Emily opened the door, her eyes immediately shot down to the little girl holding the hand of the taller woman. Emily drank in the sight of the little girl. She had stick straight dirty blond hair that fell to her lower back, she had the most striking green eyes Emily had ever seen. She was sucking her thumb with her free hand. Her face was tear stricken and it broke Emily's heart. She finally looked up to the social worker, extending her hand. "Hi, I'm Emily Prentiss. Please, come in." Emily lead her and the little girl to the living room.
Once everyone was sitting, the social worker spoke. "You have a lovely home. I'm Sarah Daye. This is Eloise Smith. Can you say hi?" The older woman turned to the little girl.
A small voice finally spoke as she pulled her thumb out of her mouth. "My name is Ellie." That was all she said before she put her thumb in her mouth again.
"Eloise does prefer to be called Ellie. Is there somewhere we can talk in private?" The social worker looked cautiously at the little girl.
JJ stood and extended her hand to the little girl, "Hi Ellie, I'm Jennifer, do you want to go check out some toys?" The little girl nodded and slid off the couch, catching Jennifer's hand in the process.
When they were both out of ear shot, Emily spoke, "What do I do now?"
"Well we'll need to do a house check really quick. But I wanted to talk to you about Eloise." Emily nodded for Sarah to continue, "As I said we needed an emergency placement for her. She had to be taken out of the house because of abuse from a fellow foster child. If you ask me, she shouldn't have been in that house in the first place. Don't get me wrong, those parents do a great job with the older kids, but the system can still breed resentment in most of our older kids. This house was no different. Eloise was subject to a lot of bullying, but when she showed up to day care with small bruises all over her from the relentless pinching she got from one of her foster brothers, we had no choice but to remove both children from the home. She was a safe-heaven baby, she's never had a family. She's shy, but she is so kind, she's one of the better cases under my care. I recently read your file. I know that you essentially quit your job for a family and were looking to eventually adopt, when all of this went down, I knew you were the people to look after her."
Emily nodded along, "Thank you. What can I do for her?"
"Well truth be told; she's been one of the easier cases. She is a good kid. She just needs time to warm up. I just need you to be good to her, she has a special place in my heart. She was my first case out of college, and I've had her case since her surrender. Now, let's get the house check done with." Sarah said with a warm smile.
Emily nodded, "Yes of course. Follow me." Emily lead her through the house. She showed Sarah the upstairs, ending with the room Ellie would sleep in. "Should I get one of those guard-rail things for her bed?" It was a twin bed, not a toddler bed, and Emily found herself suddenly worried about the situation.
"It would be an added measure of security. I would recommend one." Sarah said, noting something on her clipboard.
Emily lead her downstairs, she showed they had baby gates at each set of stairs and could lock the doors in high places. She showed Sarah to the office and the showed her how the gun safe was hidden and always locked. "That's a great measure." Again, Sarah noted something. She ended by showing the social worker to the playroom, where JJ and Ellie were still playing. "Okay Ellie, I have to borrow Jennifer for some paperwork, is that okay?" Sarah had squatted to look at the girl, her voice softened the second she spoke to the little girl.
JJ stood, but rubbed the little girl's shoulder, "I'll be back soon, okay Ellie?" The little girl nodded, still flipping pages on the picture book she was looking at. JJ followed Emily and the social worker into the dining room. Once all were seated, JJ looked at Sarah, "So how'd we do?" JJ played with her hands, a sign of nervousness.
"You are some of the most prepared parents I've ever seen. All looks good. We just need to sign some custody papers and get you her medical information. Oh," Sarah looked as though she remembered something, "Do you guys have a 5-point harness car seat?"
JJ looked panicked. She hadn't though about keeping Henry's when he graduated to a booster seat. "No, is that bad?"
Sarah chuckled, "Not at all, I just wanted to double check before I got the one from my car. After we get all the paperwork signed, we will get that, and her stuff out of the car."
