Chapter 16

It was Friday December 21st and the BAU team was restless from not having a case all week. At 3:00 pm Emily finally told everyone they could go home early.

To Penelope's surprise, when Emily heard her and JJ making plans to go to the mall for some last-minute Christmas shopping, she asked if she could join. This was surprising for two reasons. One, Emily and Tara were both of the opinion that overcrowded malls were to be avoided in the weeks leading up to Christmas. And, two, Emily was always prepared and didn't seem the type to leave Christmas shopping until the last-minute.

As they roamed the busy mall, Emily was drawn to clothing stores that appealed to young teenage girls, not the high-end boutiques she usually shopped at.

"Oh! Are we shopping for your mini me?" Penelope asked.

"Yeah," Emily admitted with a sigh. "I don't know what to get her."

"I want to buy her all the things," Penelope said with a dangerous gleam in her eyes as she scanned the dress section of Anthropologie like a woman on a mission.

Emily watched a little warily as the bubbly blonde tech analyst wasted no time pulling three dresses that the mother wasn't sure she could picture Hannah wearing. Unsurprisingly Penelope was choosing bright multi-colored dresses. And did that dress have ruffles? Yes. Yes, it did.

Emily had yet to see her daughter wear a dress. The girl seemed to prefer skinny jeans and sweaters, but that could be partly due to the winter weather. Hannah was wearing a purple sweater the night Emily met her, but every other time Emily had seen her, the young teenager had been wearing more neutral colors like black or grey. Like most teenage girls, Hannah wanted to fit in, not stand out.

"She's a teenage girl, not a Barbie for you to dress up," Emily said with a laugh, trying to gently discourage Penelope with her light teasing tone. She didn't want to hurt the other woman's feelings.

Penelope waved her hand dismissively. "I see no difference. Teenage girl or not, she's still a doll face."

Emily looked to JJ for help, but the blonde profiler just looked on in amusement. Penelope always went a little crazy buying for Henry and Michael, too, and there was really nothing JJ could do to stop her – she'd been trying unsuccessfully for years. It was Emily's turn now.

It wasn't even just the clothes Penelope was choosing – and Emily's doubt that her teenager would actually wear any of them. As much as she wanted to make up for all the Christmases she'd missed, Emily didn't want her daughter to think she was trying to buy her affection. She knew that wouldn't work. It had never worked when her own mother bought her lavish gifts to try to make up for what she missed. Emily recognized the bribes for what they were and only resented her mother more for it. An American Girl doll didn't change the fact that her nanny took Emily to her first day of kindergarten instead of her mother. An ornate jewelry box didn't make up for the school play her parents never saw Emily play the lead in. A shiny new sports car didn't make the angry, jaded teenager Emily had become feel any less bitter when her parents missed the high school awards ceremony where she was honored for her academic achievements.

Emily was not going to repeat her mother's mistakes. That wasn't what Penelope was doing. Penelope had nothing to make up for, and Emily knew the woman's intentions were pure and good, but a friend of Emily's buying Hannah a whole new wardrobe was just…too much. It was too much too soon. Emily was spending time with Hannah regularly, but the relationship was still so new and tentative. The girl didn't even know Emily's BAU family and might not see her biological mother's co-workers as instant family.

"Look, I love that you want to spoil my kid just because she's my kid," Emily started. She didn't have any siblings to be aunts or uncles to her only child. Her mother might have spoiled a grandchild under different circumstances, but Emily couldn't imagine Elizabeth Prentiss embracing a child who had a criminal for a father. Hannah would be illegitimate in the conservative, traditional woman's eyes. The only people who would love Hannah for no other reason than because she was Emily's were her BAU family. They already cared about Hannah, and, with the exception of Reid, none of them had even met the teenager yet. Hell, Penelope wasn't treating Hannah any differently than Henry, and Henry was her godson. The tech analyst was an equal opportunity spoiler of any and all BAU kids. "I really do," Emily continued sincerely. "And I know she's going to love you. How could she not?"

Penelope, arms laden with clothes, glanced up from the clothing rack she was perusing. "Why do I sense a big hairy butt coming?"

