Family is Everything

Sergio

Emily's heart sank. As she got closer, she saw Sergio laying on Juliet's rug, and he wasn't moving. The small brunette was petting the lifeless cat and yelling at him to wake up. Right away, Emily went and scooped the girl up and took her out of the room. Juliet was hysterically crying and screaming. She wanted to go back and say goodbye to her beloved cat, but Emily wouldn't let her. Prentiss didn't want Juliet to be around the stiff dead animal any longer.

"Stop it Juliet," Emily yelled.
"Please, I need to say goodbye," Juliet begged.
"I don't want you in there touching him. Serg could've been sick or had something that killed him," Emily tried to explain.
She felt really bad, but if Sergio had something bad, she didn't want Juliet to be affected by it. Still holding Juliet, she pulled out her phone and called Morgan. He didn't pick up, and neither did Dave. She tried one more person.
"Hello?" the other voice asked.
"Hey, are you free?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, is everything okay?"
"No, Sergio, my cat died, and I don't know what to do with him, can you help?"
"I'll be over in a bit," he said then hung up. She sighed.

Poor Juliet. After all the stress and pain she went through that past week, to top it off, her cat dies. Emily brought Juliet to the living room and sat her down on the couch. She was still crying and probably wouldn't stop anytime soon.
"Honey, look at me," Emily said lifting the girl's chin. Juliet looked up and her eyes said it all. She was broken on the inside, and Prentiss could tell.
"Mommy, it's not fair," Juliet cried.
"I know, sweetie," Emily said pulling the girl on her lap. Juliet snuggled closer into Emily and just cried her eyes out. Prentiss held her and tried comforting her, but her usual methods weren't working.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Emily went to get up to answer it, but Juliet wouldn't let her.
"Seriously?" she looked down at the kid. Juliet just gave her a sad face.
"I'll be right back," Prentiss told her.
"No," Juliet cried, clinging to her.
Emily got up and walked to the door, but Juliet was holding on to her. When Prentiss opened the door, Juliet moved behind her and hid from the visitor.
"Hotch, thanks for coming," Emily said letting him in.
"No problem," he replied stepping in the apartment.
"He's in Juliet's room," Emily said.
She turned around and picked up her daughter, then showed Hotch where to go.
Juliet clung to Emily and rested her head on her shoulder.
Prentiss and Hotch walked into Juliet's room and the dead cat was still lying on the floor where they left it.
Aaron walked over to it and looked at it. The cat was most definitely gone.
"Are you sure he's dead?" Juliet asked, looking over with a hint of hope in her voice.
"Im so sorry," Aaron said.
"No," Juliet cried as she put her head back onto Emily. Prentiss starting stroking Juliet's hair and rubbing her back. She looked up at her boss who said, "What do you want me to do with him?"
"There's garbage bags under the sink in the kitchen-" Emily began saying.
"What? You can't put him in a garbage bag," Juliet protested.
Emily gave Hotch the go and he walked out. Prentiss then sat on the bed with Juliet on her lap and explained to her how Sergio couldn't stay in the house anymore. Juliet seemed to understand, but she didn't like the idea. Aaron returned with a big trash bag and put Sergio in it.
"Do you want me to take him back to my house and I can leave him outside, then you two can bury him somewhere tomorrow?" he asked. Emily nodded and thanked him. He went out to his car and put the cat in his trunk, then went back up to the apartment to say goodbye. When he got there, Emily and Juliet were sitting on the couch and the child was crying onto her mom. Hotch went and joined them on the couch. He felt bad for Juliet and Emily, since the kid was holding on to her for dear life. "I'm really sorry, Emily," he said looking into her eyes. She gave him a small smile and nodded.
"Thanks for everything. I hope I didn't pull you away from anything important, or Jack," Emily said. Aaron stood up and said,
"No worries, Jack is at Jessica's tonight. I was actually on my way home to make dinner for myself when you called." Suddenly, an idea popped into her head.
"Why don't you stay here for dinner," she offered, not knowing what the night was going end like.
"Oh no, I don't want to intrude on you dinner," Hotch said.
"Please, just stay. Think of it as payment for taking Sergio," she said smiling. He gave in and said,
"Okay, but you have to let me help." Emily looked over at him and noticed he was smiling at her. It was one of those rare smiles that you only see a couple times in your life. Juliet killed the moment by saying,
"Can I go sleep in your bed, I'm really tired."
"Of course," Emily said getting up to bring the child to her room. She tucked Juliet in and sealed it with a kiss before saying,
"If you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen with Hotch."
Juliet nodded then rolled over to sleep. She had a really long day and just wanted to rest for now.
Emily walked back into the kitchen to find Aaron sitting in the same exact position.
"Ready?" she asked. He nodded and got up. Emily pulled up a recipe for meatloaf on her laptop, and her and Hotch got to work. They worked really well together. Beside the meatloaf, Emily put some potatoes in the oven as well as cut up vegetables.