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Emily loves the summer. She loves the bright sun, the heavy rainstorms, and the greenery that surrounds her. More than any of that, she loves what summer means and what it brings.
In the summer, family surrounds them, bringing the sun’s warmth and light into their house. In the past, JJ’s skin would darken to a beautiful gold, freckles fill her cheeks and cover her shoulders, and her blonde hair would lighten to the palest blonde. Now, at their old age, their hair was always white. Still the epitome of health, happiness, and home, Emily thinks JJ is summer in human form.
They used to stay busy with work in the summer, but always made time for family, fun, and sun. JJ thrives outside, and against all odds, Emily does, too. The wives enjoy spending hours floating down rivers, having picnics in the park, and gardening. Emily has spent the years developing a green thumb.
As much as the sun, however, Emily loves the rain. She loves hearing the loud crack of thunder that shakes the farmhouse they bought together. She loves the way the world turns grey and the sound of rain on the roof and windows blankets them in a foggy sort of peace. Emily loves waking up to a thunderstorm, even if it means they’ll be spending the day inside.
When the morning starts with the rumble of heavy rain, a grey-blue hue tinting the bedroom, and her wife’s sleepy fingers pressing into her stomach, Emily knows it’s going to be a good day. Her body takes longer to wake up than it used to, especially when summer rainstorms fill the air with static, but she has nowhere to be and nothing to do.
JJ pushes herself into Emily, tucking her head under Emily’s chin, tangling their legs together, hugging her close. Since they first moved onto the large property, JJ has been the farmer. She finds satisfaction in planting seeds and seeing them grow into something delicious, profitable, tangible. After years of hoping she was doing the right thing, she could see the literal fruit of her labor and know.
They retired from the BAU when Emily turned 55. She was the Section Chief, but it had taken a lot out of her, and she didn’t need to work for the money. JJ was only 47, but she’d endured enough tragedy for a lifetime, so she left with Emily and didn’t look back. They bought the farmhouse on a whim, wrote a plan on a piece of notebook paper the day they left Quantico, and put that plan into action.
The house they bought was functional, but it had been sitting unattended in the elements for a year or so, and nature was trying to take it back. It felt so foreign to them. The house, and the land, was spacious, silent, and smelled like another life. They had just come from the city, from a hectic, dangerous life. They didn’t know how to handle this.
Predictably, JJ took charge. She told Emily to pick a room - any room - in the house to work on. Emily picked an upstairs bedroom. They decided they needed a bedroom for the boys. When JJ and Will divorced a few years ago, they’d agreed that Henry and Michael should live with Will during the school year and JJ during the summer. This would be the first summer the two boys had Emily and JJ’s full attention, so they wanted to make it the best summer ever.
The bedroom was daunting. Neither woman had ever renovated an entire house before, so they barely knew where to start. They knew someone who would know, though.
Derek Morgan arrived a week later. He’d sent Emily a list of things to buy, and JJ a list of things to get started. When he knocked on the door, Emily sprung up from the kitchen table, nearly spilling her coffee, and ran to let him in. To her surprise, Hank stood behind him.
“Hank!” she greeted with a laugh and outstretched arms. “Oh my god! You’re so big!”
He laughed, hugging her back. “I’m strong, too!”
The 12-year-old grinned at his dad, following his lead. Emily hadn’t seen Hank in years, but she was happy to have him - and Derek. Her old friend was retired, too, and he spent his time flipping houses and giving occasional lectures. She would be forever grateful to him for his help.
“Derek! Hank!”
JJ jogged down the stairs to greet them. Having already been working for hours, she wore sawdust like a badge. Her short hair stuck to her forehead with sweat because hard work always led to sweating, but so far, the West Virginia May was hinting at a blistering summer.
She wore a large crop top that hung from one shoulder and exposed tanned skin and exercise shorts that whisked sweat away and left long, lean legs bare. Emily loved JJ’s body. After watching the other woman age since they met at 35 and 27, Emily’s affection and admiration had only grown, too. Even with sawdust sticking to sweat, JJ looked beautiful.
Hugging the two visitors, she gestured for them to come inside. “Of course Emily forgot to invite you in.”
Emily just rolled her eyes and headed back to the kitchen. She was busy with her own tasks. If JJ was going to be doing most - all - of the physical labor, then Emily could at least feed her. Now that they had guests, food was more necessary than ever.
