Chapter 36: Nana

The next few weeks passed quickly and with some drama among the days.

After Emily recovered from her cold, she thought it best to get back into a routine. Hotch insisted she stay at his place, telling her it would be good for both her and Nate. She didn't really want to go back to the house. Nate was happy there, happier than he was at the house, so she said she would impose a little longer. It bought her more time to work some other stuff out.

Emily was thrilled to help Nate prepare for their first Halloween together. During the weekend, Emily agreed to meet with her mother. Elizabeth had been itching for some face to face time with her and Nate. Before going, Emily sat Nate down and had a brief chat about Elizabeth.

"I know you don't know what to make of me being your mom yet, and I understand that, but my mother, Elizabeth, is your grandmother."

He squinted, that information only just connecting in his mind. "Really?"

"Yes. She is my mother and since I am yours, that makes her your biological grandmother."

"Do I have to call her grandmother? That seems… old."

Emily laughed. "Nothing has to change, Nate. Just like I don't expect you to call me mom, you don't have to call her anything other than Elizabeth, just like you have been. If you feel open to it, you can try calling her grandma or nana or whatever other name you might think of. I believe she'd like that."

He nodded, giving it some thought. A grandma… Hmm. He never had any family besides his fathers and now it seemed he had more than he knew how to comprehend. He still had his dad, and he was grateful that he had the one still with him, but he was just as grateful that he had Emily and Hotch and JJ and Jack… Everyone. They treated him like family. Just like they treated Emily.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Nate asked.

"I don't. It was always just me."

"Like me," he said.

"Exactly."

He took a moment, his nose wiggling in thought. "Does everyone know that you're my mom?"

"That depends what you mean by everyone," Emily said. "You told Jack, so he knows, and your father told you as well as let my friends know." That was the simplest way to explain the game of telephone that held that revelation. "If that's everyone, then yes. They know, but, like you, they only recently found out."

"You never told anyone? Not even your mom?"

"No. I kept you all to myself," she said. Seeing the hurt look, she continued. "Like I said when we talked before, I loved you and still love you, but I couldn't talk about you to my friends and family because it was too hard. Thinking about you and wondering about you without really being around you hurt me because I wanted it so badly."

"I think…" Nate started. "I think if I knew about you, I would want it too. Want you around."

"You have no idea what that means to hear. I know that everything that has been happening can be overwhelming and, if you feel like it's too much, tell me. I don't want you to feel that way. You have a lot of new relationships these days. I just want you to know that we all love you. Ok?"

"Ok… I know."

"Now, my mother has been trying to get me to come for lunch since my birthday, and I think it's about time I go see her. I would like you to come if you're up for it. She would like to see you too."

"I want to come," he said. He liked Elizabeth, and now that they were officially family, he wanted to try to get to know her more too, just like he wanted with Emily.

"Good. She asked for a picture of you. I made some copies of a few pictures. Would you like to pick your favorite to put in the frame I got and give it to her?"

"Yeah."

"We can use your school picture, but I thought some of the others we took might be better."

Emily excused herself, bringing back an envelope full of pictures including copies of the ones in her Nate box. Curious, he asked her where some of these came from.

"They weren't at the house." Most of them weren't.

"These are the photos I was sent over the years. James knew how sad I was not being around you, so every year, he would send me two letters with a picture. These are the pictures."

"What was in the letters?"

"Well, they were all about you. He would say whatever was happening in your life at that time. It didn't matter so much what was in there. I wanted to know anything I could. I've memorized every detail. Whenever I was sad, I'd go into my box, the one you've seen me look at before, and I'd read the letters."

"Can I read them?"

"Maybe someday. When you're older," she told him.

"Ok." He had to accept that, he supposed. "This one," he said, handing Emily a picture. "That's the newest and I look good."

Emily smiled. "I agree. You're very handsome."

"Thank you," he bashfully replied. "Can I pick one that's not in the envelope to give her, too?"

