Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, Criminal Minds.
Who We Are
Part 9
By N. J. Borba
The last place Emily imagined herself being on Christmas Eve was at a mall. She was not a last minute shopper; in fact she usually didn't have much to buy aside from a few items for her co-works plus Jack and Henry, all of which had already been bought and exchanged at the office holiday party the day before. Her parents were usually off traveling during the holidays, so they'd typically have a meal out together some time after the New Year to acknowledge one another's existence, but there were rarely gifts involved any more. That had changed, though, with the reintroduction of Anna into their lives.
A day of pampering at the mall's ritzy salon had been their mother's gift to Anna, Emily and Michelle. Even JJ and Garcia had been included in the special treat, although Elizabeth Prentiss herself had declined to join them. As Emily gazed at the staggering array of nail colors before her, she kept repeating her one step forward and two steps back mantra, because she knew the news of Anna's illness had hit her mother harder than the woman would admit. Elizabeth had been doing her best; being hands-on in a physical manner, but she also managed to keep her distance emotionally.
"I want this one, please," Michelle picked out a color for her nails. "Tiger lily," she read the bottom of the bottle and showed her mother.
"That is very… orange," Anna stated the obvious.
Michelle nodded. "I like it."
"Green tea is definitely the one for me," Garcia quipped, snatching up the medium-toned green polish. "What about you, JJ?"
The media liaison pondered her decision a little longer. "I'm leaning toward Plum pearl," she announced.
Penelope nodded her red-headed approval. "I know I'm not the profiler in this group, but do you suppose the color of nail polish you chose has anything to say about your personality?" she asked. "Because my polish choices change with my mood, or sometimes to match an outfit. Does that mean I have a scattered mind?"
"I wouldn't even touch that one if I was a profiler," JJ grinned, shaking her head at the colorful woman. She glanced over to regard the rather quiet Prentiss sisters, who had both yet to pick a color. "So, what's it going to be ladies?" she prompted.
Emily plucked a deep shade of red off the tray and tipped it over. "Scarlet."
"Oh! Green and red," Garcia held hers out to Emily's and clinked the bottles like wine glasses. "We make a very festive pair," she grinned.
Anna watched the others interact and felt rather out of place even after all their efforts to make her feel like a part of the group. Her eight year old daughter seemed more able to fit in than she did. There were still so many concepts about the world at large that just didn't make sense to her, which she often felt silly for voicing. But Anna made an extra effort this time. "Why exactly do you put color on your nails?" she asked.
The room grew silent for a beat, but Emily was quick to rescue her sister. "Supposedly it dates back as far as the Egyptians who used color on their nails to represent social status," she relayed, not remembering if she'd once read that somewhere, or if it had come from Reid's font of knowledge during a case. "But these days it's pretty much just for fun, to feel girly," she explained, hoping to put Anna at ease. "All you have to do is pick one that you like."
A few moments later, Anna finally dropped her guard long enough to decide upon a soft pink hue that caught her eye. "Raspberry sparkle."
Emily and the others didn't make a big deal out of her choice, doing their best to simply treat Anna like one of their gang, even though the lingering effects of her treatments were still present at every moment. Even makeup and scarves could barely hide the tired lines beneath Anna's eyes and the tufts of hair that remained on her head. They went two at a time having their nails painted, starting with Michelle and Emily.
Garcia quickly gave up on the celebrity magazine in her lap. "So, did you both enjoy the BAU holiday party?" she asked, aiming the question toward Michelle and Anna who'd been Emily's guests at the gathering.
"I liked playing with Jack," Michelle replied. "We met on Halloween and he was nice to me. He didn't say I was weird for not knowing about all the different kinds of candy and stuff. And yesterday he showed me his daddy's office. We pretended we were the good guys catching the bad guys," she rambled on.
"And you, Anna?" Penelope pressed.
The woman in question looked to her sister for a moment, not wanting to disappoint her. "It was nice," Anna forced a small smile as she said the words. "I am just not used to being around so many people like that. I am afraid I stayed to myself most of the time," she admitted.
"I thought I saw you talking to Rossi for a while," Emily recalled.
