Present Day:
Emily's anger simmered just below the surface as she and JJ approached the front porch of JJ's childhood home. The couple made it inside just as the last one of JJ's relatives was sitting down for dinner and were both relieved they wouldn't have to jump straight into socializing upon their return. What they were not expecting was to be greeted or rather pounced on by JJ's mother as soon as they stepped through the door.
"Jennifer Margaret Jareau, where the hell have you been?"
Emily felt sick to her stomach as her wife went rigid in her arms.
"We went for a walk." Emily jumped in, a stone-cold expression set on her face.
She stepped in front of her wife and stared down her mother-in-law, challenging her to protest, and it was clear by the surprise on Sandy's face that Emily had caught her off guard.
"Jayje, why don't you go find Michael and Henry. Make sure they found something to eat." Emily murmured as gently as she could manage, not breaking eye contact with Sandy.
JJ quickly squeezed Emily's hand in appreciation then retreated to the kitchen in search of their sons.
"Why don't we step outside?" Emily suggested with ice-cold intensity. Sandy started to protest but Emily immediately cut her off. "I insist."
Emily waited courteously as Sandy reached into the hall closet for her coat and slipped it on, then the two women stepped out onto the porch.
"I don't understand why you brought me out here." Sandy complained as soon as the door shut behind them. "I need to get back inside and have a word with my daught-"
"Ferme ta gueule!" Emily hissed. Shut the fuck up!
It wasn't often that she lost her cool. She was a diplomat's daughter, well versed in confronting people that got under her skin or who she didn't see eye to eye with, but Sandy Jareau had crossed the line, and no one who hurt the people she loved got away with it.
"Excuse me?!"
"You don't get to call her your daughter after the way you've treated her."
"Wha- you have no right to talk to me that way!"
"You had no right to say the things you've said to her. You have manipulated her and neglected her needs since she was eleven, since she was a child. She needed a mother after Roslyn died-"
"How dare you bring up such a painful memory!"
Emily wanted to cry at the realization that this is where her wife learned her avoidant behaviors and defensiveness. It was one more log to fuel Emily's blazing hatred for the woman in front of her.
"You pushed JJ away when she was going through the same pain as you were, except she didn't have the same capacity to sort through her emotions as you did. It was too much for someone her age to handle alone. Eleven may seem grown up to you, but as someone who has an almost eleven-year-old right now, I can tell you it's not. They are not as grown up as they try to act, or you try to make them out to be. They need their mothers - especially eleven-year-old girls - to teach them how to love and be kind and treat other people right."
"I don't like what you are insinuating right now. If you had as many years of experience being a mother as I have, you would understand that you cannot reward bad behavior. Jennifer was acting out, plain and simple, so I punished her. And I did teach her to be kind and to show her elders respect, but clearly she never learned."
"эта сука. Я думал, что у меня дерьмовая мать." Emily muttered, frustrated by her mother-in-law's bullshit argument. This bitch. I thought I had a shitty mother. "Leading by example is half of teaching. When your daughter died and your husband left, JJ looked to you to know what to do, but you closed yourself off. You shut down and ignored her because you couldn't handle acting an adult."
"She's the one who needs to start acting like an adult. She never grew out of her attitude or throwing fits. I lost a daughter and a husband in the same year and had to be a single parent to an eleven-year-old who was out of control. You don't know what it was like to deal with her outbursts. She turned into a nightmare, overreacting for no reason, constantly having meltdowns when things didn't go her way. I couldn't even take her out in public after she threw a tantrum over a goddamn bag of Cheetos."
"Ты сучка херова." You fucking bitch. "She was a child, she was grieving!"
"I was grieving!" Sandy raved.
"You should have gotten a therapist then." Emily spat back. "Grief does not excuse the irreparable damage you have done to her. You belittled her feelings, berated her for doing the only thing she knew would get your attention. It was a cry for help that you refused to answer. You punished her for expressing emotions she didn't know how to control or what to do with."
Sandy's intended retort was interrupted by the front door swinging open.
"Em are you…" JJ trailed off, realizing she stepped into a very heated conversation.
She looked from her mother to her wife, noticing the way they both looked ready to strangle the other, so she stepped out onto the porch and pulled the door closed behind her.
"Jennifer-"
"If you call her that one more time," Emily barked at her mother-in-law. "Je jure devant Dieu!" I swear to God!
