JJ was jerked awake as a tiny leg whacked her in the stomach. Lazily – and in slight pain – she opened her eyes to find Rachel half on top of her, sound asleep. Lifting her head up a bit, she caught Emily's eye.
"Sorry." Emily whispered sheepishly. "She was sort of on me, and I tried to slide out, she rolled over and hit you."
"Its okay." JJ said, attempting to shift herself so she could sit up and see Emily better.
"No, don't get up. I'm just gonna go make coffee and come back." Emily said quickly. She walked over to JJ's side of the bed and kissed her. "Be right back."
"You know, I kind of love having all these days off. I'm gonna get really cranky once we have to go back to work early."
Emily grinned, anticipating that already. "Yeah, enjoy it while it lasts." She warned with a second kiss. JJ happily slid back down into the covers and winced as Rachel moved around again. JJ really didn't want to wake the little girl up. Unguarded, sleeping, Rachel was beyond adorable. JJ beamed as Rachel shifted herself even more onto JJ; her right leg – that had woken JJ up – was strewn over her torso, her head was using JJ's chest as a pillow and her hand reached out and clutched the fabric of JJ's shirt. She watched as Rachel bunched the fabric up and gripped it tightly in her fist. JJ ran her fingers softly through Rachel's hair, careful not to wake the little girl. She looked up as she heard soft footsteps on the stairs and smiled at the sight of her wife with two mugs of coffee. Emily passed one over to JJ before climbing back into the bed.
"I knew there was a reason I married you." JJ said as she practically inhaled the beverage and burned her tongue. "Ow." She complained.
"Don't burn that tongue, I intend to use it later." Emily said with a devilish grin.
"Emily Prentiss!" JJ scolded, covering Rachel's ear with her free hand. "Our child is present!"
"And she is sound asleep and seven and wouldn't understand even if she was awake."
"You are awful." JJ responded with a grin.
"You know, Reid told me once about some article he read about children and trust; he said that a child will only fall asleep on someone they truly trust. Even in they don't know it, their subconscious does. If they don't trust them, they will either wake up or move away in their sleep. That's why babies sleep on their mothers so well."
JJ smiled lightly as she glanced down at Rachel. "Well for once, I find Reid's facts interesting."
Emily chuckled. "Yeah, he's worth keeping around I suppose."
The three of them stayed in bed happily, the two women just talking and drinking their coffee while Rachel slept. To Emily's great amusement, Rachel moved around a little more, flinging herself into different positions mostly on top of JJ. As JJ lifted her precious coffee out of the way of a limb for the third time that morning, Emily's laughter woke the seven year old up. "Hey there Sleepyhead." JJ murmured, brushing some of Rachel's curls out of her face. Rachel squinted her eyes and smacked her head back down into JJ's chest, stretching out her arms. JJ just laughed, and patted her back gently. "How'd you sleep?" She asked.
Rachel – now slightly more awake – seemed to realize she was basically on top of JJ and instantly shoved herself off. "Sorry." She mumbled, unsure of where to go as Emily was on the other side of her. She curled up into herself nervously, worried that she somehow angered the two women. JJ glanced at Emily sorrowfully. She hated having moments where it seemed like everything was finally becoming normal, only for Rachel to retreat into herself again. It was aggravating and heartbreaking all at the same time.
"Rach, you don't have to be sorry. Snuggling is very nice, you can snuggle with me anytime you want." JJ said with a smile. Rachel just looked at her and nodded slightly before sticking her face into the pillow sleepily. Emily laughed and reached out to tickle Rachel's side. The little girl giggled and tried to squirm away from Emily. She found herself pushed against JJ and squealed.
"Help Mrs. JJ!" She begged. JJ grinned and took mercy on Rachel. Lifting her up into the air and out of Emily's way, she set her down on the edge of the bed. Rachel giggled and slipped out of the bed, standing there looking at both of them. "Can I go to the bathroom?" She asked quietly.
"Rach, you don't have to ask." Emily said pointing to their bathroom. "Go ahead."
"Okay." Rachel said as she ran into the room and closed the door much softer than an average seven year old would.
JJ set her coffee mug down and pulled Emily into her, covering her with kisses. "Oh, seriously? I get yelled at for talking while she's asleep, but you can make a move when she could come back in here any second?"
"Shut up and kiss me while we've got time." JJ practically growled. Emily grinned and happily complied until she heard the door open.
"We're you two kissing?" Rachel asked as she came out of the bathroom. Emily lifted her head up, keeping her arms around JJ and laughed at Rachel. The little girl had part of her nightgown tucked into her underwear.
"Yes we were. Come here."
"Why?"
"So I can fix your nightgown." Emily said motioning Rachel over.
"No, why were you kissing?" Rachel asked as she walked over to them. Emily reached over and pulled the nightgown down, looking to JJ for an answer.