"Rossi?" Anna questioned the name for a moment. "Oh, you mean David. Yes, he was very kind to speak with me," a more genuine smile formed as she spoke of the man in question. "He is polite and very smart, also quite handsome," her hands went to her mouth a second later, feeling foolish for having let that last comment slip.
Emily stared at Anna for a long time, felling about as shocked as her sister looked. Garcia and JJ both arched curious brows but they silently waited for further information. "I… suppose," the younger sister wasn't exactly sure what to say. "I've never really looked at him that way, though."
"Do you look at Derek that way?" Anna boldly asked; dropping her hands back to her lap and shedding some of her inhibition around Emily's friends.
"Morgan and I are just very good friends," Emily was quick to clarify, glancing down at the vibrantly painted nails of her left hand.
The three other women all cast doubtful looks in Emily's direction, but only Anna was brave enough to say something more on the subject matter. "And you always seem to refer to him by his last name when you are trying to avoid talking about the deeper emotional connection between the two of you, which is obviously present."
Emily mashed her lips together. "I'm not sure I like being called out like this. Who knew older sisters were so perceptive."
"Oh, please," JJ chuckled, feeling safer about adding her opinion to the mix since Anna had brought up the subject. "You really don't have to be an older sister to pick up on that one," she noted.
"Yeah, didn't I tell you all this a few months ago?" Penelope added. "Still playing it smart, I gather?"
Anna found herself relaxing even further as she playfully joined their prodding of her sister. "Pray tell, Emily… do you highly esteem him?" she laughed.
"I'm glad you're all having fun," Emily groaned, though she found it sweet that her sister was quoting from the movie they'd watched on Thanksgiving. And hearing Anna laugh was worth the cost of being teased, though she still felt it necessary to play her part. "Ganging up on me like that, it's not very nice," she leaned over to gently nudge Michelle's arm. "You're on my side, aren't you, chaton?"
"About what?" the girl asked, most of their conversation having gone over her head.
"About me and Derek," Emily informed her.
Michelle's smile could have lit a whole house with its brightness. "I like Derek a lot. I think he should be your boyfriend."
"The vote now stands at four-to-one," Penelope grinned.
"No," Emily shook her head, thinking it had gone far enough. "There will be no voting about my love life, thank you. This is not a democracy; I rule my own life."
JJ still wasn't buying it. "And how's that monarchy working out for you?" she asked.
"How come no one is bugging Anna about thinking Rossi is handsome?" Emily tried her best to cast the conversation back onto her sister's shoulders.
"What is there to bug her about?" Garcia questioned. "She spoke the truth, where as you dance all around it," she stated with conviction. "Not that my chocolate stud is much better at admitting the truth about his attraction to you. I swear, sometimes I wish real life worked like those sappy romance novels, because I'd be all for stranding you two in a cabin and making you confront your feelings for one another."
Penelope and JJ turned off their teasing rather abruptly when Emily didn't dignify the cabin stranding scenario with a response of words, or even a dirty look. Anna watched her sister stewing as the rest of them had their turn at having their nails painted. She realized they'd come down a bit hard on her, which made Anna's diversionary tactics take hold. She'd often tried to divert Margaret and Eli from their hateful moods over the years. Most of the time it hadn't worked, but she'd always been persistent. "I would like to have my hair done," she announced.
Anna didn't wait for any of them to respond to the odd proclamation before she plunked herself down in one of the styling chairs. A young blonde woman came to tend her right away. "What sort of cut would you like?" her cheerful demeanor diminished when Anna removed her scarf and revealed the patchy landscape of her skull.
"I would like you to shave the rest of it off," Anna spoke as nonchalantly as possible.
Emily's stomach twisted into a knot as she listened and watched her sister. The stylist was still starring, mouth agape, at Anna. "I believe she asked for a haircut," Emily prodded the woman to life. "And we've been given free reign here, haven't we?" she'd always hated the way her mother pushed their wealth and status around, but Emily was in defensive mode, trying to spare her sister any more pain or ridicule in life.
