6 months later
Emily woke to the phone ringing on the side table near her side of the bed. She blinked so the blur from her eyes would leave, and she could check the time. It was 5am, much too early for her phone to be ringing. Maybe it's JJ's phone, they must have a case.
Emily had retired from the FBI two weeks before Lily's 2nd birthday. She had taken her father up on his offer and after Lily's birthday she took over the family business. As it seems, both elder Prentiss's were now retired—they had gone on their trip to Italy with the Jareau's and while they were gone, decided it was time for them to be dedicated to family 100%.
A lot had changed for everyone. Hayley and Emily were the best of friends who had spent every day together since leaving the FBI which was amazing because Hayley was really missing Jack now that he had begun kindergarten. The elder Prentiss's and Jareau's were also best of friends, they not only had an incredible time in Italy, skyped three times a week, but also planned another trip together to France. JJ was still working as a profiler and although she missed her wife, they were extremely happy knowing their foster training had been completed and could grow their family.
"Hello?" Emily rasped out, her voice like everything else, still tired from sleep.
"Hi, is this Emily or Jennifer Prentiss?" a small, but sweet-sounding voice asked from the other line.
Emily realized this could be a long call so she got out of bed and left the room, "Yes, this is Emily," she tiptoed out of the room. JJ had been home late and needed her sleep.
"I'm sorry for the early call, but we have a placement for you. Three-year-old girl, she was removed from her current placement last night in an emergency. Would you be willing to take her?"
They had been looking for children who could be adopted, not just fostered and hadn't heard anything since, losing more hope with every passing day, but this could be it!
"Let me ask my wife, can you hold on for a moment?" Emily was taken over with excitement.
"Yes, of course though—" anything else she may have said was lost as Emily was already sprinting back to their bedroom.
"Jen! Jen wake up, babe!" Emily was on the bed jostling her wife from a deep sleep.
JJ sat up quickly, but when she realized it was still dark, she laid back down moaning, "Where's the fire, Em?"
"Why do you always assume when I wake you there's a fire?" Emily asked, "Nevermind that's not important, they have a placement for us!"
JJ shot back up, eyes wide, smile big, "Really?"
Emily nodded, "Three-year-old little girl."
JJ's smile got wider, "Well, what did you say?"
"I said I'd ask you first."
She quickly grabbed the phone from Emily and put it on speaker, "Hello, this is Jennifer Prentiss."
"Hello Mrs. Prentiss, we need an answer for this placement."
"Yes, absolutely yes!" JJ blurted out.
"Great, we'll be arriving at 7:30 this morning, does that work for you?"
JJ had just gotten back from a long case so the team would be on desk duty for a while meaning she could easily call in, "That's perfect! Thank you so much—" she was about to say a name, but realized she didn't know who she was speaking to.
"See you then, goodbye!"
JJ hung up the phone, her eyes meeting Emily, "We're getting another little girl!" They both pulled each other in for a hug bouncing on the bed. "We should call Hayley and see if she can take Lily for the day so we can focus our attention on this little one."
Emily nodded, "I'll go make coffee, why don't you jump in the shower and we can call Hayley together so we don't wake her up too early."
After both women had showered, Emily gave Hayley a call. A few rings later Hayley answered the shrill sound of her phone, "Em? Is everything okay? Aaron's phone didn't ring, is something wrong?"
"Hi Hayley, I'm so sorry for the early call, I was wondering if it would be possible for you to take Lily today. Jen and I just received a call from our social worker and we're getting a little girl!"
Hayley shot up on her bed causing Hotch to stir, "A girl? Oh my gosh! Yes of course, I'll take her. I'll throw on some clothes and come over. Aaron can bring Jack to kindergarten before he goes into work."
A raspy Hotch chimed in, "Hayley why are you screaming? It's," he looked over to the clock, "it's not even 6:30 in the morning. Who on earth are—"
"Shh Aaron, Em and JJ are getting a little girl today!" she whacked his arm, trying to make him stop talking, "Sorry Em, Aaron's grumpy. What's her name? How old is she?" Hayley was beyond ecstatic for her friends, she and Emily had been talking about another child a lot recently as they both wanted one.
