily again. "Do you have any sonogram printouts?"
"No, I'm afraid." Emily admitted. "The machine on the ambulance didn't have a printer unit. I can promise you, though, that the babies are very healthy."
"Thank heavens…"
Her words trailed off as she wrinkled her nose and touched a hand to the scar from her electrocution wound. That patch of skin had never fully healed, Emily saw, and was a small knick of raised skin. It was quite rough to the touch.
"Are you okay?" Emily queried cautiously.
JJ nodded. "It's nothing—the scar just flares up when I get cold."
"Let's keep you warm." Emily found a blanket in the closet and spread it over her partner. "How's that?"
"Cozy. Thanks, Em." JJ said sincerely. "Now I'm dreading the scar flaring up when I get stretch marks."
"I don't know anything about that, but I've learned over the years that cocoa butter works wonders on old scars. I still use it when mine flare up."
JJ smiled to herself as she remembered back to Kate Callahan recommending cocoa butter when it came to soothing stitches. Acquiring the substance was now on her to-do list.
"Thanks for the advice. Does it bother you that I'm talking about pregnancy stuff?"
"No. I take us talking about it as a sign of how close we are."
"Sometimes I wonder if we were ever married in another life." JJ said in a tone of musing. "Does that sound weird?"
"Not to me, because I've always thought the same thing. Will actually just asked me something similar to this train of thought."
"Oh, really? What was it?"
"He asked me if I would have chosen you, had he never come into the picture."
If anything, JJ hadn't been expecting this, but she remained curious about the answer. "What did you tell him?"
"I would have, if you showed any interest. That's what I said." Emily responded. "You've always had a piece of my heart, JJ."
"Just like you've always had a piece of mine." she returned. "I think we're bonded for life now, after all we've been through over. the years. What do you think?"
"I agree. For the record, I wouldn't have chosen anyone else but you if life had turned out differently." JJ gave Emily's hand a gentle squeeze. "Would you look after Will and the kids if anything ever happened to me?"
For the umpteenth time, Emily's heart did a cartwheel. Both LaMontagnes had asked her the same thing in confidence without realizing it.
They really did love her.
"I would do anything for you, Will, and the kids. Your family has always been my family."
Overwhelmed with gratitude, JJ could only hug Emily.
Will returned to the room to find to find them sitting together in a very contented silence. They also seemed to be sharing the same knowing look.
"Okay, what?" the lieutenant said in dejection. "I was gone hardly ten minutes."
JJ beckoned to her husband. "Come here. Emily told me about the babies."
Will kissed JJ soundly. He was both relieved that she was healthy, and as overjoyed as she was that they were going to be parents again. Their lives together were at the best they'd ever been.
Emily suddenly felt like she should leave, so as to let her friends have time to themselves. That seemed to be the wisest course of action.
Her thoughts paused when she saw that Will was regarding her and JJ both.
"I've known for ages that you two are as thick as thieves, and that you care for each other, but seriously—what happened while I was out in the hallway?"
"JJ can tell you later." Emily said. "What I want to know is just how long you've known that your wife and I have been close."
"Since we all first met in New Orleans. I just didn't realize the full gravity until Paris, but it was the events of the abduction that sealed it for me."
Both women just gaped at him. Neither of them had ever heard anything like this from Will before.
Emily cried, "You know about Paris?"
"Only because JJ would talk about it in her sleep after the world thought you were dead. I put the pieces together after that, but never said anything, so as to do my part in keeping you safe. It worked."
How Emily didn't turn to mush on the spot, she didn't know. She would love Will and JJ for the rest of her days.
"I don't know what to say, other than thank you, Will." she looked from one LaMontagne to the other. "I owe both of you my life."
JJ rubbed Emily's hands. She wasn't sure how else to convey her thanks beyond saying thank you once more.
Will spoke again, speaking to Emily first. "I called Dave, and said to tell you that your main concern should be helping JJ get back on her feet. All else can wait because he has things under control."
"Copy that." Emily confirmed.
"And what did Primrose tell you?"
"That she sends you wishes for a speedy recovery, and according to Walsh, I have a half-hour before I have to put my cop hat back on."
"Okay. Have you seen my doctor in the last ten minutes, by chance?"
"Yes. She'll be here in a minute."
"Good." JJ glided her hands over her middle again as she let out a gusty sigh. "It feels weird to say this, but do you know if my parents, Hannah, and the rest of the Jareaus are here?"
Will bobbed his head. "They're all in the waiting room, last I heard. Olivia is even still conked out in August's arms."
JJ breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I can't imagine how she is feeling right now; sleeping will help her have a recharge. Maybe I should see if we can get a blanket for her…"
"Look at you—always thinking of others."
The LaMontagnes kissed again.
Emily stood. It was time she made an exit.
"Where are you going?" Will asked her.
"To talk to everyone," Emily responded, although she really wanted to make sure that Sandy and Clifford hadn't hurt each other.
"Oh, stay for the ultrasound!" JJ begged. "We would love for Aunt Emily to see the babies again!"
Will tacked on, "You've been taking care of JJ today since she hit the floor, but you've been part of our family for a very long time. Stay. We want you to."
For what felt like the dozenth time that hour, Emily's heart filled with more affection than ever for the LaMontagnes. They were truly her family.
"Okay." Emily said in a chair beside the bed. "Thank you for the invitation."
JJ smiled at her. "Thank you for staying."
btw, I added an opening quote to the first chapter because I forgot to put one in when I started LOL silly me!