Hope everyone had a nice weekend! I just wanted to, yet again, thank all of you for reviewing, alerting, favoriting, or just simply reading this story. It means a lot to me! Within the next couple of chapters some of you might start to hate me, but rest assured I don't think by the time this ends anyone will still feel the same, so I hope you all stick it out with me!
Disclaimer: I do not own CM.
-kbrewster.
Penelope Garcia had visited the Hotchner household four times since Hotch had called her. On her first visit, she'd practically knocked Emily down the floor from hugging the brunette woman so tightly. The emotional, bubbly blonde had also nearly cost everyone their hearing with her screams of excitement, but not before shedding more tears than she might have shed at Emily's fake funeral. Needless to say, the first visit had left Gabby a bit skeptical of Garcia.
However, three more visits later, Gabby and Garcia were becoming fast friends. Each time Garcia visited, she brought something fun for her and Gabby to do. Garcia had brought movies, cookie cutters and needed ingredients to make cookies, and some of her old makeup she never used anymore. Today's activity was bracelet making, which left Gabby wide-eyed and excited as Garcia laid out all the colorful beads and string out on the kitchen table. It was a Saturday afternoon, and luckily, Garcia hadn't been called away on a case.
"You've got her spoiled," Emily commented, working on making a lunch consisting of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and goldfish crackers. Though it wasn't the most nutritional, Gabby had requested it.
"Nonsense," Garcia said, waving a hand in the air. "I have nine years to make up for, and I fully intend on doing so!"
Emily laughed, setting an orange plate in front of Gabby, snatching up a few of the goldfish from it and eating them.
"Hey!" Gabby said. "Make your own plate," she teased.
"Oh, thank you Mommy for making me this wonderful, though highly lacking nutrients, lunch that I ever so sweetly requested!" Emily said, a dramatic element to her voice, causing Gabby and Garcia to laugh.
"Thanks, Mama," Gabby said as she took a bite of her sandwich.
"It's so cute she calls you 'Mama,'" Garcia noted.
"A lot of kids call their Moms that in France," Emily said.
"Well it's adorable," Garcia said. Emily smiled in return, setting a plate down for herself and Garcia as she called for Hotch who had been sitting in the living room watching golf. Jack was out with one of his friends from soccer, and though Emily didn't say anything, she wished the boy was there with all of them.
"So," Hotch said as he came up behind Emily, who was seated at the counter next to Garcia, and wrapped his arms around her neck. "Peanut butter and jelly, huh?"
"Gabby asked for it, if you want something else I'll let you make it yourself," Emily said, tilting her head back into the crook of Hotch's neck to meet his eyes.
"Wouldn't dream of asking you to do such a thing, I haven't had a PB&J in years," he commented, removing his arms from Emily's neck and picking up her sandwich, taking a bite out of it.
Emily gasped, and hit him lightly in the stomach. "Your plate is over there next to Gabby!" She said, pointing to the other side of the counter.
"It's not so funny when it's your food being taken, is it Mama?" Gabby said as she laughed at her parents' actions.
"Okay, okay, I apologize," Emily said to Gabby, giving the girl a few of her goldfish to make up for the ones she had eaten.
The rest of their meal had went without a hitch, and after Garcia helped clean up, much to Emily's protest.
"You wouldn't let me help you make it, so at least let me help clean up!" Garcia had argued.
Once everything had been put back into place, Garcia turned to Gabby who had patiently been sitting at the kitchen table, looking at the bracelet making materials longingly.
"Do we get to start now?" Gabby asked excitedly, swinging her legs back and forth.
Garcia laughed at the girl's excitement. "Of course, my little cupcake, we can start!" she said, sitting in the seat across from Gabby, immediately explaining to the girl how to make the bracelets.
Emily smiled at the two of them as she quietly made her way out of the kitchen to give them time for their activity.
"Hey," Hotch said when Emily entered the living room, and motioned for her to come sit next to him.
"Hi," she said as she took the seat.
"I've been meaning to tell you this for a few days, but it's so good to see you smiling and laughing again," he told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"It's good to feel like I can," Emily admitted.
"I know things haven't been moving as quickly as either of us had planned, but it'll be okay," he said.
"I know," Emily smiled, though she still wasn't sure she believed it fully.
Nearly an hour later, Emily heard the unmistakable footsteps of Gabby, running into the room. Emily had dozed off, so she opened her eyes, noticing Hotch too had fallen asleep.
