Chapter 53: Just Us Two
Bella woke up that Tuesday morning to find Emily still asleep holding her. She hugged her mom tightly and Emily woke up.
"Good morning" Emily smiled.
"Good morning" Bella said smiling too. Both glad to be together.
"Did you sleep okay?" Emily asked.
"Yup" Bella said. "You?"
"Yup" Emily copied the girl and Bella let out a little laugh.
Suddenly Garcia walked in.
"I heard a cute little laugh coming from here" Penelope said walking to Isabella's side of the bed. Bella smiled and sat up. Penelope wrapped the girl in a hug.
"Good morning my pretty little unicorn" she said and Bella and Emily laughed.
Bella let go of the hug and said "good morning aunt bubbly" Bella said and they smiled.
"Let's have breakfast?" Emily asked.
"Yup" Bella said.
"Alright. Come on then, yupy girl" Emily said and they went to the kitchen.
"Good morning ladies" Derek said when they walked in. Bella walked to him and gave him a hug. "Did you sleep okay, princess?" He asked.
"Yes" Bella said and sat next to Emily.
Suddenly Garcia's phone rang.
"it's Hilary." Penelope smiled. She answered and it was actually Chloe wanting to talk to Bella.
"She's right here. Wait a sec" Penelope said and handed the phone to Bella.
"Hello?" Bella said.
"It's Chlo" Chloe said.
"Oh hi" Bella said and walked out of the kitchen. "What's up?" Bella asked walking to her bedroom.
"Why didn't you go to Ballet yesterday? Miss Kim went nuts because it's almost the last rehearsal" Chloe said.
"Oh my god! I forgot. I seriously forgot" Bella said.
"Did something happen and you just didn't go?" Chloe asked.
"My mom got the keys yesterday." Bella said. "We were at the new house painting my bedroom and I forgot about it. I just forgot"
"That's cool. I can't wait to see how it's like." Chloe said.
"I'll talk to my mom later and I'll see if we can take you there sometime" Bella said.
"Okay" Chloe said smiling excited. "Well, you can't miss the next rehearsal though. Because she's doing corrections and things like that."
"I won't" Bella said.
"Alright. So I'll see you at school"
"See you" Bella said and hung up. She got off her bed and went back to the kitchen.
"So why did she call Garcia's phone instead of yours?" Emily asked.
"I don't-" Bella said.
"And what did she want?" Derek cut her off.
"Calm down people" Bella said and they laughed.
Bella looked at Morgan and he made a face showing he was waiting for the answer.
"Well, yesterday we forgot about dance class." Bella said.
"Oh yeah. Sorry honey but that was the last thing on my mind" Emily said.
"Mine too" Bella said.
"You can't miss anymore, right? Cause the dance is coming up" Penelope said.
"Yeah" Bella said.
"And are you still excited about that?" Emily asked and they talked about dance, then about school being almost over and then about Isabella's friends. Once they finished eating, Emily said she wanted to go to her apartment and start packing.
"We could try to pack the first floor today" Emily told Bella who looked nervous.
"I don't really want to go" Bella said.
"Why not? I need help, Bells. I can't do it all by myself" Emily said.
"Well, Derek can help." Bella said.
"Derek needs to work" Emily said.
"I actually don't" Derek said.
"See, perfect. You can help her then" Bella said standing up and taking her plate to the sink.
"Bella" Derek said and the girl looked at him. "We'll be there with you." He added.
"I don't want to go" Bella said serious.
"I'm here now. Why don't you wanna go?" Emily said.
"Because" Bella said.
"Because of what? There's nothing wrong with the apartment, honey" Emily said.
"I'm not going" Bella said looking upset and walked away to her bedroom.
Emily stood up to follow her but Derek said "leave her. She can stay with Penelope. We don't have to force her to do this"
Emily sat back down and finished her coffee. Once she was done, she went to Isabella's bedroom to change her clothes so they could go. She walked in to find Bella reading a book sitting on the dog bed with Lulu and looking upset.
"Are you sure you don't want to go?" She asked the girl.
Bella nodded yes.
"Are you scared of something there or...?" Emily asked sitting on the bed and facing Bella.
Bella shook her head no.
