As per always, thanks for the feedback! And for your patience. I'm hopeful I'll be able to post a little more regularly now...

Going with another peek in the illustrious Elizabeth Prentiss for this one.

Happy reading =)

"We are not the same person this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person." – W. Somerset Maugham

"Mom," Emily says with a smile when she spots me. When she rises from her seat and her eyes seem to brighten, I can't help but feel like I'm the luckiest person in the world. After all, it wasn't so long ago that I believed her dead. The fact that she's here, and happier than I've seen her in a long time, is a gift that I'm thankful for every single day.

"Hey," she says as she opens up her arms to give me a tight hug. I return it just as tightly, reveling at being able to hold her in my arms. For those seven months I believed her dead, one thing that kept echoing in my mind over and over was that I hadn't given her a proper hug in years, so to be able to hold her again is nothing short of wonderful.

"Hey yourself, Emily," I reply as we break apart and take a seat at the table she'd reserved for us. I take a moment to really look at her, and I'm pleased to find she looks well. Happy, healthy, and in a refreshing change of pace, genuinely pleased to see me. "How are you?"

"I'm good," she answers with yet another smile, and for once I don't have to scrutinize her eyes and expression to find the truth.

"And how's Derek?"

"Off on a case right now, but he's good."

"Where's the case?"

"Pittsburgh."

"So not too far then. Could be worse."

"True, but he's a little pissed they got called away."

"Oh? How come?"

"They were supposed to be off of active rotation this week, so he apparently planned this elaborate date for us."

"Ah," I say knowingly. "And all those plans were thrown out the window when the case came in."

"Exactly," she says with a nod and a sigh. "I don't know how many times I have to tell him that I don't need fancy dinners or dates. I'm just happy to-"

"It's his prerogative to spoil you, Emily," I interrupt with a smile, happy that the man my daughter's fallen in love with is so good to her.

"But he doesn't need to-"

"But he wants to," I counter, not letting her finish her excuse. She really needs to learn to let people show her how much they love her. "And I think you should start to let him."

Her expression twists into one of uncertainty and mild discomfort, which doesn't surprise me in the least. She's never been one to love the spotlight, and has always had trouble accepting help and support from others.

"Emily?" I say gently, urging her to meet my gaze in hopes it will impress upon her the seriousness of my advice. She looks up and does just that. "You deserve to be loved. I know you didn't feel that way throughout your childhood, and that's something I regret every single day. But you deserve to be spoiled, and showered with affection."

"Mom, I-" she begins to refute my words, but I don't let her.

"No, Emily. I mean it. Let him love you, and don't be afraid to love him deeply."

She holds my gaze for a moment, her expression soft and yet intense at the same time. "I do love him," she admits quietly.

I find a smile spreading once more on my face. "Good. I'd always hoped you would find someone worthy of loving. Derek is that and then some, Em."

"I know," she agrees with a small smile. In that moment, I know my words have sunk in for her. "Do you want to order?" she asks after a moment.

I glance down at the menus in front of us. I'd almost forgotten we were here to enjoy some delicious chocolate at a new place downtown that was calling itself a chocolate lounge. "Definitely."

We peruse the menus and settle on ordering a specialty hot chocolate for each of us (Mexican hot chocolate for her, salted caramel hot chocolate for me), and a few different chocolate treats to share. A few minutes later I find myself inhaling deeply and appreciating the aroma of my hot chocolate when it's delivered to our table.

"Did you fall in love again after Harrison?" Emily asks suddenly. I blink in surprise. I certainly hadn't been expecting that question. Emily had made it a point to ignore any and all mentions of her father since she essentially cast him out of her life by taking my surname when she was 10.

"I…" I begin, but trail off almost immediately. I'm not sure why she's pursuing this, but I doubt my answer will be any good to her. In fact, it's probably better that I lie, given our earlier discussion.

"I was just realizing that I never saw you with any other men after he disappeared."

I weigh my options, but ultimately know that I can't tell her anything but the truth. For as good as I am at schooling my features and hiding my emotions, she's better at reading them. And it's easy for her to do so, given that we're so similar.

"No, I didn't," I answer gently, taking a long sip from my drink after as I watch her reaction. Her face twists in sympathy, just as I knew it would.

"That's a long time to be alone, Mom," she replies softly.

"It is," I agree, "but my career kept me busy."

"Did you want to find someone else?"

"Of course. But sometimes these things are just not in the cards."

Her eyes widen at my words. "That's not like you to so willingly accept an excuse of fate."

I shrug. "I suppose at some point it just became easier to accept that explanation.

"There wasn't anyone? Not even a fling?"

"Do you really want to know the answer to that?" I ask, a grin tugging at the corner of my mouth.

She looks thoughtful for a second before the meaning of my words sinks in for her, at which point she lets out a nervous laugh. "I'll take my chances, but no details, please."

I echo her laughter, and take another long sip before I answer. "There were a few men after your father left, but most of them were angling to use me for my influence in the political scene, and by that time I was tired of being used, so I never pursued anything with them."

"What about now? You're out of the political scene."

I can't help the self-deprecating reply. "And where exactly am I going to find someone, Emily? I'm not exactly young."

Her expression shifts to sympathy again, but I'm not entirely surprised when her response is a strong one. "That's a rather defeatist attitude. If you don't want to be alone anymore, then go find someone, Mom. You're an amazing, impressive, and beautiful woman. Any man would be lucky to be with you."

My eyes widen at her honest reply. I'm still not quite used to hearing her say things about me that aren't tinged with disdain. "You're very sweet, Em. Thank you."

"I mean it, Mom. I don't want you to be all alone anymore."

I smile at her insistent words and find myself incredibly happy to have her back in my life. "Don't worry about me, Em. I'll be okay."

