Show Me the Stars - Jennifer Jareau x Reader

forty-eight | these nights

JJ stayed home for three weeks after Amelia was born. Emily came over quite a bit, and Henry adored that baby. You and JJ helped him hold her with care, but each time he needed less and less reminding on how to be gentle with her. Will came over to get Henry one day, and he briefly met her too. Henry liked to kiss his baby sister, but JJ never let him near the nursery when she was sleeping, nor near your shared room when you were.

You tried to sleep when Amelia slept, at least partially since she was almost always sleeping, while JJ stayed on a normal schedule as much as she could. She often woke in the night with you to feed or change her, but not always, and you tried to let her sleep.

You lost track of what day it was, since your sleep was so off. JJ made sure you remembered to eat and shower, and kissed you often. "I love you, angel. You've been wonderful, and I can already tell how good a mom you are. I love you, I love you, I love you."

No matter how much she said it, you never got tired of hearing it. She was your rock. When she came into bed with you at night, she would kiss your face all over, barely able to control her smile.

"Jayje?" you murmured one night as she kissed you. "Jay..."

"Yeah, love?"

"You're keeping me sane." She stopped kissing, and simply remained hovering above you with a patient smile. You went on, "I can't imagine doing this without you,"

"Good thing you'll never have to," she said. "'Cause you're stuck with me!" She fell down to lay beside you. You chuckled and turned your head to look at her again. "I'm yours, baby. No two ways about it,"

"My sweet Jennifer. If I haven't reminded you enough lately, please know I love you more than anything,"

"I do know, love." She stroked your hair. "Don't you think for a second I don't know that. And I love you too. I love you three more than I can find words for."

You smiled. "Kiss me one more time. After that I need to sleep,"

"I know you're tired. And I know something I needed when I had just had Henry was someone to tell me if I was really fucking up. My love, you are doing a fantastic job with her, and if you need anything you aren't getting enough of, or aren't getting period, please just say the word and I'll do whatever I can. I love you, okay?"

You had tears in your eyes as she left a soft, tender kiss on your lips. It was a massive task to hold back your tears. "Sorry, I don't know why—"

She didn't let you finish. It was probably a good thing, as you would have interrupted yourself anyway with your cries. She shushed you and pulled you into a hug, tugging the soft blankets over the two of you. "Shh...oh, I've got you, love..." she comforted. "It's alright. I know it's hard, I know you're exhausted, but you're...you're a lovely mother, my sweet girl."

Her loving words only made you cry more. She stopped talking after a few moments, and just let you calm yourself down. You were half asleep when you whispered, "I love you, Jen."

She whispered back, "I love you too, angel."

You awoke around three hours later to Amelia crying. JJ too was up, and she wanted to feed her herself to let you sleep. Nonetheless, you went into the nursery and sat in the rocking chair as your baby nursed. After some time, JJ peered into the room, and you shot her a little smile. "Go back to bed," you said, still smiling at her face in the darkness of the hallway.

"No, I'm here." She fully entered the room and tiptoed over to see your sweet baby. "My two girls." She kissed the top of your head, and touched Amelia's little head too.

"Jay, you really should go back to bed. She and I will be up; you don't have to be. Go back to bed,"

"Fine. I'll probably be asleep when you get back, so...good night, love."

She kissed you goodnight, kissed Amelia goodnight, and went back to bed. You finished feeding your baby, burped her, and put her back down in her crib. You joined JJ in bed once again, doing your damnedest not to rouse her, but she was still half-awake.

"Mm...hey," she murmured.

"Oh, go back to sleep, Jen..." You softly stroked her hair and gave her a kiss on the head before laying down.

"No, I wasn't asleep yet,"

"Well, you should be. Good night, love," you chuckled finally, kissing her head and rolling over to face away from her. Dissatisfied with this positioning, and feeling too far from you, she pulled you backwards, letting you nestle in, fitting with her body like a perfect puzzle piece.

Her feet were ice cold, but the rest of her body was warm against yours. She fell asleep a while before you did. Her breathing against the very top of your back was even, and you were happy that she had finally gone back to sleep. You let out a whisper — not even loud enough to be considered a whisper; it was closer to a simple breath — saying, "I love you, Jennifer."