"Within me there is an animal, a warrior spirit. It is not male or female, but it is made up of the collective battle cries of my ancestors. It will never back down. It will never be defeated." -Nausicaa Twila

Thursday, October 23, 1986 - Court day, 8:00 am

Emily arrives at the courthouse. Outside of the courtroom, she sees a man, William Reid, who she once recognized as her father sitting down on a bench.

"Dad?" Emily questioned

The man turned to look at her and smiled as he gave a nod, "Hey princess, how are you?"

"What are you doing here?" Emily asked him in an angry tone as she completely dismissed his question

"You're lawyer found me and told me you were filing for emancipation." Willian explained "You didn't answer my question though."

Emily nodded, "I know and I'm not going to. You don't deserve an answer. You left us! You left me! Mom's in an institution. You haven't been here for us for five years! You don't get to come back now. I want you to leave. I don't want you here acting like you care, because you'll ruin everything."

"I can't do that, Em." William replied

"JJ doesn't even remember you, dad. Spencer has never known you. We will be better off without you, so please just leave." Emily begged

William shook his head, "I'm sorry. I can't do that, but I will tell the judge whatever you want me to so that you can get emancipated. I will testify at your court hearing so that you will be granted custody of Spencer and JJ. I will do whatever you want. I promise."

Emily sighed softly, "Okay fine. Thanks."

"You're welcome." William responded

Court day - 8:30 am

"Docket number 56178." The judge, Marcus Denolli announced "We are here today to determine the best interests of the minor child Emily Diane Reid." Then he asked, "Is there anyone here to speak on the behalf of Emily?"

William stood up, "I am, Your Honor. I'm her father."

Then Emily stood up, "Your Honor, can I just say that before today I hadn't seen the man I used to call 'dad' in five years."

"Is this true, sir?" Judge Denolli inquired as he looked at William

William gave a sheepish nod, "Yes, Your Honor. Emily is right. I left before my youngest child was born. I couldn't handle my wife's schizophrenia anymore and that was wrong, but I'm not here to dwell on the past. I'm here to help my daughter. She doesn't want anything to do with me and I have to live with that, but I can speak on her behalf." He paused and took a breath, "In the eleven years that I was blessed to know my daughter, she was a smart and independent little girl. I don't expect that to have changed. When her little sister was born, she always wanted to help take care of the baby girl. Before I moved out, Emily was helping take care of her mom and taking care of her four year old little sister. My little girl is a very determined girl. I believe that she can achieve anything she sets her mind to, and if you choose to emancipate her I have no doubt in my mind that she will not make you regret that decision."

"Thank you, Mr. Reid." Judge Denolli replied "Miss Reid, do you have anything else to add?"

Emily shook her head, "No, Your Honor."

"I see here that you don't have a letter from either of your parents. Care to explain why, Miss Reid?" Judge Denolli asked

"My mom is a paranoid schizophrenic, who lives in an institution. I haven't lived with her in five years. Most days she still believes that she's a professor and she thinks I'm one of her students and not her daughter. Last time I went to visit her two weeks ago, I was telling her how much JJ and Spencer miss her and she asked me if they were my kids." Emily explained getting slightly emotional. She took a moment to compose herself "And my father, like I said earlier, before today I hadn't seen him in five years. I didn't know where to find him. In my mind, he was dead because he walked out on me a little over five years ago. If he didn't I wouldn't be in this position. I wouldn't be here in this courtroom today." She took a deep breath, "So no I don't have a letter from either of my parents, I do however have a letter from my social worker. And I've come today with a letter from my brother. He wanted me to give it to you. The writing is a little messy though. He's only four, but he'll be five on October 28."

Emily stepped forward and handed the two letters to the judge. One was neat and typed up. The other was messy and the back of it had a drawing of a girl and a little boy, who looked to be holding hands.

"My brother drew a picture of me and him holding hands on the back of his letter." Emily said

Judge Denolli accepted the letters as he quickly read the one from the little boy. It said: 'Please free my Mimi. I want to live with her. JJ does too, but she's too weak to write. She got hurt protecting me. JJ and me want to live with Mimi. We don't like foster houses. We don't like moving around. We want a home. -Love, Spencer.'

Judge Denolli was touch by the little boy's words. He felt his heart ache and melt a little. It was things like this from children that made his job so hard, because no matter what he has to make his ruling in the best interest of the child or children.

"I helped him with the spelling, but he came up with the words all on his own." Emily clarified "And Mimi is his name for me. JJ just calls me Emmy, but Spencer came up with Mimi because I'm more than a sister to him but he didn't want to hurt our mom by calling me mama."

Judge Denolli gave a nod, "Okay. And I see from your report card that you have all A's. Despite the fact that you are enrolled in an online homeschool."

Emily nodded, "Yes, Your Honor. Grades were very important to my mom. I don't want to let her down."

"And I see that you have a paid internship working for an accounting companying, but you also have a juvie record. You were arrested four years ago for theft." Judge Denolli stated

"Yes, I have maintained a steady job for the last three and a half years." Emily replied "And yes I was arrest for stealing. I only stole some bread and peanut butter, because my baby brother and sister were hungry. My brother was crying inconsolably and my sister's stomach wouldn't stop growling. We hadn't eaten a full meal in a few days at the time. Our foster parents kept the fridge and pantry padlocked. There was no way in, and no way for me to sneak food. I didn't want to steal the food, but I didn't have money and I the time I didn't have a job. I was too young. No where would hire me until I was thirteen."

Judge Denolli gave a soft sigh, "Okay. I can understand that, and you haven't been in trouble with the law since then so I'll let it slide. I'll petition for you to have your record expunged." Then he added, "And since it shows here that you have three thousand saved up in your account, and you placed a lease on a two bedroom apartment, so I see no reason not to grant your emancipation."

"That's right. Thank you, Your Honor." Emily told him "I received news yesterday that I got the apartment, and can move in tomorrow. My mom also has a trust with ten thousand dollars set up for me that is set up for me to get at eighteen or when I'm declared an adult."

"Okay. For three months, you have to prove that you can take care of yourself while living alone and you'll have another court hearing to determine your siblings' custody arrangement." Judge Denolli explained "As of now, you'll have the minor child Spencer Reid every weekend starting Friday afternoons after school, and the minor Jennifer Reid when she is out of the hospital."

Emily smiled softly, "Thank you, Your Honor. I won't let you down."

Emily sighed relieved. She'd get to have her siblings living with her every weekend. It wasn't full custody, but it was a small step in the right direction. One small baby step in the right direction, because in a day she'd have her baby brother home for the weekend, and they'd visit JJ together.

"Sometimes good things fall apart, so that better things call fall together." -Marilyn Monroe

Hope you enjoy. Comments are greatly appreciated.

What would you like to see happen next?