Emily was feeling very sleepy by the time she'd cried herself out. She also knew that didn't want to stay in her apartment. Not tonight, anyway.
She found her house phone and called a number that she knew by heart.
Elizabeth Prentiss answered the call. She and Emily's father, Fitzhugh, were at home and unwinding after a very fun afternoon and evening with Sandy. Meeting her on the train that morning had been a very big twist in fate. The Prentisses truly enjoyed spending time with Sandy, and she, them. They had a lot more in common besides having a daughter in the FBI. This just made it all even better.
In Elizabeth's mind, hearing Emily's voice would be the proverbial cherry on top.
She was fast to answer the phone when she saw who was on the other line. "Chickpea, I was just thinking about you!"
Emily's voice was gloomy in her ear. "Mother, it's been a really, really rough night."
Elizabeth held a hand to her heart. "Are you hurt?"
"In a manner of speaking. I can't be alone tonight."
"Where are you?"
"At my place. I need food, and to see you and dad."
Elizabeth tried not to lose her cool—something was definitely up. "We would love to see you. Would you like to stay the night?"
Emily nodded before she remembered that her mother couldn't see her. "Yes, please."
"Alright. Is there anything else you need right this moment?"
Emily glanced out of her window just in time to see an epic rain downpour begin. "I'll order a car. Give me a half hour so I shower and can get some things together."
"Then we'll get ready for you now." Elizabeth decided. "Emelise Adele?"
"Yes?" she asked.
"We love you more than you could possibly know."
These words from Elizabeth lifted Emily's heart a great deal. "Thank you, mother. See you soon."
"See you soon." Elizabeth returned.
They hung up. Emily set the phone back in its cradle.
"Okay, jellybean." she rubbed her middle as she stretched and got to her feet. "It's time for a change of scenery."
In due time, Emily was ready to go back out again. Braving the cold would be worth it tonight.
"Mother?" she called as she entered her parents' home and closed the front door behind her.
Elizabeth joined her daughter from the kitchen. "Oh, Emily, what's happened?"
"I'll talk about it when dad is here." she looked around. "Where is he?"
"Right here." came a voice from the top of the stairs.
Doctor Fitzhugh William Prentiss, PhD. was a bestselling author of popular fiction, who had been writing for as long Emily could remember. He was even a retired psychology professor. These days, he was just happy to be an author because his books made other people happy. He also accompanied his wife on most of her ambassadorial adventures. Fitzhugh's life was wonderful.
But his heart was at its fullest whenever Emily was around.
"I just finished making up your bed in your old bedroom. There's hot food in the kitchen." he joined Emily and hugged her before helping her out of her wet coat. "How did you get here? It's pouring buckets, my dear."
"I ordered a car." Emily told him. "I'm just happy that someone showed up."
Fitzhugh checked the weather app on his phone. "It's meant to last until at least noon."
"Great." Emily griped. "Here's hoping we don't have another case for a few days—I wouldn't be able to survive."
"Your mother and I want to hear all about why. Let's go."
All three of the Prentisses moved from the receiving area of the house to the kitchen. Its atmosphere was cozy. Many a heart-to-heart chat had been had here over the years. And always over food.
It was cottage pie, pan loaf, garden salad, and to drink, non-alcoholic hot toddys tonight. Everything was perfect to chase away the mundane February blues. These were also items that Emily had had growing up. In her lifetime, she'd had all kinds of different things from all across the globe, but treats from her father's home country of England had always been very calming and comforting.
The events of the evening just made the comfort ironic.
Elizabeth and Fitzhugh both ate, too, but they couldn't help noticing at which their daughter had tucked into her own plate.
"When was the last time you ate?" Fitzhugh asked Emily.
She pushed back her plate on the tabletop and thought about it. "This morning, before work. The rest of my day has been like a runaway freight train."
"Because of the case?" he guessed.
"Yes, but mostly because of the involvement with JJ's family."
"What happened? When we met up with Sandy later on, she made it clear that the case was the only off-limit topic."
Emily glanced at her mother. "Do you want to know?"
"Yes, if it explains why you've had such a crazy day followed by a rough night."
"Okay. We had a case involving human trafficking, and it was brought to our attention by JJ's husband, Will. He invited us in because we were the first people he thought of. There was also immediately a catch about the first witness."
"In what fashion?" asked Fitzhugh.
