Be Free Blackbird

twelve- henry

Sunday, May 13
    The BAU team was home in Virginia and they were all finally safe. Emily, JJ and Henry were finally home and finally safe, Henry had a sprained wrist and had to wear a brace. Emily had picked up something for JJ and was waiting until they got home to give it to her. Emily was carrying Henry into the house then went back out to help JJ in.
"Emily I'm fine, you don't have to help me" JJ exclaimed
"Jennifer I am always going to help you" Emily responded as she helped JJ into the house on the couch next to Henry.
"JJ I have something for you" Emily added
"What is it?" JJ asked and Emily as Emily handed her a long red box.
"Just open it" Emily exclaimed with excitement. JJ opened it to reveal a silver locket, inside was a picture of Emily and Henry and the back of it said "be brave".
"Emily..." JJ started
"Let me talk, this week has been the scariest week of my life, I don't know what I would've done if I lost you and if I lost you and Henry I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that I should've been there to protect you. JJ I love you so much and I got you something. I know that this is going to sound cheesy but you'll have this whenever we're apart and I will always be close to your heart" Emily explained.
"You right that is cheesy but I love it" JJ replied and she kissed Emily.
"Eww" Henry exclaimed and JJ and Emily laughed.
"Go get to bed, I'll tuck you in soon, monkey man" Emily explained then patted Henry on the head and he was off. Emily reached over to the side table and shut off the light then began kissing JJ again.
"I missed this," JJ said while kissing Emily. Emily began unzipping JJ's sweatshirt and pushing her hair out of her face. JJ wrapped her legs around Emily as she unbuttoned Emily's top.
"JJ... your doctor said we can't do anything more than kissing,"  Emily whispered.
"Scr-" JJ started   
"JJ I swear to god, I'm not risking anymore hospital visits. Come on why don't we go sleep in our own bed, with our own sheets, and we can finally sleep peacefully." Emily said as she caressed JJ's cheek.
"Fine" JJ replied then kissed Emily once more before they headed upstairs.
"Come on, let's go to bed" Emily whispered. They got off the couch and held hands while walking up the stairs. Emily went into Henry's room to find him fast asleep, she kissed his forehead then went to the bedroom and laid down. Once Emily was in the bed, JJ came in after her and slowly fell asleep on her chest.
Monday, May 14
    Thunder and lightning lit up the house with a painful noise. The sound of the rain crashing against cars, cement and houses woke Henry up with fear. His footsteps woke up Emily before he even came into the room. Henry came into the room with pajamas on and his yellow night time blanket.
"Mama, I'm scared" Henry said as Emily moved over.
"Come on buddy, get in" Emily responded as she patted the space in between her and JJ.
    Sunrise soon came and Emily woke up to Henry in between her and JJ. Emily got out of bed quietly and made her way downstairs to start making coffee before she had to take Henry to preschool. About an hour had passed and Emily had gotten dressed and decided to wake up Henry. She gently picked up Henry without waking up JJ and brought him to his room.
"Hen, Henry, come on wake up monkey man" Emily whispered as Henry began to wake up. Once he woke up Emily dressed Henry in jeans, a striped long sleeve and little timberland boots. Emily carried Henry downstairs and packed him grapes, a turkey sandwich, an apple juice and a jello.
"So monkey man, what do you want for breakfast?" Emily asked
"Uh- Waffles!" Henry exclaimed
"Waffles! What?" Emily said in a childish tone then began making him waffles.
"Do you want bacon too?" Emily asked
"Yeah!" Henry said happily. Emily began cooking the bacon and also cut Henry up some strawberries. About twenty minutes passed and Henry was eating his breakfast like the happiest kid on Earth while Emily drank her coffee.
"So monkey man, how about we get going" Emily suggested
"I don't want to," Henry said as he took another bite of his waffle.
"Why not bud?" Emily asked as she sat next to him.
"They are mean," Henry responded.
"What do they say?" Emily asked
"They say that I have a bad family because I have two moms. Mama I don't want to go" Henry explained as he began tearing up and Emily put her arm around him.
