Protection

Alone time

Emily's POV
You were exhausted as Aaron had to go away on a case. You assured him that you would be fine on your own for a few nights and he left but felt extremely guilty.

Amy had developed some sort of separation anxiety which meant that she would cry every time you put her down. This meant that the only time you could shower or do basically anything was when Aaron was home from work.

Aaron only left about an hour ago but you were already nervous about tonight. You were feeding Amy as she spits up in your hair. You go try to put her down so you could shower as she starts crying. You pick her back up as she stops almost immediately. She soon falls asleep in your arms as you try and put her down before she wakes up and starts crying again. Your milk had started leaking onto your shirt and you felt disgusting. You needed to shower but there was no way Amy would let you.

You pick up your phone in a moment of panic as you quickly dial your mother. Within two rings she picks up. "Mom?" you ask. "Yes Emily, is everything alright?" she asks slightly concerned. "Are you busy right now?" you ask as you hear Amy scream again as you rock her to try and put her back to sleep. "No do you need me to come over?" she asks. "Yes" you respond as she responds "be there in 10" before she quickly hangs up.

You were crying as you tried to put Amy down which never seemed to work. You were on the couch now as you heard the door open. Your mother walks in as you sigh in relief. She makes her way over to the couch and sits down next to you as you hand her Amy who was awake. She didn't seem to fuss in your mothers arms to which you felt relieved in.

"Can you mind Amy while I shower?" you ask as she nods. You quickly enter your bathroom and strip before hopping in. As the warm water hits your body, you relax as you start washing your hair and body. It felt amazing to be clean again as you step out and started brushing your teeth. You threw your hair up into a bun and walked to your room in just a towel before getting changed into pyjamas. You walk out and see your mother laying with Amy in her arms. Your mother was smiling and Amy was babbling.

"Why don't you take a nap? You look exhausted" she says as you smile and mouth thank you before going to bed and passing out.

You woke up an hour later to rock hard boobs as you walk out to the living room. You couldn't find Amy or your mother anywhere as you begin to panic before you hear the door open and a happy Amy in her stroller. "Hey baby girl" you say as you unbuckle her and pick her up. "We just went on a nice walk around the park" she says as you smile. "Thank you, how was she?" you asked. "Oh she was a delight but doesn't like to be put down" she says as you sigh. "Tell me about it" you respond as your mother laughs.

You then hear the familiar cry as you knew it was feeding time. You move to the couch and sit down as Amy lays in your arms. You lift up your shirt and Amy latches on immediately. You lay back in relief as you felt the milk stream out and your boobs getting less sore.

Once she detaches, you switch sides as she latches onto your other boob. She slowly sucks before she soon unlatches again. You pick her up and burp her before you try out her down for a nap again. She starts crying as soon as you put her down. "Emily I can hold her if you want" your mother chimes in as you hand Amy over to her.

She relaxes in your mothers arms as you thank her. You then hear your phone ring and you bounce up and get it before Amy wakes up. Your mother was rocking her as she didn't wake up. "Go take that" your mother says as you nod with a smile. You walk into your room and see that it was Aaron. You redial and he picks up immediately.

"Hey" you say. "Hey" he responds. "You back at the hotel already?" you ask. "Yeah, how are you?" He asks. "I'm good, I miss you" you say with a smile. "I miss you too" he says as you felt the butterflies in your stomach flutter. "How's Amy?" He then asks.

"Well she is the usual, refuses to be put down for pretty much everything. When I was feeding her, she spat up on me and I tried to put her down to shower. It didn't go too well. I called my mom and she's here with Amy now. She's been huge help today. She was minding Amy while I took a shower, took a nap, and now that I'm on the phone to you" you ramble on.

"Wow that's great" he says. "How's the case going?" you ask. "Pretty rough but I should be home in a few days" he says as you nod.

"You excited to get your own bed for the night" you joke as you could imagine his smile on the other side of the phone. "I'm excited to not get awoken a hundred times by Amy crying" he says as you chuckle. "Well I'm going to miss you burping her and changing her diaper" you say as you start getting nervous about the night ahead.

"And I'm going to miss snuggling up to you at night and seeing my little princess" he says. "Well we are here at home waiting for you when you catch the unsub" you say with a smile. "And I can't wait to catch this sick, son of a bitch so I can go home and see my girls" he says as you smile.

"Look I should probably get back to my mom and Amy" you say with a smile. "Oh yes of course" he say as you could hear the disappointment in his voice. "Aaron, I'm okay, Amy is happy and I am happy. We are both so proud of you and we can't wait to see you soon okay?" you say. "I love you" he says. "I love you too" you say back before hanging up.

You walk out of your room and see that your mom was stirring something in the pot while you walk in. She had Amy in one arm and you walk towards the kitchen. You take Amy from your moms arms as she continues stirring the pasta. Once the pasta was finished, she brings you over a bowl of spaghetti bolognese, the dish she would always make you if there was no staff available.

You always enjoyed those dinners because for once you felt like you were apart of a real family. That you had a normal relationship with your mom and when you would talk and actually be put first in her life.

She then takes Amy as you start eating the pasta. Within seconds you finish "want more?" your mother asks. "Yes please" you say as she smiles before taking your bowl away and giving you more.

You finish before she puts your bowl in the sink and joins you on the couch as you start catching up. Amy was in her arms, lightly snoozing. You both knew that she would wake up soon but your mother clearly enjoyed having a baby in her arms.

You loved how comfortable Amy was in your moms arms and although you grew up believing that your mom never wanted to be a mother, you could finally see the part of her who loves motherhood and now grand-motherhood.

Amy wakes up soon after as she starts crying. Your mother hands you Amy as you pulled up your shirt. You get Amy to latch on as she soon starts sucking your milk. You could see your mother face change and you knew that she spotted the tattoo.

You were honestly surprised that she hasn't noticed it before. You had just figured that she has seen it by now but wanted to ignore it and pretend like it wasn't there.

"Emily what is that under your left breast?" your mother asks. Even though you were an adult you still felt nervous. "Um a tattoo" you say. "Oh my...Emily, why would you ruin your beautiful skin?" your mother asks with such disapproval in her voice. "I got it a long time ago and it is very hidden" you say as you pull down your shirt, covering your tattoo.

You pull Amy up and burp her before you hear her sleeping. You quietly put her down before you make your way back to the couch. You sit down and your mother still looked shocked.

"What does your tattoo even say?" she asks as you just look at your nails. "Splenda" you say with a chuckle. "Like the sweetener?" your mother asks surprised. "Yeah" you say as she sighs. "You have only one though right?" she asks as you didn't feel like telling her the truth. "Yep, just the one".

"Well do you need some money?" she asks as you turn around and face her in shock. "What?" you ask. "To get it removed, do you want me to pay for it?" she asks. You take a deep breathe and relax. "No, I'm okay with keeping it, I actually like it" you say with a smile as you remember the night you got it-or well at least mostly remember it. Your mother sits there in shock for a second.

She then gets a text as she picks up her phone. She sighs as she puts it in her bag. "I have to go now, but it was great spending time with Amelia" she says as you smile. "Thank you" you say. "For what?" she asks. "For helping me with Amy today, I really appreciated it" you say as she smiles. "Well I'd be happy to do it anytime, especially now that I'm in between postings" she says before walking out.

You smile as she leaves before locking up and sliding into bed.