"She was a child, as well as Will's and JJ's niece. Her name is Olivia Victory Spelling." Emily explained. "She was kidnapped and then let go. Sandy found her at the station."
Elizabeth grew confused. "How does that work?"
"She's in town for the trading convention, and to see her family. It was all meant to be a surprise. Fate had other plans."
"I'll say..."
Emily laughed softly at her mother's wonder. "The station was in her sights at all because it was down the block from a drug store that she'd made a pit stop at. None of us knew that Sandy was even here until she bumped into Olivia."
"Amazing. Where was Olivia's mother? Or her father?"
"Olivia's father died recently because he was deployed overseas, and Olivia's mother was also taken today."
"What is her name?" Elizabeth wanted to know.
"Her name is Katherine Spelling. She plead with the abductors to release Olivia, and they listened."
Fitzhugh spoke up again. "So if Olivia is the niece of your best friend and her husband, then, does that mean Katherine is JJ's younger sister?"
Emily became impressed that her father had pieced this together. "That's right, and it all had a happy ending. Thank goodness. It was everything in between that gave me enough stress to lose my appetite until just now."
"More about dear JJ's family?"
"Yes. JJ is a child of divorce. Her father even left home after a very unfortunate event, but the way JJ told it, she was describing abandonment."
"How awful. What age was JJ?"
"Eleven, and she hadn't even heard from him since until this morning. His appernce triggered a panic attack." Emily gave a shaky exhale. "For me, the scariest part of today wasn't even that the team faced and caught a psychopath, or even meeting JJ's stepmother."
Elizabeth held her hands in timeout. "Why would that be scary?"
"Her name is Hannah, and from what I've deduced, she's only a handful of years older than JJ is."
"Where were Hannah and JJ's father this whole time? After the divorce, I mean?"
Emily did her best to keep from seething at the injustice. "Baltimore. Neither of them ever told JJ."
"That's cold and brutal…"
"Mhm. They also both kept it from JJ until 2013 that she has two younger siblings."
"Two?" Elizabeth echoed.
"Katherine is a twin. She has a brother called August." Emily gave another shaky sigh. "JJ, Will, and Sandy know that I'm very loyal to the family, but I was worried about how well I'd get on with Hannah."
"Why? Is JJ's father not nice?"
Emily shuddered as she recalled hers and Will's min interaction with Clifford. "That's putting it mildly, but my worry was for nothing because Hannah is actually very nice. We even became friends. The scariest part of my day was being a buffer between JJ's mother and father."
"How did that go?" Emily's own parents asked in unison.
She told them everything, including the part about where she'd told JJ's parents about loving JJ the way she did.
"I can't say I'm surprised." Elizabeth remarked when she'd finished.
"Nor I." agreed Fitzhugh. "We've had a feeling for years now that you two are this close. She's lucky to have you, and you're lucky to have her, Emelise."
"Uh-huh…"
Emily pushed her plate back even further. She'd finally arrive at the crux of the matter, and it was making her nervous.
"Remember awhile back how I said that I was dating a man I met through work by the name of Andrew Mendoza?"
"Yes." Elizabeth said as Fitzhugh nodded. "You even showed us his picture."
"Well, the reason I'm such a mess tonight is because we broke up tonight." Emily's bottom lip wobbled in a childlike way. "I'm pregnant, and he has no desire to be involved. Andrew doesn't even want kids. At all."
The rest of the story came tumbling out, and Emily started crying all over again. She spared no detail.
Emily's parents were shocked by what she was telling them—especially the part about rejecting a marriage proposal—but because she was their child and she was in distress, they comforted her.
Elizabeth hugged Emily. "We are so sorry that Andrew doesn't want to stick around, but maybe it really is for the best."
"Do you really think so?" Emily said hopefully.
"Yes. No good could come from being with someone whose heart isn't in it when a little one is concerned." Elizabeth said consolingly. "We are definitely excited that you're going to have a baby."
"Your mother is right." Fitzhugh added. "We are very excited to meet the little one. You're going to be amazing."
Elizabeth rubbed Emily's back. "You know that we're here for you all the way, right?"
Emily nodded. "Right. I love you two so much."
"And we love you."
When Emily finally fell asleep in her old bed that night, listening to the sound of the rainstorm outside, she finally felt like everything was going to be okay. That was all she needed to know.
Her dreams were of nothing but a brighter future.