"What about Tyler, he's your friend" Emily replied.
"Him and the older boys take my lunch" He said while crying
"Oh my love, why didn't you tell mommy or me about this earlier?" Emily asked
"I don't know, I wanted to be strong like you and mommy" Henry explained and Emily Hugged him
"Henry, you are strong buddy, and you are going to go to school today. Just be strong for one more day" Emily explained with an idea in the back of her mind.
"Okay" Henry responded sadly. Emily quickly wrote a note for JJ in case she woke up and then they were off to preschool. About twenty minutes passed and they reached Harbor Cove preschool. Emily got out of the car and got Henry out of his car seat then took his hand as they walked up the steps. They got inside and Emily pulled Henry's teacher Miss Jessica aside who she had known before Henry was born she was Emily's first girlfriend from college.
"Jess, I need to talk to you" Emily said
"What's up Emily?" Jessica
"Why haven't you told me or JJ that Henry is getting bullied?" Emily asked
"Emily it's only been going on for a month or so" Jessica explained
"Jessica, a month or so. For a month he hasn't been eating his lunch and he has been getting bullied for having two moms. Jessica I'm picking him up at eleven today and I swear to God if he comes home upset about getting bullied I am pulling him out of this school" Emily explained angrily then walked over to Henry.
"Bye Mama!" Henry exclaimed as he hugged Emily.
"Bye buddy, I'll see you soon" Emily said then she walked to the door and Henry ran up behind her.
"Love you!" Henry said as he grabbed Emily's shirt then hugged her.
"I love you too monkey man, you are strong" Emily whispered in Henry's ear then left. Jessica left the kids with the other teacher and followed Emily out.
"Emily!" Jessica yelled as Emily walked to her car.
"What do you want Jess?" Emily asked as she leaned on her car.
"You're still the only one that calls me Jess" Jessica said while she caught up to Emily.
"What do you want?" Emily asked again.
"Is this what you're doing now, you're living our dream with someone else?" Jessica asked and Emily took a step closer to her.
"I am not living "our dream" I am living my dream, I have the job I've always wanted, I am in love and I have a son, and I couldn't be happier. It's been eighteen years Jess," Emily explained
"We were together for four years, and you never proposed. I thought that you were going to be the person that I was going to marry and have kids with, that I was going to come home to at the end of the day. You have only been with Jennifer for two years and you are calling Henry your son" Jess explained madly.
"four years, I have been with Jennifer for four years. We figured out that we both had feelings for eachother six years ago. She didn't want to do anything yet but after Henry was born we moved in together. Henry is my son, and he calls me Mama, and I love his mother with everything I have. So get out of the past, we don't have a future together, get out of your head because I wasn't happy with you, I didn't love you, now I am with the love of my life. This isn't college anymore. Goodbye Jess." Emily explained and Jess slapped her then Emily left to go back home, back to JJ.
    Emily pulled into the driveway and parked the car then just sat there for a second. She put down her mirror then looked at her red and bruised cheek. Emily grabbed her purse then left the car and went inside the house. Once inside she walked into a silent house and went upstairs to her bedroom to find JJ still asleep so she decided to go put ice on her cheek and look over case files.
    A little more time went by of Emily looking over case files and Emily went back upstairs to find JJ crying. Emily rushed over to JJ laying on the bed crying and JJ put her head on Emily's lap.
"What's wrong love?" Emily asked worriedly as she ran her hand down JJ's hair.
"Everything, everything is wrong" JJ trembled as she sobbed.
"This job really gets to you, I know, I know my love, it's just too much sometimes, especially when we lose people we love, I know" Emily explained as she continued running her hand down JJ's hair.
"I don't understand, I've done his job for years" JJ responded as she cried.
"Jennifer, this is because of Will, the only man you have loved is no longer with you, and that's hard, I get it, I'm here, and I love you, and I'm never leaving" Emily said
"You don't, you don't get it" JJ exclaimed
"That feeling that you have in your stomach, it's sadness and guilt but also anger and fear for the future. I know because I have felt the same way before, I have cried myself to sleep and have been so upset that I wouldn't get out of bed. I get it" Emily explained
"Emily, he's dead and it's all my fault" JJ said sadly as she continued crying.