"Em." JJ said meekly, laying a gentle hand on her wife's arm to quiet her, then turned to her mother. "Mom, I'm done."
Both Sandy and Emily looked at her, surprised by JJ's sudden burst of confidence. Even though Emily could see the fear in her eyes and hear the slight quaver in her voice, JJ was advocating for herself, and Emily couldn't be prouder. Sandy on the other hand seemed rather unhappy at JJ's interjection.
"What do you mean you're done? Jennifer what are you-"
"Stop." JJ cut her off, taking a shaky breath before continuing. Stand your ground. "You have proved you don't respect me by refusing to call me JJ like I asked you to, several times now. I- I'm done letting you walk all over me. If you can't respect a request as simple as calling me by a name I feel more comfortable with, then I'm going to stop giving you the opportunity."
"What are you talking about? I am your mother, and you are disrespecting me right now! No, you know what? Maybe you're right and I'm just a terrible mother." Sandy retorted, with a woe is me attitude.
"Mom- I- that's not what I meant." JJ stuttered, her voice catching in her tightening throat.
Emily saw JJ's confidence crumbling, noticed the way her teeth tugged at her lips, and the way the muscles in her arms tensed again. JJ resisted the urge to pull at her hair, knowing it would only give her mother ammunition to yell at her again. She knew her mother was trying to make her feel guilty and she was succeeding. JJ shot Emily a pleading glance, which her wife thankfully understood.
"Sandy, just listen to her." Emily pleaded, bridling her anger for her wife's sake. "If you would just lis-"
"Stay out of this." Sandy retorted offendedly. "This matter doesn't concern you."
"No, you made it my concern when you hurt her."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Sandy huffed, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Это чертовски дерьмо." That is fucking bullshit. Emily snapped, unable to tolerate Sandy's gaslighting. "It's bullshit and you know it."
"I'm done talking to you. Leave us so I can talk to my daughter alone."
"Пошыел к чыерту." Go to hell. "You say what you want to say right here right now." Emily glared at her mother-in-law, fury blazing in her dark eyes.
"Em it's okay." JJ said, unconvincingly.
It was nowhere near okay, but she needed them to stop fighting. She was exhausted from all the stress of the day and the full-blown meltdown she'd had not even thirty minutes ago. She couldn't handle the tension, it was making her anxious and fidgety.
"No, I won't let her hurt you again." Emily insisted, close to angry tears.
"I have never laid a finger on her."
"Psychological abuse is thing Sandy." Emily shouted, biting back another curse. "And so is emotional neglect."
"What the hell is wrong with you, making such wild accusations. Jennifer is perfectly fine, aside from her childish temper tantrums and her attitude problem."
JJ was starting to feel trapped between her mother and wife, like a ball in their game of angry tennis. With every insult and low blow, the urge to run or scream until she had no voice left became stronger. There was no way this was going to end well.
"She's not fine!" Emily shrieked.
"Em." JJ protested again.
"No, Jayje." Emily said, turning to her wife. "I know it's hard for you to admit but you are not okay, my love. I know you're still dealing with a lot of trauma and guilt about what happened to you growing up, but you shouldn't have to feel that way because it was not your fault, none of it was."
Emily then turned to her mother-in-law.
"But you! You abused her Sandy." Emily stuck her finger in Sandy's face. "When I looked for my wife tonight, I found her absolutely exhausted because you kept pushing her too hard, and don't even try to make another bullshit excuse for your actions."
Emily was gesturing wildly now, not bothering to filter the words spilling out of her mouth.
"You ignored what she needed just like you have all her life. You are so goddamn blind that you missed how hard she has been trying to earn your love, something a child should never have to do. You know, she got upset tonight when she couldn't hold back her tears, I suspect because you yelled at her to stop crying so many times, and then she asked me why she wasn't enough for you. Let that sink in. She asked why she was not- is not enough for you."
"Of course she said that." Sandy spat out viciously. "She just has to play the victim. What other lies has she told you? That I blamed her for her father leaving? For her sister's suicide?"
The night air suddenly seemed so much colder, and Emily watched as her wife's face went ghostly white. For a brief moment, she thought the blonde might pass out. Emily's heart dropped to her stomach as she mentally pieced together what she was hearing. Sandy was unaware that she had just told Emily far more information than she meant to. In the silence, an all-consuming rage was unleashed in Emily's mind, clouding all rational thought.
