Unforgettable Nights, Unforgivable Mistakes
Chapter 23: To Hell...and Back
Things went from bad to hell between Emily and Aaron over the next couple of weeks. As Emily had expected, Aaron was beyond furious to learn that Bay was his daughter and Emily had hidden her from him for so many years. He simply couldn't understand why she had hidden something so important. Well, he actually understood it because they weren't really on the best of terms back then, but she should have told him, even if it was true that they hated each other. He had the right to know, no matter what because Bay was his daughter. But no, she chose to not tell him and then raise his daughter away from him making his blood boil every time he tried to think about all the things he missed out in Bay's life, thanks to Emily.
In fact, if it wasn't because she was very ill and she needed him to be a donor for Bay, Aaron was sure he would have never found out about Bay; he was angry, no, he was furious, but more than that, he was truly hurt…how could she have done this, how could she cause him so much pain. The woman he had fallen in love with, the woman he considered his saving grace and his one true love, it was this woman that had hurt him more than anyone else in his life. Aaron felt Emily had used him, lied to him and most importantly, she had denied him the right to see and get to know his daughter. He didn't think he could ever forgive Emily for what she had done; he actually never thought he would say that, but he felt like he hated her more than anything in this world, the worst part of all was that she was the mother of his daughter and now he was obligated to have some kind of respect for her, so he couldn't even hate her the way he wanted. Emily had tried to explain to him over and over the reason she had done what she had done, but he didn't want to listen to any of her reasons. No matter what she said, or what she did, it was never enough; no matter where they were, they always ended up in a big fight and nothing was getting resolved so things between them were getting worse and worse.
Well, actually that wasn't the truth…something had been resolved…Aaron had been tested by the doctors about his compatibility as a donor to Bay, and miraculously, he was a perfect match to the little girl, so, the results made them somewhat happy, and they had moved a step forward. They could start the surgery for Bay soon, and on the other hand, Aaron was relieved internally, as weeks had gone by, he had become very attached to Bay, as he now spent every single minute he had off with Bay at the hospital. Aaron knew he loved her already, and he had since the first day he had met her, but deep inside him there was this strange feeling, this worry that kept him up at night…what if Bay wasn't his?
In his mind, Aaron felt he had all the reasons in the world not to trust Emily or believe a single word she uttered, for he knew she could be lying about him being Bay's father, too. After all, there was no paternity test that had confirmed Bay was his, and at this point, he knew Emily was capable of anything so he didn't trust her, he simply didn't want to fall in love with Bay then to find out she wasn't his. But the test result had not confirmed that he was, indeed, Bay's father, but that he was the only one that could save her and help her, so he immediately signed all the documents and waivers that were given to him, before they proceeded with the surgery. As much as he wanted them to begin
the surgery process immediately and fix his daughter, he knew this process was more complex than that; they first had to do another blood transfusion and give her some other medicine and vitamins to build her body up so she was strong enough to go through the surgical process. This had become a waiting game now, Aaron was a viable donor for Bay, but now the doctors had to make sure she was ready for the surgery and her body would accept the transplant. That was the reason for the blood transfusion and the vitamin treatment, and then in a few weeks, they would schedule the surgery; meanwhile, they just had to wait and try to keep Bay calm and spend as much time as they could with her.
Of course, for Emily things were getting worse, and she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown or a heart attack. She had even considered stepping down as Unit Chief and just focus on Bay, but she knew Strauss wasn't going to let her off that easily, since Strauss was still on very bad terms with Aaron. The worst part was that now Emily was also on very bad terms with Aaron, and it was just making everything much more difficult on her. Between the stress at work and dealing with cases, and Bay's surgery approaching soon, Emily was sure she was going to end up having a heart attack or at the very least a panic attack. On top of that, Aaron wasn't helping her at all, they couldn't even begin a decent conversation even if it was work related, without ending up in a big fight and screaming at each other. She knew Aaron was hurt and angry, but she was tired of explaining and trying to make him understand, and honestly, she just didn't have the energy anymore.
She ran her hand through her hair frustrated, as she looked at the man who still held her heart; he had initially come into her office to talk about a case, then the subject had switched to Bay and the fight started again. They were both anxious and stressed about the surgery, but sometimes Emily felt like he was intentionally picking all these fights, and she didn't know what to do anymore. The entire fight had started because Aaron kept trying to push Emily into telling Bay he was her real father, something she knew was fair, but she wasn't sure right now was the best time to tell her since Bay was about to go through surgery, and she was already having a really hard time accepting her illness. Bay was also having issues because mommy wasn't around all the time, and Emily just wanted to make sure Bay was fine and healthy before they told her, but obviously, Aaron had a different opinion, and he had tried to persuade Emily on several occasions to tell Bay, none of which had ended well.