Soon all the paperwork was signed, JJ went back to see Ellie asleep on the couch in the playroom. She had seemed tired the whole time she had been in their home. JJ pulled a blanket off the back of the couch, tucking it around her small body, before going back out. She noticed the house was otherwise empty, and figured she could help Sarah and Em bring stuff in. All that was left when she reached them was the car seat. "I'll get it," she told them.
After Sarah left, Emily looked at JJ, "Where's Ellie?"
"She passed out in the playroom. Want to go upstairs and unpack this for her?" Emily nodded and grabbed one trash bag, while JJ grabbed the other. They sat on what would be Ellie's bed.
"That little girl looked so sad, apparently she loved the parents in her old home." Emily looked sad at the thought of the girl hurting.
"So why did they remove her?" JJ asked, stroking Emily's back.
"One older boy in the home picked on her. He pinched her until she bruised. So, they both had to leave. This isn't even the worst story of abuse we've heard, but the look in her eyes when she got here, she was so sad. It just… it hurt my heart." Emily wiped a stray tear.
"I know, but I know you and I will love her with all of our hearts. We will never let anything bad happen to her. I promise." The blond assured her wife. They began unpacking the bags, and JJ frowned. "These will never fit her."
Emily stopped folding something, "What?"
"All these clothes are at least a size to small, and this one says 24 months! How could she even squeeze into these?" JJ got angry at someone not bothering to care for the girl's basic needs.
"Well I was thinking of taking her to the mall to pick out a couple of toys, and maybe a bed set. Maybe we can just move that from tomorrow to today? So, then we could get her a couple pairs of clothes that fit well. And a winter coat. The one she has is far too thin. Oh! And shoes. She needs shoes, she has like one pair of tennis shoes that fit her." Emily kept thinking of things the girl needed.
"She needs a different car seat too. The one she has looks like it came straight from the '80s."
Emily smiled, "Penelope is going to be so mad we took Ellie shopping without her."
Just then the couple heard a small cry from downstairs, "Jennifer?" They heard through a whimper. Both women jumped up and ran down the stairs.
"Ellie!" Jennifer called as the girl sat on the floor in the hall. The girl's head shot up and green eyes bore into the blond, new tears were falling. "I couldn't find you." The sadness in Ellie's voice hurt both women.
JJ sat on the floor next to her. "I'm so sorry, Ellie. We were just upstairs. We will show you the house later so that you can't feel lost again. But me and Emily noticed that you don't have many clothes that fit. Do you want to go pick out some more?" The girl perked up, "Maybe we can get you a couple toys too? And we can decorate you room. Does that sound okay?"
The first beautiful smile they had seen from her, was displayed then. "Yes!" She said as she shot up, the energy a three-year-old should have came back to the girl. She didn't know much, but she knew these two women who had her, were the best so far.
"Okay, let's go get you ready! You're still in jammies!" JJ tickled the girls' sides. A beautiful squealing laughter filled the hall. Emily knew instantly that she loved that sound. JJ got up and extended her hand for the little girl. "Let's go show you your room."
Emily followed them up into the room for Ellie.
"The bed is so big!" Ellie's eyes were wide in wonder. She turned to the women, "Your house is so big!" Emily and JJ laughed.
"It is pretty big, but we have so much more than just the inside! Maybe when we get back, we can show you all the barn animals!" Emily said, matching the excitement of the little girl.
"Do you have cows? MOOO." The little girl was shaking with excitement.
Whoever used to have her, taught her about farm animals. That gave Emily solace. She gave Eloise a sad smile, "Sorry, no cows, yet. But we have goats, and horses!"
"Baaaa!" Was all they got in response, both women laughed again.
Once they had found a decent outfit that wasn't super small, Emily went into the garage to get the car seat hooked up in her SUV. When she came back in JJ was on the phone, "Hey Pen, we are taking Ellie shopping- yeah, her full name is Eloise. Yes, it is super cute. Yes, so is she. Sorry, but she needs it now. Can you take Henry home and stay with him for a bit if we aren't home by then?" Emily didn't get the chance to finished listening to JJ's side of the phone call. She felt a small tug on the side of her shirt.
