A/N: This is the week following Peter leaving. Emily's gone through the grief and now has to stand up and keep living.
Please read and review. I really like the feedback.
DISCLAIMER: I need to marry rich, then I don't have to say that I don't own Criminal Minds. Tee hee.
Emily was woken up the next morning by her cell. She picked it up and saw the ID. JJ, she thought to herself. There was no way she could answer the call and pretend to be ok. JJ may not have taken the classes, but as far as Emily was concerned, the woman WAS a profiler. She hit decline and waited for the message. When her voicemail buzzed, Emily picked up her cell and dialed.
"Hey Em. It's Jayje. Just thought I'd call and see how you are. This has probably been the longest time we've gone without speaking. How's Emma? I can't believe she's almost one! You and Peter must be so proud. We had Adam's birthday a couple of weeks ago. Everyone came around for cake, even Hotch. He brought Jack of course. But it still wasn't the same without you. I hope you can come back and visit soon. Give me a call and we'll talk some more. Gotta go, we're about to land. Talk to you soon. Love you."
Emily smiled sadly as she hung up her phone. She looked at her cell and placed it on the table before she felt her chest tighten again. She looked at the clock. 6:30am. Emma should be up soon.
Emily spent the next few days at home with Emma. She did washing and cleaned up around the house, played with her daughter, took her down to the park and the beach. But everything was done on autopilot. It was like she was sleep-walking. She was doing everything she was supposed to do, but wasn't engaging. Ordering coffee was a three-word maximum conversations. "Latte please," followed by "thanks."
Emily hadn't called Dan or spoken to Pip since she'd called/messaged them the night Peter left. It had been just over a week. Emma was in her room napping and Emily was sitting on the lounge, watching mindless TV. She sat up when there was a knock at the door. She had changed the locks and hoped it wasn't Peter.
When she looked through the peep-hole she sighed. She opened the door and forced a smile. "Dan, Pip. What's going on?" she asked. Pip looked at her husband. "Ok. I get it now," she said quietly. Emily frowned. "Get what?" she asked. Pip and Dan looked at her. "Em, we know something is wrong. Can you please tell us what's going on?" Pip asked. "We've been trying to call you for days," Dan added. Emily sighed in defeat and looked at the floor. She stepped back in the doorway and opened the door for them to come in. "Come in. I guess I really should talk to someone," she said. Dan closed the door behind them and followed Emily and Pip through to the lounge.
"Can I get you guys a drink?" she asked. They both nodded and looked at her, worried. Emily gestured to the lounge and they all sat down. Emily sat in the two-seater and looked at the floor. "Whatever it is sweetie, we can help," Pip said, reaching over to hold her hand. Emily forced a smile and nodded. "Uh… Peter's gone," she said quietly. Pip raised her eyebrows and looked at Dan. He frowned. "Uh… gone?" he asked. Emily looked up and saw the shock on their faces.
"I came home on Wednesday and he'd packed up all his things and left. He… he left a note on my desk and … he just… left," Emily explained, fighting back the tears. Pip stood and moved over to sit beside Emily. She wrapped her arm around her shoulders and immediately Emily felt the crushing. She couldn't break down, she wouldn't. She shook her head and held back the tears. "He just left. He didn't even wait to talk or even say goodbye. He left that stupid note and took off. Like a coward!" she said quietly. Dan stood up, enraged. How could he do this? Peter was supposed to love and protect her. Dan folded his arms. They all looked up when they heard the knock at the door. Dan put his hands up. "You two stay here. I'll go answer that," he said. Emily and Pip both nodded and watched as Dan walked over to the door.
He looked through the peep-hole and opened the door. "Can I help you?" he asked the delivery guy. He held out a package and asked Dan to sign for it. When that was done, he closed the door and walked back into the lounge. He held up the package. "Just a delivery," he said. Emily reached out and took it, sliding the end open. She frowned as she reached inside and pulled out a handful of paper. The names at the top of the letter were foreign to her. She read through the first paragraph and threw the papers on the table, standing up and walking over to the window.
"That bastard! I'm gonna kill him," Pip said as she read through the words. Dan frowned. "What is it?" he asked. Emily looked up. "He filed for divorce," she said quietly. Emily took a deep breath and looked at her friends. "Look, guys. I appreciate you coming over to check on me but… I really need some time to myself. To figure out what I'm gonna do," she said, staring at the floor. Dan nodded but Pip shook her head.
"Sweetie, I'm here to help. Whatever you need," she said. Emily smiled and looked at her. "I know. And I love you for that. But I really need to figure this out on my own. I need to think about what's going to be best for Emma and myself," she explained. Dan nodded again. "I understand Em. Just know you can call us if you need to talk or if you need us to look after Emma." Emily smiled and nodded. "I know. Thanks guys," she said as they walked to the door. She gave them each a hug and said goodnight. She leant in the doorway as she watched them walk down the stairs. When they had gone she turned and closed the door, locked the deadbolt, and walked back into the lounge. She looked at the papers on the lounge room coffee table, then over at the note, still on the table near the window. She threw her hands up in the air and groaned. "I'll deal with it tomorrow," she said. She walked upstairs, checked on Emma, then went to bed.
Emily woke the next morning, once again, to her cell buzzing on the nightstand. She picked up her phone and frowned. It was JJ again, and as much as Emily didn't want to talk to her friend, she knew that if she didn't answer it now they would all worry. She took a deep breath and hit the green button.
"Hello," she said, her voice as bright as she could muster under the circumstances. JJ sighed on the other end. "Thank God! I was starting to get worried. Geez. Is everything ok Em?" she asked. Emily took another deep breath and rolled her eyes. If she kept this up she'd hyperventilate by conversation's end. "I'm fine. What's going on?" Emily replied. JJ smiled. Apparently she'd been worried for no reason. "I called you yesterday but it went straight to voicemail. I just figured it's been a long while since we'd spoken and when I asked Hotch when he'd last heard from you he acted really weird. I thought I'd check and see if everything was alright," she explained. Emily bit her lip and frowned.
"Everything's fine. Work's good, Emma's beautiful. I can't believe how big she's getting. What about you guys? How's Adam going? How old is he now?" she asked, turning the conversation from her, hoping to avoid that conversation. JJ smiled and started talking about her kids, Henry who was now three years old, and her youngest son Adam, who just reached six months. Emily sat up from her bed and walked into the ensuite. She looked in the mirror and groaned.
JJ stopped mid-sentence. "Is everything ok Em?" she asked. Emily rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I'm fine. I didn't sleep very well last night and just looked in the mirror," she explained. JJ frowned. "You're not sleeping?" JJ asked, concern evident in her voice. "Just last night. I tossed and turned a little but I'm fine. Really..." Emily paused. "I should go. I have to get Emma up and ready before I go to work," Emily said quickly, "I'll talk to you soon Jayje. Give the boys a kiss each for me." Emily quickly hung up. She leant on the vanity and groaned.
JJ sat at her desk, listening to the dial tone on the other end. She frowned. Emily didn't sound alright. She didn't sound fine. She sounded... well JJ didn't know how she sounded but it wasn't good. She made a quick mental note to call her back in the next couple of days. Then, if Em still sounded different, JJ would know there was something wrong. She picked up the file and walked through the halls to the BAU. Another week... another case.
A/N: This last section was a little add-on for brittanydelko4ever who suggested getting JJ's POV on the situation. I don't know if this is ok but let's see what the reviews say.