A Blessing in Disguise

Decisions

Juliet woke up still cuddled up close to Emily. She sighed when she looked around the room to find herself still in the apartment. Looking over at the clock, she read 7:26. It was almost seven thirty. Prentiss woke up a little after Juliet and began stroking the girl's hair. She used to always do that when Juliet lived with her. Emily thought Juliet was sleeping still, and didn't know she was awake. Juliet loved when Emily played with her hair. It reminded her of her mother and how she used to do that. Juliet could stay like that forever and be happy. Emily felt the child shift a little so she stopped and asked quietly ,
"Are you awake?" Juliet moved her head, so she was looking Prentiss in the eye and smiled.
"What time is it?" Prentiss asked, since she knew Juliet could see the clock from where she was.
"It's about seven forty-five," Juliet told her.
"Ugh. I hate to break it to you, but we gotta get up soon and leave," Prentiss said looking down.
"Okay but can we just stay like this for five more minutes?" Juliet asked, giving Emily puppy eyes.
"Well I can't say no to that," Emily replied smiling at the child. Juliet giggled and snuggled into Emily even more. Prentiss began rubbing her back as she held her. Finally Juliet broke the silence and said,
"Thank you, for everything." "Anytime," Prentiss responded. Juliet smiled to herself and said,
"Would it be bad to say I'm happy I got hurt, so I had an excuse to come visit you?" Prentiss stopped rubbing her back and said,
"Juliet!"
Juliet looked up and said,
"What? Getting hurt so I could see you was probably the best part of my month. All the pain I went through was worth seeing you, even if it's just for one day," the girl told Emily. That made Prentiss both happy and sad. She was glad the child loved her that much that she would go through pain, just to see her, but she was sad that the child went through that much pain.
"Don't worry, you won't have to go through that type of pain just to see me anymore," Prentiss said seriously.
"Yes I do. If the foster system people won't let me see you, then getting hurt is my only other opportunity to get to see you," Juliet stated.
"Maybe, but what if I told you, I could find a way to make it so that you won't have to get hurt to be able to see me," Prentiss suggested.
"What do you mean?" Juliet wanted to know.
"Today when we go to the BAU, I'm going to see if the foster care people and social services will let me have full custody of you after what happened last night, and if they don't, then I'm taking them to court. They don't have much of a case against me, and I have so many witness to testify that I was being a good role model for you. I have all the evidence of the abuse you been through and how you came here for help last night. If you don't mind, you can testify against the people that were mean to you, but only if you're willing to," Prentiss said.
"I'll do anything, if it means I get to stay with you," Juliet told her.
"I should've done this earlier. I was just scared of disappointing you and not being good enough," Prentiss said leaving out half the reason she didn't want to adopt Juliet in the first place. "Not being good enough?" Juliet questioned. "Emily, you're the best person I know. I look up to you, and no matter what, I always will. I don't remember my parents that much, but I know that the way your treating me, is like how any mother would treat her daughter," Juliet finished.
Then she said, "When they took me away, every night since then, I would hold the necklace you gave me and think of you and what you were doing. I missed you so much, but the necklace gave me hope."
Prentiss could feel tears forming in her eyes. All last night when she couldn't sleep, Emily thought about how she needed to step in and take Juliet back, no matter the costs. Now, was her chance. She was going to adopt Juliet, and if they wouldn't let her, then she would do anything to change their minds. Prentiss just hugged Juliet even tighter not knowing what to say in reply. After about five minutes of silence, Emily started to get up and say, "Okay, I think we should start getting ready to go." Juliet followed Emily and they went to the kitchen to eat. They both had a bowl of cereal and talked for a bit. After that, Prentiss gave Juliet her smallest shirt and sweatshirt to wear over it, since it was December. Then she gave her another pair of small cozy pants and some slippers to wear. Emily got changed into her work outfit and grabbed the bags of evidence which held Juliet's bloody clothes and the glass. Prentiss re wrapped Juliet's injuries and applied the cream to them once again. Then, they left the apartment and made their way to the car. Once they arrived at the BAU, it was snowing. Quickly they entered the building and got in the elevator. Juliet was nervous because the BAU brought back a lot of painful memories. She was held at gunpoint and was taken from Emily there. Prentiss noticed the girl was anxious so she reached down and grabbed her hand. Juliet looked up and smiled back at Emily.