"Yes, ma'am," the woman finally snapped into action, grabbing clippers that they rarely used in the woman's salon.
JJ, Garcia and Michelle gathered around, quietly lending their support as the remainders of Anna's brown hair fell to the floor. "It will grow back, mommy," Michelle assured her. "Can I get mine shaved, too? I want to look just like you."
"No," Anna was quick to dissuade her daughter. "You are not cutting your hair. I will not allow it. You have such beautiful hair and cutting it…" she ran her hand down Michelle's long, dark braid. "She never let mine grow past my shoulders," her words were barely a whisper as childhood memories flooded back. Anna caught her sister's eye through the salon mirror and they both knew who the she was that Anna spoke of without saying it aloud. "She said it was so boys would not look at me, so I would be too ugly for them to want to admire me when we were out in public," Anna swallowed hard.
"What that woman told you about cutting your hair and being ugly, they were just ugly words from a hateful person," Emily stood beside her sister, one hand on Anna's shoulder in a compassionate stance. "It was just like all the other things she said to you, she did it to make herself feel better. And Eric loved you, didn't he?" Emily reminded her sister. "I know he did, because I've read every word in that journal of his. He loved you very much, just the way you were," she assured.
Anna nodded, looking at her bare head in the mirror. A solitary tear rolled down her cheek. "It is just hair, right?"
"Exactly," Emily agreed with a sympathetic smile.
They all grew quiet again for a few seconds until JJ spoke up. "You know what?" Her tone was chipper as she tried to brush away the sadness that had befallen their holiday outing. "I've been meaning to get my hair cut for a while." She flopped herself down in the chair beside Anna and the stylist stepped over, looking a little wary of her next assignment. JJ grasped two handfuls of her long, golden hair and held it up to her shoulders. "Right about there would be good."
Just an hour later the five of them gathered around the mall Santa to have their picture taken. Anna modestly kept her bald head wrapped in a scarf while the others all proudly sported their new shoulder-length hair cuts. Even Michelle had finally been allowed to cut hers to that point, and they all flashed the camera confident, radiant smiles. After the shot was taken they were allowed to see the digital proof and each of them ordered a copy as a keepsake of their day.
As they exited the Santa photo booth, Michelle noticed something. Most of the trees around Santa's workshop were decorated with lights and ornaments, but one tree only had a handful of paper tags tied to it. "What are those for?" the girl asked.
"That's a gift tree," Penelope was the one to explain. "The tags list different toys that you can buy for a child who won't have anything for Christmas. Usually they stop taking donations a week or so before Christmas, but this one still looks active."
"Yes, ma'am, it's still active," a young man announced, coming around the tree to greet them. He was wearing a uniform and a friendly smile. "This tree is being manned by the Boy Scouts of America and we have volunteers staying late tonight to make sure the gifts get to where they need to be by morning. Sort of like Santa's elves, you could say," he grinned broader. "We figured there are so many people doing last minute shopping, why not keep the gift tree going as long as possible."
Michelle looked to her mother and Emily. "Can we do that; buy a toy for one of those kids?"
"Sure we can," Emily agreed, directing her niece to pick one of the tags.
Assignment in hand, they'd barely taken three steps down the mall when Emily felt her whole body prickle with goose bumps. She instinctively looked up and spotted someone on the second story catwalk starring down at them. The woman was older, mid-sixties, gray hair and green eyes. Emily froze for a moment, realization dawning. Then she sprang into action, turning toward one of her friends. "Penelope, I need you to stay here by the Santa shop with Anna and Michelle."
"Why?" Garcia asked, confused by the sudden change in plans and the guarded demeanor of her friend.
"Just stay here and do not leave for any reason, not until you see me again," Emily sternly instructed as she motioned for JJ to follow her.
When they were halfway up the stairs that led to the catwalk, weaving through a sea of people, JJ finally spoke. "What's going on?" She could tell by the look on Emily's face and the determination in her stride that it probably wasn't anything good.
"I saw her."
"Who?" JJ was still just as confused as she'd been a second ago.