"Absolutely. We're going to give her a bunch, but if you find another one you want to frame, we can probably find something to put it in."

"Cool," he said, and went into Emily's room to fetch the photo album she made with all the pictures James and Vince stored.

Sitting beside her, he started flipping through the pages until he found the Christmas one.

"I like this one. It makes me feel special because it kind of has all my parents in it," Nate explained pointing out that it was Emily holding him, Vince in the background, and James taking the picture. "You think she'll like this one, too?"

"I know she will. We can stop and make a copy of it on the way. Maybe you can pick out a nice frame for it too."

He liked the idea. He liked the idea of having more family and friends. It was new, and a little daunting, but he liked it. He missed his old life, but, more so, he just missed his dads. He liked the little things that Emily did and going to school every day. The new things.

"You ok, Nate? If this is weird, you don't have to come. Hotch said you could go with him and Jack and we can meet up later at the costume shop."

"No. I want to come," he said. "I was just thinking."

"About?"

"I miss my dad… Both dads, but I'm happy to have new family too. Is that ok?"

"Yes," she said with a smile, hand on his back. "It's more than ok. James and Vince love you very much. They will always be your fathers. Having me and all these new people in your life doesn't change that. It just gives you more people to love and who love you."

He smiled back, happy with that answer.

"Now, we should go. Shoes and coat, please."

They slipped on a pair of dress shoes and a nice coat to match their "Sunday best," before hopping into Emily's new car that she just leased and driving to the store. While Emily got the picture printed, Nate picked out a frame. He went with something classy, but still whimsical enough to see it was from a child. It suited the situation perfectly.

Once that was taken care of, they drove to Elizabeth's. Emily could see Nate was a little nervous, but she assured him he didn't need to be. Elizabeth liked him before, and she would like him now.

"She just wants to spend some time with us," she said. "Get to know you a little more."

She was right. That was all Elizabeth wanted: a chance to get to know her grandson and get reacquainted with her daughter. That was why she was so excited that Emily finally accepted her invitation. She hadn't seen them since Emily's birthday, and, though they talked on the phone, she wanted to spend time with them.

She went all out. It was a very Elizabeth thing to do. She had an assortment of kid friendly foods that Emily was sure her mother had never in her life eaten, all set up on fancy plates, plus toys and games galore.

"Why are you both so dressed up?" Elizabeth questioned.

Emily bit her tongue, preventing the sarcastic remark that was sitting there.

"We thought you would like that, Mother," Emily chose to say, knowing that any other occasion, she would expect Emily to be dressed in a nice blouse and pants at least. Appearance is important, Emily, she could hear her mother say.

"Certainly, that's not appropriate play attire," Elizabeth said, pointing to Nate's button down and slacks. "I mean, Emily, give him a tie and a briefcase and ship him off to work already."

"I'm sorry?" Emily was confused. Her mother seemed to have gotten a mild lobotomy.

"No worries. Nate, I'm so happy you're here."

"Me too," he politely said.

"Why don't you quickly go check outside?" Elizabeth asked Nate. "I had a playset put up. I know you're a little older, so I tried to find the most appropriate one. Let me know if you like it."

He looked to Emily who nodded permission. "Ok," he said, and took off.

When he was gone, Emily eyed her mother. "You didn't have to do all of this."

"I wanted to."

"He'll like you either way."

"It's not that, not entirely," Elizabeth said, leading Emily to the table. "I just… He has been through a lot. You both have, you, more so than I ever realized. So, I just want him to have fun and enjoy coming to visit, which I hope you both will do from time to time."

"Of course, we will. But don't treat him too differently, ok? I saw how good you were with him before you knew. Don't try harder just because you know now. That could make him feel bad."

"Alright," Elizabeth said. She would try to oblige to a point. No way was Emily going to stop her from spoiling the boy from time to time. "Well then, while he's playing, should we talk a little more about what your plan is?"

"My plan?"

