Hi! I haven't abandoned this yet. I just happened to very busy with college. Please be patient with me and with the very rare updates because online classes are exhausting and draining, and even when I want to write, I would rather sleep because I haven't slept in how many days finishing requirements.
But don't worry about me abandoning this story. I have the ending planned out already, I just need to be able to write the few chapters in between. I'm aiming for thirty chapters, at least, so we still have a long way to go.
Anyways, enough about that. Here's chapter 20! Hope you all enjoy!
Save for Anderson making coffee in the break room, the bullpen was empty, as expected, when Emily arrived. The team had arrived late last night from a case in Iowa, and not five days prior, they were called to Missouri for a consultation flagged to be on priority because of the unsub's continuing escalation. Because of that, Emily took the team off the roster and had the BAU B-Team hold down the fort. In fact, she wasn't even supposed to be coming in today, but she had yet to finish a lot of the BAU's reports, and the meeting was in two days.
She waved at Anderson and slowly made her way towards her office, panting by the time she managed to open her door.
"Have you started waddling yet?"
Eyes wide and stunned, Emily stared at the man casually seated on the couch across her desk. She put a hand on her chest and rolled her eyes. "What the hell, Clyde."
Clyde grinned, propping his feet up on the coffee table. "Hello, darling."
"How did you even get in my office?" Emily asked, closing the door, and placed her purse on her desk. "You better have not threatened Anderson."
"Oh please," Clyde scoffed. "As if I need to threaten some American lowlife to break into your office. Or did you forget what happened in Wolverhampton eighteen years ago?"
"I chose not to remember what happened back then, thank you very much."
"Why not? If I remember correctly, we had a lot of fun on that mission."
They didn't. Sure, the first half of the night, when they were undercover as an engaged couple and waltzing around the dance floor while discreetly keeping an eye on the tycoon the Interpol was after was fun, but the end part, when Emily had stayed vigil on Clyde's bedside for two days after she pulled him out of the rubble was the exact opposite of fun.
Once again, Emily rolled her eyes in annoyance, which seemed to happen a lot whenever she was with Clyde. When she was still in London, she was worried that her eyes would be stuck rolling because she was always so annoyed with him. And it seemed like Clyde took pleasure in annoying her, too. "No, but seriously. What are you doing in Quantico?"
"I came to visit you," he said in a 'duh' tone. Clyde swore he would never say "duh" even if there was a gun pointed at his head, but he made sure he incorporated the tone in every sentence he spoke. Clyde stood up, and the teasing smile on his face briefly morphed into a small, genuine one. "I told you I would, didn't I? Now, let me look at you."
Returning the smile, Emily stepped closer to him and held her palms out in a "ta-da" way.
"You look absolutely gorgeous, Emily," Clyde smiled, looking her over. "May I?" he asked, nodding to her belly.
"Of course you can, you big idiot," Emily said. The further along she became, the more she realized that she had very little shame left in her. From the endless poking and prodding, and the almost complete loss of control over her bodily functions, she's finding it hard to be modest. There was also the fact that nearly everyone she knows would ask if they could touch her belly. It was weird and extremely obtrusive, but at this point, she doesn't care anymore.
The smile on Clyde's face grew even more when he touched her belly. It was quite rare to see such a big smile on his face, and Emily couldn't help the smile on hers as well. "Cat got your tongue?" she teased.
"Can I see your waddle?" Clyde quipped back without missing a beat.
"You're an asshole," she said.
"And yet you slept with me all those years ago."
"It was one time. And we were drunk. It never happened again."
"A sad thing really. We were quite good together," Clyde teased.
"In your dreams, Clyde," Emily scoffed. "But I still can't believe you came all this way to see me and make fun of me waddling, which, I don't do. I take extra effort to make sure I do not waddle."
"That's definitely what a waddling woman would say to defend herself," he grinned. "But I also came here to spoil your sprog. So grab your purse and let's go to Trotters."
"This is America. There aren't any Trotters here. And even if there was, I can't. I have a budget report to finish."
"Don't worry about that, I already called Cruz and asked him to give you a day off. Frankly, he was surprised that you haven't gone on your maternity leave yet," he said.
She gave him an incredulous look. "I have a lot of questions, but I don't think I want to know the answer to either one of them."