She spent the morning ferrying ice water upstairs to the trio, chopping vegetables, and simmering stock. Emily knew that it was basic, but she could make a stew with ease. It was mostly about timing and, now that she wasn’t running off to take phone calls or answer emails, she could actually focus on creating something edible.
Eventually, JJ, Derek, and Hank came down for lunch. They rained praise on Emily for her meal before dragging her upstairs to see their handiwork. The future bedroom already looked better.
Peeling paint had been sanded off, warped window frames had been replaced, and it may have been her imagination, but Emily would bet money that the floor was already creaking less. Seeing three eager faces looking at her, Emily clapped her hands and returned their earlier praise. Every one of them was doing their part, and Emily was already looking forward to future summers.
When Michael and Henry arrived a month later, they had a completely finished bedroom. JJ greeted them nervously at the door, hands shoved in the pockets of her shorts as she watched them step out of Will’s truck. He’d driven them from Louisiana so he could see the new place, too.
Noticing his mother, Michael dropped his bags on the ground and ran to JJ, leaping into his arms. He was 9 now, and a little too big to be carried, but JJ wasn’t going to drop him for anything. She saw her boys a few times over the year, making sure to be at all the important events. Still, it didn’t make up for uninterrupted time that only came during their summers together.
At the clatter of JJ stumbling back into the house under Michael’s weight, Emily emerged from the living room in her own pair of cut off jeans. She grinned as she watched JJ pepper Michael’s face with kisses and passed by with a quick ruffle of his hair. Emily crossed the wide front porch and bounced down the front steps to greet Henry.
He was taller than both of them now, 16 and practically an adult. She could remember his birth, clear as day, and she treasured their close bond. Henry set his suitcase down and hugged her.
“Hey, Em,” he greeted quietly. “Good to see you.”
Stepping back, Emily grabbed his face, twisting it this way and that. “He feeding you?”
Will laughed as he approached with Michael’s bags. “Yes, Ma’am. He’s eating me out of house and home.”
“Good!” Emily released Henry and went to Will. “Thanks for bringing them.”
They hugged quickly before heading inside. The boys wanted to see their bedroom immediately, excited about the new space. The trio of parents followed behind slowly. They chatted amongst themselves, no bad feelings in the divorce and new relationship. It had been a long time coming and they’d all made amends.
Henry and Michael loved their bedroom. Once the hard labor was done, Hank and Derek had left, bags stuffed with local honey. Emily and JJ had painted the bedroom a light blue that turned a beautiful green when the setting sun streamed in through the windows. Two twin beds sat against either wall, a table between them, and dressers made by local craftsmen waited to be filled with their things.
That was the start of their first summer. By the time the boys left, JJ and Henry had raised fences, made signage, and built gardening boxes. It was too late in the season to plant anything now, but come Spring, everything would be ready.
Emily and Michael bonded over baking, experimenting with pies, cakes, pastry, and pasta. They created recipes for various sauces, started a list of fruit and vegetables to plant next year, and decided on the colors for the kitchen. Michael cried when he hugged Emily goodbye.
With the house empty again, the two women prepared to face the winter. It would snow heavily, making trips to the store difficult. So, they stocked up on food, and tried to figure out how to preserve everything. As a stop gap measure, they bought two large freezers. Then, Emily set about learning to can.
For the most part, however, the two women enjoyed the quiet. JJ worked on another room - the library - while Emily spent her time in the kitchen. It would have pissed Emily off to spend so much time in the kitchen, even just a few years ago. No one would ever categorize her as ‘domestic’, and they would never expect her to enjoy living like a ‘traditional’ wife.
Emily hadn’t expected to enjoy it either. She had known it made more sense to put her in charge of less labor intensive work, but she’d never imagined herself sweating away in the kitchen all day to cook for someone else. When it actually came down to it, though, she’d never been happier.
Like JJ was learning upstairs, it feet good and real to see the results of your labor appear in front of you. Cooking, canning, and baking turned out to be pretty labor intensive after all, and Emily often found her arms sore, but when she saw JJ’s eyes light up at a strawberry-rhubarb pie, a peach cobbler, or a pineapple upside down cake, the work was worth it.
Her recipe book grew and grew, and each filled page filled her with satisfaction. Some of them, she marked to try with Michael when he returned, and some of them would wait until he was older. She did more than cooking that winter, though.
JJ finished the library in January and moved on to the guest room. There were a couple big projects she was hoping she could lure Derek and Hank back to work on. The library was mostly for Emily, anyway, so she left her wife to organize it. Emily was happy to do exactly that.