"With Nate," Elizabeth clarified.

"Mom, let's not talk about this now. Nate will be back any second and we have something we want to give you. So, let's enjoy our time together. Get to know your grandson."

"I will. But we will also talk about this," she said with finality.

Emily knew they would. Her mother didn't easily let things go.

"I think we might have lost Nate to the playset. I'm going to see what he's up to. We're going out after this and I don't want him to be too dirty."

"I'll tag along."

When they got outside, Emily saw the play scape. It was… massive. There was a wooden spaceship set up like a fort near the giant tree, a swing set and slide just off to the side.

"Emily, this is awesome," Nate called once he saw her.

"Now he's never going to want to leave," Emily joked with her mom.

"I'm ok with that," Elizabeth said. "But the food is ready and I'm hungry."

"I'll get him and get cleaned up. We'll meet you at the table."

Elizabeth nodded and went inside as Emily got Nate. He seemed to be having so much fun which made Emily happy, but they were there to spend time with Elizabeth. He was disappointed that he couldn't play longer, but Emily told him that he could play a little after lunch and before they had to go. He was still so excited about the prospect of Halloween shopping that he was happy to listen.

For the most part, it was an uneventful lunch. Emily tried to stay passive in the conversation, allowing Elizabeth and Nate the opportunity to talk with each other and ask questions. Of course, she participated. They wanted to include her which, naturally, thrilled her, but she still wanted it to be about them.

"Are you excited about Halloween, Nate?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yeah. I don't know what I'm going to be yet, but we're going to pick it out today. We were supposed to go last week, but Emily wasn't feeling well, so we waited. Jack and Henry are coming with us too."

"I'm sure whatever you pick will be perfect."

Elizabeth smiled. As Nate talked, she noticed things about him that she hadn't before. His smile looked so much like Emily's and the way he laughed sounded just like her as a child. It was all enough to bring a tear of joy to her eye, but what made it fall was when she noticed that he shared the same curious gaze that Emily had, the one she got from her father. It felt like a piece of her late husband was back with them, and it warmed her heart.

"Are you ok, Mom?" Emily asked.

"Absolutely splendid," she answered. "Now, Nate. This isn't your first Halloween, is it?"

"Nope. My dads would take me trick-or-treating. It was just them and me. This time I have friends."

"And Emily."

"Emily's my friend, too. My friend," he said, adding, "and my mom."

"So she is," Elizabeth said, and, sensing the slight change in the atmosphere's tone, continued, "Emily rarely went trick-or-treating as a child."

Nate gasped, aghast. "What? Why not?"

"We moved around often when Emily was young," Elizabeth said.

"Like me," Nate responded.

"Yes, like you," Emily added, "But in other countries, Halloween isn't, or at least hadn't been, celebrated like it is here. They have their own customs and usually that meant no trick-or-treating."

"Did you never go?" he asked.

"Once or twice."

"Did you go with her?" Nate asked Elizabeth.

"I'm afraid not."

"Then you have to come!" Nate was thrilled. "You can come with me and Emily and she can dress up too."

"Nate," Emily was about to admonish. It was a nice idea in theory… "I'm too old to go trick-or-treating."

"So? You can still dress up, and Nana too."

Elizabeth smiled so brightly. Nana… She was Nana. Emily saw the look and knew she could ask her mother for anything and she would have said yes at that moment.

"I think that's a great idea, Nate," Elizabeth said, the gleefulness permeating.

"Mom," Emily tried to break in, but it was pointless.

"Oh, Emily. It will be fun. You can dress up with Nate and I can chaperone."

"I'm old enough to not need a chaperone… And if I did, there will be three other adults with us."

"You have to," Nate pleaded.

"We can have a Halloween as adults that I never had with you as a child."

"We can talk about it later," Emily huffed.

Emily didn't like that Elizabeth found a little friend to gang up on her with, but she did like seeing the two get on so well. She had hope that they would all have a happy, functional relationship at some point, James included, though just thinking about him made her angry sometimes.

