JJ had been traveling with the team now three months now and things have been going really well. She missed her children more than anything but working just seemed right for her. Deep down, JJ knew she was protecting her children by going into work each day and Emily had everything handled.
"Mama!" Brooks called out; slowly but surely both Brooks and Brynley were learning to speak. Emily began to wonder if Lily was slower because when she was one, she didn't even babble as much however, Sandy made it clear that JJ was the same way because of all the older siblings she had which could be said for the twins as well.
"What is it baby?" Emily asked as she scooped him up. She'd done her best at teaching the twins sign language. Although Lily never caught on when she was a baby, the twins were doing a better job about it making things easier for the mothers to figure out what they needed.
"Time for your nap, isn't it?" he snuggled up closer to Emily and played with her hair. "Let's get your sister and read a story." Emily walked over to the beloved ball pit which had been replaced since Lily had grown out of it and picked her up. "Come on baby girl, it's almost time for your nap."
Emily got the twins down and made her way back to her office to get some work done getting distracted with shopping for Christmas presents. Amelia is set, Oliver is good to go, Oakley…damn I still need to get those dolls for her and Lily. Shit I hope it isn't too late to order those she thought.
Lily and Oakley had been talking about these look alike dolls since the start of school. Okay, I need to get those. The twins are all set—that leaves Jen. What to get, what to get. Emily had already purchased a lot for her wife, but she wanted that wow item. She was pulled out of her thoughts by the phone ringing.
"Hello?"
"Hello Emily," a familiar voice spoke through the phone.
She pulled the phone back from her ear to look at the caller ID, "Mark? Is everything okay?"
"Not exactly, Oliver was brought into my office because of an altercation—"
"An altercation?" she cut him off.
"Yes, an altercation with another boy in his class. Neither one had mentioned what happened, but I called you first because I know you have two small ones at home, but he needs to be picked up and I'd like to speak with you."
"Of course. I'll be there as soon as possible."
"Thank you."
Emily hung up the phone and was in shock. Oliver was the sweetest boy, he'd never hurt a fly—what the heck is going on?
She ran upstairs, quickly changed the twins, then carried them down to the car. Luckily, they were heavy sleepers and didn't wake up. Checking that the double stroller was in the trunk, she got into the front seat and headed towards the school.
Her mind flooded with thoughts as to what the heck happened and why Oliver was involved in an altercation. Soon enough, she was at the school and transferring the sleeping babies into the stroller and making her way inside.
"Hi I'm Emily Prentiss, I received a call from—" she started to say to the secretary.
"Emily," Mark greeted, "Please follow me."
She followed Mark into his office and gasped when she saw Oliver's face, he was sporting a black eye and fresh tears. "Oh my gosh baby, what happened?" she asked, pushing the stroller to the side and leaning down in front of her son.
"I—I'm sorry mommy," he cried, seeking comfort in her presence as he fell into her arms.
Emily looked back at Mark, "What happened?"
Mark shrugged, "I only heard from the teacher that broke them up; he saw the other little boy punch Oliver in the face; Tyler, the other little boy said Oliver started the altercation by hitting him."
Emily looked at Oliver, "Is that true?" he wouldn't meet her eyes, "Baby can you please tell me what happened?" she asked gently, seeing the tears streaming down his face.
A few moments went by and he still wouldn't say anything, "Oliver Sky," Emily said still gently, but gaining the little boys' attention. "You tell me what happened and you do it now." Emily never raised her voice, nor said anything sternly more matter of factly.
"I—I—mommy I wanna go home."
Emily could tell he was hiding something, but knew he wasn't about to open up with Mark right there. "Although Tyler said Oliver provoked the matter, we still don't know what happened. As you know, we don't tolerate physical violence at our school, but until I know what happened, I'm not expelling anyone. I'm suspending both boys for three days or until one of them confesses as to what happened."
Emily nodded, "Rest assured this will be taken care of today, Mark. Thank you for calling me." She looked back at Oliver, "Come on sweetie, let's go get you some medicine." She reached out her hand for him to take then the four of them walked out of the school. Once outside, he let go of his mother's hand leaving Emily to push the stroller.
"When we get home I'm going to put the twins back to bed then we're going to talk about this okay?" Oliver nodded, not daring to meet his mother's eyes.