"You've always been a smart one, Prentiss. Now, let's go."
Seeing no way out of this, Emily sighed and grabbed her purse off her desk. "Please tell me you brought a car because I am not about to walk or drive while thirty-three weeks pregnant."
"But of course, I do, Emily. I'm not an idiot," he said, following her out of her office.
"Jury's still out on that one," she quipped, tossing him a smirk as she pressed the ground floor button.
"Really? I come all the way here from London, and you're on the phone with someone?" Clyde asked in an incredulous tone as he hopped on the driver's seat and saw Emily pressing her phone against her ear. "I think that's quite offensive to my ego, darling."
"Stop being so dramatic. I'm calling Andrew, I have to let him know where I'm heading, which you still haven't told me, by the way."
"Oh you're calling Agent Mendoza? Can I talk to him? Need to lay out the ground rules while there's still time," he said, with a teasing grin.
"Absolutely not," she said and gave him an incredulous tone. She was about to say something more when she heard the line connect and Andrew's voice on the other end of the phone call.
"Hey, beautiful. Everything okay on sixth floor?"
"Yeah, everything's fine. Listen, I'm sorry but I have to cancel lunch today." Ever since she remained in Quantico with Penelope during cases, Andrew and her always met up for lunch. If they had a case, he would bring lunch to her and Penelope. It was a win-win situation for both; Emily gets to see and spend time with him, and Andrew gets to relax with the confirmation that she had eaten and is taking it easy on herself.
"Hmm, do you have a case? Want me to bring lunch up to you and Pen?"
"Nope, no case this time. Clyde is in town and apparently, he's here to take me baby shopping," Emily explained.
"And to see you waddling," Clyde added, grunting when Emily punched him in the arm. "Hey! I'm driving here!"
"For the last time, I do not waddle."
"Did you say Clyde Easter? As in, your colleague from Interpol?"
"Yes, the exact same one," Emily replied, glaring at Clyde.
From the other end of the line, Andrew chuckled and leaned back against his seat. Clyde Easter was a seldom talked about name at their place, but whenever he was brought up, it always involved Emily making a quip on how her hatred for the British accent stemmed from Clyde always teasing her. And then there were the phone calls during April Fools', with Emily pulling all the strings to make sure that even though she was across the pond, she would make his life miserable for a few hours. Emily was incredibly creative with her pranks (which, at the time, had Andrew thankful she never thought of pranking him), and never feared Clyde reciprocating.
But despite their constant back and forth bantering, Andrew knew that Clyde was an important person to Emily. No matter how many times she mocked Clyde, she respected and trusted the man. Her respect for Clyde assured him that Emily would be in good hands for the rest of the day.
"No offense to him, but does he even know where to shop for baby paraphernalia here in America?" he asked.
"He has yet to tell me wherever we're heading to, so the answer to that is no." Andrew was about to answer when he heard her argue with Clyde. "I am not buying my baby a Burberry attire. She's going to outgrow them the minute she turns two."
"I see you got things handled over there," he chuckled. "I'll call you later, okay? And have fun with Clyde. Please do not harm him on American soil. I love you."
"No promises. I love you, and I'll see you at home."
When he heard the click signaling the end of the phone call, Andrew couldn't help the grin growing on his face. If what he heard on the phone was true, Clyde was turning out to be a British male version of Penelope Garcia, and neither he nor Emily have been successful at stopping her from buying out an entire baby store for their daughter. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if Clyde already bought a bunch of Burberry outfits and was waiting for the perfect moment to present them to Emily.
No, Andrew thought to himself with a smile as he returned his focus on his paperwork, he wouldn't be surprised at all.
"What else do you need for your little one? Have you figured out a name yet by the way?" Clyde asked, shifting the basket to his left arm as he followed Emily around the store.
"We have a middle name, but nothing for her first name yet," Emily replied, checking a banana teether before taking two and placing it gently on the basket in Clyde's arms.
"I don't suppose Chloe is on your list?"
"Not really. Neither of us are a fan of the name," she said.
"Claudia?"
"For a baby?"
"Clementine."
"Just so you know, I do realize what you're doing with the 'Cl' names, so no Clyde, I will not be naming my daughter Clementine in your honor," Emily said, rolling her eyes once again.
