Chapter 3
A few months later...
It was nearing the end of March and Emily knew that soon it would be time to leave school. Thankfully, her belly hadn't expanded much in the past few months so she was able to hide her bump with baggy clothes; the winter months being a great excuse to wear extra layers. As far as Emily could tell, no one even suspected she was pregnant.
Daphne had mentioned once that there was a rumor going around about Emily being a snob. A few of the senior boys had asked her out, one to the winter formal and two others for regular dates. Emily had turned them all down, not interested in dating anyone. So the rejected boys had started the rumor that Emily was frigid, stuck up and a snob. Emily didn't care though, she knew the truth and she knew that Daphne knew she wasn't like that and that was all that mattered.
Emily knew that she had bigger things to worry about than what a handful of kids thought about her. In a few months she was going to be a mom and that was going to bring with it a whole new set of concerns that Emily didn't waste much time on the typical high school 'politics'.
It was on a Friday in late March when she finally worked up the nerve to tell Daphne that she was going to be leaving school in April. They were in Emily's bedroom, doing their homework and joking around, when Daphne mentioned the fun they would have when April vacation started and they were off school for a whole week.
Emily bit her lip and knew the time had come to 'come clean' so she took a breath and said, "um, yeah about April vacation, Daph, um...I'm not going to be here."
Daphne, thinking Emily meant her family was going away for the vacation asked, innocently, "you going away for the break?"
"Something like that, yeah."Emily said, trying to put off having to confess the half-truth.
"Cool, where you going?"Daphne asked, excited to know her friend was going somewhere for the vacation.
Emily looked away and stared at her closet door as she said, "my mom's job is sending her to Italy for five months and me and my dad are going with her."
There was silence as the young blonde thought about what her friend had just said, then, "so, you're like, leaving the country? What about school?"
Emily picked up her pencil and began to fidget with it, a nervous habit that only came out when she was stressed...or when she had to lie. "mom's gonna hire a tutor so I can finish the year there. But she promised me that when we come back in October, I can go back to school here."
Daphne turned and looked out the window, saddened by the thought of her best friend moving away for the rest of the year. It wasn't fair. Daphne didn't make friends easily, despite her friendly out-going nature, because she had a hard time trusting people. But she'd let Emily in and they were best friends and now, Emily was going to be leaving. "When are you leaving?"
"First day of April vacation."Emily's voice was flooded with sadness. She really hated lying to Daphne and she was going to hate it more when she couldn't see her best friend every day.
Daphne took it all in and said, "well then, you know what that means don't you?"
Confused, Emily just shook her head.
Daphne grinned, determined to not let Emily see how much it was hurting her to know she was losing her best friend, "it means that we are going to have to cram in as much fun as we can until then!"
Emily allowed her self to laugh then, as Daphne joined in. She was glad that her friend was taking this so well and she vowed to somehow make it up to her.
It was the first day of April vacation and Emily wasn't happy. She'd already withdrawn from school and said goodbye to Daphne. Her mom had even gone to the trouble of packing a few suitcases and made a show of driving them all away from the house.
They were in the car now, driving down the highway towards Atlantic City. Emily was a little confused, "mom, why are we driving so far?"
Elizabeth bit her lip as she exchanged a glance with her husband before she answered her daughter, "we're going to be staying in Atlantic City for a few months darling. To help make your 'move' a bit more authentic and to allow you to get out of the house once in a while."
Emily was surprised at this, her parents hadn't said anything about this until now. They'd just told her to pack as if she really was going away for a while. "What? What about my doctor's appointments?"Emily had really started to like her OB/GYN and she didn't want to think about going to a different doctor now.
Elizabeth smiled, "Dr. Wingate's sister has a private practice in Atlantic City. Dr. Wingate has been informed of the situation and she's agreed to make the trip down to see you for your appointments. Emily, sweetheart, this is the best solution. This way, you won't have to be stuck inside all the time and you won't have to worry about anyone you know seeing you."
Elizabeth had really thought that she was doing the right thing for her daughter. This solution seemed to be best for everyone. If they had stayed at the house this whole time, Emily wouldn't have been able to leave the house much, if at all. Someone from her school, or even Daphne herself could end up seeing her and this whole effort to hide her pregnancy would've been for nothing. Elizabeth hoped that her daughter would be able to see this from her point of view.
Emily took a moment to think about what her mother had said. It was true that this might be the best solution. Emily had wondered how she was going to spend the next four to five months basically on house arrest so that she wouldn't risk being seen by someone she knew. At least, if they were in a different town, Emily might be able to go outside once in a while and not feel like she was being held captive. Emily smiled and quickly reassured her mother that she was fine with the arrangement and she understood that this was the best solution.
Emily turned towards the window, a silent signal that the conversation was done for now. Elizabeth understood and she turned up the radio, content to let her daughter enjoy the ride.
William Prentiss just smiled indulgently. There was nothing he wouldn't do for the two most important women in his life. He could write his novels from anywhere as long as he had his typewriter. It didn't matter to him what city he was in, his imagination was strong enough to transport him wherever he needed to be to write his stories.
Emily looked out the window at the passing scenery of highway, river water and endless blue sky that flashed by her and she took a moment to look forward to the next few months as she waited for her child to be born.
TBC...
AN: Ok so, despite how much I personally loved the scene where Garcia and Reid were teasing Emily about her goth look in High School, I won't be using it here. Again, in my opinion, the abortion mentioned in canon most likely led to Emily's "rebellion" in HS and her goth period. But now, because she didn't have the abortion, there's no need for her to go goth. I did however use the information from that scene (Garfield High class of '89) to determine Emily's age and where she went to school. Enjoy!