Emily walked into the living room with an ice pack and pulled Oliver into her lap so she could access the damage. "Oh baby here, let's put this ice on for a little bit before we talk."
Oliver sunk into his mother's embrace while Emily held the ice to his eye. After ten minutes the ice became too cold and he pulled her hand away; turning to look her in the eye, he broke down. "I'm so sorry mommy."
"Can you please tell me what happened sweetie?" Emily knew her kids well, when they needed extra comfort, when they needed a push. Oliver was always one who needed the comfort. Both her oldest did as opposed to the littles who needed the push.
"I—he—what happened was—I didn't mean to—" he stuttered.
Emily lifted his chin with two fingers so he'd make eye contact with her, "Listen to me honey, I know you. You're the most gentle, loving, respectful little boy I know, I promise I won't get upset with you if you tell me what happened."
"Tyler was making fun of me and he was being so mean and he didn't just pick on me he was picking on Crew too and then he picked on two of the girls in my class and I just wanted to make him stop but when I tried to be super nice to him and ask him nicely to stop being mean because it hurts peoples feelings when you're mean he didn't listen and then he started saying really mean things about you and momma. Then he pushed me and when he pushed me he called you really bad words and I hit him but I didn't mean to and I didn't want to but he didn't stop being mean I'm sorry mommy I'm really, really sorry please don't be mad at me," Oliver rambled out so quickly, but Emily was trying her best to keep up.
"Woah baby, slow down. So that boy Tyler has been picking on you and your friends?"
Oliver nodded then countered, "Well I don't really play with Mackenzie and Emma that much, but we play at recess sometimes…but they, well yeah I guess they are my friends too."
"It's okay to have friends that are girls buddy, you know that right?" He nodded. "So Tyler was picking on all of you?" he nodded again. "Was this the first time it happened?"
"No," Oliver looked down at his hands as tears threatened to fall, "It's been happening a lot since before Halloween."
Emily felt her heart breaking, it was the second week of December, "Oh my sweet boy," she brought him closer to her, "Why didn't you tell me or momma? Or even one of your teachers?"
"I didn't want you to get mad."
"Why would I get mad honey?" Emily was baffled thinking back to when Amelia was bullied and how she said the same thing.
"Because remember my old mommy?" Oliver asked and Emily nodded. He started calling his birth mother his 'old mommy' almost instantly not knowing how else to refer to her.
"Well she used to, there was this boy at my old school and he was mean but I told my old mommy and she yelled at me because I'm supposed to have big skin and be tough."
Emily furrowed her brows trying to figure out what her son was saying, "Thick skin?" she questioned, and he nodded. "What have I always told you about your birth mother?"
"That she said things that weren't the truth."
"Exactly, and she never should have said that to you. Mommies are supposed to protect their children, no matter what right?" Oliver nodded. "What has Tyler been saying to you and your friends?"
"Well—he's been picking on me the longest…it only started last week that he was mean to my friends. He picks on me for being smaller than him and the girls in my grade but it isn't my fault I'm not as tall. And I tried to tell him that, but he tried to show me how big boys act and pushed me lots of times because I'm small. And then he called me stupid and other mean names that I'm not allowed to say. I thought I could handle it, but when he started to pick on my friends I always stood up for them because you and momma always protect us and your friends so I did too." He paused and took a big breath.
"And it worked because Tyler focused back on being mean to me, but then he heard me and Trevor talking about you and momma then he was really mean. I always took whatever he wanted to do because if I didn't he said he'd go after Oakley and I didn't want that. I'd do anything to protect her, I'm bigger so hurt me not her. But then he called you and momma bad such a bad hurtful word and I tried to be nice but today he pushed me so hard I fell so I stood up and looked at him and was gonna try to say it wasn't nice to talk about other people's families but he hit me so I hit him back then he punched me and it hurt so much then the teacher pulled him off of me. I'm sorry mommy."
Oliver was sobbing at this point and Emily held him close rocking him in her arms, "Oh my sweet baby boy, I'm so proud of you for protecting your friends and defending your family. I know you understand it's wrong to put your hands on someone else and I'm not mad or upset with you. It sounds like Mark doesn't have the whole story and you didn't start the altercation at all."
