Thanks again to all who read and reviewed last chapter, your words motivate me to keep writing, and I love reading your thoughts on the conversations. Also, a big thanks to those who left/sent me suggestions for future conversations - I managed to write out a few of them!
In my ongoing efforts to have a relative balance of conversation partners, we're delving back into the world of JJ (and of course Henry makes an appearance!) I had a ton of fun writing this chapter, and I hope it elicits a chuckle or two from you.
Happy reading =)
"Our babies will be smart and beautiful." –Leonard Hofstadter, Big Bang Theory
"Okay, spill. How'd you do it?" I ask, not quite believing what she'd just told me.
She shrugs, "No clue. I told him the time and he raced upstairs to get ready. I checked up on him a couple minutes later and he was already in bed, pajamas on, teeth brushed and story picked out. I read a few pages and he was out like a light."
"Unbelievable. He's been giving me and Will a hell of a time at bedtime for months."
"Well there was that bit of cold medication that I slipped into his after-dinner snack…"
My eyes widen, "You didn't."
She laughs, "I'm kidding. What can I say? The kid was tired. We had a very eventful day."
I shake my head and chuckle, "Thanks again for this Em. My to-do list was just ridiculously long, and with Will in New Orleans and Henry's never-ending energy, there was no way any of it was going to get done today."
"JJ, I don't mind. He's a delight."
"For you, apparently," I mutter, somewhat jealous that my son behaves better for her than me, his own mother.
She smirks in response, trying to hold in a laugh but losing the battle. She eventually gives up trying to hold it in and laughs heartily. I reluctantly join in, her laugh too infectious to ignore. We settle into a comfortable silence, enjoying the moment for what it is – blissfully normal. No unsubs to profile, no international terrorists searching high and low for her, no victims to interview, no media to wrangle. It's a small moment of completely boring normalcy, but it's worth more to us than anyone could ever know.
"So what did you two get up to today?" I ask, genuinely curious as to what activities would tire out Henry, who usually has energy to spare.
"Well, we finally watched The Wizard of Oz, went to the park and played a very intense game of tag, followed by a pretty deep discussion about life."
"My son, the philosopher. You bring out the nerd in him, Em."
"There are worse things I could do… Don't forget that I was a rather rebellious youngster."
"Emily Prentiss, a wild child? I don't believe it. Aside from some yearbook photo Garcia keeps alluding to, I've got no proof of that."
She bites her lip as if in debate with herself over whether to share details or not. With an exhale, she seems to have decided.
"We moved around a lot when I was a kid, because of my mom's job. She was always busy with dinners, meetings and events. She made sure to give me the best money could offer, but her schedule didn't leave a lot of time for her daughter."
"I can't even imagine not making time for Henry."
"You and my mother are very different people, and it was a different time. Careers and kids didn't mix as well as they do now. Anyway, with no real friends thanks to moving around so much, and no siblings, I craved my mother's attention. I would do just about anything to get her to notice me."
"I take it that strategy didn't pay off?"
"Well, at first it did. I pissed her off royally every chance I could get and she'd yell at me and argue with me, so long as there weren't guests around. It's sad, but those moments were the only moments I was sure that she knew I existed."
I open my mouth to comfort her, but I realize she isn't finished.
"After a while though, the yelling and arguing stopped; she stopped acknowledging me altogether. That's when I got into some pretty bad stuff."
I raise my eyebrows in silent question in response, my eyes portraying the comfort I desperately want to give her.
"Sex, drugs, cheap thrills. I was pretty much the poster child of maladjustment."
"How old were you then?"
She sighs. "15 or so."
I can't help the expression of shock that appears on my face. Perfectly poised, classy, professional and compassionate Emily Prentiss was the kind of kid my mother warned me about.
"What changed you?"
She opens her mouth to respond, but is interrupted by a loud crack of thunder. I brace myself for the yell that will no doubt follow – my son is far from fond of thunder storms. Not 5 seconds later, I hear the wail of Henry's cries and quick footsteps coming down the stairs. He jumps into my arms and buries his face into my shirt, his tears dampening my shirt.
"Shhh, it's okay Henry. It's just thunder."
"I don't like it," he cries, his words almost drowned out by the rain pounding against the windows and the wind whipping branches against the house.
5 minutes later, Henry is no more comfortable with the storm, and my shirt hasn't had a chance to dry yet with his constant stream of tears.
"How about some warm milk, Henry? Maybe that will help calm you down."