"Well I at least had to try," Clyde shrugged. "What about Claire?"
Emily contemplated the name before scrunching her nose in disagreement. "Claire Amelie doesn't really have a nice ring to it."
"Can I interest you in a name that stars with the letter C?" he asked, holding out a shirt decorated with Cs.
"It depends on what name you come up with," Emily chuckled, scanning her eyes through some blankets, although she need not worry. She already had loads of blankets at hand, all of which were gifts either by someone on the Bureau, or by some of her old friends. No one would be more surprised than her if, by some miracle, they run out of blankets throughout the course of her butterball's infanthood.
Her eyes landed on some pacifiers and tried not to let her jaw drop at how expensive they were. Who would buy a pacifier for five dollars? That was completely illogical. Although most of the gifts JJ had given her were for her maternity use, JJ also got her a set of pacifiers, all with attached clips, assuring Emily that the clips would be extra helpful if neither she nor Andrew wanted to waste half an hour searching the car for a dropped pacifier.
"Bloody hell," Clyde mumbled. Emily raised an amused eyebrow at him and went to see what made him. "Are nappies really supposed to be this expensive?"
"Diapers, Clyde. They're called diapers," Emily chuckled, patting him lightly on the back. "And yes, they are. Sometimes I wish I could just ask everyone to give me diapers instead of baby clothes. That would be a big help to my paycheck," she said. An idea came to her, and she smirked at Clyde. "But lucky for me, I'm not the one paying for these."
Clyde stared at her, his blue eyes watching her expectantly. "I'm sorry. It seems I left my mind-reading skills in London."
Emily rolled her eyes and stared back at him with mock impatience. "Come on, Clyde. I have almost everything in this store from Garcia's gifts alone. All I need for now are extra diapers." When it seemed like Clyde would refuse once more, she pouted and clasped her hands together in a child-begging-for-a-pony-manner. It would annoy Clyde into agreeing. "Please?"
"Fine, but I'm only doing it because you said please," he huffed, watching as Emily took three packs of diapers and some baby wipes as well. "You could've thrown a 'thank you' in there for good measure."
"Politeness is overrated. It goes against my higher purpose."
"Which is?"
"To be brutally honest in every and all situations," Emily nodded simply. "I should make that my New Year's resolution."
"It's the middle of May," Clyde said.
"So? I'm getting a head start."
"I'm almost temped to encourage you on that behavior."
"You're a true friend, Clyde," she teased, grinning at him.
They planned for a late lunch at a restaurant nearby, but Clyde suggested taking her home, stating that she looked exhausted. Emily wanted to argue, but her feet felt heavy just from waiting in the line for the cash register, so she reluctantly agreed.
Promising to give him a tour of the house once they were done eating, Emily and Clyde spent the entire time catching up. It's been years since Clyde had last seen Emily in person, and he missed having her around at the office, not only as his friend (and the only one who manages to put up with him), but also as an excellent leader of Interpol.
When Emily came in as his replacement as chief for the London Gateway Office, most of the male agents refused to see her as their leader, dropping sexist and misogynistic comments here and there. More than once, Clyde wanted to step in and give them a good talking to (and basically threaten to take their badges if they refused to respect her), but one look from Emily told him that she got it handled.
And she did. Countless of times, Emily proved herself to be deserving of her position as chief of the London Gateway Office, and became a legend within the halls of the building. She never let anyone look down her simply for being a woman, and watching Emily call out every single agent who dropped sexist and misogynistic comments here and there was pure entertainment for him. All he needed was popcorn.
He was saddened to hear that Emily accepted the offer to be BAU's unit chief, but at the same time, he was more than happy for her. He loved having her in London, but he also knew her well enough to see that she was micromanaging her emotions and forcing herself to feel at home in London. The BAU would always be her home, and who was he to stop her from going back?
"How long are you going to be here?" Emily asked. "Not that I want you to leave right now. It's out of curiosity."
Clyde smiled sadly at her. "I actually have to be back at the office tomorrow afternoon. We have a huge case up ahead, and we need to finalize the details. This is the only time I had, and might be for a while."
"Oh," Emily said and frowned. "I'm sad to hear that. I wish you could stay longer, but I understand."