"Are you listening, Dear?" Elizabeth got Emily's attention.

"Yes. Yes, I heard you, but I'm going to let Nate pick whichever costume he wants when we get to the shop. It's not my choice or yours."

"We were talking about your costume, Emily, but that is good to know. Nate," Elizabeth addressed him, "You can be whatever you would like to be."

He just giggled.

Ultimately, lunch was a success. Nate and Elizabeth bonded, the latter sharing a few stories about Emily that Emily wished she hadn't, but that helped Nate get to know Emily a little better too. More stories came about when Nate gave Elizabeth the photos they brought, and she was nearly brought to tears looking at them. As she put the two framed ones up on the mantle, she grabbed her own album full of family pictures to show Nate. He liked it.

"Nate, we have a half hour before we need to get going. If you want to play outside, you can, but remember your jacket."

"Alright. Sweet. See you later Nana," he said and wasted no time running off.

"He's much more sociable than he was when I first met him," Elizabeth told Emily.

"Well, there was a lot happening and you were a total stranger to him."

"I'm trying to pay you a compliment, Emily. Allow me to do that. Don't sell yourself short. You may not have raised that boy, but you are raising him now, and you're doing a fine job of it," she said.

"Mom…" Emily blushed. "You're just saying that…"

"I'm serious. I noticed it before I found out he is my grandson. You've been good for him. Despite my anger about James and this Vince character cutting you out of his life, I believe they did the best they could for him. They raised a beautiful, happy, healthy young boy. But they also raised a sheltered, socially withdrawn boy. You helped him see that he had a support system and family bigger than just his fathers and that it was ok to trust and rely on others. You did that, and you did it in a few months. Be proud of that."

"I… I am," she admitted. "They were… are good fathers. James is a good man and a good father, but because of what was happening, they had to keep him in a bubble. I'm trying to break him out of that."

"You have. Now, since the topic is broached, let's finish our chat from earlier."

"About?"

"About what your plans are. For you. For Nate. And your future together."

"What are you getting at?"

Elizabeth sighed and looked around before saying, "Let's start with this. You're up on your feet again. You're mobile and able to work. Do you have plans to go back to London?"

"Permanently?"

Elizabeth nodded.

"It's something I'm considering…" One of many, many possibilities floating around her head.

"If you don't, what will you do?"

"I don't know. I'm going back to London for a short trip soon. I'll know more after that."

"I think you need to come to some kind of decision with that, because that will affect a lot of what comes next."

"Like?"

"Eventually, James is going to get out of the rehab center, and he's going to want Nate back. What are your plans to ensure your rights to Nate?"

Emily had been trying to avoid thinking about that. Mostly, she just hadn't wanted to think about James so she didn't get any angrier.

"I don't know yet. I don't know what my options are."

"What are you thinking?"

"I said I don't know. I know I don't want to lose him in my life, but that's it."

"I can call in some favors, get you a good lawyer… You can fight for him."

"Please don't get involved. I don't want to force Nate into a custody battle. I don't know what, if any rights I have, and I will look into it, but I don't want to take Nate from his dad."

"But he can take Nate from you?"

"I don't know… I don't know," Emily kept repeating. The thought of losing him again terrified her. That, to her, was worse than many of the other things that she ever feared.

"Have you thought about it at all?" Elizabeth asked.

"Of course I have," she defensively replied.

"I know you love James, and I loved the kid he was and the friend he was to you. I believe he was an amazing father, but I don't know what he'll be like now. The death and his injury changed him. I hope that he can be the man you remember him being, even a different version of that man, and I hope that he realizes cutting you out of Nate's life again would be wrong, but I'm a realist, and I know that things don't work as we hope, so you have to take steps to ensure they do."

Emily took what her mother said and banked it for later, but right now, she just didn't want to start a battle she wasn't sure she had a chance of winning.

