Family is Everything

Apologies

At the sound of her mother's voice, Juliet turned around. Chelsea immediately let go of Juliet.
"Thank you. Now, may I ask, why you had a hold of her arm?" Prentiss asked sternly, while walking closer.
"Well, you see, my friend and I were walking to drama club and she came out in front of us and wanted to start a fight," Chelsea said victimizing herself. "Then she tried hitting me, so I grabbed her arm to stop her," Chelsea said trying to sound convincing.
"Now you're going to lie to me?" Prentiss asked. Chelsea didn't answer. "I thought you'd be smarter than to try and lie to an FBI Agent that specializes in human behavior," Emily stated. "Wait, you're Agent Prentiss?" Chelsea asked a bit intimated now.
"Yes, is that a problem?" Prentiss wondered. Chelsea's jaw dropped and she slowly shook her head.
"Good, then I guess we should get going," Emily said to Juliet, who nodded. Prentiss reached her hand out for Juliet to take, and the child did just that. They walked away, leaving Chelsea and Angelina speechless.

Once they got outside, Juliet immediately took her hand out of Emily's. Prentiss tried not to look hurt. "Are you okay?" Emily asked. Her voice was full of concern, which surprised Juliet.
"Yeah, thanks," Juliet replied dryly.

When they arrived home, Juliet went to her room, and Emily started making dinner. As usual, Prentiss dropped off the child's meal at her door and walked away to eat alone. When she was finished, she went to take a shower and get ready for bed. Juliet heard the shower start, so she raced out to the kitchen to get water and put her dish in the sink. When she got back to her room, she finished all her absent work, then went to take a shower herself. After that, she got dressed in her pajamas and went to bed. Prentiss got out of the shower and got changed into her pajamas too, then went to read her book. She fell asleep holding her book and her light still on. Around one in the morning, Juliet woke up from a terrible nightmare about Emily dying. She hasn't had one of those lately, so this one really scared her. Juliet didn't want to go wake up Emily, but she didn't know what else to do. In no time, she started crying. Not only was she crying about her dream, but she was sad about everything, and tonight was the night she decided to just break down and let it all out. Emily woke up and could hear Juliet sobbing in her room. She knew the kid must've had a bad dream or something, so she stumbled out of bed and walked to her daughter's room. When she opened the door, Juliet froze. She was scared of who it might be. The child held her breath and instantly stopped crying, but the tears kept falling.
"Juliet?" Emily asked softly. Juliet released her breath and turned away from Emily. Prentiss shut the door behind her and completely entered Juliet's room.
"Honey, what's wrong?" Emily asked. "Nothing, I'm fine, just go back to bed," Juliet said with a shaky voice. Emily walked over to the side Juliet was facing, but the child turned her head again. Prentiss knelt down beside the bed and began rubbing circles on Juliet's back.
"Cmon, please talk to me. I know I screwed up, but you need to talk to me," Emily pleaded. Juliet closed her eyes and slowly turned around. Prentiss saw the tears falling from Juliet's eyes and she almost started crying herself.
"Do you want me to stay with you?" Emily asked hopefully. Without a word, Juliet scooted over and Emily climbed into bed next to her, but didn't know what to do. She desperately wanted to wrap her arms around the kid and calm her down, but didn't know if that's what she wanted. Her question was answered when Juliet turned to face Prentiss, and without opening her eyes she snuggled up closer. Emily let herself put her arms over Juliet and hold her. When she did that, she felt like she never wanted to let go. Juliet could smell Emily's sweet scent of well, mom.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Prentiss asked, even though she knew the answer.
"No," Juliet replied nearly whispering. Emily pulled Juliet closer and rested her head on top of her daughter's, then began to rub her back.
"I'm sorry, mom," Juliet said quietly. "Shhhh it's okay, sweetie, just close your eyes," Prentiss said calmly. Juliet obeyed her mother and let her eyes shut. Soon after, Emily did the same, and both of them were out in minutes.

The next morning, Juliet woke up still embraced in her mom's arms. The sun was starting to rise, and Prentiss opened her eyes. She looked down and found Juliet still laying there silently. Emily started stroking Juliet's long brown hair, and smiled to herself. She was glad Juliet let her stay. Hopefully that was the turning point, and things would start to go back to normal. Juliet felt Emily's playing with her hair, and she absolutely loved it. After about five minutes, the child picked up her head and looked into Emily's dark brown eyes.
"Good morning sunshine," Prentiss said quietly, making a small smile appear on Juliet's face.
"Hi," Juliet whispered back.
"How did you sleep?" Prentiss asked. "Better, after you came," Juliet replied. "Well that's good," Emily said back. Juliet didn't respond.
She just stayed close to Prentiss and held on to her. After a while, the child said,
"I wish we could just stay like this forever." Emily smiled and said back, "Me too, kid." Juliet loved just laying in bed with Emily and having her hold her and rub her back. She especially loved it when Prentiss played with her hair. It gave her a sense of home and belonging. Of course, Juliet missed her biological parents, but Emily had a way of taking that pain and minimizing it. Being next to Emily at that moment felt so right to her.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you before," Prentiss said to break the silence.
"I don't care about any of that anymore," Juliet admitted.
"Jules, I know you like to forgive and forget, but when we fight, we have to talk about it," Emily stated looking down at her child.
"No we don't. It's fine and over with. Can we just leave the past where it belongs?" Juliet asked.
"Since when did you become so wise?" Prentiss wondered and smiled to herself.
"Since I spent nearly a week alone in my room crying," Juliet said back without thinking. Emily's smile faded and she pulled Juliet closer to her. "Juliet, I said I was sorry for yelling at you, and I meant it. It killed me knowing that you locked yourself in your room and cried everyday. Believe me, it took all I had to not break down your door just to hold you," Emily said seriously and a tear fell from her eye. "You don't have to apologize. It was my decision to stay in my room. I just needed some time to think," Juliet said back.
"But still, I shouldn't have yelled at you over that stupid little thing with those mean girls," Prentiss said. Juliet shifted her eyes of Emily's when she said,
"So what do you think of them?" Prentiss paused to think then said, "Honestly, I think that Chelsea is kind of a bitch."
Juliet giggled which made Emily chuckle herself.
"Don't tell them I said that," Prentiss told her daughter.
"Don't worry, I was thinking the same thing. Well, not exactly those words, but same thing." Juliet smiled and looked up to her mom. She was content and happy because she knew that everything was going to be okay now.