You can tell our friends the kids' names, but let's keep middle names to ourselves for now ;)
Deal. You & Henry rest up xo
XO
This was the brief texting exchange JJ had with Emily on the ride to the Hotchners' house, and because Lars the chauffeur was both very professional and just a stand-up guy in general, he saw JJ to the door and even waited until Haley greeted her at the door and let her in to go back to the car and leave.
"Who was that just now?" Haley asked as she helped JJ put her things away. "And here—I'll take the Tupperware."
Depositing the empty containers she'd bought into Haley's outstretched hands, JJ answered, "That was Lars Björkman, the Prentiss family chauffeur; he's really cool. Is Penelope here yet?"
"No, but come on." Haley pointed with an elbow in the general direction of the living room. "Charlotte and Quinaln are probably in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on the food, but Cho is at the table now."
Haley led JJ from the front door over to the dining room table, inviting her to sit at the table while she went back to the kitchen.
Cho was at the dining table, reading a story on her iPad.
She was a stay-at-home mother, and she loved it because after her own crazy life experiences—even before meeting Archer—all she'd wanted was to be a wife and a mother. She had also been into such wealth in Japan that she'd literally never had to work a day in her life because she could afford it. At least she was very normal and down-to-earth.
Cho Kanagawa–Jareau was an extremely beautiful woman with the looks of a movie star and a beautiful heart full of gold. She was also a qualified genius with an IQ in the range of Spencer's, but she didn't flaunt it, so nobody knew unless she told or someone asked.
JJ had been ten the first time Archer had brought Cho home to their house in Pennsylvania to meet the family, but she'd been completely enamored with her from the first night. The feeling skyrocketed later that day when Archer pulled her aside to tell her that he was going to propose to Cho and that he needed her help to do it.
Needless to say, JJ and Cho had been close ever since, and it was twenty years later.
"How are you doing?" JJ asked her sister-in-law as she sat in a chair beside her.
Cho put her tablet in lock-screen mode and sat back in her chair. "Exhausted, as big as a house, and ready for my boys to join us already. Tomorrow makes eight months, you know. The babies are very cozy even though mommy wants to just evict them."
"So my nephews can come any time, then?"
"Any time after tomorrow."
Today was the thirteenth. "What's happening tomorrow?"
"Archer said I could tell you since we're hanging out right now, but at this very moment, Toshio and Sakura are flying in from Tokyo. They'll be here tomorrow morning."
JJ lit up—Toshio and Sakura were Cho's parents, and she'd known them for almost as long as she'd known Cho. "I can't want to see to see them and introduce them to Emily! They'll even be here when our families meet!"
"I told them about that—and not to worry, Elizabeth and Sandy both know, too. Everyone is excited."
JJ smiled. "May I ask you something, Cho?"
"Of course, Jenny."
"Do the twins hiccup a lot? Hiccups are what kept Emily home tonight."
Cho glided her hands over her middle as she felt her sons move to the best of their ability in what was left of the space that was housing them. "Your nephews get the hiccups like nothing else just before bed. I hate it, Archer helps me through it because it happens like clockwork, and Kaida thinks it's hilarious. How is it for Emily?"
"She says the babies kick and hiccup almost around the clock. It wears her out often."
"And today was a bad day?"
"Four seperate hiccuping jags today, and number four was beginning just as I was leaving to come here."
"Yikes. Kaida was very pleasant with me when I carried her, but her brothers are like hellions—oh, there they go…"
Cho sighed and started moving her hands over her middle methodically as she tracked her sons' movements. She didn't understand how they kept kicking and elbowing her when they barely had room to move anymore.
At the same time that this was happening, the doorbell rang and Haley came hurrying out from the kitchen as fast as her own big, pregnant middle would allow. Her other friends were just behind her.
"I will answer that and let Penelope in. You two have some fun with Charlotte and Quinlan."
The twins were physically identical, both with pale skin and lean, athletic builds, chocolate-brown hair, and they even had freckles across the bridges of their noses. They also both stood above average height and had green eyes that almost shone bright like orbs into the soul. So as to show off their personalities and tell themselves apart, Charlotte dressed in a preppy style and had her hair styled into a side braid, while Quinlan preferred the artsy look and kept her hair short. The girls were two of a kind, but still managed to maintain their individuality, and JJ like that immediately. It also made her wonder if Alexis and Olivia were going to be like that when they were older.