"It's not a 'but.' It's an 'and.' I love that you want to spoil my kid just because she's my kid," Emily repeated. "And I'll let you do that after you actually meet her and get to know her. Just not this Christmas, okay?" Emily looked at Penelope with a pleading expression.

The next time it would make sense to buy gifts for Hannah would be the girl's fifteenth birthday, and that was over six months away. By then Emily was sure she would have an opportunity to introduce Hannah to the team. It would be different when Hannah actually knew who Penelope was and saw how sweet and generous the woman was. Right now it would just be one of Emily's friends - a friend Hannah had yet to meet - going way overboard. Emily wasn't sure her kid or her kid's adoptive father would be comfortable with that.

"But she's the only girl, and girls are more fun to shop for than boys," Penelope said, pouting. She cast an apologetic look at JJ. "Sorry, Jayje. You know I love Henry and Michael, but boy clothes are nowhere near as cute."

"I'm sorry, but a whole new wardrobe from a friend of mine that she doesn't know is a bit much. You can buy out Anthropologie for her birthday in July," Emily promised. "In the meantime, you guys can help me find something for her. I need the help."

Penelope gave in despondently, but only after extracting another promise from Emily – Emily had to promise that she would be the very next person to meet Hannah. The bubbly blonde was not happy that Reid met Hannah before she did and made sure Emily knew that.

They left Anthropologie empty-handed. Emily saw a few sweaters she thought Hannah might like but still wasn't sure if that was what she wanted to get her daughter. As a general rule, teenage girls liked clothes, but they didn't always like clothes their mothers picked out for them.

Emily knew she was probably overthinking it, but she really wanted to get the perfect gift. It seemed important somehow that the first gift she ever bought for her daughter be something the girl would really like.

Over two hours later they'd been in every clothing store that catered to teenage girls and Sephora, and Emily still had nothing. They were all tired when they got a table at one of the chain restaurants in the mall and ordered glasses of wine.

"Okay, how is it possible that none of us have any brilliant ideas?" Penelope wondered.

Two profilers and Penelope Garcia with all her tech genius should be able to find the perfect gift for…well, anyone, but in this case Emily's fourteen year old daughter.

"We were all teenage girls once, but it's been a while," Emily said.

"Are you calling us old?" JJ asked with a good-natured grin.

"We're only as old as we feel, and, I, for one, feel young and fabulous," Penelope announced with her usual dramatic flair.

"What does she like?" JJ questioned, wanting to be more helpful than she was in this situation. She was used to buying for boys.

"I don't know," Emily murmured uncertainly. "She likes to read. Historical fiction mainly, particularly anything about the Holocaust, but I don't know what books she's already read. She has questionable taste in music. Her coffee addiction rivals my own before I gave up caffeine. She plays volleyball. As for any other hobbies, I'm not really sure."

"That's not a lot to go on," JJ said honestly.

Emily groaned. "I know. I've only hung out with her a handful of times."

"Oh, I know!" Penelope exclaimed suddenly. "An e-reader!"

"That's a great idea," Emily said. She'd been in Hannah's room and sat at Hannah's desk and didn't remember seeing any tablets. Considering how messy the girl's room was, somehow the profiler didn't think that was because it was put away. It was more likely the teenager didn't have one. The more Emily thought about it, the more she liked the idea. An e-reader cost more than a friend, even a family friend, would be likely to spend on a teenager – and Emily was more than that or at least she desperately wanted to be. But it also wasn't so extravagant that it would make Hannah – or Steve – too uncomfortable. It was a nice but reasonable gift. "I don't know why I didn't think of it myself," Emily muttered more to herself than anyone else.

"Uh, because all things tech are my realm as the resident tech goddess. Duh," Penelope replied, earning a laugh from Emily and a smile from JJ. The tech analyst was already online shopping from her cell phone. She handed her phone to Emily to show her the e-reader she would personally recommend.


An opportunity for Emily to make good on her promise and introduce Hannah to Penelope came up a lot sooner than the profiler thought it would – the very next day in fact.