"What's wrong then?" Emily asked.
"Nothing" Bella said. "I just don't want to"
Emily stood up and sat down on the floor next to Bella.
"I know you well enough to know that's not true" she said as Bella looked down. "Why don't you wanna go?"
Bella took some time to think and decided to just open up to her mom.
"It's just that when it happened... I went there and as looked around... I... I remembered things with you and it just made me really sad. And then I kind of just... I just didn't feel good even thinking about going there. I still don't feel good." Bella said.
"It makes you sad and nervous?" Emily asked as she grabbed Bella's hand.
"Yeah" Bella nodded.
"You don't have to go then" Emily said. "Okay?"
"Okay" Bella said and Emily pulled the child to her lap. Bella hugged her book.
"I'm glad you told me" Emily said.
"It's stupid I know" Bella said picking the book cover.
"It's not, honey. I understand how it feels. I feel the same way sometimes" Emily said holding the girl's hand.
"When?" Bella asked resting her head on her mother's chest.
"When I was in France. I would see a child and I would think about you and the things we did and how you were doing... and there was a time that going out was really hard. So I know how it feels and... You don't have to go there ever again. Cause I don't want you to feel like that. Alright? That's why we got the new house. So we can have a fresh start and make new memories... Together huh?" Emily said and Bella smiled a little. Emily smiled when she saw.
"So you don't have to go, okay?"
"Okay" Bella said.
Emily hugged her tight.
"Mommy"
"Yes"
"Im so happy you're here" Bella said.
"Me too" Emily smiled and hugged the girl tight.
CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM
Around 10:30am, Derek and Emily left Bella with Garcia and headed to Emily's apartment. They packed the living room and were working on Isabella's bedroom when Derek said...
"Look at this smile." He said holding up a picture of Bella with Chloe and Gavin.
Emily saw it and smiled.
"It was amazing seeing her smiling like that yesterday" Emily said.
"She was so happy" said Derek.
"Yeah. I missed that" Emily said.
"We all did" Derek said as his smile faded.
Emily looked sorry.
"It was hard" he said. "But I'm glad it's over." He smiled and put the photo inside a box.
"I don't think I can ever thank you enough for what you did" Emily said putting her hand on top of his.
"Just make sure she'll keep smiling like this" Derek said and Emily let out a breathy laugh.
"I will" she said and walked to the other side of the room to pack some stuffed animals.
Emily looked at a picture of John and said "you'll visit her, won't you?"
"Of course I will" Derek said.
"Cause... you know..." Emily said showing him the picture.
"I know" Derek nodded a bit serious.
"Derek you don't... You don't have to be like that with her if you don't want to. You don't really need to have that responsibility. You're her uncle" Emily said.
"It's okay Em. I want to and... I don't think she sees me as her uncle anymore" Derek said as if he was stating the obvious.
"Did she say something?" Emily asked surprised.
"Yeah." He said and Emily looked even more surprised. "The other day she was nervous about moving and she got a little upset and she said that it was going to be different now and that I wasn't going to be like a dad anymore"
"She said that?" Emily asked. She actually loved the fact that Isabella saw him as a father figure.
"She did. It was so out of nowhere that I don't even know if she realized what she said and just kept going or..." He said.
Emily nodded.
"Emily if you don't want me to be like that with her, I understand but-" Derek said but Emily cut him off.
"I want you to. I really do. She deserves that" Emily said and Derek nodded looking a bit relieved. "I'm here and I hope that will make things easier for her but I have no illusions. I know that as much as she loves me and needs me, I know that what I did to her... That's always going to be there." She said. "She needs you, Morgan. Please just... Don't leave her too" Emily said as her eyes filled with tears.
"I'll never leave her" Derek said.
A tear rolled down Emily's cheek. Derek wasn't used to seeing Emily cry. He walked to her and just wrapped his arms around her and she just broke down. She broke down because she was ashamed of leaving her daughter again. She was scared of Isabella always being scared. She was sad because she believed she would never have her daughter's full trust. She was sad she would never have those 4 months back.
She just cried and Derek just let her cry.
Once she calmed a bit down she let go of the hug and wiped her face embarrassed. She never liked crying in front of people.
