Stand In The Rain

Thirty Four

As JJ had suspected even before they'd left Quantico, Sasha and her family lived in the Little Odessa neighborhood of Brighton Beach, an area of New York City that was adjacent to Coney Island and faced the Atlantic Ocean. JJ quite liked the ocean, and sat beside Emily in their SUV while they waited for Sasha to get Luna from her car. She didn't know exactly what Emily was thinking at that moment, but as for herself, she all of a sudden found herself imagining the two of them in a plane together, come summertime, after their wedding, bound for a waterfront honeymoon spot.

"Jayje? You in there?"

The blond snapped out of her dream state and turned to her girlfriend. "Yep."

"What were you thinking?"

"That when we get married, I would like to go somewhere that the ocean is easily accessible."

Emily opened her mouth and then promptly shut it when she realized that she didn't know how to respond. Even though they weren't engaged yet, they still hadn't sat down yet to have a proper conversation about a time of year for their wedding, let alone anything about the honeymoon.

"Cat got your tongue?" JJ teased cheekily.

"I—"

Emily didn't get a chance to answer that because by then Sasha had approached their car with Luna on her hip and beckoned for them to follow her.

Sasha's apartment was a bit small, but very quaint, and it had a style that was both modern and old at the same time. It was as if Sasha had adapted to the changing times over the years, while still honoring her homeland. It made JJ think of how her fathers' parents' house had been.

Used to playing hostess because she entertained her neighbors all the time, Sasha took her guests' coats and hung them up in the front closet. After politely declining anything to drink, Sasha guided them towards the back hall of the apartment, stopping about halfway down and pointing to a white door with a sign bearing the message, Polina's Room.

"Here you go." Sasha said. "This is my sister's room, and everything is as she last left it, but I shut the door to discourage Luna from wandering in."

JJ and Emily thanked her and then watched her head back down the hallway, Luna toddling along beside her. After JJ and Emily put their latex gloves on, Emily headed into Polly's room first, and when she saw that JJ wasn't beside her, she looked back to see her still in the hallway, massaging her baby bump and talking to it.

"Come on, you guys." she told them. "Please be good right now."

The twins just ignored JJ and kept kicking away.

Sighing, JJ followed Emily into the bedroom and surveyed it to see that it was typical of a happy girl in early elementary school, although they immediately picked up on a theme: everything in the room was Disney princess themed.

"Oh, man." JJ laughed as they looked through Polly's things for a few minutes. "I'm having flashbacks of life with my sister."

Emily smiled in amusement; she remembered very well hers and JJ's brief jaunt to Pennsylvania to see Sandy, and while she'd loved everything about it, she really loved hearing stories about JJ and her sister having fun together.

"Oh? Did you dig princesses?"

JJ blushed as she answered, "This has to stay between us, but I was more into Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony. Rosaline was the one who dug princesses, but sometimes we'd pretend that we were princesses."

"Aww, that's adorab—jeez!"

Emily's words were derailed when she felt a sharp kick in the underside of the middle, so she put down the book she'd been examining and massaged the spot.