After their mother-daughter brunch on Saturday morning, Emily asked if Hannah wanted to go back to her condo for their long overdue Scrabble rematch. Brunch was good – no, great actually. After two days of sleeping until noon, the tired, stressed out teenager Emily was dealing with just a few days ago was now well-rested and happy. She'd gotten all A's for her late-night efforts and, even at her age, was starting to get excited for the rapidly approaching holiday now that finals were out of the way. Emily was really enjoying spending time with this version of her kid and wanted more time with her. It was the most relaxed and happiest she'd ever seen the girl.

The profiler also had an ulterior motive for suggesting they go back to her condo – she'd forgotten to grab her daughter's Christmas present when she rushed out the door to pick her up for brunch. The wrapped Amazon Kindle was sitting on the kitchen table. It wasn't like Emily to forget something like that, but Andrew spent the night and she'd been running behind that morning. In her hurry to get out the door, she'd completely forgotten to grab the gift.

Hannah glanced at the time on her iPhone before responding. It was already after 2:00 pm. "I can't," Hannah said regretfully. She, too, was enjoying her time with Emily. The woman was fun to hang out with when there was no French on the agenda.

"Oh," Emily said, trying to hide her dismay. "You have big plans tonight? A hot date?" The mother asked teasingly.

Hannah rolled her eyes. "No," she said. "It's my friend's birthday. She got a limo, and a group of us are going to look at Christmas lights," the teenager explained excitedly. "I'm supposed to wear an ugly Christmas sweater, and I don't have one so I need to find one."

Although she wasn't looking forward to braving the crowds for the second day in a row, Emily offered to take her teenager shopping – an offer Hannah accepted eagerly. Emily would do just about anything for more time with her daughter – even go to Target the Saturday before Christmas.

It took Emily over fifteen minutes just to find a parking spot. The store was even more crowded than she expected, and the Christmas sweater section reflected that – it was very picked over. The whole experience took way longer than it should have, and they had nothing to show for it.

They tried Walmart with the same result. That was when Emily had an idea.

Penelope always went all out to show her Christmas spirit. Last year the woman showed up to the BAU Christmas party wearing a Santa hat, the tackiest Christmas sweater Emily had ever seen, and red-and-white striped candy cane leggings. Emily was guessing her quirky friend had several more sweaters just like the one she'd worn that night in her closet. Anything Penelope had would be a little big on Hannah, but the slender teenager wore oversized sweaters over skinny jeans all the time so Emily thought she could make a larger size work. Hannah didn't really have much choice. It was now almost 4:00 pm, and they were getting desperate.

Emily sent Penelope a text message explaining the situation and, just as she expected, received an immediate response that of course Hannah could borrow a Christmas sweater.

Emily tried to do Penelope justice as she described the bubbly blonde to Hannah on the way to Penelope's apartment. She started with a description of the outfit the tech analyst wore to the BAU Christmas party the year before. Then the Unit Chief listed off some of the more creative nicknames Penelope had come up with for Emily herself as well as the rest of the team in an attempt to prepare the unsuspecting girl for the big personality that was Penelope Garcia - and all of her quirks. Some of the nicknames had the girl giggling from the passenger seat of Emily's sedan. The fourteen year old thought it was pretty funny that anyone would call a badass FBI agent 'gumdrop.'

"Does that mean I can call you gumdrop?" Hannah asked her birth mother with a big grin.

"Only if you want me to come up with a nickname for you," Emily responded without missing a beat. "Hannah Banana?" She tried, going with the obvious nickname to start with. She smirked slightly at the face her child made.

"No one's called me that since I was really little," Hannah told her birth mother, her disdain for the childish nickname clear.

"No? How about Hanny Bear?" Emily suggested, substituting 'Hanny' for 'honey.' Messing with her kid was fun. It was too easy to completely embarrass her increasingly red-faced teenager.

"Stop," Hannah said with wide eyes, the single syllable drawn out in a long whine. "You win. No nicknames. Just never call me that again. Ever."

Emily merely laughed at her kid's serious expression.

"Does Penelope have any nicknames?" Hannah asked in an attempt to get Emily's mind off coming up with horribly embarrassing nicknames for her.

The profiler didn't think Derek Morgan's nicknames for the tech analyst were appropriate for her impressionable young teenager's ears and decided not to even mention them. "Not a very creative one," Emily replied. "Sometimes I call her PG."

