Violet's used to coming home to an empty house. When she was younger, Emily always had a nanny or someone to be around when she couldn't. But today Violet walks in the door to the still-new loft and finds it empty. She likes being alone, actually. It gives her time to read, do homework, sing loudly and terribly without worry.
"Hey, Sergio," she murmurs, setting down her bag and bending down to pick up the sleek black cat.
Her mother gave her to Violet for her 10th birthday. She'd asked for a puppy, but her mother said dogs needed more attention. A cat was more logical.
"How was your first day alone in the new digs?" Violet pets the cat. Sergio purrs a reply.
Her phone starts to vibrate.
"Hi Grandma," she says, answering the call.
"Well, there you are," Elizabeth Prentiss replies. "I was starting to worry."
"Sorry. First day of school," Violet explains, taking a bunch of grapes from the fridge.
"How was it, darling? Did you make some friends?"
"Yeah, actually. One."
"Well, tell me about them."
"Um, his name's Matthew. He's in all of my classes except gym. He's super smart, and he, too, doesn't bite the J.D. Salinger bait."
Her grandmother laughs.
"Well you've found a friend for life, then," she teases.
Violet read The Catcher in the Rye when she was 12 and despised every page of it, a feeling that not many people share.
"Yeah," she laughs softly. "One in a million."
"And what else does Matthew like? My granddaughter, perhaps?"
"He likes boys, Grandma," Violet replies, knowing.
Sometimes her mother is so much like her grandmother, Emily would kill her if she ever said it to her face.
"Oh," Elizabeth replies, surprised. "Well he obviously has great taste in friends, too."
Violet grins, shaking her head.
"I'd love to meet him when I come visit," Elizabeth goes on.
"When are you coming?"
"Well I was hoping to make it for Thanksgiving in a few weeks, but I think Christmas is more likely."
"Good," Violet sighs. "At least something will feel homey around here."
"Oh, sweetheart. Don't you like the loft? I gave the decorator specific instructions."
"No, it's amazing, Grandma. Really. I love it," Violet assures her. "I just mean…I dunno. We've never lived in one place long enough for me to celebrate more than three Christmases. It's always different people, but I always know you'll be here."
"Oh, honey. I wouldn't miss it."
Violet smiles, making her way up the stairs.
"Your mother isn't home yet, I imagine?"
"No. Boston."
"I trust you and she went over the important matters?"
She means the hidden gun in the house; the go bags in the front closet with passports, money, and cell phones.
"Yeah," Violet replies.
She's also a black belt in karate, and she and her mother have taken kickboxing classes since Violet was eight.
"Good," Elizabeth says. "It comforts your old grandma to know you're prepared."
"Old," Violet scoffs. "Yeah right, Grandma."
Elizabeth Prentiss doesn't look her age, sound her age, or act her age. Retirement is probably never in her future. She will never get tired.
"Well, sweetheart, I have to go," Elizabeth tells her. "I'm being pestered by my assistant here."
"Okay. I'll talk to you soon."
"You make sure the door is locked and be careful."
"I will, Grandma."
"I love you, honey."
"Love you, too," Violet replies.
She hangs up and jogs back downstairs to where her school bag is. She carries it upstairs to her room and sits down at her desk.
Her phone buzzes again. Her mother. Still in Boston, but making progress.
Violet sends a response and starts on her homework.
The case was easier than Emily thought it would be. Her first case as a member of the BAU, and she knocked it outta the park.
She spent Monday morning with Barnes, Derek, and Gideon, examining the crime scene and the victim.
In the afternoon she was back at the police station, working with the team. It was Emily who picked up on the fact that each victim's stolen piece of jewelry contained a specific stone in it — a birthstone, to be exact. The killer had already gotten his garnet, amethyst, aquamarine, diamond, and emerald. There was no way the team was going to let him get his pearl.
It was Reid who pieced together most of the rest, figuring out that a local jeweller had died five months ago, bequeathing his jewelry store to his only child, a son. With Gideon's help, they found the guy. He was booked and in a cell by midnight.