"We don't know her name yet, but the social worker said she was three, so she's still little. Do you mind watching Lily at your house today?"
"No, of course not! I'll be there in thirty minutes. Do you need anything?"
"Thanks Hayley, and no, we just want to make sure we can devote our attention to this little one without being needed by a two-year-old who doesn't stay still very well."
"Not a problem, I completely understand. I'll see you in a half hour." Emily couldn't even say anything back before the line went dead.
As promised, a half hour later the doorbell rang. Emily answered as JJ was finishing feeding Lily breakfast.
"Em, oh my god," Hayley smothered her in a hug. "I'm so excited for you two! This is so amazing. Aaron said before I left the house that work isn't the same without you, he is however very excited for you to grow your family."
Emily laughed, "It's good to see you too, Hayley but you couldn't pay me enough to go back. Don't get me wrong, I miss everyone however as you know, being home with Lily each day is pure bliss."
"You deserve it, you look so at peace. I'd be freaking out right about now if it were me. Aaron says you've always been super calm though," Emily smiled, and Hayley continued, "Okay, where's my little miss?"
Emily led Hayley into the kitchen, "Babe, Hayley is here," she called out to JJ who turned around.
"Hey Hayley, thank you so much for doing this! I'm so sorry to wake you," JJ said, picking up Lily from her highchair.
"It's not a problem, JJ. I'd do anything for you guys, you're our family. Plus, after everything you two have done for us, it's my pleasure," Hayley said, grabbing the diaper bag off the island top.
Emily took Lily after JJ kissed her and they all walked towards the front door, "Okay, bug. You be good for Auntie Hayley okay?" Emily said, looking at Lily.
"Mommy doe bye-bye?" Lily looked up at Emily.
"Yes, baby, but just for a little while. I love you so much."
Hayley took Lily and headed out the front door, "Say bye to your mommies, Lily."
Lily backwards waved, something the mothers found too cute to correct, "Bye-bye!"
Emily and JJ stood on their doorstep waving towards Lily and Hayley as she strapped her into her car seat. "I'm so happy I bought Hayley a car seat to put in her car, could you imagine going out there right now?"
"Not at all! Ugh, babe it's so cold! It might snow again later," JJ said, wrapping her arms around Emily's waist. Once Hayley pulled out of the driveway, the two women went back inside to grab another cup of coffee.
When the doorbell rang, it caused Emily and JJ to both freeze. "This is it, Jen, you ready?"
At that, JJ jumped up from the kitchen barstool she was sitting at, kissed Emily and grabbed her hand leading them both towards the door.
As they stood at the front door, JJ gulped, "Let's meet her, babe."
Emily opened the door, her eyes immediately shot down to the little girl holding the hand of the taller woman. Emily drank in the site of her, she had stick straight brunette hair that fell to her lower back and the most striking green eyes. She was sucking her thumb with her free hand and her face was tear stricken which broke Emily's heart. She finally looked back up at the social worker, extending her hand, "Hi, I'm Emily Prentiss and this is my wife, Jennifer. Please, come in." Emily led her and the little girl into the living room.
JJ was in awe, my gosh this little girl is another mini-Emily with green eyes. I'm destined to have girls who look exactly like my wife. Ahh, I'm in love already!
Once everyone was sitting, the social worker spoke. "You have a lovely home. I'm Sophia Byrne and this is Oakley Smith. Can you say hi?" The woman turned to the little girl.
A small voice finally spoke as she pulled her thumb out of her mouth. "Me Oakwee" was all she said before putting her thumb back into her mouth.
Sophia looked back towards the women and said, "Is there somewhere we can talk in private?" Then the social worker looked cautiously at the little girl.
JJ stood, extending her hand to the tiny human, "Hi Oakley, I'm Jennifer, do you want to go check out some toys?" Oakley nodded and slid off the couch catching JJ's hand in the process.
When they were both out of ear shot, Emily spoke, "What do we do now? I'm assuming you'd like some type of tour?"