When they’d moved in, they’d shoved all the boxes of Emily’s books (and there were many) into the sunroom downstairs and decided to deal with them later. Well, it was now ‘later’. Emily realized quickly that there was a problem.
She would have to carry all the books up the stairs. Sure, JJ would have helped her if she’d asked, but the other woman was happily using power tools to sand the floors in the future guestroom and Emily wasn’t going to interrupt her. It would have to be her.
After managing to carry one box from the sunroom into the living room before dropping it heavily and sending a panicked JJ hurtling down the stairs to check on her, Emily decided that it would be better to carry fewer books at a time and make more trips than throw out her back trying to be butch.
It took a few days. Emily figured that JJ could handle a few simple meals until she was done. She was going to spend a lot of time here, so Emily wanted to make it perfect. After she’d painted the room, put her books up alphabetically (by genre, then title), and set up her desk so she could look out the window at their land while she worked, Emily declared the library ready for use.
Emily spent the next few weeks reading to JJ while she worked. They were in a good place with food, and cooking had gotten boring anyway, so she decided to spend time with her wife. JJ couldn’t hear Emily half the time because she was focused on working and her tools were noisy, but she liked having her wife around for company. The days passed quickly.
In Spring, when the ground began to thaw, JJ (and Emily) started planting. They were starting with basics - Spinach, Carrots, Onions, Potatoes, Peppers, and Tomatoes. Eventually, their crops would span most of their land and require hired help to care for and harvest, but right now, they started two raised beds of each. Planting would be JJ’s responsibility, but Emily was happy to be outside as the weather warmed.
Then, at the end of April, a car pulled up to their house. There wasn’t a real driveway on their land, just a long dirt road that ended at their front porch. JJ’s pick-up truck and Emily’s SUV sat beside each other, both covered in dust and the last of the winter salt.
The slam of a door alerted JJ and Emily to a visitor. They were both eating breakfast in the kitchen, talking quietly about their plans for the day over bacon, eggs, and toast covered with Emily’s strawberry jam. The two women set down their coffee mugs and moved to the window that sat above the sink and looked out onto the porch.
When they saw who their visitors were, the two women exchanged a look. JJ went to find her phone, and Emily headed out onto the porch. By the time Spencer and his daughter reached her, she could guess what the issue was.
“Emily!”
Dropping to her knees, Emily opened her arms and laughed as Isabella threw herself against her. The 4-year-old was the smartest kid Emily had ever known, which made sense considering her father. Also like her father, Isabella had a hard time with change.
“She left me,” Spencer mumbled, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he watched his daughter cling to Emily. “She left us.”
“Stay for as long as you’d like.”
Emily led them inside, meeting JJ in the entryway with a shake of her head. Getting the message, JJ dragged Spencer outside to unload his car, and Emily made her way up to the boys’ room. She could put Isabella in Michael’s bed and Spencer into Henry’s. They still had a couple months to figure out how to organize everyone.
Because they’d driven through the night, Isabella fell asleep in Michael’s bed immediately. Emily went back downstairs to greet her wife and Spencer. They brought the bags inside, set them down, and led Spencer to the breakfast table.
Penelope, Luke, and their daughter, Madeline, arrived by nightfall. JJ’s call had been short, but urgent, and it had been the right decision. Spencer lit up at the couple’s arrival, and Isabella dragged Madeline upstairs to look at the boys’ room. The five adults sat in the partly-renovated living-room, talking and drinking through the night.
The next few months were chaotic, but joyous. Penelope joined Emily in the kitchen, marveling over her recipes, her canning abilities, and her selection of fresh food. Spencer watched the kids, healing through their joy and excitement at the vast expanse of green land. They went on walks, drove into town, and swam in the nearby lake. JJ and Luke spent their time building a guesthouse.
Emily enjoyed the sudden full house. It reminded her of spending cases crammed together, talking constantly, and always being a little stressed. She was busier than she’d been in months, and she loved it. But.
At night, she and JJ would climb onto their bikes and ride out to the lake. The dock that had been there when they bought the place was in much better shape than the actual house, which was definitely a nice surprise. While their friends and kids talked, played, or slept, Emily and JJ relished in the quiet night.
Emily had learned all the constellations when she was younger, finding comfort in their consistency. JJ loved water and the way the mist rolled over the land like a cool blanket. Sometimes, they’d take the privacy to find comfort in each other’s bodies. Sometimes, they’d jump into the lake, not caring about the fact that they were too old to be skinny dipping.
