a new type of morning.
the last thing jj remembers before falling asleep is finally answering elle’s frantic text messages. which—okay, jj can understand the panic. she’s usually a quick responder, and going radio silent for a few hours while being somewhere unfamiliar is a recipe for elle to start acting like she’s running a one-woman fbi task force on her whereabouts.
elle: brunch tomorrow still good?
elle: heeeellllloooo
elle: jennifer, are you alive?
elle: okay, it’s been two hours and your location is not at a place i know, did you have a booty call you didn’t tell me about??
elle: JENNIFER ANNE JAREAU THIS IS NOT CUTE
she remembers laughing, rubbing her face as she quickly typed back a response. she’s too tired to explain where she is, and it’s not something she even knows how to explain, so she lies just a little.
jj: yes, it’s still good!! and no, no booty call!!! i’m sorry, my phone was dead and i didn’t realize it. i’ll see you at 11.
she barely remembers setting her phone down before sleep claimed her entirely. but he softest sound pulls her out of sleep the next morning.
at first, jj barely registers it, shifting slightly, burying her face further into the pillow, letting sleep try to pull her back under. then. a tiny, muffled whimper. a small, sleepy voice.
“eeeeeeeemmmy…”
jj groans quietly, still hovering in that place between asleep and awake, her brain not fully processing anything yet. another soft sound.
”...up, emmmmy…”
jj frowns slightly, rolling onto her side, not fully comprehending. then, soft footsteps in the hallway. she blinks, remembering the she is certainly not asleep in her bed in her house, but in the guest bedroom of emily’s home instead.
and suddenly, she hears it. the sweetest sound jj thinks she’s ever heard in her entire life. emily.
“mmm, good morning, baby.”
her voice is warm, gentle, thick with sleep and rasp as she steps into aria’s room. jj stays completely still, barely even breathing, just listening.
the soft creak of the crib. the rustle of fabric. the quiet, content sigh of a toddler being lifted into the safety of her mother’s arms .
“hi, bug,” emily murmurs, and jj can hear the smile in her voice.
aria lets out a tiny huff of breath, a sleepy little noise of acknowledgment as emily shifts her against her chest.
“oh, you’re so snuggly in the mornings,” emily hums, rubbing slow circles over aria’s back.
jj can picture it perfectly. aria, sleepy and warm, her curls a complete mess, her face smushed against emily’s shoulder, her tiny fingers clutching onto the fabric of emily’s sweatshirt like she’s not quite ready to trust the world yet. like she needs emily to make it safe first.
“did you dream, baby?” emily asks, voice still hushed, so patient, like she’s ready to hear whatever makes sense in aria’s little world. there’s another soft shift of fabric, the little girl readjusting in emily’s hold. a small, barely formed mumble.
“sergy.”
jj hears emily let out a quiet laugh, a low, morning-filled chuckle, thick with affection and a but of happiness that aria is talking a bit right now.
“of course you dreamed about sergio,” she murmurs, swaying slightly, pressing a kiss to the top of aria’s curls.
jj smiles to herself, warmth settling deep in her chest. she listens as emily adjusts her hold, shifting aria in her arms before setting her down on the changing table with a quiet oof.
“okay, bug, let’s get you changed, huh?”
there’s a soft rustle of fabric, the sound of snaps popping open, the light crinkle of a fresh diaper.
“you were so sleepy last night,” emily hums, her voice dipping into something even softer, the way only a mother speaking to her child can sound. aria hums in return, one of those early-morning, infant-like sounds toddlers still make before they’ve fully woken up. jj smiles, because god, she’s never heard emily like this before . so gentle, so soft and unguarded. even when she’s been around emily and aria for hours - the soft hours of the morning, are different. especially in motherhood.
emily’s voice changes, something even warmer slipping into it, something jj can’t quite name yet.
“you know,” emily murmurs, fastening the new diaper with practiced ease, “jj gave you a bath last night. and she put you to bed.”
jj blinks, surprised to hear her name enter the conversation. she hears aria let out a small, breathy little coo, the kind she makes when she’s content, when she’s remembering something she likes.
emily hums again, smiling.
“yeah, bug. she took such good care of you hm?”
another little huff from aria, another soft shift of her body against the changing pad.
“she washed your hair so nice and slow, and made sure no water got in your eyes..” emily continues, rubbing a gentle hand over aria’s belly. “and she rocked you before bed. you fell asleep right in her arms, huh?”
jj swallows, something tight in her throat. because hearing it, hearing emily say it out loud, hearing aria react to it – it’s different than just knowing it happened. it’s something deeper.
“mmm,” aria hums again, a tiny little affirmation in her sleepy voice.
emily grins, pressing another kiss to her forehead.
“yeah, baby. you love your jayje, huh ?”
jj stops breathing. because that that was so easy for emily to say. like it was natural, like it was true. and when aria coos again, letting out another soft little hum of agreement, jj feels something settle so deep in her chest she doesn’t know if it’ll ever leave.
she can’t help it, she needs to see it. she pushes the blanket off of her, quietly slipping out of bed, padding barefoot down the hall, moving toward aria’s room like she’s being pulled by something greater than herself.
when she reaches the doorway, she pauses. because seeing it, seeing emily like this and not just hearing it? it hits her in a way she wasn’t fully prepared for. emily is standing barefoot by the changing table, still in her pajamas with a robe around her, her dark hair messy from sleep. she’s fastening aria’s onesie back up, tucking her back securely against her chest, holding her like she’s something precious she must protect from this world.
jj watches as emily rubs a slow hand over aria’s back, soothing in its rhythm, in its instinct.
“there we go, all fresh,” emily murmurs, shifting her to rest on her hip. “ready for breakfast, bug?”
aria yawns, her small hands gripping onto emily’s robe, her face still tucked against her shoulder. emily smiles, rubbing slow, steady circles on her back.
jj feels it. something deep. something she doesn’t quite know how to name yet. but she knows one thing for certain. she could watch this—watch emily like this—forever. however, she is pulled from her gaze—snapped back to reality—by the softest sound she thinks she has ever heard.
a noise so small, so gentle, that it seems to settle into the air without disturbing anything. it’s that sleepy, infant-like hum that toddlers make in the early morning, when they’re still half-dreaming, still caught between the comfort of sleep and the excitement of wakefulness.
it’s joyful, and it’s because of her. jj watches as aria’s big brown eyes peek over emily’s shoulder, scanning the room—and then, when she sees jj, recognition lights her up .
a soft, pleased little breath escapes her lips, and then she says it.
“jayjeeeee.”
emily pauses, turning slightly, following aria’s gaze, and there jj is. standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame, still tossed from sleep yet beautiful. emily’s breath catches because it feels normal, like this is their view every morning. like jj waking up in her home, standing sleepily in the doorway while aria greets her with excitement, like that’s just life.
emily sits in that feeling for a moment, because she has a suspicion that jj wants to sit in it, too. just for a second longer.
when she finally speaks her voice is low, warm, something soft curled around the edges.
“are you joining us for breakfast?”
jj shifts slightly, arms folding gently over her stomach, grinning.
“if you’ll have me?”
aria lets out the softest giggle, clapping her little hands together, like ‘oh yes. this is everything i have wanted’.
emily smiles, shaking her head fondly.
“well, it looks like you have an official invitation, then.”
jj does nothing to fight the warmth blooming in her chest this time. because if this is how mornings are going to be, she never wants to wake up anywhere else.