Hearing the court room doors open, Hotch stood from his seat and turned to face the rows behind him. His eyes spotted the brunette woman he had been spending so much time with limp into the court room with a cane in hand, her free one pushing the strolled that held her daughter. "You feeling ok?"
Emily smiled softly at the older man as he walked up and helped her with Grace, leaving the baby beside their team in the front row. "Much better," she nodded. Taking the hand he held out to her, the new mother let him help her over to their table that was set to the right of the judge's chair. "Hi Mark."
The agent's lawyer sent her a smile, his hand touching her arm. "I have a good feeling."
Looking up to the judge's chambers to wait for them to arrive, Emily forced herself to keep her eyes away from the table beside theirs where her daughter's grandmother was whispering to her lawyer.
"Do you need anything?"
Emily gave her friend a small smile as he took her hand on the wooden table. "To win," she whispered back.
Hearing the doors open, everyone in the court room stood before the bailiff was able to say so.
"Please be seated," the judge nodded, sitting herself down as she looked to the ambassador's daughter. "Alright, case 4306: Linnape v Prentiss. Mrs. Linnape will you please stand?"
The redheaded woman stood along with her lawyer. "Your honor, I am fighting for the custody of my daughter's child Grace."
"On what grounds?" Looking back at the file she had received, Judge Arnold didn't exactly understand the reason for taking this case from arbitration to court. "On what grounds do you believe you have the right to have custody of Grace Benton?"
Hennessy widened her eyes to appear sad, just like a child would. "I think my lawyer should speak. I'm feeling a little emotional at the moment."
It took all Emily had only to squeeze Hotch's hand underneath their table and not roll her eyes at the older woman.
"Your honor, my client is fighting for custody of her granddaughter Grace because we see Agent Prentiss as an unfit mother. She had a job that takes her out of state almost weekly, she's a single woman on a government's salary and we have the word of her social security case worker that Agent Prentiss' mother was not aware of Grace until only weeks ago."
The judge let her eyes move to the injured woman sitting with her defense. "Agent Prentiss, you're here to deny these claims?"
Emily sat straighter in her chair. "And fight for full custody of Grace. Yes, your honor."
Hennessy's lawyer turned to the defense. "Your honor, if at all possible I would like to ask Agent Prentiss up to the witness stand to question her."
Judge Arnold almost glared at the small man. "You may not. This is not a murder investigation, in case you've forgotten. I will be questioning both your client as well as Agent Prentiss, do you understand." Waiting for his confirmation, the judge looked back to the agent. "And seeing as how Agent Prentiss is injured, I'd like her to stay right where she is."
Hennessy's lawyer refused from making an outward remark to the dismissal, quietly sitting himself back down in his seat.
"Agent Prentiss, are you alright?"
Emily gave a gentle nod of the head. "I am, your honor. A few weeks ago I was in an accident with my daughter, we were both hit by a car."
"Is Grace alright?"
"She is," Emily smiled. "Just a few bruises."
Judge Arnold made a point to look back to the Linnape side of the court room with hard eyes before returning them to the special agent. "I hear you refer to Grace as your daughter."
Emily's tongue gently swiped over her bottom lip as she heard her daughter call to her from JJ's arms. "I've been Grace's guardian for months now. My best friend left her to me in his will, and I've done everything he's asked of me. In my mind, the moment I saw her she was my daughter." She could practically feel Hennessy fuming from the table beside theirs.
"What are the things you've done for Grace since she's been in your care?"
"After Matthew's funeral, I was able to meet Grace. My friends had put together a room for her in my home before I even knew it," she breathed with a smile. "They love her just as much as I do. Right after I got her Grace got sick with an ear infection, but that cleared up. I feed her, I change her, I know what toys she likes at what times and how she sleeps. She has friends - the children of my teammates - and she's enrolled at the daycare at the bureau for when I'm working."
The judge nodded. She was just like any other mother. "And yet, Mrs. Linnape, your lawyer claims that Agent Prentiss is an unfit mother."
"Agent Prentiss is barely ever in town, due to her job. How is that the makings of a good mother?" Hennessy's lawyer asked. "Grace is just a child. How will she adjust to the woman who claims to be her mother when she's barely seen her?"
Emily frowned at the tried statement. "Grace is in my care every moment I'm home. When I'm not, my daughter is with Penelope Garcia who is a member of my team and one of my very close friends, or she's with her grandparents."
"Including the Linnapes?"
"Yes. Grace loves all her grandparents, so I don't keep her away from them."
Judge Arnold gestured her hand in the direction of Hennessy who looked as if she were about to burst from her seat. "Yes, Mrs. Linnape?"
The redheaded woman let her tears shed for the little girl her daughter had given birth to. "I just want to see my granddaughter. She should be mine! My Grace has been hurt many times in the agent's care, and she didn't even tell her mother about her!"
The judge waited for Hennessy's lawyer to calm her down before looking back to the defense. "Agent Prentiss, do you care to address these claims?"
"As much as I would like to," she began, "I cannot stop a child from getting an ear infection. The incident weeks ago, again, was something I could not control. Yes she was hurt, but I took the brunt of the force. I would never put her in harms way." She heard the baby call for her once again, and she quickly turned around to wave at her.
"As for your mother, Agent Prentiss?"
Emily rolled her lips, nodding her head. "My mother and I have never had a good relationship, but I agree that that is no good excuse. Getting Grace happened so quickly and my mother was overseas. Everything happening the way it did, I didn't even think to tell her until I saw her on my doorstep." Looking back to her daughter once more, she saw the little girl being handed over to Matthew's boyfriend, the eight month old taking his glasses in her small hands. "I love Grace. I may do some things wrong, I'm sure most mothers do, but I have done and will do everything I can to make sure I provide a good home for her. She's my daughter."