Work Text:
Welcome to the Emerald City
Sweat dripped from the brow of Jennifer Jareau as she jogged along the dirt path, feet falling in time with the music blaring through her earbuds. She was only mildly out of breath as she finished her final mile in the park and began the trip back home. The weather itself wasn’t too shabby, a light breeze cooling off any of the heat from the Sunday evening sun peeking through the now-pink clouds as it descended.
JJ enjoyed her runs, especially on days like this when she didn’t need to worry about the weather and could appreciate the colors that the sun cast over the clouds as it set below the horizon. The spring air felt fresh in her lungs, each inhale bringing a wave of calm to her muscles that pumped onward, across the street, and down the sidewalk. She hopped off the curb onto the side of the street to avoid a couple with their child, walking together and enjoying the weather, then stepped back onto the sidewalk as a car calmly cruised by her.
She knew the turns by heart, taking them almost by autopilot as she listened to the rest of her playlist. There were enough songs to get her to the end of her run, though just barely with the final song midst bridge as she paused the music, pulling her earbuds out and opening the front door to her house.
“I’m home!”
“I’m up here! Just giving the little scoundrel a bath!”
JJ couldn’t help but smile as she heard her son’s laugh, followed by the splashing of water from the upstairs bathroom. She tossed her keys into the bowl by the front door, toeing off her shoes and walking over to the kitchen table, where a beautiful bouquet of white and red carnations with an elegant floral-themed notecard propped between the lip of the clear vase and the stems of two or three flowers was deliberately placed in the middle. Failing to suppress a smile, she delicately picked up the card, carefully avoiding disturbing any of the flowers.
Dear JJ,
Happy Mothers’ Day! I hope it was wonderful and relaxing. I know I’m not the best at the whole writing thing, but I want you to know that you are the most wonderful mother in this world and Henry is the luckiest boy ever. Take it easy today, you deserve it!
Love always,
Will
She smiled, placing the card neatly where it was. JJ and Will had broken up amicably about three and a half years ago, realizing that they weren’t quite right for one another. He still lived nearby, maybe a fifteen-minute trip without traffic along the main roads, which made for easy co-parenting of Henry without having to uproot their kid’s life completely every other week. They celebrated most of the big holidays together, like Christmas and Easter, but sometimes, like today, their schedules didn’t quite line up.
As if on cue, Emily shouted again from the upstairs bathroom. “Will stopped by to leave you some flowers before his shift started. They’re on the table!”
A grin graced JJ’s face.
Emily Prentiss. Where to begin when talking about Emily Prentiss…
They’d been close friends at work for a while beforehand and it didn’t take long for that friendship to develop into something more. Emily had been over often, between girls’ nights with Garcia and helping out with Henry when necessary, claiming that it was “what friends do for one another,” an explanation JJ had accepted at the time, but soon found out to be an excuse for the two of them to spend more time together.
JJ “hosted” a girls’ night while Henry was at Will’s, consisting of the three ladies hitting the bars, JJ winning countless rounds of drinks through her extraordinary darts skills, and Emily and Penelope having a knack for finding men that the three of them could embarrass together. Eventually, they ended up at JJ’s, tipping the taxi driver an extra 5% for bearing with their drunken karaoke in the backseat and even joining in for a couple of songs as they coasted down the empty early morning roads back home.
Penelope had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the couch cushion, prompting JJ to turn on the TV, at a quiet enough volume that would not wake the computer genius, but still loud enough for the two night owls to listen. Before they realized it, they were cuddled up next to each other, JJ leaning her head on Emily’s shoulder and Emily’s arm wrapped around the blonde, pulling her close as the alcohol was wearing off. Suddenly aware of the intimate contact, JJ had looked up at Emily, finding the brunette already looking at her, eyes darting from her eyes to her lips and back again.
JJ had made the first move, eyes fluttering shut and closing the gap between them, feeling one of Emily’s hands find the back of her neck and the other resting on the small of her back as the other woman kissed her back. They lay together like that for a while, only pausing as JJ pulled back with a smile from ear to ear.
“Emily Prentiss,” she’d started in a hushed whisper, finally giving voice to the thought nagging her brain for the past handful of months. “Will you go out with me?”
“Yes,” Emily laughed quietly, closing the space once more. “Yes, I will.”
That had been nearly three years ago, with the two of them living together for the past two. JJ would never quite understand how she was so lucky to fall in love with Emily Prentiss.
Not only was she brilliant with Henry, adopting the motherly role naturally with her son who’d been barely a year old when they began dating, but she and Will got along phenomenally, working together to come up with fun ideas to surprise JJ on her birthday every year, and oftentimes for no particular reason at all other than to just appreciate her, without her even finding out until afterward (which, JJ realized, was the entire purpose of a surprise).
