Emily woke up early the next morning. She stayed in bed for another hour, preparing herself for the phone call she was about to make. She had thought about this for quite some time now and she had made up her mind, even though she still thought that she must be crazy for doing, what she was about to do.

She could feel her heart beating faster than usually and she was breathing heavily. She got out of bed and stepped out of her bedroom, to check if Bobbie's bedroom door was still closed, before returning to her own room. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, before she finally picked up her phone.

"Marcus Walters, how can I help you?" Bobbie's social worker answered

"Mr. Walters yes, Agent Emily Prentiss here. I took Bobbie in a few weeks ago, I don't-"She started

"Oh yeah I remember, I am sorry it's taking so long. She is not causing you any problems, is she?" He said quickly

"Oh no, she's not causing problems at all. But that's not what I wanted to talk about- I've thought about it and I want to keep Bobbie." She said nervously

"You mean you want to make this a permanent placement for her?" Walters asked

"I want to adopt her" Emily said, now with a more strong voice

"With all respect, Agent Prentiss, I am sure that you only have Bobbie's best interest at heart, but I am not sure that you fully understand the situation…" Walters said

"What do you mean by that?" Emily asked, taken aback by the social worker's statement

"You see, I do not want to question your ability to raise a child as a single woman with a full- time job-"he started

"Then don't" Emily shot back coldly

"I don't mean to insult you" he said quickly "All I am saying is that you should consider your situation."

"You know that I am her best option" Emily said "I might not have a partner to support me and a full time job that takes up a lot of time, but I care about her." She said sternly "More than the people you have placed her with before…"

There was a silence that lasted for a couple of seconds and Emily could feel more so than hear that Walters was getting uncomfortable.

"I will try my best to make sure that she will never have to live with an abusive family again" Walters said "But there is only so much I can do as a social worker. I do obviously visit all children in my charge at their current placements from time to time, but if they don't speak up…"

"So you are saying that it was Bobbie's fault that she was abused and neglected in multiple families?" Emily said and only now realized how loud her voice had gotten. Quickly, she walked out of her bedroom and looked over to Bobbie's bedroom door. It was still closed and she could hear nothing but her own heavy breathing.

"I never said that" he tried to reassure her "All I am saying is that I will try to keep a closer eye on her from now on"

"You can't guarantee that she will never be placed in a bad home again. And even if you could- she needs more than that. She needs a real home with someone who cares about her, not just a place she can sleep at night."

"I am aware of that, but most people aren't trained to deal with kids with a past like Bobbie's" he sighed

"That's why you should leave her with me." Emily countered "I can take some time off in the beginning, if that's what bothering you and I have a friend at my workplace who is looking after Bobbie when I am working and she has promised me that she will take care of her whenever I have to travel"

Emily waited, but Walters didn't answer right away. Now it was her time to sigh, she had thought that social workers would be happy to know that the children in their charge were being looked after by decent people- yet Walters seemed hesitant.

"If that's really what you want, then I will take the necessary steps to initiate the whole process" he said after a short while, clearly sounding defeated

"Yes" Emily said with a stern voice "And thank you"

Hi guys thanks for reading and as always sorry for the long wait. Please know that I would never abandon any of my stories, I just have a lot going on at the moment and therefore don't have much time or energy to write.

If you want to you can leave me a review, I would really appreciate it. Have a great day/night!