Stand In The Rain

Sixteen

Christmas morning came with JJ and Emily waking early, and with Emily covering JJ in soft, delicate kisses for a few moments as she marveled over how happy it made her to wake up with such a beautiful person in the mornings. Had they not been in danger of a possible interruption from Emily's parents, JJ would have let Emily take her, right then and there on the bed, but since neither of them were at all quiet during sex when they were enjoying it, that would have to wait for another time, when they were actually alone. They would have to make do with kisses for the time being.

When they were decent and mostly ready to go downstairs and socialize with Elizabeth and Maximo, they stopped for a moment at the window and looked out at Kissinger Lane to see that it had been turned into a winter wonderland from the snow fall in the night.

A sudden happy thought occurred to JJ suddenly, and it actually made her blush.

Emily noticed. "What is it, birthday girl?"

"We've only been awake an hour, and this is already turning out to be a great birthday because I thought I'd be alone this year, maybe even at the office, but now I'm under the same roof as my new family." JJ tore her eyes away from the winter wonderland outside, planting a near brain-melting kiss on Emily's lips. "And between you and I, we're carrying our three children, who, by my next birthday, will be able to enjoy Christmas with us, if not just the sights and sounds that it brings. A family of my own is all I've ever wanted and thought I'd never have, but now... I have all of that and more because I'm with you, and you are the love of my life." 

Emily's heart immediately filled up with an incredible amount of love that brought tears to her eyes, prompting her to hug JJ for a moment.

"You are the love of mine," she told her. "And there's nobody else I'd rather be having a family with."

Those words warmed JJ's heart even more and she pulled away to look at her girlfriend. 

"Em?"

"Yes?"

"Just don't wait until my next birthday to ask me to be your wife, alright?"

Emily started to respond, but when she fully processed what she'd said, her heart first turned over and then she saw that JJ was already putting on a sweater over her pajamas and slippers on her feet. She even grabbed the tote bag of gifts she and Emily had bought for each other and Elizabeth and Maximo with her good hand, and when she turned to look at Emily, she gave her a look that was very magnetic. The brunette found herself being drawn to the blond, almost as if she was under a spell.

"Wait, what?" she finally managed to say, slipping an arm in the crook of JJ's when she offered it.

"Well," JJ said slyly, leading her out into the hallway, towards the staircase. "If you don't ask me, I'll ask you, but I just don't want to steal your thunder."

"Well, that's nice of you. When we are engaged, can we get a house in DuPont Circle?"

"DuPont Circle?" JJ echoed as they headed down the stairs and stopped on the landing. "Come on, Em, we're having three kids, and that calls for a house in a proper family neighborhood, like say... Capitol Hill. The Hotchners live there, and they love it."

"I guess we can look at real estate listings for houses in Capitol Hill when vacation is over." Emily said. "Can we get a cat for the babies?"

"Only if you want me sneezing uncontrollably and breaking into hives."

"Okay... then we'll get them a puppy and call him Chico."

"Chico?!" JJ protested. "Absolutely not, and that's the kind of name you give to a hamster!"