Chapter 2
(A.N. In this chapter, we're going to see about Emily's life as a teen in Rome.)
1995, Washington D.C., 15 year old Emily comes home from school to find the staff packing up their stuff yet again.
"Charlie, where is my mother?" she asked her caretaker.
"I believe that she is in her study young miss." Charlie answered her.
Charlie had been Emily's personal caretaker since she was a child. She was an older woman with long grey hair that used to be blonde, blue eyes, and was a medium height (even though Emily was taller than her). Emily makes her way down the long halls to where Ambassador Prentiss' office was.
'Mother! Are we moving again?" the teenager asked.
"Yes Emily, we're moving to Rome next week. Your school has already been notified and start practicing your Italian again." Elizabeth answered her, not looking up from what she was working on.
Her mother always dismissed her like this. She never really spent time with her daughter and always had the staff taking care of her. Emily was used to this, it was the way she grew up, but it still hurt her that Elizabeth chose her job over her family.
Emily went to her room and locked the door. She went to her dresser and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from one of the drawers and went onto her balcony. This was her way of distressing and relaxing.
"Young miss?" she heard at the door.
"Who is it?" Emily responded.
"It's Charlie. Can I come in?" the woman asked. Charlie had been Emily's care taker since she was a child, and had a really close relationship with her.
"Yes, just a second." she put out the cigarette and hid the rest of them before opening the door.
"I know you're not happy about having to move again." the older woman told her.
"Of course I'm upset, I've only been at this school for maybe 6 months."
"You know how your mother's job is, and maybe this will be good for you living abroad again." Charlie reassured her.
"Ok, but why does she always do more for her job than she does for me?" Emily asked.
"I don't know sweetheart, but I'm always here for you. You know that right?"
"Yes, I know, but even the things she made me do growing up was for the job. When we would host dinner for other ambassadors, she would make me entertain the other children and even try and talk about whatever policy she was supporting at the time, that's why I hate politics." she was honest with Charlie, who was probably one of the only people who Emily could be honest with.
"I know it hasn't been easy growing up, things will get better Emily, you just have to trust me." Charlie reassured her charge.
She gives her a hug and gets up to leave the room.
"One more thing young miss," she says as she's leaving.
"What is it Charlie?" Emily asks.
"You need to stop smoking, it's not healthy or safe for you." Charlie says and walks away.
(2 weeks later)
Emily has been at her new school for a week. It's pretty much the same old, same old when it comes to her classes and the people in them. However, she has found some new acquaintances that seem interesting to her. Of course it's a group of guys, typical for her, but Matthew, Johnny, and Gabriel were the only people to make her feel somewhat welcome last week when she walked into class.
At lunch, Emily went and sat with her group of new friends.
"Em, nice for you to grace us with your presence." Matthew greeted her at their table sarcastically.
"Fuck off" she told him.
Given, she had only been there 2 weeks, the group had become very close.
"What are your plans after lunch?" Johnny asked.
"Well I think I've earned myself a break, so I'm ditching and getting some real food. Who's with me?" Emily announced to the group.
"Can't, I have to to teach children's bible class." Matthew answered.
"I have practice, sorry Em." John chimed in.
"I'm in." Gabriel said. Gabriel Ricci was 14 years old, he was tall and lean, with sandy blonde hair and green eyes. He was one of the (jocks), but didn't fit in with them.
Even though she did not know him as well as Matthew or John, Emily trusted Gabriel and agreed to the arrangement. After their lunch break was over, the pair left the school and headed towards one of his favorite restaurants in town, since Emily was unfamiliar with the area. Gabriel chose a burger place to eat at.
"Hamburgers were my favorite back in the States." Emily told him after they ordered.
"I like them a lot too. We really don't have anything like this here. So something I like this is great for us." he told her.
"So what is it like growing up all over?" he asked.
"A lot of people would think it's great, but I've never been at a school more than a year, so it's hard to fit in at new places. I hardly get to talk to my mother and I'm practically being raised by my nanny, Charlie." Emily answered his question honestly.
"Oh, so I guess that sucks sometimes doesn't it?"
"Yeah, it's not the best, but I am able to speak 5 other languages fluently, which I guess is a good thing."
They continue talking through their meal and decide to go on a walk through the local park. Emily really felt that she was normal for once in her life, and that she would be happy here in Italy. She lit one of the cigarettes she had.
"Do you want to go back to my house?" Gabriel asked as they were walking.
Emily knew what the question really meant. It wasn't like it was her first time having sex, and she did want to fit in with more people. She thought that maybe Gabriel would introduce her to others if she did this, she also really liked him so she said sure.
(1 month later)
She was so scared, and didn't know what to do. Maybe she had the date wrong and her period wasn't 2 weeks late. Emily checked her calendar again, sure enough her last period was 6 weeks ago.
"Young miss?" Charlie knocked on the door.
"It's time to go to school. You don't need to be late today."
(that was an understatement) Emily thought to herself.
"I'll be just another minute." she told her.
Emily grabbed what she needed for school and her wallet and walked to the door. She decided that she would talk to Gabriel when she got to school and what they needed to do.
"I'm ready!" she called for Charlie, and their driver took her to school.
At lunch, she was the first one to the table, anxiously waiting for Gabriel to show up. Luckily, he's the next one of the friend group to sit down. After their afternoon together, Emily and Gabriel had decided to not tell their friends everything that happened that day.
"We need to talk." Emily immediately told him when he sat down .
"What is it?" Gabriel asked.
"I'm late."
"What do you mean you're late?" he asked innocently.
