Emily sighed as she sat back in the passenger seat of one of their family cars. She bit her lip as she shoved her phone back into her purse, her irritation growing as the judge's words rang in her ears.
'Miss Hotchner, I'm not sure if you'll be allowed to keep this girl in your custody. I'm sorry, but you cannot just keep her without a proper hearing. That's not how the law works.'
She shook her head before casting a glance at her husband, giving a nervous chuckle when she saw his eyes already looking her way. "How long have you been looking at me like that?"
Hotch shrugged as they came to a light, making a move to grab his wife's hand, which she sadly shrugged away from. "Well I'm right here, so I did hear the whole conversation you had over the phone. What did the judge say?"
Emily gave a shaky breath as she turned to the back seat, smiling sadly at the little girl who slept against the cool leather. "He doesn't know if she'll be allowed to stay with us. Even though he gave us the warrant to take her from the foster home, we forgot to tell him we wouldn't be staying there. Because we took her back here to Virginia without informing him, we have to go to a hearing in two weeks to see if we're 'fit parents'."
Hotch gave an irritated laugh as he stepped on the gas once again, turning the corner to make it onto their street. "They do know we have three other kids, right?"
The brunette woman nodded as she unbuckled her seatbelt, feeling relief hit her once their were parked in their driveway. "That doesn't matter to them. They'll use everything we've done wrong with our other kids to show the judge what we could possibly do to 'mess up' Halie's life."
The couple hopped out of their seats before Emily opened the back door to get the sleeping brunette while her husband grabbed their bags. Emily smiled softly when the tiny girl's eyes slowly popped open and her arms immediately wrapped around the older woman's neck.
Hotch smiled at the pair when he saw Emily set Halie down on the black pavement and quickly smooth down the strays of her hair. "You both ready?"
Halie nodded slowly before grabbing onto Emily's leg. "You said they're nice, right? They ain't gonna hurt me?"
Emily shared a sad look with her husband before giving they're newest child a small smile, running her fingers through her wavy brown hair. "Sweetheart, they are the nicest and sweetest children you will ever meet. I promise you that they wont hurt you. And neither will Aaron or I."
The small child gave a quick smile before grabbing onto Emily's hand and pulling her towards the front door.
The second the door was opened, Halie stood back and watched as three heads of brown hair ran from all different rooms and hallways in the house to immediately jump onto their parents. She watched as the woman who had been so nice to her hugged her eldest son tight, her lips pressing to every inch of skin that showed on his body. And the man who had followed her and Emily around picked up a little boy and little girl from the floor, laughing as they smiled into his neck and hugged him tight.
Emily had a smile on her face when she looked up from her son, her eyes looking over to the lonely girl over by the coat closet. "Sweetie do you wanna come and say hi?"
Halie nodded slowly before making her way over to the nice woman, smiling slightly when the boy in Emily's arms reached over and kissed her cheek. "I'm Jack!"
"Hi, I'm Halie."
Hotch smiled when his two little twins quickly jumped from his arms and ran over to the newest little girl of the family.
"I'm Aubrey!"
Halie looked to the small girl beside her and smiled wide when she immediately gave her a hug. "Hi." She looked down at the little girl's feet and noticed some type of plastic surrounding her ankles. "What's on your feet?"
Aubrey tightened her ponytail before looking down at her feet, smiling back up to the older girl as she pulled on the blue sweatshirt that covered her torso. "They helps me walk!"
Halie nodded slightly before watching Aubrey slowly make her way over to her older brother, a smile on her face the entire time.
Peyton made his way up to her and held out a hand, waiting for her to grab it and shake it. His eyes were soft just like his mother's, but his voice was just as strong as his dad's. "My name is Peyton. I am pleaseded to meets you!"
Emily giggled into her husband's neck once his arms wrapped around her waist and they watched all four children run and immediately plop themselves down in front of the television. She looked up to him and kissed his cheek, before wiping the chap stick mark that was left near his stubble. "It's all good for now. Right?"
"Right."