A/N- Okay so someone gave me this suggestion, but for the life of me I can't remember who (so who ever you are thank you very much). It took me a while to write this due to its sensitive subject matter; but I think it turned out pretty good. Just to keep the time frame up to date, Kelly is 22ish, AJ is 20 and Tom is 2.

ENJOY……

Emily awoke to a very strange noise one Saturday morning. Well it wasn't so much the noise that she found disturbing but rather the lack there of. It was quiet, too quiet. JJ was out of town once again and two-year-old Tom was spending some quality time with his Grandma Prentiss and with AJ away at college Emily had the entire house to herself and she would be the first to admit that she didn't like it one bit. She thought about calling Kelly to see what she was going to do for the day but then she remembered it was finals week and she would probably be studying or that better be what she was doing Emily thought to herself. After all she and JJ weren't paying for her to attend Georgetown for the fun of it. Kelly was currently a senior and was due to graduate in a few weeks with a degree in criminal justice. She had surprised both of them by announcing to the family that she intended on joining the academy in the fall, something that both thrilled and terrified Emily.

Emily groaned as she got out of bed and headed for the shower. She stepped into the shower and let the hot water run down her body. She had just started to wash herself when she felt something she had never noticed before in her right breast.

"Huh? That's odd." Emily said aloud to herself. Emily massaged around her breast like she had done many times before for self-examinations and sure enough there was a small bump. It was small but it was there. Emily finished the shower and then walked back into the bedroom. She felt around again and frowned when it was still there. She had gotten a mammogram last year and everything was clear so she figured it was probably nothing but she decided to call Andy just in case. She picked up her cell phone and dialed his work phone in case Amy was home.

"Dr. Black." Andy said as he answered his phone.

"Hey Andy it's Emily are you at work?"

"Actually I'm on my way there now. Amy had to go out of town with the BAU and I just dropped Jason off at a friend's house so I thought I would go into the office for a while to get caught up on paper work." Andy told Emily. Andy was now the head of Memorial General Hospital but since he and Amy had adopted Jason he was spending more and more time at home. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm sure its nothing but, I found a lump this morning when I was taking a shower." Emily told him.

"A lump?" Andy asked back, not happy with what he had just heard. "How big?"

"It's small, but it's there." Emily replied.

"Well why don't you come in and we will take a look. I'll get you set up for a mammogram and I will call Dr. Witten, she is the head of Oncology, and see if she wouldn't mind coming in and taking a look."

"I really hate to put you through all this trouble. I'm sure it's nothing." Emily suddenly felt bad for making such a big deal about this.

"Emily its no trouble. We are family. A crazy family, but a family nonetheless." Andy laughed. "Just come to my office when you get here."

"Okay. Thanks Andy." Emily replied and then closed her phone.

Emily got dressed and then headed to the hospital. When she walked into Andy's office, she was greeted with a smile from Andy and by a woman she had never met before.

"Emily this Dr. Susan Witten. She is the head of Oncology. Susan this is Emily Prentiss."

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Prentiss." Susan smiled. "I'm sorry it's under these circumstances though."

"Me too; but please call me Emily." Emily said as she shook the woman's hand.

"So Andy was telling me that you found a lump this morning when you were taking a shower?" Emily nodded. "Have you noticed it before?"

"No, like I told Andy it's small but its there."

"From the ring on your hand, I assume you are married? Dr. Witten asked and Emily nodded "So tell me has your husband noticed anything? Has he said anything to you about it?"

"Oh it's a good thing my wife didn't hear you say that." Emily laughed.

"I'm sorry, just habit." Susan smiled back. "So, your wife, has she noticed it before?" This time couldn't help the blush the crept along her face.

"I don't think so. She would have said something if she had." Emily told the doctor as Emily continued to blush. It wasn't helping that Andy was still there and trying to hide his own smirk.

"Okay well why don't we go down to one of the examination rooms and take a look?" Emily nodded and followed the woman out of Andy's office.

Once inside the room, Emily took off her top and her bra and lay down on the table. A few minutes later Dr. Witten walked in and started the examination. Emily always hated breast exams and getting mammograms. It just felt odd having someone else touch her breasts, like she was cheating on JJ or something. A few minutes into the exam, Dr. Witten found what Emily had found earlier that morning.