She pulled him back a bit so she could look into his eyes, "You're not in trouble, and I'm going to make sure nothing like this happens ever again. But you need to promise me something, if anyone picks on you, or is mean to you in any way, you need to tell me, or momma, or one of your teachers okay?"
"I promise."
Emily looked at the time seeing the kids would be out of school in an hour she made a decision. "I'm going to call momma quickly to see if she can pick up your sisters and we can snuggle a bit longer before the twins wake up from their nap." Grabbing her phone she hit speed dial.
"Hey babe!" JJ's cheery voice came through the phone.
"Hi Jen, are you busy?"
"Nope, just a boring paperwork day."
"I need you to pick up the girls from school please," Emily said, her voice giving her away.
"What happened, is everything okay?" JJ asked, clearly missing the fact Emily said the girls and not kids.
"Oliver got into an altercation at school so I had to go pick him up early and I—"
JJ cut Emily off, "An alter—what? Oliver? Our Oliver?"
"Yes, we will talk about it later. Can you get the girls please?" Emily said, steering the conversation.
"Of course, I'll go talk to Hotch. Is he okay?"
"Yes. Thanks babe, we'll see you a little later. I love you."
"Love you too." JJ hung up the phone and was speechless. Oliver? An altercation? No way. Apparently, her face didn't hide her emotions very well because Morgan was finally able to get her attention.
"Jayje!"
"What!" she snapped.
"What's going on with you? You kinda went all pale after that phone call. You good?"
"Yeah," she said unconvincingly. "Okay, no. Umm, Oliver was involved in an altercation at school and Em had to go pick him up so she asked me to get the girls."
"What happened? Is he okay?"
"I have no idea what happened, Em said we'd talk when I get home."
"I mean, I'm sure she would have told you if something was really wrong, right?"
"You're right. Sorry. I just can't believe my sweet boy."
"What about your sweet boy gumdrop?" Garcia asked as her, Tara and Reid walked into the bullpen.
"Oliver got into it at school," Morgan said.
Garcia gasped, "Who do I have to destroy for my little nephew?"
JJ laughed, "Pen I don't even know what happened. I need to go talk to Hotch."
As JJ made her way up to his office, Garcia looked to Morgan for answers. "What's going on?"
"I don't know baby girl, Em didn't tell her much on the phone besides asking JJ to get the girls from school.
"Well my fingers are at the ready to seek and destroy whomever needs to be demolished."
The four laughed, then went back to work.
Back at the Prentiss residence, Emily was preparing a snack for Oliver, Brynley and Brooks.
"Here baby, take this," Emily said, giving Oliver some Tylenol to help with the pain.
"Is momma gonna be mad at me?" he questioned, not really wanting to know the answer. If there was one thing all the Prentiss children knew it was that JJ was the strict parent.
"No buddy, she's going to be worried about your face but I'll talk to her okay?" he nodded.
The twins started babbling away but Brooks started screeching at the top of his lungs, "Woah Brooks, calm down," Oliver said, giving him some more fruit and avocado. "Mommy, they aren't eating their peaches only the avocado."
"It's okay, they don't have to eat it," Emily said, as she cut up a banana instead.
JJ pulled up to the school and saw her girls run over to the car, she then got out of the car to help Lily get buckled up, "Where's mommy?"
"She's at home honey," JJ said, working on Lily's car seat straps.
"Momma…" Amelia questioned, starting to fear the worst.
JJ looked up to meet her daughter's eyes and saw the fear, "Oh no baby, everything is fine. I promise. Oliver had an accident at school so mommy picked him up early."
"Oh," relief flooded through Amelia, "What happened to Oliver?"
"I'm not exactly sure, but he's okay," JJ assumed.
The three girls ran into the house, "Mommy, mommy, mommy!"
"Hi my babies!" Emily exclaimed as the littles flew into her arms.
Amelia stopped short and gasped when she saw her brother, "Oh my gosh, are you okay?" she asked, walking up to Oliver and cupping his cheek gently.
"I'm okay Lia," Oliver said, hugging his sister. His face was buried in Amelia's shoulder when JJ walked in.
