Title: Snippets, Snapshots and Unfinished Works
Author: FreeWrite
AN: It's been a little over 2 years since I last published anything. There are a number of reasons for this, I'm not going to go into any of them in depth but suffice it to say it's been an interesting time. I bought my first home, changed jobs, have had some family drama etc etc…. Have I stopped writing? No, my problem is finishing something. I have a large number of started stories that I have simply been unable to finish.
Will any of them every be finished? I have no idea.
This work will be a combination of scene's and snippets from previously published works along with snapshots of the new stories that are unfinished and unpublished. Please do not ask for more, it may not be forthcoming.
If you would like to collaborate on one of the new stories, please PM me to discuss.
To start off, here a couple of missing scenes set during chapter 4 of "The Bird that flies"
March 2011
Elena Cranston nee Lake had spent more time than she was willing to admit talking her ex-husband's new address out of a friend of a friend. She'd known their old house had been sold and despite doing her best to find out if the rumours she'd heard were true (aka attempting to facebook stalk him) his maybe profile was locked down tight and none of their friends from their married days were talking.
"He and Jamie are happy… you walked away, just leave them alone" was all she could get.
She'd walked away from her husband of 15 years and her four year old son… disappeared one day… left a note by the coffee maker.
'I'm not cut out for this life… I'm leaving before it destroys me…'
Elena had listened to message after message from Nathan… after a few weeks they stopped.
"This is the last time I'm calling…" was all his final one said. The longer she stayed away the harder it was to believe she'd be welcomed back. The weeks turned into months, the months into a year… she contacted her lawyer, signed over full custody and had Nathan sent the divorce papers. He signed them uncontested and they hadn't spoken since.
The few mutual acquaintances who still spoke to her reported he'd retired from the Air Force and moved to Virginia. Not long after that they stopped updating her on their lives beyond 'they're happy'. Until one day a few months back one of them slipped and mentioned Jamie had started calling someone else mom.
They clammed up pretty quickly once they realised Elena had overheard… but the damage was done.
Nathan and Jamie had more than just survived her leaving… they'd moved on. A part of her she wouldn't admit existed hoped they'd been pining away for her.
She'd tried to ignore it but the reality was her life had stagnated. She had nothing but her job and her cat.
Now standing in front of the beautiful cottage in Virginia her regrets were overwhelming but she had to see for herself.
Gathering what little courage she had Elena reached out and hit the doorbell.
Seconds later the sound of a baby crying echoed through the house. She waited patiently and soon the crying got closer until the door was opened by a woman around her age… maybe a little younger.
Almost black eyes and matching hair along with pale alabaster skin made for a striking combination, cradled in her arms is a very young baby. If Elena had to guess it would be less than a month old.
"Can I help you?" vague recognition lit up in the dark eyes.
"Ummm" her courage fled… if this was Nathan's house she didn't want to know.
"Em? Who is it…?" Nathan's unmistakable bass filtered out the door just before the man himself appeared, his jaw dropping and eyes flashing through disbelief, anger and fear as he comprehended who was standing at their front door.
"Elena?"
Emily's eyes flickered between them, her lightning fast mind knowing exactly who the woman at their front door is. Stepping back Emily nodded slowly and turned to face her husband, who was still standing there staring at his ex.
Walking back towards him Emily rested a gentle hand on his forearm "I'll keep Jamie upstairs… take as much time as you need" she whispered in his ear. The second last thing she heard before Nathan shut the front door was Elena's snide voice.
"So you went and found some desperate 30 something to have babies for you?"
Emily nearly laughed… Nathan did.
"Emily is anything but desperate…"
She quietly hustled Jamie upstairs and into their bedroom where she put a movie on, loud enough to drown out any sound from downstairs but soft enough to not disturb Hannah who was the fussiest by far of all her kids.
Dashiell was a typical boy and happy as long as there was a boob to snuggle up to, Cora had liked noise and always settled best when she or Dashiell were talking. Skylar never cared either way, Hannah grizzled unless someone was holding her, being left alone too long would result in full blow crying.
It was over an hour before Nathan came upstairs to find Emily dozing against the headboard Hannah snoozing contently on her chest and Jamie next to her happily entranced with Brave.
Sliding onto the bed he wrapped his arm around Jamie and relaxed, put Elena out of his mind and enjoyed the movie. By the time it was finished Jamie was fast asleep against his chest and Hannah was just starting to stir which only woke Emily enough to shift her down to feed. It amazed him how Emily just seemed to go into autopilot with the baby… he's pretty sure she changed a diaper with her eyes closed the other day.