They’d tiptoe back into their home, holding hands and pretending like they were teens sneaking in past curfew. It always ended up in hushed giggles as they hurried into their unrenovated bedroom and jumped on the bed. Their lives were full of love.
By the time the boys showed up, Spencer and Isabella had moved into the guesthouse. Penelope, Luke, and Madeline were in the guestroom, and Henry and Michael reclaimed their bedroom. This time, Will didn’t make the trip with them. Henry was 17, and was perfectly capable of chaperoning his younger brother.
Henry and Michael were shocked at how the house had changed. There were suddenly people living there and plants filled each of the boxes. They weren’t upset about the changes, though.
Unlike last year, Michael was more interested in playing outside than cooking with Emily. He led Madeline and Isabella, both several years younger than him, around the large property every day. They jumped in mud puddles, climbed trees, and practiced cartwheels in the large fields. This was the summer Michael would break his arm (for the first time).
Henry spent his time helping Luke and JJ renovate. Maybe it was because he’d start college next year, but he clung to his mother more than ever. In the evenings, JJ and Henry took long walks to “check the fenceline.” Emily still doesn’t know what they talked about.
Penelope, Luke, Madeline, and the boys left with the summer. By the end of August, it was just Emily and JJ in the Big House, as it was now known, and Spencer and Isabella in the Little House. After a whole summer of work, every room had been renovated and revived. There were still things to buy like furniture, better couches, more bedsheets, but Emily and JJ felt thoroughly at home.
There was something grounding and wonderful about going through your house room by room, making it your own and making memories in it. Instead of an empty house they had no connection to, it was now a home with a million happy memories. Emily was looking forward to the future.
That September, Isabella started school in nearby Stony Bottom. The town’s name was the source of many jokes between the adults on the property. In October, they decorated the house for Halloween, set up a maze made of hay bales, and cooked enough pumpkin donuts to feed an army. JJ posted on all the local bulletin boards and the Barn Animals Unit hosted its first fall festival.
By Spring, JJ and Spencer had created a plan to acquire actual Barn Animals and make the BAU, Too an appropriate name. Emily harvested their still-small garden and watched Isabellla while JJ dragged Spencer from seller to seller, looking for the best deal on cows, goats, and chickens. They’d need to replace the crumbling barn they’d barely entired, build chicken coops, plot out pastures, and figure out feed deliveries.
So, for the third year in a row, they had visitors as soon as it was warm enough to work. Luke arrived alone at first, ahead of his wife and daughter, who had to finish her last year at pre-school. To everyone’s surprise, Hotch and Jack showed up a few weeks later.
After quitting the BAU, Hotch hadn’t been in their lives much, but he and Emily had become penpals of sorts over the years and she kept him up-to-date on the BAU. When they’d moved to the farmhouse, she kept him up-to-date on the BAU, Too. When he’d written about being nostalgic for the old days, she’d invited him to the farm. It may not be his house, but it might cure his home sickness.
Emily hadn’t heard back from him, and forgot about the invitation altogether. Then, as Luke, Spencer, and JJ were laying out the barn’s floor plan in sand to mark it out, and Emily and Isabella were canning tomatoes, Hotch and Jack pulled up to the house in a large, black SUV. Emily made her way out onto the porch and Hotch climbed out of the car.
“A black SUV?” she teased with an easy smile. “You can take the man out of Quantico…”
Hotch looked older than the last time she’d seen him. His hair was greyer than hers (quite a feat), and he walked slower than he used to. Like he was already trying to match their country lifestyle, he wore jeans and a flannel, which suited him as much as his actual suits.
“One of us needs to stay consistent.” He turned in a slow circle, looking over the land and waving to the trio across the field. “This is a big change.”
“I like it.”
Jack passed his father and jogged up the stairs. He was 22 and looked like the spitting image of Haley. Emily hugged him tightly. He was the only BAU kid she hadn’t seen born, but she’d also known him the longest. After a moment, she pulled back to look him over.
“You look good. How’s law school?”
“Taking a break,” he told her quietly. “It’s a lot. For both of us.”
She nodded, knowing exactly what he meant, and slung her arm over his shoulders before leading him inside. They’d have to stay in the boys’ room for now. Emily made a phone call.
Derek and Hank, now 14 and as tall as his father, arrived the next day. Derek and Hotch built the second guest house, a mirror image of the first. This one sat behind the Big House instead of beside it. At this rate, Emily and JJ joked about building a third guest house just to be safe.