"я убью тебя. Je jure que je te tuerai." Emily swore in a dangerously low voice, then stormed toward Sandy. I'll kill you. I swear I will kill you.
JJ quickly caught her wife's arm, desperately holding her back. JJ didn't need to understand Russian or French to translate the murderous tone in Emily's voice.
"Emily, don't!" JJ pleaded.
Emily whirled to face her wife, making JJ shrink back in fear.
"Is it true?" Emily seethed with unrestrained rage. "Did she blame you for your sister's death and your father leaving you?"
"Of course I didn't!" Sandy squawked. "Jennifer, tell her I never said such a thing. What kind of monster do you think I am?"
"Va te faire voir." She hissed at Sandy. Fuck off. Then she turned back to her wife, briefly reigning in her anger to soften the question. "JJ, did she blame you?"
There were tears in both their eyes as JJ silently nodded.
What happened next was a blur. The sharp crack of a slap pierced the silence as Sandy struck her daughter across the face. JJ yelped and shielded her face with her hands. A shocked sob slipped from her mouth as she struggled to process what just happened. Emily yanked her mother-in-law away from JJ by her arm.
"Пошел ты, сраный кусок дерьма! ты чудовище. Comment as-tu pu faire ça à ta fille? Si tu touches encore ma femme, je te jure que ce sera la dernière chose que tu feras." Emily screamed in Sandy's face. She was fuming, ranting in French, and cussing up a storm in Russian. Fuck you, you fucking piece of shit. You're a monster. How could you do that to your daughter? You touch my wife ever again, I swear to God it'll be the last thing you ever fucking do.
She shoved Sandy hard, sending her stumbling backwards and leaving them both spitting mad. Sandy reached out and caught herself with the porch rail.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Sandy screeched, as if she hadn't just smacked her daughter hard enough to make her see stars.
"Wrong with me? What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Emily bellowed back, shoving her mother-in-law's shoulders again.
"You fucking bitch!"
"No that's you, Sandy." Emily hissed, her teeth bared. "Come near my family again and I swear to god you will regret it."
"Are you threatening me?" Sandy accused, but her confidence didn't make it to her eyes. She looked like a cornered rabbit, terrified by the beast in front of her that was about to eat her alive.
"No, it's a fucking promise Sandra Jareau. If you want to go to the cops and report me, feel free, but you're a fool if you think for one second that I won't file charges against you for the assault of a federal officer." Emily watched Sandy's face go pale, almost as if it hadn't occurred to her that she had just hit an FBI agent. "You will never go anywhere near JJ or the boys ever again, do you understand?"
Sandy swallowed visibly then nodded.
"Good." Emily spat. "We won't be staying here tonight, or ever again. I'm taking them home, or to a hotel if I have to. I will not let my sons be influenced by your bad habits the way you subjected JJ to them. Now, get in the fucking house."
Sandy shuffled past Emily and JJ, keeping her eyes glued to the ground until she reached the door. Once she was inside, Emily released a long breath, working to get herself back to a state of calm. She turned to check on her wife and her heart clenched painfully at what she found. Pure terror was etched across the blonde's face. JJ had somehow managed to stay on her feet despite her entire body visibly shaking and her legs threatening to send her to the concrete.
"JJ, are you okay?" Emily asked gently, reaching out with a tentative hand to touch her wife's shoulder.
JJ's mind had chosen freeze, rather than fight or flight and she was still stuck. Emily rubbed her upper arm comfortingly, hoping the contact would pull her out of the frozen state and calm the shaking.
"She h-hit me." JJ stated weakly, her voice breaking in the middle of her words.
Her brain was finally catching up, finally starting to process everything. She realized now that her cheek was hot and stinging painfully from the contact of her mother's hand. Disbelief was now battling the fear for dominance of her expression.
"My mother hit me."
"JJ, look at me." Emily prompted, getting worried by the lack of response.
"She hit me." JJ repeated, was trying to convince herself that she hadn't made it all up. She rubbed her cheek absentmindedly and winced as the pain told her she had not imagined her mother slapping her.
"Jayje, are you okay?" Emily asked again, bracing herself for the answer.
She knew today was a lot to process, and this interaction with her mother could be the breaking point for JJ, given that she had already been in such a fragile and vulnerable state because of her meltdown less than an hour ago.
