In Her Eyes - A Criminal Minds Fiction

Chapter 47: Custody Battle

...Emily just stood there.

"We didn't open it, of course. But I think you might have an idea of what it is" Hotch said. "You might want to sit down" he said and she sat and began to open.

Sitting at her boss's office, Emily couldn't believe what she was reading. Jeremy had filled for custody of Isabella. What she feared so much was happening. How was she supposed to tell her daughter. Finally when things were looking up. She had just started to make plans for the girl's 9th birthday. Things were going great. And now that was happening.

"So?" Hotch asked after giving her time to read and process.

"He filled for full custody" Emily said with tears in her eyes. Hotch stood up, walked to her and put his hand on her shoulder. Emily was trying hard not to cry.

"I can get Marcus Clark, we worked with him on a case a while ago. He's specialized in custody cases. He's really good" Hotch said.

"Okay" Emily said standing up and walking to the door. She was speechless.

"Emily" Hotch said and she stopped. Hotch walked to her and hugged her. She tried hard not to cry. She was so scared. She couldn't lose her girl, she just couldn't.

Outside Penelope and JJ were looking through the window. Penelope started crying and JJ hugged her. Looking at Emily's face both knew it was serious.
After a while Emily walked out of Hotch's office to find the rest of the team waiting for her by the stairs.

"What happened?" Rossi asked.

"Jeremy filled for custody" Emily said.

"He won't get her Em" Derek said serious.

"Hotch is calling the lawyer" Emily said and JJ gave the woman's hand a squeeze.
Emily walked and sat on her desk.
"We need to work" she said getting some paperwork she had to do.

"Emily" Derek said but she didn't even look up.

The team headed to their desks and started working.

.

About an hour later Hotch went and told Emily the lawyer was there, so she headed to his office. A few moments in and he arrived.
The entire team couldn't help but pick at the window.

"Can I see the letter?" Marcus Clark asked and Emily handed it to him. Hotch noticed the team was looking and closed the blinds to give the woman some privacy.

"Anything I'm right outside" Hotch said. Emily nodded yes and he left.

"So tomorrow you and Isabella will separately have an interview with the judge and the hearing will be on Friday. He's likely to give out temporary custody of the child and schedule another hearing" Clark said once he finished reading the letter where the info was. "The most important thing here is you talking to your daughter about this." He said and Emily could feel her heart pounding on her head. "You need to explain to her what's going on and find exactly what she wants so we can work with that." He said.

"Okay" Emily said.

"I'll go over with you the main questions you'll be asked tomorrow. We need to collect all the necessary paperwork and send in with your file." He said and Emily nodded.

After about an hour, Emily walked out of Hotch's office and thanked the lawyer.

"We'll meet tomorrow at 9 here" Marcus Clark said.

"Yes. Thank you so much" Emily said and the man left.

Suddenly Rossi got out of his office.
"How did it go?" He asked her.