Trying her best to calm down her crying toddler in the backseat, Emily ran a hand through her hair. "I know baby, I know. We're going to see grandma very soon, ok?" She looked out the window to try and find her eldest in the crowd of students, her eyes squinting because of the hot sun shining into the car.
"Mommy?"
Emily turned and smiled at the blond girl, watching as she tried to calm her little brother down by patting at his arm. "What is it, munchkin?"
Megan played with the button on her brother's shirt. "We gonna see momma?"
"Later, baby," she nodded. "I have to drop you all off at your grandma's because I have to head back to work."
Megan's dark eyes widened. "Michie too?"
Emily grinned at her daughter's smile. "Michie too."
"Mommy?"
At this point, Emily's eyes were focused on the students once more, her hand gently rocking her two year old's foot t get him to calm down. "What, baby?"
"Do I gotta work, mommy?"
Emily pursed her lips at the question. "Well you will someday, just like momma and me, but not for a while."
Megan tilted her head. "Michie got a job, mommy?"
The brown eyed woman's brows arched, her gaze finally catching her daughter coming down the school's front steps. "Not yet, but she will soon. Getting a job is very important." Smiling wide at the teen who jumped into the car, Emily fixed the sleeve of her sweater. "Hey, how was your day?""
Michelle flinched at her mother's touch and vigorously shook her head. "Can we go?"
Emily's smile quickly faded, watching her daughter subconsciously itching at her covered arms. "Sweetie?"
The fourteen year old sighed. "Please, Emily? I just want to go."
The mother of three gave a small nod of the head, putting the car back into drive and taking off toward her mother's mansion.
Staying silent just like she knew Michelle would want her to, Emily focused on the road. Even Dylan had quieted himself down, feeling the rest of the car grow still around him. Driving through her mother's expensive gates, Emily helped her two youngest out of the car. "Go with Donny," she smiled, letting the security guard take them. "Mother should be inside. I'll be back for them around dinner time, ok?"
"Of course, Ms. Prentiss."
"Bye babies," she grinned, kissing each of their heads before turning back to the car. "Hey," Emily called, pointing to the fourteen year old who started getting out of the car. "Back inside."
Michelle frowned, closing her door and waiting until her mother got herself situated in the driver's seat. "I thought I was getting dropped off with them."
Emily shrugged her shoulders. "Changed my mind. You're coming with me to the office."
"Why?"
The brown eyed woman looked to her daughter before she pulled back out onto the street. "I'd like for you to tell me about your day."
Michelle sunk back into her seat. "No thanks."
"Spill," she tried to laugh, upset that the teenager didn't even want to spare her a look. "I want to know what happened; good and bad."
"Aren't kids supposed to be standoffish like this with their parents? Why won't you just let me sulk?"
Emily bit her lip. Michelle had called her her parent. "I used to sulk a lot," she nodded absently, turning onto the main highway. "I was a very depressed little girl, and it led all the way up until just a few years ago."
Michelle glanced over to the older woman who drove the car. "I'm not depressed."
"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean I'll let you do what I did and let everything get bottled up. I want you to talk to me."
The teenager kept her gaze out the window.
Emily slowly nodded her head. "You tell me when you're ready, but I won't have you keep it in, ok? Do you hear me?"
Michelle quickly wiped away a tear that escaped her eye, looking away from the older woman so she couldn't see the sadness written across her face. She had known about depression, the woman who had kidnapped her having dealt with several episodes, but now her actual mother dealt with it as well? What did that mean for her?
"Hey, you good?"
Sniffling, Michelle crossed her arms over her chest and silently nodded her head, curling her lips inward to keep herself from making a sound.
Emily stayed as quiet as she could until the car was parked in her assigned spot at the bureau, and she turned to her daughter. "I love you, you know that. I know it may not make you comfortable just yet, but I do."
The fourteen year old hesitantly nodded her head. "I know," she whispered.
"And you can tell me anything," the mother of three said, her voice thick with tears. "Anything at all, whenever you're ready."
Michelle huffed, her tears falling freely down her cheeks as she looked to her fiddling fingers. "I didn't make friends," she shrugged pathetically, feeling her brow pinch as she cried.
Emily felt her heart break for the young girl. "Sweetheart," she cooed, quickly bringing the ebony haired girl into a hug. "It's alright. The first day is always hard."
"I had to eat lunch by myself in the bathroom," she hiccupped. "People noticed me, they just didn't care."
Emily let her tears fall into her daughter's hair before she pulled away, pressing a long kiss to the crying girl's forehead. "You're going to make friends," the mother of three nodded, wiping away the fourteen year old's tears with the pads of her thumbs. "It may take a while, but you will. What about Noah? He goes there," she smiled. "Did you see him at all?"
Michelle shrugged, not minding her mother's hands on her cheeks and fingers smoothing down her hair. "He's in two of my classes, but I had to spend the rest of the day alone."
"Well that's a start."
The teenager let out a shaky breath, her eyes once again averting from her mother's and down to her lap.
Emily took one look at the expression her daughter held before pulling out her phone and sending a quick text to her wife. "Come on. Buckle back up."
Michelle wiped the remainder of her tears, hurrying to put her seatbelt back on as the older woman pulled out of the parking garage. "Where are we going?"
"A little retail therapy never hurt anybody," she grinned, knowing that this was exactly what she liked to do for herself and her friends when they were down. "You'll feel ten times better."
They walked through the mall hand in hand, Emily's smile wide as she pulled her daughter closer to her. "Where do you want to look first?"
The teenager shrugged, her eyes darting every which way as she tried to make a decision.
"Well what do you think you need the most?"
Michelle's eyes immediately targeted a cosmetics store, and her hand gently pulled on the older woman's. "Can I get some makeup?"
Emily shared a smile with her daughter. "You can get whatever you want." For an hour, the proud mother of three watched as the fourteen year old made her way from store to store, her hands grabbing at whatever piece of clothing or accessory she found cute, and the ambassador's daughter was happy to get it for her. She had never seen the fourteen year old so happy, and she was going to do her best to keep her that way.
"What do you think of this?"
The brown eyed woman leaned back, concealing her grin as her daughter laid the dress against her body. "Try the blue one."
Michelle switched the yellow for a navy blue, laying the material against her and looking in the mirror. "It's so cute," she beamed, letting her mother take it from her and lead her over to the cash registers. "Thank you so much, Emily. You didn't need to do this."
"You're right," she chuckled, handing her credit card to the cashier. "I didn't need to, but I wanted to."
The teenager grinned, thanking the girl behind the counter as she took her bag, and the mother and daughter pair made their way out of the store.
Emily felt her heart swell when Michelle reached for her hand, and she gave the teen's a big squeeze. "What do you think about ice cream?"
"Yes please," she giggled, following her mother toward the food court until something caught her eye.
The ambassador's daughter felt the teen's hand clasp hard onto hers, and her stride stopped just as the blue eyed girl's did. "Sweetie?" she asked, turning to look back at the girl. "Michelle, what's wrong?"
Michelle's jaw dropped open, dragging the older woman toward a pillar near the entrance of the food court. "What is this?"
Emily felt her anger boil, her dark eyes latching onto a missing sign with her daughter's smiling face right in the center.
The fourteen year old let out a cry as her mother tore the piece of paper off of the pillar. "Michelle Harrison? Who would do that?"
"Come on." Emily ushered the crying girl toward the mall's exit, holding her tight to her side as they rushed away from the onlookers. "Come on, we're going home."