..."Bella. What did you do?" Emily asked frowning and froze.

"I'm sick of this stupid hair" Bella cried.

"Honey. You could have asked and I would have taken you somewhere" Emily said standing up and walking to hug Bella.
Isabella dropped everything she was holding and just broke down.

"Honey" Emily said picking Bella up and sitting on the bed. She rocked her a little as Bella cried.

Once she calmed down Emily said.
"Let me see"
And Bella stood up. All Emily could see was a mess. Bella only cut one side but it was all uneven about shoulder length.

"I didn't do it right" Bella said her voice thick.

"We can fix it. Calm down" Emily said squeezing Bella's hands.
She picked up the seizors and thought about trying to fix it but she never really cut hair before and she didn't want to make it any worse. She looked at Bella and said "I think we should go see a professional" she smiled.
She knew Bella probably cut it because of how her dad was always talking about her long hair and how much he liked it. She grabbed Bella's hand and walked out the door.

"Mom I can't go out like this" Isabella said looking worried.

"You look fine honey" Emily said with a sweet smile.

"I look ridiculous" Bella said serious but unable to control a laugh in the end. Emily smiled and took the hair elastic she had in her hair and made a bun on Bella's. It looked better even though some locks were short and were falling out.

"There you go. Now it's better" Emily said.

"I'm so stupid" Bella said.

"You're not stupid." Emily stared at Bella and turned to open the door. "I'm sure you'll look cute with short hair" she said.

"I hope so" Bella said and Emily smiled.

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The car ride was quiet. The only hair salon Emily knew was at the mall so she went there.

"I'm sorry mom" Isabella said with tears in her eyes.

Emily realized it had hit her what she had done. Isabella didn't think it through, she went to the bathroom and when she stared at herself in the mirror the memories of her dad doing her hair while she stood on that same place came flushing in like crazy. She reached down to the cabinet under the sink, got the seizors and started cutting.
She acted in the moment and she regretted.

"It's okay. It's gonna be fine. It's just hair, okay? It grows back" she said giving Bella a hug. "And you're a Prentiss, baby. Our hair grows like crazy." Emily said smiling at her daughter.
"Come on. Let's go." She said taking off her seatbelt.

They walked to the mall and Bella didn't want to let go of Emily's hand.
At the hair salon, they had to wait for 13 minutes since they hadn't scheduled. The hairstylist was completely understanding when Emily told her that Bella cut it herself.

"You would be surprised at how many children come here with this problem." The lady said.
"You don't worry. We'll fix it and you're gonna look good" She said giving Bella's arm a squeeze. "Just swear to me you'll never do this again." She smiled.

"I won't" Bella smiled back.

After getting it washed, cut, dried and styled, Bella sat up in front of the mirror. She actually liked it.
"It feels so weird" she said.

"Feels lighter, right?" The hairstylist said.

"Yeah. It's weird."

"Do you like it?" Said the hairstylist and Bella shyly nodded yes.

"You look so cute" Emily said with a huge smile on her face.

Isabella's hair was about her shoulders and longer on the front. She in fact looked adorable.
She smiled at her mom and got up.
Emily paid and the hairstylist made Bella promise again not to cut it herself.

"Wanna walk around for while?" Emily asked.

"Sure" Bella said and Emily threw her arm around Bella.

"It looks great, honey" Emily said.

"Do you think he would like it?" Bella asked with glossy eyes as she stopped walking and looked a bit upset.

"He would love it" Emily said giving Bella a hug.

Isabella smiled at her, held Emily's hand and started walking again.
"Let's check that store" said Emily pointing at the Disney store. Bella always loved Disney and she could use a little cheer up.

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They ended up staying at the mall till almost 7 pm.
Emily bought a few things for her and all Bella wanted was the 6 new 'tsums tsums' they had at the Disney store, which Emily happily bought.
On their way home Emily asked if Bella wanted some McDonald's for dinner, and she said yes. They stopped at the drive-thru and then headed home.
At home Bella laid all the bags on the couch and headed to the kitchen island.

"Do I have to eat all of this?" She asked when she saw the size of the burger and the big box of french fries.

"Is more than half a good deal?" Emily asked smiling and then taking a bite of hers.

"Sure" Isabella said smiling.

They ate and talked about the food and Bella asked if Emily cooked every day in DC.
Emily laughed and said "of course I don't" and Bella laughed. Emily could hear that all day.