Cho had already become acquainted with them, but when they entered and laid out the food they'd made for dinner, she and JJ stood, nonetheless.
"Charlotte, Quinlan, this is one of Haley's and Aaron's friends—and my sister-in-law—Jennifer Jareau."
"Please call me JJ." she said as she shook hands with them.
"Then please call us Charlie and Q. Those are the names we've gone by for as long as we can remember." Charlotte chirped. "Are you one of Aaron's agents from the BAU?"
"Yes, and I have been, ever since I graduated from the Academy. I took care of Polly after she was rescued, but my girlfriend, Emily, took care of her when she was—oof!"
Delighted with what JJ was telling them, Charlotte and Quinlan hugged her and thanked her.
Cho was politely confused. "What's happening?"
"We were in New York this week," JJ explained after she let the twins go. "And to make a long story short, the twins' niece, Polly, was one of a group of kids who were abducted. The bad guys were put away and all the kids were brought back to their families, including Polly. We met some of her family, but Charlie and Q weren't even in town."
"I'm glad the story ended well, but," Cho looked at the two younger women. "Where were you two when everything was happening back home?"
With a very straight face, Quinlan gave an answer. "We were on vacation in Florida, but our mom assured us that everything was well-in-hand after the FBI showed up to help."
"Well, alright then." Cho sat back down. "How long between getting back to New York and then coming to D.C.?"
"About a day."
JJ suddenly realized that Haley's friends had no doubt come to Washington, D.C. for a very important reason, but neither had said what it was yet.
"Why are you visiting the Hotchners, anyway? And how did you cross paths with Haley in the first place?"
Quinlan didn't get a chance to answer because Haley returned with Penelope, and made more introductions. When the Fitzgeralds found out that Penelope had aided in Polly's return, they gave her the same treatment they'd given JJ, and the atmosphere was more cheerful after that.
"You guys, look!" Haley held up two transparent containers of baked goods. "Penelope brought snacks!"
JJ raised an eyebrow at the woman in question as she sat across the table from her. "Penelope Sara Joy, how did you make this much stuff? Didn't Haley just call?"
"I was having a baking day today, but Derek told me to get rid of as much stuff as possible, otherwise he's going to get fat!"
As JJ and Cho had a laugh at that, Charlotte remarked to their host, "We like your friends, Lee. Time to tell them why we're here and why you asked them to come?"
"Not yet. I'm going to check on the dessert. Keep talking to them."
Haley turned on her heel and went back to the kitchen, leaving JJ, Cho, and Penelope to wonder what was really happening.
"Is this your whole posse?" Charlotte asked. "Other than your team, I mean?"
JJ shook her head. "We're one person short—my girlfriend isn't here. She's also pregnant, by the way."
"You said her name is Emily, right?"
"Mhm, and she would love you both already. I sure do."
"I'll second that." Cho added.
"I'll third it." Penelope chimed in before turning to JJ. "Why is Gumdrop not here?"
"She's bogged way down by hiccups. 'Anti-social' is the phrase."
"Gotcha. Bumblebee hiccups all the time now."
"Bumblebee?"
Penelope tapped her middle and received an elbow an elbow jab. "This is Bumblebee, and she has a real name now."
JJ made to ask what it was, but was derailed when Haley came back, announcing that the dessert—a homemade chocolate cake—was cooling and that it was finally time to eat.
"Lee," Charlotte said in exasperation as Haley sat down with everyone. "Can we please tell them why we're in town?"
JJ held her hands in the time-out position. "Emily and I met your parents in New York, and your mother told us that you two are almost twenty-five now, but I'm dying to know how you guys met Haley."
For as long as JJ had known Aaron Hotchner's wife, she'd known that Haley was a nurse who specialized in labor and delivery, but she also knew that Haley was quite a bit older than her. She wasn't sure if she'd ever known the exact number.
"Believe it or not," Haley said as they all worked on rising food out for themselves. "It wasn't because of anything medical-related. We met at a Star Trek convention in Manhattan a few years ago."
Penelope perked up at that—she was an avid Trekker. "Who were you dressed as?"
"That is neither here nor there." Haley said quickly. "The point is that we all hit it off so quickly that we decided to go hang out somewhere else to get drinks and food."
