A Second Chance

Chess

Sophia woke up and when she went to the kitchen, she found Emily with a cup of coffee, just like JJ.
"Morning," Prentiss said with a smile and looked over at the kid.
"Hi," Sophia said quietly and made herself some breakfast. She put some toast in and waited by the toaster over. Emily was drinking her coffee and watching the news.
Sophia joined her and they sat in silence.

After the silent and awkward breakfast, the two moved into the living room and Sophia asked Emily to play chess with her to practice and "warm up." Of course Emily couldn't say no.
Halfway through the game, Sophia said,
"I'm sorry about last night?"
"What do you mean?" Emily asked a she moved a piece.
"You seemed upset when you went to bed," Sophia pointed out as she moved her piece.
"No, I wasn't-" Prentiss tried to say.
"Yes you were," Sophia cut her off.
Emily was a little surprised at the bluntness, but then again, she was her daughter.
The game continued and the ending was a checkmate by Emily.
Sophia wasn't used to being beaten by adults except for Reid. She even beat the high school teacher that ran the chess club.
"Good game," Prentiss said with a smile.
"Do we have time for one more?" Sophia asked.
Emily looked over at the clock which read 11:00.
"Why not," she said and helped set up the board.

When eleven thirty rolled around, Emily was pulling up to the school.
"Are you going to come in?" Sophia asked nervously.
"You want me to?" Emily asked.
The little girl didn't answer. She didn't want to seem like a baby by asking her to stay.
Prentiss understood.
"Let me park the car and then I'll meet you inside, okay?"
Sophia smiled and then nodded.

She hopped out of the car and headed inside.
She found her school and joined right in. Emily parked and then headed inside. Prentiss easily found where Sophia was.
"Oh, are you here to help chaperone?" the high school teacher, Mr. Guster asked.
Emily was speechless.
"Yes," Sophia answered for her.
"Oh, is this your mother?" Mr. Guster asked.
"Family friend," Sophia said.
"Oh, well I'm glad you came," he said. "One of the usual teacher chaperone canceled on me," he added.
"I'm here to help," Emily said with a smile.
"Do you by any chance know the basic chess rules?" Mr. Guster asked hopefully.
"Yeah," Emily answered.
"She beat me before we came?" Sophia told him.
"You beat her?" he asked Emily.
Prentiss nodded.
"She went to Yale," Sophia informed the chess advisor.
"Well, then it's a really good thing you came," he said with a smile.

Mr. Guster set Emily up at a table to watch kids play and make sure they played by the rule. There was one ref or chaperone per table.

By three exactly everyone was done. Sophia and Emily were able to leave and when they reached the car, Prentiss asked,
"Where do you want to go?"
"What do you mean?"
"For a late lunch," Emily clarified.
"I'm in the mood for Mexican," Sophia hinted.
"Got it," Emily said.

She drove to her favorite Mexican place from when she lived in the states.
"How did you know?" Sophia asked a share got out of the car.
"What do you mean?"
"This is my favorite Mexican food place," Sophia explained.
"Me too," Emily told her with a grin.

The two went inside and ordered their drinks and food.
"So, how did you do today?" Emily asked after their drinks arrived.
"I came in fifth," Sophia said, sounding disappointed.
"Fifth?" Prentiss wondered.
"Fifth place," Sophia explained.
"That's awesome," Emily told her.
"Eh," the girl replied and swirled her lemonade around.
"Sophia, there were four different schools there with at least fifteen kids each. Getting fifth as an eighth grader is awesome," Emily told her.
That made the girl smile. Then it turned to a frown.
"I wish JJ were here," she said, sounding sad.
Emily didn't know what to say to that. Sophia realized what she said and quickly added,
"It's not that I don't like you. You're pretty cool. It's just...JJ's like my mom now, but she always gets a case at the worse time."
"Yeah, I get it," Emily said back with a smile. A smile that hid her sadness over her daughter that saw JJ as her mom.
"So, you like staying with JJ?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, it's the best," Sophia said and took a sip out of her straw.
"That's good," Emily replied and looked away slowly.
There was a good five minutes of silence and then Emily heard Sophia mumble,
"Well this is awkward."
Prentiss looked over to find the kid looking into her drink.
She really was a beautiful little girl. She had her mother's big round eyes as well as the color. Her porcelain skin and long dark hair was identical to Emily's too. The only difference that really got to Emily was the child's smile.
It wasn't big and happy like hers, no it was subtle yet charming like the child's father and every time she saw it on Sophia, it gave her the chills.
"So what's London like?" Sophia asked out of the blue.
"Good. I have a nice view from my office," Prentiss answered and took a sip of her lemonade.
"Are you married?" Sophia wanted to know. Emily nearly chocked on her drink. The kids eyes widened at her reaction.
"I'm guessing, no," Sophia said.
"Correct," Emily replied and took another sip.
"Do you have a significant other?"
"What's with all the questions?" Prentiss asked with a chuckle.
"Well, would you rather we sit here in silence and stare at the table?" Sophia snapped back.
"Yes, I have a significant other. His name is Mark," Emily answered her question.
"Ahha. Mark. So does this Mark live in London or-"
"Yeah he's in London," Emily explained.
"Interesting," Sophia said slowly taking a sip of her drink, eying Emily.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Prentiss asked.
"Nothing," the girl said with a smile.
Before Emily could say something, their food arrived.
They ate and Sophia continued her questioning of Emily.
It was going very smoothly until dessert and Sophia asked,
"Where did you live before DC?"
It was the first question Emily hesitated to answer.
"Um-New York," she said quickly and took a bite of cake.
"Liar," Sophia stated.
Sophia arched and eyebrow, and gave Emily the look Prentiss gives people. It looked very intimidating coming from a smaller version of her.
Luckily she was saved by the waiter who brought their check.
After she paid, she pretended to forget the question.

When they got home that night, Sophia took a shower while Emily found a movie for them to watch.
When Sophia returned in her pajamas, Emily got them some hot chocolate and for the rest of the night, the two just watched Christmas movies and talked.
Emily told Sophia about some funny stories about the team and vice versa. At around nine, Prentiss saw the little one yawn.
"Ready for bed?" she asked.
Sophia nodded.
Emily took the bowls and went to wash them, and Sophia went off to brush her teeth and go to bed.
"Goodnight," Emily called.
"Night," Sophia yelled back as she went up stairs.
Prentiss smiled to herself and was happy that she was given the chance to get to know her daughter.