"Margaret Wilson," Emily finally revealed as they made their way to the center of the catwalk. "She was here," her hands grasped the handrail and looked down to the spot where Garcia, her sister and niece were still huddled by the Boy Scout. Her head turned right and then left, scanning both directions. "She can't have gotten far in this crowd," Emily said, waving JJ off. "You go right. I'll take the left. Stay close to the railing and search the bottom floor as well," she called out as they split up.
Emily's heart raced as she searched the mall, head turning every direction it could as she walked along the upper floor. Every few minutes she'd spot JJ on the other side and watch as the woman shook her head. They were only about half way through the building when Emily started to think her efforts were futile. There were hundreds of people and numerous exit points. As she reached the end of the mall, most of her adrenaline had been expelled. "Maybe it wasn't her I saw," she said to JJ as they descended on an escalator, planning to do a better search of the bottom floor on their way back.
"What did you see?" JJ prodded for more of an explanation.
"A woman who looked a lot like that image of Margaret Wilson that Garcia showed us. The green eyes I saw, they were like Michelle's eyes staring down at me," Emily sighed. "She was considerably older, but…" a sigh escaped, accompanied by doubt. "Maybe I just saw what I wanted to see; what I hoped to see."
JJ walked beside her friend for a short time before saying anything more. "I trust your word and your instincts better than most. If you saw her, I believe you."
"Thanks, JJ," Emily was extremely grateful to all of her co-workers for the support they'd lent the last several months. "I just… I wonder if maybe I want this so bad I'm making myself imagine things that aren't really there. I can't seem to do a damn thing to help Anna get better, I can't heal her. So, I want to find this Margaret woman and eliminate that threat hanging over her head." She turned to JJ. "Is that silly?"
The blonde shook her short hair. "Not at all," she replied. They explored one of the larger woman's restroom facilities, but there was still no sign of Margaret. JJ drew Emily into the small lounge area off the restroom. "You have done so much for your sister," she insisted. "I still wish there'd been something I could have done for my sister, but…" JJ took a deep breath. She'd only ever told Hotch about her sister's death. "But by the time I knew anything was wrong, it was too late. She took her own life and I'll probably never know why. But you got your sister back, and you've been there for her at every turn so far. I think that's all she really needs."
Words weren't needed for Emily to convey how much JJ had just helped her, only a thankful hug.
xxx
It wasn't hard to understand her sister's aversion to having servants do things for her. Emily had never been terribly fond of the concept herself, which was why she'd insisted that her parent's small staff take the day off. It was Christmas after all. That's how she came to be the one answering the door and greeting Derek and his mother. She quickly ushered them inside the warm house since the weather was bitter cold outside.
Derek barely had both feet inside when he sniffed the air. "Do I smell pancakes?"
"You must have pancake radar or something," Emily shook her head, though she smiled the whole time as she took their coats.
His brows arched a little. "Just out of curiosity, did you make these pancakes or…"
Her head shook again, this time to indicate that she hadn't been the one responsible for their upcoming holiday brunch. "No, Anna insisted on making the pancakes this morning," she revealed.
"Good," he released a sigh of relief.
Her eyes narrowed at his response. "What was that?"
"I mean," he cleared his throat. "It's too bad you didn't try your hand at making pancakes again."
She rolled her eyes, knowing for a fact that wasn't what he'd been thinking at all. But her attention finally fell upon his mother, realizing she hadn't been a very good hostess so far. "Mrs. Morgan, I'm so glad you could join us. I hope my parent's invitation didn't interrupt anything you and Derek had planned this morning."
'Not at all," Fran replied, taking Emily's hand. "I'm happy to get to see you again under better circumstances, but if you call me Mrs. Morgan again things may get ugly," the older woman warned in a jovial manner. "It's just Fran," she insisted. "Now, point me toward the kitchen so I can help out."
Emily shook her head a third time since they'd arrived. "No, please, you're our guests."
"Guests?" Fran waved a hand in the air as if to dismiss the comment as being foolish. "The way my son goes on about you I'd say we're practically family. Besides, I love to cook and I don't expect any special treatment here. So, the direction of the kitchen?" she asked again.