"Yes, I'll do a quick house check but I wanted to speak with you about Oakley." Emily nodded and waited for Sophia to continue, "As I said on the phone, we needed an emergency placement for her. She had to be taken out of the house she was currently in because of abuse from a fellow foster child, two of them actually. If you ask me, she shouldn't have been in that house in the first place. Don't get me wrong, these set of parents do a great job with older kids, but the system can still breed resentment in most of our older kids. This house was no different. Oakley was subject to a lot of bullying, but when she showed up to daycare with bruises all over her due to abuse from her foster brothers, we removed her immediately. She was a safe-haven baby and never had a family. She's shy, but so incredibly kind and one of the better cases under my care. I recently read your file and learned you essentially quit your job to grow your family; when all of this happened with Oakley, I knew you were the people to look after her."
Emily's heart broke hearing what Sophia was saying, who could lay a finger on that sweet little girl? "Thank you, what can I do for her?"
"Truth be told, she's been one of the easier cases. She's a great kid who just needs time to warm up. I need you and your wife to be good to her, she has a special place in my heart. She was my first case out of college and I've had her case since her surrender. Now, let's go get the house check done with," Sophia said with a warm smile.
Emily nodded, "Yes of course, follow me." Emily led her through the house. She showed Sophia upstairs, ending with the room Oakley would sleep in. "I can get her a toddler bed and have it here by bedtime tonight." Emily was beginning to worry because right now, they had a twin bed in there not knowing what age their possible foster child might be.
"Don't worry. You could move the bed against the wall and put a safety rail on it, but if you did get a toddler bed, it would be an added measure of security," Sophia said, noting something on her clipboard.
Emily led her downstairs showing her all the baby gates that were already set up for Lily and the locks on the doors that were all set in high places so they couldn't be opened by a little one. Then she brought Sophia to the office showing her how the gun safe was hidden and always locked. "That's a great measure," Sophia said, again noting something. She ended by showing Sophia the playroom where JJ and Oakley were still playing. "Oaks, I have to borrow Jennifer for some paperwork, is that okay?" Sophia squatted to look the girl in the eye and softened her voice the second she spoke.
JJ stood, but rubbed the little girls' shoulder, "I'll be back soon, okay sweetie?"
She nodded, still flipping through pages in the picture book she was looking at. JJ followed Emily and Sophia into the dining room. Once they were seated, JJ looked at Sophia, "So, did we pass?"
"You are some of the most prepared parents I've ever seen. All looks good, we just need to sign some custody papers and get you her medical information. Oh—" Sophia looked as though she remembered something, "Do you guys have a five-point car seat?"
JJ looked panicked, she knew they had Lily's car seat and an extra booster seat for Jack but that wasn't 5-point. She immediately remembered they each had one in their cars though so technically they did have two. "We have one in each of our cars for our daughter, but not two. I can run out as soon as the store opens."
Sophia chuckled, "Not to worry, I wanted to check because I have one in my car. Seeing as you already have two in total, it should be fine until you find time to get to the store. After we get all the paperwork signed, I'll go grab her stuff out of my car for you both."
Soon all the paperwork was signed and JJ went back to see Oakley in the playroom, but saw she had fallen asleep on the couch in there. She had seemed tired the whole time she'd been in their home. JJ pulled a blanket off the back of the couch, tucking it around her small body before going back out. She noticed the house was otherwise empty and figured Emily was helping Sophia grab Oakley's belongings.
After Sophia left, Emily looked at JJ, "Where's Oakley?"
"Sound asleep in the playroom, want to go upstairs and unpack this for her?" Emily nodded and grabbed one trash bag, while JJ grabbed the other. They sat on the twin bed causing Emily to make a mental note regarding a new bed which needed to be added to the list.
"That little girl looked so sad, apparently she loved the parents in her old home," Emily said looking sad at the thought of the girl hurting.
"So why did they remove her?" JJ asked, stroking her wife's back.
"Two of the older boys in the home picked on her and caused her physical harm until she was bruised so they had to remove her. This isn't even the worst story of abuse we've heard, but the look in her eyes when she got here broke my heart," Emily said wiping a stray tear.