"Mama!' Gabby said excitedly, nearly falling into Emily's lap when she tried to stop, but Emily steadied the girl so that didn't happen.
"Shhh," she said, putting a finger to her lips. "Your Daddy's sleeping," she whispered.
"No I'm not," Hotch said, sitting up straighter. "I'm awake," he said.
"Sorry," Gabby said sheepishly.
"It's okay," Hotch said, smiling. "I wasn't all the way asleep yet anyway, now what's got you so excited?"
"Look!" Gabby said, outstretching both of her arms, revealing two armfuls of colorful bracelets. Some were made with beads, and others had been braided together using different colored strings.
"Very pretty!' Hotch commented.
"Thank you," Gabby said happily as she turned to show her arms to Emily.
"Oh, those are just beautiful," Emily said.
Gabby slid a braided bracelet made of green, blue, and yellow string off of her arm and extended it out to Emily.
"I made this one for you," she said.
"Aww," Emily cooed, sliding the bracelet onto her arm, inspecting it with pride. "Thank you, sweet girl. I love it,"
Gabby smiled, hugging Emily tightly around the neck. When the embrace ended, Gabby turned back to Hotch. "I made you and Jack one too, but they're not as girly as Mama's," Gabby said, handing Hotch a dark blue, white, and light blue bracelet and a red, white, and black one.
"The blue one's yours and the other is Jack's," she said. "If you want it," she added quickly.
"Of course I do," Hotch confirmed, taking the young girl in his arms and hugging her.
"Mama?" Gabby asked, sitting herself in Hotch's lap.
"Yeah?" Emily answered.
"Penelope was telling me that on her way here she passes a park with really big swings, and a tree, and a lot of picnic tables," Gabby started, biting her bottom lip as she did so. Emily knew the trait well, and knew there was something more coming.
"Oh, yeah?" Emily asked.
"Yeah," Gabby confirmed, playing with the bracelets still covering her wrists. "It sounded really fun, and it makes me miss our park, and how we would go for walks sometimes. And I haven't even been out of the house in ages," Gabby stressed the final word, turning her body and dramatically flopping back, her head in Emily's lap as her legs stayed outstretched over Hotch. "Can we go?" The girl asked hopefully, flashing Emily a grin that even upside down, was hard to ignore.
However, Emily just brushed some hair back out of Gabby's face as she kept herself from sighing out loud. Of course she felt guilty for keeping Gabby locked inside all the time, especially since Jack was still able to go to school, go visit friends, and live a relatively normal life. She felt guilty for not letting Gabby go anywhere, except once or twice she had let the girl accompany her and Hotch on grocery shopping trips, but Emily knew that wasn't enough entertainment for a nine-year-old.
"I don't know," Emily said, not noticing her voice had began to crack. "I think we should give it a little while longer before we go do something like that," Emily continued, as she continued brushing Gaby's dark hair back with her fingers.
Gabby sat up quickly, and proceeded to stand up in front of Emily, hands on her hips and wearing a glare that mirrored Hotch's.
"That's not fair!" Gabby said, stomping a foot down. Though it was immature, she didn't really seem to care at the moment. "You don't ever let me do anything! We used to do stuff all the time, especially go walk in the park. I miss it, and I'm tired of being stuck inside all the time. I can only watch movies for so long before I get bored!" Gabby said.
"I know, I know," Emily said, wishing she could do more to comfort her daughter.
"We've been here for over two weeks. If the bad guy was going to do anything, he would have by now! Why can't you just let me go to the park? Jack gets to leave, Daddy lets him go fun places!" Gabby continued arguing.
"No, Gabby," Emily said firmly. "We're not going to the park, I'm sorry," she said.
Gabby huffed, and turned to march up the stairs, but Emily stopped her.
"Go tell Penelope thank you for bringing you this bracelet making kit," Emily said.
Gabby marched into the kitchen, re-emerging a few moments later, a scowl directed at Emily, then she made her way-very loudly- up the stairs, and slammed the door closed.
Seconds later, Garcia emerged from the kitchen, wearing a look of distress upon her face.
"I'm so sorry!" she said. "I didn't mean to cause this huge fuss! We were just talking and she mentioned the park in Paris and I mentioned I pass one on the way here… I didn't know it would lead to this. Oh, goodness!" Garcia said, her voice getting higher in pitch with each sentence.
