13 Years Ago...
Emily Prentiss woke up that morning to the sound of her little girl babbling to herself. Sophia Beth was almost eleven months old and the light of her mother's life. The apple of her eye.
Prentiss got up and then made her way to her daughter's room. The two had been living in a two bedroom apartment in Chicago. After finding out she was pregnant with her daughter, Emily returned to the States and began work at the field office in Chicago for the FBI. Her friend, Clyde even offered to help Emily for the first few months, but ended up staying and renting his own apartment.
"I'm coming," Prentiss called as she made her way to her little girl's room.
When she walked in, a wave of happiness washed over her. Sophia was standing up in her crib smiling at her mother.
"Good morning Sophia," Emily said as she picked her daughter up.
Sophia wrapped her arms around Emily's neck and Prentiss turned her head and kissed her cheek.
She carried the child into the kitchen and put her in her high chair. Luckily for Emily, Sophia was a pretty easy baby. She had extremely good patience and rarely had tantrums. Prentiss took her time making their breakfast. She made them oatmeal and then sat down to feed her daughter. When they finished eating, Emily put her dishes in the sink and then picked up Sophia and brought her back to her room to get changed. She put her girl in a cute little pink onesie and then carried her to her room. Emily set her down and then started getting ready herself.
There was a knock at the door. Emily picked up Sophia and went to answer it.
"Clyde!" she exclaimed when she opened the door to see the Brit.
"How's my favorite little girl doing?" he asked with a smile as he took Sophia from her mother. The baby happily went into his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. Sophia loved Clyde. She saw him almost everyday. He was Emily's go-to babysitter when her usual babysitter wasn't available. Her usual sitter was a college student but she had finals to worry about. It was a cold December morning and Christmas was coming up so Emily was going Christmas shopping.
"I'll be back by the time you wake up from your nap," Emily said to Sophia and kissed her head.
"We'll be waiting," Clyde told her with a smile.
Prentiss wasted no time. She started shopping and by the time it was twelve she was done. She got her daughter some cute outfits and some new toys and she bought Clyde a little gift as well.
On her way home she stopped at a coffee shop to get her daughter a sweet treat and get herself a tea. She handed the cashier her credit card but he declined it politely and said,
"We only take cards with a ten dollar minimum," and pointed towards a small sign. Emily sighed and started to dig through her purse. She had three dollars in cash but she needed five dollars. She bit her lip and sighed.
"I got it," the man behind her said and handed the cashier a five.
Emily turned around to face a taller man with dark black hair and a light beard. He had beautiful olive skin and gorgeous green eyes.
"Thank you," Emily said with a smile.
"Danial Alden," the man said and held out his hand.
"Emily Prentiss," she introduced herself and shook his hand.
Prentiss got her drink and treat and waited for Daniel to get his coffee.
"So, how do I pay you back?" Emily asked sheepishly.
"Don't worry about it. It's on me," Daniel said with a smile. She nodded her head and then watched him walk away.
A few weeks later on Christmas Eve, Clyde joined the Prentisses for dinner.
While Emily was cleaning up dinner, Clyde was watching Sophia. From the kitchen, Prentiss heard a thud and then Sophia shrieked and started crying.
"Emily?!" Clyde called frantically from the living room.
Prentiss rushed into the living room to find Sophia crying hysterically in Clyde's arm and Clyde was holding her head. Sophia reached out to her mother who asked,
"What the hell happened?"
"She fell off of the chair and hit her head on the table," Clyde said. When he moved his hand from her head, he realized there was blood, and a good amount.
"Em?" he said in a scared tone.
She quickly moved her daughter's head to take a look and found the gnash were the blood was escaping from.
"Shit," she said and got up.
"Where are you going?" he asked and got up and followed her.
"The emergency room. She's going to need stitches," Prentiss told him and grabbed her coat. Then she had to put Sophia in her car seat and wrapped her head in a towel and made her way out to her car with Clyde right behind her.
Clyde drove to the hospital while Emily tried to keep Sophia calm in the back.
When they got there, Clyde dropped Emily and Sophia off at the entrance.
Emily rushed in and told the front desk what happened. Sophia was still crying and Emily tried her best to comfort her.
The lady at the front desk had Emily fill some papers out. Luckily Clyde walked in so Emily handed her daughter to him and quickly filled out the paperwork. Then she took Sophia back and sat down and waited. Within five minutes, a doctor came out asking for Sophia Prentiss.
