I'm working on a sequence of stories that belong together but still stand for themselves.
Thanks to REIDFANATIC for Beta Reading.
Criminal Minds is not mine.
New Life – Old problems
Emily had started her new job a month ago, but she still didn't feel at home. When she didn't pay attention, she would still have the elevator stop one level above her new workplace, always hoping that none of her friends would notice the mistake. But, of course, she enjoyed her new life as mom. Declan turn out to be a lot easier to handle since he had left the boarding school. They had grown closer simply by being able to spend more time together. Annie slowly got used to her single mom and enjoyed having a big brother. But that was exactly what turned out to be a problem now. With Declan's adoption just barely passed and her being a single mom the agencies weren't exactly supportive of her adoption plans.
Today she had received a letter that had told her they needed more time for the decision, but the way the letter was typed simply sounded like a turn down. If they took her little girl away it would not only break her heart but also the hearts of the two children. During dinner Emily had a hard time concentrating on Annie's stories. Declan, noticing his moms absent mindedness, had taken over the conversation keeping the little girl entertained.
After dinner she had bathed the energetic five year old, before putting her to bed. She had kept herself busy with dishes and other chores; she even started to rearrange the living room, desperately trying to ignore her feelings until Declan headed to bed. Finally the clock gave her permission to send him to bed. As she headed back upstairs she'd first checked on Annie, fighting even harder to keep her tears down, as she saw the little girl huddled up in her favorite blanket. When she opened the door to Declan's room a small smile showed on her lips. He was already in his PJs reading his newest book. He acted just like any child would act that she had raised and he had only lived with her for five months.
"Don't read to long, okay?"
"The book is getting good." He smirked at her.
"And you are not going to sleep all day tomorrow no matter how long you read." She reminded him of a scenario a few weeks ago when he had spent half of the night reading and had refused to go to school the next morning.
"I know." He looked at her for a moment. She couldn't shake the feeling that he had slowly become quite good at reading her emotional state and she wasn't sure if she liked that. "Are you okay?" She had seen it coming, but still didn't know the answer to it.
"It was a long day." That seemed to be a satisfying answer, since she was not lying but also she didn't bother him with her problems.
"Okay." She saw in his face that he didn't believe her, and got the proof for that when he put his book down and then jumped from his bed walking over to her and giving her a hug.
"I love you mom." It was one of the rare occasions when he actually called her mom; usually he would stick with Emily, since neither of them was quite used to the mother-son concept yet and he had called Louise his mother for most of his life.
"I love you too." She had to fight hard to keep her tears down. When he let her go, he headed back to bed.
"Lights out by eleven for sure," she admonished only getting a nod in reply, since he already was back into his book.
When she returned to her rearranged living room her eyes fell on the letter from the adoption agency. She took it and set down on the couch. Maybe she had just misinterpreted some things and they really just needed more time for the paperwork. The pep talk to herself didn't last long, as she read the letter again and again she didn't find anything that could be interpreted differently. Being a single mom with a newly adopted teenager and a busy job, the situation was difficult.
Slowly the tears began falling down her cheeks and she finally gave up on fighting them. She sank to the side, pressing her face into one of the bright red decorative throw pillows. When had her life started to become so miserable? Hadn't she lost enough when Strauss had put an end to her relationship? She had given up her beloved job too and now they wanted to take away her little girl.
Declan stood at the doorway of the living room. He knew that she didn't want him to see her like this, but he also knew that she needed someone to hold on to. A few weeks ago that would have been Derek, but now nobody was there for her. They had never told him why they had broken up; just that it was a fact. They, or better Emily as he didn't see Derek very often anymore, also refused to tell him what had happened in the case with Annie. He had known that something was really wrong when his mom had quit her old job starting a boring desk job; not that Declan didn't like to live at home and have her around more, but it was just too much change.
He turned, quietly going back upstairs. By the time he had reached the next floor he had made up his mind. Sometimes adults needed some help whether they wanted it or not. He sneaked into the master bedroom reaching for the phone. Thankfully his number was still on speed dial.
"Hello?" His voice was tired.
"Do you still love my mom?" Declan didn't waste much time.
"What?" Derek's voice sounded irritated. "Declan is that you?"
"Yes, do you love her?"
It took a while before a response came, this time his voice was a lot softer and even a little worried.
"Yes, but that doesn't matter anymore. Some things just aren't supposed to be."
"I don't care if it is supposed to be. If you love her then you need to come over here."
"Why, what's wrong?" His voice now sounded almost alarmed.
"She won't tell me, but she is crying. And don't tell her I called." Before Derek had a chance to protest the teenager hung up and quietly went back to his room.
Nervous was an understatement of Derek's feelings as he stood in front of his old house; waiting for someone to answer the door. He wasn't sure what Declan had been talking about, but he certainly was worried and hadn't wasted any time coming over. Emily wasn't the kind of person to cry in front of the children. Something must have gone very wrong.
