"𝚂𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝙹𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚢"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝕥𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕠𝕠𝕟
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘶
"HEY!" Noah exclaims as she turns around to find Liam slipping extra sugar into her coffee.
They were getting tired of doing their homework, so they decided to take a caffeine break.
"Just an extra kick," The boy chuckles.
"You tryna roofie me?" Noah jokes.
"Oh, c'mon, don't make it dark." Liam laughs. Noah takes a sugar packet and throws it at Liam. He tries to catch it, but fails.
"You jerk!" Liam chuckles and throws a packet back at her. Suddenly, the two are tossing sugar packets left and right.
Someone loudly clears their throat, making the two teens freeze. They look up at the person, finding a woman with short, blonde hair. The woman is wearing a suit and comes across very professional. Noah and Liam recognize her straightaway.
"Care to explain who you two are?" She asks as though the teens are in the wrong place.
"Liam Anderson, ma'am," The boy quickly replies.
"Noah Prentiss," The girl adds.
"Prentiss? I have close ties with your mother." The woman says, "I'm just wondering how you found your way to the BAU."
"My mother works here," Noah states.
"Your mother works in the embassy,"
"My Mom is—"
"Chief Strauss." Emily says as she walks into the bullpen.
"Agent Prentiss. Your sister?" Erin asks as she gestures towards Noah.
"My daughter, ma'am," Emily politely corrects her
"She's a bit of a troublemaker," Strauss says and walks towards Hotch's office. Emily glares at Noah, which makes Liam quickly scurry out of the room.
"What're you up to?" Emily asks with a raised brow.
"Nothing," Noah shrugs, "She just walked in at the wrong time."
"You're supposed to be—"
"Doing my homework — yeah, I was!" Noah insists.
"Be careful with Strauss around, she'll make me force you to stay home alone." Emily says with a small smile as she pours herself a coffee.
"What's so bad about that?" Noah asks, "Do you not trust me?"
"No, I worry about you,"
"All I would do is do my homework and watch TV,"
"I just never know when I'm gonna be home," Emily says, "I thought you liked hanging out here,"
"I do!" Noah insists, "I was just—"
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am not a doctor — I don't even play one on TV — but I believe young JJ's going into labor!" Penelope exclaims as she guides a wincing JJ's into the bullpen.
"Are you okay?" Emily asks as she places her mug on the table and scurries over to JJ's side.
"I thought it was another three weeks?!" Noah asks with excitement and follows Emily.
"I'll get the car!" Hotch shouts as he puts the coffee pot down and immediately goes to get the keys.
"I need to call Will," JJ frets as Penelope and Emily each take one of her arms.
"From the car," Penelope says calmly, "Breathe and walk,"
—
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭
"She's ready to see you all," A nurse tells the team, who has been sat in the waiting room.
Noah walks behind Emily as they enter JJ's room. She is holding her baby boy, who is comfortably swaddled in a blanket. Everyone's eyes light up at the sight.
"Oh, Will, he looks just like you," Penelope quietly says.
"Let's hope he grows out of that," Will chuckles.
"Just as long as he doesn't inherit the accent," Emily jokes. Noah bumps Emily's arm with her elbow, making the woman silently apologize.
"What's his name?" Morgan asks.
"Henry," JJ answers with a smile.
"That's so cute," Penelope melts.
Everyone takes turns holding and introducing themselves to little Henry. The room is full of happiness, it feels as though nothing could knock it down.
Noah watches the way everyone swarms the baby with warmth and gentleness. She admires the way JJ cannot help but smile, despite how tired she is. She wonders what the hospital room looked like when she was born. Did her mother ever smile at her? Was her father there? Was she handed over to the adoption agency straight away or did her mother hesitate?
It pains Noah to see a baby living her happily ever after.
On the other hand, she has Emily. Somehow her story flipped upside down after she met Emily. Everything seems easier and her life has more joy than anything. Before, Noah's life was about getting through each day. Now, it's about living and enjoying each moment she finds herself in.
"Oh, my turn!" Penelope exclaims and walks to JJ's bedside.
"He's gonna love his Auntie Penelope," Will chuckles as he notices the way Penelope already adores his son.
"Oh, JJ, he's so cute," Penelope beams as she admires the child with glowing eyes, "The new BAU baby," She giggles as she gently hands Henry back to his mother.
Noah sadly smiles as she wraps her arm around Emily's. The woman looks down at her daughter and sees the sadness hidden behind Noah's counterfeit smile. While she knows the reason behind it, she still wishes she knew what went on in the teen's mind. Most of all, Emily wishes she could have seen Noah when she was a baby. Things would have been so different for the teen if Emily had rescued her sooner.
"Do you wanna hold him?" JJ asks the teen as she notices her standing behind Emily, "You're the only one who hasn't held him," She adds and gently holds the baby out. Noah comes out from behind her mother and gives JJ the green light.
"Sit here," JJ tells the teen and nods towards the bed. The teen sits next to JJ and holds her arms out to take the baby.
"Just support his head." JJ reminds her and lays Henry down in Noah's arms.
The team all watch as the two kids meet for the first time. Emily smiles and feels emotional watching her daughter hold the baby. Garcia has tears in her eyes at the beautiful sight of her two favorite kids. Morgan and Reid admire the scene as well, even noticing that Hotch is smiling.
"He's smiling at you," JJ says as she looks at her baby in awe, "I'm gonna need someone to look out for him — to be the big sister he doesn't have."
"I think I can do that," Noah softly replies with a wide grin. Henry smiles up at the teen and settles in her arms.
