"Henry!"
The five year old ran past his father and into the house, letting his soon-to-be stepmother wrap him up in a hug and hike him on her hip. "Hi Emily!"
Emily grinned into his blond hair, tickling his stomach before poking him gently on the nose. "How are you, baby?"
"So good!"
The agent's eyes widened. "So good?"
Henry nodded, wrapping his arms tight around his neck. "I missed you."
Emily smiled and let the young boy kiss her cheek. "I missed you too, sweetie." She looked up to see her friend standing in the doorway with a hand on her hip, and the agent quickly set the five year old down on the ground and slapped his butt. "Declan is in the backyard, ok? But you stay out of the pool."
Leaning against the door, the blond woman nodded to the couple that stood before her. "Hey."
Emily tried for a small smile. "Hey," she said softly, taking the bag that was for Henry's two night stay at the house. The agent was still surprised that JJ had been nice enough to let them keep him for the past few weekends. "How are you?"
"Fine," she nodded. "How's Declan?"
"He's good, he says hi."
JJ gave a forced smile before standing straight, brushing the dust from her jacket. "Ok, well I have to get going."
Emily bit her lip, feeling Will's arm slip around her waist to try and offer her the smallest amount of comfort he could. "Do you maybe want to come in for a minute? Have a cup of coffee?"
"No thanks, I'm trying to cut back on caffeine."
"Oh," the ambassador's daughter nodded, laughing gently to the blond woman. "One of those cleanses everyone is going on? I'd never be able to with the addiction to sugar I have."
JJ smiled in spite of herself. "Yeah, you and your ice cream." Her eyes flickered over to her ex and watched as he slowly slipped back into the house, wanting to leave the women to themselves, and kiss Emily's cheek. "I really do have to go."
Emily slowly nodded her head. "Yeah, ok." Before the younger woman could leave, Emily stepped outside onto her stone walkway and into the bright sun. "JJ?"
Slowly turning to face her friend, the single mother tried to smile. "Yeah?"
"You look great."
JJ glanced down to what she was wearing and scuffed her shoe along one of the stones. "Yeah, I know." She loved hearing her friend's laugh, and she looked back up to her. "You do too." Her eyes narrowed slightly, falling to the ambassador's daughter's chest. "Have you had your breasts done?"
Emily's eyes widened. "God no," she snorted, glancing down to her chest. "I've just gained a little weight."
"Well they'll definitely look good in your dress."
The brunette blushed. "So have you thought about it?" she questioned, wanting dearly for her friend to attend her wedding. "I'll even set out a special dish for you and your new diet," the bride-to-be joked.
JJ did her best to smile to her friend before shaking her head. "I don't know, Em," she sighed. "You need to look at it from my perspective."
"I understand that, Jay. But I want you to be there." Her eyes were pleading with the younger woman as she heard the boys running around inside. "You're my best friend."
The blonde's eyes grew sad. Emily was her best friend, and she always would be no matter what they went through, but this wasn't something she could just get over.
Emily shrugged, stepping closer to the younger woman. "I'm sorry for what happened, you have to believe me," she whispered. "But I love him."
JJ stiffened at the words.
"Please just think about it."
The single mother gave a stiff nod as she retreated back to the driveway. "I'll call you." She practically made a run for her car as her friend walked back into the house, the beautiful three story house that sat right on the beach that JJ was absolutely jealous of, and slammed her car door behind her.
Emily sighed as she set her stepson's bag down and caught both boys in her arms, grinning as she kissed both of their cheeks. "Who wants to go sit on the sand?"
"Mommy! I have to show him first!"
Emily's jaw dropped. "How could I forget?" she gasped, knowing how badly her son wanted to show his presents to his brother. "You both go and look at the presents before we all get changed, ok? Then we'll head out to the sand."
Declan nodded feverishly before charging up the steps.
"You be careful!"
Will came up behind the beautiful woman and kissed her behind her ear, letting her lean back against his chest. "Henry loves you."
Emily snorted. "I would hope so," the brunette smiled, turning in her fiancé's arms. "It would be helpful if he liked me."
"She's going to come around."
The brunette slowly nodded her head. "You keep saying that, but I'm not sure."
Will frowned. "Do you want me to talk to her?"
The older woman immediately shook her head at the question, pulling from Will's arms so they could walk up to the bedroom. "That would make everything so much worse," the mother groaned. "We just need to let her cool off." It's not as if they had an affair and finally told everybody about their love for each other, but just after JJ had broken up with her southern lover, Emily had started to feel feelings. When he had dropped Henry off to her for a playdate with her son, they had admitted their feelings and had fallen in love.
"It's going to be fine."
Emily let out a breath, searching her drawers for her favorite bikini. "She's my best friend. I just want her to be happy for me."
Will nodded. "She probably is," he shrugged. "Maybe not for who you're in love with but for you being in love. Point blank, she's happy for you."
"Do you hear what you say when you say it?"
Will frowned at the older woman. "I'm trying to help."
"What would help," Emily sighed as she turned to face her fiancé, "is if we stopped talking about it. I can't be brought down every time I think or talk about her, ok? I just want to be happy." She turned, feeling Will's hands start to massage her shoulders as she looked into the mirror. She just wanted to feel happy for once.