"Aaron, please, just don't start this again, okay? I thought we'd already talked about this a million times." She said tiredly.
"Yes, we have, and yet, you haven't told Bay I'm her father. I'm her father, Emily, she deserves to know. Are you going to lie to her the same way you lied to me?" He asked boldly and Emily just shook her head, rolling her eyes.
"No, Aaron, all I'm saying is we should wait until after the surgery when she is well again...she is already having such a hard time as it is and she's growing weaker daily."
"Oh, and that is another thing that is my fault?" He asked, irritated.
"I didn't say that…I just think this might be really hard for her to understand...she has always seen Max as her father. We can't just through her out into the wind by telling her that she has another father, not while she is so ill and so young, too young to understand."
"You chose it that way, Emily, maybe you could explain to her why you never told her the truth...why all of this is a mess...because of all your lies and bullshit."
"Enough, okay!" She snapped.
"I don't know how many times I have to say that I'm sorry for what I did, for not telling you about Bay, and no matter what I say, you won't listen or even try to understand. I had to do what I thought was best at the time to protect my daughter and to secure her happiness." She cried.
"Obviously, your selfish plan didn't work out too well, look where she is now." He said evilly.
"It's not my fault she's sick, Aaron." She said, hurt.
"No, you're right, it isn't your fault she's almost dying because you were too proud to tell her father about her existence. If I had known about Bay from the beginning, none of this would have happened. We would have known I was a viable donor." He added angrily.
'I'm sorry about what I did, Aaron, okay? I swear that if I could have gone back in time, I would have told you when she was born. I don't know what else to say to you."
"If I could go back on time, I would have never gotten involved with you."
With those words, Aaron hurt Emily more than anyone else had ever hurt her, and he walked out of the office leaving her there alone and crying. She was so tired of this, no matter what she did he always acted like that with her, she was more than exhausted and she knew deep inside her that everything between her and Aaron was over, even if they had a daughter.
She drove aimlessly back from the office to the hospital, but that was all she was doing lately…she was basically a robot that managed to move around, but she wasn't sure she was conscious of anything else. She just hoped Bay's surgery would be scheduled soon, and her baby girl would be better and then everything else would return to normal. Even if she had lost Aaron forever, she didn't care, all that mattered to her was to save Bay and dedicate the rest of her life to making it up to her, making her happy. Emily walked inside the hospital making her way to Bay's room. No matter how hard her day had been, Bay always made her feel better.
Her heart almost dropped when she walked into the room and Bay wasn't in her bed. Emily immediately hurried to the reception area, asking if they had taken Bay for a test, or any other medical procedure that they hadn't told her about. She felt her heart starting to beat a million times per hour.
"I'm sorry, my daughter Bay isn't in her room, and I was wondering if she was with the doctors." She asked, scared.
"One...second." The blonde nurse said.
"Actually, no, her father asked for permission to take her out." The nurse explained.
"What? Take her out? Take her out where?" Emily asked angrily.
"We don't know, ma'am, he just said he wanted to take her out, he spoke with Dr. Bergman."
"You don't know? How could you allow him to take my daughter like that?" Emily raised her voice.
"I want to speak with Dr. Berman NOW!" Emily had never been so terrified in her life.
Dr. Bergman came down a few minutes later as Emily was pacing around the hall angrily.
"Ms. Prentiss, is everything alright?" He asked concerned.
"No, everything is not alright." Emily jumped on Dr. Bergman as soon as she saw him.
"My daughter isn't in her room, and I was told you gave permission for her to be taken out of the hospital." Emily said furiously.
"Ms. Prentiss, Bay is with your husband, he wanted to take Bay out before the surgery."
"He is not my husband, and he cannot just take Bay anytime he wants to, that is against the law!" Emily was so mad she was shaking.
"Ms. Prentiss, he is registered as Bay's father in all the hospital documents you guys signed last week." He explained.
"But, he didn't have permission to take my daughter.
"If he is the father, we can't deny him the right to visit her, or take her, legally he has the right to do so."