“What if Tara wants to visit, too?” JJ joked.
A couple months later, JJ left for New Orleans to get Michael. Henry was 18 now, and would be starting at Virginia Tech in the fall. He was going to live with his mothers full time, so he wanted to spend his summer with Will. JJ didn’t blame him at all. She just brought Michael to the farm and set him loose.
To all the adults' amusement, Michael was enamored with Hank. He followed the older boy everywhere, and Madeline and Isabella followed him. Emily wasn’t entirely sure what they got up to during the hot, summer days, but they knew to be home by dinner, and they always were.
Once again, the house was crowded, loud, and full of joy. With 9 adults and 4 kids, there was a lot to keep up with. So many hands meant they were able to do more, too. JJ was preoccupied with building, so Emily took charge of planting.
In addition to their garden boxes, Emily plowed, sowed, and irrigated one of their fields. Jack proved better at farming than building, so he helped her, the two of them racing large equipment up and down the field. Even with high SPF sunscreen, Emily ended up burnt, but JJ always soothed her fevered skin with aloe and kisses.
It was their most intense summer yet, in both activity and heat, but they thrived. Emily loved catching unsubs, doing paperwork, and managing teams, but using her body, absorbing sunshine, sweating, and doing labor was satisfying in a different way. Whatever fear she’d held about growing stagnant in her old age was gone.
However, just like last summer, fall came too soon. Henry arrived in August, just in time to see everyone who wouldn’t be staying past summer. When Derek and Hank left, they took Michael, driving him to Louisiana before continuing on to Chicago. Penelope, Luke, and Madeline left, too. They took Jack back to DC. The summer had helped both him and Hotch, and he was ready to continue law school.
Hotch stayed at the BAU, Too. For a while, he kept to himself, reading in Emily’s library or hiding away in House Hotchner, as the team had named the second guest house. He’d join the others for dinner in the Big House, but he moved like a man unsure of his place in the world.
Like JJ had with Henry, Emily started taking him on walks to “check the fence line”. He talked about trying to reconnect with Beth (and failing), trying to support Jack’s choice to go to law school (and feeling like a failure), and his own burgeoning reliance on alcohol. It was why he’d come to the BAU, Too. He thought that reconnecting with nature might help him.
Emily decided that he needed a hobby. Since winter was coming, he could help her and Isabella in the kitchen. JJ had set the cellar up as an extended pantry, perfect for keeping canned food, bags of rice and flour, and drying herbs. The cellar was always cool and quiet, so during the summer months, when the house was filled to the brim with life, people, and noise, Emily and JJ would sneak away for a quiet moment together underneath everyone’s feet.
At first, Hotch struggled with baking. His hands weren’t used to kneading dough, quickly chopping vegetables, or braiding garlic and onions. He’d get frustrated, his anger misplaced toward a rolling carrot or too hard brussel sprout. When this happened, Emily would take the knife from his hand, drag him outside, and make him sit on one of the many rocking chairs on the porch until he calmed down. She understood his frustration, but there was no room for anger in her house.
The porch was as important to their lives as the kitchen, the garden, or the bathroom. Every morning, in all kinds of weather, at any temperature, Emily and JJ sat outside and watched the sun rise. At first, before they had any furniture, they’d lean against the wobbly railing and drink their coffee. JJ got around to replacing that railing pretty quickly.
By the time it was sturdy enough to lean on, with a wide, flat top the perfect width for a cup of coffee and a plate of pastries, Emily had bought a porch swing. The two women would sit together, legs crossed, and talk quietly about their plans for the day. They kept their heads together, staying close, so their voices wouldn’t care over the fields and wake the rest of the world.
Once it became obvious that they’d have people coming and going, they invested in more seating. Rocking chairs lined the porch, low tables tucked among them. The porch wrapped around the entire house, but no matter where you were, there was somewhere to sit and talk.
In the summer, despite having a sunroom with toys, exercise equipment, and day beds, the kids raced around the porch, laughing and shouting. Often, as the adults carried things in and out of the house, they had to dodge discarded shoes and forgotten plates. They would never complain, though. After years and years of living among tragedy, everyone found solace in the freedom their children had.
Emily had to concede by the fourth summer that large, family gatherings were now a tradition. Derek and Hank showed up without warning, this time with Savannah in tow. Henry was living on campus for the summer semester, so Hank stayed with Michael, who couldn’t be happier. When Penelope, Luke, and Madeline arrived, the joke about needing another guest house didn’t seem so far fetched anymore.
