Hotch watched as Emily walked towards him with Halie at her side, their hands tucked tightly into one another's. He huffed before unconsciously rolling his eyes, putting on his work glare as his wife made it to his side. "Wheels up is in two hours, Em. Are you almost ready?"
Emily nodded before biting her lip, sighing slightly when her husband didn't look up from the file in his hands. "Yeah I'm almost done packing. I just need to bring Halie back to the station where she'll be taken to the foster home." When he didn't answer, she gave a sad smile as she touched his shoulder, her voice lowering an octave. "You know, where she'll be with no parents to care for her." Met with silence, her voice went to a whisper. "She'll be all alone. Isn't that sad, Aaron?"
"Emily just bring her there, ok? We already had this conversation. You can't guilt me into letting you keep her."
Emily sighed as she picked the sleepy little girl up and set her on her hip. "Fine. But I'm letting you know, she's not gonna have a family for a long time. And we could have changed that."
Hotch finally looked up from his file and watched as his wife walked out of the hotel with Halie securely on her hip, the duo making their way to the SUV in front of the golden doors.
He let a tear slip from his hard eyes before wiping it away and tucking his files into his briefcase.
…
Emily sighed as she took the key out of the ignition of her SUV, her eyes traveling the rearview mirror to see Halie looking out her window with her jacket securely around her. "How're you feeling, sweetie?"
Halie looked to the mirror with watering eyes as she shook her head, ignoring the cheers of young children in the front yard of the home. "I don't wanna go."
Emily bit her lip before jumping out of the car and opening Halie's side. She gave a brave smile as she unbuckled the girl from the car and lifted her up into her arms, the small suitcase grasped in her left hand. She felt Halie's face snuggle into her neck and tears run down her neck as she made her way to the front door of the foster home.
Mrs. St Charles opened the door wide and smiled at the brunette before her. "You must be Emily."
The brunette gave a small smile as she nodded her head.
"So is that Halie Winters?"
Emily bit her lip as she felt Halie let out a cry into her neck. She quickly handed the suitcase to the older woman before setting the small brunette down on the porch. "Halie what's the matter?"
"I don't wanna go!"
Emily quickly knelt down in front of the little girl and took the smaller hands into hers. "Sweetie listen to me, ok? You know you're not allowed back with your daddy, and we couldn't find anyone else to take you on such short notice. Halie baby this is just temporary. This is just where you have to be before a nice family comes to pick you up."
Halie shook her head before running into Emily's arms, tightly wrapping her tiny arms around the older woman's neck. "Please don't make me go, Emily! I don't wanna leave!"
Emily finally let a tear fall from her eye as her heart broke into pieces, squeezing the small girl with all her strength. "I'm so sorry, darling. But sometimes we have to do things that we don't want to. Trust me, I don't want you to go either."
Halie backed up quickly and placed her hands on Emily's shoulders, her voice cracking as she spoke. "Then don't make me!"
"Oh Halie…"
"Please!"