"Hey babe, where's—" she cut herself off when Oliver and Amelia separated and ran over to him. "What happened?" her eyes went wide and looked back towards Emily.
"Let's get you girls a snack," Emily suggested.
Luckily JJ understood and went over towards the twins who were still in their highchairs, "Hi cuties," she smiled.
Emily made the girls a snack and got them settled in the dining room then put the twins and Oliver in the playroom so she could talk to JJ alone. "Em, what the hell happened and why does our son have a black eye?"
"Lower your voice," Emily exclaimed. After spending a good twenty minutes explaining everything Oliver told her to her wife, JJ calmed down.
"Oh our poor little boy. I swear to god that stupid fucking kid is going to hear from me. How dare he mess with our son!"
"I've already spoken to Mark when I went to the school earlier he said we'd discuss further actions to take after learning what happened. Now that he knows, Tyler's suspension is turning into an expulsion but Oliver is still suspended one day. That being said, it won't go on his record." Emily put her hand up to stop JJ, she could see how angry she was getting. "It needs to be done Jen, if Mark doesn't show everyone what happens when you lay your hands on someone, everyone will think it's okay to do."
"Oh, I didn't think about it that way. At least it isn't going on his record. I guess one day will be okay considering his poor face. He should rest anyways."
"If he wasn't suspended I would have kept him home, that kid got in a couple good punches, I'm going to watch him tonight but I may take him to the doctor if he's still dizzy in the morning and make sure he doesn't have a concussion."
"I can't believe that piece of shit had the audacity to—"
"Mommy I have more avtado pease!" Lily asked, interrupting JJ.
"Sure bug, give me a few minutes, okay?"
"Otay."
"Why don't you go talk to Oliver, he's incredibly nervous that you're going to be upset with him."
"What? Why would he—"
"He thought we'd both be upset with him babe, relax. Considering the fact we've already spent the afternoon together, he knows I'm not upset but he only saw you for a minute."
"Oh, okay." JJ knew she was not only the strict parent but the one who lost her temper a lot faster than Emily. The kids weren't scared of her, but they knew Emily was faster to piece together what happened and stay calm.
JJ walked into the playroom and saw Oliver playing with the twins while the girls ate their snack. Knowing they wouldn't understand what was happening, JJ sat down on the couch, "Hey buddy, can you come sit with me?"
Oliver walked over to the couch and sat down; he looked down at his hands and hung his head not knowing if he was in trouble or not. JJ saw this and pulled him into her lap, "I'm not upset Oliver, not at all."
"I'm so sorry momma," he cried.
"You have nothing to be sorry about. That little boy was wrong and you were standing up for your friends and your family. I know you understand it's wrong to put your hands on someone which is why I'm not worried about it. If anything, I'm proud of you."
"Really?"
JJ nodded and pulled him close kissing the side of his head. "If there is a next time, I want you to make sure you tell me or mommy though, okay? No going through this alone."
"I promise."
Emily started to make dinner while the kids played and JJ helped Amelia with her homework. Oakley came running into the kitchen and found Emily, "Mommy!" she screamed.
"What is it baby? Why are you screaming?"
"Oliver! Help mommy," she cried out.
Emily ran into the playroom and found him on the floor, "Oliver baby, can you hear me? Oakley what happened?"
"He fell down, he stood up to help me get my toy up on the shelf but then fell down."
She turned her attention back to the little boy, "Oliver, can you hear me baby?"
He opened his eyes slowly, "Mommy?"
"Yes baby, it's mommy. Oakley, go get momma right now!" Emily exclaimed, then picked up the boy and took him over to the couch in the living room so the babies and Lily wouldn't be subjected to anymore. "Were you dizzy buddy?"
"Yeah, I was gonna, I don't really, I think I fell down."
JJ came running into the living room, "What happened? Oakley said Oliver fell to the ground."
"He passed out—I," Emily was cut off by JJ's gasp.
"Oh my god! What can I do?" Amelia came into the living room just then and looked between her mothers, "Can you go get me a glass of water please for your brother please?" JJ asked her.
"Yeah," Amelia took off running into the kitchen.
"I'm going to take him to the ER, he definitely has a concussion but I want to make sure we're doing everything we can," Emily said calmly.