"I have a lawyer. He's a friend of Hotch's who helped me get temporary custody of Nate. Right now, I'm granted custody until James is proven fit enough to care for Nate again. I will speak to him about my options if that happens and come up with a tentative plan should we need it."

"Good," Elizabeth said. "I can see how much you love him. I didn't realize how much pain you must've carried over the years about this and everything else in your life."

"What are you talking about?"

"Emily, even with everything happening, all the bad, when I saw you at the cabin caring for Nate, there was something different about you."

"Other than my hair and the messed-up knee?" Emily remarked.

"Yes," Elizabeth said, placing her hand on Emily's. "I didn't know what it was, but there was a sense of…" she tried to come up with the right word, "Lightness, maybe. Like there was something missing and you found it. When you left DC all those years ago, you did so with barely a few words. You were hurting, I get that now, and throughout the years, you were able to push past the feelings you buried, but with Nate around, those feelings were gone."

"Maybe… I love Nate. I love having him in my life. It's hard and sometimes I think I'm doing everything wrong, but I know I would do anything for him and all I want is to be there for him."

"Make sure it happens, Emily. Both of you need each other."

She could tell Elizabeth had more to say. She was sure her mother wanted her to go at it hard, hire the best and use that shark to make James wish he never turned his back on her, but Emily couldn't do that. As mad as she was at him, she still held some hope that he would try to correct the past actions by making different choices now. Time would tell, but she didn't want to go forth with any legal action unless she had to.

"I appreciate that you care and want me to fight, but I want to see how things play out before I make a drastic move. I hope you can respect that."

"As long as you keep me apprised and know that I'm on your side. Don't let him go this time."

"I didn't want to let him go last time," Emily quietly said, defending what happened.

"Exactly. You didn't want to, but you had to. They cut you out of his life, and, I don't know, maybe that worked out in the end because it brought you to your family and helped you find yourself, but now he's older, he knows you, and he won't want to give you up any more than you want to give him up."

"I'll do my best to make sure no one goes anywhere," Emily assured.

"Do, because I don't want to know what happens to either of you should you be separated."

"I'll call the lawyer once I get a chance. It's not an immediate threat."

"That's all I ask." Elizabeth put her hands together, grasping them on the table in front of her, and leaned forward just a tad. "I want you to do whatever you think is best for you," she said, "But I just wanted to give you another alternative to think about in case you decide not to return to London."

"A job alternative?"

"Yes. Remember Ambassador Greenwald?"

"I do. She was with us in Paris and you'd have her for tea every Sunday when we were in DC."

"Well, she was asking about you and what you were up to. Asked if you were still good at languages."

"Your point?" Emily asked.

"Her husband works at a medical research company that works with labs around the world. They require someone with skills like yours to be a translator. If you're interested, I can pass along his number."

"I'll let you know. Ok?"

"Alright. I just wanted to give you something to consider. Now that I have, we can move on."

"Next time," Emily said. "Nate and I should head out if we want to meet the others on time."

Elizabeth nodded and stood with Emily. "Thank you for coming. I hope you had a nice time."

"I did, Mom. Thanks for having us."

"Thank you for letting me get to know him and allowing me to get to know you again." She smiled. "I'm sad about the situation that led us here, but I am happy we ended up here."

"I get it. Me too."

Emily had a lot of confusing feelings, but the one that was clearest was her happiness for being in Nate's life and for having the opportunity she had however it came about.

Smiling, she hugged her mother and went to get Nate.

"Bye Nana," Nate said as they left, Emily promising they would see each other again soon. Elizabeth planned to hold her to that.

Emily and Nate made it to the costume shop just as everyone else was arriving. The group searched high and low for costumes, though the shop was somewhat depleted. In all honesty, Emily thought it was more fun for the adults than it was the children. They, too, had a blast, of course, but, for the adults, it was a chance to be more playful than they normally were.

