Fifteen
JJ's P.O.V
I open my eyes and roll over and see Emily leaning against the wall, with the bottom end of her shirt in her mouth, trying to bandage her abdomen. "Would you like some help?" I ask. She looks up at me and nods. "Please." She says. I push the covers off me and walk over to her and take the tape from her. I tape down the gauze and she drops her shirt out of her mouth. "The shirt kept falling down, so I ended up biting it." She says. I laugh and kiss her. "Good morning." I say. She smiles and pulls me closer and kisses me again.
"I get to make pie with your mother today." Emily says. "Why did you tell her you wanted her to teach you something? She's gonna drive you nuts. She's gonna drive me nuts." I say. "I wanna get to know her more. And if we're gonna be together for as long as you think we are then I'm gonna need to know how to make the food that keeps you happy. Plus I just like cooking." She says. "I didn't know you like to cook." I say. "There's a lot you don't know about me." She says. "Well then I guess I'll just have to keep you around and learn then won't I?" I say. She smiles. "Yes you will." She says. I smile.
"Let's go get some breakfast." I say. She nods and puts her shirt on. "So if I'm cooking today, what are you doing?" She asks. "I don't know. Maybe I'll spend some time with Josh and Jesse and my dad." I say. She nods. "Sounds like fun." She says. I nod. "Yeah. I miss them." I say. She nods.
We walk out of the bedroom and down the hallway to the dining room. Daddy looks up from his bacon. "Morning girls." He says, putting two plates out for me and Emily. "Morning daddy." I say, walking over and hugging him tightly. "Good morning Mike." Emily says. "Your mother is in the kitchen with the food." He says. "Grab a plate Em." I say. She nods and grabs a plate off the table and we walk into the kitchen where Josh and Jesse are piling their plates up with bacon. "I'll have coffee mom." I say. She shakes her head and pours me a cup of coffee. "What about you Emily?" She asks. "I'll have juice." Emily says. My mother smiles and pours a glass of juice and hands it to Emily. "Thanks Sandy." She says. I smile and take my plate out into the dining room and sit down at the table.
I grab my fork and knife off the table and slice into my pancake as my mother walks in and sits down at the end of the table. "We can start the pie after I get the dishes washed Emily." She says. Emily looks up from her eggs and smiles and nods. "Okay. I'll help you with the dishes if you want." She says. My mother smiles. "That would be great." She says then turns to look at me. "How come you never offered to help with the dishes Jenny?" She asks. "You could learn something from Emily." She says. "I was gonna help you the night we got here!" I say. "Then why didn't you?" She asks. "Because you told me to, and I quote 'go spend time with Emily.'" I say. "I did didn't I?" She says. I nod. "Crap." She says quietly. I laugh. "Can this be an 'I told you so' moment?" I ask. "Nope." She says. I smirk. "I told you so." I say. She scowls then laughs.
We finish breakfast and Emily and I take the plates into the kitchen to be washed. Emily turns and looks at me. "I love you." She says. I smile and walk over to her and wrap my arm around her neck. "I love you too." I say, kissing her. My mother walks in and Emily pulls away, blushing. "Before we start the dishes I think I'm gonna take a shower. I haven't had one since the day I got shot. I feel kinda gross." Emily says. My mother nods. "That's fine dear. I want to make sure we have everything we need for the pie. I'll do that while you're in the shower." She says. Emily smiles and nods. "Thanks Sandy." She says. "I'm gonna change my clothes." I say, walking out of the kitchen.
I walk into the bedroom and grab a pair of jeans and a tank top out of my bag. I strip off my pyjamas and go searching for the bra I took off last night. I left it in the bathroom.
I throw a shirt on and walk across the hall to the bathroom and knock on the door. "Em? Can i come in?" I ask. I hear a quiet "yeah" from the other side of the door and walk in and see Emily wrapped in a towel, that barely covers her body. "Sorry, I left my bra in here last night." I say, looking at her breasts.