Placing the notecard back down on the table, along with her unplugged earbuds, JJ shot a quick “thank you” message to Will and tucked her phone back into the waistband of her leggings as she joined her girlfriend upstairs in the bathroom.
Immediately, JJ noticed bubbles. An incredible excess of bubbles.
“Uh, Em…?”
The brunette chuckled, mid-shampooing Henry’s thin blonde hair while the four-year-old played contently with a rubber ducky. “I found this fun bubble-bath solution while I was shopping this weekend and figured we could try it…though I think I might’ve added a little too much solution.”
“You think?” JJ laughed. “You could create the Emerald City out of how many bubbles you’ve got here!”
“Emerald City!” Henry exclaimed, recognizing the reference from his favorite chapter book. Emily and JJ had found it at a garage sale and, having the perfect balance of pictures and words, grabbed it for when Henry would start reading. They’d not been expecting it to immediately skyrocket to his favorite, but at least he enjoyed reading, plus it gave them something fun to do as a family!
JJ shook her head, a smile still lingering on her face. “You’re lucky I love you, Emily Prentiss.”
“And I love you too,” Emily replied, placing bubbles from the tub on JJ’s nose. JJ gasped with mock-offense as Emily and Henry laughed. “C’mon, I’ve got a surprise. And you,” Emily turned, pointing to the still-giggling Henry. “No trouble until I get back. Capische?”
The brunette dried off her hands and intertwined her fingers with JJ’s, leading her to their master bathroom, where rose petals and candles sat around a tub of warm water.
“I just ran it when you got home, so it should still be warm. I know you’re not a huge bath person, but I figured it could help relax your muscles after your run while I finish up Henry’s bath and get dinner ready.”
“I love it,” JJ replied, pressing a soft kiss to Emily’s lips. “Thank you.”
“Of course. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Emily was right, in both ways. While the bath did relax her muscles, she also felt restless, unable to enjoy the bath for any more than ten minutes before washing herself off with the washcloth and getting out of the tub, draining the dirty water, and blowing out all of the candles one by one. She’d worry about cleaning up the rose petals later; for now, they looked nice.
From the other bathroom, she could still hear Emily and Henry giggling, paired with the splashing of water, Emily’s attempt at an evil cackle, and the faint squeaking of the rubber duck. Throwing on a comfortable shirt and pair of sweatpants, she stepped back into the hallway to investigate the commotion.
“Holy sh—”
“Emerald City!” Henry cheered, splashing.
Emily laughed with a shrug, a guilty smile plastered on her face. “Uh…welcome to the Emerald City?”
JJ’s jaw dropped. There were bubbles everywhere, coating the walls and spilling over the edge of the tub, creating a path towards the open door, a path JJ assumed was meant to be the Yellow Brick Road. Emily had ditched her shirt, having tossed it into the hall and opting instead for a black sports bra and shorts. On her head lay a small mountain of bubbles, vaguely resembling a witch’s hat.
Picking up Emily’s shirt and grabbing a mop from the closet, JJ stepped inside the bathroom, carefully avoiding the soap all over the floor.
“I can’t believe you went through with that!” JJ sighed, shaking her head. She couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. After all, this was Emily Prentiss she was dealing with. “I was joking when I said that!”
“By now, you really should know better than to give me a challenge and not prepare for consequences,” Emily shrugged again, standing up. With a better look inside the bathroom, JJ could now see that Henry had a mane of bubbles, growling like the cowardly lion from the story while squeaking his rubber ducky. “Would you, uh, mind handing me a towel, though?”
“You will be the death of me, Emily Prentiss.”
Emily smirked. “Ah, but isn’t it the best way to go?”
JJ pretended to think it over before pressing a kiss to Emily’s nose. “It is.”
“Towel?”
“Right.” JJ handed Emily the towel along with the mop, her heart fluttering as she saw her son having the time of his life. Emily was truly brilliant with him. “Now what’s a wicked witch without her broom?”
“I suppose a mop could do for my evil endeavors,” Emily cackled. “Now, let's get the little lion cub all clean so he can eat, yeah?”
“Yeah!” Henry nodded enthusiastically.
“Speaking of dinner,” JJ started again. “Anything I need to do?”
“Nope!” Emily replied cheerfully, checking the clock on the wall. “Pizza should be here in a couple of minutes.”
JJ pouted dramatically. “And here I thought you were cooking tonight.”
“Alas, no,” Emily sighed, just as dramatically. “I figured you’d rather the fire alarms not go off tonight.”
“Touché.”