"Well you are right, there is definitely something there. When was your last mammogram?"

"About a year ago. It came back clean." Emily answered.

"Okay well why don't we go ahead and get another one and then I will compare the two." Emily nodded and followed the doctor to the adjoining room where the mammography machine was.

Forty-five minutes later Emily was once again fully dressed sitting in Andy's office waiting for Dr. Witten. Andy and Emily passed the time with idle chitchat about the kids and other various things. Twenty minutes later Dr. Witten walked into Andy's office with a not so happy look on her face.

"Okay, well, I have looked at your new film plus your old one and it appears that you do in fact have a small lump in your right breast." Dr. Witten handed the x-ray to Andy who frowned when he saw the small marble sized dark spot.

"So now what?" Emily asked trying to remain as calm as possible.

"Well there are two options. We can do a biopsy to see if it is cancerous or not. If it is then obviously we would remove it and you would begin radiation treatments. If it is not cancerous we wouldn't do anything else; however, we would continue to monitor it and if it became painful or too large we would remove it." Emily nodded her understanding of the first option. "Or we can skip the biopsy and go straight to a lumpectomy and remove the lump now. After the lump is removed, we would then run a biopsy on it. Again if it is cancerous you would begin treatments; if not problem solved."

"How long would I have to be in the hospital if I had the lumpectomy?"

"It would be an outpatient procedure. You would be home by that afternoon although you would be a little sore."

"And stitches?" Emily asked and Andy could already see where this line of questioning was going.

"You have to tell her." Andy said firmly. "You can't go through this alone."

"What are you talking about?" Emily asked in mock confusion.

"Don't play dumb with me, Emily. I can see those wheels turning in your head. You are trying to see if you can plan the surgery when JJ is out of town."

"She is going to freak out, Andy." Emily defended her actions. "Plus, why does she need to know? It could be nothing and all her worry will be for nothing. If it comes back to be cancerous, then I will tell her but there is no point in making her worry now."

"Fine, but this is going to blow up in your face trust me." Andy said, knowing good and well there was no point in arguing with her.

"My wife is out of town next Monday for a week, can we do it then?" Emily asked turning to face Dr. Witten.

"If that is what you want." Emily nodded. "I will set you up an appointment for Monday morning to have a full lumpectomy."

"Thank you Dr. Witten." Emily shook her hand and the doctor turned to leave.

"I still think you are making a mistake, Emily." Andy said once they were alone.

"Andy put yourself in my shoes, would you tell Amy?" Emily asked. Andy opened his mouth to start talking but quickly closed it once he realized she was right.

Emily hugged Andy and thanked him for all of his help. As she left his office she realized that it was going to be a long eight days of waiting.

JJ returned home on Wednesday and somehow Emily had managed to put the whole thing out of her mind. She found it easier to just pretend that it didn't exist than have to live with the constant dread that she might have cancer.

"Hey honey, how was your trip?" Emily asked as she came home from the store to find JJ coming out of the bathroom in only a towel; it didn't matter what time of day it was JJ always took a shower when she first arrived home. She hated the feeling you got after being in a cramped plane all day; not that Air Force One was cramped by any stretch of the imagination. Although Emily teased JJ that it was just an excuse to parade around in nothing but a towel in front of her wife.

"Uneventful." JJ smiled. "Where's Tom?"

"At his Auntie Pen's house." Emily smiled back as she took a step closer to her wife.

"Oh really?" JJ said with a raised eyebrow.

"Apparently Alexa has a school field trip to the zoo tomorrow and Garcia is a chaperone so she decided to take Tom with her. So rather then her coming here really early in the morning to pick him up, she suggested that he just spend the night there tonight. I hope you don't mind?" Emily replied as she realized that JJ probably wanted to see her son.

"No, that's fine." JJ smiled. "But you know, with Tom gone we have the whole house to ourselves."