"I know, we will love her though babe. We will never let anything bad happen to her ever again." JJ assured her wife as they began unpacking the bags.
Emily frowned as she held up some of the clothes, "These will never fit her!"
JJ stopped folding one of the shirts, "What?"
"All of these clothes are at least a size too small; this one even says 18 months! That's the size of Lily's clothes and she's tiny for her age. How the hell could anyone try and squeeze her in these?" Emily got angry at the foster parents not bothering to care for the girls' basic needs.
"Well, how about we take her to the mall?" JJ offered.
"Definitely, I was thinking of taking her to pick out a couple of toys and we need to get her a toddler bed; she can pick out a new bed set and an entire wardrobe. I was thinking about doing it tomorrow, but it's being moved to today. She needs a new winter coat too; this is far too thin. Oh, and shoes, it looks like the only ones she has are the one's she's wearing." Emily kept thinking of everything she needed, but knew she was forgetting things.
"She needs a car seat too. Lily's will be fine for now, but we each need two for each of our cars. That being said, you do realize Pen is going to be so mad we took Oakley shopping without her right?"
Just then the couple heard a small cry, causing them both to jump up and run down the stairs.
"Oakley baby, it's okay," Emily said, seeing the girl sitting on the floor in the hall. Her head shot up and green eyes bore into brown as new tears were falling.
"I didn't find you," the sadness in Oakley's voice hurt both women.
They both sat on the floor next to her, "I'm so sorry, sweetie. We will show you around so you won't feel so lost again, okay?" JJ asked, and Oakley nodded.
"Jennifer and I noticed you don't have many clothes that fit, do you want to go to the store and pick out some new ones?" Emily asked, and the little girl perked up. "Maybe we can get you some toys and decorate your room too. Does that sound like a good idea?"
The first beautiful smile they had seen from her was displayed then, "Yes!" She said as she shot up, the energy a three-year-old should have suddenly came back to the girl. She didn't know much, but she knew these two women who had her were the best so far.
"Okay, let's go get you ready. You're still in your jammies silly girl," JJ tickled the girls' sides and a squealing laughter filled the hall. Emily knew instantly that she loved having another baby in the house. JJ got up and extended her hand for Oakley, "Let's go, sweetie."
Once they had found a decent outfit that wasn't too small, Emily stayed upstairs to give Hayley a quick call to check on Lily while JJ brought Oakley downstairs to find a snack. When Emily walked into the kitchen she heard JJ on the phone, "Yeah Pen, no we are taking her shopping—yeah, adorable—Oakley, super cute. Sorry, but she needs them now. No, that's okay Hayley will—okay fine but—" Emily didn't get the chance to finish listening to JJ's side of the phone call because she felt a small tug on her pant leg.
"Em'ly?" Oakley had her eyes wide. "I have to go potty," she looked away, blushing.
"Oh, okay. Come on, sweet pea," Emily led the girl to the bathroom. "Do you need help?" Emily saw the girl looked embarrassed, "It's okay if you do honey," Emily reassured her. Oakley nodded, still not looking at Emily.
After washing their hands, they emerged to see JJ looking trapped on her call with Garcia. Emily walked hand in hand with Oakley and took the phone from JJ. "Hey Pen, we have to go. I'll make sure to send a pic while in the toy store and let you buy some things later. Bye!" She hung up the phone quickly before Garcia could suck her in. "Well, now that that's over, shall we go?" JJ nodded, relieved. "Is the stroller in the car?"
JJ nodded once again and they headed out to the garage.
Emily and JJ had finished in The Children's Place leaving with bags full of clothes, most of which were pink or super girly and picked out by Oakley herself—anything that wasn't pink was picked out by the women. By the time they had walked out JJ looked at her watch and it was noon so she turned towards Emily who was pushing the stroller, "Babe, how about we grab some lunch?"
"Food court or did you want to go to a restaurant?" Emily asked.
"I think the food court should be fine," JJ stated.
When they got there, Emily bent down so she was eye to eye with Oakley, "What sounds good for lunch? Maybe some chicken and French fries, or a cheeseburger, pizza, some spaghetti?"
