Chapter Text
Emily was exhausted. Exhausted and sad.
Well, every case was exhausting and sad in its own right, but this one had been pretty bad.
The loss of his youngest daughter did not by any means excuse the murder of Norman’s entire family at his own hand as well as all of his other victims, but God was that a heartbreaking trigger.
She could never imagine losing Henry while she was still alive and breathing, yet she also could never imagine laying a single harmful finger on JJ if it were to ever happen.
If anything, she would do the exact opposite. She would hold and try her best to comfort her girlfriend for as long as she needed and wanted.
That thought just made her want to hold her family in her arms as soon as possible, so as she walked out of the elevator towards the bullpen with the team, she was eager to wrap up and get home.
“Hey, you guys ever notice how the trip home always seems to go so much faster?” she wondered aloud to Morgan and Reid.
“That’s because the tailwinds are in our favour.”
Of course that was how the young doctor responded.
“No, I meant because…” Emily tried to explain, before remembering that there was no point, so instead said, “Alright, well, I’ve got two gorgeous blonds waiting for me at home, so.”
She was about to head towards her desk to pack up when Reid informed the rest of the group, “There’s someone in the BAU room, guys.”
Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, Emily and the others followed the young genius.
When Reid rounded the corner and realized who it was, he asked, despite the immediate smile that her presence brought upon, “What are you doing here?”
Curiously, Emily entered as well and gasped happily at the sight of her girlfriend holding their son in the middle of the round table room.
“JJ!” she exclaimed as she immediately dropped her bag onto the ground somewhere and practically ran over to the blonde, gathering her and the baby in her arms into a big but careful hug, “You didn’t tell me you’d be here.”
JJ smiled at her a bit guiltily and replied, “Garcia said you guys were on your way back tonight. Thought you could use a surprise.”
Emily melted at the thoughtfulness and kissed her girlfriend on the cheek, then gently ran her finger over Henry’s plump, little cheek, saying to him in a light voice, “Hi, my little man! Ugh, it feels like it’s been too long since I’d last seen your handsome face.”
“I thought I gave you strict orders to get this place out of your head for a while,” Hotch said as he entered the room last, sounding severe but everyone knew that he was secretly a softy for children…and JJ for that matter.
The media liaison gave him a guilty smile just as Garcia returned to the room and answered for her fellow blonde, “My bad. I couldn’t help myself.”
She then squeezed her way through the profilers with a baby bottle in hand, telling the mothers of her godson, “Here. I heated it up myself. Room temp, right?”
JJ smiled at her best friend thankfully and responded softly to Hotch, “I just realized with all that we do and see in this room, I barely ever smiled. I wanted one good memory to hold onto.”
Emily grinned.
Definitely a good memory forming.
“Excuse me, kid,” Morgan suddenly said, sidestepping Reid so that he was right in front of the little family, “Um, JJ, Em”—he motioned towards Henry—“Can I?”
He just realized that he’d never had the opportunity to hold two of his best friends’ baby since he’d gotten to the hospital after Reid.
And though he’d gotten to see him, the team hadn’t been able to stick around for much longer because the blonde, brand new mother was so tired that she had been fading in and out of consciousness at that point.
“Y—of course,” JJ replied, glancing back at her girlfriend, as she began to gently hand her son over to Morgan.
Emily smiled, but her anxiety instinctively began to rise as she watched the exchange and instructed protectively, “Okay, you’ve got to hold his head up. Careful, careful.”
“I got it. I got it,” the man assured as he cradled Henry gently in his arms.
Almost just as nervous, Garcia protested, “No, you—”
“I got it,” Morgan continued to insist, but the tech analyst was not convinced.
“No, you don’t got it. You’re smothering him,” Garcia scolded anxiously.
“I do,” the darker skinned agent replied confidently, “Look, look. What’s he doing? What’s he doing? He is smiling at Derek Morgan.”
Emily and Garcia shared a side-eye and deadpanned simultaneously, “Gas.”
Morgan, who was smiling and rocking the boy gently, paused and looked up at the two women.
He gave them a playful glare and reached for the bottle of warm milk. “Give me that.”
With Emily watching their son vigilantly in the arms of her field partner, JJ stepped away a bit, joining Hotch at the back of the group while still smiling at the sight of her team surrounding her son.
“Hey, little man,” Morgan cooed at the baby in his arms, making the media liaison chuckle softly, amazed by the sight of the man who was usually kicking down doors and wrestling with criminals cradling her tiny son so gently.
She then glanced to her right and caught a rare, soft expression on her usually stoic boss’s face, making her grin widen.
“You’re smiling,” she teased.
Hotch glanced back at her through the corners of his eyes and replied simply, “Gas.”
JJ laughed lightly.
This was the part of Hotch that truly made her respect him so much. As proficient and intimidating an agent and leader he was, the man was such a caring person too with such a natural fatherly personality.
“We miss you,” he suddenly added sincerely.
JJ looked up at Hotch, who met her gaze, his eyes conveying the significance behind his words.
The blonde smiled at him, which he returned, silently sending him the same message, before returning to her girlfriend’s side.
Emily glanced back at the younger woman and grinned at her, before turning her attention back towards their son but not without wrapping her arm around her shoulders to bring her closer to her and to place a kiss atop her head.
In turn, JJ wrapped both arms around Emily’s waist and leaned her head against her shoulder, watching Henry giggle adorably at Morgan.
Definitely one of the best memories made in this room.