Emily spent Thursday evening hanging out with Nicole and the boys. They had ballet, so Emily tagged along, enjoying herself immensely.
"Nicole, they have improved so much just since I was here before!" Emily exclaimed as she watched the boys. "They sure are cute."
Nicole smiled and nodded, "Thank you. They were so excited when I told them you were back in town. They told me that they wanted you to see two things-ballet practice and their cannonballs into Grandma and Grandpa's pool," Nicole chuckled.
"Oh, I'm sure they can do a cannonball," Emily nodded her head, "So, tell me about this dress shopping."
The two girls talked for awhile about the upcoming dress shopping. Saturday was blocked for it; Sharon had made sure to take off the weekend, but Emily didn't know how all of that was going to work now that they were deep into a case. She hoped to see her family while here, and she knew that while it was no one's fault, it was a disappointment so many of her family members were working.
"How are things with Wes? Last time we spoke, you said he had looked at several townhomes," Nicole asked Emily without taking her eyes off the boys practicing in the studio.
Emily smiled at the mention of his name, "Things are good. I was really hoping to see more of him, but I know that's the way it is. We have plans to look at two he likes a lot on Sunday. Hopefully, we still can. Nicole, I am so in love with him. How do you know if he's the one?" Emily inquired.
Nicole tore her eyes away from the boys to look at Emily. She could see Emily was in love; her face radiated it, but she could also see the struggle of trying to find her way in that love, "You just know. You can't imagine your life, good or bad, without that person. You accept him for everything, or in my case, everyone he brings to the relationship," Nicole smiled as she nodded toward the boys, "You want the rest of your life with that person. That's how you know." Emily nodded, thinking, and Nicole continued, "Seems like you may have found him," as a small smile broke on Nicole's face.
"I'm thinking so," Emily started, "but, things are still up in the air about work and stuff."
Nicole shrugged, "Well, that is important, but it will work itself out. If he's the one, it will happen."
The two continued to watch the boys, both pondering what had been said. A text interrupted Emily's thoughts.
"No progress, other than to say I'll be here late, maybe all night. I'm sorry. Love you."
Emily sighed, and that cause Nicole to look over at her. Nicole saw the phone in Emily's hand, "Still at work?"
Emily nodded, "Yes, doesn't sound like he'll be home anytime tonight."
Nicole patted Emily's hand, "I'm sorry. I know it's not the same, but I have two guys who would adore hanging out with you tonight," to which Emily and Nicole smiled at each other and turned their attention back to the boys in dance class.
Emily woke up early Friday morning to a car starting. She slid out of bed and looked out the window to see Rusty heading off to class. She looked at her phone-no messages, so she sent Wes a quick text.
"Any update?" she typed.
Wes took a couple of minutes, time in which Emily was busy checking her email, but he replied back, "No, long night here. We are making progress, but slowly."
Emily sighed and looked at the clock. It wasn't even seven yet, so she decided to shower, dress for the day, and take the team some food. They had to eat; they'd been there all night. She sent a text back to Wes telling him the same so he would make sure to pass along the word that food was on the way.
A bit later, Emily made her way into the Murder Room, weighed down in bags and bags of food. She'd made a stop at a favorite breakfast place, where she could get bagels, doughnuts, a huge fruit salad, and an egg and spinach casserole she knew her mom and Andy liked. Wes, she knew, would eat anything; the doughnuts would probably be his favorite, but that was because he had a sweet tooth, she had discovered. She also picked up a carafe of coffee and one of tea for everyone.
"Good morning," she smiled looking at all her family and friends, hard at work around the board.
The entire group, turned and offered her a good morning and plenty of smiles. Wes came right over and enveloped her in a huge hug. More right now wouldn't be appropriate. "Missed you," he whispered to her. "Glad you came down here."
He backed up to help her setup all the food, during which Andy came up behind her, "Hi sweetheart," he smiled and hugged her. "Thank you for the food."
"You're welcome, Andy. Couldn't have you pass out here again," she joked.
Andy rolled his eyes, and he grabbed two plates from the stack of paper ones Emily had brought. Soon, he had filled both plates with the casserole and split the bagel between the two.
"Your mom is in the electronics room," he said, "I'll go tell her, along with Buzz, we have food. Amy is finishing up with a witness, so she should be out soon."
"Emily!" Emily heard and turned to see her mom rushing toward her. Julio had snuck into the room to tell Sharon Emily had arrived, "Oh, I'm so glad to see you. I'm so sorry we caught a case."
Emily smiled back, "I understand. At least you have a hot meal here now," she said as she handed her mom the plate Andy had made up for her.
"Mmmm, thank you. Smells delicious. I'm sorry we don't have much time to talk. We're making a lot of progress on our case. I promise I will be home tonight. Andy, Wes, I'm not sure, but Chief Howard said my time off started after 5:00, and he's holding me to it," she smiled.
Emily nodded, "I understand. I was planning on getting some of the food ready for tomorrow's dinner for you. I also will make sure the spare rooms are made up for Ricky, Lauren, and Meghan if you want."
Sharon sighed, "Oh that would be great! Thank you. Listen, honey, I need to get back to work, but I promise, tomorrow, I will be there for dress shopping," and with that, Sharon was gone.
Emily turned to find Wes back at his desk, standing over it, going over some paperwork. She walked up to him, and he turned to her and smiled, "This is not how I saw the weekend going," he said as he took her hands.
Emily nodded, "I know. Duty calls. I wish we had more time to chat, but I know you are busy. I'm going to head back to Mom and Andy's place to get things ready for the weekend. Call me when you can," she said as she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled back at her and nodded.