"And what do …" Before Emily could finish JJ had Emily pushed up against the wall; her lips pressed tightly against hers. Emily groaned as she felt JJ start to lift her top off. Once Emily's top was off, it didn't take long for Emily to rid JJ of her towel. Once they reached the bed, JJ undid Emily's bra before pushing her down on the bed. Emily couldn't help but gulp at the sight of her completely naked wife standing above her. Slowly JJ moved to straddle Emily. JJ kissed down Emily's neck and made her way to Emily's breasts. Emily groaned as she felt JJ's tongue twirl around her left nipple. While JJ sucked on Emily's left breast, her hand began massaging Emily's right breast. Emily groaned at the sensations that JJ was causing. JJ continued to massage Emily's right breast until she felt something that she hadn't noticed before. Emily moaned at the loss of contact as JJ pulled her mouth away from her other breast.

"Honey, what is that?" JJ asked as she continued to feel around Emily's right breast.

"What's what?" Emily asked, heat and pleasure still clouding her brain.

"That." JJ answered as she felt the lump again. "It feels like a lump." Immediately the fog lifted and Emily realized that she was busted.

"It's nothing. It's always been there." Emily tried to tell her wife, even though she knew good and well JJ wasn't going to buy it.

"The hell it has." JJ said as she pushed around on Emily's breast some more.

"It has."

"Honey, I know your breasts better than I know my own and that has not always been there." JJ said as she stood up and walked over to grab some clothes.

"Where are you going?" Emily asked as she watched JJ walk out of the bedroom.

"I'm going to call Andy and get him to take a look at that." JJ yelled from the living room. "And don't tell me it's nothing because it is. That was not there last time." JJ said as carried her cell phone back into the bedroom.

"You can't call Andy." Emily said quickly as she leaped up off the bed to try and grab JJ's cell phone.

"And why the hell not, what are you not telling me Emily?" JJ looked back at her wife and her nerves began to grow. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like what she heard. "Either you tell me right now or I am going to call Andy." JJ demanded after a few minutes of silence.

"Okay but first of all you have to promise me you won't freak out." Emily said as she leaned over and picked up her shirt and put it back on.

"Emily Elizabeth Prentiss I swear to god if you don't tell me in the next five seconds…"

"Fine. Fine. Saturday when I was in the shower I noticed a lump. So I called Andy and he told me to come in to have it checked out. Dr. Witten, the head of Oncology…"

"Oh my god!" JJ gasped as tears began to form in her eyes.

"Relax honey. I don't know anything yet. She did a mammogram and it showed a lump, about the size of a marble, that wasn't on my last scan. I have an appointment next Monday to have a lumpectomy. Once it is removed, they will do a biopsy and then we will proceed from there."

"When were you planning on telling me about this?" JJ said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Honestly? Not until I knew something for sure." JJ just stared back at Emily, quickly going from upset and worried to pissed off. "I knew you would worry yourself sick, so I decided that I would have the lumpectomy and then tell you if there was something to worry about. Right now there is nothing you can do so I didn't want to put that added pressure on you." Emily said trying to defend her thought process.

"So you are going to have surgery to remove a lump from your breast that may or may not be cancerous and you didn't think I had the right to know?" JJ asked trying to make sure she had understood her wife correctly. Before Emily could answer, JJ continued. "How would you like it if I got hurt at work but I told Morgan not to call you because I didn't want to upset you?" Emily was pretty sure this is what Andy met when he said that this was going to blow up in her face.

"That is not the same thing." Emily replied even though she knew that JJ was right.

"Of course it is. I can't believe that you kept this from me. I'm your wife."

"I didn't want you to worry. It may turn out to be nothing."

"But it may turn out to be something and I had a right to know. Remember in our vows that part that said 'in sickness and in health'?"

"Okay, look, I'm sorry. I thought I was doing what was right. I didn't want to worry you until we had something to worry about. I'm freaking out a little on my own I didn't want you freaking out too."

"See that is why you should have told me!" JJ stated firmly. "You don't have to do this on your own." JJ said as she picked up her phone.

"Who are you calling?"

"I'm calling the director and telling him I can't go to London next week with the President."

"Why?"

"Have you not listened to a word I've said? I am not letting you go through this by yourself. Your surgery is Monday and I plan on being there."

"That isn't necessary and besides I won't have the results until the next day."