Morgan grinned as Emily caught his eye, obviously hoping for some help. "You might as well save her some trouble, because if you don't tell her she'll just search the whole place until she finds it," he advised.
"In that case… it's through the parlor and to your right," Emily heeded his warning. She then opened the hall closet and hung their coats.
As soon as his mother was out of sight, Derek stepped into the space that he would have called a living room. It was decorated richly, much the same as her mother's office had been. "The parlor?" he questioned in a slightly mocking tone as he eyed Emily. "You really grew up in places like this?"
She nodded as they walked toward the evergreen tree in the corner of the room that had mostly been decorated by herself and Michelle the night before. "Does that make you think less of me?"
"Nah," he turned toward her. "I always knew there was a bit of princess lurking under that tough crime-fighter façade."
Emily didn't let his comment get under her skin. "Did you and your mom have a good Christmas Eve?" she asked, hoping to move the conversation somewhere else, because she'd never been terribly comfortable about people's reaction to her wealthy background.
"We did," he smiled. Derek loved his sisters dearly, but it was kind of nice having his mother all to himself for a few days. "She ended up dragging me to several Smithsonian venues, the Natural History Museum, American History Museum…" he listed a few others. "I honestly didn't even know those places were open on Christmas Eve. It was fun, though. I haven't done that circuit since I moved here," Derek trailed off as he studied her.
She consciously fiddled with her shorter hair, noticing his blatant stare. "You don't like it?"
He reached out to move her hand away so he could properly admire the look. "Actually, it reminds me of when we first met," Derek replied, recalling an instant attraction to her as they'd shaken hands that day. "But what I like even more is that you did it for Anna." He watched the inquisitive gaze she cast his direction. "Garcia called me last night," Morgan revealed. "She was worried about you and what happened at the mall."
A furtive glance was thrown over her shoulder before her eyes aimed his way again. "I'd prefer not to talk about that right now," Emily conveyed. "My parents don't know what happened and I'd like to keep it that way, at least until after Christmas."
"Understood," Derek agreed as he returned his attention to the tree and fingered a paper star ornament that was covered in glitter. He flipped it over and chuckled softly at the name written messily on the back.
"I was only five years old," Emily stopped him before he could make a snide remark about her lackluster arts and crafts abilities. "Michelle found that in an old box. I'm surprised my parents kept it all these years."
He turned to look her in the eye as his hand reached out to caress her wrist. "They kept it because they love you, Emily."
Her bottom lip bore the brunt of her nervousness as she tried to pull away. "Maybe we should go help in the kitchen," she suggested.
Derek knew she was trying to avoid getting any closer to him, but he didn't feel like abiding her every whim anymore. Their coffee dates the last few weeks had turned into an everyday occurrence, even if it was only for a few minutes in his office. And he didn't have any plans to move backwards, only forward. He fully grasped her hand as she tried to walk away. "I think it would probably be best for everyone if the two of us stayed far away from the kitchen," he voiced, gently lacing his fingers through hers and keeping her beside him. "Besides, I'd like to hear more about this star you made."
xxx
Emily re-entered the parlor after having used the bathroom. She found that Derek and his mother were still hanging out with her family nearly three hours past the end of the brunch meal to which they'd been invited. When Fran approached her, Emily grew apologetic. "You two should really be going," she told the woman. "I don't want us to keep you from whatever Christmas celebrations you have planned. You're supposed to be here visiting with Derek."
Fran smiled as she glanced over to see her son seated on the sofa with Anna and Michelle, entertaining them with some sort of animated story. Her eyes reverted back to Emily as she spoke. "Actually, the main reason for my visit was to spend time getting to know you," she revealed.
"Me?"
The older woman nodded, still smiling. "Perhaps it has escaped your attention, but my son is rather smitten with you, Emily."
"Smitten?" Emily was taken aback by Fran's forwardness. Her parents rarely did anything quite so obvious. "I'm sure you must be mistaken. Derek and I are only…"
"Friends?" Fran supplied the last word. "Yes," she chuckled. "He has said the same thing about you. But I think I know my son better than almost anyone. And I have never known him to be so enraptured by a woman. He even showed me the picture of you on Halloween. How you ever roped him into that I'm sure I'll never know, but I thought I should get to know that woman a little better."
