Borealis [ Jennifer Jareau x Reader ]

Come Home with Me

The next couple of hours were pure hell. They had requested X-Rays, which were torturous. She threw a giant fit and they had to subdue her in order to get her away from me. I let myself cry at that, wishing that JJ was here  to help me get through this.  Hotch had called her back for the hunt for Sylvia, so it was just me sitting in the Pediatric ward, waiting for her to come back. I was able to take my gear off, setting it on the chair next to me as I went through some levels of Candy Crush, trying to calm down. She finally came back in about an hour later, and they pushed her bed back where it had been originally. The doctor had me come out into the hall, explaining everything to me.

There were some fractures by the bruising, but nothing life altering. A bit of malnutrition but they had her on an IV to help fix that. She wasn't assaulted at all, thank god, which was a good sign. We had gotten to them early enough that nothing drastic happened to any of the kids. I thanked the Doctor before going to sit back down next to Esme, grabbing my phone and calling Hotch.

"Hotchner."

"It's me. Esme's doctor said there's just some fracturing and bruising, as well as some malnutrition. Same with the other kids."

"Good. No signs of assault?"

"None of the kids showed any sign of assault."

"Okay. Do you think you'll be able to get back to the station by tonight?"

"I wanted to ask you about that, actually. Do you have a second?"

There was a moment of silence. "She's attached to you, isn't she?"

"Yes sir. More than I thought. If possible, I'd like to stay a few days to make sure everything gets settled. If that's okay, I mean." I paused. "She's showing classic signs of Reactive Attachment Disorder, Hotch. She's already under so much duress, I don't want to be the reason she snaps, you know?"

Hotch chuckled on the other end of the line. "JJ already asked. You can have the next two weeks off, I'll talk to JJ about her taking some time off as well. And Y/N?"

"Yes sir?"

"You're going to make a great mom."

He hung up before I could say anything, and I could only stare at my phone, dumbstruck. Hotch thought I would make a good mother? Part of me wanted to believe that, but at the same time, I had a decent amount of mommy issues so I definitely did not believe him. I wanted to think I'd be a good mother, but I could barely take care of my plants. How could I take that step from being a plant mother to a real mother without messing up? Of course, I'd have JJ with me but I wouldn't want to put that burden on her. She already had Henry to think about. I couldn't throw another kid with what seemed to be severe attachment issues into the pile without asking her. I sighed. Maybe I'm just overthinking this whole situation. Although, she seemed to think I'd be good for Esme, which makes me hopeful, but at the same time it's such a big thing to ask. I wouldn't want to ruin our relationship because of this.

I finally snapped out of my thoughts as Esme started to stir, rubbing her eyes.

"Hey Esme." I adjusted so she could see me, pulling the chair as close to the bed as I could. "You did so good, angel."

"No doctor?"

"Not right now." I grabbed her hand. "They're looking at the pictures they took of you, to make sure you can come back home with me."

"With you?" her head tilted to the side.

"Yes. If that's okay with you."

She thought for a second. "Otay."

She was discharged about two hours later, and I made sure to wrap her up nice and tight in the sweater I had JJ bring me as we walked downstairs, meeting JJ in the car that Hotch was letting us use. She had stopped at a local Target while I was out, and bought a simple sweatshirt, some leggings and undergarments for Esme as well as a pair of jammies. We were planning on talking to her caseworker in the morning so we could figure out our options. Both of us couldn't leave her here. There was no way we could leave without her. She was way too attached to me, first off, and secondly I wasn't about to let her go back into the system. I sat in the back with Esme, sitting her on my lap as we rode back to the hotel, telling her about where we were staying.

We got back to the hotel and got out of the car, grabbing our go-bags and taking her upstairs. I set her down in the room, leaving her to explore around as I grabbed my own pajamas from my gobag, slipping into the bathroom to change. Instead of showering, I ran a wet washcloth across my face and private areas, making sure to wipe off any sweat before changing and going back out, finding Esme sitting on one of the beds with JJ.

"You do?"

"I do." JJ smiled. "I love cookies, ice cream, and brownies."

"That's cool. I like those too."

"What about you, darling, do you like treats?"

"I do." I smiled, pulling my brush through my hair. "I love all of those."

"Esme was asking because she has a question for you, right?"

She nodded. "While Ms. JJ is shower, can we get treats?"

"Of course we can!" I walked over to her, sitting down next to her. "Let me know what you want and we can get it, okay?"

"Anything?"

"Anything."

"Can we get it all?"

I laughed. "One thing tonight, okay?"

"Okay." she paused. "Can we have ice cream?"

"Ice cream it is."

We put on a Disney movie after we ordered room service, the three of us snuggling on Esme's bed, since it was closer to the TV. Esme asked us to watch Ratatouille, which caused me to laugh. Henry had recently gone through a Ratatouille phase, and I could just tell that JJ was going to be annoyed with having to watch the movie again. Thankfully, she sucked it up and watched it, curling up against my side and watching her phone just in case she got called back in. Even though we were technically off the clock, we were still considered to be working the case so either of us could have been called back. Esme sat on my lap the whole time, not entirely trusting JJ yet. Both of us knew that it would take time, since she hadn't fully opened up to us yet.

After she finished her ice cream, we got her ready for bed and tucked her in, both JJ and I sneaking into the bathroom and getting ready ourselves. I didn't shower, mostly because I wanted to make sure Esme was going to be okay- this was her first night outside of a foster home. I didn't know what happened to her before she was with us, and it was... nerve wracking, to say the least. JJ wrapped her arms around me as we both crawled into bed, curling up against each other and slowly drifting off to sleep.