A/N: Hi all! I'm back! For those who have been following and reading "Am I Too Late?", don't worry, I am still writing the story and have not given up on it. I will be coming back to the story soon, hopefully. I have a new story up for CM: Evolution, and if anyone has not been caught up with/seen it yet, spoilers ahead for some parts. In this story though, JJ and Emily are married.

Here's a brief timeline of Jemily's relationship up until Evolution.

JJ and Will only hooked up for a year before Henry was born, and Emily helped her through parenthood until they both developed feelings. Doyle happened, and they confess their love for each other in Paris, and start a relationship towards the end of season 7. 200 happens, too, and they get married around season 13. The events of Truth or Dare don't happen because JJ loves Emily very much. Emily gets promoted as section chief and JJ is still in the BAU, but the team is reassigned and down to a number of people, as seen in Evolution.

And that's all you have to know for now. Let me know what you think and enjoy!

Emily arrived home from her budget meeting with leaders from other units and divisions in the FBI. Her work schedule over the last three years has changed drastically since she was promoted to section chief the same time. She had been coming home later than JJ, sometimes, by early morning when JJ was already up and ready for work.

"JJ, I'm home," she announced to the seemingly empty room. She heard footsteps from the hallway and smiled when her wife appeared.

"Hey." JJ walked over to her and greeted her with a kiss. "I just got Michael in bed. I thought you had a meeting."

"Yeah, well, we just finished early. Deputy Director Bailey was about to lecture me on Rossi's distractions the past few months."

JJ winced. "Oh, god. Well, at least you managed to get out of it, right?"

"Yep. How was your case?"

"Severed spinal cords," the blonde shuddered. "It's still open, but the police are still looking for more evidence on the unsub. They said it's not sufficient for a prosecution just yet." Emily hummed. "Hey, uh, did you know that Henry has a girlfriend?"

Emily's eyebrows rose in surprise. It certainly was news to her. "Oh- oh, no. When did this happen?""

"I don't know. I just found out tonight from my mom." JJ mischievously grinned, "Apparently, our son has gotten some motivation in his playing by one of his classmates earlier."

Emily laughed. "He's taking after you. I'm telling you, JJ, it's the eyes."

"Who do you think it is?" JJ started to think back to some interactions she'd seen Henry have with a few girls when she would pick him up from his practices. "Oh, I bet you it's Kaylen. They've always had little crushes. How much do you wanna bet it's her? I'm going to ask him first thing tomorrow."

Emily shook her head. "JJ, no. Give him some time. This just happened, and I don't think we'll get him to start talking until a little later."

"Emily, we both know you want to know about her, too."

"Yeah, but… we can't just bombard him with questions right away."

JJ frowned a little and caved in. "I guess you're right." Then, her eyes widened in realization. "Oh my god. This is how it starts. We're gonna blink and he's gonna be driving, and next thing we know, he's gonna graduate, and then he's- he's gonna leave us. This is- you know that, right? He's- he's going."

"JJ- alright. Alright, hey. Look at me," Emily tried to get her to stop. She settled for taking her face into her hands, so that JJ could focus on her instead. JJ blinked at her. "It's his first girlfriend, and this is Henry we're talking about."

JJ sighed, heading back down to earth. "It's just... they were babies a minute ago."

"That is true. But they're our babies," Emily assured. "They're always going to be. It just means we're doing our job."

"I know. It just…" JJ let out a groan, clenching her hand into a fist for emphasis, "hurts."

Emily smiled at the bittersweet sentiment. "It does, yeah. I'll go make some tea, okay? I think we both need it."

"Okay. Thank you." JJ smiled, watching her go.

Sitting on the couch, she began checking her phone, and Rossi's name appeared on her screen. Answering the call, she was met with Rossi briefing her on the case he was working on in Alexandria. He sent photos of the crime scene. JJ took some time to look through them as he began to explain what he had figured out so far.

A few minutes later, Emily came back into the living room. When she reentered the living room, she frowned when she saw JJ's concentration on her phone. It was the same one she used during the team's briefings. "Another case?"

