Emily chuckled as she watched JJ bounce up and down on her toes, biting her lip in anticipation. Truthfully, she was just as nervous and excited, she was just better at hiding her emotions due to her upbringing. Emily slipped her hand into JJ's and squeezed it gently. JJ looked up at Emily and smiled sheepishly. "I'm excited." She admitted.
Emily grinned. "Me too."
Emily and JJ had woken up the morning after the case and met with the team down at the station to finish up some paperwork before heading home. They had told Hotch what they wanted first thing and contacted the DCFS worker that had been there the day before. Everyone was a little surprised, but once they realized how sure Emily and JJ were, they had their full support. After spending almost two hours talking to the social service worker Emily and JJ had filed to be foster parents of Rachel. Pending a background check, Rachel could come and live with them within a week or so. Emily was upset at the thought of the little girl having to spend a week in a group home, but there was nothing they could do about it.
Emily and JJ had went and talked to Rachel before they left to fly back home. The little brunette was sitting on a bed in a barren looking room. Emily gave Rachel a tiny smile and went to sit down next to her. JJ, seemingly unsure, stood in the doorway and watched them.
"Hi Rachel, do you remember us?" Emily asked gently.
"Yeah, Agent Emily and Agent JJ." Rachel answered, keeping her head down. Emily looked up at the blonde standing in the doorway.
"That's right." Emily said with a small smile. "Rachel, JJ and I were wondering if maybe you would want to come live with us?"
Rachel looked up at Emily unsure and confused. "For how long?"
"As long as you want." JJ said, moving down to sit on the other side of Rachel. "Social services needs us to fill out some paperwork and we can come back and get you in about a week. If you want. But we would really love it if you wanted to come live with us."
Rachel shrugged and turned her gaze back to the floor. Emily and JJ shared a look and bid her goodbye, promising to come back in a week. From the look on Rachel's face, it was clear that she didn't believe them. It had been harder to leave the little girl than they thought. Emily was surprised at how much she worried about her already. JJ had been edgy and agitated the entire week as they waited to hear back from the social worker. It was causing Emily to be just as stressed out, which in turn, set the entire team on edge. It had felt like the longest week of their entire lives. Every hour seemed to drag on slower than the one before it. When the social worker finally called and said they had been approved Emily heard JJ scream from all the way down in Garcia's office. Worried she glanced at Garcia and was about to bolt out of the room as JJ ran in flustered.
"WE GOT HER!" JJ yelled excitedly.
"What? Seriously?" Emily asked getting up out of her chair and moving over to JJ. JJ lunged herself at Emily and wrapped her arms around her neck.
"We got her." She whispered.
"Rachel?" Garcia asked. JJ nodded, releasing a very happy looking Emily slightly and beaming at her best friend. "OH MY GOD!" Garcia screamed and ran over to hug the two women. "You're gonna be mommies! I'm gonna be an aunt! Oh I am going to spoil this kid rotten, can I get her a tutu? Oh I can't wait! When does she get here?"
"We can get her tomorrow morning."
"Seriously? That soon?" Emily asked JJ. The blonde nodded excitedly, then quickly frowned.
"We don't have anything ready! We have to get her room set up! I'm going to ask Hotch if we can leave early." JJ ran out of the office without another word, leaving a stunned Emily and Garcia in her wake.
"This is going to be very interesting." Garcia said with a grin.
"Oh shut up." Emily laughed and went to go find her wife.
Hotch had given them the rest of the day off and they spent every minute of it getting ready for Rachel's arrival. They had been afraid to really get anything set beforehand, in case something fell through. Now that it was real, that Rachel was actually going to be theirs, both women were freaking out. It had been too difficult for both of them to fall asleep that night, they spent the entire time restless and frustrated. The flight had gone on forever, and Emily had bit her nails almost down to the nubs.
"What's taking so long?" JJ asked as they sat waiting for the social worker to bring Rachel down to them.
"Jen, we've waited a week, a few more minutes won't kill us."
JJ glared at Emily.
"Emily and Jennifer Prentiss?" A man said, standing in the doorway with Rachel. Emily and JJ leapt up and smiled at the shy brunette. As usual, she was looking down at her feet. Emily vowed to get her more comfortable with them as soon as possible.
"That's us." Emily said, shaking the man's hand.
"Its nice to meet you in person, I'm Charlie. Rachel's all packed and ready to go, I just need you to sign a few papers and you are all good to go." Charlie pulled the paperwork out for them and Emily and JJ quickly signed and initialed where he instructed while Rachel watched on curiously. "Congratulations." Charlie said shaking their hands. "We'll miss you Rachel, have a wonderful time okay?" Rachel nodded. Emily gently placed her hand on Rachel's shoulder and lead her outside and to their rental car.