Hannah furrowed her eyebrows at the nickname. "Like parental guidance?"

"It's her initials," Emily explained.

Emily went on to describe the tech analyst's 'lair' and some of the woman's favorite toys and gadgets. She mentioned Penelope's shopping addiction, even going so far as to tell her daughter about the time the tech analyst 'did a thing' and bought iPads for the entire team – without budget approval or Hotch's approval. Hannah had an impressed yet disbelieving look on her face.

"So she was a hacker?" Hannah asked in an awed tone.

"Key word there is was," Emily told her kid pointedly. She didn't want Hannah thinking hacking was cool. "She got caught, and she had a choice between doing time and working for the FBI."

"Now she works with you," Hannah said. She cast a nervous glance at her birth mother. "Does that mean she knows that I, um…about the night that I-" Hannah took a deep breath and blurted out her question. "What I'm trying to ask is did she help you find me the night I was, uh, in Bethesda?"

They both knew the girl was referring to the night she found out she was adopted and ran out on her dad. The young teenager didn't want everyone her birth mother worked with knowing about her complete freak out. What would they think of her?

Emily noticed Hannah toying with the gold heart-shaped pendant on the necklace she always wore – a telltale sign the girl was nervous or uncomfortable. "Yes, she did," Emily said honestly. "And she's been dying to meet you ever since."

"Really?" Hannah perked up a little but still gave her birth mother a questioning look. "Why?"

"Because you're my daughter," Emily answered simply. "And she's one of my best friends. As one of my best friends, she already sees you as a sort of niece."

"Oh," Hannah said.

"Come on," Emily said encouragingly. "Let's go raid her closet. It'll be way better than Target or Walmart. And a lot less crowded."

Emily led the way up to Penelope's apartment, pausing as they reached the woman's floor. "She's a hugger," she tried to warn her daughter. Her kid wasn't shy by any means, but it had taken her a little while to warm up to Emily. The profiler knew the girl might have been more guarded with her than she would be with anyone else just because of who Emily was to her – the birth mother who didn't keep her. If Hannah felt for even one second like she wasn't wanted, it was bound to affect her behavior, making her more reserved in her interactions with Emily.

"Okay," Hannah acknowledged the warning with a little laugh. She grew up in a family of huggers so she was used to being hugged. It didn't really bother her, even when it was extended family members in Chicago that she only saw once a year or her grandmother there who always smelled strongly of baby powder.

The only reason Hannah wasn't more physically affectionate with Emily was because she had gone into the newfound relationship with her birth mother determined not to let the woman replace her mom. That meant keeping a safe distance from the older woman. She could only allow herself to get so close to Emily without feeling disloyal to her adoptive mom.

There had been times in their short, fledgling relationship when it was easy for Hannah to see her birth mother as more of a friend than a mother - going to brunch, grabbing coffee, and shopping were all things she did with her friends. But there were other times when Emily acted like such a mom, nagging her about not waiting until the last minute to study or write her paper for example. And the one time she took the Metro home after their unplanned coffee and Scrabble date, Emily insisted that she text her to let her know when she got home. Only a mother would think their teenager was dead in a ditch somewhere if the teenager in question didn't call or text after arriving somewhere, even their own home apparently.

Try as she might, Hannah couldn't seem to force Emily into a 'friend' box in her mind and leave her there. Her birth mother didn't really fit in that box, and Hannah knew it even if she wasn't ready to acknowledge the woman for what she really was which was a third parent.

Just as Emily predicted, Penelope didn't waste any time engulfing her new niece in a hug.

"You're here!" Penelope cried excitedly when she opened the door. "You must be Hannah. I'm Penelope."

"It's nice to meet you," Hannah said politely.

That was the extent of the introductions and the point where Penelope gave the fourteen year old a big hug.

"Let her go, PG," the profiler prompted gently after a moment. "She can't breathe," she added, only half-joking.