"It's insane how you two are alike" Derek said and let out a laugh. Emily smiled.
Suddenly her phone rang. Derek went back to packing and she answered the call.
"Prentiss" Emily said.
"Hey it's me JJ."
"Hi" Emily said and walked out of the room.
"I tried Morgan's but it went straight to voice mail" JJ said.
"His phone must have died. He's helping me pack for the move" Emily explained.
"Oh. Already?" JJ said.
"Yeah" Emily said. "So... Umm do you need to talk to him?"
"Well, we have a case in San Diego. You gotta tell him to meet the team in the office" JJ said.
"Okay I will" Emily said.
"Alright. I'll see you when we get back" JJ said. "Bye"
"Bye" Emily said, hung up, and went to tell Derek.
"JJ called and you need to go to BAU." Emily said. "You guys have a case"
"Are you gonna be able to finish this?" He asked.
"I'll try my best" Emily said making a face and he laughed.
"Come on. I'll drop you off" Emily said and they headed out.
CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM
At Derek's house, Bella was playing in the backyard with Lulu when Penelope went to get her.
"You need to come to the office with me, bunny" Garcia said.
"Why?" Bella asked running to the back door.
"We have a case" Garcia said and Bella walked inside.
"Oh" the girl said.
"We gotta go" Penelope said. Bella grabbed a few things and they locked the house and left.
CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM
Emily parked the car and saw Penelope's car so she went inside the BAU with Morgan. They got to their floor and when they walked inside, Bella was sitting on Reid's desk. When she saw Emily she got really scared. She ran to Emily and hugged her.
"You're not going, are you?" She asked looking clearly scared.
"No. No baby. I just came to drop Derek off. I wasn't even coming inside, I came because I saw Penelope's car" Emily said. "We're going home, okay?"
Bella nodded and let go of the hug.
Derek smiled.
"It's 10 past 1 and you young lady have a test today" Emily said. Bella made a disgusted face and everyone laughed.
They said goodbye to everyone and left.
CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM
"Did you have lunch?" Emily asked.
"No. Penny was cooking pasta but we had to leave" Bella said.
"Do you want McDonald's?" Emily asked.
"Sure" Bella smiled.
Emily went to the drive thru and got chicken nuggets, barbecue sauce and Coke for them. She drove to the school, parked the car and they ate.
"Confident about the test today?" Emily asked Bella.
"I guess so" Bella said.
Emily smiled.
They finished eating and Bella went in. Emily waited in the car.
About half an hour later, Isabella was out.
"How did it go?" Emily asked excited.
"Good" Bella smiled.
"Good enough for an A?" Emily asked.
"A+" Bella smiled.
"Ohhh" Emily laughed. "We should celebrate then"
"Mom, I think I got an A+. I'm not sure yet" Bella said.
"Celebratory ice cream for just feeling good about it then" Emily said and Bella laughed.
"Sure. Who am I to deny "celebratory" ice cream" Bella said and Emily drove.
They ate ice cream and talked about the test. Once done, Emily decided she wanted to look for a few things at Bed, Bath and Beyond, so they headed there.
They shopped for a looooong time and Bella was starting to get bored and tired.
"Mom, can we go now? I think we already have enough stuff" she said. Emily smiled as Bella made a tired face.
"Let's go" Emily said turning the cart around so they could go pay. Some of the things they bought were meant to be delivered to the house so Emily signed a few things and they headed to the car.
"I'm hungry" Bella said.
"Me too" Emily said making a face as she pushed the heavy cart.
Bella helped her load everything up and then they went to Olive Garden to eat. They had a great time but Emily had to agree the kid looked tired so once they finished she payed and left. Emily stopped by their new house and put the bags in the living room and then they headed to Derek's. There Bella showered and put on pajamas. She was exhausted. Emily showered too and met the girl in the living room to watch some tv. Bella rested her head on Emily's lap as they watched MasterChef.
As the night went on, Emily noticed Bella was getting tense.
Around 9:45 Emily could see the kid was now looking scared.
"Baby, is everything okay?" Emily asked and Bella nodded yes.
"Hey. I know you. What's wrong?" Emily said soothing Bella's hair.
