December 21st - Thirty Years Late

Evidently, the case, the many sleepless nights, the worry, had really taken their toll on Emily because, for the second time that day, she fell asleep in the car before reaching their destination. Morgan smiled to himself at her child-like ability to fall asleep almost anywhere. He carefully lifted her out of the car, balancing her in his arms as he attempted to unlock the front door to her apartment without setting her down or waking her up.

Finally, setting her down gently in her bed, he kissed her forehead. And, as much as he wanted to climb into bed beside her and hold her close, with one last wistful look, he quietly left her room. He had something important to do before he could sleep.

******

An hour later, he knocked sharply on the door belonging to the one person he didn't feel bad hating despite not really knowing him. But he had something extremely important to tell him, otherwise he wouldn't be here. He had to put aside their differences for the sake of the person he loved more than anyone in the world.

Emily's father opened the door and, seeing Morgan standing there, very nearly slammed the door in his face. But before he could, Morgan had a hand against the door, preventing him from shutting it completely.

"What do you want?" her father demanded.

"I have something you need to see," he said flatly, trying to keep the contempt he felt for this man from seeping into his voice.

Her father glared at him, but said nothing. He opened the door a fraction and Morgan thought he had gotten through to him. But, just as quickly, he made to slam the door shut a second time.

Once again, Morgan stopped him before the door met its frame. "Listen to me," he said, with slightly more venom than before, "You already broke your daughter's heart far more times than one person should have to suffer, but for reasons I can't understand, she still cares. And if you're any kind of a decent person, you should care as well. I'm here to give you another chance, although Lord knows you've had more than you deserve and screwed up every one of them... If you care at all about Emily, you'll listen to me."

For another excruciating moment, he just stared coldly at him, but finally stood back from the door just enough to allow Morgan to step inside the house. "What is so damn important that you came pounding on my door like the Gestapo?"

Morgan pulled Emily's letter to Santa out of his pocket. "You need to read this."

Her father took the letter and slowly scanned it. Morgan held his breath as the older man's expression slowly scrolled from confused to sad to realization. "Where did you get this?" he asked quietly.

"She wrote it last night and I kept it, thinking that if anything was going to get through it you, it was this." He fixed him with the most serious and threatening look he had in his arsenal, the one usually reserved for unsubs of a particularly despicable nature. "Now, what are you going to do about it?"

Morgan watched as he silently mouthed the words, 'I wish he hadn't stopped loving me.' Looking up, he asked sadly, "She really thinks I didn't love her? She thinks I don't care?" Morgan gave him a look that obviously asked what he had ever done to make her think otherwise. "I really screwed up," he sighed, "I don't deserve her..."

Morgan resisted the urge to vehemently agree. "So, fix it," he urged, "Prove to her that you do care, that you do love her, that you never forgot about her. Prove that all her heart ache and tears weren't for nothing."

He swallowed thickly and nodded, running a flustered hand over his face. He seemed a little overwhelmed.

Morgan folded up the letter and put it back in his pocket. "You never read this letter and I was never here. If you screw this up, I'll make sure that it's the last thing you ever do, the last time Emily has to suffer for your mistake."

Suitably satisfied that he had gotten through to him, he was half-way out the door when a shaky voice called out from the living room, "Thank you... I know you don't think so, but I really do care about Emily and I intend to make this right."

******

When Morgan crawled into bed next to her, Emily awoke with a start. With a gentle hand on her hip, he pulled her close and kissed her softly. "Sorry I woke you up, baby," he whispered, "Go back to sleep."

Trailing her fingers over his face, she murmured blearily, "Where were you?"

"I just had an errand to run and I knew you needed the rest, so I dropped you off to let you sleep. I'm sorry I wasn't here."

"It's okay; I'm just glad you're here now." She kissed him again. "I missed you lying next to me... No more late-night errands?"

He chuckled softly. "I promise. I'll be here as long as you need me to be here. Now, go back to sleep."

"I'll always need you."

******

Sleep refused to come easily that night, leaving him lying awake for hours until he gave up on the respite of sleep. He then spent the next several hours sitting at the kitchen table, flipping through a photo album, one of the few remnants he still had of the life he'd abandoned.

The words of Emily's letter echoed through his head as if shouted into the depths of the Grand Canyon. She thought he hadn't loved her. She thought he'd left because of something she did. She wished she could just forget him.

He'd never really thought about how broken up she had been when he'd left, how hurt she still was. He supposed that he'd always seen her mother's strong, resilient spirit in her... But the truth was that she had just been a little girl. And, deep inside, she was still nursing that wounded child.

It was obvious now why she had been so reluctant to forgive him. He wouldn't have expected her to forgive him when she was still a child, so he shouldn't expect her to let it go so easily now. He would have to work hard to earn her trust again, give her all the answers she'd struggled to find for so long, but it would be worth it to have his little girl back.