"Oh my love, no one could have ever thought this would happen, none of this is your fault, this isn't your fault" Emily said and JJ re adjusted herself so she was sitting up and looking at Emily.
"He was the only man I have ever loved. And he is my sons father" JJ replied sadly
"But you are his mother and you need to be strong for Henry... I know that at the beginning you felt like you needed to pick and choose between me and Will and I know that things were new with us so you would choose me. But I understand that you probably feel guilty for picking me because you didn't know how fast he would be gone" Emily explained as she hugged JJ.
"You're right, I need to be strong. But Emily I would never change my decision to pick you, I mean look where we are now, and how far we've come, Henry is your son too. And I am crying over my ex's death and you're not mad or upset, you're here comforting me and making me feel better. I couldn't ask for a different life." JJ explained as she began to calm down and she looked at Emily.
"Emily, what happened to your face?" JJ asked.
"Nothing, I'm fine, but we need to talk about a few things" Emily said as she wiped JJ's tears.
"What's wrong?" JJ asked
"So do you remember how Henry got a new teacher at school?" Emily asked
"Yeah, what does that have to do with anything?" JJ replied
"She was the first woman I was with, I didn't know how I felt about her but we were together for a while and today she confronted me about it and I told her that I was over her and that I didn't love her. I explained that I was in love with you and that we were engaged and she did this to my face today" Emily explained and JJ laughed.
"Awwww, poor baby everyone wants to date you". JJ said jokingly as she put her hand to Emily's cheek and kissed her.
"Oh shush, I'm with you but that's not all" Emily replied as she kissed JJ back.
"What else?" JJ asked once they stopped kissing.
"Henry has been getting bullied for a month and she hasn't tried to stop it, I also told her that I was picking him up early today, he begged me not to go to school this morning." Emily began to explain
"Are you serious, he's only four, what the hell are kids bullying him for?" JJ asked madly
"He said the older kids take his lunch and that they bully him for having two moms" Emily explained sadly
"He should not be bullied for the people that we choose to love," JJ said and Emily put her hand up to her cheek and rubbed it.
"I know love, I know, but what do we do about Henry, he begged me not to make him go, he was crying" Emily responded as she laid back on the bed and JJ put her head on Emily and wrapped her arm around Emily.
"Emily, why didn't he tell us?" JJ asked
"He said he wanted to be strong like us" Emily answered
"Emily everything with Will had me thinking..." JJ began
"About what love?" Emily asked
"Our son. if something were to happen to me I would want you to take Henry. I wouldn't want him with my mother, I would want him with you" JJ explained
"So we'll make that happen" Emily replied as she played with JJ's hair.
"Emily, I want you to have legal rights" JJ said
"So, I adopt him" Emily responded
"You would want to?" JJ asked
"Of course, I love that little kid, I want to be with him all day everyday if I could" Emily said as she looked at JJ.
"Thank you" JJ said
"No thanks needed love, I want to adopt him. I want him to be legally mine too" Emily replied then kissed JJ.
"You're the best person in this awful world. When do we need to pick up Henry" JJ replied
"At eleven" Emily said.
"Can we go pick up some dress clothes for Henry before we pick him up?" JJ asked
"Of course then I was thinking maybe we could take him to the fair tonight let him have some fun" Emily suggested
"That sounds great" JJ replied.
    A couple Hours passed and Emily and JJ had gone shopping for Henry. They got him a black suit, with black shoes, and a black undershirt. They were in the car and were about to pick up Henry.
"Are you going to get him or do you want me to?" Emily asked as she parked.
"I'll go in," JJ said then opened the door.
"Let me go with you, you just had surgery" Emily said and she got out of the car.
"Two days ago, I had surgery two days ago" JJ responded while Emily held her hand.