She keeps her gaze on me for a moment, scrutinizing my expression, but ultimately leans back in her chair. "Can I ask you something else?"

I eye her carefully, knowing that whatever she's going to ask is going to be uncomfortable. I nod in reply.

"Did you love Harrison?"

"Yes," I answer honestly. "Once upon a time, I did. He wasn't always the distant and argumentative man that you remember. When he and I first met, he was charming, and genuine, and everything a girl could want in a man."

"Did he love you?"

"Very much so," I answer, again my words completely honest. Harrison and I had fallen out of love with each other long ago, and had drifted apart long before that, but we'd been madly in love before all of that. "He was quite the romantic, actually. He whisked me away on romantic weekends, and brought me flowers for no reason. He was sweet, and the complete gentleman."

"How did he end up being the exact opposite of that?"

It's a question that I've asked myself countless times over the years since we'd separated. I still don't know how he became the very man he'd promised me he never wanted to become.

"I don't know," I answer finally. I can tell she's not surprised with my answer, but isn't satisfied with it either. "Maybe the pressure from his family finally got to him, or his aspirations to rise in the corporate world overpowered his desire to be a good man. I don't know what it was, but whatever it was, I pity him for it.

Emily's expression shifts to one of surprise. "I don't pity him at all," she says firmly. "He had a choice, and he made it. He put you through years of emotional abuse, and ultimately abandoned you. He doesn't deserve your pity."

"That's the man that you knew," I counter. "You have to remember that I knew both that man, and the man I fell in love. It killed me to watch him transform."

"Is that why you stuck with him for so long?"

"Maybe," I answer truthfully. "I think I always held onto a shred of hope that he'd realize what he'd become and would change."

"But he never did."

"He did to an extent, actually."

She raises an eyebrow in disbelief at my words, and I hasten to explain.

"There was one day that he came home from a business trip when you were about 5 or so. You were so excited that he was home and kept asking if we could go to the park, like he'd promised you before he left. He was tired, and jet-lagged, and perhaps more importantly, laden with work to do for his next trip, so he just about bit your head off. That sparked a particularly nasty fight between us, which unfortunately happened right in front of you.

"The argument eventually ended when he retreated to his office. You walked on eggshells around him and his office for the rest of the day, but I guess you eventually you gathered the courage to peek in, and the two of you had an honest conversation. After that he made a real effort to be there for you. He took you to the park, he read with you, even took you horseback riding, that sort of thing."

"But it didn't last," she supplies.

"No," I say with a sad shake of my head, "it didn't. I suppose he got pulled into his work more and more, and soon he forgot his revelation. I'm not excusing the man he became, but I want you to know that he did try."

"Not hard enough," she says bitterly.

"It's probably for the better."

"It is," she confirms, her tone still that little bit bitter. She'd let go of him long ago, but every now and then I think her frustration flares up, particularly given the relatively recent news of his death.

"But I think that's enough about him. How's work? Still enjoying teaching?"

She expression relaxes and she reaches forward to stab a piece of strawberry to dip in the chocolate fondu on the table in front of us. "Yeah. It's a nice change of pace from field work."

"I never thought I'd see the day," I say with a chuckle.

"What?"

"You, enjoying the boring world of paperwork and teaching."

She lets out a short laugh. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, everyone thinks I'm some sort of action junkie."

"Rightfully so," I interject. "You haven't stood still for more than 2 minutes since you could crawl."

"Well, be that as it may, I'm enjoying being able to make plans weeks in advance and actually keep them."

"It is quite the luxury," I say with a grin. "Have you and Derek moved in together yet?" I ask, knowing I'll get quite the rise out of her with the question.

Her eyes widen immediately. "What? Jeez, Mom, be a little more subtle, would you?"

"Where's the fun in that?" I reply with a smirk. "I'm just fulfilling my motherly 'hovering' quota."

"It's not something that we've discussed," she answers, shooting me an unimpressed look.

"I swear you two don't discuss anything. You spend more time at his place than your own."

"And how exactly do you know that?"

"Because you never answer your home phone when I call, but always pick up the cell phone."

"I do work, Mom."

"These calls are not during working hours, Emily."

She lets out an exhale as she shakes her head. "You'd make a pretty good profiler, you know that?"

"You had to learn your craft from somewhere, didn't you?" I tease. "Would you be adverse to it?" I ask, my curiosity getting the better of me. Plus it's fun to watch her squirm a little.

"I...uh...no. No, I don't think so."

"That was convincing," I reply with a raised brow.

"Yeah, well you just kind of sprung this on me, so forgive me if I don't have a totally prepared and thought-out response."

I let out a little laugh at her disjointed response. "You're terrified of the idea, aren't you?"

"It's a big step."

"One you aren't ready for?"

"One we haven't talked about," she corrects.

"You should think about it," I advise, knowing it's something that will almost certainly happen, and soon if my assumptions about Derek's level of complete and utter infatuation with her are correct.

"I will," she relents. "Now can we please talk about something else?"

"How about your sex life?" I say, unable to resist making her squirm that little bit more. What can I say? I'm certainly enjoying our easy mother-daughter relationship.

"Mom!" she says in a forceful whisper, her eyes just about bugging out of her head in embarrassment and shock. I can't rightly blame her for her reaction – this sort of thing was never something I would have even considered saying in public.

"What? You said you wanted to discuss something else."

"I didn't mean that!"

"Okay," I say holding my hands up in surrender. "What about grandchildren? Can I expect any of them in my future?" I laugh as I watch her eyes widen again before she shoots me a dirty look. I just smile in reply. It's nice to have my daughter back.

So...did you enjoy the mother-daughter chat? Let me know! :)

(PS: I admit, I couldn't help myself from having Elizabeth make Emily squirm a little bit. ;D)