"Of course, oh buddy," JJ said, running her hand down his arm. "I'll umm, should I call my parents so I can come with you?"
Emily shook her head, "No, it's okay." She looked up and saw JJ's face, "Unless you want to."
JJ nodded, "I'll call my parents."
20 minutes later Sandy and Allen flew through the door, "Grandma! Grandpa!" and just like that, two kids took off running towards them followed by two who did their best to keep up with their older siblings.
Sandy walked into the living room and gasped, "Oliver! Oh honey," she frowned and pressed a soft kiss to his head. "You poor thing."
"Mom, we're gonna get going, dinner should be ready in 10 minutes there's two meals already prepared for the twins as well. I'm not sure how long we will be gone but I'm hoping it's in and out," JJ explained.
"Don't worry so much, honey. This isn't our first time with kids you know," she winked. "We can handle things here, just take care of this little one."
Allen walked into the living room with an armful of children, "Honey, why did you leave me with all of them!"
"Don't mind your father," Sandy laughed, "Allen, come say a quick hello to Oliver before the girls take him in."
JJ sat in the backseat with Oliver on the drive to the hospital just to make sure things were okay. Emily pulled into the ER and the trio went inside. "How can I help you?"
"Hi I'm here to check my son in, Oliver Prentiss; he suffered a head injury and passed out," JJ explained, wanting to leave out the details in a room full of people.
The nurse looked past JJ to see Emily cradling the little boy in her arms with a serious look on her face and decided not to push. Within minutes, they were registered and would be called back before everyone else. The hospital takes head injuries very seriously and when it's a child, even more so.
"Mommy I wanna go home," Oliver cried.
"I know baby, but we need to make sure you're okay," Emily said, cuddling the boy closer to her body.
JJ walked over to her wife and son, "She said they'd call him back in a few minutes."
"Oliver Prentiss?" the nurse shouted through the ER waiting room.
The trio followed the nurse and waited to see the doctor.
"Alright kids, time to sit down for dinner," Sandy called out.
Allen and the kids walked into the kitchen and Sandy burst out laughing at the way her husband was dressed. The girls loved nothing more than dress up and that's exactly what they did to him. "Grandma take a picture!"
She took out her phone and snapped a few pictures, "I'll need to get these printed, but now, it's time for dinner okay?" she asked.
Everyone followed suit and went into the dining room to sit down. "Okay which one of you is going to be with me tonight?" Allen asked the twins.
Brynley smiled up at him and made grabby hands, "Alright little one you're with me then. Let me pull your highchair closer so we don't make a huge mess."
Sandy picked up Brooks and did the same thing knowing she'd be the one cleaning everything up that night after dinner.
"Grandma, do you think Oliver is going to be okay?" Amelia asked.
"I'm sure he's going to be fine, honey. Your mommies are making sure he's being taken care of."
Meanwhile, at the hospital Oliver held JJ's hand while getting his CT scan and was currently laying in the bed with Emily.
"Babe can you please sit down, pacing isn't going to make the results come to us any faster," Emily pleaded.
"It may, you don't know that! It's already been," she looked down at her watch then up at the clock on the wall, "45 minutes, that's plenty of time especially for a child."
Emily gently kissed the top of Oliver's head, "Jen, honey he most likely has a concussion. That's what the doctor said even before the scan. They are giving him fluids now, he's in the safest place for him. He has more Tylenol for the pain and we will find out soon enough, can you please sit. Baby please? Come hold my hand."
JJ had seen Emily nervous before, not very often but it had happened. For some reason, she felt the nervous energy radiating off her wife and went over to the bedside to hold her hand. "I'm sorry babe."
"No, don't be sorry. There's nothing to be sorry for Jen."
"Okay," she said, rather unconvincingly.
"Why did you say it like that?" Emily asked.
"Babe, I can count on one hand the number of times in our life together I've seen you this nervous. What's going on? Is this about Oliver or something else?" JJ was very happy he was allowed hour intervals of sleep and was actually asleep at the moment.
"I'm fine, Jen."
JJ lifted Emily's chin so their eyes were meeting, "Nice try Em, what's going on?"
"Honestly?" JJ nodded, and tears welled in Emily's eyes instantly. "Of course I'm am nervous, although I'm pretty certain he has a concussion…" she paused.