"Emily?" Eloise had her eyes wide, "I have to go potty." She looked away, blushing.
"Oh. Okay, come on," Emily lead the girl to the bathroom. "Do you need help?" Emily saw that the girl looked embarrassed. "it's okay if you do." Emily reassured her. Ellie nodded, still not looking at Emily.
After Emily got Ellie done washing her hands, they emerged to see JJ looking trapped on her call with Garcia. Emily walked hand in hand with Ellie, she grabbed the phone from JJ. "Hey Pen, we have to go, I'll send a pic in the toy store and let you buy some things later. Bye!" She hung up before she could be sucked in by their friend. "Well now that that's handled, shall we go?" JJ nodded, relieved. "Do you know where Henry's old stroller is? I don't want Ellie to have to walk the whole time."
JJ swallowed the last of her water before standing up. "Let me get that in the car, you get her in her coat and strapped in. Sound good?"
Both nodded in response.
On the road JJ turned around in the passenger seat to look at Ellie, who was quietly looking out the window. "Do you want to listen to some music Ellie?"
Green eye's lit up and the little girl nodded. JJ turned on the radio and saw the little girl bob along.
Emily and JJ just finished in The Children's Place in the mall, they had a lot of new clothes, most of which were pink or super girly, but Ellie picked most of it herself, anything not pink was what the women picked. They got her a new winter coat and a lot of shoes, and some furry boots. They walked out and JJ looked at her watch, it was noon, so definitely lunch time. She turned towards Emily who was pushing the stroller, "Hey babe, how about some lunch?"
"That sounds good. Food court?" JJ nodded in response.
When they got to the food court, she bent down to talk to Ellie. "what sounds good for lunch?"
The little girls face scrunched up in thought, JJ giggled at the face, "Pizza!" Ellie said pointing to the pizza place near them.
"Pizza it is!" The blond announced.
After all of them were fed, they headed to the Macy's for a new bed set. They let Eloise out of her stroller to look closer at the twin bedspreads. JJ pushed the stroller while Emily held her hand as the browsed. "Can I look higher?" Ellie's neck was cranked up, but she still couldn't look at all of them.
"Sure, here." Emily picked her up and Ellie instinctively wrapped her legs around Emily's waist. Her little hand came around and rested on the opposite side of Emily's neck. Emily melted. She was already so in love. Everything Sarah said was true. And she knew then that she would never let this little girl down. Figuratively, of course.
"'tis one Em'ly." Emily smiled at the way they little one said her name. Her eyes followed a little finger to a bed set. On the cover it had tons of different shades of pinks and soft browns, on the front of the comforter was an owl, and the sheets were white with little matching owls on them. "owl says 'who-who'"
"Good job, and owl does say 'who'. You want the owl one?" Ellie nodded. "Okay, owl one it is."
Emily moved to put Ellie down, but the girl squeezed tighter into Emily's neck. Emily simply used her free hand to grab the handle of the bed set and put it in the stroller where Ellie was previously sitting.
Emily grabbed a guard-rail from the same section before heading out of the store. They paid and headed to their last stop, the toy store. Once Ellie looked at all the toys lining the wall she started to try and wiggle away from Emily. "Ellie, I'll set you down, but you have to promise to hold my hand, okay?" The little girl nodded. Emily set her down and they held hands. Again, JJ pushed the stroller through the shop.
"What can I get?" Ellie asked, looking up to Emily.
"Anything you want." Emily watched her get her thinking face on as she scanned all the toys. Both women giggled at the face. Soon she found a stuffed elephant, she held it up and looked at Emily hopefully. "That's cute. Let's get it." And that's how the shopping trip went, Ellie would see something she liked and ask Emily silently for it. She never told Ellie no once. She picked mostly stuffed animals and books, with a few dolls or other toys thrown in. Emily knew she was setting a bad precedent, but all the girl came with was a couple bags of too small clothing, Emily thought she deserved this spoiling. JJ picked a couple of things for Henry, so he didn't feel left out. The last thing they did was pick out a new car seat in the Kohl's. It was nearing three when they finally left.