"I mean my period is 2 weeks late." she told him in a hushed voice.
"Oh, shit, do you know for sure if you're pregnant."
"I haven't peed on a stick if that's what you're asking, but I've never been this late before."
"Well, take the test and we'll go from there." Gabriel reassured her.
"What are you two whispering about?" Johnny said approaching the table.
"Oh nothing, just a inside joke we have." Emily told a little white lie.
The rest of the day dragged on slowly. When school was over, Emily got up her nerve and went to the store and bought a pregnancy test and put it in her bag. When she got home she went straight to her room. She took the test and waited a few minutes.
Positive, she read the test again hoping it wasn't right, but alas Emily was pregnant.
The next morning at school she was able to talk to Gabriel and tell him.
"What do you want to do?" he asked her.
"I don't know. I cannot be a mother." Emily told the father of the child she was carrying.
"My parents will kill me if I have to tell them I got a girl pregnant."
"We can talk about this some more at lunch."
At lunchtime, only Emily, Matthew, and John were there. One of the boys told her that Gabriel had left school earlier. She needed advice, and so she decided to tell the boys what was going on.
"I'm pregnant."
"What?" Matthew asked, wanting to make sure he heard her right.
"I'm pregnant, and I have no clue what to do." Emily said in a frightened voice.
"I would love to stay and talk, but I have to go now." John announced.
He got up and left the table.
"What do you want to do Emily?" Matthew asked his friend. He couldn't explain it, but he found that he cared deeply for his new friend and would do anything for her.
"That's the thing, I don't know what I want to do. I can't see myself being a mother, but I think I care about this thing." she explained to him.
"If it would make you feel better, I could make you an appointment at the clinic for this weekend so you have time to make a decision." he offered the option to her.
"Thank you." she told him.
Over the next few days she kept thinking about how her life would be if she kept the baby, had the baby and put it up for adoption, or aborted it. Emily still hadn't made a decision by Saturday when she and Matthew were on the way to clinic.
She didn't make up her mind until the nurse was performing the ultrasound and she heard the heartbeat. She looked at Matthew and told him she wanted to be a mother. They left the appointment and Matthew took Emily home.
She found Charlie and told her that she needed to talk to her in private.
"What is it young miss?" Charlie asked her when they reached Emily's room.
"I don't quite know how to tell you this, but I thought that you should know that I'm pregnant."
"It will be ok." Charlie told her.
"We will figure everything out and you'll be the best mom to this baby."
Emily went to embrace her, glad that she had a woman to talk to now.
"Charlie, please don't tell my mother. You know she'll freak." she begged her.
"You will have to tell her eventually Emily."
"I will, but she doesn't need to know right now."
"Ok young miss."
"Thank you Charlie."
(3 months later)
Emily had been doing a good job of hiding her pregnancy around school and from her mother at least. The staff around the house knew about it, and covered for her when she needed it. Gabriel never returned back to school after Emily told him she was pregnant, so she decided that he did not deserve to know his child.
"Charlie, can you send Emily to see me?" Elizabeth Prentiss asked.
Emily made her way to the office, nervous that she had found out.
"You wanted to see me?" Emily asked her mother when she entered the office.
"Yes dear, we need to talk."
"What is it?"
"I just got off the phone with the embassy and they have asked us to come back to the U.S. I know you have been doing well here, and thought to get your opinion. What do you think?"
Emily thought for a second. She did like being friends with John and Matthew, but she did miss her family in the States and thought it would be better for her child to be born over there.
"I would miss Matthew and John, but I do think it is easier for us to move back." she told her.
"Ok, I'll tell the State department and work out the details." Elizabeth said picking up the phone to start making calls.
She thought that now would be a good time to tell her mother the news.
"Mom?" Emily said standing up from the chair.
"What is it Emily?"
"I have something I need to tell you, but I don't know how you'll react." she started.
"Emily, you know I don't like it when you ramble, just tell me what it is."
"I'm pregnant mom, and I'm so scared." she finally told her mother.
"That is not what I thought you were going to say. God Emily, how could you be so reckless? Do you even know who the father is?" she started getting aggravated with her.
"I'm sorry mother, I don't know how it happened, of course I know who the father is. He just doesn't want anything to do with me, or the baby." she started
"Oh Emily, I'm so sorry. Everything will be fine. We'll move back and that baby is going to be so loved."
After their conversation, the relationship between Emily and Elizabeth started to be repaired.
(4 months later)
When it had come time for Emily to have the baby, everything was perfect. They had moved back to D.C. and Elizabeth was spending more time at home.
Emily went into labor 3 weeks early and was rushed to the hospital. She was rushed to labor and delivery, and Elizabeth was borderline harassing the nurses making sure Emily was taken care of.
Charlie and Elizabeth were both beside Emily and a few, long, hours later, Emily gave birth to her daughter. She weighed 7lbs 6oz and had dark black hair like Emily.
"Have you thought of a name miss?" one of the delivery nurses asked when the baby was given back to Emily.
"Lindsay Elizabeth Prentiss." she told the nurse.
"Emily." Elizabeth gasped, realizing the baby was going to be named after her.
A few days later Emily and Lindsay were discharged from the hospital and were able to start their new lives.
End of Chapter 2
(A.N. I'm sorry I did not end up getting this chapter uploaded earlier today, I had a crazy week and did not have as much time as I would have liked to work on this. Did you like the flashback story? As always I don't own the characters of Criminal Minds, just the storyline. Thank you for reading and leave comments telling me what you thought.)