"No, Garcia," Emily said, standing to hug the woman. "It's fine, she's a kid. She likes being outside, and I'm too afraid to let her," Emily said. "I feel bad, but as her mother her safety is my number one,"
"I understand, I'm still so sorry. We were all having a lovely afternoon," the blonde said, removing her hot pink glasses from her face as she wiped her eyes free of tears that had fallen.
"Don't cry, Pen," Emily said softly. "It's okay, she won't stay mad forever. She has to like me, I feed her," Emily joked, making a small smile form on Penelope's lips.
"If you're sure," Garcia said. "I still think I'll go ahead and leave though, but I'll come back soon, whenever you and your lover boy over there deem it okay," she said, pulling Emily in for another hug, as Hotch stood to do the same for Garcia.
They said their goodbyes, and as soon as Garcia closed the door, Emily sat on the couch, her head in her hands.
Hotch went to sit next to her, rubbing a hand up and down her back comfortingly.
"You know," he said. "Maybe you could start out by enrolling her in school here, to make her feel like she's getting her life back to normal," Hotch suggested.
"No, absolutely not. I can continue to teach her like I have been, plus, she was already ahead of most of the kids in her grade anyway, so she has time to fall back a bit," Emily snapped.
"Come on, Em," Hotch tried again. "Every kid goes to school," he told her.
"And how many schools did we have to go to because a child was taken right off the playground? Or out of the pick-up liked after school? Or some other terrifying way? No. I will not have it!"
"Em, she'll be safe. We'll send her to whatever school you think is the safest. We'll be sure to let her teacher, and all the administrators know that only you, JJ, or I is allowed to pick her up, and she is to be carefully watched when outside. It's been done, it'll be fine," Hotch said.
"I don't know. Maybe," Emily said, relaxing a bit more. "But that's not a yes so don't you dare go looking up schools without me," she said.
"I won't, I promise," he said sincerely.
"Okay, well how do we go about getting her to not be so mad at me?" Emily said. "I was pretty mean… I wasn't trying to be. I just- I can't stand the thought of her just being snatched right out from under me. You and I both know that being careful isn't enough," she said, lifting her head up out of her hands.
"And you should know that remaining so paranoid all the time isn't going to help anything," he told her, lightly kissing her cheek. "Also, I don't think she'll be mad forever,"
"Would she listen to you? If you explained why I'm being so crazy?" Emily asked.
"She might. Do you want me to go try?"
"Yes," Emily said. "Please,"
"Then consider it done," Hotch said, rising from the couch, and venturing up the stairs to Gabby's room. Emily went into the kitchen and began to clean, though everything was spotless as Garcia had cleaned up all remains of the bracelet making. She scrubbed the already clean dishes, and wiped off the spotless countertops, just hoping Gabby wouldn't continue to stay mad.
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Hotch lightly tapped on Gabby's bedroom door.
"Who is it?" he heard a little voice ask.
"It's me," Hotch said. "Can I come in?"
When he heard Gabby's approval, he opened the door and let himself in the room, closing the door behind her before sitting on the bed next to her. She was propped up on the bed with two pillows in tan pillowcases, her legs bent at the knees in front of her, and an old, nearly raggedy teddy bear sat in Gabby's lap.
"Hey, kiddo," he said. "Are you doing okay up here?"
Gabby nodded, but Hotch knew she was lying.
"You know the only reason your Mama's acting so crazy, right?"
Gabby sighed. "To protect me. I know. I know she's worried, and I shouldn't have got so mad at her, but I just miss not having to worry all the time," Gabby said sadly.
"I'm sure she'll come around, okay? She won't keep you locked in here forever," Hotch promised.
Gabby leaned in closer to Hotch, and he wrapped his arms around her.
"You know what?" she said, perking up a bit.
"What's that?"
"This might be bad, so don't tell Mama, but, even though we're only here because of that bad man finding us, I am still glad we're here. Because now I get to see you every day," Gabby said quietly.
"You know what? All things considering, I'm glad both of you are here too," he said back to her as she hugged him.
After they sat there a few more minutes, Hotch spoke up again. "You know, you might want to go see your Mama in a few minutes, she's worried you'll be mad at her forever." he said.
"I will," Gabby said.
"You're much easier to calm down than most kids, you know that?" Hotch said.
"Mama said I've got more reasoning than most kids my age. She says I get that from you," Gabby said.
Hotch didn't say anything, he just smiled, and wondered how he'd gotten so lucky to not only have a wonderful son like Jack in his life, but also a wonderful daughter like Gabby.