As it happened, the BAU team was given extra time to recuperate after what happened at the mall. Everything had taken a toll.
But this window allowed for JJ and Emily to spend a little more time looking after Kaida. Her parents were yet at the hospital with both of their newest children.
Playing house was fun. It was also somewhat easy. They were yet at Emily's parents' place, and the elder Prentisses were elated for the company. Kaida was just happy to have people that wanted to dote on her all the time.
She honestly didn't know if anything could make this time better.
But JJ and Emily did.
They found her at the dining table, coloring.
JJ spoke first. "Sweetheart, it's come to our attention today is Kendra's birthday. We also know that it's the weekend. How would it be if Aunt Emily and I took you to the party? Everything's been fixed with your parents."
Kaida cast aside her coloring book and her pencils at once. "I would love that so, so, so much!"
"Excellent. We have just enough time to wrap everything you picked out."
"There's wrapping paper here?" Kaida asked with great skepticism.
The House of Prentiss was large enough to put Kaida in mind of a museum, what for all the rooms it had. Something as pedestrian as wrapping paper suddenly seemed extraordinary.
Emily spoke a reminder to her. "We made sure to get extra Scotch tape, shiny bows, and unicorn wrapping paper when we went shopping. Everything is in my mother's office because we wanted to keep it safe."
Kaida nodded but asked a different question altogether. "What about my new shoes and everything? Do I go get 'em?"
"Not just yet. One step at a time. Presents and wrapping supplies first. Run along. We'll be right here."
Kaida was back in record timing. Her arms were laden down with wrapping paper tubes, the Scotch tape, and a pair of scissors. These were extra long.
Emily indicated them as Kaida laid everything out. "Nana let you bring her favorite scissors? They cut really well."
"Nana said we can use them because she can't find her normal scissors." Kaida told her. "She looked everywhere. Maybe Papa Max took them."
Emily's tone turned playfully conspiratorial. "I know for a fact that he's a teensy bit forgetful. Sometimes it's a little funny."
"That is funny." Kaida eyed her display of items on the table and then looked back at her aunts again. "I forgot the presents in the living room—be right back!"
And she was gone again.
JJ turned to Emily. "This day is going to be another glimpse of our future, huh?"
Emily nodded. "Yes. Yes, it is. I am so ready for what ever it brings."
The next phase of the operation went smoother. Because it involved a new outfit.
Kaida Jareau was a little girl who preferred wearing dresses instead of pants. It had actually made shopping easier. Kaida's main goal was to put on a good impression for the rest of the kids that would be coming. This was, after all, her first birthday party at a new school. She didn't want to mess anything up.
Her aunts had been very happy to help her pick out something fun. This is how Kaida ended up in a denim button-down dress with a braided belt, dark blue tights decorated with stars, and rainbow Converses. Kaida looked cute. She felt it. And she loved it.
"Do I look nice?" she asked her aunts in reassurance.
In front of her, Emily gushed, "You look fabulous."
"Thank you!"
From behind her, JJ gave Kaida's shoulders a gentle squeeze. "I'm finished with your hair!"
Kaida cheered and quickly ran to the hallway mirror to examine her reflection. JJ's finishing touches to Kaida's party look had been to tie off her hair plaits with ribbons that matched her shoes. It was JJ's luck that she still remembered many of the fun things that her sister had taught her so long ago about hair styling.
"I love my hair." Kaida said when she came back into the room. "But... do you know where Play World is?"
This was the name of the party location.
"Don't worry, baby angel. We've got it all figured out." JJ handed Kaida the wrapped parcels. "Take these to the front door. Maybe put on your coat? We'll be there soon."
Kaida took the parcels and skipped out of the room again.
Emily sighed. "This day really is going to be a glimpse of our future. Going to birthday parties for children."
"But we did volunteer for this. It also beats a day in Quantico." JJ kissed Emily. "Come on."
A traffic jam caused them to be somewhat behind schedule. But Kaida didn't care. Or notice at all. She was extremely excited for what was about to happen.
Play World's crowning jewel was a giant indoor playground. It featured tubes to crawl in, walls to climb on, obstacle courses, and innumerable slides and ball pits. The structure itself ran for a good portion of the main room. Another end of the facility even a game corner with enticing prizes. Nearby it was a small food court with kid-friendly food and drink. Add to that bright lights, music, and kids of all ages running around. It was paradise to Kaida.
She called out for the birthday girl, unsure of where to look. "Kendra?"
But a reply resounded almost at once. "Here!"
Kaida ran over at once to the open door of a party room. She had seen Kendra in the doorway. The elder Fujimotos, Yuri and Saki, were there. Kaida supposed that Kendra's brothers were about when she didn't see them in the party room. But she didn't care. Her attention was only for her friend.
JJ and Emily followed her. The closer they got to the room, the more they realized that something off. It just wasn't until they entered that they realized what it was.
Kendra's table had been decorated lavishly with decorations to her favorite princess movie, but there were no signs of any other guest besides those who had just made it.
JJ quickly checked her watch to make sure they hadn't mistaken the time and then said to Kaida's parents, "I apologize for being late. There was a bad traffic jam."
Kendra's father, Yuri, spoke first. "The three of you are actually the only ones to show up."
Emily arched her eyebrows. "What? Everyone else was a no-show?"
Kendra's mother nodded. "Mhm. Everyone else should have been here by now, but no dice. Our girl was beside herself in tears of devastation a few minutes ago."
All of adults looked to the child in question. Kendra was no longer crying now, but giggling as she stood together in the door with her friend. Kaida was hugging her and telling her about all of the fun they were going to have. No one had prompted Kaida to be so thoughtful. She had chosen on her own to be this way.
