Hello my wonderful readers! I know I said before that there would probably only be a few chapters left and that was like 5 chapters ago, but I'm thinking there will be 3 or 4 more, then I'm calling it quits. But I still plan on doing the M rated one-shot sequel for those that are interested & it'll be posted shortly after the last chapter.

So the last half of this chapter is probably very girly, but fyi in this chapter 3 dresses are mentioned & I thought there might be some readers who want a visual. So if you're interested, go to google, click on images, and copy & paste the following to find the dresses (in order that they're mentioned): 1. Ruched Calf Length Halter Cocktail Dress-Burgundy. 2. Reem Acra resort 2010 purple wrap satin dress. 3. donna ricco wrapped bust satin sheath black dress. The dresses are the very first image that pops up for each one (or well, should be).

Okay, sorry this a/n was so long. Now on w/ the story…

Wednesday morning bloomed bright and sunny, for which Emily was quite grateful, knowing soon the weather would turn harsh and cold. By 8 o'clock, Emily was ushering Amanda out of the house and into her booster seat so they could set off for the mall. She had noticed in the first few days after Amanda had moved in with her that her niece tended to be very quiet when she first woke up but as the day progressed she'd become more and more talkative. Somehow she could foresee years of adolescence when she'd be dragging Amanda out of bed in the morning and then trying to persuade her to go to sleep late at night. Normally she wouldn't exactly be thrilled at such a prospect, but there was a certain level of comfort and happiness she derived from knowing that, although she didn't know what the future would hold for her career-wise or relationship-wise, in ten years' time Amanda would still be a large part of her life. (Barring any further mishaps with the social worker, of course – and after a good night's sleep she felt a lot less anxious and worried about that possibility.)

By the time Emily had buckled the girl in to her seat and started their journey to the mall, Amanda was in full conversation mode.

"Emily, why is broccoli green?" "Where does the moon go when the sun's out?" "Is Spongebob real?" and "How long would it take someone to run around the world?" were just a few of the questions that Emily found herself struggling to come up with answers for during their ride. Why hadn't she paid better attention in science class when she was still in school? She had no idea how to properly answer half of Amanda's questions and she was just hoping she wouldn't have to answer the 'Where do babies come from?' question for a few more years.

They were standing in the middle of Macy's picking out Disney princess underwear when Amanda's next question caught her off guard.

"Emily, can we get a monkey?"

Um, what? "I thought you wanted to get a cat." Emily reasoned.

"Well, I do. But I want to get a monkey too. Like Dora's friend, Boots. Pleeeaaase!" Amanda's puppy dog eyes were so adorable that Emily hated the fact that she'd have to tell her no.

She crouched down so she was on eye level view with Amanda. "No, sweetie. We can't get a monkey. Most monkeys live in the wild or in the zoo; they're not meant to be pets." Amanda's crestfallen face nearly broke her heart. "But I've been thinking about the cat. And if you promise to help me take care of it by feeding it every day, I think we can get a kitty. Okay?"

"Yes!" Amanda shouted as she jumped up and down, and then proceeded to run around the store in excitement, before circling back around to where Emily was standing. "Can we get it today?"

"Not today. We have a lot to get done today, remember? We're having lunch with Grandma Prentiss (dang it was weird to call her that!) and then this evening you and Jack are gonna hang out while Aaron and I have dinner."

"So when can we get it?"

"We'll get it soon, don't worry. In the meantime, we still have to get your new uniforms."

"Aww. Do I haaave to wear a uniform?" Amanda whined.

"Yep. Everyone does."

"Jack too?"

"Yep, Jack too. Now how about we get you that 64 crayon box that you wanted?"

"Sweet!" Amanda screeched.

"Totally." Emily replied, chuckling. She was just grateful that Amanda was still at that stage where she could be easily bargained with or distracted.

Two hours later, they had been to 3 different stores and bought everything that Amanda could possibly need for school – and then some. They loaded the last of their bags into the trunk and then headed to the Syrian Embassy to have lunch with Ambassador Prentiss.

When they arrived and entered the Embassy, they found Elizabeth waiting just inside for them standing beside a brand new pink bike with training wheels that was adorned with a large blue bow.

Amanda squealed and ran up to her grandmother. "Is that for me?"

"It is!"

