Where the Heart Is

Chapter 4

"Hi!" JJ squealed excitedly as she opened the front door of the cabin that she now shared with Rossi. Technically speaking, it was not a cabin. In all honesty, the fact that Rossi had the audacity to call it a cabin was disgusting. The building was huge, three stories tall and 6000 square feet, and had five full bathrooms and twelve bedrooms.

"Hey," Emily responded, looking around the foyer in awe like she did every time she came to Rossi's mansion. She could swear it got bigger every time she went in.

"Everyone is in the kitchen," JJ said cheerily. "You can take your shoes off there"- she pointed to a huge pile of shoes to Emily's left - "I'll take your coat."

"Thanks," Emily said, shrugging off her black trench coat. She always talked about buying a new coat - one that looked less "detective-y" as Garcia phrased it - but she never actually got around to it.

"Did you bring your swimsuit?" JJ asked.

"My swimsuit?" Emily asked, raising her eyebrows. "It's February, Jayje."

JJ smiled happily and said, "Oh, right, I forgot you haven't been here! We got a hot tub."

"A hot tub?" Emily repeated, her eyebrows reaching up and together in concern. "Oh."

"Don't worry, you can borrow one of my bikinis," JJ said as she hung her friend's coat in the front closet. "Lord knows I can't fit into them right now."

Emily smiled after a slight hesitation, which didn't go unnoticed by her profiler friend.

JJ narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Emily.

Shit.

"Are you okay?" JJ asked, genuine concern written over her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Emily said, placing the most neutral expression she could manage on her face. "Just tired from the flight and from setting up the apartment all day."

JJ stared at her for another moment, and Emily did her best to keep her expression neutral.

"Okay," JJ said dismissively, turning back towards the kitchen, where the playful bantering of the BAU team could be heard through the walls. "I'll let that go for now, but if I catch you being weird again you won't get off so easily," JJ declared, placing her hand on her back to support her hugely swollen stomach as she waddled towards the door, pushing it open.

A chorus of greetings rang out when the female agents entered the kitchen. Rossi stood at the oven, stirring a large pot of boiling noodles, wearing an apron that read "Baciare il Cuoco!" Morgan sat at the kitchen island with his giggling daughter on his lap, talking to Jack, who sat on the stool next to him, playing on his Nintendo DS and explaining the game to Morgan. Garcia sat on the other side of Jack, knitting what appeared to be a blue bootie for a baby as she talked with Rossi. The French doors connecting the kitchen to the dining room were opened, revealing Reid sitting at the dining room table with Henry on his lap, Ashley Seaver beaming at him, both talking to... Alex Blake.

Emily narrowed her eyes slightly at the appearance of her replacement.

What gave her the right to waltz in and take her place in this team? This was Emily's family, not hers!

Emily took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. After all, it was her decision to leave in the first place.

And what a stupid decision it had been.

That was probably one of the biggest mistakes she'd ever made in her life. Two long, miserable years she'd spent in a foreign country. Not that she wasn't used to foreign countries – hell, she spent most of her life in foreign countries. That's why it shouldn't have been so hard. She thought if she'd give it enough time, if she'd settle down, maybe find herself a man.