"Right," Penelope said as she released the teenager from the hug and instead linked arms with her. "Okay, I have Christmas sweaters galore. I have a glittery sweater, a sweater with sequins and bells, and a sweater that lights up," Penelope told the girl as she brought her back to the bedroom where she had every Christmas sweater she owned laid out on her bed for Hannah to choose from. "Take your pick, sweetie."

Emily followed them and watched as her teenager went straight to a Christmas tree sweater with lights on the tree that actually lit up. The only problem was it said 'Get Lit' on it. Emily couldn't be sure whether Hannah just liked the lights or if she liked the double entendre referencing drinking – a popular pastime of rebellious teenagers everywhere. Either way, the profiler didn't think Steve would be too happy with her if she brought their fourteen year old home with that sweater.

"No," Emily said quickly. It was the first time she'd really said no to her teenage daughter. Emily tried to sound firm enough that the girl would realize there was no point in arguing. She really didn't want to argue with her daughter in front of her friend.

Hannah glanced over her shoulder at Emily in surprise and then turned to Penelope, half-expecting the other woman to take her side in this. "She said I could pick," the fourteen year old protested Emily's unilateral decision. It was Penelope's sweater, and Penelope had said she could take her pick.

Penelope gave the young teenager an apologetic look but deferred to Emily. "I'm sorry, but your mom's the boss, and, by that I mean in addition to being the boss of you, she's literally my boss lady."

"Pick another sweater," Emily instructed her daughter.

The teenager wanted to object loudly to the idea that Emily was the boss of her but decided to keep her mouth shut and pick another sweater since it was two against one – a wise decision. She wasn't going to win this one.

Hannah held a Gingerbread man sweater that said 'Oh Snap' on it up in front of her. "Can I wear this tonight or are the fashion police going to outlaw it, too?" She said in a snarky tone that reminded Penelope so much of Emily. Penelope covered her mouth with her hand to hide a smile and looked at Emily for her reaction.

"I like that one," Emily told her daughter mildly, choosing to ignore the tone. It was becoming more common for the mother-daughter pair to banter the more comfortable they got with each other, and Emily didn't really think Hannah was actually trying to be rude or disrespectful. Even if she was, Emily wasn't going to reprimand her child when they had an audience, not for something like that.

Hannah's entire demeanor changed as she thanked Penelope profusely, promising to wash the sweater and give it to Emily to return. Just like that, she was back to being perfectly polite. She wasn't usually rude. Snarky and sarcastic, but not downright rude.

After seeing how tolerant Hannah was of Penelope hugging her and hanging on her all the way to the bedroom, Emily slung her arm around her daughter's shoulders casually as they left Penelope's apartment. Hannah was so focused on her phone (she was Snapchatting her friends a picture of the Gingerbread man sweater) that she kept her eyes glued to the screen and allowed her birth mother to steer her out of the apartment building.

"She was really nice," Hannah said once they were in Emily's car.

"She's one of the nicest people I know," Emily told her.

Hannah turned her attention back to her phone when she received a notification. Her friends were responding to her Snapchat with pictures of their own ugly Christmas sweaters. She was busy on her phone the whole ten-minute drive to her house. She didn't even realize they were there until Emily said something.

"Have fun tonight," Emily said. "Not too much fun though. Don't get lit," the mother added teasingly.

"I won't," Hannah said with a roll of her eyes. "It was just a sweater, not a plan."

A/N: Thank you for reading and to anyone who reviewed last chapter. Next chapter will be the BAU Christmas party with Hannah as a surprise guest and maybe a little bit of Christmas day. I'm still going to try to finish it this week because I like the idea of posting the holiday chapters over the actual holidays, but in case I don't, happy New Year.

Functionderivatives: First of all, thank you so much for always reviewing. In answer to your question, there isn't anyone I've seen who looks exactly how I envision Hannah, but the actress who is the closest is probably Ruby Jay. If you go to her IMDB page, the picture of her that looks the most like the Hannah in my head is not her main picture but the first picture under her photos (photo 1 of 31). In it, her hair is wavy and she's wearing a white tank top. Her coloring and facial features are pretty close to what I imagine, but she's short and I've described Hannah as being taller like Emily. If you (or anyone else reading this) can think of anyone better, please let me know :) The best description of Hannah's physical appearance was in Chapter 5.