Luke, Derek, Spencer, and JJ weren’t going to complain about the project. Spencer designed a larger guesthouse, with its own kitchen and 4 bedrooms instead of 2. It would take them all summer to build, especially because they’d need to wait for more permits than usual, but there was room for everyone.
Madeline and Isabella shared a room in the Little House. Derek and Savannah stayed in Jack’s bedroom in House Hotchner, because he wasn’t coming to visit that summer. Penelope and Luke were in the guest room in the Big House, and Hank and Michael shared the boys’ room. Emily and JJ didn’t allow anyone into their bedroom. It was an island just for them. Everyone knew the porch in the morning was just for them, too.
In June, Emily got a call from Tara, who was wondering if her invitation to their summer reunions had gotten lost in the mail. Emily apologized, promising that it always just kind of happened, and told her that there’d be room the next summer once the Medium House was built. Besides, it was their first summer with barn animals and everything kind of smelled like manure. It only took a few moments after Emily and Tara’s phone call ended for JJ to walk into the kitchen, phone in hand, looking confused.
“You told Tara not to visit?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“That’s what she said you said.”
“So she’s coming?”
“Yeah. We need some pull out couches.”
Tara and Rebecca arrived three days later, the couches Emily and JJ had put on hold in town strapped down in the bed of their pick-up. Emily apologized for the confusion, Tara gave her the middle finger, and they hugged. Rebecca joined Hotch, Hank, and Michael, who had all decided that they liked caring for the animals the most. Tara helped Emily in the fields, because Penelope, Savannah, Isabella, and Madeline were too bossy in the kitchen. Emily wondered when they’d all been assigned roles and how she had ended up as the farmer.
That winter, Spencer and Isabella left with everyone else. Spencer had found a tenure-track position at Yale that he didn’t want to turn down. It felt weird to see him go. He’d been with them for almost four years, and felt as much a part of the BAU, Too as they were. They made him promise to come back and visit when he could. Emily, JJ, and Hotch watched as his car disappeared in a cloud of dust.
With Hotch to help with canning and cooking, Emily decided to find some work outside of the home that winter. She applied to teach at the University of Virginia and was immediately accepted. It was only one class, but it meant she left the house twice a week and got to spend time off the farm. As much as she was loving her retired life, she did miss talking to people she didn’t live with.
JJ didn’t have much to do in the winter without needing to renovate, repair, or build, so she picked up a new hobby - hiking. They lived so close to Manongahela, but they’d never made the time to go. Emily would point out that they only had time to hike when it was freezing outside, but JJ reminded her that she grew up in a town that had colder winters than this.
One day, Emily returned home to an empty house. Normally, when she went to UV for class, Hotch would have dinner ready when she returned, and JJ would hanging out with him in the kitchen. There was no one around and a half-cooked meal abandoned on a cold stove.
Despite herself, fear crept up Emily’s throat, reminding her that they’d had dangerous pasts and weren’t completely off the grid. She hurried down into the cellar, digging up the rifle she’d bought when they’d toyed with the idea of hunting. They hadn’t been able to go through with killing things, but they’d kept the gun anyway. She was suddenly very thankful for that.
Emily made sure there was ammo, and headed back up into the silent house. She cleared each room before moving on to the Little House. It was empty, too. That wasn’t as concerning. Henry had moved in after Spencer and Isabella moved out, wanting a little space from his moms. Emily and JJ suspected it was in case he ever brought a girl back, but they’d see him bringing her from a mile away anyway. Right now, he was on VT’s campus, in class.
She checked the Medium House next, even though no one was staying there right now. Maybe because no one was occupying it, she thought it would make a good place for an unsub to take her family. It was empty. So was House Hotchner.
The last building on her property was the barn, and Emily made her way there as quickly as she could. She was grateful that UV allowed her to wear whatever she wanted to teach. Sure, she wore nice button downs, but she tucked them into jeans that she tucked into boots. They crunched loudly through the snow on the ground.
Glancing into one of the barn’s windows, Emily immediately relaxed and felt foolish. There was no reason to think an unsub would have come out to the barn to hurt her family. Instead of anything dangerous, she walked into the barn to find an adorable scene.