JJ's head shot up when she heard her, nodding. "Yeah. Actually, Rossi's case in Alexandria. A family annihilator. Another murder took place. Dave just sent me more photos."

"Do you need some fresh eyes?"

JJ softly smiled. "No, it's fine. I know you got a lot on your shoulders right now with Deputy Director Bailey."

"I don't mind."

JJ finally gave in and gestured for her to sit down, which Emily followed. JJ gave her phone to her and watched as Emily examined the photos, skimming through her phone.

"This guy seems full of rage, but he's controlled," JJ noted.

"Hmm. Did Rossi send you any previous crime scene photos?" JJ looked through her phone and showed her another set. Emily nodded and examined them before she scanned through one previous picture and one current. "Here. He's a lot more determined now, so maybe some sort of trigger must've gotten him the last victim or maybe he's found his final target."

"So, there must've been a change in his M.O., then. But what caused it?" JJ wondered. "I'm going to look more into it, see what I can find."

"Alright." So, JJ spent the rest of the night reviewing the case with Emily's help, until both women were ready to go to bed.

The morning after the BAU solved their latest case, JJ found herself in the kitchen, preparing Henry and Michael's lunches before they were heading off to school. She turned her head over her shoulder to see Michael taking another bite of his cereal. Looking across from him, she noticed that Henry's head was down and it looked like he was glancing at something under the table. He attempted to fight off a smile from spreading across his face, too.

JJ bit her lip from saying anything. She wanted to keep herself out of his love life right now. She made a deal with Emily that she would. But she couldn't help it. She had to know.

Now, how was she going to do it? JJ needed a plan.

Walking over to the dining table, she saw that Michael was almost finished with his breakfast. Henry's body stiffened when he sensed his mother approaching them, and he covered it up by quickly putting his phone on the chair beside him and eating his breakfast. JJ took note of that and pursed her lips to the side.

"Mom, I'm done!" Michael announced, showing off his now empty bowl to her.

JJ smiled and ruffled his hair. "Alright, buddy. Go get ready for school. I'm dropping you off today."

Michael nodded and proceeded to go to his room to get ready. JJ then put her focus back on her eldest, who was slowly making his way through his meal. He peeked through his lashes at his mom until the sound of his phone went off, indicating that he had another text.

Henry froze, contemplating his next move. JJ watched his thoughts jog around his brain.

"Henry… Is there something you want to talk about?" JJ prompted, lifting her chin up and putting a hand on her hip.

"It's- it's my friend," he answered vaguely as he continued to eat his breakfast.

JJ raised an eyebrow. "I heard the message you sent me."

Henry sighed and rolled his eyes. "It's nobody, mom. I mean, it's my friend."

"Come on. You know, your mama and I are going to find out eventually."

"Profilers," he mumbled under his breath.

"Henry…"

"Okay, fine. The practice before our game, Kaylen was there." JJ's inner teenage girl began to squeal upon learning all this. "And I asked if she wanted to watch the game because our team was playing, and she said yes."

She couldn't contain her excitement any longer. "Oh! My baby has a girlfriend!" Cupping both his cheeks, JJ kissed all over Henry's face, feeling like a proud mother.

"Mom!" Henry tried swatting her hands away from his face, dodging every one of her kisses as best as he could. "Stop it. And she's not my girlfriend."

"I'm sorry," JJ said, still grinning. "My baby boy's growing. I can't help it."

"Ugh. How much does mama know?" Henry asked, wondering if his was the reaction he was getting from his blonde mother, how was Emily going to react?

"Hmm, you know she's the expert profiler in this house," JJ responded, letting him fill in the blanks.

"Oh, man…" Henry groaned. "Can I tell her myself, though?"

"Tell who what?" Emily's voice rang through as she entered the kitchen, adjusting the sleeves of her work shirt. "What did I miss?"

JJ gave Henry a pointed look and he groaned again. "The game yesterday. I asked Kaylen out after the game."

Emily glanced over at her wife, guessing that she had already started asking him. Looking back at Henry, her mouth dropped, playing along. "Oh? And what did she say?"