Emily and Hotch threw on some roaring 20s gear that made the kids laugh, asking if people really dressed like that. It became as educational as it was fun. In the end, the adults found costumes. Each of them was dressing for a Halloween party at Dave's after trick-or-treating. With the new addition and the change in dynamic between them all, Dave thought it would be a good time for the kids and adults to just spend some fun quality time together, especially since Emily was going away shortly after.

With Nate and Jack's input, Emily and Hotch both bought the 20's garb, Hotch more of a time period mobster than anything else. JJ and Will went all cutesy with matching costumes. Fred and Wilma Flintstone. Penelope went all out. From the face paint down to the shoes, she was determined to be the embodiment of some other-worldly creature that no one knew about but her and maybe Spencer. Spencer was undecided, said he had too many options to choose from and couldn't pick yet. Dave told them they'd see his costume once they showed up, and Derek left his fate in Penelope's hands, something the others advised him was risky. He didn't care, though, and now everyone would be festive for the party. They were set, and everyone went home.

After shopping, Emily knew she needed to sit down with Nate and warn him about her trip. Another talk, she thought exhaustedly. She was sure he felt the same way. She dropped hints to ease the blow but was worried about his reaction. She truly hated to have another talk with Nate, and it was possible she was making a bigger deal out of things than she needed to, but, given his recent behaviors and how the whole finding out she was his mom thing wasn't yet resolved completely; she still had issues with that as well, so she thought it necessary. Nate would want to come with her, but he had school and she had things she needed to do on her own. He would have to understand.

"Got everything in your bag ready for school tomorrow?" Emily asked Nate, finding him sitting on the floor cleaning up some of his art supplies.

"Yup. Homework and permission slip are in my folder in my bag."

"Good," she said and smiled, sitting on the bed. "Did you put your costume away like I asked?"

"Hanging on my half of our closet, right next to Jack's costume.

Emily didn't miss the "our closet" part. He was getting too used to being there. Although that made her happy, it also made her realize that she needed to find them something of their own, something permanent that wasn't the house or one of her friend's places. That was the next major thing she needed to work on. After her trip.

She eased her way into the conversation, brought up their Halloween plans and talked about how excited she was to take him out. Emily even shared one of the few Halloween memories she had that was sharable with an impressionable child. He talked about how he was looking forward to making new memories just like she was.

"And I get to wear my costume to school. That's gonna be cool. I've never done that."

"It'll be fun. Jack told me that there's a costume parade and trunk-or-treating."

"I know. Are you going to come?"

"Yes. Hotch has to work, but I will be there with candy and set up our car for you and Jack."

"Awesome."

He seemed genuinely so excited so Emily really couldn't wait for Halloween either, but the sooner it came, the sooner she would be going to London.

"Do you remember me telling you that I had stuff in London still?"

"Like your apartment and job?"

"Yes, like that?"

He nodded.

"Well, Clyde still lives there, and he has been taking care of things for me, but he said he needed to see me. In person."

"Is he coming for a visit?"

"No. I'm going to visit him."

"We are?"

"Not we," she carefully corrected. "After Halloween, I'm going to fly to London for a few days."

"But not me?"

"No. You have school and you'd miss your field trip."

"But I want to go with you. What if something happens?"

"No one is after us anymore, Nate. I'm not going there to hide or run away. I'm just going to take care of some things, and then I'll come back."

"I still want to go."

"I know. And I would love for you to come with me, but you have things to do here."

"Will I stay here with Hotch and Jack?"

"Yes. Unless you'd like to go stay with someone else."

He vehemently shook his head. "If I can't go, I want to stay here."

"Ok. Hotch said that he wanted you to stay here too. But that means if he gets a case and has to go away, you and Jack can't go with him."

"Then what happens?"

"Well, Nana said you and Jack could stay with her or she could come stay in the apartment with the two of you."

His eyes lit up. "We should stay with her. She has a whole park in her backyard."

"Ok. I'll let her know and see how Jack feels about that, too."