"And you all are friends for life now?"
"Yes, we are. Aaron and Jack are fond of them, too."
Cho spoke up. "I just know that I'm the oldest one at this table, so I'm going to just lay those cards on the table right now, but Haley, how old are you?"
Haley, as was her way, answered cryptically. "Long enough to have known JJ since she was eighteen and starting to come to the most basic introductory classes at the Academy."
"And here I am, having known her since she was ten…"
JJ coughed pointedly. "Still at the table!"
"Righto." Cho said to her. "Sorry, Strawberry."
JJ immediately turned red. "Could you not?"
Nearby, Penelope became gleeful. "Is that supposed to be short for Strawberry Shortcake, like the cartoon? Because if it is, Emily is missing the best day ever!"
Cho gave Penelope a cheeky grin. "The answer is totally yes."
JJ just wanted to blend into her chair. "Will someone please be mature and get back to the topic at hand?"
Haley had mercy and steered the conversation back in the right direction. "Charlotte and Quinlan are live-in nannies, and they're going to be nannies for Jack and the baby. My sister was going to help us, but her husband's firm just transferred him to California, so they aren't here anymore."
A lightbulb went off over JJ's head and she looked over at Charlotte. "Then Haley mentioned that she has four pregnant friends, and you guys became curious about us?"
"Yes, and we've nannied for multiple families before. Aaron and Haley wouldn't even mind if their house was home base."
"It's true." Haley added.
"I can say right now that my husband would be on board," Cho said thoughtfully. "And my baby boys are due any day now. I'm a stay-at-home mom, but I sometimes have to travel out of town with Archer."
Quinlan looked at Penelope. "What about you and your beau? Haley said his name is Derek?"
"Yeah, that's him, and we're getting married next summer. He'll totally like you both when I make the introductions, but he'll be on board, too."
"Great!"
Charlotte moved her gaze to JJ, since they were close to each other at the table. "What about you and Emily?"
"I love the sound of all of this, especially because these kinds of opportunities don't just fall out of the sky. I'll introduce you two to her when she's having a better day, but I know she'll agree, as well. Why don't you tell us about the different families you've nannied for?"
Charlotte and Quinlan Fitzgerald happily regaled their friends in their adventures of their different nannying experiences over the years.
"Hey," Quinlan said at one point after they were done eating. "Do any of your babies have names yet?"
"Ours does!" Haley beamed. "We're expecting a girl, and her name is Imogen Lindsey. Those are family names, and Jack already calls her Immie."
"That really cute." Cho told her before giving an answer to Charlotte and Quinlan. "Our kids have Japanese names names, as I'm from Tokyo and grew up there, but they have English middle names. Our firstborn's full name is Kaida Cassandra-Mae Rosaline Jareau. Her middle names are for my mother-in-law, and my sister-in-law, who is no longer with us."
"What are your sons' names?" Penelope wanted know.
"We're still hammering out middle names, but their first names are Hikaru and Kenji."
Cho wanted to say more, but as if they knew they were being talked about, Hikaru and Kenji began kicking their mother with such intensity that she had to sit back and focus on calming them down.
Penelope used that to work her way in to the conversation. "My turn! Bumblebee is being named for mine and Derek's mothers; her full name is Honor Francine Morgan!"
JJ smiled. "That's two girls and two boys now."
"Care to bring that count up?"
"We're keeping the middle names to ourselves, but Emily is carrying Henry, and I have Alexis and Olivia."
"A baby prince and two baby princesses—how darling."
"Uh-huh…"
JJ's mind had suddenly gone other places as a new thought popped into her head.
It was Haley who brought her back to reality. "Okay, what? Spill before I clear the table so I can bring the dessert out."
"Well, I don't know about Charlie and Q, but the rest of us are in serious relationships."
"And you're curious about how each of us was proposed to."
JJ nodded, almost shy. "That's correct."
Haley got to her feet and said with a wink, "As soon as Charlotte, Quinlan, and I bring this things back to the kitchen and bring out dessert, we can get started on that part. You three just keep talking together."
Taking the hint, Charlotte and Quinlan rose and helped Haley out, leaving JJ, Penelope, and Cho to talk amongst themselves.
This was turning out to be a really great night.