“Also, Will said to give him a call when you can since he missed you earlier,” Emily added, rinsing the soap out of Henry’s hair and off of his body as he continued to play contently with his rubber duck. “Slow day at the office. Paperwork, mostly, so he’s ‘good to talk when you are.’ His words, not mine.”
“Got it,” JJ nodded affirmatively. “You sure you’ve got all this handled?”
“Do you doubt me, O’ Jen the Good?”
“O’ Wicked Em of the West, I would never ,” JJ grinned, planting one last kiss on Emily’s cheek and exiting the bathroom, tossing Emily’s shirt into the laundry basket and heading downstairs.
She pulled out her phone, easily finding Will’s contact and Facetiming him. It only took two rings for Henry’s father to pick up.
“How’s it goin’ JJ?” Will asked, visibly propping his phone up against what JJ presumed to be his computer as he continued to work on his paperwork.
“It’s going pretty good. I’m sorry I missed you earlier,” JJ responded. “You must’ve come just after I headed out for my run.”
“You and your runs,” Will laughed, shuffling some papers around to put a group of them on the stack next to them.
JJ laughed along. “It was a nice day out! I couldn’t give up the opportunity for some fresh air!”
“Understandable. I get ya. How was your day? Relaxing, I hope?”
“Very. I got to sleep in, spend the day with Hen and Em, and go for a nice run. Em did attempt to make an Emerald City in the bathroom with bubbles, so Henry found that to be a lot of fun!”
“I’m sure he did. Let me guess, he was the lion?”
“Spot on.” JJ could hear Henry coming down the stairs. “Em’s finishing cleaning it up now, but bathtime was fun, wasn’t it Henry?”
A faint “Yes!” came from the bottom of the stairs as the doorbell rang. Will chuckled.
“That’d be our dinner,” JJ guessed. “Hey bud, wanna come talk to Dad while I get the pizza?”
“Da!”
“Pizza?” Will questioned, raising an eyebrow with a grin. “Emily trying to avoid setting off the fire alarms?”
“Naturally.”
“I heard that!” Emily called from the top of the stairwell, drying her hair with a towel, wet from having washed off all of the bubbles. “I heard that.”
JJ chuckled, handing the phone to her son, who took it excitedly. “She heard that. Anyways, here’s Henry!”
“Da!”
“Hey, little man! How’s it goin’?”
“Good! I was a lion!”
“I heard! And now you get pizza?”
“Yes! Pizza!”
JJ smiled as she opened the door, receiving the pizza. She thanked the kid, who looked to be around seventeen years old, likely just looking to make a little extra cash on the weekends, and passed him five dollars as a tip.
“Pizza’s here!” JJ placed the pizza on the counter, feeling Emily’s hands rest on her waist and wrap around her front in a hug. She leaned in as Emily kissed her cheek.
“Told you it was a good idea,” the brunette whispered in her ear.
“You said no such thing,” JJ mumbled back, turning her head to kiss Emily properly. “But I don’t disagree. Pizza sounds great right now.”
“Pizza! Pizza!” Henry exclaimed, causing the two women to crack up, Emily releasing her hug to grab three plates from the cabinet and place them on the counter by the box. JJ placed a smaller piece onto a plate, grabbing a napkin with it and bringing it over to Henry, still chatting away with his father.
“Sorry to interrupt you, boys, but I’ve got a slice of pizza with Henry’s name on it!”
“Pizza! Are you having pizza, Da?”
“Maybe in a bit, but I will probably get some pizza tonight too.”
“Yay!”
JJ smiled, holding out the plate of pizza. “Hey Hen, wanna say bye to Dad that way you can eat?”
“Bye Da!”
“Bye kiddo! I’ll see you Saturday, okay?”
“Okay!”
“I love you!”
“I love you, Da!”
“Alright, here you go, Henry,” JJ declared, carefully handing her son his plate and taking her phone back.
“Da said we can watch Oz now?” Henry asked, hopeful as he began to eat his dinner.
“Did he now?” JJ questioned, raising an eyebrow at the man on her screen, who put his hands up in mock surrender.
“I have no clue what he’s talking about,” Will joked innocently.
“Well, I suppose we can watch the Wizard of Oz tonight—”
“Yes!”
“Have Emmy help you set that up, okay Henry?” JJ tilted her head at her girlfriend, who had her own plate of pizza in hand. Emily nodded to JJ’s plate, sitting ready next to the box. She made her way back to the counter, kissing Emily on the cheek as they passed one another and began to eat her slice of pizza as she heard Emily help Henry turn on the Wizard of Oz. “It shocks me that this movie doesn’t scare him at all! The Wicked Witch of the West used to terrify me when I was his age.”
“Henry’s tough, that kid. Takes after his mother.”