"Come on, let's go get Henry" Emily said then they walked up the long hill to the preschool. They got inside and Henry was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Henry?" Emily asked Jessica
"Umm, I think he was just here before I left" Jessica said
"You think? Left what do you mean left?" JJ asked madly.
"Well the other teacher is on break and I really needed to use the restroom, I was in there for five minutes tops" Jessica said
" It takes less than a minute for a child to go missing. Are you serious you don't know where he is?" JJ asked angrily and all of a sudden there was pounding coming from the storage closet.
"Are you serious?" Emily replied sarcastically then ran over to the closet. She opened the door to a dark closet and quickly squatted down to see Henry sitting in the back.
"Henry, it's me, it's Mama" Emily explained softly and Henry ran out to hug her.
"Mama!" Henry yelled and Emily picked him up, wiped his tears then gathered all of his things and JJ slapped Jessica.
"That's for slapping Emily, you don't want to know what I'll do about my son." JJ said angrily after she slapped Jessica.
"Our son is never coming back here!" JJ added and they left. Jessica walked over to the window and saw how much love was in that family and was extremely jealous.
"Henry, are you okay?" Emily asked after they got in the car.
"Why are kids mean to me?" Henry asked
"ahh bud" JJ said
"You listen to me monkey man, they are jealous because you have the best parents in the world. But you are never going back there I promise" Emily explained then they started to go home.
"I want friends" Henry said
"I know buddy, I know" JJ replied
"Where do you want to go for lunch? We can go anywhere love" Emily asked
"I just want to go home," Henry said sadly.
"Okay monkey man" Emily replied then they went home. JJ went inside with Henry, and Emily just stood outside of their house trying to clean her mind of everything that she has found out today. Once JJ got Henry settled she went back outside to find Emily. JJ walked over to her and held Emily's hand.
"Emily what's bothering you?" JJ asked
"When I was a child I moved around a lot because of my mother and I made friends, but not ones I could trust until coming here. I just don't want Henry not to make friends, after everything that has happened he deserves people. I know he's only four but still." Emily explained
"We deal with awful stuff everyday and it's hard to see the good, that little boy in there is good and kind and he doesn't deserve to be bullied. But Emily, he loves you, and he loves me, and that's all that matters, he is our good after an awful day and we are his." JJ explained then put her head on Emily's shoulder and Emily hugged her.
"You're my good too" Emily said then Henry came running out.
"Can you make me a grilled cheese?" Henry asked happily.
"Yeah, we'll be right in" JJ said as she laughed.
"Our good" Emily replied happily then they walked inside. JJ began to make the grilled cheese and Emily sat on the rug with Henry reading a book with him.
"Hey you two come over here and eat your lunch" JJ said after she had finished making the grilled cheese. Henry ran over and Emily picked him up and put him in the chair then walked Up behind JJ and wrapped her arms around her, then JJ kissed Emily's cheek.
"Eat up Hen, then we're going to have some quiet time before the fair." Emily said after she kissed JJ back.
"Okay" Henry exclaimed happily while taking a huge bite of his grilled cheese and JJ stood in Emily's arms. Henry finished eating and Emily took him upstairs to his bedroom and got him ready to take a nap.
"Mama" Henry asked and Emily came over and sat on the bed and began caressing Henry's cheek.
"Whats up monkey man?" Emily questioned
"Do you love mommy?" Henry asked
"Of course I do, and I love you too, why?" Emily explained while caressing Henry's cheek with a worried look on her face.
"Did mommy love my dad?" Henry asked
"Yeah, she did, she loved him a lot because if she didn't love him then you wouldn't be here. But mommy and I fell in love while she was married to your dad, so even though your dad loved your mom they had to break up and then a couple months later you were born and you lived with mommy and me in my old apartment then when you were about one we moved into this house." Emily explained as if she were telling a story.
"Can I have a little brother?" Henry asked
"We will think about that, now go to sleep so we can go to the fair later" Emily replied as she kissed Henry's forehead then she left the room and went back downstairs.
"Would you like to know what our son just asked me?" Emily asked JJ as she sat down next to her.
"Oh god" JJ laughed
"Can I have a little brother" Emily said jokingly