"It's just that we're alone here" Bella said.
"Sit up" Emily said and the girl did as told.
"I'm right here with you. We're safe." Emily said holding her daughter's hands, and Bella just looked down. "You don't feel safe?" Emily asked.
Bella shook her head no and started crying.
Emily pulled the girl to her lap and held her tight. She waited till Bella calmed a bit down before talking.
"You feel better when Derek's here?" Emily asked and Bella nodded.
"I understand that but you have nothing to worry about. He's gone. Doyle is gone. You're safe, I promise" Emily said.
"I just miss Derek. I don't feel that good when he's away" Bella explained.
"You need your dad at home?" Emily said to see what Bella would say.
"What?" Bella asked a bit confused.
"He talked to me about what you said" Emily said and Bella stayed serious. "About things being different now and he not being like a dad anymore" she said and Bella looked down.
"I didn't call him dad. I just said he was like one" Bella explained. She felt the need to.
"But he took you in. He loves you. I think he is your dad."
"Don't say that" Bella said now looking upset.
"Don't say what?" Emily asked.
"John is my dad" Bella said.
"He's your biological dad. But that doesn't mean you can't have an adoptive one" Emily said and Bella just kept looking down.
"Baby it's okay if you see him as your dad too. You can have more than one. People have stepdads all the time. That's okay. And I know that John just wants you to be happy, no matter where he is" Emily explained just knowing exactly what Bella was thinking.
"Are you sure he won't be mad?" Bella asked looking right at Emily's eyes.
"I'm sure Bella" Emily said and wrapped the girl in a tight hug.
"I want him to be my dad then" Bella said. "I love him" she said and Emily smiled.
"I know he loves you too" Emily said running her hand on Bella's arm.
"Do you think he'll want that?" Bella asked.
"I think he'd love that" Emily smiled.
She kept hugging the girl and they were silent for a while.
"I miss dad" Bella said out of nowhere. "John. Dad John" she said.
Emily held in a smile.
"I know you do." Emily said. "I miss him too"
"Are you sure he won't be mad or sad?" Bella asked.
"I'm sure baby" Emily said and held Bella tight while soothing the girl's hair. They stayed quiet watching tv and after a while Bella ended up sleeping. Emily held the girl tight till the episode she was watching ended. Then she turned the tv off and carried Isabella to bed.
Emily laid down and she was feeling relieved. That was their first night together just the two of them. She was happy that even though Bella felt scared she pushed through it and was now sleeping peacefully. She was also glad the girl had a busy day and was really tired at night.
Emily pulled the covers up higher and kissed the girl's cheek. Bella stayed asleep.
CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM
Wednesday morning went okay.
Emily and Bella just hung out at Derek's house together. They watched some tv, played chess, clue, and then Bella studied a little. Around 12:30, they went to Outback for lunch and while they were eating, Emily got a call from Hilary asking if she needed help packing.
"Chloe told me you will be moving to the new house soon and I thought maybe you could use some help. We can leave the girl's in my apartment" Hilary said.
"Are you sure that won't be a problem for you?" Emily asked. She wanted the help but she was embarrassed.
"Not at all." Hilary said.
"Okay. I'd love that then" Emily said and both women laughed.
"Alright then. Could you pick up Chloe and Millie for me today?"
"Of course." Emily said.
"Thanks. I'll see you soon" Hilary said.
"Okay. Bye" Emily said. Hilary said bye and they hung up.
"Who was it?" Bella asked.
"Hilary" Emily smiled. "She's going to help me with the move"
"Today?" Bella asked.
"Yeah"
"But I don't have anybody to stay with me" Bella said worried.
"You can stay at Chloe's. We'll be right upstairs" Emily said. "Is that okay?"
Bella nodded.
They finished eating and headed to the school. Bella did her test and was happy to walk out of school with Chloe and Millie.
"How was the test, girls?" Emily asked.
"Great" Chloe and Bella said in unison.
"More As coming?" Emily asked.
"Yup" Bella said with a smile.
Emily smiled back. Emily looked in the review mirror and said smiling "Chloe help Millie with her seat belt"
Chloe did as told and Emily drove to their building.
.