"I don't know." JJ replied honestly, her eyes momentarily locking with Emily's before darting away again.
"Hey, hey it's okay." Emily soothed, reaching out to brush the sudden tears escaping from her wife's eyes. "You're safe. She can't hurt you anymore."
JJ hadn't realized she was crying. She felt her focus slipping away again and desperately tried to keep herself grounded. Emily recognized the clouded look in the blonde's cobalt blue eyes and immediately her instincts kicked in.
"JJ, stay with me." Emily said steadily, despite the adrenaline once more flooding her system.
She guided her wife to sit down on the porch and positioned herself so that her back was against the brick of the house with JJ seated between her legs. Emily placed the blonde's hands palm down on the cold concrete then pulled JJ's back flush against her front.
"I need you to talk to me." Emily prompted. "Tell what you can see."
"Grass… Christmas lights… uhm a car." JJ listed laboredly. "Houses…a bunch of trees."
"Good. What can you hear?"
"Your voice."
"Good. What else?" Emily asked, gently massaging her wife's scalp with her fingertips, then carding through the long strands of blonde hair
"My voice… The wind."
"Good, now what can you feel?"
"The concrete."
JJ felt her mind slowly beginning to sharpen as she took in her surroundings.
"What does it feel like?"
"It's cold and rough and hard."
JJ shivered as a gust of cold wind blew across the porch.
"What else do you feel?"
"I can feel you breathing. I can feel your arms around me."
JJ leaned her head back on Emily's shoulder and took a deep breath.
"I've got you." Emily murmured, resting her head lightly against the blonde's.
"Thank you." JJ whispered.
She tilted her chin up and strained to meet her wife's dark eyes from the odd angle. Emily smiled lovingly at her, her worry melting away. She reached over and tucked a finger under JJ's chin, then leaned in for a soft kiss. It was warm and delicate, full of love and reassurance that they were safe. JJ pulled back then gave Emily a quick peck before sitting up straight and twisting in Emily's arms.
"I know I should talk about all this but…" JJ started, then paused. She had felt the defensiveness trying to creep into her words but caught herself. "I'm just not ready yet. I promise I'll tell you everything, just… not right now."
"Take all the time you need, my love." Emily replied, sneaking another brief kiss.
JJ felt a sense of relief at her wife's response. She knew that was how Emily would respond, but she couldn't suppress the angry voice in her head that convinced her Emily would pressure her to talk. Somehow, hearing her wife say those words, finding nothing but love and care in those warm brown eyes was enough to overpower that voice.
"Why don't we go find the boys and grab our stuff, hmm?" Emily suggested, leaving their next move up to JJ and whatever she felt comfortable with.
"Yes, please." JJ hummed, her voice betraying how tired she was.
Emily unwound herself from behind her wife, then stood up and offered a hand to help her up, which JJ graciously accepted. Once they were both back on their feet, they made their way over to the door, their hands still intertwined. Emily felt JJ pull back slightly as she reached for the door handle. The déjà vu of this action and the result was apparent to them both. Even though the fear was mostly irrational it still gave JJ pause.
"JJ, look at me." Emily said, watching the fear dance across her wife's face. "She's not going to be there to yell at you when I open this door. It won't happen again, I promise."
Though her doubts lingered, JJ nodded and faced the door once more. Emily twisted the knob and led them into the foyer. JJ braced herself to hear her mother's voice when she shut the door behind them, but Sandy was nowhere in sight. The worry lessened but did not disappear.
As they moved further into the house, they scanned the crowd for their sons, finding them with Cassidy and her son, David.
"Mama, Momem!" Michael squealed, greeting his mothers.
"Can we spend the night with David and Aunt Cassidy?" Henry asked excitedly, looking from his mothers to David and his younger brother.
"Yeah, can they?" David chimed in.
Out of all of JJ's cousins, she was closest to Cassidy, both in age and in relationship. Cassidy's parents were her uncle Randy and aunt Marge, whom JJ had gotten her middle name from, and they had always been her favorite. They were almost like her second family, more like parents to her than her actual ones. They even took her out to dinner to celebrate when she came out as bisexual and were always her defender when other members of the family were rude to her. Cassidy's son, David, was a year younger than Henry, but was Michael's partner in crime when it came to shenanigans and all three boys were the best of friends. If Cassidy and David didn't live in Florida, the families would be inseparable, but the distance and JJ and Emily's job made visits few and far between.