JJ was still in her hiking gear, although she’d tossed her beanie and gloves aside. She was doing her best to wash a dog that was trying very hard to escape Hotch’s grasp. All the animals on the farm lived in the barn during the winter, and they were all watching JJ and Hotch wrestle a wet, muddy dog. Emily couldn’t help wondering -
“Where did you get a dog?”
JJ and Hotch jumped at her sudden appearance and the dog slipped from their grasp. It barrelled into Emily, knocking her to the ground and sending the rifle skidding across the floor. Sloppy, wet kisses covered Emily’s face, and she laughed as she tried (and failed) to fend them off. Eventually, the dog was hauled off her and she could sit up.
“He ran up to me on my hike,” JJ said, finally answering her question, “and followed me home.”
Emily lifted her eyebrows. “He followed you home, knocked me down, and then tried to befriend me? Should we name him Will?”
“Oh, be nice.”
In the end, they named him Monongahela, after their nearby national park. Everyone called him Heely. He turned out to be a great farm dog, helping JJ walk the cows to pasture and guarding chickens from foxes and birds. He slept on their bed - the first living creature to gain access to their sanctum.
Time continued to pass, somehow racing by and crawling along. The BAU, Too’s fall festival grew more popular each year until it was drawing people in from neighboring states. They added vendors, hay rides, and three-legged races, but kept it a small affair overall. They were getting older and they didn’t want to burn out too soon.
During the school year, Emily taught at UV and eventually Virginia Tech, too. When Alex Blake was a guest lecturer at VT, she stayed in the Medium House. Even though she’d planned to leave in June, when classes ended, she couldn’t resist the draw of the BAU, Too’s annual summer reunions.
It grew almost comical how many people they could fit on their property. Thankfully, they never had to build a fourth guest house, but it was a tight squeeze some years. Then, as the kids grew up, it got a little roomier.
Henry moved back to where he grew up, enrolling in the FBI. He hadn’t forgotten how much he admired the team and his parents (including the unofficial ones). JJ worried about him every day, and every day he called her before bed to ease her mind.
Hank eventually went to Georgetown Law, following in both Hotch and Derek’s footsteps. Jack kept an eye on him in DC, offering advice and, eventually, an internship. By the time Michael started culinary school, the BAU, Too was a thriving business.
Emily and JJ sold their produce, milk, and eggs to local stores and had a booth at the farmer’s market every sunday. They joked that they’d finally become church people, but they worshiped at the altar of Onions. They always talked about getting bees, but it would never happen.
Then, one night, 15 years after they’d moved to The Big House, JJ’s phone rang in the middle of the night. It was Madeline. Her first serious girlfriend had broken up with her, and she was so devastated that she couldn’t finish the semester. She didn’t want to tell her parents yet. Could she stay at the farm?
Emily, JJ, and Heely met Madeline on the front porch. She was 19 now, which made Emily and JJ feel incredibly old. Emily was 70 now, not exactly young, and JJ was 62 (and constantly teased Emily about the age difference). Even Heely was older, 12 years old and a little slower. When Emily and JJ saw Madeline step out of her car, they felt transported back in time, like the 4-year-old who’d shown up their second summer was the one really standing in front of them.
When Madeline called them, she’d already been on her way. Even though she went to MIT, a 10 hour drive away, she’d shown up an hour after the phone call. Sometimes, a person will just drive after a tragedy and end up where they’re supposed to be.
“Hi.”
Madeline threw herself into Emily’s arms, bursting into tears. JJ waited patiently for her own bruising hug. When she got it, she picked Madeline up and carried her inside. Years of manual labor had made both Emily and JJ strong. JJ liked that she could still treat their kids like kids.
The three women talked for hours, staying awake until the sun started to rise. Eventually, they put Madeline and her suitcase in the kids’ room. She smiled at the old Wonder Woman poster that she’d put up years ago. Emily and JJ didn’t change anything in the kids’ room. They left it to them.
“Thank you,” Madeline whispered, turning to hug them again. “I’ll earn my keep.”
JJ cupped the young woman’s face and smiled kindly. “You don’t have to earn your keep in your own home, Mads.”
“I won’t say no to some help, though,” Emily added with a laugh. “I’m getting too old to sit on a tractor all day.”
Madeline fell asleep quickly, and Emily and JJ went back to the kitchen. They’d been up all night, but the sun hadn’t fully risen and that meant they had a standing date with the front porch. While they drank coffee and ate Emily’s blueberry crumble, they called Penelope.