"All the more reason. I am not going to let you sit here all night wondering what if." JJ reasoned as she waited for the director to pick up. Emily decided that arguing at this point was worthless so she stayed quiet and let JJ talk to the director.

Monday morning Emily and JJ walked into the outpatient wing of the hospital and waited for Emily to be called back. Although Emily would never admit it, she was nervous. The next 24 hours would shape the rest of her life and secretly she was glad JJ was there with her. A few minutes later the nurse called Emily's name and they both made their way back to the prep room. Once there, Emily was greeted by Dr. Witten,

"Hello, Emily, how are you today?"

"I'll be glad when this is over." Emily offered a semi smile. "Dr. Witten I would like you to meet my wife, Agent Jennifer Jareau."

"Pleasure to meet you Agent Jareau." Susan smiled as she shook JJ's hand. "So I'm guessing Emily finally broke down and told you?"

"Please call me JJ and she didn't have a choice after I felt it." JJ smiled and Emily blushed.

"You know that is quite common; having the spouse find the lump." Dr. Witten replied with a smirk. She explained the procedure and told them that it would take about an hour since it was so small. She told JJ that Emily would be in recovery for a couple hours and then she was free to go home with strict rules to take it easy and no heavy lifting. JJ gave Emily a kiss and then returned to the waiting room so that that they could prep Emily for the surgery.

Finally after the longest hour and half of her life Dr. Witten came out and told her that everything went well and that she had been able to remove the whole lump without any issue. Three hours later JJ was helping Emily to the couch, as the affects of the anesthesia still hadn't completely worn off.

Later that night, as Emily and JJ lay in bed, Emily finally let her fears show.

"I'm scared." Emily said softly as she pulled JJ a little tighter in her arm.

"I know you are. I am too." JJ replied as she brought Emily's hand up and kissed her knuckles.

"What if it comes back positive?" Emily asked as a tear escaped her eye.

"Then we will deal with it together." JJ replied.

"I love you so much, Jennifer."

"I love you too and nothing is going to change that. No matter what happens tomorrow, no matter what Dr. Witten tells us, I am still going to love you." JJ said as she turned around in Emily's arms; leaning her forward against Emily's. "I will always love you."

"Even if I lose all my hair?" Emily said with a slight laugh, even as a few more tears leaked out.

"I will still love you. You and your bald head." JJ laughed as she wiped the tears from Emily's cheek.

"What if I have to have a mastectomy?" Emily asked, as she turned serious.

"Honey, contrary to popular belief, while I am quite fond of your breasts, they are not the reason I married you." JJ smiled.

"Really?" Emily teased.

"I'm more interested in your money." JJ teased and tried to get out of Emily's arms but before she could, Emily had her pinned to the bed. They spent the rest of the evening making love, all the while avoiding Emily's still sore right breast, as JJ tried to make Emily forget what was going to happen in less then 12 hours.

Emily and JJ sat nervously in Andy's office waiting for Dr. Witten to come in with the test results.

"Just relax Emily. No matter what happens we are all here for you." Andy said just as Susan opened the door.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, I had another patient to deal with." She said smiling. "I'll get right to it. Emily I am happy to report that the biopsy came back benign."

"It wasn't cancerous?" Emily asked, making sure she had heard her correctly.

"Nope. You are in the clear." Susan smiled. Emily turned to face JJ and was immediately engulfed in a huge hug from her wife. Emily couldn't stop the tears that fell.

"Oh my god you have no idea how wonderful that is to hear." Emily said once JJ let go.

"I'm sure it is. I'm glad I had good news to report. I am going to recommend a follow up mammogram in six months just to verify no other lumps form and I also recommend you continue with the daily self examinations."

"I'm on it." JJ teased raising her hand in the air. Andy simply rolled his eyes, while Emily and Dr. Witten laughed. "It'll be rough but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make." JJ laughed.

"Oh how noble of you." Andy teased back.

"It's what makes me so nice." JJ smiled as she wrapped her arm around her wife and silently thanked god for the good news.

A/N- Okay so I think this is something that everyone can relate to… I hope that it turned out okay…. PLEASE REVIEW…..