Emily was still fairly speechless as she had trouble taking her eyes off of Derek. Eventually her gaze swung around to observe the others in the room. "I'm actually surprised the two of you didn't run out of here hours ago," Emily finally replied. "It's almost as if our families are from two different worlds."
"My dear, I am about as white as a woman can get and I married a black man in a time when those things were hardly accepted," Fran responded. "We were about as far away as two worlds can get, but we loved one another and we made it work. But I won't stand by and listen to you talk about your family being superior to ours because of monetary reasons. I certainly thought you were different than that."
"That's not what I meant at all," Emily felt mortified as she quickly tried to smooth things over. "I was just…" she pointed toward the others. "Look at Derek over there sitting with Michelle curled up on his lap. He's been attempting to engage my parents in the conversation for nearly twenty minutes, but my parents are sitting clear across the room in separate chairs, stiff as can be, barely responsive. We really don't communicate very well in this family. And we're not very close. Not like you and Derek and your daughters are."
The older woman put a hand to Emily's forearm. "I am truly sorry that I thought you meant…" she sighed, not feeling it necessary to rehash that whole bit of their conversation. "You and your sister seem very close."
That brought a happy smile to Emily's face. "Anna and I clicked from the start, before we even knew we were related. Sometimes it feels like we grew up together, like we've always been sisters. But my parents continue to keep their distance. You'd think after forty years they'd be elated to see her, but… I don't know."
"First of all, you and Anna have always been sisters," Fran pointed out. "And it's wonderful that you've become so close. Secondly, I can't honestly say what your parents are feeling, because I can't imagine going through what they're going through. But my guess is that because you didn't have any prior knowledge of Anna's existence, you didn't have any expectations for what your relationship was supposed to be. But your parents," Fran's heart went out to them. "They still see that little girl who they had hopes and dreams for, but they never got to see those dreams realized."
Emily's smile was bittersweet. "The way you just explained it makes perfect sense," she agreed. "Derek takes after you in that way, always getting straight to the heart of the matter. That's one thing I love about him…"
Fran grinned, seeing the way the younger woman had blushed upon uttering the word love in regard to Derek. "Come on," she took Emily by the arm. "If you'll have us, I'd like to stay a little longer," Fran said as they joined the others. "In fact, I believe it's time for gifts."
"No gifts," Emily protested. "We weren't supposed to do gifts."
"Well, while Derek and you were cleaning up after brunch I snuck a few things under the tree," Fran revealed. She retrieved a gold and red box and presented the gift to Anna. "First one goes to the special guest of honor this year."
"You should not have done this," Anna replied, the box lying untouched on her lap.
"Please, open it," Fran insisted.
With permission, Anna did as instructed and marveled at the blue knitted hat she pulled from the box. "This is too lovely; you should not have spent money on me."
"No money was spent," Derek's mother replied. "My daughter's buy me yarn for almost every birthday and holiday. I had this lovely aqua cashmere just waiting to be made into something special, so it really only coast me a few beads of sweat. Please, try it on," she insisted.
Anna's hands hovered at the sides of her head as she nervously contemplated removing her scarf. Much to everyone's surprise, it was Elizabeth who came to her daughter's rescue. She carefully removed the scarf and barely batted an eye when she positioned the blue hat on Anna's bare head. "It looks beautiful," she whispered.
Within minutes Fran had distributed the rest of her gifts, which included hand knit mittens for Michelle, scarves for Emily and Elizabeth and socks for the guys. "Maybe I shouldn't admit this, but the hat for Anna was the only one I made specifically for her. I knit a bunch of these things over the year's time and then give them to local homeless shelters. But I picked these items out for each of you. I hope you'll enjoy them."
Emily gave Derek's mother a hug. "Thank you," she whispered, wishing it was her own mother she could so easily embrace.
Derek playfully wore one sock on his left hand and made it talk like a puppet, much to Michelle's delight. "Since mama broke the no gifts rule, I guess it's safe to give ours," he looked to Anna who nodded her agreement.