"I'll wait here," Clyde said and hung back.
Emily followed the doctor back to an examination room and looked at the baby girl's head. He concluded that she would indeed need a few stitches but that it was nothing to worry about.
When he left to get the supplies he left Emily alone with her daughter.
"I'm so sorry," Prentiss whispered in her baby girl's ear as a tear slipped out of the corner of her eye.
Suddenly a surgeon walked by and he glanced in the room and when he saw Emily and her baby he stopped. He knocked on the door frame as he walked in.
"Emily?" he asked.
She looked over at the door.
"Daniel?" she asked back.
"What are you doing here?" she wanted to know.
"I work here," he explained and showed her his name tag.
"I'm a neurosurgeon," he told her.
"Oh," was all she could say.
Emily quickly wiped away her tears and sniffled. Then she readjusted Sophia on her lap and took a deep breath.
"This your daughter?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah, this is Sophia," Prentiss said as she wrapped her arms proudly around her daughter.
"Hi, Sophia," Daniel said in a sweet voice that got Sophia attention.
"What brings you in here tonight?" he asked the baby.
"She fell and hit her head. She needs stitches," Emily told him.
"Oh. Can I take a look?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah," Emily said and turned the child so he could get a look at her ear.
Daniel moved the girl's ear a little and saw the wound.
"Oh, thats not too bad. I'm sure it'll be all healed up by New Years," Daniel said optimistically. He was hoping to ease the mother's stress.
"Thank you," she said softly.
He gave her a sweet smile.
Just then the doctor returned.
"Daniel?" he asked.
"Oh hey. I can do the stitches here," Daniel offered and took the tray from the man.
"Is she a friend?" the doctor assumed.
"Something like that," Daniel replied with a smile.
Right when the other doctor walked out, Daniel began working on Sophia.
Emily held her still and distracted her while Daniel put the numbing cream on her. Then she was able to keep her still while he did the stitches. While Daniel worked on the stitches he made small talk with Emily to ease her mind in the moment and Prentiss appreciated it.
Once he finished, Emily thanked him.
Daniel offered to walk the Prentisses out and led them down the hall.
"Thank you, for the stitches," Emily said with a smile as she started to walk away.
"Emily wait," Daniel called.
Prentiss turned back around.
Just then Clyde got up and rushed over to Emily and Sophia with a concerned look on his face.
"Is she okay? Did I break her?" he asked frantically.
"No, she just got some stitches. The doctor says she should be healed by New Years," Emily explained and then looked back at Daniel.
Daniel hadn't realized Sophia's dad was still in the picture. How could he think this beautiful woman was single.
"Uhh, Merry Christmas," Daniel found himself saying with a light smile.
"Merry Christmas," Emily said with a smile. The man took Sophia from Emily and carried her out with Emily next to him.
The next week, Emily bumped into Daniel at the same Coffee shop again.
"It's starting to feel like you're following me," Emily said to him with a light laugh.
"I was about to say the same thing," Daniel joked.
"Here let me get this," Emily said and paid for Daniel's order.
"What's that for?" he asked her.
"For last time, I owed you, remember? Plus, you put my daughter's head back together so," Emily said with a grin.
"Thank you," he said with a smile.
She smiled back.
"Hey, are you free right now?" she asked him.
"I'm free," he told her with a confused look on his face.
"Like you don't have to get to a surgery or anything?" She clarified.
"I'm on my lunch break, Emily," he told her.
"Well, would you like to join me for lunch?" She asked kind of awkwardly.
"Are you asking me out?" he asked her.
"I'm trying to," she said with a defeated look on her face. He smiled and asked,
"What about Sophia's father?"
She raised an eyebrow.
"The man at the hospital," Daniel clarified. Emily laughed.
"Clyde?" she asked.
"He's not Sophia's father. He's more like a brother. He's been helping me for the past year with everything. We're just friends," she told him.
"Ohh," he sighed.
"So, that lunch?" Emily reminded him.
"Right. I'd love to," he said and joined her.
"So, you're a surgeon?" Emily asked as she sat down.
That marked the beginning of the longest relationship Emily Prentiss has had since her daughter was born. Soon after, their coffee dates turned into dinner dates. Daniel even met and hung out with Sophia as well. They were together for over a year.
