*** Back in the "present" time... 9 years after Isabella's birth

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(Tuesday)

Present time...

Washington D.C.
September 7th.

After staring at the ceiling for a while thinking about everything, Emily decided she should sleep. It was getting late and she had to go to work in the morning. She headed to bed and laid right next to her daughter who was fast asleep. She moved closer to the girl and ran her fingers through the child's hair till she fell asleep too.
She was so happy the trip was a success.

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Emily woke up that Wednesday with the alarm clock at 6:30 and woke Bella up.
"Hey Bella. Wake up. Time for school" she sang and the little girl stretched and opened her eyes.
"Good morning" Emily said placing a kiss on the child's forehead.

"Morning mommy" Bella whispered.

"Let's get ready?" Emily said and Bella nodded. Emily got ready for work and Bella got ready for school. They ate breakfast and headed out.

"Are you excited to be back?" Emily asked as she parked the car.

"I guess so" Bella said not sounding very excited.

"Anything just call me." Emily smiled and wrapped Bella in a hug.

"Okay" the girl said.

"Do I need to pick you up early like we had talked about?" Emily asked.

"No" Bella said and Emily tried to not look so surprised but she failed.

"What?" Bella asked embarrassed.

"Nothing" Emily smiled. "I'll see you 3:30 at the office then." Emily said smiling and Bella headed to the school.

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The morning went great for both of them. Emily did a lot of paperwork and told her friends how the trip went. Everyone was very happy about it.

It was 3pm when things changed.
She was at Penelope's office when Rossi walked in.

"You have a visitor" he said and Emily walked out with him.
She froze as she saw Jeremy waiting for her at Rossi's office.

"What is he doing here?" Emily said walking up the stairs.

"Hi" she said walking inside the office.

"Hi. I'm sorry I came without calling but I just..." He started.

"You want to see her?" Emily said. She didn't know exactly how she felt about that.

"Yes" he said.

"I don't know if today is a good idea" Emily said. She didn't know if Bella was ready for that. The girl had not mentioned him since that night when they were watching tv.

"I just want to apologize" he said. "I have to apologize" he said.

Even after everything he did, Emily felt bad for him.
"You can wait here. She'll get back from school in a while and if she's up too, you guys can talk" she said and he looked thankful. "But i won't force her to talk to you" she added.

"Okay" he said nodding understanding.

"I have to go back to working now" Emily said and walked out.

"What does he wants?" Rossi asked.

"He wants to talk to her" Emily said.

"Are you letting him?" He asked surprised.

"I knew it would happen sooner or later so it's best if it's here, you know" she said and walked back to Penelope's office.

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At school Bella, Chloe and Gavin were very happy the entire day. They talked about the trip and just loved all the memories they had made together. Luckily the bullies didn't bother them, they just looked at them from time to time and Bella could tell they were jealous about their Disney trip.
When the last bell rang the children were happy to go home. Chloe got Millie and headed to her bus while Gavin and Bella went to their bus.

"See you tomorrow" Gavin said as his stop was approaching.

"Bye" Bella smiled and he walked out.
She looked outside and smiled. She was happy. She was truly happy. She loved her friends and her family, things seemed to be okay at school. Everything was great.

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Isabella walked inside the BAU and smiled as she saw Reid standing close to Emily's desk.

"Hey" he smiled at her. She walked to him and hugged him. "We missed you around here" he said and she smiled.

"Where's my mom?" She asked and suddenly she heard yelling.

"No, Emily. You can't do this to her" Derek said mad standing in front of Rossi's office. Emily walked out of the door behind him and closed the door. She had just walked in on Derek losing his shit, screaming at Jeremy for everything he had done.

"She'll be okay" Emily said.

"She's not seeing him" he said angry.

Suddenly Bella saw Jeremy through the blinds. Her heart started beating fast. Spencer had his hand on her shoulder as they watched Emily and Derek arguing.

"She's not seeing that bastard!" Derek said loud.

"Guys" JJ said walking in as she saw Bella was there. Emily and Derek turned and looked at her.

"Bella" Emily said feeling bad that the girl watched all of that. She walked to the girl, who had tears streaming down her face and hugged her.

"You don't have to see him if you don't want to" Derek said walking to her too.

Bella looked down at the floor. She wasn't sure if she should talk to Jeremy or not.

"He just wants to talk. Nothing more" Emily said letting go of the hug.

Bella took a little time to think and then said "okay. Just talk". She took a deep breath and asked Morgan "can you go with me?"

"Of course I can" he said. He really didn't want Bella to talk to Jeremy but if she wanted to he would be there for her.