Their icing on the top then arrived in the form of Kendra's three middle school aged brothers. All of them adored her. Enough to go out of their way to bring her joy.
They stood around Kendra and Kaida in a half-circle. Each of them were holding gigantic bags of game tokens for spending at the game corner. In one deft move, all of the bags were placed at Kendra's feet.
"Riku," the girl said in surprise to her oldest brother. "What are these for?"
The boy was immensely pleased with himself. "Kenny, they're for you and Kaida to have! All of them!"
"Wow!" Kendra exclaimed as her brothers hugged her in turn. "Thanks!"
She looked back to her guest.
"Do you want to use the tokens?" Kendra asked her friend. "Or should we go play hide-and-seek?"
Taken aback to have a say on such a special occasion, Kaida had to think about it. "Umm… How about we give everything to the grown-ups? Then we can go play."
Kendra found herself agreeing with her friend's logic and they worked together to put the bags on the table. Then they left, holding hands as they made plans about good hiding places in the mazes. Neither had a care in the word.
Ichiro sidled up to his mother when he saw that she wanted a full explanation. "We told them at the game corner that we wanted to cheer our sister up. After we saw Kaida arrive with her aunts, they gave us even more tokens for them. I just don't know how many."
"Yours and your brothers' act was a really wonderful thing to do." Saki Fujimoto told her son. "Please go play now. I know you've been waiting all day. Have a nice time."
Her sons assured her that they would and headed straight for the game corner. Each had his own tokens to spend.
"What just happened?" JJ asked as everyone sat together at the table.
"As much as kids can be cruel, they can also be very kind from time to time." Yuri told them.
His wife tacked on her own thoughts. "Our sons' act of kindness was all them."
"Wow." Emily remarked.
Saki shrugged. "Even after so many years of parenting and four kids later, we still find ourselves learning new things all the time. I'm sure you and JJ weren't expecting anything like this when you got up today."
Emily chuckled. "That much is true, but we excel at learning on the go."
"That's really saying something because of what we do for a living. But we wouldn't make a single change to our lives." JJ chimed in thoughtfully. "However... It is nice to not have a day with FBI drama. Kid-style drama is a refreshing change of pace."
"Be careful what you wish for." Saki joked. "I do have to ask though—how did the two of you end up with Kaida again? And how is she related to you?"
"Kaida's father is my big brother. We have our niece today because we've been looking after her for awhile. My brother and his wife just welcomed twin babies into the family."
"Oh, my goodness! When?"
Emily now supplied an answer without missing a beat. "It was actually a few hours after the shopping mall drama ended."
"Are your lives ever quiet?" Yuri sputtered.
"People ask us that all the time, and the answer is always an amused no." JJ said.
And both federal agents were met yet again with looks of incredulity.
So JJ and Emily had fun explaining the lighter part of their jobs to the Fujimotos.
This really did beat a day at the office.
It didn't even matter by the end of the party that no one else had even shown up. Kendra had the best time with Kaida. If anything, it was the best birthday of her life. And Kaida had been happy to spend time with her best friend. Both children would remember this day forever.
"Wow!" Kaida exclaimed as they entered the Prentiss house again later that evening. "I just had the best day ever!"
Emily hugged her. "We're glad you had fun. You did a good thing today, being so kind to Kendra."
"She's like my sister." Kaida said simply. "I love her."
Emily fixed Kaida's belt when she noticed it was crooked. "She's lucky to have a friend like you."
Kaida opened her mouth to speak again, but was cut off.
"Kaida?" came a familiar voice. "Is that you?"
She perked up immediately as she checked her surroundings. "Dad?"
True enough, Archer was joining the trio from another part of the house. Emily's parents were just behind him.
"What's happening?" Emily asked her parents.
"We called Archer after you told us that you were on the way home because we had a feeling he wanted to hear about Kaida." Elizabeth told her.
"In turn," Maximo added. "Archer told us that Cho and the babies are almost ready to go home. Now he's come to collect Kaida himself since the rest of the grandparents have already gone back home."
Archer scooped Kaida into his arms. "All that's missing now is one big sister. You ready to go see everyone?"
Kaida nodded eagerly. "I am!"
When those Jareaus had left, Emily and JJ sat together for awhile on the living room couch.
"I'm going to miss having a little sidekick around." JJ said wistfully.
"Agreed, but it isn't like we don't have our sidekicks that are with us, 24/7." Emily gestured to their middles. "We can't forget about them."
JJ arched her back when she felt the twins turn flips. "I don't think that's possible."
Emily kissed JJ to keep her focused. "At any rate, it was nice to be able to spend so much time with Kaida before we go back to being profilers again."
"Yes. I wonder where we'll go next…"
"Babe, that's literally your job." Emily pointed out.
JJ nodded. "Yes, but Penelope also has a hand in picking cases. I want to see what she picks next time. She was the one who sent us on our most recent New York trip."
"Hm." Emily mused. "That's a good point. Where do you think she would pick if given the opportunity?"
"Knowing her, somewhere neat. Like Louisiana or California."
"That would be fun. What's the best beach you've ever been to?"
JJ didn't even have to think. "Malibu. It was actual paradise."
Emily felt a small sense of wonder. "For all the places in the world I've been to in the world, I can honestly say that I've never been anywhere near Malibu Beach before. Tell me about it?"
JJ told everything about her trip to Malibu Beach. It had occurred right before she applied to join the FBI academy.
And while Emily listened, she also found herself wondering just what kind of beaches would be fun for a honeymoon getaway. But she would keep this tidbit under her hat.
Talk eventually turned to the cool places they wanted to see someday. Or else hoped the job would bring them.
How lovely it was to have a normal conversation about their work.
Little did they know that yet another big adventure was just around the corner.