"That's not is, is it?" JJ asked, urged her wife to continue.
Emily shook her head. "I'm furious. Some ignorant ass child thinks it's okay to put their hands on our child. I mean, look at what happened with Amelia a few years ago. And now Oliver? Amelia had nightmares for about a month, not to mention two broken toes. But Oliver, my god. This is his face, his head! What the fuck are these parents teaching their children? I don't care how progressive Mark thinks the parents of his school are, something needs to be done and it needs to be done now. I will not tolerate this and I will not send our children somewhere else just because some piece of shit parents don't want teach their kids the first thing about respecting all types of families. I am beyond proud of our son for sticking up for our family, but I don't want him getting hurt for it—he is so brave, he should be a goddamn child though not fighting to defend the fact his family may be different than the others. Who cares if he has two mothers? We love him and provide him with a great life right? Since when isn't that what matters? Fuck, this is—"
"Bad word mommy," Oliver said, sleepily.
Emily and JJ both stifled their laughs, "I'm sorry baby, you're right that was a bad word. How does your head feel sweet boy?"
Oliver stretched out on Emily then snuggled back into her, waking up a bit, "It hurts, but mommy?" he asked.
"What is it baby?"
"I love having two moms," Oliver said, then buried the good side of his face completely into Emily and sighed.
Emily and JJ exchanged a look, "Oh buddy," JJ began to speak seeing her wife tear up, then they heard little snores. "Well, he had only been asleep for a half hour."
Allen and Sandy had cleaned up dinner, put Brooks and Brynley down for the night, and were now working on compromising with the littles.
"Gwandma no, I want mommy," Lily wined.
"Honey, mommy is going to be home late and you need a good night's rest for school tomorrow. How about we read two books."
Lily burst into tears and ran into Allen's arms who seemed to be the good guy in all of the non-negotiating going on in the Prentiss home. Lily and Oakley used to be pretty good at going down without much fight on the rare occasion Emily wasn't home, but as they've gotten a bit older, know a little more, know she's always there, know she'll always sing to them, read to them, be with them, they won't go down without her. Or if they do, they'll go down after crying themselves to sleep which is a big problem.
Amelia went into the other room and made a phone call, on the second ring, the caller picked up, "Mommy?"
"Is everything okay baby?"
"Yeah. Well, Lily is kind-of freaking out about bedtime. And I'm kind-of freaking out about Oliver, is he okay?"
"Yes, Oliver is going to be okay. Momma was just about to call grandma, we are on our way home baby girl. Can you do something for me sweetie?"
"Yeah what is it?"
"Do you think you could help me take care of Oliver tomorrow?"
"Umm, like after school?"
"No, instead of school. Momma and I decided tomorrow is Prentiss skip day."
Amelia squealed into the phone, "Oh my gosh, really?"
"Yes baby, really."
"I'm so excited! Yes, I can help!"
"Thank you, sweetie. Can you tell grandma not to worry about getting Lily bug down for bed too? We'll be home soon okay? I love you."
"Love you too mommy."
"Amelia honey, what's going on?" Sandy asked as she walked into the living room hearing the squealing and not seeing the phone behind her long hair.
"I just spoke to mommy and they are on their way home now!"
"Oh that's great, did she say how Oliver is doing?"
"Yeah, he is okay! And she's gonna put Lily to sleep so you don't have to."
"Looks like I'm off the hook," Sandy laughed, knowing putting the Prentiss children to bed was one of the hardest things to do but one of the easiest things when you were Emily.
Amelia ran into the playroom and found her sisters, "Momma and mommy are coming home with Oliver!" she announced and the little girls cheered.
"How is he doing?" Allen asked Sandy who appeared in the doorway.
"I'm not sure dear, Amelia spoke to Emily I didn't."
"Let's play!" Oakley exclaimed.
"Wipstick!" Lily cheered, heading straight towards Allen.
"We're home," JJ announced, as she walked in the door carrying both bags.
"Momma, momma, momma," All the girls ran towards her yelling until they were met with JJ who had a pointer finger against her lips making a 'shh' sound until the girls whispered.
Emily came in carrying Oliver who wasn't asleep but was holding his head in pain. "Hi my babies," Emily said softly, "Oliver's head has a big boo-boo so we have to be really quiet okay?"