"Because married people kiss." JJ said simply.
"Oh. Do you want me to leave?"
Emily and JJ burst into laughter at the seriousness of Rachel's face. "No sweetie, you don't have to leave. Come on back in." Emily said as she pulled Rachel's nightgown towards them. Rachel giggled and twisted away a little.
"Are you guys hungry?" JJ asked. Rachel nodded her head excitedly. Emily reached over and lifted Rachel into the air as she crawled over JJ and out of the bed. She held Rachel under her arm like a football and smiled at JJ.
"Race you." She stated with childish excitement.
"Seriously?" JJ asked.
"Come on Rach, we can beat her!" Emily said running out of the room.
"Hey wait! Seriously! Em! That's not fair!" JJ yelled as scrambled to get out of the bed to chase them. "Emily!" JJ ran down the stairs as fast as she could without tripping to find the two of them climbing up at the table. "Seriously?" She said to Emily. Emily just stuck her tongue out at her and wriggled her eyebrows. Rachel watched her curiously and smiled as JJ returned the gesture. "How about pancakes?" JJ asked as she surveyed what they had.
"What do you think Rach?" Emily asked, secretly hoping she said yes. Emily wanted pancakes and if she attempted to make them they would end up being blobs of uncooked batter. Entirely inedible. "Maybe with chocolate chips?" She asked hopefully. JJ chuckled, seeing right through Emily's attempts to convince Rachel. The little girl nodded and Emily cheered slightly.
"Monkey, I think we live with a crazy person." JJ said, giving Rachel a wink. Rachel lit up at the use of her new nickname, but tried not to show how much it made her feel good. She was slowly trying to trust Emily and JJ, but in the back of her head, she kept hearing her father's voice; telling her how worthless she was. JJ noticed the look on Rachel's face and motioned for her to come over. "Here, you can stir the batter." She said, handing over the wooden spoon. Rachel tried to drag her stool over but almost fell in the process. Emily caught her and simply lifted her up to sit on the countertop.
"Much simpler." She said, smiling at Rachel.
"So Rach, we've got the weekend to do whatever we want before you start school and Em and I get back to work, any requests?" JJ asked as she turned the stovetop flame on. Rachel began stirring – with some difficulty – and gave JJ her signature shrug. "Here, grip it like this." JJ said while she took hold of the spoon and covered Rachel's hand with her own. Rachel tensed up a little at the contact but allowed JJ to show her how to do it. JJ reached over and smacked Emily's hand as she tried to eat a few chocolate chips before they went into the pancakes.
"Hey!" Emily protested. "There are plenty."
"No there aren't! The bags practically empty."
"Do I have to go to school?" Rachel asked quietly as she passed the bowl of batter over to JJ. Emily glanced over and met JJ's eyes.
"Yeah sweetie, all kids have to go to school." Emily answered. "Remember, we talked about this already. You'll love it."
"We can go pick up your uniform today if you want?" JJ asked.
"What does it look like?" Rachel asked as she watched JJ pour the batter onto the stove.
"I think there are a few navy skirts, gray sweaters, stuff like that. I think you get a tie too."
"Do we have to get it today?"
"No, we can get it tomorrow, but we need it before you go to school."
"Oh, okay." Rachel mumbled. JJ flipped two pancakes and passed Emily over some chocolate chips. Emily grinned, popped four into her mouth and handed some to Rachel. She looked up at JJ to make sure it was okay. JJ smiled as she popped some into her mouth as well. Rachel mimicked her and swung her legs back and forth while she waited for the pancakes to be ready. Emily took to tapping her feet each time they passed near her and got Rachel giggling hysterically.
"Alright, cut it out you two, sit down." JJ said with a grin as she set out the plates full of pancakes. Emily caught Rachel's feet for the last time and pulled her forward, off of the counter. She plopped her down in the stool between herself and JJ and the three of them ate happily.
Garcia squealed with delight as she watched Rachel twirl around in her new pink tutu. Garcia had gone slightly overboard. As soon as it was official – and to be perfectly honest once JJ had mentioned wanting Rachel – she had gone out and bought a bunch of adorable pink clothes. Most of them had to do with dance, and most of them she was more excited about than the seven year old. Emily and JJ had taken Rachel out to get her uniform and stopped by the bureau afterwords. As much as they had loved their days off, both women were getting antsy and wanted to at least drop by. Garcia was currently entertaining Rachel by having a dance party and bedazzling parts of her new uniform in her lair.
"Garcia?" Rachel asked as she did another perfect pirouette.
"Yes my love?" Garcia asked as she placed some more pink shiny buttons onto Rachel's otherwise drab gray sweater.
"How long have you and Mrs. Emily and Mrs. JJ been friends?"
"Why do you call them Mrs?"