"You too" Bella said turning to Emily.
Emily grabbed her hand and they walked to Rossi's office where Jeremy was waiting. After Derek had come in yelling at him he was certain he wouldn't be seeing Bella that day but he was wrong.
He looked surprised as the girl walked in.

"Hi" he said.

"Hi" Bella said almost a whisper. Emily led the girl to a chair but Bella didn't sit down.

"Come here" Morgan said sitting down and pulling the girl to his lap.

"He just wants to talk" Emily said, she could see Bella was scared.

"I heard you went to Disney World" Jeremy smiled walking close to her. "Did you have fun?" He asked and she just nodded yes avoiding eye contact.
He walked to her and kneed down in front of her. "Hey look at me" he said taking both of her hands in his.

She looked him in the eyes and he just felt horrible. Isabella's face seemed like she was scared and really sad. He hated it.

"I'm so sorry Bella" he said and took a deep breath. "I just wanted to protect you and I thought that you'd be safer with me. And that with time you'd be okay" he said as his eyes filled with tears. "I know now that I was wrong. Dad wanted you with Emily. And even though I ..." He said and stopped. He still didn't really agree.
"I have to respect their decisions as your parents." He said. "So I'm very very sorry for what I did to you. I love you so much and I didn't mean to hurt you like this" he said as tears fell from his and Isabella's eyes.

"Do you forgive me?" He asked.

Bella stayed silent for a while and then asked "you'll never do anything like that again, right?"

"No. I swear to you. I'll never hurt you again" he said.

"Okay" Bella said.

He opened his arms asking for a hug and she hugged him.

"I love you. I love you so much" he said standing up and lifting her up.
She stayed quiet and didn't say I love you back.
Jeremy put her down on the floor and Bella hugged Emily.

"I wanna go now" the little girl said.

Morgan stood up immediately ready to take the girl away. He handed out his hand and Bella took it.

"Bye" Jeremy said.

"Bye" she said almost a whisper and walked out with Morgan.

Derek closed the door behind him and Bella started sobbing. "Come here" he said picking the girl up. He took her to Penelope's office.

"What happened?" Penelope asked confused.

"She talked to Jeremy" Derek said a little angry.

"And..?" Penelope asked.

"I'm okay. I just wanna go home" Bella said as Derek put her down on the couch. Penelope sat next to her and wrapped her in a hug.

"Can you take me home?" Bella asked Derek, still crying and hugging Garcia.

"Sure" Derek said and the little girl let go of Garcia and hugged him. He lifted her up again and sat on the couch with the girl on his lap. They sat there and waited for Emily.

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Rossi's office

"Thank you for letting me see her" Jeremy said.

"You can call her anytime but if you want to see her make sure you call me first" Emily said normally. She didn't look serious or mad or anything.

"I will" he said looking thankful.

"You should go now" Emily said.

"Do you think I could see her tomorrow maybe?" He said.

"I don't think she'll want that Jeremy. I can ask but.." Emily said and he nodded understanding.

"Please ask her and let me know" he said walking to the door.

"I will" Emily said.

"Bye" he said.

"Bye" Emily said and he left.

Emily went to look for Bella.

"Where's she?" Emily asked JJ, who was standing close to Reid's desk.

"At Penelope's" JJ said with a sorry type of smile.

Emily walked inside Penelope's office to find Isabella in tears.

"Come here" she said and the girl went to her. She picked her up and sat on the couch.
"You were very brave" Emily said running her hand on the girl's arm.

"Mommy" Bella said crying.

"Yes baby?" Emily said.

"I lied" Bella said.

"About what?" Emily asked a little confused.

"I don't think I forgive him" Bella said and just cried.

"Oh honey. You don't have to forgive him right now. That will come with time" Emily said hugging the girl tight.

"You just have to give him a chance" Penelope said.

"Can we go home now?" Bella asked.

"I'm almost done. I'll just finish some papers and then we can go, okay?" Emily said.

"Okay" Bella said.

"You'll stay here with aunt Penny?" Emily asked.

"No, you" Bella said.

"Okay" Emily said standing up and carrying the girl to her desk. Derek followed them and pulled a chair so Bella could sit next to Emily.
Emily sat Bella down and the girl wiped her face. She had stopped crying.

"Hey, I got a new book yesterday. Do you want to read it? I just finished" Reid said holding a copy of 'The Other Boleyn Girl'. Bella nodded yes and he handed her the book. Derek sat to work on his desk and Emily started working too while Bella sat there and started reading the book. The girl started getting sleepy so she closed the book, put it on Emily's desk and rested her head on the desk and closed her eyes. Emily ran her fingers through the girl's hair. "Are you okay?" She asked and Bella nodded yes and opened her eyes.

