Family is Everything

Nick

Three months later...
Summer was coming to an end, and there was only one week left to enjoy. Emily and Juliet stayed in London since they got back from DC in the beginning of the summer. Emily couldn't handle the stress from being around Hotch and his new girlfriend. Even though she defiantly still had feelings for him, she forced herself to let him go completely and try and start over. The way she started over could've been better though.

"Juliet, can I talk to you?" Emily yelled from the kitchen.
Seconds later, Prentiss could hear the sound of her daughter running down the stairs.
"What's up mom?" the kid asked.
"I'm going out tonight with some friends, so I told Ms. Clemmons to check on you and make sure you were in bed by ten, okay?"

In the last three months, Prentiss brought home two different guys to meet Juliet and they each "spent the night" plenty of times. Emily would lock the door and Juliet never found out. Or so she thought... Clearly, she was having trouble getting over Hotch, but she didn't know what else to do. She had a hard time dealing with emotions and the way she handled the break up was indicative of that. Prentiss wouldn't just sleep with them then kick them out. She told herself that she would try and get to know them, but eventually, she let them both go. Tonight would be the third guy she would bring home, but this time, it would be different.

It was nearly two o'clock when Emily got back home. She wasn't alone though. Juliet was sleeping, but woke up to the sound of her front door being slammed opened. She rushed down the stairs to see her mother and some random man making out as they were walking in. Juliet was appalled. Of course she knew Emily had a life outside of her.
A sex life.
However, she never met the guys like this. She met them usually through a planned out dinner or something, but not at two am while they were drunk and going at each other like crazy. Juliet was frightened. The only other time she saw her mother drunk was when she was at Rossi's one night for dinner. But it was a silly playfully drunk.
At the moment, Juliet was honestly scared of Emily and what she was capable of doing.
"Mom?" the child called out.
Emily either didn't hear her, or chose to ignore her. She was too busy taking off her "lover's" shirt to pay attention.
"Emily!" Juliet screamed.
Prentiss looked up. She had a moment of realization when she said,
"Go back to bed honey."
The man she was with looked up with a wicked smile, then pulled Emily back to him. He was tall. Taller than Emily and had dark brown hair. His hands slipped under Emily's shirt and that when he crossed the line. Juliet did not like what he was doing to her mother, but she felt powerless.
Quickly, the girl ran to her room and locked the door. Then, she whipped out her phone and called JJ.
"Hello?" the blonde asked.
"Did I wake you?" Juliet wondered.
"No, it's almost time for me to go to bed though, is everything okay?"
"No," Juliet said sadly.
"Juliet what time is it?"
"2:13," the kid said as she looked over at her clock.
"What are you doing up?"
"Emily just got home and she brought home this guy," Juliet said sounding a bit scared.
"What?" JJ asked surprised.
"Yeah and he's different than the others, I can tell," Juliet told her.
"Others?"
"Yeah, Emily had two other boyfriends before him. But they were nicer, this one seems different, and I don't like it one bit."
"Where are they?" JJ asked.
"Downstairs, but they're coming up, I can hear them. She's drunk JJ. What do I do?"
"If you're that scared, lock your door. I promise you, everything will be okay in the morning. Emily will go back to being herself."
"She hasn't been herself since I last saw you. I think seeing Beth with Hotch set her off, because right when she got back, she found herself a boyfriend and another and another," Juliet was now in tears due to her fears and worries taking over.
"Oh Jules. Everything will be okay. I promise you. Just go back to bed, and if things aren't better in the morning, I want you to call me, okay?"
"Okay," the kid said with a sniffle.
"Goodnight."
"Night JJ."
After hanging up the phone, Juliet turned her tv on low and watched it until she fell back asleep. It wasn't exactly a quiet night.

It was nine o'clock when Juliet woke up the next morning. She crept out of bed and made her way to Emily's room. Locked.
Of course.
Then, she tipped toed downstairs and found the living room a bit messier than she remembered. A few pieces of random clothing were thrown around. She found the mans shirt and her mother dress she wore.

Oh dear god.
She knew what had happened here last night and it took all she had not to run and puke her guts out. The sound of someone walking down the steps made her freeze.
"Mom?" she asked hopefully.
"Nope," a strong male voice said.
"I think this is yours," Juliet said handing him the shirt. He took it without smiling and walked to the kitchen to get food. Juliet took her chance and ran to her mother's room.
It was worse than the living room.
"Mom?" the kid asked knocking on the door. She needed to see her mom.
"Don't come in," Emily yelled. Juliet backed away from the door and walked to her room. She was confused and didn't know what to do.
Moments later, Prentiss walked in. She had just showered and cleaned up.
"Hey, how did you sleep?"
"Not good. I barely slept."
"Why?" Emily asked innocently.
"How's your head?" Juliet asked with a a small frown and look of disappointment.
"What-oh no."
Emily suddenly realized a few things and she began to remember what happened last night.
"Juliet, I'm so sorry," she apologized sincerely. The kid just stared at her and frowned.
"Hey," Emily said as she took a hold of her daughter's hand and started rubbing it. Before she had the chance to apologize again, the man from before walked in.
"Hey, Em. I gotta run. Are you free tonight?" he asked from Juliet's doorway.
"Yeah," she replied quickly.
"Why don't I pick you up at seven," he offered.
"Sure," she said with a smile. He smirked and walked over to the bed where he pulled Prentiss into a passionate kiss. A kiss that made Juliet look away awkwardly. It was as if neither adult knew a child was present. Then, Emily pulled away, remembering that her twelve year old daughter was with them.
"Nick, this is Juliet, my daughter," Emily said with a smile. Nick, smiled at the girl and said,
"Nice to meet you."
Then he pecked the older brunette on the lips once more before walking out.
Emily's face was all red and she was blushing like crazy.
"He seems nice," Juliet said sarcastically one he was gone.
"He is," Emily said back strongly.
"How did you guys meet?"
"He was at the bar I went to last night," Emily mumbled a bit embarrassed.
"Well next time you decide to have a sleep over, do you mind taking him to a hotel or maybe being a bit quieter?" Juliet asked, with a straight face. Emily got even more red.
"I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking straight. I was drunk and-"
"Mom, just promise me it won't happen again," Juliet blurted out, not wanting to hear everything they had done.
"I promise," Emily said, and she meant it.