She sees what I'm looking at and she pulls the towel up to cover it. "Why do you cover yourself?" I ask quietly. She looks down at the floor. "Because I don't want you to see it." She says. I know she's referring to the four leaf clover on her chest. When we got to Paris, she couldn't get it removed so she had to leave it there. I walk over to her and place my hand on her arm. "Why not?" I ask. "Because it'll make you think of him." She says quietly. I shake my head. "No it won't sweetheart." I say. Tears spring to her eyes. "Yes it will. It's ugly. It makes me weak. He got to me. He had so much power over me. This just proves that he won." She says. I drop my bra and wrap my arms around her. She wraps her arms around my waist and buries her head in my neck, sobbing. "He didn't win baby. He's dead. The scar isn't ugly. It doesn't make you weak. It makes you strong. You survived. You won. You're beautiful sweetheart. So beautiful." I whisper as I rub her back.
Her sobs slowly subside and she takes he head off my shoulder. I push her backwards a little bit and put my hand on her chest, just above the scar. I look in her eyes and see the fear in them. She thinks I'm not gonna want her after I look at it. I smile, what I hope is a reassuring smile, and slide my hand down her chest to the towel.
I won't look down until she tells me I can. I keep looking at her eyes. She swallows, then nods slowly. I slide my hand down a little further until I feel the raised skin and look down at the scar. It would be easily hidden by a bra, which is probably why I've never seen it before.
"This scar doesn't make you ugly. The scar doesn't define you, Em. I'll never see it or you as anything less than beautiful. You are so beautiful. Do you understand me?" I say. She nods slowly and I wrap my arms around her. "I love you." I whisper in her ear. "I love you too." She says.
"Shower with me?" Emily suddenly asks. I look up at her. "I would love to Em, but I can't. Not in my parents house. I don't trust myself enough to have you naked around me." I say. She nods. "I'll shower later. I'm probably gonna play soccer with Josh and Jesse, so showering now would be pointless." I say. She nods. "Okay. I'll come out and see you before we start the pie okay?" She says. I nod and start to walk out of the bathroom. "I don't get a kiss?" She says. I smile and walk back to her. I wrap my arms around her and kiss her. "I love you." I say. She smiles and rests her forehead against mine. "I love you too Jennifer." She says. I smile and kiss her again before I walk out of the bathroom and back into my bedroom.
I walk over to my bag and pull out a pair of jeans and a navy blue tank top and put them on. I put my shoes on and tie them and I walk out to the living room and see dad sitting on the couch. I walk over and sit down beside him. "What are you doing today?" I ask. He shrugs. "I'm not sure. I have some stuff to take care of at the school and then I should be back here." He says. I nod and hug him. "I miss you daddy. I love D.C., but I miss you and mom." I say. He wraps his right arm around me and pulls me closer to him. "We miss you too Jenny." He says.
After about five minutes I sit up. "Do you know where Josh and Jesse are?" I ask as I stand up. "Backyard." He says. "You should come outside when you get home. I'm sure by then mom and Em will be done with the pie, so they'll probably be outside too." I say. He nods. "I probably will." He says. I smile. "You really love her don't you?" He asks. I smile a little bit. "Yeah, I do. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me daddy." I say. He nods. "I'm happy for you Jenny." He says. "Really?" I ask. He looks confused. "What do you mean 'really' sweetheart?" He asks. I shrug. "Sit down for a minute and talk to me Jenny." He says. I sit down. "What do you mean? Why wouldn't I be happy for you?" He asks. "I just never thought you would be okay with me being gay." I say. "Why not?" He asks gently. I shrug. "I don't know. Mom always talked about grandchildren and you always talk about me finding a nice boy to settle down with. I just never really thought it was a possibility." I say. He wraps me in a hug and I snuggle into his chest. "Jenny, I don't care if you're with a man or a woman. You're mother and I just want you to be happy." He says. I smile a little bit and look up at him. "Thank you." I say. He smiles. "I love you Jenny." He says, hugging me tighter. "I love you too daddy." I say. "Go find your brothers." He says. I nod and hug him again. "I'll see you later." He says. I smile. "Okay." I say.