One night Emily had Daniel over and had Sophia. She ordered a pizza and the two hung out and played with the baby. Sophia really took well with Daniel and favored him over Emily sometimes. He was starting to turn into a surrogate father for the girl, but Emily wasn't ready to admit how serious it was between her and Daniel. That meant she could get hurt.
Once the baby went to sleep, Daniel put the tv on and Emily got two glasses of wine. She joined him on the couch and handed him a glass. The two cuddled up and watched tv and drank wine that night.
When Emily woke up the next day she went into the kitchen to find Daniel making her breakfast and Sophia was already up and resting on Daniel's hip. He turned around while holding Sophia and walked over towards Emily.
"Good morning," he said and kissed her head and then handed her the baby.
"Hi," she said to her child and made a smiley face.
The two had a successful and strong relationship up until the end. Emily finally thought she met her match but when it ended she wasn't so sure anymore. It all ended and the way it ended is what still upset both Emily and Daniel.
One night a few weeks before Sophia turned two, Daniel got some news from his sister and made a decision that would eventually end his relationship with Emily. He offered to take Emily out to dinner that night and he was planning on telling her the news then. He wasn't sure how to bring it up or how she was going to react.
Emily decided it was time to get up and get ready for her date. There was a knock on the door. It was Clyde.
She got up bringing Sophia with her and she opened the door.
"You do know your date is in less than an hour, right?" Clyde teased.
Emily just rolled her eyes and handed her Sophia.
"Hi Soph," the Brit said cheerfully to the one year old. Then he followed Prentiss back into her house.
Emily made her way to the bathroom and showered. Then she blow dried her hair and got dressed.
She started to put on some light makeup when suddenly her door started to open slowly.
Emily smiled and looked in her mirror to see her little girl pushing the door open and walking in to find her mother. Emily turned around and instantly the child smiled. She ran over to Emily and Prentiss picked her up and put her on her lap as she finished her makeup. Then she brought the girl down and asked,
"Missing something?"
Clyde smiled and said,
"I knew she went looking for you."
Emily kissed her girl's head and then set her down.
"I should be home by ten maybe eleven," Emily told the man.
"Eleven? Someone planning on getting some tonight?" Clyde joked.
Prentiss just rolled her eyes.
"You two are serious, huh?" Clyde asked as he picked up the little girl.
Emily shrugged,
"It's just been a year," she reminded him.
"For you, that's serious. Like really serious-"
"Shut up Clyde," she teased and then kissed her little girl's head.
"Be good for Clyde. I love you," she said to Sophia.
The little girl reached for her mom but Clyde held her back and said,
"Mommy has to go put someone else to bed tonight."
She shot him a look and said,
"You're the worst."
"Goodbye Emily," he said pushing her out the door and closing it behind her.
Prentiss pulled up and parked her car and then made her way to the restaurant. It was right across from Daniel's apartment so whenever he chose that place to eat, Emily knew she'd be getting dessert at his place afterword.
"Emily," Daniel greeted her with a smile.
He placed a soft kiss on her lips and then pulled out a chair for her. She took a seat and smiled. The date went well, but the whole time, Daniel seemed a little off to Prentiss. He seemed like he was worried or unsure about something. Emily figured he had a hard day at work so she didn't ask him about it. After they finished eating, he paid and then said,
"Wanna head back to my place?"
She nodded and the two made their way up to his apartment.
As they were in the middle of making love, something caught Emily's eye in his room. There were three boxes in the corner of the room with stuff packed in them. Daniel looked down at the woman under him and realized she was deep in thought.
"What's going on in that pretty head of yours?" he asked.
"What's with the boxes?" Emily wanted to know.
Daniel stopped moving and Emily could tell something was up.
"Daniel?" Prentiss said his name in a low voice.
"I was going to talk to you about this later, but might as well get it out now," he said with a sigh.
"My sister called me and told me that my mom was getting worse. She is starting to get Alzheimer's so I've decided to move home,"
He could tell how disappointed she looked.
"Where is home?" she asked him.
"I'm from a small town in Maine," he told her.
"Maine?" she asked in a whisper and felt her face drop.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," he told her. She gave him a small smile and then lightly pushed him off of her. He settled next to her and she sat up, pulling the sheets up.