"He'll want to stay there. I know."

"I'll still double check."

"If you have to," he said, rolling his eyes. "But I'm right."

"I'm sure you are." Emily smiled before asking him to look at her. "Are you ok with me leaving?"

"I don't have a choice. Do I?"

"I'd like to think that, for most things, you always have a choice. If you really don't want me to go, I will postpone until Thanksgiving when you're off from school and we can go together."

"Is what you have to do important?"

"Yes. It is."

Sadly, he shrugged. "Then I guess you shouldn't wait. I'm sad you're going, but if you promise not to get hurt again and call lots, then I'll be ok."

"I'll call so much you'll be sick of me."

He shook his head again. "You're not going to miss Halloween, are you?" he asked, hopefully.

"No. I'm going to leave Saturday afternoon, so you have me all week."

"Ok."

He was happy with that, but Emily could tell he was sad. There were a lot of unresolved feelings in Nate's life, both with his fathers and Emily. With the trauma of losing Vince and then nearly losing James, plus the crash when Emily was hurt and the Bardolino family hunting them down, he had been through so much. No one would expect him to be perfect or even as ok as he was. But he was doing well.

"I also wanted to ask you something else, Nate, and you can be honest. However you answer, it's your choice."

He silently waited for her to continue.

"Before I leave, I will be seeing your father. Would you like to come with me?"

"No," he quickly answered.

"No? Are you sure? Do you want to think about it?"

"No. I don't want to see him. He doesn't want to see me, so I don't want to see him either."

"That's not –"

"I don't want to see him," Nate insisted before coming up with an excuse to get her out of the room and, thus, off the topic.

"What the hell just happened?" Emily asked herself before finding Hotch to fill him in on her plans.

From that point on, the rest of the week was calm. The kids were excited for Halloween. The team had to go on a case that kept them away for a few days, but they made it home by Thursday evening.

That morning, just after getting the call from Hotch that they were on their way home, Emily decided there was no more putting it off. It was time to confront James and get her feelings off her chest. She needed to just get it over with and spend the next two days before she left worried only about Nate.

So, she dressed, sent the boys off to school, and then checked in with Penelope after her daily jog.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Penelope offered.

"Thanks Pen, but this is something I need to do on my own."

"I get that, but I could drive with you. You know, keep you company. The team's gone, case over, and all my work can wait."

"I appreciate it, but I'll be ok. I don't need a babysitter."

"And I don't want to babysit a competent adult. I just want to be supportive."

"You're always supportive, PG. Relax for the rest of the day. I can handle this. I'll be fine. Just… If it gets too late, I might call you to watch the boys until I get back. That ok?"

"Oh, I would love that. Please take your time."

"I see how it is. Talk later Pen."

"I hope you get what you need from the visit."

"Me too."

Hanging up, Emily got into her car and drove to the rehab facility. The entire drive, she was nervous. All the feelings she had been ignoring were beginning to bubble up to the surface. She was angry at him, but simultaneously grateful. Everything seemed so conflicting and made it more difficult. Really, all she wanted was to understand. She wanted to understand why he told Nate she was his mom without even warning her, especially since he didn't really want Nate to know. She wanted to understand how he could hurt Nate by not wanting to see him.

She just needed answers… Just something to help her understand some of it.

Before heading to his room, Emily caught up with some of the doctors. She got news about his progress beyond what the phone calls gave. They seemed happy with his recovery and hoped he would keep on the same path.

"I hope so too," she told them. "Thanks for meeting with me."

They shook hands before Emily wandered off toward James' room. When she got there, he was inside, sitting by the window working on a puzzle at the desk. She stood just outside the door and watched for a moment before taking a deep breath and knocking.

"Hello James," she greeted.

He moved as quickly as he could to face her. Surprised, he said, "Emily?"

"You look well."

"What are you doing here?"

"I think we need to talk. Don't you?"

He blinked and nodded. "I guess we do."