"Shit, is she supposed to be in a car seat!" JJ whispered as they reached the car.
"She's seven."
"But she's tiny, isn't there a weight limit or something?" JJ asked worriedly. "Shit, we're already failing as parents!" JJ exclaimed.
"Jen!" Emily said grabbing JJ by the shoulders. "She will be fine for a twenty minute ride to the airport. I will drive more carefully than I ever have in my entire life. When we get home, we will check to see if she needs a car seat, and we'll get one okay?"
"Okay." JJ nodded. She looked into the car and saw that Rachel had climbed in and buckled herself. She was sitting patiently with her hands folded in her lap, her gaze forward, bitting her lip adorably. JJ noticed that it looked oddly a lot like how Emily did when she bit her lip; and it made her smile. "I'm freaking out a little." She admitted. "Why aren't you?"
"I am." Emily said with a smile. "I'm just better at hiding it."
"I hate you." JJ moaned.
"No you don't."
"No I don't." JJ agreed.
"Come on, let's get her home okay?"
"Okay." JJ mumbled. Emily climbed into the car and turned around, surprised when JJ climbed into the back to sit next to Rachel. "What?" JJ whispered. "If we get into an accident I can grab her." JJ insisted. Emily just shook her head and pulled out of the driveway. An extremely overprotective JJ was certainly going to be interesting.
Rachel was terrified of the plane. She had been fine as they boarded and took their seats, but once the plane began to take off, she began to shake and cry. "Rachel, sweetie its okay, JJ and I fly on planes all the time, its sort of like a ride."
"Yeah, here, take our hands, and if you get scared, you can squeeze them as tight as you need to." JJ said, holding her hand out for the girl.
"No, I'm okay." Rachel said, tucking her hands under her legs and setting her face with a grim look of determination. Emily and JJ glanced at each other over her head and sighed. They knew it would take time for Rachel to trust them, she had been let down by everyone she'd ever met so far. It wasn't just something she would get over in a few hours. Despite Rachel's fears, she calmed down considerably once they had leveled out and only grew a look of slight panic as they began their descent. Thinking quickly, JJ began pointing out bits of DC as they came into view, trying to distract Rachel. It worked, but the little girl was certainly eager to get off the plane as soon as possible.
Emily opened the apartment door, carrying Rachel's bag, she made a note to buy Rachel a lot more new clothes; the bag was practically empty. Rachel looked around the large apartment in wonder as JJ and Emily watching grinning.
"Want to see your room?" JJ asked.
"I get my own?" Rachel whispered, a look of complete shock on her face.
"Yup." JJ motioned for Rachel to follow her. "Come on, it's upstairs." Rachel followed shyly behind JJ with Emily trailing behind them. JJ opened the door and let Rachel walk in first. "We left the walls white for now, because we wanted you to be able to pick whatever color you want. We can paint it this weekend." Rachel slowly made her way around the room, taking everything in. Emily and JJ had filled it with some of their favorite books from when they were kids, new toys, and some new clothes in the closet. They hadn't wanted it to be bare, but they didn't want to get everything without knowing what Rachel liked first.
"Are you hungry?" Emily asked. Rachel shrugged. Emily mashed her lips together and smirked at JJ. "Jayje? You hungry?"
"I'm starving." JJ said grinning over Rachel's head. The two women began to leave the room, and smirked at each other as Rachel trailed slowly behind. "So, what do you guys want?" JJ asked the brunette duo as she opened the fridge.
"What do you like Rachel?" Emily asked. Rachel stood in the doorway, silent, she simply shrugged. Emily sighed and looked to JJ, this was going to be a lot of work. "Do you have a favorite food?" Emily was met with another shrug. JJ closed the fridge and walked over to Rachel. She bent down and sat on her knees, looking Rachel in the eye.
"Rachel, I know you don't know Emily and I very well yet, but we want you to know that you can trust us. Okay?" JJ asked. Rachel nodded, but refused to look either woman in the eye. JJ bent over and placed a quick kiss on Rachel's head as she stood up; surprising both Rachel and herself. Instead of making a big deal out of it, JJ went back to the fridge and opened it up again. "How does spaghetti and meatballs sound?"
Rachel looked over to Emily and then to JJ, she nodded once and then looked back down at the floor. JJ glanced to Emily and smiled, it was a start.