The ride to the park was quiet.
Emily wanted to give Bella some space after all the yelling so she stayed quiet.

At the park they walked around for hours, chit chatting about things they were seeing.
They sat on a bench facing the lake.

"I guess this city is not so bad" Bella said resting her head on Emily's arm and making her mother smile.

The kid just loved that park. She felt so calm walking around with the cold wind hitting her face.

They sat there for a while and then Emily said "are you hungry?"

Isabella looked at her mother who had a big hopeful smile on her face.
"Sure" Bella said shyly. She wasn't really hungry but now she felt like if she needed to she could tell her mother why.

They headed to an Italian restaurant.
Bella got spaghetti and Emily ravioli. Once again the amount of food was a lot and Bella knew she wouldn't be able to finish it all.

"Mom?" She asked embarrassed.

"Yes?" Emily said and stared at Bella waiting for her to talk.

"Can I eat just half?" She asked wishing she could hide her face. She could feel her cheeks were red.

"Half and then desert?" Emily asked smiling.

"Okay. Deal." Bella said and then stuffed spaghetti in her mouth. Emily let out a laugh.

They ate and Bella ate exactly what she was supposed to.

"Can we have ice cream for desert?" Isabella asked.

"Wanna share a Sunday?" Emily asked smiling.

"Yeah" Bella smiled back.

After eating Emily knew she had eaten way more than half of the Sunday herself but she could see Isabella was more relaxed.

"So... do you want to go to the movies now?" Emily asked hopeful.

"Can we do that another time?" Bella asked. "I'm kind of tired and I don't want to sleep there again" Bella said.

"Sure" Emily said. "So let's go? I need to get groceries"

Emily paid and they left.

In the car Emily told Bella what she wanted to get at Walmart and Bella typed it all on her phone. Emily also said she could pick some things she liked, snacks for school and things like that. So they bought everything and actually had a great time together. Bella felt good that she went grocery shopping with her mom and for the first time it felt normal to just be outside with her. They headed home, unloaded the groceries and watched tv the rest of the afternoon.

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Around 6 Bella went upstairs to her room and Emily stayed downstairs cooking dinner.

"Bell. Dinner's ready" Emily said opening Bella's bedroom door and stopping there.

"I'll be right down. Let me just finish this chapter." Bella said with a "Judy Moody" book in hands.

"Okay, don't be long or it will get cold" Emily said and she headed downstairs with a big smile on her face. She was happy there was no 'I'm not hungry' or 'leave me alone's".
It wasn't long till Bella went down. She headed to the table to find Emily sitting there waiting for her.

"So I made chicken breasts, rice and a salad. I'm not the greatest chef but I hope you don't hate it" Emily said laughing.

Isabella made her plate and it was with a kind of decent amount of food. Emily would have put more but she thought the amount was alright for an 8 year-old.
Bella ate a bit and said "it's actually good, mom". And she continued eating and that made Emily smile big.

Isabella ate everything.

"So do you want some ice cream?" Emily asked.

"Maybe later?" Bella asked with a begging tone and look.

"Alright. Later." Emily smiled. They put everything away and Bella did the dishes. Then they sat to watch tv. Bella texted her brother, Callie and her godfather Shepherd.

.

Almost 2 hours had pasted when Emily decided to tell Bella about the school tour she had scheduled.
The school was Bristol Academy and Spencer and Penelope insisted that it was the best school in town. Spencer called to arrange a meeting but they told him they weren't accepting new students but he explained what happened to Bella and once he told where Isabella used to study they told him to send her files so they could take a look.
Emily got an email a couple days after letting her know that they were impressed with Isabella's academics specially at such a hard boarding school and that Isabella was more than welcome at their school and they invited them for a tour.
So she scheduled it for the next day.
She was a bit scared of mentioning school to Bella, but she knew she would have to sooner or later.

"Bella, we need to talk about school" she said.

Isabella was sitting next to her on the couch and turned her head and stared at Emily.
"What about school?" She asked. Emily could see she was a little afraid.

"I want you do go back to school next week since I'll be working from the office. So I can pick you up and everything." Emily said.

Isabella was silent, she didn't feel ready to go to school.