Friday afternoon, Emily spent getting things ready at the house. She'd been texting Lauren and Ricky all afternoon, and they were due in just around seven. They had left after lunch, Ricky working a half day, Lauren finishing her classes for the day, and they had taken Meghan out of school early to make the drive down. They had said traffic hadn't been too bad, but there was no telling how traffic would be as they got into Los Angeles. Emily had prepared dinner for them and for any of the other family members who happened to float in. Emily wasn't much of a cook, but she could follow directions and made Andy's lasagna recipe. That had become a favorite at the house with the whole family. After deciding on it, she'd inventoried the kitchen and made a run to the store. Now, she was ready to put it in the oven and planned to serve it with a salad, garlic bread, and brownies. She had made brownies mainly for Meghan. Emily didn't know for sure, but she suspected Meghan would like brownies-what kid didn't? Emily made a mental note to find out what treats Meghan did like so she could be prepared the next time she was around Meghan. Emily had taken an instant liking to the little girl and thought that it was sweet that Meghan had started calling her, "Aunt Emily" while she wasn't her aunt. The family, with Lauren's blessing, had decided that aunt and uncle would be the best names for the kids and that Pops and Gigi worked for Andy and Sharon. The little girl didn't have any extended family and didn't yet realize what an amazing one she was gaining. In the absence of biological aunts, uncles, and grandparents, she was getting them, along with Ricky and Lauren acting as her parents.
Shortly after seven, Emily was greeted with the doorbell and ran to it, to find a very bubbly Meghan waiting, "Aunt Emily!" she squealed as she threw her arms around her.
"Hi kiddo! I'm so glad you are here. Come on in," she told her as she looked up to see Lauren and Ricky following behind, weighed down with bags. "Hey you two-good to see you," Emily smiled. "Let me help you. Anything else in the car?"
Ricky smiled at her, "Hey Em, no, this is the last of it. Meghan's Barbie blowup can stay in the backseat. We've got everything else here," he said as he walked in behind Lauren.
Lauren put her stuff down and turned to Emily, "Emily, hi! I'm so glad to finally come down here to LA."
The trio exchanged greetings and went in search of Meghan. They found her in the backyard with her head up to the fence, looking at the pool, "Lauren, there's a pool!" she squealed.
Lauren laughed, "Yes, I know. Remember, that's why you and Ricky went to the mall for a swimsuit the other day? Your old one was too small."
Emily glanced toward Lauren and Ricky, giggling, "The image of Ricky picking out a little girl's swimsuit-yeah that's priceless."
Ricky smirked at her, "Well, I'll have you know I picked out the pink one, but she told me that pink was no longer her favorite color. It's now blue because as she told me, 'Aunt Emily said she liked blue.' so, there you go-already an influence on her."
Emily giggled, "I can't believe she remembered that. She asked me my favorite color when we built a snowman. That's too funny."
"Where are Gigi and Pops?" Meghan said, now walking into the house to look for them.
"Meghan, remember we told you that they were catching a bad guy and might not be home much," Lauren followed her. "Why don't we get you up to your room?"
Emily showed the little family where they could stay, and while she finished with dinner, Lauren made sure Meghan got a bath and ready for bed. She could eat in her pajamas. Ricky came into the kitchen to chat with Emily.
"Nice house they found," Ricky said as he walked around looking at things. "It's a bit weird seeing all of Mom's stuff mixed with Andy's," Ricky continued.
Emily nodded and looked at her brother, "I know. I thought the same thing. Neither one has been home since I got here. The case is pretty bad. I saw them, along with Wes, for about 15 minutes this morning when I took them food."
Ricky whistled, "Wow, that's a tough one. Any end in sight?"
Emily nodded in the negative, "Not that I have heard. Mom promised she was coming home tonight because she was off tomorrow, but no idea about that."
The group enjoyed their dinner, and soon, it was time for Meghan to head to bed. Sleep for her might be questionable after she polished off three brownies. Apparently, Emily had guessed correctly; Meghan loved brownies. Meghan was delighted with the room they had her staying in; Sharon and Andy had bought a few Barbies, a Barbie car, and a very small Barbie house for her to play with when she visited. Their grandson had discovered it when they were at house not too long before, and they had thrown a fit, thinking the Barbies were for them. Meghan was delighted and had several in bed with her.
The three heard the garage door around 10:30, as they had spent the evening catching up with each other. Sharon came in, obviously very tired, but smiling at the sight of her kids. After they all greeted her, she informed them the case was almost closed.
"We have our suspect in custody," she started, "but it will probably take them another couple hours to finish that up. Provenza said he'd send everyone home for a few hours, but then they are all planning to be back at work by noon to finish up the paperwork. So, Andy and Wes should still be able to join us for dinner tomorrow night," Sharon recounted.
"That's good Mom, but you look beat," Ricky said concerned.
Sharon waved him off, "I'm fine. Nothing new. I am hungry," she added.
"I made lasagna," Emily piped up.
Sharon turned to Emily with eyebrows raised, "You made lasagna? I'm sorry, sweetheart, but you've never been much of a cook."
Emily smirked at her, "Yeah, takes one to know one. I can follow a recipe, Mom. It's Andy's lasagna, and there's plenty of it for you, with salad too."
Sharon's eyes perked up, "Oh, Andy's lasagna-that sounds divine. I think I'll shower first, and then I can eat. We have a big day tomorrow, shopping and dinner. Emily, is your father still planning to come to dinner?" Sharon asked as she started to walk toward her bedroom.
Emily looked back down the hall at Sharon and nodded, "Yes, I spoke to him last night. He said he wouldn't miss dinner with all of us at your new house, but I'm not sure he was being kind in that statement," Emily admitted. "He sounded a bit sarcastic."
Sharon sighed and nodded, "Well, for your sake, for Ricky's sake, I hope Jack does come, and I hope he will behave himself. Otherwise, we might all wish we were stuck working in the Murder Room."