Work Text:
It was the end of the day, Emily was upstairs, sick with the flu. She had been sick for the last three days and she was still feeling terrible, which made her wife’s heart ache. JJ was downstairs with their daughter, Ryan. She was a happy 5 years old little girl that loved her two moms and her big brother Henry, who was now 12. They had just finished dinner. Henry was staying at his dad’s for the weekend.
Ryan, with her beautiful puppy eyes, had managed to convince her mom to watch some cartoons with her. Usually JJ would say no, she knew kids shouldn’t watch TV before bed, but it was just for once, and Emily wouldn’t know about it. So she let her. Ryan was laying on her mom’s lap. JJ was wearing a crop top, which let her stomach naked. Her daughter moved her fingers on her bare skin, following every line, every scar. She stopped when she felt a bump she hadn’t seen before. She looked at it closely and asked her mother.
“Mama? What is it?”
JJ looked at the bump and smiled “It’s a scar”
“How did you get it? Did a bad guy hurt you?”
“Yes, he did”
“But you’re okay now.”
“I’m am completely healthy baby, don’t worry”
“Did you kill him?”
JJ felt uncomfortable, she didn’t like that her daughter knew she could kill people, even if they were bad guys. But it was the truth, and she would never lie to her daughter about something like that. She’d rather have a long conversation with her about right and wrong, and answer all of her questions. This time, she was lucky, and she answered :
“No, he’s in jail for the rest of his life”
“Were you alone?” Ryan seemed worried.
“Actually, no, it’s mommy that saved me”
Ryan gasped and opened her eyes widely, smiling “Really?”
“Yes, really”
“Can you tell me what happened? Please?”
“Okay, go upstairs, brush your teeth and get into bed, and I’ll tell you that story.”
Ryan jumped from the couch and started running, but she remembered her other mom was asleep so she stopped and quietly climbed the stairs, putting her finger in front of her lips, looking at JJ. JJ smiled and gave her a thumbs up.
She finished cleaning the kitchen, checked that the front door was locked and went upstairs. Before going to her daughter’s room, she slightly opened her bedroom’s door, checking in on Emily. She was asleep, so she closed the door slowly.
Ryan was laying on her bed, holding her teddy bear tight in her arms. “I’m ready mama” she whispered.
JJ sat down on the side of the bed and gently moved a lock of hair out of Ryan’s face.
“So, it was a long long time ago, me and mommy Em had met a few months before. We were already partners at work, she was one of my best friends. One day, we had a very difficult case. A bad bad man had kidnapped a little girl. Of course, we did all we could to save her, we weren’t going to let anything happen to her. Me, mommy Em and uncle Reid went into a house. We knew the bad man lived there, but we weren’t sure if the little girl was there. We went inside and found nothing. We knew we were at the right place, but it was obvious that the house was empty. We started looking for clues, and I did something very very stupid”
“But you’re not stupid mama”
“Mommy Em and uncle Reid were upstairs, and I was downstairs. I saw a barn nearby, and my guts told me she was there. I should have told them where I was going, it was the right thing to do. You know, when we told you to always tell us where you are and never go somewhere alone without us knowing?”
“Yes?”
“Well it applies to me too when I’m working, but I didn’t do it. I was so sure she was there, I didn’t want to lose any time, I didn’t want anything to happen to that little girl. So I ran there. I ran there so fast that nobody saw me. I went inside the barn and saw him. He was holding a gun and the little girl was standing next to him. She was very scared but she was okay. He got scared, he knew he couldn’t get out of there. But he also saw that I was alone, there was nobody with me. So he shot me.”
“Did it hurt?”
“Yes, a lot. But I didn’t care. I fell on the ground, but when I saw that he was taking the little girl with her, I used all of the strength that I had to grab his leg and keep him from leaving. He let go of the little girl that ran away. And he took his gun. I was alone, defenseless. I thought I was going to die, but when he was ready to pull the trigger, mommy arrived. I was scared, but as soon as I heard her voice, I knew everything was going to be okay, I knew she was going to save me. And she did, she shot him in the arm so that he would drop the gun and she handcuffed him. Then she called an ambulance and stayed next to me, holding my hand, waiting for the help. Uncle Reid found the little girl and brought her back to her parents. Mommy Em didn’t let go of my hand until she was sure I was safe.”
“Did you love mommy Em already?”
“I didn’t know it at the time. She was my savior, and she was the only one I needed by my side at the time. I think I fell in love with her the first time I saw her, getting out of that elevator, and when she saved me, that’s when I started realizing that she was the one I wanted to spend my life with, she was the one I wanted to have a family with. And I was right, and three years later, we had you. You and Henry are the most precious things in our lives. And we will always protect you.”
“You and mommy, you are my heroes.”
“Now I have to be your mommy’s hero and bring her cough syrup. I love you baby, sweet dreams.”
“I love you mama”.
JJ turned off the light as Ryan closed her beautiful blue eyes.
She went back to her room with the cough syrup. Emily was half awake.
“Hey” she said. Her voice was raspy, she was having trouble talking properly.
“Hey baby, how are you feeling?”
“Awful” she groaned
JJ joined Emily on the bed and put a gentle hand on her wife’s forehead. “You’re burning up”.
Emily smiled, JJ’s hand was fresh, it felt good. She turned around and rested her head on JJ’s chest.
“You know, Ryan asked me for the story of my scar.”
“The first one?”
“Yes”
“What did you tell her?”
“That this was when I fell in love with you.”
“Really?”
“Really. You’re my savior”
“You’re my queen, I’ll always be there to save you, except not now, I’m too sick for that.”
“Don’t worry, for now, I’ll be your protector”.
JJ kissed her wife’s forehead, holding her until she’d fall asleep again.