As she opened the door, there was no doubt left that this was the place where he needed to be. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and her hair was a one-sided mess, indicating that she had lain on that side. She was still wearing her work cloths, another sign for him that she wasn't herself, since she preferred to change in sweats as soon as she got home.
"What do you want?" She snapped, clearly not in the mood for him, but then she really hadn't been in the mood for him anytime the past few weeks. Since she had left the team he might have seen her once or twice, but she had been very adept in avoiding talking to him at all.
"You tell me. Are you okay?"
"Oh yeah I'm wonderful, having a day of joy." Her voice was filled with sarcasm.
"Emily." He didn't know what exactly he was supposed to say. He wasn't even sure how much of the mess she was, had been provoked by their separation.
"Don't Emily me." She snapped again, tired of his understanding face. She didn't want him to understand. She didn't want him to care. She wanted to forget how much she cared for him. She wanted him out of her life and he was just perfect to blame for her misery.
"You want to know what's wrong?" She started, taking a big breath. "I'll tell you. Strauss decided that my relationship needs to be ended and threatened me with all kind of stuff. She obviously won. Too bad that we were still in the same team and I still had to see you every day. Then I decided to quit my old job to save what little bit of relationship was left and take care of a teenager and a five year old. Too bad that my job was one of the reasons why Strauss could threaten us in the first place, so now I don't have either one. But that doesn't seem to be enough. Those stupid ignorant people at the adoption agency think that a single mom, who changed her life and works her butt of and loves her little girl more than anything, isn't good enough for an adoption." Towards the end her voice had gotten almost hysterical.
"So let's take Annie away too, it's not like I got much more to lose." Tears were streaming down her cheeks, her eyes were furious as she stared at him, clearly blaming him for a huge deal of her misery.
He knew that there was no point of arguing with her now and it was certainly not what she wanted him to do. So he simply held her gaze, watching as her anger slowly disappeared, making room for the hurt. Derek hadn't seen her vulnerable like this in a long time.
"I can't lose her." She sobbed, no longer caring for her defense. "I can't lose my little girl."
He stared at her for another moment, before moving towards her, pulling her into a gentle hug. He felt her struggle for the slightest moment, before she sank against his chest. Soon his t-shirt was wet with her tears, but he didn't care. It felt too good to have her back in his arms to worry about anything else.
"We should go inside." He finally murmured into her hair, his hand softly brushing over her back. He closed the door behind them and turned the alarm system back on. He then guided her upstairs to the master bedroom. As they passed the doors he could see the light turning off under Declan's door. Derek opened her door and then let go of her.
"You should change into sweats, princess." The fact that she didn't protest against his order, or the nickname, proved once more how down she was. "I'll be right back," he said with a small smile closing the door behind him. He then headed towards Declan's room, turning the light back on finding the boy wide awake.
"How much did you hear?" He asked as he softly closed the door behind him.
"That they want to take Annie away."
Derek nodded slowly, taking in the shinning eyes. That had been the part she had basically yelled at him.
"Is Annie asleep?"
The boy nodded: "I checked on her, while you were downstairs."
The agent couldn't help himself but smile.
"Good. Now you go to sleep and I make sure your mom gets some as well." It still seemed odd to him to refer to Emily as mom and he hadn't known that Declan did it. "And we will figure something out about the Annie situation. She is not going anywhere."
He could see the skeptical look on the teenager's face, but if he knew one thing for sure it was the fact that he would prevent this family from breaking apart. He hadn't seen Emily that happy in years and although she doubted herself, she made a great mother. She was everything what those kids needed and he would make sure that the adoption agency understood that.
"Go to sleep." He said again and this time Declan actually lay down. Derek turned the light back off as he left, closing the door behind him.
As he came back into the master bedroom his heart was about to break. Emily sat in the middle of her bed staring at her feet, with her head resting on her knees. He wasn't sure what to say. He felt like he had no right to interfere at all, but at the same time he wanted nothing more than help her.
"I…" He started but didn't know what he wanted to start with. It might be a good idea to figure out things between them, before he brought up his plans for Annie, but then he knew that she didn't want to talk about their situation as long as her little girl was about to be taken away from her.
"Can you just hold me?" She didn't look up or speak very loudly, but it was just the right volume for him to understand her without questioning it. He moved to the bed, sat down next to her and pulled her into his arms.
Sometime while sitting there she had fallen asleep; at least that was what he had thought before he tried to move to the guestroom.
"Don't," was all she had murmured, while closing the gap he had just created.
They had both fallen asleep in that position, Emily exhausted from her day and Derek caught up in his thoughts. He was the first one to wake as the little feet were tapping over the floor. He looked at the brunette in his arms, which still seemed to be deeply asleep. He turned again this time to the little girl staring at him and indicated for her to be quiet, by putting a finger to his lips. He then carefully moved Emily's head on a pillow and got up.