Emily just walked away angrily; she couldn't believe Aaron had come and taken
Bay without her permission…she just simply couldn't believe it. She knew Aaron would never harm Bay, but they weren't really on the best of terms, and she had been opposed to telling Bay the truth about him being her father, and she knew he wasn't very happy about that. But, even then he had crossed the line…he had no right to simply take Bay from the hospital without her notice. She didn't have a problem with him spending time with Bay because he was her father, but he should have informed Emily if he had plans with her, especially if those plans involved taking her out.
She was beyond furious, and she immediately tried to call him, and as she had expected, his phone went straight to voice mail. At this point, Emily was freaking out, she was desperate to find out where he had taken Bay, she even considered calling the police, but she knew Aaron would never harm Bay or disappear with her per se, but she was freaking out as any mother would. Finally, she called her mother, and Elizabeth came by to try and help calm Emily down.
Meanwhile, Aaron was at a horse stable with Bay; he had decided to take her somewhere where she would really enjoy herself and forget about the horrors of the hospital. He had promised her a while back that he would take her to see a real horse, and he was a man of his word. So, here they were at the horse stables, and Bay was so excited she could hardly stand it. He had managed to rent a nice black horse that he and Bay rode around the field for a while; of course, Bay was weaker than ever, and she was riding with Aaron while he held her close. But, she was smiling wider than she had in a very long time. Bay had gotten the opportunity to play around and even feed the horses; she got to pet them and even brush their manes. She was beyond ecstatic, and when Aaron told her they were going to ride the horse, Bay's face lit up like a bright light bulb, and he could see the spark in her eyes which hadn't been there in so long. He loved to make her smile and make her happy; he knew he had a lot to make up to her for not being in her life for her first couple of years, and although it wasn't his fault, he still felt like he needed to make it up to her. He was very angry because Emily didn't want to tell Bay yet that he was her father and that really hurt him, but he knew deep inside him she had a point. Bay was very ill now and was having a very difficult time at the hospital with all the treatments she was receiving. She was also feeling moody and constantly crying because mommy wasn't there with her, and he knew she was too little to understand what was going on and was probably terrified. Telling her that she had a different father wasn't going to be easy on her, so maybe Emily was right about waiting until after surgery. But, he was aching inside to tell her he loved her more than anything in this world and that he was her father and he would do anything for her. He wanted to explain to her why he hadn't been there, but how happy he was to know such a beautiful girl was his, and how proud he was of that. Aaron honestly knew he couldn't do it yet, and that made him even angrier with Emily. As they slowly rode the gorgeous black horse around, Bay rested against his chest, covered up in a blanket and holding the horse leash with Aaron; he could see her tired face, but she was smiling widely.
"Are you having fun, sweetie?" He asked, pressing a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"Yes, Aaron, do you think we can come again to see the horsies? I want to ride on my own by myself?" Bay said happily.
"I think we can do that, but you have to be stronger, maybe after your surgery. I promise you we'll come back and you can ride a pony." Aaron said gently.
"I don't want to ride a pony, they're for babies…I'm not a baby. I want to ride a big horse like this one." Bay protested.
"I know, sweetie, but when you first start riding, you have to start with a little horse so you can learn." He tried to reason, but Bay shook her head vigorously.
"I want a big horse, or I won't ride at all." She protested. Aaron just laughed…she was just as stubborn as her mother, in fact, Bay was so much like Emily in so many ways, it was almost scary.
"Okay, alright, we'll get you a big horse, but now I think it's time to go back to the hospital."
"But, I don't want to go back..."
"I know, baby, but your mommy must be very worried about you. I promise you we'll come back." He said, heading back to the stables.
When they got back to the stables and after Aaron thanked his friend, they headed to the hospital. Aaron had left his cellphone in the car and when he picked it up, he realized he had at least twenty missed calls, all from Emily. He knew he was in deep shit, but she was his daughter and he had the right to spend time with her, whether she liked it or not.
As soon as he stepped in the hospital with Bay in his arms, he saw Emily pacing around the room furiously with Elizabeth Prentiss by her side. He didn't need to be a genius to know Emily was beyond angry because he saw the fire in her eyes the minute their eyes met.
"Mommy!" Bay screamed happily, throwing herself into her mother's arms.
"Oh baby, are you okay? Where did you go?" Emily asked, holding Bay as if her life depended on it, as silent tears rolled down her cheeks.
"We went to see the horsies, mommy, I got to ride a pretty black horsie." Bay said contently.