"It's that green envelope there," Anna pointed out the object under the tree.
Morgan retrieved it and handed it to Emily. "Merry Christmas."
She felt a little guilty as she carefully opened the item, having strictly obeyed the agreed upon no-gifts rule. Emily pulled out the paper items inside and studied them for a moment. "Plane tickets?" she examined them a little more closely. "Three tickets to Los Angeles over New Year's weekend?"
"One for you, one for Michelle and one for Derek," Anna explained. "The trip was my idea."
"And we paid for it," Joseph added.
Emily eyed Derek. "And your part in all of this?" she questioned.
"Well, your sister said she wouldn't let Michelle travel clear across the country without both of us being with her," he explained while motioning Michelle over. "This gift is for you too, sweetness," he relayed. "And do you know why we're going to California?"
Michelle's head shook. "Why?"
"Sea World," it was Anna who replied, delighting in the wide-eyed look on her daughter's face as the girl came to sit beside her again. "A special park where you will get to see all sorts of sea animals like penguins, polar bears, sharks and dolphins," she watched Michelle's eyes grow even wider, but knew the best part was yet to come. "And you will see beluga and orca whales."
"A whale?" Michelle's voice was a barely constrained yelp of excitement. "I get to see a real balene?" When Anna nodded, the girl wrapped her arms around her mother's neck. "Thank you mommy, this is the best gift." She then went to give each of her grandparents an equally exuberant thank you hug.
Emily was still a little confused by the trip details, but she didn't have a chance to ask more about it when Derek and his mother finally decided to leave. She led Fran to the door and they stood in the entry hall as Derek finished saying his goodbye to Michelle, who seemed reluctant to let him go. "From what all I saw today, especially just now with that gift Anna and your parents gave you, I think your family is trying, Emily," Fran told the woman as she gave her a farewell hug.
Grateful for those confident words, Emily was actually sad to say goodbye. "I hope I get to see you again sooner than a few years from now."
"Count on it," Fran replied as she took the coat Derek brought her when he finally made it to the door. She looked from Emily to her son, a smile crinkling the fine lines of her face. "I'll be waiting in the car."
Morgan watched his mother walk to the vehicle parked in the driveway, glad that a line of trees hid her from their view. He pulled on his leather jacket and closed the front door a little so the people inside wouldn't see him and Emily. Then he drew her close and kissed her on the lips without warning, his hands snaking around her waist. They moved to caress the fine hairs at the base of her neck as he deepened their kiss.
He stepped back and grinned at the dumbfound look on her face. "Merry Christmas, Emily."
xxx
"Are you ever planning to stop smiling?" Anna asked as they arrived outside the door to her sister's place.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Emily made a conscious effort to make her face as neutral as possible, but she found it rather difficult after the knee-buckling kiss Derek had given her hours ago. She wasn't sure how one rather ordinary day could change so many things, but Emily certainly felt her self-control slipping where Derek Morgan was concerned. "It's Christmas; can't I be happy on Christmas?"
Emily knew it hadn't been just one day, though. It had been the last two weeks of coffee dates and long conversations about her sister's illness. It had been the last few months since her life had flipped on its side, throwing a sister and niece into her lap. It had been the last seven months since they'd started working out together, triggering his healing process over what had occurred with Ellie. And truthfully, it had been the last five years as they'd slowly become much more than just friends.
Anna smiled but she didn't bother saying anything else on the matter as she escorted her very sleepy daughter upstairs. Emily was glad to be alone with her thoughts for a while, but as she closed and locked her door she realized she was standing on something other than the tile of her floor. She bent down to pick up the small white envelope. Emily cautiously opened the item, but found a holiday card inside and figured a neighbor must have shoved it under the door.
But she knew it wasn't from any neighbor the second a picture greeted her on the inside of the card. It was a 4x6 snapshot of her, Anna and Michelle in the mall on Christmas Eve. And there was an obvious, thickly drawn, red X over Anna's face with two words written beside her, which Emily whispered aloud.
"Tick Tock."
To Be Continued…