Emily was surprised – her mother seemed to have quite unexpectedly turned the corner towards doting grandmother all of a sudden. "This is unexpected."

"Yeah, well, I'm her grandma, I'm allowed to spoil her every now and then, right?" Elizabeth replied with a smile.

"Guess so. Ready for lunch?"

"Yeah, let me just grab my coat. Why don't I have the bike sent over to your apartment some time tomorrow morning?"

"Okay."

Amanda started tugging on Emily's hand. "Will you teach me to ride tomorrow? Pretty please?"

"Sure. We can go to the park and I'll teach you there – as long as it doesn't rain."

XXX

By 4pm, Emily was back at her apartment, all the new school clothes and supplies had been put away, she had showered and shaved, and now she was frantically searching through her closet while Amanda colored with her new box of crayons downstairs.

As much fun as she had thought getting a candy apple red cast would be, she now cursed the decision as she had come to realize that it clashed with the calf-length burgundy halter dress she had been thinking of wearing on her first date with Aaron. She wanted to call in the reinforcements and have JJ and Garcia show up to ransack her closet, jewelry box, and makeup bag with her, but that would probably defeat the purpose of her and Aaron not telling them about it in the first place, right?

After pulling nearly every dress and skirt out of her closet and laying them on her bed, she finally narrowed it down to two dresses. The first one was a rich purple satin dress with a V-neck and a thin belt around the center. The second was her tried and true little black dress that was also satin and had one shoulder strap. She decided to go with the purple dress since it would probably cover her fading bruises better than the black one would (and the burgundy, as well, now that she thought about it). The cast itself would be enough of a hindrance; she didn't need to scare Aaron away with the bruises, too. She hurriedly shoved the rest of the clothes back into the closet, noting that it had taken her three quarters of an hour just to pick out a dress. She kept her makeup light, and styled her hair so that it framed her face in soft curls, before finishing the look with a pair of strappy silver heels, a black clutch, and a thin silver bracelet.

Standing back from the mirror, she surveyed the look. All in all, she thought she looked pretty darn good for having been hit by a car just a few days before – except for that blasted cast. It was pretty much just ruining the whole effect for her. But, oh well, there was nothing to be done about it.

She glanced at the clock, realizing that it was 5:20 already and Amanda still needed to have dinner before they left. She raced down the stairs, calling for Amanda as she headed for the kitchen. She really hadn't thought through the whole cooking in a nice dress thing, so she certainly didn't want to make anything that would potentially splatter or spill. Plus, she didn't really have the time for that if they were going to make it to Aaron's on time. Rooting through the fridge, she pulled out lunch meat and cheese to make a sandwich, as well as a jar of applesauce. Granted, it wasn't the most well-balanced meal. She really needed to get out of the cooking-for-one mindset so she could be sure Amanda was eating healthy meals.

"Wow, you look pretty." She heard Amanda approach her from behind and turned to set the plate on the table for her.

"Thank you, sweetie."

"Aren't you gonna eat, too?" Amanda asked as she took a bite of the ham and cheese sandwich.

"No. Aaron and I are having dinner, remember?"

"Oh yeah. Can I take my crayons to show Jack?"

"Sure thing. We have to leave soon though, so I'll go grab your jacket and shoes."

"Eeeemily, it's warm outside." Amanda stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I don't need a jacket."

"Well, it'll get colder later when we're coming home, so I'll grab it anyways, kiddo."

"Oookay." Amanda rolled her eyes, clearly thinking that her aunt was silly for thinking she'd need a jacket. Emily chuckled at the familiar gesture, as she headed for the stairs.

By the time Emily rushed Amanda from the house it was already a quarter to six, and barring any traffic problems, they would arrive just on time.

When they pulled up to Aaron's building, Emily suddenly found herself feeling very nervous. Four years of building on a friendship seemed to have finally come down to this moment. What if it all went horribly wrong? What if they ended up having nothing to talk about other than cases and work? What if, after all this, he decided that he wasn't really ready to be in a relationship again? These were the questions that were racing through Emily's mind as she approached Aaron's door, holding Amanda's hand in her own cast-less one.

She quickly ran her casted hand over her dress, smoothing out imaginary wrinkles, and took a deep breath to settle the butterflies in her stomach before knocking on the door.