Show Me the Stars - Jennifer Jareau x Reader

forty-one | the giving tree

You gave her comfortable clothes and ice water, and dressed yourself as well. Crawling under the covers together, you kissed her head and snuggled right up to her. "Y/N, you're so good to me" she said. "I love you so much,"

"I love you too," you murmured. "Do you want to take a nap, love?"

"Mm, I'm okay,"

"You sure? Henry won't get up for a while, probably, and if he does, then I've got it. I wanna take care of you,"

"I'm fine, really," she chuckled, "but thank you." She touched the tips of her fingers to your cheek. "You mean the world to me, Y/N,"

"I love you so much." You kissed her on the lips, then on the head again. She laid her head in the crick of your neck. "You love to cuddle with me, huh, baby?"

"Mhm." She mumbled, "I'm not gonna fall asleep, I just wanna lay here with you, baby..."

"Okay," you chuckled, knowing what was going to happen. As expected, within five minutes, she had given up on trying to stay awake, surrendering the uphill battle she had been fighting. You kissed her head once you noticed her staying still — as opposed to constantly picking her head up a little bit each time her mind jolted — and let a smile overtake you.

Just as she was about to completely fall asleep, Henry started crying for his mom. JJ exhaled and just barely started to get up when you said, "No, Jay, I've got him. I've got him," you repeated softly as you got out of bed.

"No, baby, I'll get him, he—"

"Shh. Don't worry about it. I'll take care of him. Take a nap for me, will you, baby?"

"Thank you," she mumbled, rolling over and pulling the blankets with her. You smiled at her and went to grab Henry. He was wailing until he saw you come in.

"Mommy?" he mumbled.

"It's Auntie," you whispered into the darkness, pierced by sunlight beyond the window shades. "Come here, bub. You just wake up?" You were just making conversation to wake his little brain up; you already knew the answer.

"Uh-huh. Where Mommy?"

You sat down on his bed. "Mommy's sleeping,"

"She take nap too?" He crawled into your lap.

"Mm-hmm." With your arms around him, you kissed his head. "Mommy sleep. How was your nap, bub?"

"Good. You read me book, please, Auntie?"

"Sure, bub. Which one? You wanna pick, or you want me to?"

"The green one. With the tree,"

"Okay. Go turn the light on for me, please?"

"Okay!"

You grabbed The Giving Tree from his bookshelf. It was one of JJ's favorite books to read to her son. He ran over to flip the light switch, then sat back in your lap.

Henry sat quietly as you read the whole book to him. He listened and helped you turn the pages. He held one side of the book and you held the other. Every few pages, you kissed the top of his head and gave him a squeeze.

At the end of the book, Henry looked up at you with a smile and gave you a kiss. You grinned and hugged him. "Sweet boy, you know I love you so much?" you asked him.

"Uh-huh! I know, Auntie. I love you too! I love you, and Mommy, and Daddy...all the people," he giggled. "I have juice, please?"

"Sure, lovey. Come on, let's go get you some juice." You both went to the kitchen for some cranberry juice. You poured yourself a glass too. Henry sat up at the table, and you sat beside him. "Are you hungry?" you asked.

"Um...pickles,"

"What?"

"Can I have pickles?"

You chuckled and furrowed your brow. "Pickles? You want some pickles?"

"Uh-huh. The sweet ones!" His smile was absolutely priceless.

"Hmm. Okay. How about I cut a pickle up, and we can share it? That sound good?"

"Okay!"

It was an odd request, but one you would fulfill. You cut a pickle into round slices, and put them in a ramekin to share with him. He thanked you, and went back to his room to play. You grabbed your book and began to read on the couch. JJ slept for another half-hour or so, then joined you in the living room.

"Hey, hon. How'd you sleep?"

"Good. Where's Hen?"

"Playing in his room. We read, had some juice, ate a pickle,"

"A pickle?" she asked, laughing. "Yeah, Will mentioned something about him eating a lot of pickles last week. He loves sweet pickles, apparently,"

"Oh? Well, he really wanted me to read to him. He asked for 'the green one with the tree.' He likes The Giving Tree, just like you,"

"How do you know I like that one?" she chuckled, curling up into a ball in the corner of the couch, facing you.

"Emily gave it to you for your baby shower, and she told me you really loved it. Plus that book looks like it's been read quite a bit."

JJ smiled. "Well, I do love it. How are you, love? Have you been feeling alright? Everything good?"

"Mm, yeah, for the most part. And I'm glad we told the team. It's been hard not being able to talk about, like, why I've been out so much, and about why we're so close. It's nice to be open. It makes me less anxious in a lot of ways,"

"That's really good, baby. I'm glad you seem to be doing better. Kiss me?" she asked. You smiled and leaned over, giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

"I love you, sweetheart." At your words, especially her favorite term of endearment you used with her, she smiled. The most beautiful sight to you was a smile on that face of hers.