The girls face scrunched up in thought and JJ giggled, "Pizzahh!" Emily nodded, "Then pizza it is."
After all were fed, they headed to pick out a toddler bed and a new bed set. They let Oakley out of the stroller so she could look closer at the bedspreads while JJ pushed the stroller and Emily held her hand.
"Can I wook up dare?" Oakley's neck was cranked up, but she still couldn't see them all.
"Sure, sweetie. Come here," Emily picked her up and Oakley instinctively wrapped her legs around Emily's waist while her little hand came around and rested on the opposite side of her neck. Emily was in love already, everything Sophia said was true.
"Dis one Em'ly." Emily smiled at the way she said her name, her eyes followed a little finger to a bed set. No surprise, it was different shades of pink with mermaids and seahorses on it. "Wook at the mermaids."
"I see the mermaids, baby. Are you sure this is the one you want?" Oakley nodded. It wasn't necessarily their taste, but they'd find a way to make a more sophisticated looking room to match the mermaid bedspread. Emily moved to put Oakley down, but the girl squeezed tighter into Emily's neck.
Once they entered the toy store, it was a different story. Oakley tried to wiggle away from Emily, "Oakley, I'll set you down but you have to promise to hold my hand, okay?" After receiving a nod, she set her down.
"What can I get?" Oakley asked, looking up at Emily.
"Anything you want, sweetie," Emily watched as she scrunched up her face again, scanning all the toys. Both women laughed at that face, it was an 'Emily' signature face which made it all the better. Soon she found a stuffed elephant and held it up, looking at Emily hopefully, "That's cute. Let's get it." And that's how the shopping trip went, Oakley would see something and silently ask Emily for it. She never told her no. Most of the toys that were picked had something to do with an underwater scene and lots of books. There were some dolls and a few other toys thrown in as well, but Oakley was very interested in books which made Emily's heart swell.
When they pulled into their driveway, they saw Garcia's car, "Did Pen pick up Lily or did she just bring herself?" asked Emily.
"I told her she had to call Hayley herself if she wanted to pick Lily up," JJ looked at Emily, a knowing look given. It was well known Penelope Garcia took her roll as an auntie extremely seriously and her 'fairy' godmother duties even more so. However, when Hayley was taking care of Lily, they always made Garcia call her if she wanted 'Lily' time and they could work it out themselves.
"Okay Oakley, our friend Penny is here and she is going to love you, but she talks really fast. Think you can keep up with her?" JJ asked as she pulled Oakley out of the car seat.
"Mmkay," Oakley said, still clutching the pink elephant, the first toy she picked out herself in her short 3 years of life.
JJ carried Oakley into the house while Emily went in to find Garcia and Lily.
"Oh my goodness, where is my new niece?" Garcia asked, almost squealing.
"You sound like you're replacing Lily for an upgrade, 'new niece' really Pen? And Jen brought her into the playroom, she's going to put on a tv show for her to watch. Before you say anything, you can go in there, but after we introduce her to Lily."
"But—" Penelope huffed and grumbled as she sat back down and Emily looked back over her shoulder, "You can see her soon, I promise."
"Bug, do you want to meet your new little friend?" Emily asked.
"Mommy?"
"No bug, not mommy. This is a little girl, just like you."
After a short, uneventful introduction between Lily and Oakley, Emily sat on the couch with both of them snuggled in her arms while JJ went to get Garcia.
"You could not wait one day? One day! You know I love shopping and tomorrow's Saturday!" Garcia whined.
JJ shrugged, "Pen, she needed clothes now." She walked them both into the playroom and got the attention of the little girl sitting on the couch, "Oakley, honey, this is Penny. She's so excited to meet you." Oakley quirked an eyebrow at Penelope giving her an 'well, are you going to play nice or not?' look.
Garcia seemed to remember her reason for being there and spewed out her train of thought, "Hi Oakley, you can call me auntie Penny, or Penny, really anything you want. My name is Penelope. Welcome to the family, princess! You're going to meet so many of your mommies friends and if you ask me, they're all pretty cool!"