Shaking Jamie awake he got the boy to bed, locked up the house and went back to their bedroom to find a slightly more awake Emily.
"Rumour has it I'm desperate…" she smirked as she lay the baby in her bassinet and held her breath hoping against hope Hannah would stay asleep. When it appeared they were lucky she turned towards him and wrapped her arms around him leaning her head against his chest.
"Desperate for sleep" she mumbles against his chest "what did she want?"
"One of the mutual friends she still see's let slip Jamie calls you mom. She wanted to see for herself… asked to see him." he breathed in deeply and then pulled back to study her "you smell like spit up…" he sniffed again "and diaper cream…"
"I know" she moaned "can we finish this conversation while I shower?" Ideally he would get all of her focus but he understood that with a two week old baby in the house you showered and slept when they slept. So he pulled back and grabbed her hands to lead her to the ensuite.
"What did you tell her about seeing Jamie?" She stripped down and turned the hot water on.
"I laughed in her face. She went on about making mistakes and wanting a second chance, threw out apology after apology. I told her to send a letter when he turned 18 and he could make the choice… said he has two parents, 3 older siblings and a baby sister now… and just like she wanted there's nowhere in his life for her." he slid into the shower behind her.
"How did she respond to that?" Emily massaged shampoo through her hair.
"Not overly well, was really confused until I explained that the big three accepted and loved Jamie as a younger brother and you were raising him as your own." his hands joined hers in her hair. "She then threatened to take us to court to get custody… I told her to go ahead and waste her money. I had my lawyer go through the documents with a fine tooth comb, she severed her parental rights when she signed them."
2013
Emily didn't know what surprised her more. That both her older daughters were in her home or the sight that greeted her when she walked through the front door.
Hannah was dancing to the Wiggles completely oblivious to the spectacle going on behind her.
Skylar was seated on the floor in front of the sofa leaning against Nathan's legs as Cora patiently walked him through the finer points of french braiding.
Before they saw her she quickly snapped a photo and sent it to everyone they knew.
Hannah had her daddy wrapped around tiny fingers… she was pretty sure Skylar and Cora had him as well.
January 2007
Despite nearly two months in the BAU Emily has yet to be seriously questioned about her kids. That first day in the bullpen both Morgan and Garcia had blinked in surprise when she told them Dashiell was a freshman at Yale and the girls were in high school but the expected further questioning hadn't come.
Maybe it was the calm before the storm… not two hours after getting smacked in the head with Reid's rocket JJ and Garcia were dragging her out for 'real' coffee.
"I have been polite and I have been patient… I have not gone into your personal file or stalked your social media…" Garcia dragged Emily down the path at a punishing pace "and now I can't wait any longer. The day you started you showed us a photo of the day your son started college…"
"Seventeen, nineteen and twenty" Emily interrupted with a smirk knowing immediately where this was going.
"What?" JJ peered around Garcia.
"I was seventeen when Dashiell was born" Emily confirmed "nineteen with Cora and twenty with Skylar… that is what you wanted to know isn't it?"
"Yeah…" for the first time in a very long time Garcia has nothing to say.
"I was naive, young and lonely, he was older, manipulative and controlling…" all true "I was pregnant with Skylar when he died."... Lie... "I was one of the lucky ones, my Mom was waiting with open arms let me stay with her until I got back on my feet and the rest is, as they say, history."
"You had 3 kids before you could legally drink?" Garcia squeaked out.
"I got my GED, went to college and through the academy with those 3 kids as well." Emily confirmed.
October 2007
"What about you Emily?" JJ called as they made their way up the stairs and into the jet.
"What about me, what?" Emily hadn't been paying attention to the conversation behind her.
"Do you have a phobia?" Morgan replied from between the two woman.
None of them saw Emily's eyes glaze over as she finally let herself consider her greatest fear. She'd avoided thinking about it through the entire case and didn't respond straight away, instead waiting until they were all in the jet and waiting for take off.
"The cold…" she finally answered softly "I don't mean cold weather where you need an extra jacket or a beanie and scarf, living in Chicago for 5 years cured me of that, I'm talking about the place that is so dark that no warmth can get in… no matter how hard you try you can't see your own hands or feel any warmth or comfort at all…"
Hotch heard her words and considered intervening but decided to leave it for now.
Morgan studied her as her words sank in and quickly realised Emily wasn't talking about an unexperienced fear. This was something she had experienced and would do anything to never go back there. He sucked in a breath as their eyes met and he saw someone that was describing their own personal hell.
A hell they'd manage to survive.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see Reid nodding in understanding and JJ swallowing hard.
He wondered if she'd ever tell them the whole story.