never grow up, criminal minds

028. terrible schedule

"Emily was here and I didn't get to see her?" Clara glares at her father.

"I-- she was only here to help on a very important case. She was in the U.S. for less than 24 hours." Spencer says.

"So make her come here." Clara states.

"I'm really sorry, baby." Spencer apologizes, rubbing her arms. "I promise, next time she's in town, I will make sure you see her."

"You better." Clara grumbles, marching off to her room.

+++

After a month and a half, the judge changed the arrangement again, making Clara go between houses every week. And if Spencer was out of town on a case, she had to stay with Lily. Being out of town on cases didn't change the week schedule either. If he was out of town on his week, Clara simply had to spend more time with her mother.

Clara is sitting curled up on the couch in the apartment, coloring. She looks up when the door opens, Lily and a guy stumbling in. The guy slams the door shut, pulling Lily into a deep kiss, the woman moaning.

Clara grimaces in disgust, loudly clearing her throat. The two pull away to look at the girl.

"What?" The guy snaps.

"Who are you?" She frowns.

"He's Chad. He's my boyfriend." Lily smiles. "What are you doing?"

"Coloring." Clara says.

"No." Lily scoffs. She walks over, ripping the coloring book out of Clara's reach.

"Wh--" She frowns.

"Do the dishes." Lily orders. "Dishwasher's broken, gotta do everything yourself." She throws the coloring book in the trash.

"Hey!" Clara whines.

"Baby, coloring books are a waste of time. Spend more time doing smart stuff. Aren't you a genius?" Lily questions.

"That's just daddy." Clara says.

"You're cute." Chad pinches her cheek. Clara smacks his hand away. "Hey!" He tightly grabs her arm making her whimper. "Don't hit your elders."

"So-sorry." She mumbles.

"What'd you say?" Chad sneers.

"I'm sorry!" She loudly says. He roughly lets go of her arm.

"Dishes." Lily orders, grabbing Chad's arm and dragging him off to the bedroom. Clara hears the door shut and lock and soon the bed starts banging against the wall.

Clara sighs, getting up and going to the sink to do the dishes.

~ ~ ~

After dishes, Clara immediately called Spencer.

"Baby. Hey. Hi. How are you?" Spencer asks. He hasn't seen her in eleven days due to the ridiculous schedule.

"Fine." Clara sighs. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too. So much." Spencer tells her. "Look, we're about to finish this case and next week is my week so I'll take time off and get you in a few days. I'll make sure I finally get my week with you."

"Really?" Clara immediately grins.

"Yes. I promise." Spencer tells her. "Is everything okay over there? Are-- are you safe?"

"I guess. She's still mean." Clara says.

"I'm sorry, baby." Spencer winces. Despite the judge being told by Spencer and the Emily Banks that Lily isn't that nice to Clara, he still proceeded to slowly give her more custody.