Healing Together ( Criminal Minds fanfic)

Food and Groove

Chapter 36

Washington, DC

Whole Foods Market

"Do we need to buy spinach? I don't eat it and you barely take it out of the fridge," Dani comments as she watches Emily pick out a package of green leaves.

"Yes, we do. Spencer gave me a crash course on the importance of having a healthy diet. That includes this very appetizing-looking spinach," Emily explains as she places the item in the cart.

"I don't know if I should be surprised at the fact that you paid attention to Spencer's endless ramble of knowledge or that you called spinach appetizing," the girl comments.

"To be honest, I didn't have much of a choice. I was stuck in traffic with him and he did what he does best. Enlighten me with his knowledge," Emily admits as they continue to grab items from the store.

Grocery shopping wasn't what she had in mind to start the weekend but the woman didn't have much of a choice once she noticed that the fridge was low on food when she was making breakfast.

Before Daniela moved in with her, Emily wouldn't worry so much about her having a food shortage at home.

After all, it was just herself that she had to feed. The woman would tend to simply order something or make a meal with what she had.

Now, the woman tends to have her kitchen with a wide variety of food options for the teenager to choose from.

She remembers when she took classes to get her foster license and how it was emphasized that many foster children have food anxiety and that it was important to take certain measures to not cause any additional stress to the child.

Food anxiety typically comes from food insecurity which the child went through.

This could derive from limited access, neglect, or abuse. By keeping a good stock of food, it gives the child reassurance that they are in a safe environment.

The agent knows to a certain extent about Daniela's past. She knows her history that is recorded by the system. Her files have all records of when she was placed in the system.

She can recall reports that described her mother's drug abuse and the conditions that they were living in. She has also read reports of her years living in different placements.

Emily knows well that Daniela grew up with a parent who was struggling with drug abuse. According to the reports, Sophia Hernandez took various substances that led to her being unfit to take care of Daniela.

Dani has also shared with the agent parts of her past. From where she grew up to anecdotes about her life in the system.

The girl was comfortable sharing parts of her life with the woman, particularly her happiest memories. Emily feels more than honored to hear them.

But she knows there is a lot that she doesn't know about her past, particularly the hardships that the girl went through throughout her life.

Daniela hasn't told Emily much about her growing up with her mom who was using substances.

Her mother is a touchy subject altogether. She has never gone into detail about how she handled living with her struggling mother.

Emily can only assume that it wasn't easy. After all, a person struggling with addiction cannot take care of themselves. It would have been even harder to take care of any child.

It is most likely that the girl was neglected, at least to a certain extent. The agent has seen cases in which children hardly have something substantial to eat since their parents were always high.