"Nice work today, Prentiss," Aaron says to her, as the team files off the jet.
"Thank you, sir," Emily nods.
"I'm sorry if I was a little rude today," he goes on.
"It's fine, sir. Really. I understand. But I do hope you know that no strings were pulled to get me this job," Emily informs him. "I hate politics, and nepotism fits into that category. I would never use my mother to boost me into a position."
Aaron listens and then nods. He has to give it Emily, she's proving herself to be a great team member.
"I think you're going to fit in well," he replies, almost smiling.
After he walks away, JJ falls into step beside her.
"That's the closet thing to a smile you'll ever get from him," she tells Emily.
"I'm not surprised," Emily replies.
"He's right, though," JJ grins. "I think you're a great addition."
"Thanks, JJ," Emily replies gratefully.
"So, hey, I know you've gotta get home to your girl, but the team's going for drinks on Friday. Not to a bar or anything. Just a pub-type place. You can bring Violet. We'd love to meet her. You in?"
"Sure," Emily replies after a second. She nods once. "Drinks sounds great."
When she gets home, Emily is careful to be quiet. Violet can be a light sleeper when she's anxious, and Emily knows she's been on edge since arriving in the States again.
"Hey, buddy," she says quietly, bending down to pick up Sergio. "You take care of our baby girl today?"
The cat's response is a light mew.
"Good boy," Emily murmurs, giving him a squeeze and then setting him down.
She pads up the stairs. She sees that Violet's light is still on so she wanders over.
When she sees Violet's empty, messed-up bed, her heart stutters in her chest.
No, Emily thinks to herself, her breath stuck in her lungs.
Quickly she races over to her own bedroom.
When she sees Violet in her bed with a book beside her, her place saved with her thumb, Emily has to smile. She could never count the number of times she's walked in to find Violet passed out with a book. She reads herself to sleep more often than not.
She should have known that her daughter would choose to sleep in her bed, rather than alone. She's spent every other night there this entire week.
Emily carefully moves the textbooks and binders off the bed, and sets the book on the night table, being sure to bookmark the page.
She gently lifts Violet's legs and covers her with the blanket. When she gets closer to Violet's head, her eyes barely open.
"Hey, baby," Emily whispers, stroking the hair from Violet's forehead.
"Did you get him?" Violet asks, clearly out of it.
"Yeah, honey. We got him," Emily replies.
With that, Violet rolls over and drifts back into sleep.
Emily presses a kiss onto her cheek and then clicks off the lamp on that side of the bed.
She knows what Violet means about the loft not feeling homey yet, but she also has nothing to complain about. She's grown up moving frequently. It's the fact that Violet hates it that made Emily take this job. It's less travel than her CIA gig, and Violet's happiness is what's most important.
It's why she knows she'll come to feel at home here.
Her mother found the loft for them - a spacious, modern place in the nice area of town. She'd even sent over decorators to paint and prepare the place, making sure that Violet's room was painted purple, that it was close to a park and some cafes and shops. She even picked out some stuff for Emily that she ended up loving. She was surprised to find out that her mother knew her so well.
After washing up, she crawls into bed beside Violet, who is already back asleep and radiating heat, like she always does. Emily has always worn pyjamas to bed, since she always gets cold and always has two blankets on her bed.
Violet will sleep in shorts and a tank top and kick the blankets away. She's always warm to the touch; has been since she was a baby.
Emily takes the opportunity to snuggle closer to her daughter.
She hates how she can miss her so much. It's more so lately, since Violet's been angry with her.
Absent-mindedly, she begins to sing the song she used to sing to Violet as a baby. A song that's older than both of them, but one day got stuck in Emily's head while she was trying to calm Violet down.
It turns out that Emily's grandmother, Edie, used to sing it to her, as a baby.
Her words are so quiet they're almost a whisper, but her voice is clear and sweet and melodic.
Come, Josephine, in my flying machine
Going up, she goes, up, she goes
Balance yourself like a bird on a beam
In the air, she goes, there she goes…