"I've been so worried about you, are you okay, are you hurt in any way?" Emily asked, examining Bay everywhere her eyes could reach. That made Aaron somewhat uncomfortable, it wasn't as if he was going hurt his own daughter.
"I'm okay, mommy, why are you crying?" Bay asked as he saw the tears in her mother's eyes.
"Sweetheart, go with grandma, okay. I'll be there in a few minutes? Emily said, placing Bay in her mother's arms. Elizabeth didn't need to say anything, the scalding look she sent in Aaron's direction was enough for him to know he had fucked up badly.
"Okay, mommy, bye Aaron, thank you for taking me to see the horsies." Bay smiled.
Aaron didn't even have a chance to respond to Bay or even say goodbye to her before Elizabeth angrily took Bay away. Emily turned to him her eyes burning into his, and before he had a chance to say anything at all, she slapped him hard across the face.
"What the hell is the matter with you!?" Emily screamed angrily. Aaron was taken aback and stood there speechless with a very red handprint on his face after Emily slapped him.
"Emily...I..." He started.
"You can't take my daughter like that...do you have any idea how worried I've been?" She said, pushing him away from her angrily.
"Emily, calm down." Aaron was aghast at her reaction.
"DON'T tell me to calm down...you can't just take my daughter anywhere period?" Emily's face was on fire as if she was ready to attack him any minute.
"I just took her to see the horses with a friend of mine." He said in an even tone.
"I don't care where you took her, you can't just take my child without letting me know, or asking me first. I mean, do you have any idea how worried I was? I thought something had happened to her." Emily said as heavy tears rolled down her cheeks. She was almost hysterical, and honestly, he couldn't really blame her…he knew he had done wrong by taking Bay without her consent.
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to take her somewhere fun, somewhere away from this place, this is all she sees.
You could have fucking called and asked me, you could have said something!" Emily screamed again.
"I'm sorry, okay." He apologized again.
"You can't see her anymore, not like this. I won't allow you to see her unless someone else is with you." She said, wiping her eyes.
"What is that supposed to mean, she is my daughter, Emily, you can't forbid me to see her. I'm her damn father!" He said angrily.
"Well, technically, you're not even on her birth certificate, so for all I care, I can press charges against you for taking Bay like this." Emily said furiously.
"Are you fucking serious? She is my child, Emily, you can't do that! I have a right to see her!" Aarons snapped.
"It doesn't matter if you are her father, Aaron, you can't just take a child without her mother's consent, and you should know that better than anyone." Emily snapped back.
"Emily, I'm sorry, okay? Please, let's calm down and talk about this." Aaron finally calmed down because he knew Emily was right.
"I have nothing else to talk to you about, we're done here!" Emily said, giving him a death glare and furiously walking away from him.
He knew he had badly fucked things up, and Emily was right about many things; he knew it was wrong to take Bay away from the hospital without letting her know. He knew she had probably been terrified, and he understood that…if someone had taken Jack away and didn't let him know he would probably be acting the same way. He knew things between them were going from bad to worse and there was nothing he could do to fix that at the moment.
He also knew as much as he hated to feel this way, he still loved her very much, more so even now that he had found out they had a child together. He knew that they would probably never be together again and that hurt him, but it wasn't his fault…he had not hidden anything from her. Admittedly, he had made mistakes, but not as horrible as hers, he loved her, but he loved his daughter, too, and he was willing to do anything it took to be a part of her life, but he knew it was going to be harder now. Emily was already being difficult about telling Bay the truth, even though she was right about Bay being too ill and maybe even too young, but Aaron believed he knew internally that she was scared of her own mistakes. He knew he had a right to fight for Bay, and he was going to do it…he had one last option, and although he hated to have to do that, he knew he had no choice. Emily had hidden Bay from him for the past four years and God knew what else she was hiding. So, Aaron was ready to do anything to be a part of his daughter's life, even if that meant war with Emily.
A week after the incident in the hospital, Emily and Aaron had not said a word to each other. Emily was still very angry and had refused to let Aaron around Bay by himself. Things were very tense, and he knew they were about to get worse because the surgery was also soon approaching and all the stress was building up on both of their parts…this wasn't an easy situation for any of them; he sat in his chair at his desk, looking through the window of her office. She looked paler than usual and very tired, he was also sure she had lost weight; the dark circles under her eyes were so evident that she looked like a panda. It really pained him to see her like that, because he loved her. As hurt as he was and as mad as he was, he still cared for her. She was the mother of his daughter and the woman he had loved for many years, and he knew that she had made a mistake, but she had reasons to do it. She had a lot going on with the pressure of being the BAU Unit Chief, and if anyone knew that wasn't an easy job, that was him; she had a sick child in the hospital who was getting sicker and weaker each passing day, and he could only imagine the kind of pain she was going through.
