Two months later, everything seemed back to normal. Emily and JJ had been forcefully removed from their home by Garcia for a girls night, while the perky blonde had delegated babysitting duties to Morgan and Reid. The duo was currently sitting down to have tea in chairs that were not designed to have adults sit in them. Morgan shifted uncomfortably and almost fell onto the ground. Reid laughed.
"Shut up kid." Morgan growled.
"Uncle Derek, this is a classy tea party, you're not allowed to tell Spence to shut up." Rachel chastised him. Reid held up a tiny pink tea cup to Morgan with a smirk and took a sip with his pinkie out. Rachel beamed at him and Morgan clenched his fist to avoid smacking him in front of the kid.
"Rachel, how much longer do tea parties usually go on?" Morgan asked. He had a feeling that this tiny chair was gonna stick to his ass when he stood up and Reid had a camera phone.
Rachel frowned. "Oh, I don't know. This is the first tea party I've ever had. Do you know Spence?"
"Well, tea is very ingrained in english and middle eastern cultures, and generally..."
Morgan cut him off. "No! I do not want a lesson on tea, just give her a time limit." He lowered his voice. "And make it be less than four more minutes or my ass is gonna fall asleep."
Rachel leaned over to them and whispered along. "Ass is a bad word Uncle Derek."
"You didn't hear that." Morgan said to her quickly.
"Yes I did. I'm almost eight Uncle Derek, I know ass means butt." Rachel stated proudly.
Reid glared at him. "Way to go Morgan." He whispered. Hoping to change the subject, he turned back to Rachel and smiled. We've had tea and biscuits, I would say five more minutes would be acceptable tea etiquette."
Rachel nodded vigorously and sipped her tea with her pinkie out. Then proceeded to spill the tea all over her lap.
"Annnnddd we're done." Morgan announced. He stood up – eternally grateful that the chair didn't stick to his ass – and hauled a now wet Rachel up into the air. "Get some new pants, throw those ones in the wash."
Rachel ran off to change while Morgan and Reid cleaned up. They had made quite a mess. There was sugar, and crumbs from the biscuits Morgan had tried to make – which were rather inedible – random tea bags because Rachel had declared that they had to try every single kind, honey, and lots and lots of cups all over the counter and floor. Reid grimaced as he set his hand down in a patch of honey.
"Ughh...how did we make this much of a mess? JJ's gonna kill us."
Morgan snorted. "She is never going to know. Start cleaning." He ordered. He had seen JJ mad, hell he and helped train her with hand to hand combat for months while she was at the Pentagon. He knew not to mess with the blonde, especially where her kitchen was concerned. Rachel bounded down the stairs and Morgan snorted at her new appearance. Rachel had changed more than her pants. The little girl was now donned in a bright pink tutu and some sort of princess crown – courtesy of Garcia – orange high top converse that Reid had given her, and one of Emily's Rolling Stones t-shirts which she had stolen out of her mother's dresser that hung over her like a large dress. "What in the world?" He asked.
Rachel smiled proudly, happy with her attire. "Its important to make a statement."
"That definitely makes a statement." Morgan said softly. Reid laughed and threw the last of the used tea bags into the trash can.
"Thank you! Lets watch Tangled!"
Morgan and Reid groaned. They had already watched Tangled twice. "Rachel, there is something to be said for variety." Reid said, trying to coerce her into a different choice. He didn't hate Tangled, but three times in one night was pushing it a little.
"What do you suggest Spence?" Rachel asked sweetly.
Reid lit up and Morgan feared for his life. "I have this incredible documentary on eighteenth century france that my mother sent me that revolves primarily around Marie Antoinette and Louis the sixteenth."
Rachel looked to Morgan and collectively they vetoed that idea. "No." Rachel stated firmly. "Definitely not."
"Marie Antoinette was Queen of France and executed by a guillotine." Reid said. Morgan quickly looked to Rachel and freaked out as her expression changed from that of boredom to excitement.
"She was a queen? Of France?" She asked excitedly. Reid nodded excitedly and Morgan felt like hitting his head with a hammer. "Une reine? Génial, nous allons regarder cela!"
"I don't speak french, but from the look on your face I am gonna need a beer." Morgan said with a frown. Rachel bounded over to the couch while Reid popped the dvd in and sat down next to Rachel. The little girl immediately repositioned herself onto Reid's lap.
"Ce ne serait pas cool si j'étais reine? Je pourrais commander tout le monde autour, et ils auraient à faire ce que j'ai dit." Rachel chatted happily as Reid began the documentary. She had been practicing french with Emily daily, spanish and portuguese as well, apparently, she had her mother's knack for languages. Morgan took a long swig of his beer and flopped down onto the couch next to them.
"I will hurt you for this." He whispered to Reid.
"Shush." Rachel said, smacking Morgan lightly in the chest.
"You know you have gotten in the habit of hitting me much like your brunette mother and I don't think I like it."
"Uncle Derek?" Rachel asked seriously.
"Yes Freckles?"
"I love you but shut up, that lady is about to get her head chopped off."
Morgan glared at Reid as Rachel turned back to the screen. "If they get mad, this is all your fault."
"Its educational Morgan, its not mindless violence like your zombie movies."
"One time!" Morgan yelled. "I let her watch that movie one time! Every since I have watched Tangled, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, freaking Tinkerbell! I mean come on!"
"And we are very grateful that you watch those with her." JJ said, leaning over the couch and kissing Morgan on the cheek. "Did that woman just get her head chopped off?" She asked, horrified.