Oakley smiled at her, then crawled off the couch and scrambled her way into Penelope's lap who welcomed her with opened arms, "Wook at dis el'phant Em'ly getted me."
Garcia immediately showed interest in the new toy and they shared a conversation that only they could understand. Emily and JJ snuggled up on the couch with Lily smiling at the scene unfolding in front of them. It was a beautiful day and they couldn't have asked for anything better.
After dinner and some playtime, Emily took Lily upstairs to put her to bed to keep her on schedule while JJ sat in the playroom with Oakley reading some of her new books.
Emily then came back downstairs to find Oakley curled up next to JJ on the couch in the playroom but peeked in just in time to see a big yawn. "You look about ready for bed little miss," Emily said from the doorway. It looked as though the girl was going to deny her accusation, instead though, she yawned again. She nodded her head and lifted her arms when Emily came over. The brunette scooped her up easily and carried her up the stairs. "Can we can take a quick bath before bed?" Emily felt a small head nod into the crook of her neck.
After running a warm bath, she set Oakley into it and realized she didn't have any pajamas. She looked at the girl, "Stay right there, baby okay?" Emily popped her head out of the door, "Jen?" She saw JJ appear from their bedroom, "Can you get some pajamas from the dryer?"
"Yeah, I'll go grab them," JJ turned and disappeared downstairs.
Once Emily finished washing Oakley's long brown hair, she got her out of the bath. Without the warm water, Oakley's teeth started chattering until Emily wrapped her up in a warm fluffy towel then carried her into her room. Emily grabbed the still warm pajamas off the bed and a pull-up Sophia left for bedtimes.
"Okay sweetie, you know your bathroom is right there but just in case you can't make it, you have a pull-up on. And if you need any help, see this," Emily said signaling the baby monitor, "you can talk to Jennifer and me through it, and we will come help you."
Suddenly Oakley realized the toddler bed in the corner of the room with a protective rail and scowled, "Me not a baby."
JJ followed her eyes, "Oh honey, we know you're not a baby. This is a big girls' bed; these two guardrails are just to keep you comfy cozy in there, and this is the perfect opening for you to get in and out just like a big girl. It's super cool because it's just for you, nobody else. Lily can't get in, neither can Emily or I."
Oakley seemed content with that response and climbed in. Emily and JJ got halfway through a bedtime story before Oakley was sound asleep. After a kiss goodnight from both of them, Emily flicked on the night light that projected stars on the wall and ceiling then closed the door.
Once they were in their bed snuggled in each other's arms, JJ turned to Emily, "It makes me so sad I have to go to work on Monday."
"Jen, it's Friday. Let's take it one day at a time," Emily said, kissing her wife.
"One day at a time," JJ hummed into Emily's chest before they both fell into a deep slumber.
The rest of the weekend went great. They spent a lot of time watching movies as a family, playing with all the new toys, and reading. Neither wanted to burst their bubble of happiness, however, Monday morning rolled around and JJ headed to work. When she walked into the bullpen, she saw Penelope perched on Morgan's desk telling him and Spencer all about Oakley.
"She's just so darling, another mini-Prentiss to a tee. Except for instead of Emily's or Lily's, she has the most beautiful green eyes. I swear you'd think Emily gave birth to her too. And she has this tiny little voice, it was so cute to see her playing with Lily. They already seem so close, gosh she's amazing!" Garcia was talking with her hands and had the biggest smile on her face. JJ made sure they knew she was in by letting her bag thump against her desk as she dropped it.
Morgan whipped around, "How come baby girl is the only one who gets to meet the little princess?"
JJ smiled, "Don't let Emily hear you call her that; she already hates that you call Lily mini-princess. Hell, don't let Oakley hear you call her that, she's quite the hard head," she laughed at herself. "A hard head who loves all things girly. You guys can meet her this weekend. We're having the whole team over on Friday for team dinner. We just needed some time to help her get adjusted. So, spread the word, team dinner at the Prentiss residence, the elder Prentiss's will be there too."
"Woohoo! Party at the Prentiss's!" Derek cheered.