"Well, Spencer and Penelope showed me this great school close to the office and they said it's the best in town. So I scheduled a tour for tomorrow so we can take a look"

"It's the best in town?" Bella asked.

"Yeah." Emily smiled proudly.

"Okay" Bella said giving a little shy smile to Emily.

"Hey, you'll do great there" Emily said seeing in Bella's eyes she was scared.

"Mom? What exactly is gonna happen when you travel?" Isabella shyly asked as she picked her fingernails.

"I talked to Penelope and she said she'll look after you. If you want that of course" Emily said.

"Yeah. I do" Bella said with tears in her eyes.

"Good" Emily said and pulled Bella to her lap. "She'll take good care of you and I'll be away for just a little while. And you can call me anytime, okay?" Emily said softly.

"Okay" Bella said wiping a tear that had fallen.

"And about school I'm sure you'll do amazing." Emily said and Bella smiled. "No tears because of that, okay?" Emily smiled.

"Okay." Bella smiled too. She was scared but she knew it was just school. She liked learning and she knew she would probably get good grades and things like that but it was the making new friends part of school that scared her. She was never very good at it.

"So we're going to go tomorrow at 5. The principal told me there won't be many kids there because they get out at 3:30 so she thought you would be more comfortable." Emily said.

"Okay" Bella agreed smiling.

"I think you'll like it" Emily said hopeful.

"So... about that ice cream..." Bella said changing the subject.

"Let's go" Emily said and they both got up and went to the kitchen.
They ate a bit of ice cream and headed upstairs. Emily was happy that from time to time that day she could see her daughter's eyes glowing more and more, and not from crying.

They both took a shower, Emily tucked Bella in and then she went to bed.
Both of them feel asleep really fast and slept the entire night.
In their own bedrooms.
And there were no nightmares.

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(Thursday)

Emily woke up and it was 9:34. She got up and went to wake Bella up. When she got to Bella's bedroom she was not there. When she got out of the bedroom Bella was at the top of the stairs.

"Did something happen?" She asked scared.

"No. I just made pancakes. Do you want some?" Bella asked and she could see Emily letting a big breath out.

"I sure do" Emily said wrapping one arm around Bella's shoulders.
"Since when do you make pancakes alone?" Emily asked her.

"It wasn't that hard." Bella said as they headed downstairs.

"Just be careful, alright?" Emily said.

"I know mom" Bella said smiling.

When they got to the kitchen Emily could see a pile of pancakes on the island and there were also syrup, strawberries and sugar on the side.

"I made two for me, cause I'm not really hungry but I wanted pancakes. And the other 3 and a half are yours" Bella said.

"And a half?" Emily asked confused.

"The other half got burnt" Bella said and they both laughed.

They sat down and ate.
After eating they watched some tv then Bella decided to finish unpacking her clothes and Emily went to help. It wasn't long till they finished. Emily threw the boxes away and put the suitcases away while Bella sat on her bed. She just looked around her room, everything was in place and she thought that that was it.

That was where she was staying.

That was going to be her life from now on.

She suddenly felt such sadness in her heart because she missed her father really bad. Her eyes filled up and she thought she was going to explode but then her mother appeared at the door.
The sadness didn't go away completely but she realized that she would be okay because her mom would be there right by her side.

"Hey. Are you okay?" Emily asked worried walking to sit beside Bella when she saw the child's teary eyes.

"Yeah. I'm just glad you're here right now" Bella said hugging her mom and keeping her tears in.
She didn't want to cry.

"But are you alright?" Emily asked worried.

"Yes I promise I am" Bella said with a smile.

"Okay." Emily said tucking Bella's hair behind her ear.

"So where are we going to eat?" Isabella asked wanting to change the subject.

"How about pizza today?" Emily said.

"Really?" Bella asked.

"Yeah and then we could catch a movie before heading to the school. What do you think?" She asked hopeful.

"Okay" Bella said with a smile.

"Alright then. Let's get ready" Emily said getting off the bed.

They both took a shower and washed their hair.
Emily wanted to look very presentable to the principal so she wore a pink blouse and a lady suit, pretty much her FBI kind of clothes. She blow dried her hair, straightened it and let it hang down. Isabella wore her usual jeans, a grey and light purple 3/4 sleeved shirt and her black wellies. She combed her hair a little and went to Emily for help.
"Can you maybe try to do those braids Penelope did?" She asked.

