Chapter Text
It never got any easier, seeing what people could do to each other. But laying here, in a bit of a run down hotel in the middle of nowhere, Oregon, it really did get easier.
“And how he just stumbled into your arms!” JJ wheezed, laughing uncontrollably. They were slumped on the double bed. The room was quite old fashioned, like the last time anybody restyled it, was in the 80s. But it was clean, which was the most important thing to Emily anyway. They flew in two days ago, to assist in a murder investigation in the tiny town. The case wasn’t too complicated; it was more that the town hadn’t had the manpower to deal with something this big. It had been a bit of a no brainer and JJ dealt with it by laughing it all off. They were lying side to side, staring up at the ceiling. Emily admired JJ’s way of dealing with things. “Oh God, Em, the look on his face!” Tears were running down the blondes face as the bed shook with laughter. There was nothing that was really that funny about the entire case, but Emily found herself laughing along. She enjoyed how JJ’s body curled on the bed, turning towards her. Emily pushed herself up onto her elbow, watching her colleague deal with her aching belly. JJ looked up to her with wet cheeks, still giggling. “It was a good day after all, wasn’t it?” She beamed up at the brunette. Emily nodded with a smile on her face. JJ’s laughter died down slowly, leaving a grin on her face, as she investigated the other agents face. “You wanna watch some TV before we go to sleep?” She asked while pushing herself up to a sitting position. Emily slowly mirrored her.
“Yeah, sure. You pick something. I think I’m gonna take a shower…” She said, while getting up from the bed. She walked over to her ready-bag, to dig out her PJs and a tiny bottle of shampoo.
“I’ll get us set up!” JJ replied happily. Even before Emily reached the bathroom she heard JJ’s cell phone chime. She slowly proceeded to wash the days’ events off.
As she turned off the shower she heard JJ huff in annoyance through the thin hotel walls. Emily decided to prolong her bathroom time just a little bit, to give the blonde some privacy. As she came out, releasing some of the left over steam into the hotel room, JJ was lying down on the bed, on arm over her eyes.
“You okay?” Emily asked, cautiously walking over to her bag, to put the shampoo bottle away. JJ huffed again.
“Yeah, just annoyed.” She pouted a little, while grabbing the remote off the wobbly nightstand. Emily took it as a sign, she was welcomed into whatever was bothering the other woman and flopped down onto the bed. JJ grumpily turned on the TV, flipping through the channels, without settling on something.
“Jayje…?” Emily hesitated a second, before placing her hand on the one holding the remote. JJ shot her a tiny smile.
“It’s really okay. I was gonna go shopping with Garcia on our day off tomorrow and Will would take Henry.” She dramatically sighed. “But he got called in. So no shoe shopping for me.” A big pout formed, while she started flipping the channels again. “I was so looking forward to that.”
“Maybe Henry will like shoe shopping...” The brunette tried. JJ barked out the laugh.
“He is 4, Em. I can’t even get him to sit still during breakfast.” She said, with a smile on her face. “It’s okay though. I guess I like Henry better than shoe shopping.” JJ shrugged. Emily leaned back a bit, watching the channels fly by, as the petite blonde was obviously still in thought. Emily bit her lip. She felt a bit uneasy; on the one hand she wanted to help JJ. The price for helping her might mean she would be in a little over her head. She took a deep breath.
“If you want, I could take him for a few hours…” She almost whispered. JJ’s head shot up, her mouth slightly open.
“What?” She gasped. Emily slowly shrugged.
“I could. I’m not that bad with kids.” Her voice was soft. She wasn’t entirely sure why she was offering or if the offer was even a smart idea, but it was too late to back out now. JJ’s eyes searched her face for signs of a lie. She opened her mouth once, just to close it again. The silence stretched on for a few long moments. “It’s okay if you don’t trust me with him.” Emily quickly blurted out, while looking down to her hands. The silence stung a bit. Out of the corner of her eye she saw JJ’s hand sneak towards her clenching ones.
“I trust you, Em.” Jennifer whispered. “You just surprised me, that’s all. And he is quite a hand full…”
“I can keep him alive for a few hours. A little sunlight, a few snacks… how hard can it be?” Emily quickly masked her insecurity. JJ smiled softly, obviously recognizing what she was doing. Jennifer looked at her quietly, taking her time for the response.
“Okay.” JJ simply said. Emily’s head shot up.
“Okay?” She echoed in disbelieve. The blonde next to her laughed.
