The Usual Rules

Chapter 10

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.