At home both, Emily and Bella, went straight to the shower to get ready to go out. Isabella was excited to have her friends over. She showered and got dressed. She wore black leggings, a navy blue top with a black leather jacket and her keds flats. She blow dried her hair, poorly, and headed to look for her mother.

"Mom? Can you braid it?" Isabella asked walking into Emily's bedroom.

"Sure. Come here" Emily said and Bella walked to her.

"You look good mom" Bella smiled handing the brush to Emily.

"Thank you. You too" Emily said. Emily wore jeans, a blue top and her regular work boots.

"So how do you want it?" Emily asked.

"Two braids" Bella said.

"Penelope's?" Emily asked smiling.

"Yup" Bella agreed. Emily smiled big and started doing Bella's hair.

"So what happened at school today? What did those girls said?" Emily asked.

"Just the regular stuff" Bella said.

"What regular stuff?" Emily asked confused and worried.

"That we are nerds and stuff like that" Bella said.

"And what did you do?" Emily asked.

"Nothing" Bella said a bit disappointed.

"You didn't say anything?" Emily asked.

"Not to them" Bella said. She wanted to laugh remembering what had happened but she managed to keep a straight face.

"Oh honey" Emily said finishing Isabella's hair. She hugged the girl.

"It's fine mom" Bella said and turned around to face her. "Don't worry. It's fine." Bella said and the intercom rang.

"Well," Emily said "it must be your friend" and they headed downstairs. Emily answered and it was Gavin and his mother Colette. She buzzed them in and waited for them at the door.

"I'm gonna call Chloe to let her know he's here" Bella said walking to the living room while her mother stayed at the door.

After a while the elevator door opened and the two came out.
"Hi. I'm Colette. Gavin's mother" Colette said. The woman wasn't very tall but had a beautiful long dark brown hair and looked like a super nice person.

"I'm Emily" Emily said shaking the woman's hand. "Come on in. Bella went to call Chloe" she said and they walked in.

"What a lovely apartment" Colette said nicely.

"Thank you" Emily said and suddenly Bella walked downstairs.

"Hi" she said shyly.

"You must be Bella. I've heard so much about you" Colette said smiling at the girl.

"Hey" Gavin said and Isabella smiled at him.

"Chloe is coming up. Can we wait for her at the elevator?" Bella asked.

"Sure" Emily said smiling.

"Can I go?" Gavin asked his mom.

"Of course" Colette said and the kids ran out.

"So... Gavin told me you work for the FBI" Colette said.

"Yeah. I work at the BAU" Emily said.

"Behavior?" Colette asked.

"Yeah" Emily said a little intrigued. Colette didn't look like the type of woman to know much about the bureau.

Colette noticed that and said "my brother-in-law works for the beyond borders division"

"Oh" Emily smiled.

"Agent Butler." Colette said.

"Oh yeah. I meet him on my first week there" Emily said.

"It's a crazy job, isn't it?" Colette said.

"At times" Emily said.

Suddenly the kids walked back in followed by Chloe.

"But you know, it's amazing that you do it" Colette said and Emily smiled.

"Do what?" Gavin asked.

"We're talking about her work" Colette said.

"It's super cool" Gavin said.

Isabella looked away from them trying not to think about it but all she could think was that it wasn't cool at all.

"So... Can we go to your room?" Chloe asked. She was wearing flowery leggings and a black lose shirt with her black chucks.

"Is that alright mom?" Bella asked shyly not really knowing if it was okay. She was knew to all of that. She was used to Cameron who was basically her sister.

"Sure. Go ahead" Emily said smiling.

"Bye mom" Gavin said and kissed his mom.

"Be good and be careful, okay?" Colette said.

"I will" Gavin said.

"Bye" Bella and Chloe said in unison and the three kids ran upstairs.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Colette asked.

"Sure sure" Emily said.

"What time should I pick him up?" Colette asked.

"I can take him home. It's alright" Emily said.

"Are you sure?" Colette said.

"Yeah" Emily smiled.

"Alright then. I have so much to do today, it's insane. He chose the busiest day for a movie night" Colette said as her and Emily walked to the door.

"Um just one thing." Colette said and they stopped at the door. "Will you stay near the movie theater?" Colette asked.

"I plan on staying in the parking lot" Emily said letting out a laugh.

"Oh good" Colette said relived and they laughed.
"I want him to be independent but they're just kids and it's a big city. It's not that I don't trust them, it's the other people, you know?" Colette said.

"Yeah. I'm that way too" Emily smiled. She really liked Colette already.

"They're going to the Palladium, right?" Colette asked and Emily nodded yes.

"There's a restaurant there. I always stay there and when it's almost time to be over I go to the car" Colette said.

"Wonderful idea" Emily smiled.

"Alright." Colette smiled too. "Anything you can ground him, okay?" She laughed.

"Okay" Emily laughed too.

"Nice to meet you. " Colette said.

"Nice to meet you too. Bye" Emily said.

"Bye" Colette said hugging Emily and then she left.

Emily sat to watch some tv and let the kids be kids upstairs.
At Bella's bedroom, Bella gave Gavin a tour of the room and then just hung out till suddenly Emily walked in.