“Yes. Thank you.” It was so, so simple, but it made Emily’s chest swell with pride for some reason.
“You’re welcome. You deserve to go shoeing, you work hard.” Em babbled, not knowing exactly what to say. She was a little overwhelmed by the blondes trust. JJ smiled again, before taking a breath and deliberately breaking to moment.
“That’s settled then, now let’s get some sleep.” Emily pulled the blanket up to her neck, settling into the bed next to JJ. She watched her turn off the TV with a smile and turn off the light. It was silent for a while as Emily watched the shadows on the ceiling move.
“Jayje… he doesn’t wear diapers anymore, right?” JJ let out a loud and honest laugh.
Emily parked her car in front of the Jareau condo. What the hell had she gotten herself into? She wasn’t half bad with children, really. But, babysitting was something different. She had watched Declan for days, but she was never completely alone. She had gotten children out of unspeakable situations, but she was never actually responsible for entertaining them. She felt ridiculously nervous. A feeling Emily was not that accustomed to. It threw her more than she cared to admit. She took one deep breath and pushed the feeling down. It was just a few hours, what could go wrong? She hopped out of her car, grabbing her bag in the process and jogged up to the door. With one more deep calming breath and rang the doorbell. She heard a muffled ‘coming’ from the other side of the wood.
“Hey you!” Jennifer excitedly exclaimed, while ripping the door open.
“Hey!” Emily smiled as JJ ushered her inside. The FBI agent let her eyes wander over the blonde for a second. JJ looked so different from her normal work attire. Emily had to admit that the loose dark blue dress looked absolutely amazing on her.
“Henry is already very excited. Living room is through here.” She said, guiding Emily further into her house. “Henry, Emily is here!” His mother said in a voice, certainly meant to hype the boy up. His head perked up from behind the couch.
“Emimi?” He asked with a big smile, brushing his long blond hair out of his face clumsily. Emily couldn’t help the smile, creeping onto her face.
“Hey Henry.” She greeted him. Jen extended her hand towards her son. The little blonde ran over to her, leaning his back against his moms legs. He grinned up, looking at Emily.
“Emily is gonna stay with you for a bit, while mommy goes out. Remember?” JJ said in a gentle tone, Emily guessed the gentleness in her voice was reserved for Henry only. Henry nodded viciously at his moms’ statement. “Are you gonna be good and listen to Emily?” Again a certain nod. JJ smiled and touched his shoulders in a loving gesture. Henry took this as his cue to take off again. “Okay Em,” The blonde took Emily by her elbow and led her into the kitchen. “We have snacks over here. And when he gets thirsty, it’s either water or apple juice. Don’t let him talk you into ice tea! He’ll ask you to take him to the bathroom if he has to, be he’s good all by himself in there. Oh and I told him it’s okay to watch a movie. Just so you know.” It came out like it was rehearsed. Emily thought it must be what she said to every babysitter that walked through the door.
“Action movie and apple martinis. Got it.” She nodded with a cheeky grin. JJ rolled her eyes at her.
“Are you still sure about this, Em?” She questioned softly. Emily nodded immediately.
“Yeah, go have fun. I got this.” She wasn’t as sure about it as she let on, but it was way too late now, so nothing left to do but show the kid a good time.
“Okay Henry, give mommy a kiss!” JJ yelled out to Henry, while passing Emily to the living room again. The swift explanation made Emily feel a little uneasy. She wasn’t sure why. It felt weird to play babysitter to JJ’s kid.
Before she knew it, Henry had kissed his mom goodbye and JJ had her jacket on. “Call me if there is anything you need to know or if anything happens. Or if-“ Emily cut her off by holding her hands up.
“It’s gonna be fine. Really.” JJ nodded, but still looked a tiny bit uneasy.
“Okay. I’ll be back latest in 3 hours.” She said, car keys already in hand. “Thanks again, Em!” JJ happily said, while closing the door behind her. Emily slowly turned around to the little boy peaking around the couch.
“Okay Henry, it’s just us now.” She smiled, walking over to him. A big toothy smile on the boys face didn’t give away any discomfort about his mom leaving. That reassured Emily immensely. “What are you playing?” She asked as she reached the couch and peak over it. There was a plastic box throws over behind it, with a ridiculous amount of plastic animals spilling out onto the play mat Henry was sitting on.
“Zoo!” He exclaimed excitedly. “Play with me?”
“Absolutely!’