"Those two french braids?" Emily asked to make sure.

"Yeah. That looked good, right?" Bella asked.

Emily could tell she was nervous and started to imagine how crazy nervous she would probably be on the first day.
"Honey calm down. We've got this" she said smiling. She did Bella's hair and it turned out really great.
They grabbed their bags and headed off to Pizza Hut. At Pizza Hut they got pepperoni. When they were done eating they went to the movies and decided to watch 'Despicable Me 2' since Isabella had fallen asleep last time.
When the movie was done they headed to the car and Emily drove to the school.

"Wow. This place is ginormous" Isabella said as Emily parked the car.

"It's pretty, right?!" Emily said smiling.

"I guess" Isabella said unbuckling.

Emily could see she was nervous. "We've got this" she said grabbing Bella's hand and giving it a little squeeze. Isabella smiled and got out of the car. They started walking to the big stairs in the front and Bella grabbed Emily's hand. She was really nervous about how the school was, and how the people were and also about not being with her mom.
Emily gave Bella's hand a squeeze and smiled at her.
"I think you'll like it" she said. Isabella smiled at her and they walked in.

First thing Isabella noticed was the pretty hardwood floor of the main entrance.
"Mom?" She whispered grabbing Emily's suit.

"Yes honey?" Emily said stopping to pay attention to why Bella was whispering.

Isabella pulled her down to reach her ear.
"Are you sure this is the school? 'Cause it sort of looks like the White House" Bella whispered on Emily's ear.

"I'm pretty sure we are in the right place" Emily said close to Bella's ear. As she stood up straight an older man approached.

"Hello. You must be Emily Prentiss?" He said and Emily nodded yes and shook his hand. "And you are Isabella. Am I correct?" He asked now waiting for Bella to shake his hand too.

"Yes sir" Isabella said and shook his hand.

"I'm Carl Jones. The principal. Co-principal. Ms. Eliza Ridel is not at the school today but she told me you were coming so I'll give you a tour" he said.
Emily looked surprised.
The older man seemed nice but a bit scary. Emily could see that Isabella was very nervous. So she threw her arm around Bella's shoulders.
"So if you please follow me" Principal Jones said.

"Sure" Emily said as they started following the man.

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Jones showed them the school and both liked it very much. Isabella was nervous about the fact it was such an important academy and that she would have to leave her mom working but she liked that they had only 15 kids per year, and everyone took the same classes, she was also excited about their theater club and choir, and even P.E.

Emily couldn't help but notice Bella smiling as she heard about some things she liked.
After the tour they headed back to the main hall.
"So I can give you some time to consider everything but I need an answer by tomorrow. And she would need to start on Monday" Principal Jones said to Emily who nodded. "As Ms. Ridel told you the academy would love to have Isabella with us and we are making an exception here. She'll be the 16th student in her year so if you do enroll her we need to make changes to the classroom to make space for another student. That's why I will need the answer by tomorrow" he said.
"Alright sir. Thank you so much for the tour. It's a lovely school and I'll call as soon as possible" Emily said. "We just need to talk and I'll call" she shook his hand.
"It's was lovely to meet you Isabella" he said.
"You too sir" Bella said shyly with a little smile and shook his hand.
"I hope to hear from you soon." He said. "Drive safe"
"Thank you. Goodbye" Emily said and Bella smiled. They walked out of the school holding hands as they always do.
They went inside the car.
"So...?" Emily said. "What do you think?" She asked.
"I liked it" Bella said shyly.
"Are you sure?" Emily asked serious. She really liked the academy and wanted Isabella to have a good education and that was the best in the city. She couldn't be more proud of her girl from all the things the principal said about Bella getting accepted.
"If you want it" Bella said.
"Honey, it's not just what I want. Did you feel good in there? Did you like what they have? Because if you didn't we can look for another one." Emily said serious.
"I liked it. I really did. I just..." Bella said with teary eyes. Emily saw and held her hand.
"Hey what did we talk about? No crying because of this, alright?" She said softly.

