I went to update a different story today and saw that it was coming up on 2 years since I updated this one! :o Yikes, I'm so sorry to all who were following it! It might take a little while to get back in the swing of ideas for this one, but if people are still following, I'd be happy to work on it again. Thanks for reading!

The two returned home and Emily began to carry Charlotte up the stairs, but saw her start to stir her her arms. Her eyes fluttered open momentarily before shutting again, and Emily smiled as she entered the girl's room.

"You can rest a little longer, I know it was a long day." She whispered, laying Charlotte gently in her bed in case she was semi-awake.

Charlotte immediately curled her small body up into a tight ball in the bed and Emily pulled her comforter up and placed a stuffed animal from the end of her bed in her arms before placing a kiss on her forehead and returning down the stairs to get some work done around the house before Charlotte woke back up.

She washed the dishes, did some laundry, and had just put the water on to make pasta when her phone rang.

"This is Emily Prentiss" she answered, not immediately recognizing the number.

"Hi Emily, this is Mary from Maywood. Is now a good time to talk?"

"Hi Mary, yes of course." Emily said, turning off the stove where the pot of water was sitting.

"Well first, thank you for coming in today and bringing Charlotte. She was just delightful" Mary began, making Emily's heart swell.

"I've had a chance to speak with Sara and wanted to review everything with you. First off, Charlotte is very impressive academically. When I had initially spoken to you, I was expecting her to be a year or two below grade level, but she's actually right on track and ahead in some areas of our first graders."

Emily's eyebrows raised slightly hearing that too. She knew how smart she thought Charlotte was, but didn't know how that would transfer in an academic setting, especially one with such high standards.

"I have no doubt that she would thrive here academically, and we have the support to be able to challenge her, but also help her adjust at her pace." She continued.

"Of course, that's exactly what we'd want for her." Emily replied, realizing she said "we" thinking of her and Derek.

"The timing is something we can discuss more, but since we're close to the beginning of the year and she has a late birthday, she could start in October for just partial days with the learning specialists and go from there. It's even possible she could acclimate with the class later on in the year and stay at grade level with her age, depending on how quickly she adjusts." Mary proposed.

Emily nodded listening intently, head spinning at all the dates. It was late August, and Charlotte's birthday was in a few weeks on September 20th. That gave her a late birthday, but one that was still before the standard September 30th cut off. She'd start in October... so 5 weeks. Only five weeks Charlotte starting school? It all seemed to be coming so fast, even though it was something Emily wanted for her.

"I'll... have to talk with her therapist and social workers and see what they think about her starting then..." Emily replied, her motherly side beginning to feel slightly overwhelmed at the prospect of not seeing Charlotte for even half days at school.

"Of course" Mary replied, genuinely. "It was just an estimated option based on what Sara's assessment had. But I understand that there's many more factors of adjustment here than just academics. Why don't you give me a call back whenever you have a chance to think it over and we can go from there?" She proposed.

"Yes, that sounds good. Thank you." Emily said, relieved, needing to slow down and think all of this through more.

"Alright, have a nice day Emily, and please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions." She said.

"Thank you, you too." Emily replied, then ended the call.

She remained seated at the kitchen table momentarily, letting out a breath. It was a lot to think about.

After a moment, she got up and turned the water back on to boil, distracting herself with getting some things done around the house for another half hour or so, the options with school still very much on her mind.

As she was adding sauce and seasoning into the pasta she was making, she heard the door open and Derek entered the kitchen.

"Hey you" He said, putting his keys on the counter and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey" Emily replied, with a slightly exasperated smile. "You're home early.'

Derek nodded but with a slight frown, knowing in an instant that something was stressing her.

"Everything ok?" He asked, worried.

"Yeah, yeah just... lots to think about."

"Oh?" He replied, prompting her.

"The school just called back and said Charlotte aced their assessments and could start as early as October." She said, looking up from the pot of pasta and over to him.
His eyebrows moved up in slight surprise too. "Well that's... great. But October... I guess that is still 5 weeks away but, wow" he replied, also not liking the idea of his girl away from them for hours at a time, even though he knew she'd love school.

Emily nodded and remained quiet.

"Is she asleep still?" He asked, rubbing Emily's shoulders lightly, seeing how stressed the conversation was making her.

"Yeah, but we should probably get her up soon so she can sleep well tonight." She sighed, wiping her hands in a towel to go wake her.

"You stay, I've got this." Derek proposed, seeing how stressed she already was.

Emily paused for a moment but then nodded, turning her attention back to finishing dinner and setting the table as Derek ascended the steps and went to her doorframe.

Slowly and calmly he walked in and knelt by her bed.

"Charlotte" he whispered, and saw her begin to stir.

"Hey sweetheart, time to wake up" he tried again, putting his hand very gently on her shoulder and this time successfully getting her to open her eyes.

"Daddy you'we home" She said quietly, happy to see him as she stretched her arms wide above her head.

"I am babygirl" he replied with a slight laugh at her stretching, feeling his heart melt at her sweet and innocent response.

He picked her up and held her in his lap on her bed and watched her snuggle instantaneously with her stuffed bear into his chest. He chuckled softly, seeing how far she'd come from being afraid to even be approached by Emily just a few weeks before.

"Mom's got some dinner going, want to come eat?" He asked. He and Emily were being very intentional with giving her choices all they could- asking her if she wanted to eat instead of telling her it was time for dinner. Dr. Freeman said it would be a good way to help reverse the deep rooted inability to choose or consent to things that Hosben had planted in her.

She nodded. "Ok." But paused for a moment once she stood up and looked up at Derek.

Can you cawwy me down?" She asked with a small smile tugging at her lips. Derek laughed, lifting her up easily in his strong arms in response.
"You betcha" he said, descending the stairs with her.

A/N- Thank you for reading, especially after such a long break! Please review if you have a moment to let me know any thoughts or ideas.