He held out his hand for Annie to take and then guided her out into the hallway where he found Declan with an apologetic look on his face. The agent just shook his head and closed the door behind him.
"Is it okay, if I have Garcia pick you two up and go to the mall or something?" Declan didn't look too happy, but nodded. "Good, would you get yourself ready?" Declan nodded again and then disappeared in his room.
"Now you little girl are a different story." He turned to Annie, crouching down in front of her. "How about you show me what you want to wear today?" Thankfully it wasn't his first time working with her. The week during the case seemed to have left some of her trust with him.
"I wanna be a butterfly." Her eyes were shining, before she turned and ran to her room, the brown curls flying behind her. He smiled while fishing for his cell in his front pocket. He hit one of his speed dials and then walked to the bedroom Annie had run into. He hadn't known how carefully Emily had decorated this. On the door bright pink and yellow letters were announcing the room's owner. He opened the door a little further to watch what the little girl was doing, noticing that his friend must have repainted the room. The lower part of the walls was painted in a light pink, while the upper half was in a soft shade of yellow.
"Garcia"
"Baby girl, what are you doing today?"
"Anything, but working on a case." He smiled at her answer.
"Could you take Declan and Annie for a while? Take them somewhere, where both of them can have fun."
"I would love too, but why are you in charge of them?"
"I can't really tell you. Everyone is okay and no, we are not dating, but I need some time to talk to Emily and she needs a break." He could basically see the little wheels turning in her head. "Just pick them up as soon as you can, okay?"
"Okay." He could hear the worried edge of her voice and rolled his eyes.
"See you in a bit." He hung up and headed towards the girl who had somehow managed to pull out half of her closet.
"I wanna wear this and this." She held up a pink tutu and a pair of pink wings.
"What about a shirt?" She looked at him with a serious expression. She then handed him her clothing choice and dived back into her closet.
"This one," she had found a blue shirt with a butterfly on it. The combination of colors seemed horrifying to him, but Garcia wouldn't mind and he wouldn't risk arguing today.
"Okay how about you put those clothes on then and I'll put the rest back into the closet." He handed her the tutu and wings.
When she came back into his view he decided that there was no way she was leaving like this. Knowing all the psychos out there the tutu didn't cover enough. He turned to the closet pulling out a pink pair of leggings.
"These would look great underneath the tutu." He held them up to her, but she shook her head.
"I want blue." She decided as she pointed up to where the blue pair was.
"Blue it is." He helped her finish and took her downstairs where he found Declan eating cereal.
"I want some." Annie climbed on her chair. The doorbell rang at the same moment and he sure hoped that didn't wake Emily up.
"I'll handle her, you can get the door." Declan said, heading to the cupboard to grab a plastic bowl for the little girl, helping her fill it with cereal and milk.
He was sure he couldn't have handled the situation without the boy. Emily and Tom had clearly done a good job in raising him. As he opened the door the blonde hurried in with a worried look on her face.
"Where is Em?"
"Sleeping and I would like to keep it that way. The kids are finishing up their breakfast."
"What happened?" Derek didn't answer, partly because he didn't want the kids to hear it and partly because he wasn't sure if Emily wanted to spread the word.
"I will tell you as soon as we have things figured out or Emily gives her okay." He didn't miss her hopeful look. Ever since Emily had been transferred his friend had tried to bring them together, not knowing that the two had already been dating and split up again.
"Baby girl nothing changed between Em and me." He therefore added before guiding her to the kitchen where the kids were eating.
"How are you doing sweet cheeks?" Garcia was already fully concentrated on Annie. She had been more than delighted as there was finally a little girl in the team family to spoil. They finished up their breakfast, before the blonde took the little girl into the hallway to get her dressed.
"Dec, wait a moment." He held the boy back while the ladies disappeared. "Do me a favor and don't tell her what you heard and saw last night. I'm not sure yet how your mom plans on handling the situation and as much as I love Pen, she can't keep things to herself." Declan nodded. "Just tell her Emily wasn't feeling well, but you don't know why."
"Okay."
A few minutes later he closed the door behind the chatting group. He took a deep breath because now he needed to figure out how to handle Emily. He was pretty sure that she would go back to distancing herself now that she had slept over everything and let her aggressions out on him.
"Where did they go?"
He jumped as her voice rang through the silence of the house. Looking up at her, he wasn't sure why he had expected her to sleep through all the noise, but he had hoped she did.
"Pen is taking them to the mall." At least that's what he hoped she did. He couldn't think of many other places where you could take two kids with that big of an age difference.
"I hope you took away her credit card or she will spoil Annie to death." He was surprised when he saw a small smile on her lips, before she headed towards the kitchen. He hadn't thought of that but who cared, being spoiled was better than abandoned.