Rachel shrugged. "Cause they didn't like agent."
"Why would you call them agent?"
"Cause that's what they are."
"Yeah, but not to you."
"What do you mean?" Rachel asked as she walked over to Garcia.
"Sweetie, they're agents at work, they're your parents otherwise." Garcia explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Do you want blue gems too?" She asked as she held up the sweater. Rachel scrunched up her nose and shook her head.
"No, there's too many already." She responded as she did another twirl. Garcia smiled as the little girl watched her skirt fly out happily rather than do her perfect dance moves that her father had drilled into her. "They're not my parents." Rachel said simply as she twirled again. "My mom's dead and my dad's in jail."
"Right, but...didn't Em and Jayje explain this to you?" Garcia asked anxiously. Rachel shook her head and twirled again, only swishing her skirt back and forth as she waited for Garcia to explain. Garcia sighed and looked at Rachel. "I don't know if I should be the one explaining this to you. But blood and DNA don't make families. Sometimes, you make your own family. The BAU, they are my family, so you're my family now too. If you want it, you've got two awesome moms, four very cool uncles, a cousin, and the most awesome aunt you will ever know." Garcia said as she wriggled her eyebrows at Rachel. The little girl smiled.
"You mean you?"
"Yes me!"
Rachel's smile faltered and she glanced down at the floor. "But, your not really my family. Its just pretend."
Garcia sighed. "No, its not pretend Monkey." Garcia insisted. "Emily and JJ love you already and they've only known you a little while, the longer they know you, the more they are going to love you. For the record, I totally love you too." She added with a grin. Rachel just stood quietly, contemplating Garcia's words. The blonde chose to let her think about it for a while. "Come on, lets go find Boy Wonder and my man, show off your new duds."
"What's a duds?" Rachel asked as she followed Garcia up to the bullpen.
"Clothes silly."
"Oh. Will Mr. Hotch and Mr. Dave be there?" Rachel asked worriedly as she followed close behind Garcia.
Garcia snorted at the names. "Yeah they will be, but I can promise you that they are total softies inside. Hotch only looks scary so he can make the bad guys afraid. He's really nice."
"Nice people aren't always nice. Nice is different than good." Rachel said, with words much wiser than her seven years.
"You're right, nice is different than good. But I've known these people for a long time now, and they are all good."
"Hey Curly Sue!" Morgan yelled out as he caught sight of the two of them. Rachel frowned and cocked her head in confusion.
"My name's Rachel." She said seriously.
Morgan laughed. "I know kid, its a nickname."
"Oh. Okay."
"Nice tutu." He said.
"Thanks." Rachel responded with a sheepish smile. "Garcia got it for me. Watch this." Rachel excitedly spun around, showing how the skirt flared up. Morgan laughed and smiled. "Do you like it?" She asked Morgan and Reid.
"Its very pretty Rachel." Reid said with an awkward grin. Rachel beamed at him and walked over to his desk.
"Do you have chess?" Rachel asked him excitedly.
"Yeah! Oh, but its on the jet actually." Reid said disappointed. Rachel pouted and slumped down onto Reid's desk. "Sorry." He apologized. Rachel dropped her head into her arms and groaned.
"What did you do to my child?" JJ demanded as she walked over to the clump of desks. Rachel didn't even lift her head up in acknowledgment. "Spence?" She half yelled.
"I don't have my chess set here." He stammered. "She's not crying is she?" She squeaked out, horrified.
"No I'm not crying! I'm not a baby!" Rachel yelled as she finally lifted her head up. JJ now caught the full attire that Rachel was wearing and gasped.
"Penelope. What. Did. You. Do?" JJ growled.
Garcia backed up slightly from JJ in fear as the blonde profiler placed her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows. Garcia knew that look. That look did not mean good things. "I...she...she wanted it."
"No I didn't! Well I did, I mean I like it. Reid thinks I look pretty." Rachel stated proudly. "Don't you think I look pretty?" Rachel asked hopefully as she bit her lip.
JJ sighed and glared at Garcia. "I think you look beautiful sweetheart, but that isn't really something you can wear to school."
"But its my uniform." Rachel insisted.
"I just spruced it up a little." Garcia tried to explain. Emily came into the bullpen with Hotch and Rossi and burst out into laughter.
"Oh my god, you are never allowed to be alone with her again." Emily said through her laughter. "Please tell me you didn't do this to every uniform we bought."
"No, just this one." Garcia insisted.
"Do you like it Mrs. Emily?" Rachel asked. Emily nodded.
"You look very nice Rachel." Rossi said with a smile. Rachel gave him a quick one back and moved herself closer to JJ. Emily sighed as she watched Rachel tuck herself behind JJ and keep her head down. She gently patted Rossi on the back and smiled. Rachel would get used to them eventually, at least she hoped so.