Isabella nodded yes.
They stayed quiet for a while and then Bella said "I don't think we'll find anything better, mom"
"So this is it?" Emily asked excited and Isabella nodded yes.
"No-o. I want to hear it. Is this the school you want?" Emily asked excited. She couldn't be prouder.
"Yes" Bella said with a sweet smile.
"Alright let's go" Emily said opening the door of the car.
"Let's go where?" Bella said.
"I'm going to enroll you. Come on" Emily said waiting for Bella to get out of the car.
She got out and Emily walked and picked her up.
"You're gonna do awesome here" Emily said giving her a kiss on the cheek. And then she put Bella down and they walked to the big stairs once again.
Isabella smiled and bit her bottom lip, still nervous. They walked to the principal's office down the hall.
"Hello I just spoke to Mister Jones and we're he-" Emily said but was interrupted by Jones.
"Hi. Did you forget something?" he said.
"Oh I'd like to enroll her" she said proudly wrapping one arm around Bella's shoulders.
"Oh. Of course. Follow me" he said smiling and they walked into his office. "I am very excited to have you at the academy Isabella. If you have any questions you are welcome to come to me" he said.
"Thank you" Bella said.
"Please have a seat." He said gesturing the two chairs in front of his desk.
He explained to them everything. Handed Bella her schedule and talked about the school uniform which was sold next door to his office. Bella also chose what language she wanted to take.
"We have Russian and French" the principal said.
"French?" Bella asked Emily. Emily and John had taught Bella french since she was very little. The girl could speak that perfectly. She could also speak Portuguese because one of her nannies taught her.
"Are you sure?" Emily asked smiling.
"I don't really like Russian" Isabella said with begging eyes.
"Alright" Emily smiled.
They signed everything and then they said their goodbyes.
"So on Monday I'll have someone from your class show you how things work around. And anything you talk to Miss Healy, my secretary, and she'll let you in" he said.
"Alright." Bella said smiling.
"Thank you so much sir" Emily said shaking hands with the man again.
"I'll see you on Monday" he said to Bella smiling.
"See you Monday" she replied.
Emily grabbed Bella's hand and they went to get uniforms.

That was something Bella hated. She loved wearing whatever she felt like and she hated the uniforms. And for her sadness they were pretty similar to her boarding school ones. White shirts, black suit, a magenta or grey pullover, tie, plaid skirts, and all uniformy stuff she didn't like.
Emily got one of each thing and had a smile so big on her face Isabella said: "mom you're freaking me out. Stop smiling so much" making Emily laugh and hug her. Emily couldn't be prouder.
They left the school with bags of uniforms and headed to car.
"So we're done? Did we get everything?" Emily asked.
"Yup. I'm pretty sure we did" Bella said laughing at all the bags they had.
They put the bags in the backseat and got inside.
"I'm really proud of you Bella" Emily said serious.
"Proud of what mom?" Isabella asked confused.
"Proud of you being you. You're a really great kid. Do you know that?" Emily smiled and started driving. Isabella smiled shyly.
They decided to grab some school supplies and then dinner. Then they went home.
"I left a place for uniform in your wardrobe so put everything there, alright?" Emily said as they walked in the apartment.
"Okay" Bella said heading to the stairs with all the bags. She went up and did that while Emily texted Reid to thank him for his help and to tell Bella was starting on Monday. He couldn't be more excited and even said that if she needed help with any school thing she could just ask. Then she called Penelope to tell her how the day went and then texted JJ, Jeremy and Shepherd to tell the news.
She stayed in her room for a long time talking to her friends and giving Bella some space to process everything.

It's was about 9pm when she headed to Isabella's room.
She found Bella asleep, still wearing her boots and with a book opened next to her. The kid always had a book around.
She let out a laugh remembering how one time John thought that Bella could read when she was 3, but they found out she had memorized the story word by word.
She got the book, market it and placed it on the night stand.
She took Bella's shoes off, covered her up and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Goodnight baby" she whispered with no response. The kid was out.
She turned the nightlight on and the bedroom light off and headed to her bathroom for a shower.
In the shower she took the time to rethink everything that had happened on the last couple of days.
She could see how Bella was feeling better but she could also see the kid was still scared. She knew school would probably help with keeping Isabella's mind busy. She knew her kid was smart, Bella had always been her little genius.

After the shower she went to check on Bella and the kid was fast asleep so Emily went to bed too.