"And I wish I could stay longer. I was so excited to meet this little nugget that I almost considered rejecting the offer to supervise the case."
"You shouldn't worry about meeting her. You can meet her anytime you can. And until you're free, I'm going to tell him about what a pain in the ass you are, so she'd know who you are when you meet her."
"You do that, and I'll teach her to say fuck for her first word," he countered. "In a complete British accent."
"You wouldn't dare."
"Do you really want to test that theory, darling?" He was kidding, of course, but it was always fun to push Emily's buttons. Clyde was also seventy-five percent sure Emily would be the one to accidentally teach her daughter to say curse words.
Instead of starting a bicker war with Clyde, Emily gave him a small sad smile and sighed. "I'm going to miss you." Seeing Clyde's smirk, she rolled her eyes. "Don't you dare make fun of me because I'm pregnant and super emotional and I will hurt you. I really will, Clyde."
"I can't believe you're using the pregnant card to evade me making fun of you. Where's the feisty remarks? Or has impending motherhood changed you and softened your heart?"
"Watch it, Easter."
"Alright, alright. We can't have you murdering someone when you're this far along. It won't be good for your nugget," he said. "Before I forget, I have something for you. A little something from me and a little something from your old team in London."
"Really? I didn't think they would get me something. I mean, Ava told me to expect a huge package to arrive sometime soon, but that was about it," she said.
"They miss you bossing them around," he told her.
"I miss them too. I haven't been in touch with them for a while now. That's something I have to remedy before I give birth."
"Tell them thank you for these presents they got for you," Clyde suggested, placing two gift bags on her side. In a childlike manner, Emily clapped her hands excitedly before peeking into some of the bags, smiling brightly at its contents. Aside from the knitted sweaters, beanies, and socks for her butterball, her old team also included some gifts for Emily: English tea (the good kind and pregnancy-safe, of course), an oil diffuser, fluffy slippers, and some McVities biscuits. But Emily's favorite was the framed photo of them, one that she remembered being taken a few months before she returned to the BAU.
"You have got to be kidding me," she groaned and glared at him as she saw the present from Clyde. Inside the brown paper bag was one more paper bag, with the Burberry logo printed out in neat block letters, and inside, there were two checkered baby outfits. "Two? You got two luxury brand baby outfits?"
Shrugging, Clyde defended himself. "This is your first child. It is my duty to spoil them."
"You're worse than Penelope," she said.
"I take that as a compliment."
"It isn't," she chuckled, smiling softly at him. "Thank you. I'm going to send you photos of her in these the moment they fit her. And I'm going to make her wear it everyday until they no longer fit, just so I wouldn't feel guilty about how pricey they are."
"Darling, it's not a big deal. She might not be born yet, but she's your daughter, and I'd do anything for her the way I would for you."
Clyde's words made Emily's heart melt, and she mentally cursed herself when she felt her eyes sting. Clearing her throat, she focused on the presents to try and hide the fact that she was about to cry, but Clyde has known her long enough to pick apart her tells.
"What the hell, Prentiss," he chuckled, scooting closer to wrap an arm over her shoulders. "If you don't like it, tell me, so I can return it."
"No it's not that, you idiot," she sniffed. "Anything sets me off lately. Last week, Andrew and I were watching TV when this Coca Cola came up, and I was crying."
"I take it he panicked."
"Called JJ in the middle of the night."
"Next time, tell him to call me so I can make fun of your lack of control over your emotions," he suggested.
"You're not supposed to be making fun of me when I'm thirty weeks pregnant. That's just rude, Clyde. You're rude."
"It's not being rude, it's being brutally honest in all and every situation," he said, quoting her earlier words. "I might make it my resolution as well." He laughed when Emily reached for a throw pillow and smacked him on the chest.
Clyde is one of my favorites, and his friendship with Emily was something I wished we got to witness. I think that they're those friends who live to annoy the hell out of each other, but are always going to be willing to take a bullet for each other. I wanted to be able to show that here. I loved writing this because I enjoy watching banter-arguments scenes in everything I watch. Also, I'm not British, so all of that was just pure research, meaning they may not be accurate lol.
Let me know what you guys think! Comments are always appreciated.