He doesn't object, and I take that as an affirmative.
"I'll get it Jayje," Emily says as she jumps up from her seat.
"No, no. Here, you take him, I'll get it. Maybe he'll calm down for you."
Placing him into Emily's open arms, I'm not surprised to find him grasping her shirt tightly and burying his face into the crook of her neck, a fresh wave of whimpering sounding from his mouth. She begins whispering to him in rapid French, and he pulls his head up to regard her with a confused look.
"Bien. Now that I have your attention, how about we calm down a little? Oui? Just breathe Henry, slowly. In and out, with me. Good."
I shake my head. Of course she'd be able to calm him down. Even as a newborn and as a toddler she'd had an oddly calming effect on him. I walk into the kitchen to warm some milk, my mind thrown into a memory.
"I can't believe it's already been a whole month. It feels like just yesterday I was holding him for the first time," I say as Henry begins squirming.
"I know what you mean, time is flying by where this little crime fighter is concerned. There are not enough hours in the day to shop for him!"
"Garcia! He doesn't need anything else. You've already showered him with gifts," I protest.
"None of which are good enough for this little guy. Speaking of, I have a shopping date with my Chocolate Adonis, so I must be off. If you need anything at all, you know how to reach me."
She steps next to me, curls her finger and bumps it with Henry's fist in what I can only imagine is a rudimentary version of 'props'. With one last "tootles!" Garcia departs, leaving the house to just the two of us.
Henry continues his squirming, and I begin to gently rock him. I hear soft knocks at the front door and, placing Henry in his carrier, I walk slowly to answer it, simultaneously happy whoever it is decided to knock and not ring the doorbell, and upset that my time with him is being interrupted.
I'm somewhat shocked by her presence for some reason.
"Jayje, hey I'm sorry to just drop by like this. I hope I didn't wake the little guy…"
"No, he's awake. You just missed Garcia, actually. Come on in."
"Oh no, it's okay. I just wanted to drop something off. I evidently procrastinated a bit too long on buying a present for the whole 'congratulations! it's a boy' thing."
"Em, you didn't have to-"
"Nonsense. It's not every day you have a kid," she says, and I see an expression of what I think is regret flash across her face.
"At least do me a favour and watch the little guy for a couple minutes? I haven't had the chance to change yet today."
She nods, "Sure. No problem. Take your time."
I smile gratefully, happy to have the chance to change into some fresh clothes.
"Actually, do you have anywhere to be?"
She shakes her head, "Not just yet, no. Why?"
I grin apologetically, hoping I'm not overstepping, "Well I'd love to jump into the shower…"
"Say no more, Jayje. Go ahead. Little Henry and I will get acquainted."
"Perfect, thanks Em. I owe you one."
One very refreshing and relaxing shower later, I throw on some clean clothes and make my way downstairs. Half way down the stairs I hear the high-pitched wail of Henry that I've come to classify as 'full-fledged fit'. I grimace and begin forming an apology in my head for Emily. As I round the corner to the living room where I'd left the two of them, I realize the crying has stopped. Emily is holding Henry in her arms, their gazes locked as she rocks him gently.
"That- That's amazing. How did you do that?" I ask, eyes wide in surprise.
She turns to face me, her expression mirroring mine, "I dunno."
After another minute or so of gentle rocking, Henry's eyes close and he settles into a sound sleep. She puts him into his carrier and tucks his blanket around him before turning to face me.
"Before I forget, here," she says, pulling an envelope from her purse and handing it to me.
I take it and absently open it, my mind still focused on how Henry settled down so quickly. When my eyes shift to the contents of the envelope my eyes widen at the sight of the paperwork denoting significant money put aside for Henry.
"Em, this is- It's too much."
She waves off my efforts, "I don't have any nieces or nephews to spoil, so… Please, just let me."
"Em, you can't possibly be able to- This is a lot of mon-"
"Jayje. Please, don't worry about it."
"But we don't make that much," the words tumble out of my mouth quickly, my brain still not processing the reality.
"Let's just say being an Ambassador's daughter comes with some financial security, so please don't worry about it."
"I- I don't know what to say."
She just shrugs, as if to say 'no big deal'
"Thank you. Really, thank you," I say and wrap my arms around her in a tight hug.
"Don't thank me yet, he might put it toward buying a Harley," she says with a chuckle.
Carefully carrying the mug back into the room, I hear Emily speaking softly to Henry, explaining the science behind thunder and lightning. His brow furrows in concentration, but the explanation seems to pacify him somewhat. His eyes swing toward me as I sit down beside them, placing the mug on the table.
