Chapter 30 -
Dave yawned widely and reached across the bed, his eyes quickly opening as he felt the emptiness next to him. Frowning slightly he wandered through to the kitchen, his eyes catching the familiar scrawl on a piece of paper by the coffee machine. Smiling as he read it Dave flicked the machine on abd grabbed his cell phone.
"Morning Dave."
"Morning Emily, how are they?"
Emily smiled as she put the cell phone on the bed and flicked it onto speaker mode.
"Hey dad."
"Hey munchkin, did you manage to get any sleep?"
"Actually we both did."
Kate smiled at Mary as she spoke before Emily reached across and took a hold of Mary's hands, helping to reassure her.
"So Dave we have something we wanted to tell you."
Emily smiled at both Kate and Mary, Kate grinned warmly at Mary.
"Mary said yes dad."
"That's great munchkin, Mary I know that all this seems a bit overwhelming but it will be ok."
"Thank you Dave."
Mary's voice wavered slightly but Kate moved closer to her and Mary rested her head against Kate's shoulder. Emily picked her cell up and stood up.
"I'll just be outside ok?"
"Not a problem mom."
Emily waited until she was outside and away from the two girls before she spoke again.
"Emily?"
"I found them asleep together on the bed Dave, Kate has been amazing and so, so strong."
"She gets that from you sweetheart."
Emily smiled warmly at the comment.
"Are you going to catch Frankie up with everything?"
"Yeah I was going to go to his office now, do you think Garcia will be able to join me, it's just she will be able to find information out way quicker than Frankie or I?"
Emily laughed softly at the thought of Dave and Frankie trying to get the paperwork together.
"Of course she will be delighted to help us."
"I'll come and see the three of you as soon as I'm done."
"I love you Dave."
"I love you too Emily, give Kate and Mary a hug from me."
"Thank you for coming Penelope."
Dave smiled warmly as Garcia embraced him.
"My pleasure Dave, but are you all certain about this?"
"I know what you are thinking Penelope but Kate is the one who suggested it. If it makes you feel any better Emily found the two of them asleep on the bed together this morning."
"Sorry Dave, I am just a little bit overprotective of my munchkin Kate."
"We all are Penelope."
Dave grinned as the two of them entered the lawyer's office, they both knew that the process would be long and convoluted but one thing that Emily and Kate had been firm on was that Mary couldn't go back to a group home on her release from hospital. Three hours later Dave smiled as Frankie passed him the printed piece of paper.
"Thank you Frankie, you have definitely got to come round for dinner soon!"
"You're welcome Dave, now go on I know that you want to go and see Emily and bring her the good news."
Dave grinned as Frankie gave him a warm embrace.
Kate tapped her mom on the arm as she saw a familiar figure outside, Emily nodded her head and got up, Mary was sleeping once again but Kate was happy to stay with her as Emily walked out and joined Dave. Dave smiled as she warmly embraced him and kissed him softly on the lips.
"How is she?"
"Recovering, physically as well as emotionally."
Emily rested her head on Dave's shoulder.
"How did it go with Frankie?"
"Better than expected."
Dave grinned as he passed Emily a piece of paper.
"Temporary foster carers for Mary. Dave this is amazing!"
Tears escaped Emily's eyes as she embraced him once again.
"I promised Frankie dinner soon."
"Oh goodness yes of course! Listen why don't you and Kate go home, I'll stay with Mary tonight."
Dave nodded his head, as much as he wanted to share the burden with Emily he knew that Mary would struggle being left with him on her own.
"JJ messaged me earlier too, she wanted to pop round and check Kate is ok, so you might well have an extra mouth to feed"
"She's worried about Kate's nightmares isn't she Emily? Garcia quizzed me about our decision earlier too."
Emily smiled as she looked in at Kate who had a hold of Mary's hand and was stroking it gently.
"They've seen how well Kate has grown, they just want to look after her. The bond that JJ and Kate have is so amazingly strong, she wants to know for herself that Kate is ok."
"I wouldn't change how they feel for the world Emily, I hope that in time Mary can have that same bond too."
Dave kissed Emimy softly on the lips, before he took a hold of her hands.
"Well if you are staying here for the night why don't we go and get a coffee and something to eat before Kate and I leave?"
"Sounds like a great idea!"
Kate was curled up in the large wooden chair, a blanket over her legs as she watched the flames from the fire pit, Dave was inside cooking, while Kate was lost in her own thoughts that the arrival of another person completely passed her by.
"Hello sweetheart."
JJ smiled as she bent down behind Kate, kissing the top of her head before she warmly wrapped her arms around Kate.
"Aunt Jen!"
Kate smiled as she quickly reciprocated the embrace before JJ sat down on the chair next to Kate, reaching across as she took a hold of Kate's hand.
"I hear from Penelope that things might be changing around here?"
JJ smiled as she gently squeezed Kate's hand before she continued.
"Are you ok with this Kate? I know that this last week has been terribly tough and stirred up a lot of memories. I care so much about you that I wanted to make sure that this was ok with you?"
JJ looked seriously at Kate who scrunched up her nose and rubbed her eyes.
"I am, I promise you Aunt Jen. I know that it's not going to be easy for any of us, but..."
Kate took a breath as she let go of JJ's hand momentarily, throwing half of the blanket over JJ before she took a hold of JJ's hand once again.
"Mary reminds me of me Aunt Jen, when we came back from England. She thinks she can do it all alone but really she is crying out for someone to hold and take care of her."
JJ smiled and nodded her head.
"Well you know how much I care for you, as everyone else does on the team too. You will need to warn Mary that she isn't just gaining a family of three, it's much bigger than that!"
"Oh gosh, I hadn't even thought about that! Uncle Derek will be so pleased that he gets to keep tabs on both us now!"
JJ and Kate laughed softly before Kate stood up, holding out her hands to help JJ up as she then embraced JJ once again.
"Thank you for caring so much Aunt Jen, I love you so much."