Henry shut his eyes in defeat, but immediately remembered how eager Kaylen was when he asked her to the game, smiling a little at the memory. "She said yes."

Letting out a small laugh, Emily opened her arms to bring him into a hug. "Oh, I'm happy for you, Henry! Come here."

Henry reluctantly accepted her hug and over Emily's shoulder, he could see his other mom's face, expressing an 'I told you so'. Pulling back, he winced. "I'm not getting out of this one, am I?"

"Nope!" Emily shook her head and smiled again.

"I think we should take a picture to cherish this moment forever," JJ joked.

"You know, I think it's time I should get ready," Henry attempted to excuse himself out of the conversation, bringing his phone with him. He made his way out of the kitchen, and went off to his room.

After the two women watched their son leave, Emily shook her head in amusement at JJ. "Now, what did you do?"

"I just confirmed that Kaylen is our 13-year-old's little friend, but not friend-friend. And before you start, Henry's phone went off and I figured it was the right time to ask, but you know what? I was right, so… Boom, I rule." JJ snapped her fingers in victory before shimmying into a little dance in front of Emily. "What can you say to that, Prentiss, huh?"

Emily chuckled at her adorable dork of a wife. "Alright, I'll give you that."

JJ smiled and poked Emily's side. "Hey, uh, there's this new Italian place that just opened. I could make a reservation for us tonight, if you're not too busy."

Emily froze and sucked in a breath, thinking of a way to break it to her, but JJ had already caught her. "I have to meet with Deputy Director Bailey again today, and Tara's coming in to help," she quietly said, not meeting JJ's eyes.

JJ's mouth dropped slightly as she attempted to hide her disappointment. "Oh, okay. That's fine. We can always reschedule."

Emily could hear the hint of sadness in her voice, though, and she felt even worse. "I'm sorry, JJ."

"No, it's okay. I understand." JJ smiled and tucked in a piece of blonde hair behind her ear. She decided to distract herself by pouring a cup of coffee.

Emily sighed and shook her head. "It's not okay, and don't deny it." Her voice adopted a more quiet tone afterwards, "Look, JJ, can you please tell me what's going on?"

JJ knew she was right, and she both loved and hated that Emily could see right through her. At this very moment, however, she couldn't tell if she liked it or not. With a small sigh, she turned to Emily. "It's just that… Ever since you got promoted, we haven't seen each other as much lately. Now, I get the whole reassigning with the BAU and your role now, but I just thought tonight we would have a little break from everything, and just be us. You know?"

"I'm sorry," Emily whispered, hearing her own heart shatter a little at JJ's plea. "Really. I just have a lot on my mind right now, and I didn't think about-"

JJ shook her head and placed her hands on Emily's shoulders, giving her a small rub there. "No. I told you, it's okay. Really, we can do it another time."

"Are you sure?"

JJ gave her a reassuring smile. "Yes. Just promise me something, though. Please take a breather every once in a while."

Emily smiled, thankful for her wife's concern. "I will. Just as long as you do the same."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Hey, listen. I told Tara we'd meet a little early, so she could brief me on her case. I'll see you later?"

"Sounds good." JJ leaned in to kiss her goodbye, and Emily accepted it. "See you later. I love you."

Emily smiled and made her way to the front door. "I love you, too. Stay safe."

After Emily had closed the door, JJ was left to herself. She didn't get it. She and Emily had always talked through their problems before. In fact, they promised they would always look after each other, even when they were still just friends.

It seemed, though, that she and Emily were beginning to pull away from each other. She swore that had never happened to them before. JJ tried to reason that it must have been from all the stress the two had been put under the last three years, especially with the pandemic. She couldn't fault Emily for what she had on her plate either. She knew the other woman was trying to save the BAU from separating even longer than they were supposed to.

JJ let out a heavy sigh and began getting ready to drop the boys off to school. At least she was spending more time with her sons, and catching up with them. She just had to try and figure out how to do the same with her wife.

This was going to be a long day.