They talked some more and then Bella said "mom I think I'm full"

She had eaten all of her burger but only two french fries.

"How about 2 more?" Emily said. She knew Bella was probably really full because even she was and she wasn't done yet.

"Alright." Bella said grabbing two out of the box.

After eating They threw the bags and leftovers in the trash and headed to the living room.

After a bit of tv, Emily said she would take a shower and left Bella watching tv.
She went upstairs and called Garcia. She asked how everything was going and told what Bella did to her hair. Penelope was very surprised and at the same time super excited about how cute Bella must look with short hair. Emily promise to send her a picture and she also asked Penelope a big favor. She told her about her apartment and how she had a two bedroom one. She said she always lived in two bedroom apartments or houses so Bella would always have a bedroom there just in case. She also admitted that since Bella never went to any of her places she never painted or decorated one of the bedrooms for her daughter. She always just put the essentials but that was it. So she asked if Penelope could work some magic in the room for her just to kind of make it feel homey for Bella and of course Penelope was beyond excited with this task. She already had come up with so many cool plans. Emily told her she had a short time but she didn't want any remodeling she wanted something cool but basic. They talked about a couple of things Penelope could do, like painting and decorations, and then Emily said it was a secret and she told Bella she was going to take a shower so she should probably go do that. So they hung up.

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Emily went downstairs after the shower, drank some water and poured some for Bella.

"Hey. Can you drink this for me?" Emily said softly.

"Water?" Bella asked sitting up on the couch.

"Yeah. Just water." Emily smiled and Bella took the glass. The little girl couldn't help but look a bit upset. She drank a bit of it and handed the glass to Emily who didn't take it and gave her a stare.

"Drink everything, honey" Emily said.

"I'm not thirsty" Bella said with a look of asking 'what are you doing'

"Drink" Emily said more serious.

"Seriously?" Bella asked but Emily didn't say anything.
Isabella drank up fast, handed the glass to Emily and got up.
"I'm gonna take a bath" she said looking a bit upset and walking to the stairs.

Emily just let her go and went to put the glass away.

Isabella had a long bath and put her pajamas on, long sleeves and pants again. She stared at herself in the mirror and had to admit she didn't look bad, as she thought she looked earlier.
Even though her long hair was gone, the memories came back to her anyways. Her eyes filled with tears and when she turned to go back to her bedroom Emily was standing there staring at her. She ran to her mom and Emily picked her up and sat on the bed.
She could hold her baby all day if Bella let her.

Isabella hugged her without making a sound as tears streamed down her face. Emily waited a while before talking.

"You're thinking about him doing your hair, aren't you?" Emily asked. She knew her daughter too well to know that was exactly what she was thinking.

Isabella let out a "yes' between sobs. Emily just hugged her tighter.

"Bella. You shouldn't see that as something sad, baby. You had an amazing dad and he loved doing your hair. You brought him so much happiness and I know you two had some great times when he did your hair. You always made sure to tell me every new thing he did with it. And you shouldn't see all of that with sadness." Emily said running her hand on Bella's back.
"It's some of the happy memories that you need to hold on too and not shut away"

"But it just hurts, mom. It doesn't feel happy. Not at all mommy" Bella cried.

"One day it will. I promise you" she said. Isabella cried for a while longer. Suddenly Emily noticed her breathing was even and no noise anymore so she knew she stopped crying.

"Do you want to try to sleep right now?" Emily asked.

"Yeah" Bella said. She was so tired. She laid down on the bed and Emily tucked her in.

"I need to check on the team in DC but I'll be back quick, Okay?" Emily said and Bella nodded yes getting her blanket. Emily handed over her stuffed dog Tramp (it was tramp from "Lady and the tramp")

"Hug him. He misses you" Emily said with a sweet smile as she covered the dog and Bella up.

"Mom stop. I'm not 5 anymore" Isabella said and Emily smiled big.

"You'll always be little to me and you have to take care of that dog huh" Emily said letting out a laugh. Bella laughed too. Emily smiled and kissed Bella's forehead and then headed to the kitchen. The truth was that she wasn't going to call to check on the team, she was going to call Shepherd and Jeremy to let them know about the hair situation before they saw Bella.

After telling them everything, she went back to the bedroom and for her surprise she saw Isabella sleeping by herself.
She didn't want to leave the girl alone so she laid on the bed with her and for the first time since her father died she slept the entire night peacefully.

No nightmares, no sweating, nothing.