The Usual Rules

Chapter 11

Emily watched Rachel pull at her tie for the third time that morning.

"Here." She said, motioning for Rachel to come over to her. "We can loosen it a little." Rachel stood absolutely still as Emily fixed the tie for her. "Feel better?" She asked. Rachel nodded and picked at her tights. Emily had to smile, the little girl was simply nervous, and fussing over every bit of her uniform that she could. Thankfully, Garcia had only bedazzled one sweater and put a few gems on the top of one skirt. The sweater had been the extra one JJ had insisted on buying along with the standard three anyway. Emily had let Rachel wear the skirt with the gems to make Rachel feel a little better. They're were only three of them, small and along the top and mostly covered by her sweater. You only saw them if you were really looking, but it put a tiny smile on Rachel's face, so Emily was all for it. Rachel had barely slept the last two nights. She had wet the bed both nights and had nightmares. The one the night before had been so bad that once Emily and JJ finally got her to calm down and get back to sleep, JJ had broken down crying as well.

"Hey Monkey, you hungry?" JJ asked with a cheerful smile as the two of them descended the stairs. Rachel shook her head grumpily. "You've got to eat something sweetie." JJ insisted.

"My tummy hurts." Rachel moaned. JJ glanced at Emily. Rachel was never whinny, she behaved so well that is was frightening. Especially when the two women knew it was because she was too afraid to anger anyone. So for Rachel to be grumbling and admitting something was wrong, she must be extremely nervous.

"Its probably because it wants some food."

"No its not. It doesn't want to go to school." Rachel complained. JJ had to bit back a laugh. Perhaps it was just that she hadn't seen it yet, but a whinny Rachel was quite adorable.

"Rach, remember that today you get to spend most of the morning with just your tutor and that way she will explain everything and you won't need to feel nervous." Emily explained as she took the plate of scrambled eggs from JJ and put it in front of Rachel. The little girl picked at it with her fork, barely putting any of it in her mouth.

"Can't we stay here today?" Rachel asked quietly.

Emily glanced up at JJ who looked very much like she would cave and say yes in an instant. Emily frowned, she would love to go back upstairs, get back in her pjs and spend the day at home with JJ and Rachel, but they had to get her into a routine sometime, and now was that time.

"No sweetie, JJ and I have to go back to work and you've got to go to school, but we will both be there to pick you up today at 3:30, and maybe we can go out to dinner or something to celebrate!"

"Celebrate what?" Rachel asked. JJ took the opportunity while Rachel was distracted to gently shove the spoonful of eggs Rachel had been holding midair for about five minutes into her mouth. Emily grinned as Rachel ate them, barely even noticing that JJ was pretty much feeding her.

"You going to your very first day of school! Its an important event."

"Weaaly?" Rachel asked, her mouth full as JJ stuffed another bite in.

"Really." Emily insisted. "Rach, its gonna be great, you can get books to read, and play at recess with the other kids and learn all this interesting stuff."

"And how long will I be there?" Rachel asked as JJ lifted her down from the stool.

"From 8:30 to 3:30." The blonde answered, holding out Rachel's coat for her to stick her arms into.

"How many hours is that?"

"Seven."

"How many minutes?"

JJ frowned, math had never been her strong suit. "Umm...a lot." Rachel pouted as JJ bent down to button up her coat. "Here, I'll ask Spence." JJ said. Rachel stood waiting, her arms crossed and her foot tapping impatiently – looking very much like an annoyed JJ, Emily noted – while JJ texted Reid. "He says 420 and have a wonderful first day." JJ announced as Emily passed her coat to her.

"That's a lot?"

"It is. But it will be fun. Reid loved school, he'll love to hear all about it."

"Fine." Rachel grumbled as she followed them out to the car. JJ grinned and met Emily's eyes as her wife opened the door and waited to make sure Rachel was buckled into her booster seat properly. The seven year old hadn't been all that thrilled about the seating arrangement at first, and she clearly had high hopes that it would go away, but JJ was adamant about her sitting in it. Rachel made a face every time she opened the door and it was still where she left it, but she never complained about it.

The drive to the school was quiet. Rachel was nervous, and Emily and JJ had pretty much talked school up to the best of their abilities. Honestly, both of them were nervous as well. They had no idea how it was going to go for Rachel, she was very behind, she got extremely flustered if she felt stupid or inadequate in anyway, and both of them knew very well how cruel kids could be. They climbed out and Rachel stared up at the large brick building.

"You'll be here at 3:30?" Rachel whispered.

"On the dot." Emily said. She wouldn't allow them to be a second late, she had already warned Hotch that she would be leaving in time no matter what.

"Okay." Rachel said. Emily noticed her demeanor change. She shifted her backpack, stood up straight, and took a deep breath. "See you in 419 minutes."

JJ laughed and went to give Rachel a hug, but she quickly sidestepped it. Not showing that she was hurt, JJ just smiled and gave her a tiny wave while Emily wrapped her arm around the blonde's waist. They stood waiting while they watched Rachel walk up the steps and be greeted by her tutor.

"Only 418 minutes." JJ whispered to Emily. "We can handle that right?"

"Yeah." Emily answered rather unconvincingly.