JJ and Emily knew that Henry would be home when they got home. They really hoped him and Ellie got along.
When they pulled in, they saw Garcia's car already there. "Okay Ellie, our friend Penny is here, she is going to love you, but she talks really fast, think you can keep up?" JJ asked as she pulled Ellie from the car seat.
"Mmkay," Ellie was still clutching the pink elephant, the first ever toy she picked out for herself. JJ pulled her out of her car seat and carried her inside. Immediately Nova and Luna made themselves known. Ellie flinched at their barking at first but got excited quickly. "Puppies!" She squealed as she wormed her way out of JJ's arms. She went to them the second she was let out. She sat on the floor in the hall as they smothered her with kisses. She squealed again and pet them both, giggling the whole time. JJ let Emily watch them and headed to the living room, as soon as she was in, Henry left his snack on the coffee table, running to his mom. She pulled him into a big hug.
"Mommy! Aunty Penny took me to a bakery for breakfast, and we were almost late to school. But only almost!" Henry told his mother, making sure she knew he was technically to school on time.
"Henry, you are such a tattle tale!" Garcia teased as she knelt to tickle him.
"Garcia, can you stay here? I want to show Henry someone, alone first." Penelope huffed and grumbled but sat on the couch pouting. "You can see soon. I promise."
"What do you show me?" Henry asked, his little brow furrowed in confusion.
JJ stood and showed him into the hall. Ellie looked up from the dogs and smiled, "Henry, this is Ellie, she's going to stay with us for a while. Can you say hi and promise to be nice?" Henry nodded and smiled back at the little girl.
"I'll be nice, mommy. I promise." He turned his attention to the little girl, "Hi Ellie, I'm Henry." He put a tiny hand out like he had seen his mom's do a lot. Ellie looked confused at what to do. She stood awkwardly at slapped his hand, like it was a sideways high-five. Henry's face wrinkled in confusion, "No, not like that. Like this," he took her hand and put it to his. His fingers wrapped around her hand and he shook it up and down before letting their hands fall. "It's how big kids say hello."
Ellie gave another smile, "Okay!"
Henry smiled, he just taught her something and he was proud of himself. "What to watch cartoons with me and Aunt Penny?"
"Yeah!" They both smiled and Henry grabbed her hand before dragging her to the living room with him.
JJ and Emily looked at each other, "Well, that went well."
JJ rolled her eyes at Emily, "let's hope it stays that way."
Emily wrapped her arms around JJ's waist and kissed her sweetly. "Cartoons, ma' lady?" Emily raised her eyebrow and gestured to the living room for JJ to lead the way. JJ laughed and pulled Emily by the hand into the living room. Once they cuddle up on the couch by Penelope, leaving the kids on the other couch, they got a glare from the normally bubbly woman.
"You could not wait one day? ONE DAY? You know I love shopping and tomorrow's Saturday!" Garcia practically whined at them.
Emily just shrugged, "She needed clothes." She turned her attention to the girl sitting across from her, "Ellie, this is Penny. She is so happy to meet you," She turned back to Penelope and quirked an eyebrow giving her a 'well are you going to play nice or not?' look.
Penelope seemed to remember her reason to be here and she beamed brightly. "Hi Ellie, you can call me Aunt Penny or Penny or anything you want. My name is Penelope. Welcome to the family! You'll meet so many of JJ's friends, and if you ask me, they're all pretty cool." Ellie gave her a bright smile back.
She crawled off the couch with Henry and scrambled her way onto Penelope's lap, who helped her up immediately. "Look at this el'phant Em'ly bought me."
Penelope immediately showed interest to the new toy and they shared a conversation that only them would have understood. Emily and JJ held each other closer, loving the scene unfolding before them. It was beautiful, and they couldn't have asked for a better day.
A/N: honestly at this point, I'm writing for just myself. Still, let me know how y'all are liking it. What do you think could be improved? Any feedback is welcome and appreciated! There will def be more, so stay tuned!