"Momma!" Rachel cheered, climbing off of Reid's lap and launching herself into JJ's arms. "How was your girls night? And how come I couldn't come? I'm a girl."
"Adult girls baby, we went to a club, kids aren't allowed in clubs." JJ explained as she kissed her daughter hello.
Rachel pouted, but caught sight of Emily and Garcia behind JJ and smiled. Wriggling herself out of JJ's grasp, she ran over to Emily and jumped up into her mother's arms. "Hi Mommy." She said hugging Emily tightly.
"I like your outfit." Emily laughed.
"Thank you." Rachel giggled. "Marie Antoinette got her head chopped of by a guillotine cause her husband spent too much money and didn't give people cake." She informed her mother. Emily snorted and glanced at Reid.
"Seriously?" She asked.
"They didn't show anything graphic." He insisted.
"Alright boys, quit traumatizing the almost eight year old." Garcia said smiling at Rachel. Her birthday was in three days and everyone was making a very big deal out of it. Rachel herself wasn't really used to the attention. Her birth mother had never celebrated anything that she could remember and the only present her father had given her had been a pair of tap shoes. He then forced her to practice until her feet bleed, it hadn't been a very good fifth birthday. Rachel was actually nervous about what was going to happen. "Get up and get your butts in my car." She walked over to Emily and kissed the brunette and her daughter on their cheeks, then hugged JJ before wrapping her arm in Morgan's and leading the men out. "Goodnight ladies!" She called cheerfully.
"Bye guys. Thank you for watching her." Emily called after them.
"For the record, I attended a tea party, so I think I should get some cash for that." Morgan said to Emily with a grin.
The brunette snorted and kicked him away. "Not a chance and I really hope there is photographic evidence of that."
"You had fun Uncle Derek!" Rachel insisted with a frown.
"Eh, kinda." He joked before kissing her forehead and chasing after Reid and Garcia.
Emily smiled at Rachel and flipped the little girl upside down. Her strong arms holding her tightly as she giggled. "Did you have fun?" Emily asked as she pulled her back up.
"Yeah." She said with a yawn as she rested her head on Emily's shoulder.
"Uh oh, bedtime."
"NO!" Rachel yelled, sitting up. "I'm not tired."
"You look tired." Emily teased.
"I'm not, look." Rachel jumped down and did a backflip, then a triple pirouette to prove her wrong. Emily just laughed and plucked the crown that had fallen off her daughter's head up from the floor. Rachel continued jumping up and down in place with renewed energy. Emily just shook her head and caught her in mid-jump. Throwing the girl over her shoulder, she began carrying her upstairs. "Mommy! I'm not tired!" Rachel yelled again.
"I am." JJ announced as she followed them up the stairs and headed into her bedroom. While Emily deposited Rachel in her room, JJ stripped out of her semi-skimpy clothes and pulled on an oversized tee and some old cotton soccer shorts. Pulling her hair back into a loose ponytail, she went into the bathroom and washed her face and brushed her teeth before heading down the hall to Rachel's room. Emily had yanked her out of the tutu and sneakers, leaving her in the large stolen t-shirt. Rachel skipped past JJ and ran into the bathroom. JJ smiled at Emily and pulled her in for a kiss. "Hi." She whispered.
Emily laughed and kissed JJ again. "Hi." Emily said back. "I'm gonna go change."
JJ smacked Emily's ass lightly as she walked away and the brunette turned back around and grinned before heading into their room. Rachel bounded back out of the bathroom, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and smiling at her mother. "I'm not tired." She insisted again in mid-yawn. "Well, maybe a little."
"Come on, I'll tuck you in." JJ said holding out her hand. Rachel took it and let her mother lead her back to her room, realizing how tired she really was. Rachel climbed under the covers and JJ sat down on the side of the bed.
"Momma?" Rachel asked quietly.
"Yes?"
Rachel looked down to her hands, nervously playing with the edge of her blanket. JJ waited quietly for Rachel to continue. "Ummm...what do we do on birthdays? Why is Aunt Pen so excited?"
JJ's heart broke a little and she bent over and hugged Rachel. The girl gripped her mother tightly for a second before releasing her. JJ pulled back and rested her chin on Rachel's chest, forcing her to look her in the eye. "Well, Penelope's is excited because birthdays can be exciting. Its a special day. We're going to have a cake, and a party and you'll get some presents and we'll have a fun day."
"Like the adoption party?"
"Yeah, like that, except this is an annual thing."
"What's annual mean?" Rachel asked moving her hands from playing with the blanket to playing with the end of JJ's ponytail. JJ smiled, she loved when Rachel played with her hair.
"It means it happens once every year."
"And I'll be eight." Rachel said with a hint of a smile. "Eight sounds a lot better than seven."
"I remember liking being eight." JJ agreed with a grin. Rachel yawned again and JJ reached forward, kissing her forehead. "And now sleep." She said. Rachel didn't bother protesting, she curled into her side and closed her eyes. "Love you baby." JJ whispered as she stood up.
"Love you too Momma, tell Mommy." Rachel murmured.
"I heard you." Emily said as she walked into the room and shut the light off. JJ took Emily's hand and pulled her wife down the hall. "We're gonna have an eight year old." Emily stated as they crawled into bed.
"Don't remind me. She's already too smart and mature."
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Translations According to Google:
"Une reine? Génial, nous allons regarder cela." - A queen? Awesome, let's watch that.
"Ce ne serait pas cool si j'étais reine? Je pourrais commander tout le monde autour, et ils auraient à faire ce que j'ai dit." - Wouldn't it be cool if I were a queen? I could order everyone around and they would have to do what I said.