"Emily-" he tried to say.
"When were you going to tell me?" she asked.
He sighed.
"After we had sex?" she asked.
"Did you think that was going to make this any easier?" she snapped.
"Emily I was going to tell you at dinner but I just couldn't. I couldn't even think of leaving you. I would ask you to move to Maine with me but I knew you wouldn't uproot your life and move with Sophia. That wouldn't make any sense for you to just leave everything for me. I wouldn't ask you to do that," he said and kissed her exposed shoulder. Then he leaned his head on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Em," he said and kissed her neck. He reached over with one of his hands and cupped her cheek as he kissed the other side of her neck.
Prentiss closed her eyes as her soon to be ex boyfriend left her soft kisses on her neck. She felt the tears build up in her eyes and she knew that if she opened them, they would fall. She wasn't mad at Daniel for leaving, she just wished things were different so they could stay together. Not many men would go out with a single mother.
"Is your mother, okay?" Emily managed it ask.
"Right now she is. I'm sure she's going to be fine. Please, Emily. I'm so sorry to leave you like this," he apologized.
She just took a deep breath.
"Are you okay?" Daniel asked her softly. She opened her eyes and he could tell she was ready to burst.
"Emily," he said softly and used his hand to lift her chin so they were eye to eye. He wiped away some of her stray tears and then pulled her in for a sweet kiss. When they pulled away,
He rested his forehead on her and said,
"I love you, Emily Prentiss."
"I love you too," she said back with a weak smile.
It wasn't the first time this couple used the L word, but they didn't use it often so this was a special moment.
"We can do long distance," he offered.
She smiled at him and said,
"Don't you think that'll be too hard. You'll have your mother to worry about and I have Sophia plus my work. I just think trying to balance a long distance relationship seems unrealistic."
"Well what are our other options?" he asked.
She gave him a look.
"Are we breaking up?" he asked quietly.
Emily tried to give him a weak smile. Then she pulled him in for a kiss.
When they finally pulled apart she whispered to him,
"I'm going to miss you."
"It doesn't have to end," he told her.
"I'm sorry," was all she could say back.
"Emily," Daniel said her name so softly in a pleading manner it almost made her cry.
She looked at him.
"We still have tonight," he said to her.
She leaned in for another kiss and soon enough they were back at it.
They went slow and easy that night because they both knew it was going to be their last night together for a while.
When they finally finished, Emily rolled over and rested her head on his bare chest. She closed her eyes and listened to his heart beat. The clock read 10:00. She still had an hour and she was going to make it last. At 10:30, Emily looked up and realized Daniel was fast asleep. She reached up and gave him one last kiss on the cheek before getting up and leaving.
She got home by 11:00 and walked in to find Clyde on the couch eating and watching tv.
"Hey. How was your-"
He stopped mid sentence because it was clear the woman in front of him had been crying.
"What's wrong? Did Daniel do something to you?" Clyde asked standing up.
"No. It's not that," she said and sighed.
"His mom's got Alzheimer's so he's moving home, to Maine," she explained.
"You two doing long distance?" he asked.
She shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Em," he said as he pulled her into a hug.
She let him hug her and they heard Sophia wake up.
"I got her," Prentiss said and went to get her little girl.
She walked into her daughter's room and picked up the crying baby.
"Shhhhh, I'm right here," Emily said softly as she held her child close. The girl recognized Emily's scent and lowered her head on her mother's shoulder as she calmed down. Prentiss ran her hand up and down her little girl's back as she swayed softly back and forth. Clyde walked in to find Emily with her eyes closed as she clung to her baby. Sophia was no longer the one crying, it was Emily.
"I won't ever leave you behind," Emily whispered into Sophia's ear as she let some tears fall. Then she kissed the child's head and opened her eyes. She looked up to find Clyde standing in the doorway.
"She's lucky to have you," the Brit said.
Emily smiled down at her daughter and said,
"I'm the lucky one. She gives me someone to come home to."
"I'm sorry about Daniel," he said sincerely.
"Me too. I thought he was the one," she admitted.
"Maybe you'll meet again in the future. The person could've been right but the timing could've been off," Clyde told her with an optimistic smile.
"If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don't, they never were," he recited to the woman.
She just rolled her eyes and sighed. Then she turned to Sophia and said,
"Let's get you back to sleep."