A/N: I'm very keen to get to 2017 because I have big plans. There may be some time jumps coming up, hope that's not a problem for you guys!

As quickly as it had all disappeared in the happy haze of their engagement, the grief had seemingly walloped her in the stomach with a one two punch from the moment she walked back into the house.

She hated it. She hated how much of a hold her dad's death had on her. It had been three months. Almost four. And yet the reminders that he was gone seemed as strong as the day he had died. Her mom, for someone who had been happily married for 35 years, seemed to be coping ok. She most definitely had her days, but to JJ, she was a rock. And yet, JJ had days where she felt so numb that she just wanted to curl up in a ball and hide from the world.

But she couldn't do that. She didn't want her mom to worry. So instead, she smiled and pushed through the day. It felt like the hardest thing she'd made herself do.

Until Will's brother and his family arrived in Pittsburgh and made it just a bit easier.

"AUNT JJ!"

Looking up at the sound of the excited shriek echoing across the gym, JJ broke into an effortless smile as she spotted Bailey-Rose sprinting full pelt from the foyer doorway, Will trailing behind her with a grin on his face.

"Hey crazy!" JJ laughed, kneeling down and catching the excited seven year old as she threw herself at her favourite person in the whole world. Wrapping her arms around the little girl in a tight squeeze, she stood back up, smiling from ear to ear. "What are you doing here?"

"We came to visit you and Uncle Will! My daddy told me you're gettin' married!" Bailey-Rose said excitedly, her New Orleans twang more pronounced now that she was older. "Are you really gettin' married?"

JJ laughed, setting the little girl back down on her feet as Will reached them, Nick now also a few paces away. "We are. Look at the ring your Uncle Will got me"

Bailey-Rose's eyes widened as she grabbed JJ's hand. "Ooooh! It's so shiny!"

"Did I pick good, B-Rose?"

"Uh huh," Bailey-Rose said, nodding enthusiastically. "Aunt JJ, can I see your gold medals from the 'lympics?"

Chuckling at the sudden change in subject that was all too common for kids that age, JJ nodded. "Sure kiddo, when we get back to my house"

"I brought B-Rose here because she wanted to show you her gymnastics. She's been workin' real hard," Will chimed in.

"I can do a backflip, can I show you, can I show you?" Bailey-Rose said excitedly, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet as she clutched JJ's hands. JJ laughed, nodding and leading Bailey-Rose over to the floor.

"I bet your backflip is better than JJ's!" Nick called out, him and Will laughing as JJ turned around and shot him a look.

Bailey-Rose found a space on the floor, standing up tall and straight with her arms up above her head. Determined, she swung back, a spindle of arms and legs as she flipped back and rebounded easily off of her hands to come back to her feet. As soon as she was upright again, her audience of three clapped and cheered, making the little girl positively beam from ear to ear.

"Was I good? Did I do good?" she shrieked, bounding towards JJ.

"You were great! You'll definitely be at the Olympics one day!" JJ replied with a laugh as Bailey-Rose threw her arms around JJ's waist in an excited hug.

They whiled away most of the afternoon with Bailey-Rose demonstrating all of her skills for JJ, followed by her and JJ having a handstand competition. Will had also greatly amused his niece by attempting to throw a back tuck off the end of the track into the pit, only to get lost in the air and land upside down, much to the amusement of the three watching.

After a lot of fun, Will took Bailey-Rose back to the front of the gym to gather her things, leaving JJ alone with Nick momentarily.

As she was pulling her sweater over her head, she heard Nick let out a sigh. Tugging it down and into place, she found him standing nearby, looking uncertain.

"JJ... there's something I have to ask you, and... it's not going to be a comfortable question," he said quietly, his face turning serious as he lifted his gaze to meet hers.

"Ok?"

Nick took a deep breath. "There's a lot of talk swirling around Larry Nassar. A former gymnast has come forward and accused him of sexual abuse. I... I know he always made you uncomfortable, and I know I was always with you, but I have to ask you, JJ... is there anything that we should be reporting?"

JJ's eyes widened. "No, I... no"

"I'm not asking to make you uncomfortable," Nick said gently. "I just wanted to make sure"

"He never... no," JJ replied, shaking her head. "I mean, he was weird, and yeah he made me uncomfortable, but... I don't think anything he ever did to me was overtly wrong"

"Ok," Nick said with a nod. "I'm not sure how all of this is going to play out, but you know you can always tell me if there was ever anything you were concerned about"

"You know, the one where he has to put his fingers in you to adjust your back and hips"

The words had not left JJ's brain since Aly had uttered them to her eighteen months earlier. But Aly had shrugged it off. And if it really was a concern, surely Aly would have said something to Mihai.

Either way, it wasn't JJ's concern to share.

"I know," she said softly. "I will"

"Alright, close your eyes," JJ said with a grin as she walked into the room. Bailey-Rose did as instructed, wiggling excitedly from where she sat on the couch between Will and Sandy. JJ made her way over to her, kneeling before the young girl and opening the wooden box in her hands. Lifting the gold medal from inside it, she opened out the ribbon and slipped it over Bailey-Rose's head.

"You can open your eyes," JJ said. Bailey-Rose flicked her eyes open, her eyes falling to her lap where the heavy gold disc was resting.

"Woah!" she exclaimed, making the adults laugh. Picking it up with her little hands, she turned it over and admired each side of it. "This is so cool!"

JJ laughed. "You gonna win your own one day?"

"Yeah! They're so cool! It's so heavy," Bailey-Rose giggled.

"Here B-Rose, go sit with JJ and I'll take a picture to send to your momma," Will said warmly. Bailey-Rose obliged, scrambling off the couch and sitting in JJ's lap on the floor. The two of them beamed, JJ giving Bailey-Rose a tight squeeze as Will snapped a photo.

The grief still hung over her like a cloud, but moments like these served to allow the sun to shine through for just a little while.

|the photo of JJ sitting cross legged with Bailey-Rose in her lap, JJ's gold medal around Bailey-Rose's neck|

jenniferjareau94
Meet my 'almost officially' niece y'all. She's assured me she's gonna be the 2028 Olympic all-around champion. Look out world, B-Rose is coming!

alyraisman the cutest!

simonebiles girl has good taste in role models!