I finally finished writing chapter 6 which I will put up tomorrow, and I'm really happy with it. But here's chapter 5, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing except Kahlan, she's mine ;)
Chapter 5
I had just put down the last of the dishes, telling everyone to dig in when JJ asked "Not that we don't appreciate this Emily, but we're all kind of curious as to why you have invited us over. You've never done that before so…" She left the question hanging there waiting for me to pick it up. I looked at her for a second, before sitting down in my seat and folding my hands together so I wouldn't fidget with them and give away that I was so nervous.
"The reason for this dinner is because I have something to tell you guys. Something that I have kept a secret since I joined the team." Now that I have everyone's attention, I just blurt it out.
"I have a daughter."
Garcia gasps, while Morgan and JJ looks shocked and Reid looks just plain old confused. Everyone is just quietly staring at me so I just start to babble out everything just to get it over with so they don't have time to question me.
"Her name is Kahlan Athena Prentiss, she's two and half years old and she's my little angel." I keep tapping my foot because I'm still so nervous of how they'll react after the shock of the news has worn off. "My reason for not telling you about her sooner was because I was afraid to have her connected to the job. You all know how dangerous this job is, how we risk so much, and I just didn't want her to be tainted by that. And I'm sorry to say that since you're all part of the job, which meant to not include you in her life as well."
Now that I have gotten it all out, I'm just waiting for someone to say something, to react even if it's in a negative way. Surprisingly, it's Reid that gets over the shock first and starts to question me.
"Then, if you didn't want her to be a part of that aspect of your life, why tell us about her now?" He looks so adorable when he didn't understand something. Smiling towards him, I was honest in my answer. "I didn't have a choice. Kahlan and I coincidently met Hotch and Jack in the park nearby and the secret was out. I couldn't ask him to keep that big of a secret from you so I promised him that I would tell you."
Looking at everyone at the table I could see that Garcia, JJ and Reid were just shocked by the news, but they didn't appear to be mad. For that, I was relieved but then I looked over at Morgan and he looked pissed.
"So you were NEVER going to tell us about her!? I thought we were partners Prentiss and partners don't keep SECRETS!" I looked at him with an angry face because what he just said was not ok.
"Shhh, keep your voice down you idiot! She's upstairs and she gets scared when people yell." He looks contrite when he hears this and I just hope that Kahlan didn't hear him. "I get that your feelings are hurt because I didn't tell you, but didn't you hear what I said, I did it to protect her. She's everything I have left of her father and I'm not going to let anything happen to her. I love her, and I'm not sorry for doing everything I can to protect her!" I didn't notice at first, but during my impassioned rant I had gotten up from my chair and my fists were at my side closed really hard. Getting my breathing under control, I sat back down.
"Can I ask who the father is?" Garcia asked the one question I was hoping that they wouldn't ask me and I winced. Thinking about it, I wished for a simple answer but I just didn't know what to tell them. So I was a bit vague when I finally got the courage to say something.
"You may ask, but I'm not going to answer. Let's just say that he's not in our lives anymore and just leave it at that."
It looked like she wanted to ask more about it but Hotch put his hand up silencing her on the matter. Now that everyone had gotten over the shock that I have a daughter, I thought it might be the time to get Kahlan down here and introduce her to everyone. Plus, I'm sure she will be hungry too. That being settled I got up from my chair.
"I'm going to get Kahlan so that she can eat dinner too. You all get to meet her, but I need you to promise to be on your best behavior towards her. She's only a child after all and it wasn't her fault that I didn't tell you about her." I was only looking at Morgan when I was saying this and he nodded his head once, understanding that there was to be no more yelling, at least not when Kahlan was in the vicinity.
I went up the stairs, throwing over my shoulder that they should start eating before the food gets too cold. 'Now I just hope that Kahlan reacts ok when she meets all these new people'
XOX
How did you like the team's reactions? Review if you want, I really like to read your thoughts on my writing!
xxMACxx