"She's a baby whisperer," Penelope murmurs to Emily.
"I've never seen her so..." Emily trails off, "Gentle,"
"Well, I could sure use a coffee — anyone else?" Will asks everyone, who all nod in agreement.
"Bye, Henry," Noah whispers before carefully handing the baby over to JJ.
The teen quickly catches up to Emily and everyone else, leaving JJ and Spencer alone.
—
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘴' 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵
"Jess!" Noah exclaims as she hears the phone pick up, "JJ had her baby!"
Noah holds the phone to her ear with her shoulder as she unpacks her schoolbag to find her homework.
"Oh my God, that's so exciting! Is he cute?!" Jess asks with excitement.
"Very!"
"What's his name?"
"Henry," Noah replies, "And he's got the cutest smile."
"I've never heard you like this before,"
"I've never held a baby before. I didn't know they could be cute when they're not being gross." Noah giggles as she takes her homework over to her desk.
"So I'll take it that you don't want kids,"
"I don't know, people change when it comes to kids," Noah sighs as she sits down.
"You sound sad," Jess immediately notices the change in Noah's tone.
"I'm not,"
"Aw, don't be like that, it's me! You can tell me anything."
"I don't know," Noah sighs, "I'm gonna watch a newborn baby live the life I never had. And I love that for Henry, but it just makes me think."
"About what?"
"I guess what could've been," Noah shrugs.
"It's not about what could've been, Noah. It's about where you go now and what you do with what you've been given."
"Alright, Oprah," Noah chuckles.
"Hey, I'm tryna help,"
"I know, I just—" Noah takes a deep breath, "I get really caught up in it sometimes,"
"You should come over tomorrow," Jess suggests.
"Why?"
"If you don't want to, then—"
"You know I want to," Noah says as she sarcastically rolls her eyes.
"We can hang out and take your mind off all of that."
"Yeah,"
"Look at the positives, okay?"
"What positives?"
"You have Emily, our friends, your family...me," Jess says with a giggle, "You're doing really good, Noah."
"Thanks, J,"
"I'll always be here, got it?"
"Got it,"
"I'll see you tomorrow,"
"Bye," Noah sings and hangs up the phone. A smile lingers as she throws her phone on the bed and looks down at Sergio sat next to her feet.
"Why're you lookin' at me like that?" She asks him, "You're not gonna tell my secrets, are ya'?" She giggles and picks him up to put him in her lap.
Noah does her homework with Sergio crawling all over her desk. She laughs as he rubs his head on her pencil, messing up her writing. She quickly showers and gets ready for bed, feeling tired from the eventful day. Noah returns to her room for bed, but feels like there is a lot on her chest.
The teen goes to her closet and finds her bag from her childhood home. She has not touched it since she put it together at Gia's house. Noah unzips the bag and searches for her notebook. She had gotten it from her English teacher freshman year for the class' notes, but she used it as a free diary instead.
Noah goes to her bed and grabs the pencil she uses to annotate her books. As soon as she turns to a clean page, her thoughts take over. She does not even realize it, but she writes a full front and back page.
Once she lifts her pencil, she takes a deep breath, the weight of her thoughts gone.
Noah gets out of bed, hiding the notebook under her bed. She walks out of her room and across the hall to Emily's door.
"Em?" Noah says as she knocks on the woman's cracked bedroom door.
"What's up, honey?" Emily asks as she watches her bedroom door slowly open.
"Can I talk to you for a sec?" Noah mutters.
"Of course," Emily beams, "C'mere," She adds and pats the bed. Noah sits next to the woman, Emily noticing that she does not get under the covers like usual.
"You okay?" Emily worries. She analyzes the teen's expression and notices fear.
"Yeah, I just wanted to talk to you."
"About what, sweetie?"
"I don't know, I just..." Noah pauses, fearing her own words, "I saw JJ with the baby and it made me think a lot about my Mom today."
"I'm sorry, I know that must be hard for you."
"Yeah, but it also made me realize how much you've done for me." Noah says as she looks down with a smile, "And I've been trying to think of a way to say it to you because we all know words and feelings aren't my thing." She giggles and hears Emily chuckle as well.
Emily watches as the teen messes with the duvet with her hands. She has never seen Noah so nervous or heard her be so vulnerable. The teen gathers her thoughts as she stays silent, Emily giving her all the time she needs.
"I haven't said this to a lot of people," Noah mutters and looks up at Emily's eyes, "And it scares me — a lot." She adds as she feels tears in her eyes, a familiar knot in her stomach returning.
"It's okay, baby, take your time." Emily gently says and reaches out to tuck Noah's hair behind her ear.
"I know that I'm a handful, I know that I do things that frustrate you," Noah says, "And I know I will in the future because that's how I am, but I know you'll always take care of me. And I know that at the end of the day, you'll always be there for me."
"Of course," Emily agrees and can see the teen becoming emotional. She scoots closer to Noah and softly rubs her back to ease her tears.
"I don't think I've ever had that before," Noah croaks as tears spill from her eyes, "I just want you to know that, even if I do mess up, that I'll always be grateful for you and everything you've done for me."
"I know," Emily says, seeing that she can tell the teen has more to say.
Noah wipes her tears away and takes a deep breath. She looks up at Emily and can see that the woman has tears in her eyes as well.
"I want you to know that I love you." Noah softly admits and watches Emily's tears drip down her cheeks.
"I love you too, Noah." Emily replies and pulls the teen into a hug. The embrace is tight and full of all the "I love you's" that were never said.
"And at the end of the day," Emily says as she holds Noah's head to her chest, "I will always love you."