Work Text:
2006
“It’s your birthday?” The bartender raised an eyebrow at her over the top of her ID.
“Yeah,” she sighed, accepting the little plastic card back from him.
“Well, babe, you don’t look a day over 35.” He chuckled to himself as he poured out the shot she had ordered, as well as one for himself. “This is on the house. Happy birthday,” he passed her her glass, and clinked his with hers before they each downed their drink.
“Thanks,” she left a $20 bill on the bar and drove home alone.
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2007
“JJ, your worst fear is the woods?” Penelope asked incredulously, a slight slur to her words as she sipped on what had to be her fourth drink of the evening.
“I’m from a small town!” JJ said, raising her arms in defence. “What’s your worst fear, baby girl?”
“Uh-uh, no way. We simply do not have the time to get into all that I am afraid of,” Penelope countered, taking another sip of her drink before turning to fix her gaze on Emily.
“Oh no,” Emily groaned, trying to hide her face in the rim of her huge margarita glass.
“Oh yes,” Penelope clapped gleefully. “Come on birthday girl, what are you afraid of?”
“Nothing,” Emily said boldly, raising her eyebrow in defiance.
“I don’t believe that for a second,” JJ said with a wink.
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2008
Fuck, Emily hurt all over. She didn’t regret taking the fall for Reid, and she didn’t regret telling the team she could take it, but had Cyrus really needed to knock her around this much? It had been a precarious few days, and now that she had gotten word from someone outside that they would be moving in soon, she couldn’t wait for it to be over. All of the stress, and pain, and exhaustion were like a rock slowly pushing down on her, and all Emily could do was hope that she was out of here before she collapsed under its weight.
A few hours later, Emily didn’t hurt anymore. Usually she hated hospitals, but they had some damn good painkillers, and at the moment, what Emily supposed were the most comfortable beds in the world.
“I hope you’re not giving the doctors too much trouble,” JJ said from the doorway to Emily’s room.
“Me? Never,” Emily smiled as best she could with all of the bruising on her face, and flopped a hand out towards JJ, inviting the woman closer.
“Somehow I don’t believe that,” JJ laughed, putting down the guardrail on the side of Emily’s hospital bed. “Scoot over, will you? My feet are killing me.”
“I don’t know if there’s room,” Emily poked a finger at JJ’s very large stomach.
“If you weren’t already so beat up, I would slap you for that. Don’t you know better than to call a pregnant lady huge?” Emily just hummed in reply, and they settled in together, JJ’s arm finding its way behind Emily as the older woman rested her head on the blonde’s chest. They were quiet for a while, soaking up being back in each other’s company, each silently reminding themselves that they had made it through. Finally, JJ broke the silence. “Happy belated birthday, by the way.”
“Thanks,” Emily whispered back, before tilting her head up to capture JJ’s lips in a kiss.
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2011
Emily watched the screen intently as her opponent played the first word of the game.
B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y JJ slowly spelled out, an ocean away.
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2012
Emily groaned, rolling over to grope for her phone in the dark. She had only been asleep for what felt like minutes, and if she got another case right now, she might actually quit. “Prentiss,” she said grumpily, after having to listen to her ringtone for far too long.
“Happy birthday!” Yelled a chorus of voices on the other end of the line.
“You’re a day early,” Emily grumbled back, though a smile was starting to spread.
“Check the time!” JJ said back, taking the phone off of speaker and– from what Emily could hear– walking away from the crowd she was in. Emily pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the clock in the corner of her screen– midnight exactly. Officially October 12th, and officially 42nd birthday.
“Okay, you win,” Emily said back. “Out for drinks with the team?”
“You know it!” JJ was in top-drunk form, over-exuberant and amicable, likely making friends with everyone at the bar before destroying them at darts. “Did I wake you up?”
“You did, actually,” Emily hoped the woman could hear her smile across the phone.
“I’ll let you get back to sleep then,” JJ said. “We have tomorrow off, so I’ll FaceTime at some point with Henry?”
“Sounds perfect,” she yawned. “Love you.”
“Love you!” JJ shouted back, and hung up.
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2016
“Happy birthday!” Henry shouted, leaping onto the pile of blankets on the bed. The person beneath them let out a small oof as his knee collided with her kidney.
“Habbee baba!” Michael was as enthusiastic as his brother, even if he did fall a bit short on pronunciation. He giggled as he was tossed onto the bed to join the tangle of limbs.
“It’s my two favorite boys!” Emily yawned, finally managing to get her head and arms free from the blankets and wrapping the kids into a hug. “And my favorite girl!” She added when JJ joined a moment later. They all stayed like that for a moment longer, wrapped in each other, the odd giggle escaping at an accidental tickle or shifting– fitting four people on the bed was not exactly easy. And perfect moments couldn’t last. Just because it was Emily’s birthday, didn’t mean that life stopped, and today was a particularly big day. After JJ’s abduction, Emily had transferred to the Interpol office in DC, but today she was headed back to the BAU. The change was just temporary, but Emily couldn’t help being excited to spend her birthday with her first work family, even if they would be spending the day chasing down killers.
The four fell into their morning routine easily, JJ and Emily working in tandem to get the boys fed and dressed, while getting themselves ready as well. Just as they needed to be heading out the door, Will came to pick Henry up for school, and a moment later, the boys’ nanny arrived to take care of Michael. It wasn’t until the pair were in the car on the way to Quantico that they had a moment alone.
“Happy birthday, love,” JJ said, leaning over to press a kiss to Emily’s cheek at a red light.
“Best birthday yet,” Emily winked back. She meant it.