Maybe he shouldn't have done what he did, maybe he should have waited and been more supportive of her. After all, their daughter's health and happiness was in the midst of everything. He decided he would call later today and cancel all the process and wait until Bay was finished with her treatment and on the way to being well again. He had hesitated and he needed to stop what he did since he knew that would just make her angrier and more hurt. He was about to made the call and cancel everything when a gentleman in a nice suit walked inside the bullpen.
"I'm sorry, I'm looking for Agent Emily Prentiss." The man said in a serious tone. It was rather late at night, and he was surprised he was even there.
"That is her office." Aaron indicated as the man walked toward the door. He knocked on the door softly, and Emily came out with a tired smile on her face.
"Agent Prentiss?" He said in a harsh tone. Emily nodded, and he handed her a manila envelope and then asked her to sign something. Aaron watched the man walk away and Emily walk back into her office.
Emily walked back toward her desk with the manila envelope in her hands, having no idea what it was, but she was worried because it was some kind of important legal document. She opened the envelope and her heart almost dropped to the floor when she saw what was inside. She had been served…Aaron was filing for full custody of Bay.
Emily stood there speechless, then her eyes landed on Aaron who was watching her from his desk with questioning eyes. She couldn't take it anymore, she had had enough, she wasn't going to let him break her apart. She furiously picked up her purse with shaking hands as tears rolled down her face and walked out of her office and stopped in front of him.
"I can't believe you...actually no! You are capable of anything!" Emily's voice was shaky, and she was crying.
"Emily, what are you tal...?" He asked confused, but she shoved the documents in front of him. It was the custody form he had completed a few days ago...it was too late now he couldn't cancel it anymore!
"Emily...no, wait!"
"I won't let you take her away from me, do you hear me?!" She screamed at him, ripping the court papers into pieces in front of him; Aaron had never seen her so mad, she was shaking as heavy tears rolled down her beautiful face.
"That is not what I wanted...I just..." He tried to explain
"No, Aaron, I'm done, okay, I'm so done! No matter what I say to you, you will never understand, I made a mistake with Bay, and back then I thought I was doing the right thing." She didn't care anymore, she didn't care if there were people around them and they could hear every word they said.
"Emily, please…"
"For three damn years, you treated me like shit, and I never did anything to deserve it, and I never said anything to anyone about it, you humiliated me and acted as if I was repulsive to you, and I let you do it because I was an idiot and I was in love with you. The night before I left for London that we had sex, that night, I knew it was all a game for you...I knew you probably would brag about how you got me to sleep with you to your friends and everyone would have a big laugh about me..." She couldn't stop herself from crying and telling him what she should have said to him a long time ago.
"When I found out I was pregnant with Bay, I knew there was a possibility that she was yours, but what was I supposed to do since I knew you despised me. You were the reason why I moved to London in the first place...because I couldn't take your humiliations and shitty treatment any longer. How did you expect me to tell you I was possibly going to have a child by you?
Aaron stood there with his mouth wide open…he had no idea she had left because of him, and that she felt the way she did.
"I didn't despise you..." He really wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her that he had loved her since day one.
"I know I should have told you about her, but I didn't think you would want her, and I didn't want to put my daughter through the same pain I went through, and the way you treated me." He had never seen her with so much pain in her eyes.
"Em, just please..." He tried to stop her and to approach her.
"No, Aaron, I'm done. I love you, but I love my daughter more, and I will do anything for her, and I will not let you take her away from me. Bay is my life and my everything, and without her, I'll die." She cried.
"That is not what this is." Once again, he tried to explain.
"It is on, Aaron, if this is what you want…a war, then it's on, but for my daughter, I'm capable of doing anything, even if I have to kill you, but I WILL NOT let you take her away from me!" Those were Emily's final words as she walked away with heavy tears rolling down her face. Aaron just stood there frozen, without being able to react, and when he finally did, she had already reached the elevators. He had never in his entire life seen her so angry and so hurt…like a lioness trying to protect her cubs. The woman he had loved for so many years, the woman he had deeply admired, the woman he had made love to just a few weeks ago, that same woman was declaring war on him, and he knew she was capable of doing anything to protect her child, even if it was keeping that child from her own father.