"Guys we should go. You still need to get the tickets" Emily said smiling.

"Alright" Bella said standing up and her friends followed.

The ride to the movies was okay. Gavin told Emily a bit about himself and Emily really liked him. They talked about regular things till Emily parked the car.

"I'll wait here till you guys get in. Oh you'll call me when it's done? And wait for me inside" Emily said as Gavin and Chloe got out of the car and Bella unbuckled.

"Sure" Bella said and gave Emily a kiss on the cheek.

"Alright." Emily said. "Have fun" she told them and they smiled and said "bye".

"Bye mom" Bella said opening the door.

They got the tickets, Bella waved to Emily and they walked inside.
Emily drove to park in another spot so Bella wouldn't see she was staying. She parked the car at the end of the parking lot and stayed there for a while. She waited 15 minutes after the movie started and went inside. She felt stupid hiding like that but she didn't want Bella to think she was being overprotective.

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In the movie theater they were having a lot of fun. Bella really liked her new friends and she felt really good around them. While they watched the movie Emily sat in the restaurant eating and watching tv. Around 20 minutes before the movie was supposed to end she went back to the car.

After a while her daughter's name and picture appeared on her phone screen.

"Bella?" She said answering the phone.

"Mom? Are you okay?" Isabella asked noticing her mother's tensed voice.

"Yeah. Are you okay?" Emily asked breathing out. That was the first time her daughter went out like that and even though she stayed inside she wasn't with them. She was freaking out.

"Yeah I'm fine. You can pick us up now" Bella said.

"Okay. Wait for me inside, alright? I'll be there soon" Emily said.

"Okay" Bella said.

"Inside" Emily said.

"Alright mom" Bella said and they hung up.

"Is she coming?" Gavin asked.

"Yup" Bella said. "She wants us to wait inside" Bella said and they went close to the door to look through to see when Emily was coming. It wasn't long till Emily parked in front of the theater. The three walked out and got in the car. Emily tried hard to look like nothing happened.

"Are you okay?" Isabella asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. I just didn't want you here outside. It's late you know" Emily said and Bella gave her a little smile.

"How did you get here so fast?" Bella asked intrigued.

"Magic" Emily laughed.

"You waited at the restaurant, didn't you?" Gavin said and Emily just smiled and mouthed a sorry.

"It's fine. My mom does that every time and I don't know how she still believes I don't know about it" he laughed.

"Well that's what mothers do" Emily said and the kids laughed.

"So how was the movie?" Emily asked as she began driving.

"It was really good" Chloe said. They went to see 'Teenage Mutant ninja turtles".

"Do you guys wanna eat something? I'm starving" Emily said.

"Sure" Bella said.

"What about you guys?" Bella asked.

"Sure. I just need to let my mom know" Chloe said picking up her phone.

"Yeah me too" Gavin said.

"Alright. So how about Olive Garden?" Emily asked.

"Perfect" Gavin and Bella said in unison and everyone laughed. Chloe called Hilary and Gavin called Colette to let them know they would stop to eat.

The dinner went great. Bella was a bit shy but really happy to hang out with her mom and her friends. They laughed a lot at the jokes Gavin was telling and Emily was happy to see her daughter's humor going back to normal. She couldn't help but smile at how happy the three kids looked.

After dinner Emily took Gavin home and then headed to her building.

"Chlo. You should sleep over tonight." Bella said. "If you want to I mean" she blushed.

"Sure. I'd love to" Chloe smiled. "Is that okay Emily?" She asked.

"Of course sweetheart." Emily smiled. "We can stop at your house to get your things"

"Thanks" Chloe smiled.

It wasn't long till they arrived. They stopped at Chloe's apartment and Chloe asked Hilary to sleep at Bella's, of course Hilary said yes. She was beyond excited her daughter was going to a sleepover. Chloe got her things and then they went to Emily's apartment. They walked in and Bella asked Chloe "do you want some water?"

"No thanks" Chloe said.

"Take your things to my bedroom then. I'll be up in a sec" she said making a face as if she wanted to talk to her mother alone. Chloe understood and said "okay" and then headed upstairs.

"Did you have a good day?" Emily asked walking to the refrigerator to get the water.

"Yeah" Bella smiled sitting at the island.

"Your friends are really nice" Emily said.

"Yeah" Bella let out a laugh and Emily smiled. Emily poured water for them and they began drinking. Bella placed her glass down and said "today was really fun"
Emily smiled. "Maybe next time you can go in with us" Bella said and they laughed.

"I'm sorry baby. I just... I wasn't ready to let you be there alone." Emily said.

"I know." Bella said. "I thought you were waiting in the car anyways... At least I know you weren't sitting alone in the parking lot cause that would have been awful"

"It would" Emily laughed and got close to Bella.

"I'm glad you had a nice day" Emily said and hugged Bella.

"Me too" Bella smiled. " well... I think I'm gonna get ready for bed" she said looking a bit tired already.

"Alright" Emily smiled and Bella went upstairs. Emily just sat there thinking about everything. After a while she could hear the girls giggling upstairs and she couldn't help but smile at that sound. She went up and changed into pajamas.