She made sure the littles understood, especially Lily who inherited Oakley's need to squeal at everything that made her excited; however, according to Elizabeth and Gerald, Lily inherited the squeal from Emily. The jury was still out on that one.
JJ led the girls into the living room and Emily followed suit but when she went to lay Oliver down, he insisted on staying in her arms which only meant he truly didn't feel well. The only problem with that was Emily really needed to put the girls to bed, "Buddy, can you snuggle with momma for a bit?" after a nod, she transferred him into JJ's arms and he curled himself back up.
"Alright Lily bug, come here little one," Emily said, scooping her up.
"Mommy sing to me," Lily asked, as her mother carried her up the stairs.
"Of course I'll sing to you bug."
"How did everything go, Jenny?"
JJ looked down at Oliver who fell asleep in her arms then at Amelia and Oakley who were distracted in the playroom, "Fine. He has a severe concussion so we have the instructions on what to do and what not to do."
She looked back up at her parents and saw the looks, "It was beyond scary, more so for Em because she's always the one who has to do everything for our kids. I mean she's the one who's here all day. And to be honest, I think it's all catching up to her and I want more than anything to give her some type of break. But I don't know how to do it because our kids depend on her so much. And I know she doesn't want a break from them but she, I don't know maybe a fun vacation where she's not working because the last few we've gone on have been for work. I just want to do something to help her relax. There was a big breakthrough in the hospital tonight."
"Jenny what do you mean?" Allen asked.
"Em and I, we have an amazing relationship but she tries to handle a lot alone and I know she does it because we know I get worked up about a lot. And she tells me when small things are taken care of or I don't know. But tonight, she broke down, and I feel, I want to fix it. I don't know how yet, but mark my words, I'm going to figure it out because if there is anyone more deserving it's my wife."
"You'll figure it out honey." Sandy smiled at her daughter, then looked over at Allen and gave him a knowing look. They knew Emily had a lot of walls and JJ broke a lot of them down—tonight was a big breakthrough for both of them.
"Oakley baby," Emily called out startling the adults, "Sorry, were you talking about me," she winked at JJ.
"Nope," JJ lied, and winked back.
"Oakley it's time for bed sweetie, say goodnight to everyone. Amelia can you help grandpa with his Netflix account please?"
"Oh yes, I was meaning to ask you about that, thank you for reminding me Emily! Amelia honey, I installed the Netflix application on my phone because you never know when you'll be…"
Emily picked Oakley up and walked away leaving them to further discuss. "Mommay?"
"What is it baby?"
"Am I gonna get a black eye too?" Oakley asked when they got into her bedroom.
"What? No!" Emily exclaimed! "Why would you ask that?"
"Because Oliver got one, so I'm next."
Emily pulled Oakley back so she could look into her beautiful green eyes, "Oakley this is serious, did something threaten you or say they would do something to you?"
Oakley burst into tears and threw herself at Emily wrapping her arms around her mother's neck. Emily's own tears fell as she comforted her daughter, "It's okay baby, mommy's got you. I'll keep you safe, I promise, shh, shh, shh, I've got you baby."
Emily's mind was racing, but as Oakley's tears subsided she figured out what could be going on, "Oakley, does Tyler have a sister?" she nodded. "Can you tell me her name?"
"Tori," Oakley whispered.
"Is she the one who said she'd hurt you?" Oakley nodded again. "Tori is never, ever going to hurt you baby."
"Promise?" Oakley held out her pinky and Emily did the same.
"Promise. Did anyone hear Tori tell you she'd hurt you? Did Olivia hear her?" Although a class of first graders may not be the most reliable witnesses, Emily would do anything to protect her children.
"And Tiffany, Adam and Joselyn. Adam told the teacher but Tori said she was just pretending but then I came home today and saw—" Oakley broke into tears again.
"Oh baby, it's okay. I'm going to call Mark to make sure all of this gets taken care of. No baby of mine is going into school and feeling unsafe. I'm so sorry this happened."
"I'm sorry mommy."
"You have nothing to be sorry for baby, nothing at all. That family, my goodness. They picked the wrong family," Emily mumbled the last part to herself.