JJ blushed. “His father too.”
“Ah, I can’t take the credit on that one. He’s a spitting image of you, JJ.”
JJ just laughed, picking up her plate and phone and relocating herself to the table to continue their conversation. In the corner of her eye, she could see her girlfriend and son giggling as Emily whispered in his ear. The four-year-old nodded before running off down the hallway.
“You know, I’m beginning to think they’re conspiring against me…” JJ spoke, loud enough for Emily to hear. The brunette shrugged, a grin still plastered on her face.
Will and JJ continued to talk for a bit as Emily brought the two empty plates to the sink, rinsing them off and placing them in the dishwasher, then returning to her spot on the couch. Henry came running back to the couch too, nearly jumping onto Emily in the process. JJ chuckled, standing up to clear her plate as well when she heard those running footsteps heading in her direction and intercept her before she could reach the sink.
Henry tugged at her pant leg, causing JJ to look down at her son.
“For Mummy,” he smiled gleefully, holding up a visibly homemade box. “I made it.”
JJ took it, bending down to kiss Henry on the top of the head and propping her phone against the flour jar on the counter so Will wasn’t stuck staring at the ceiling.
Opening the box, JJ saw a beautiful ring with an oblong, clear gem situated on a thin, elegant silver band. From her phone, she could hear Will speak again.
“I believe this is my cue to tell you to turn around.”
Confused, JJ turned, seeing Emily down on one knee, the confident grin from earlier gone and hands fiddling anxiously in front of her.
“It’s, uh…it’s a topaz, Henry’s birthstone,” the brunette started. “I mean, topazes come in a lot of colors but this one just…well I just, I saw it in the store and I knew it was perfect, and then it was about finding the perfect time and, I mean, that’s all besides the point, but—”
“Em…”
“What I’m trying to say is…Jennifer Jareau. I am in love with you and I will always be in love with you and, well, will you marry me?”
Tears welled in JJ’s eyes as she looked over her shoulder briefly, seeing Will nod affirmatively from her phone, wordlessly confirming he’d been in on the whole thing, and turning back to Emily.
“Yes,” JJ breathed happily, nodding as she took Emily’s hands and pulled her from kneeling into a kiss. “Yes, Emily Prentiss. Yes, I will marry you!”
Tears streamed down the blonde’s face as she held her girlfriend.
No. Not her girlfriend.
Her fiance .
Emily Prentiss was her fiance .
“I love you,” Emily breathed, finally pulling away. She wiped away the tears with her thumb, cupping JJ’s face in her hands, then, gently taking the ring from JJ’s hand, slid it on her left ring finger. A perfect fit. “To the moon and beyond, Jen. I love you so much.”
“I love you too, Em. So goddamn much.”
Emily laughed, a couple of tears falling from her eyes. “Language! You’ve got a four-year-old son who’s still learning new words every day!”
“You mean we?”
“Hm?”
“ We’ve got a four-year-old son.” JJ watched as Emily’s eye widened, the smile that was already plastered on her face growing even bigger. Behind her, she could hear applause and cheering coming from her phone. JJ grabbed it, bringing it over to her and Emily. Will looked overjoyed.
“Will, were you in on this?” JJ asked, leaning against Emily.
Will shrugged. “I just helped make the box.”
“ And it was his idea to have Henry help,” Emily insisted. “Don’t sell yourself short.”
“I may have suggested it, but this was all Emily.”
“How long have you been planning this, Em?”
Emily looked up, thinking. “About a year, maybe? I dunno, but something told me that tonight was the night.”
“Well, I’ll let you continue on with your night. Congratulations to the both of y’all. You make a beautiful couple! And happy Mother’s Day, again, JJ.”
“Thank you, Will,” JJ smiled, wiping the final tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks. “I’ll see you Saturday to drop off Henry?”
“Lookin’ forward to it. See you soon, Emily.”
“You too, Will,” Emily nodded. “Thank you for all of your help.”
“Anytime,” Will affirmed. “Stay well now.”
With that, the detective hung up, leaving JJ and Emily to one another. Pressing one last long kiss to JJ’s lips, Emily motioned for her to go join her son on the couch as she took care of JJ’s plate and the leftover pizza.
JJ sat down, still admiring the glittering new ring on her finger. Immediately, Henry sat on her lap, curling into her with a yawn as they watched the movie. Not long after, JJ felt the couch shift as Emily sat beside her, instinctively leaning into the brunette.
This was where she wanted to stay forever. Just the three of them curled up together on the couch, Henry dozing off on her lap and her head on Emily’s shoulder with Emily’s arm wrapped around her. Content, happy, a family.
There was nowhere else JJ would rather be.