Madeline’s mother completely understood why her daughter had gone to the farm. She thanked her friends for letting her know her daughter was safe, and told them to have The Little House ready by May.
A few years after he’d arrived, Hotch left the BAU, Too. He’d worked through his struggles, found his own tenure track professorship, and left for Washington State. The farm had been quiet during the off-season, as the wives had been calling the non-summer part of the year. They enjoyed the peace. It finally felt like a real retirement, just the two of them working on their farm and spending time together.
It did lose some charm after a while. Emily taught at nearby schools, JJ hiked and did home repairs in preparation of the upcoming farming season, and they both missed their family. They looked forward to chaotic summers, and started formally inviting people.
Madeline was welcome company during the off-season. She was desperate for distractions from her break-up, so she did as much work as possible. Emily sat on the fence, calling directions as Madeline plowed, sowed, and irrigated. JJ chatted lightly with the young woman as they fed chickens, milked cows and goats, and repaired leaks in the roof.
As summer approached, Madeline took it on herself to prepare the guest houses. She went room by room, scrubbing floors, cleaning sheets, and stocking the fridge. Occasionally, Emily and JJ would spot her sitting on a roof, smoking a cigarette. They never said anything. They’d both been 19, once, too.
Penelope arrived first that summer. JJ pointed her toward the Medium House as soon as she stepped out of her car, and the other blonde went to find her daughter. Emily and JJ went about their normal tasks, but made sure there was a nice dinner by sundown.
The four women ate together, talking about anything other than college, girlfriends, or the future. After dinner, Emily and JJ cleaned up and headed out for the lake. When they got back, the smell of fresh pies and breads drifted from the open front door, and they happily let the mother and daughter explain what they’d been up to.
All the kids made it that summer, though they were hardly children anymore. They took over the Little House, somehow cramming into the two bedrooms and entertaining themselves. The adults spread out over the Medium House, House Hotchner, and the Big House. With 17 people spending three months on the farm, there was a lot of activity.
Meals were eaten in the front yard on a long, long table they’d acquired years ago. Farm work was done by the usual teams, with one big difference. Hotch, Alex, and Emily didn’t do any work that summer. They were getting a little old for farm work, and preferred spending their days in the library.
Sometimes, another adult would duck their heads in to take a break in the air conditioning, but the three of them were usually left alone. Emily wondered what she and JJ would do when she was really too old to work. Who would care for the farm? Would it end with them, just like it had started?
Summer ended with a bonfire. The whole family stacked hay bales, trees they’d cut, and various scrounged wood into a tall stack and set it ablaze. They spent all night making s’mores, cooking hotdogs, and dancing to music. It was a perfect end to another perfect summer.
As the family started packing up, Madeline asked to stay. She’d enjoyed the quiet and the semi-solitude. It suited her better than city life and academia. Besides, she could always go to VT or UV, if she ended up wanting a degree. Emily and JJ asked what her parents thought, and, when they’d discussed it, welcomed her with open arms.
There were three new people on the farm that summer. Henry’s wife, Jack’s wife, and Jack’s daughter. Haley, a spunky blonde 2-year-old who followed her father everywhere, was the family’s first grandchild. The little girl was fawned over for the entire summer. With 7 ‘kids’ and 11 ‘adults’, she was never alone. Henry and his wife here told that they’d better have a kid soon, so Haley had someone to play with.
The next year, Michael started at Virginia Tech and moved into House Hotchner. He and Madeline worked on the farm, relieving JJ and Emily to no end. The two women spent their time walking along the fence line, sitting on the porch, and manning their booth at the farmer’s market. They were finally able to retire from their retirement, a joke they made frequently.
Their activities tired them out, leading to lazy mornings in bed instead of their long-held habit of watching the sun rise. Maybe it’s their age, too, that started keeping them inside. Emily still baked and cooked and canned, but she spent most of the time sitting at the kitchen table. JJ makes lists of tasks for Madeline and Michael, instead of doing the work herself.
They are tired, but they are happy. Emily listens to the rainstorm outside the Big House, holds her wife close, and smiles. When the two wives retired, they expected to plant a few vegetables, maybe write a book or two, and invite friends over every few years. Instead, their lives were filled to the brim with family, happiness, and love.
“Shh,” JJ hums before kissing Emily’s collarbone. “You’re thinking so loudly. I can hear it over the rain.”
Emily pressed her lips to the top of JJ’s head. “Sorry. Just thinking about everything.”
“Happy?”
“Very happy.”
“Me, too.”