In Bella's bedroom the two girls were talking about what happened at school earlier that day and they couldn't help but laugh with the fact that Bella acted like that.

"I don't know what got into me." Bella said. "I guess it didn't feel too horrible, I don't know. She was making fun of my boots and I guess that doesn't bother me anymore" she admitted.

"Yeah" Chloe smiled. "The other stuff that is really bad" she said.

"Yeah." Bella said. "Let's just hope they'll stop"

"Yeah" Chloe said. "If they don't we have a security man now" Chloe let out a laugh and Bella laughed. Suddenly Emily walked in.

"Bella?" Emily said smiling.

"Yeah?" Bella said smiling at her mother.

"Do you guys wanna watch some tv?" Emily asked.

"Sure" the girls said getting off the bed.

"Well we should change first" Bella said.

"Okay. I'll be downstairs" Emily said and headed out.

The girls put on pajamas and then headed to the living room. They watched some shows on Comedy Central and ate some candy. It was almost midnight when Chloe said "I think we should sleep. It's pretty late"

"Yeah" Bella said. Isabella wasn't really tired but she could see her friend was. They said goodnight to Emily and went to bed.
Emily stayed downstairs for a while working on some paper work. Bella laid next to Chloe on the bed, they talked a bit about books and then Chloe fell asleep while Bella was talking. Isabella laughed when she realized Chloe was sleeping. She stayed laying there staring at the ceiling.
After a while Emily went upstairs and went to Bella's bedroom to check on the girls.

"Is everything okay?" Emily asked when she saw Bella was still awake.

"Yeah. It's fine" Bella whispered but failing to sound convincing. Emily walked in and sat on the bed looking at Bella.

"Everything is okay. I promise, alright?" Bella whispered so Chloe wouldn't wake up and Emily nodded yes. "I love you" Emily whispered. "Goodnight"

"Goodnight mom. And I love you too" Bella said very low. Emily kissed Bella's forehead and tucked her in. Bella smiled sweetly and Emily went out. She went to bed and it wasn't long till she was asleep. In the other room Bella fought her eyes but soon lost the battle.

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(Saturday)

It's a little over 3 am when Isabella jumped with a scream, "mom" she yelled and ran out of the room.
Chloe woke up scared not realizing what exactly happened. Bella was crying when she ran out the door and saw Emily already running towards her. She hugged her mom and just broke down. She couldn't help it and she hated it. She used to be so good with not crying and now it seemed like she had lost control of her eyes.

"It's okay. You're okay" Emily kept saying while picking Bella up and taking her back to bed. She sat on the bed with Bella on her lap and hugged her tight and looked at Chloe. Both could see they were both concerned with what happened.
"Honey it's okay" Emily said as Bella just cried.

"I want my dad" Bella sobbed. Emily's heart broke. She rocked Bella a little and started pushing some hair from her face. Chloe went and hugged them. She didn't know what to say but she felt like she had to do something so she just hugged them and then sat up again just staring at Emily.

"it's going to be okay Bella. Your dad loves you very much. I know he wanted to be here too" Emily said holding her tears. Chloe was crying too now. She was feeling so bad for Bella.

"You can't leave me like him, okay? You can't" Bella cried. "I don't want to lose you too mommy" Bella said and Emily's heart sank. The girl sounded so little and scared.

"You're not losing me. You are not. Are you hearing me? You are not" Emily said serious. She pushed Bella to her side and laid in the middle of the bed taking Bella down with her. The girl was still crying and was trying to hide her face on her mother.

"Come on Chloe let's go back to sleep." Emily said and Chloe laid down.

"Shuuu shuuuu it's okay Bella. it's okay. I'm right here" Emily said. "It was just a bad dream. It wasn't real, okay?" she said running her hand on Bella's arm.

Isabella's crying went down slowly and after a while Emily realized Chloe was out again.
"Close your eyes, try to sleep baby" Emily said softly hugging Bella.
Isabella closed her eyes. She could still feel her face wet and she was so scared. It took about 30 minutes for her to finally drift to sleep.
Emily just stayed there hugging her daughter for a long time before her mind shut off and she slept too.

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Emily woke up and it was 8am. She smiled at the sight of Chloe hugging her and Bella with a tight grip on her shirt on the other side.
She took Bella's hand and Chloe's arm off of her and sneaked out of bed. She went downstairs to make breakfast. She decided to make scrambled eggs and toast.
About 15 minutes later Chloe woke up. She looked around the room and decided to stay in bed and wait for Bella, so she picked a book that was laying on the nightstand and began to read it.
It wasn't long till Bella woke up.

"Hey" Chloe said. "Good morning"

"Hi" Bella said embarrassed. "Where's my mom?"

"I think she's cooking breakfast" Chloe said. She could smell the food. "Are you alright?" She asked worried.

"I guess so" Bella said blushing. Chloe could see she was embarrassed.

"Hey don't be embarrassed Bella. It was a nightmare. Everyone has one once in a while." She said.

"Well, what if you have one almost everyday?" Bella said sarcastically but sad at the same time.