"David invited them before asking me." Cassidy explained with a genial laugh. "But I would love to take these goofballs off your hands for the night, if you two would be comfortable with that. We have a hotel room in town for the night and there's plenty of room for them."
Emily looked at her wife, asking the silent question while simultaneously giving her opinion. Is that alright with you? I think it would be good for them and for us. JJ nodded in agreement and gave a small smile.
"That would be wonderful, thank you Cassidy." Emily said appreciatively. "We were planning on getting a hotel room anyway, so it seems pointless to deny them a sleepover, especially since it isn't often that they get to see each other."
"Perfect! We're staying at The Priory Hotel. I don't know if you already have reservations, but when I booked our room they had plenty of availability and it was very affordable."
"We haven't booked anything, so that sounds great." Emily replied, sending a silent thank you with an appreciative smile.
"How about you guys go grab your stuff and take it out to the car. It should be unlocked." Cassidy said, smiling brightly at the excited young boys.
Henry, David, and Michael did a quick celebratory dance then dashed off to grab their belongings leaving the adults alone.
"Thank you." JJ whispered as she fought back tears.
She pulled her cousin in for a hug and Cassidy squeezed her tight.
"I'm so sorry Sandy was bitch to you today." Cassidy murmured, rubbing the other blonde's back comfortingly. "I have half a mind to sic Mom on her."
JJ let loose a tearful chuckle at the thought of Sandy getting chewed out by her older sister. In the past, her Aunt Marge had stood up to Sandy on her behalf on more than one occasion, mostly when JJ was a teenager. She was beyond grateful, but she was also an adult now and knew she couldn't let her aunt fight her battles for her anymore.
"Thanks Cass." JJ mumbled into her cousin's shoulder.
"Anytime Jen." Cassidy replied genuinely.
With one last squeeze, Cassidy released her then left her with an encouraging smile before leaving with the boys for the hotel. JJ and Emily followed closely behind after grabbing their bags and making a quick call to the hotel to reserve a room. The car ride over was brief and the check in process went smoothly. By some miracle, Cassidy and the boys were only a few doors down the hall, which was a huge comfort, even if they did trust Cassidy wholeheartedly. Emily felt relieved knowing the boys would be safe and have fun, while JJ would get the time she needed to rest and let down her guard if she needed to.
Upon entering the room, JJ tossed her bag on the bed and dug through it to find her pajamas. After grabbing her toiletries bag too, she headed for the bathroom and closed the door. Emily placed her bag on the loveseat in the corner of the room, pulled out her own sleepwear and toiletries and threw them on the bed. She moved JJ's bag next to her own, then changed and messily deposited her dirty clothes into her bag.
Emily waited for her wife to finish in the bathroom, but after ten minutes she started to worry. JJ didn't dawdle in the bathroom especially when she was tired, so Emily decided to check on her.
"Jayje, are you okay?" Emily asked gently, knocking on the door.
No answer. She tried again but heard nothing. Her mind started to race with every worst-case scenario, kicking up her heartrate and causing a pit to form in her stomach. Emily reached for the handle and slowly pushed open the door to find her wife sitting in the bathtub, fully clothed, with her knees pulled up to her chest.
"Jayje, are you okay?" She repeated.
JJ shrugged slowly but didn't meet Emily's gaze. Emily stepped into the bathroom and needlessly closed the door, making it feel more private, even if they were the only two people in the hotel room. She silently lowered herself onto the floor next to the tub and leaned on the edge, wanting to wrap her wife in a big hug until everything was okay again, but resisting the urge and letting JJ be the one to take the lead. The bathroom was quiet, the only sound coming from the drippy sink faucet, until JJ finally broke the silence.
"I miss her." She whispered, her soft words full of pain and heartache. "Sitting here makes me feel closest to her, but more than that it makes me miss her. I used to sit in the bathtub, the one she died in, and just talk to her for hours. Sandy thought it was morbid, but it helped when I felt lonely."
Emily rested her chin on her arms as she listened. She was not expecting her wife to open up unprompted much less share something so deep right out of the gate. Regardless, Emily was beyond proud and was jumping for joy internally. On the outside, she smiled softly, encouraging JJ to continue.