"Here Henry, have some warm milk, then I'll tuck you back in upstairs."
He reluctantly pulls away from Emily and slides forward to grab the mug of warm milk. A few minutes later, having finished his milk and stayed relatively calm through some thunder, I can see his eyes begin to droop.
"Okay little man, time for bed, let's go," I say.
"Auntie Emmy!" he says as he throws himself into her arms once more.
"Henry, you've got to go to bed now," my tone a little more harsh than I intended.
He turns his head shyly toward me, an almost guilty expression on his face, "Can Auntie Emmy tuck me in?"
I shake my head and sigh, my raised eyebrows asking the silent question of my friend. She nods slowly.
"Okay, but give me a kiss first."
He jumps out of her embrace and gives me a quick hug and a kiss, "I love you, mommy."
"I love you, Henry."
He jumps up once more and grabs Emily's outstretched hand.
"C'mon handsome, let's get you tucked into bed," she says with a warm smile.
As they head upstairs, their hands tightly grasped together, I go into the kitchen and set about making us some tea. The storm hasn't let up any, and driving in the near torrential rain is probably not a good idea, so I figure we'll be up for a while. A few minutes later I hear her footsteps on the stairs and soon after see her appear in the doorway to the kitchen.
"Is he out?"
She nods, "Yeah, poor little guy is completely tuckered out."
"Here," I say, placing a mug of tea in front of her. "I figured you're stuck here until the rain lets up a bit, so we may as well have some tea."
She smiles gratefully, "Sounds good to me. Thanks."
We take our beverages and sit back on the couch.
"How come you don't have any kids?"
She looks surprised at my question but recovers quickly, "I told you already. When you and Will got together, you snagged the last viable donor."
"Mmhmm. You sure it isn't because you haven't been looking for one?"
She shrugs, "The timing's never been quite right."
"Em…" I say with a raised eyebrow.
"What? It hasn't. I went from maladjusted teenager to surprisingly studious college student and then jumped straight into law enforcement. Not long after all of that I was deep into CIA stuff, so it's kind of been on the back burner since."
"Okay. But I'm just saying, I can see it. You'd make a great mom."
"You think?"
"Henry adores you, so does Jack. You connect with the kids we see at work. It fits, Em."
Her expression turns thoughtful and I decide to seize the moment and push the agenda.
"Plus, your children would be gorgeous. Something to be said for good genes on both sides…"
She frowns, "Both sides?"
"You're beautiful, Morgan has that sexy appeal. Your children will be stunning."
"Hang on. Morgan? Wait. What are you trying to say?"
I smirk, "Em, please. All that flirting between you two cannot possibly just be platonic."
"Did Garcia put you up to this?"
I chuckle, "Nope. This is just me."
She narrows her eyes and shakes her head, "JJ. It's not going to happen. We're partners, that's all!"
I shake my head, those two have been dancing around each other for years, and if not for bad luck they'd have no luck at all when it comes to timing.
"JJ!"
"Okay, okay. But admit it - your children would be gorgeous."
She rolls her eyes, "Yeah, I guess they will be."
I raise an eyebrow and it takes less than a second for her to realize her mistake.
"Would be. They would be," she rushes to correct herself, her skin tingeing red with embarrassment.
I grin widely, my mission clearly accomplished, and several questions finally definitively answered.
"Oh, quit looking at me like that. You know what? I think the rain's finally let up a bit. I think I'll be heading home now."
I laugh at her discomfort and her not at all hidden efforts to escape the discussion.
"Okay Emily. You do that," I say with a smile. "Drive carefully. Henry would never forgive me if he couldn't see his favourite aunt ever again."
"I'm his favourite?"
"Don't act so surprised, Em. He absolutely adores you. Just… don't tell Garcia. She's liable to go on another fairy godmother shopping spree to make up some ground."
She chuckles along with me, "She totally would too. Alright, I'm off."
"Bye Em. Remember, beautiful babies with dark brown eyes and caramel coloured skin and stubbornness to spare."
"I'm leaving now," she says as she walks briskly toward the door, trying to hide her face, which I'm guessing would betray her true thoughts on the matter.
Just before she shuts the front door behind her, I manage to say one last thing that will, in all likelihood, drive her crazy for days.
"He'd make a great dad!"
If you're so inclined, I'd love to hear your feedback.
I'm also open to suggestions for future conversations...