The afternoon went great. The kids played games in the living room while Toy Story 2 played in the tv behind them.
Upstairs at Emily's apartment, Hilary looked like a pro at packing.
"How many times have you moved? You're like a professional" Emily said as they worked on the kitchen.
"Too many times I'll tell ya" Hilary said and they laughed.
At 4 they took the kids to dance class, so they could rehearse the dance for their recital, and went back to Emily's apartment with Millie. They finished the kitchen, Isabella's bedroom, Emily's bedroom, the living room and the dinning room. At 6, they picked up Bella and Chloe and went to have dinner at the food court in the mall. Everyone had a great time and Emily was happy to go out with her friend and see Bella so happy with hers.
"Are you going to the party tomorrow? Gavin said it's the best day of school" Chloe said, talking about the "last day of school party" their school had every year.
"I don't know" Bella said.
"Parents can go" Hilary said just knowing that was the reason Bella didn't want to go.
"Yeah. It's from 7:30 to 1:30pm. It's gonna be fun and your mom can go too" Chloe said.
Bella looked at Emily.
"Sounds fun to me" Emily smiled and Bella smiled back.
"Okay. I guess I'm going then" Bella said and everybody smiled. Everybody but Millie who was too busy eating her chicken nuggets.
Once dinner was over, Hilary went to her apartment and Emily went to Derek's house.
"It feels weird with just us here" Bella said as they entered.
"We are not alone" Emily said as she spotted Lulu and Sergio cuddling on the couch.
Bella dropped her dance bag and walked closer to them and said "oh come on! He doesn't even do that to me."
Emily laughed and scooped Bella up.
"Well, but I do" she said and carried Bella to the couch. They sat there and snuggled while watching a couple episodes of "Friends".
CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM
Later at night Bella got a call from Morgan. He told her the team was working really hard but he wasn't sure when they'd be going back.
"Just be careful, okay?" She said.
"I will, baby girl" he said.
"Bye" Bella said.
"Bye" Derek said and they hung up.
"So..?" Emily said.
"They don't know when they'll be back." Bella said looking a bit down.
"I think I want some ice cream. Would you like some?" Emily said changing the subject.
"Yup" Bella said.
"The yupy girl is back" Emily smiled and went to the kitchen to get the ice cream. She put two scoops for Bella and two for her and took the bowls to the living room. They ate and then Bella went to take the bowls to the sink. She placed them there but instead of going back to the living room she went to her bedroom. She opened her school backpack and grabbed a notebook. She grabbed a pen, sat on her desk and started to write a letter.
"BELLA?" Emily called.
"I'm in my room. I'll be there in a sec" Bella yelled.
20 minutes later, in the living room Emily was starting to get a bit worried. She stood up to go look for Bella but when she turned to leave, the girl was there.
"Mom" Bella said walking in the living room. Emily smiled trying to take a mental picture of how adorable Isabella looked in her ballet clothes.
"I wrote a letter. Can you read it and tell me if it's good or not?" Isabella asked.
"Of course" Emily said with a smile and sat back down. "Who is it for?" Emily asked.
"Uncle Derek" Bella said shyly. She handed the letter to her mother. At the moment Emily grabbed, the girl ran away to her room. Emily smiled and opened the letter. She started reading it and couldn't help but get teary eyed. It was a beautiful letter.
Once she finished it she went to Isabella's bedroom. She opened the door to find Bella sitting at the end of the bed. She walked in and sat beside her.
"This is beautiful, Bells" Emily said with her eyes full of tears. Bella looked at her and Emily could see the girl was a little embarrassed but she was trying hard to hide a smile.
"I am so proud of you. So proud" Emily said.
"Why?" Bella asked a bit confused. She thought she didn't really do anything for Emily to be proud, it was just a letter.
"You are incredible. The most wonderful 9 year-old ever" Emily said and smiled, as Bella smiled shyly.
Emily stared at her daughter's red cheeks and smiled big.
"I really don't know what I did for God to bless me with you as daughter" Emily said.
"You had sex, mom. That's what you did" Bella said and Emily bursted into laughter.
"I love you" Emily said wrapping her arms around her daughter.
"I love you too" Bella smiled.
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen247.Pro