"Sometimes it felt like the only safe place in the house." JJ continued. "When Sandy would yell, I would lock myself in the bathroom and just sit in the tub for hours on end. I can't tell you how many time I fell asleep in there."
JJ shook her head and laughed to herself. She still hadn't acknowledged Emily aside from the shrug she had given her. It was almost as if she was simply thinking out loud.
"But then Sandy and I had a huge fight. She had been screaming at me for an hour and I tried to storm off to the bathroom, but she followed me and pushed her way in before I could lock the door. I yelled at her to get out, but she wouldn't. She pinned me against the wall and told me I was the reason Roslyn committed suicide and my dad left us. I tried to tell her that it wasn't my fault, that Ros was already dead when I found her, but Sandy wouldn't listen, she just kept screaming that I was to blame."
Emily felt a tear run down her cheek at the heartbreaking story from her wife's childhood, while JJ's eyes remained dry and unfocused; she was distancing herself from the memories again.
"I started to cry, and sh-she slapped me." JJ's voice shook, her resolve slowly starting to crack. "She told me I didn't deserve to cry and that I needed to grow up, which, of course, made me cry even more. She kept yelling at me to stop crying and when I couldn't, she told me she wouldn't speak to me until I stopped acting like a child. That was the start of the silent treatment. Sandy refused to talk to me for the next three and a half weeks while I screamed and cried and threw whatever I could get my hands on every day, doing anything I could to try and get her to talk. It was when I learned to keep quiet and hold back my anger and tears that she finally started talking to me again. She gave me the silent treatment on and off after that, never for that long, once or twice early on it lasted a week or two. Once I learned I figured out her rules it never lasted more than a day, usually just a few hours."
"Jayje." Emily croaked, her voice hoarse with emotion. "I'm so sorry you had to endure that. No one should ever be treated the way she treated you. A mother is supposed to take care of you and hold you when you cry. A mother helps you learn how release you anger in healthy ways, not bottle it up until you explode. You deserve a mother who loves you regardless of who you love or what you do. You deserve a mother who will cheer with you on the good days and cry with you on the bad days. Mon merle, you deserve to know a mother's love."
In that moment JJ decided it was time to stop fighting. She let her tears mix with the pain of the past and released them both into the silence of that hotel bathroom.
"Emily." JJ sobbed. "Will you hold me?"
Emily nodded through tears of her own and climbed into the bathtub next to her wife.
"I am so proud of you, mon merle." She whispered, pulling JJ into her chest, and pressing kisses into her hair. "I love you so much."
JJ sobbed harder than she ever head. She let go of the pain and trauma, the grief, and the guilt. She let go of the anger that had been trapped inside of her. She released all of the emotional baggage she had been carrying for over three decades and allowed herself to feel every feeling, uncomfortable or not. For a moment it all felt like too much. She felt like the world was crashing down on her and spinning out of control all at the same time. She was panicking and wondering if this was it, if maybe she would die in this hotel bathtub, but in the midst of everything, she felt Emily's arms around her. She heard her heart beating strong in her chest. JJ felt safe, safer than she ever had in her life.
Emily held her wife tightly and, through tears of her own, promised that everything was going to be okay, that she was safe. She felt JJ's body relax even as she sobbed and Emily knew it was a turning point, she was letting herself feel everything. JJ had faced her demons and was sending them back to Hell where they belong.
They sat in the bathtub for another hour. They shifted to where Emily was stretched out and JJ was basically laying on top of her. Emily stroked her wife's back and combed her fingers through her hair until JJ had calmed down and almost fallen asleep on her chest. Both women lay quietly, and calm had returned to the room.
"Do you remember when you had a panic attack in front of me for the first time?" Emily asked quietly, her hand rubbing JJ's back underneath her shirt
"I was angry for letting that happen." JJ mumbled sleepily into Emily's t-shirt.
"We've come a long way since then. You've come a long way."
"I couldn't have done it without you Emily." JJ said, lifting her head to look at her wife. "Thank you."
"Always, mon merle."
JJ lay her head back down on Emily's chest and slowly drifted off to sleep. Emily listened to her wife's breath even out as she drifted off to sleep in the silence- aside from the leaky sink faucet. Just before she too fell asleep with the love of her life tucked safely in her arms, Emily made a vow. I promise to love you and protect you. Always, mon merle. You have my word.