"Just tired?" Emily asked and Bella nodded again. "I'm almost done" Emily said with a small smile and Bella closed her eyes.

It didn't take long for the girl to fall asleep.

Emily worked for a while longer and then she headed home. Derek insisted on carrying Isabella to the car so she wouldn't wake up. Emily drove home and smiled as she saw Bella passed out laying in the backseat.

"Hey. We're home. Let's go up" Emily said waking Bella up. They went up to their apartment and Bella went straight to the stairs.

"Hey. It's 6 baby. It's not bed time" Emily said as she took a look at the clock and saw it was way too early for the girl to go to bed. "Let's sit and watch a movie, come on" she added and Bella shook her head no and walked upstairs to her mother's bed. She laid down, hugged Duffy and closed her eyes and tried to sleep again but she failed.

Emily sat to watch tv and it wasn't long till Bella walked downstairs.
"Couldn't sleep?" Emily asked with a small smile.

Bella shook her head no.

"Come here" Emily said and Bella walked to her with Duffy in her hands. Emily pulled the girl to her lap and made her lay down in her chest. Bella hugged Duffy and close her eyes.

"I love you" Emily said.

"I love you too" Bella whispered and hugged Emily.

"How about pizza for dinner?" Emily said smiling glad to be home with her daughter again. Bella smiled letting go of the hug and nodded yes.

"Okay, so let's order and watch a movie" Emily said. She grabbed her phone, that was on the couch right next to her, and ordered pepperoni pizza.
They started watching Star Wars episode 5 and they finished watching while eating dinner. Bella's mood was better and she was talking happily again. After they were done they got ready for bed and laid down, both on Emily's bed.

"Goodnight mom" Bella said.

"Goodnight" Emily smiled and gave Bella a kiss on the cheek.

There was a bit of silence and then Bella said: "mommy? Did you forgive him?"

Emily opened her eyes to find Bella staring at her. She nodded yes.

"So I forgive him too" Bella said. "We're together now and that's what matters, right? I don't care about what happened anymore. I'll be with you no matter what" Bella said.

Emily smiled. "No matter what" she said and wrapped her arms around the girl. Both closed their eyes and it wasn't long till they fell asleep.

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Thursday went great for Emily and Bella. Things at school went great and Emily didn't have a case. So they were back at home around 6. Emily cooked Mac and cheese for dinner while Bella took a shower. They ate and then watched some tv and Bella ended up falling asleep on the couch.

Emily was watching Masterchef when suddenly her phone started ringing. It was Jeremy.

"Hello?" She said.

"Hi. It's me" Jeremy said. "I just tried calling Bella but she didn't answer so I just wanted to check if everything is okay" he said honestly.

"Everything is fine. I think her phone is upstairs and she passed out on the couch" Emily said.

"Oh okay" he smiled picturing Bella sleeping on the couch. The girl always ended up in the weirdest positions.

"I'll tell her you called" Emily said.

"Okay." He agreed. "Oh Emily, do you think umm... Do you think she would like to go have dinner with me tomorrow? Im still in DC" he said.

"I'm not sure. But I'll ask her" Emily said.

"You can come too of course. And maybe she can take a friend" he said.

"Alright. I'll talk to her and I'll let you know" Emily said smiling. She could see Jeremy wanted them to be okay again.

"Alright. Bye" he said.

"Bye" Emily said and hung up. She stayed in the living room till about 10 watching tv and then decided to go up. She carried Bella to bed and laid next to the girl. It wasn't very long till she was out too.

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(Friday)

Emily woke up that morning and Bella was awake but still in bed.
"How long have you been awake?" She asked the girl.

"Not long." Bella said.

They got ready and sat to eat waffles for breakfast.

"Bella, Jeremy called me last night" Emily said.

"I assumed he had. There was a bunch of missed calls on my phone" Bella said taking a bite of her waffle.

"He invited us to have dinner with him tonight" Emily said.

"Are we going?" Bella asked and got a bit tense. Emily could see that.

"It's up to you" Emily said.

"Can I think about it?" Bella asked.

"Sure" Emily said with a small smile and Bella smiled back.
They finished eating and headed out.
Emily dropped Bella off and went to work.

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At school Bella couldn't stop thinking about the dinner. She kind of wanted to go but at the same time she didn't.

During lunch Gavin and Chloe could tell something was up.

"Are you okay?" Gavin asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Bella said a bit confused.

"You're a little weird today" Chloe said.

Bella hadn't told them about Jeremy apologizing.

"I'm fine" Bella said eating some chips.

"Sure" Chloe said and laughed.

"It's Jeremy" Bella spitted out.

"What's with Jeremy's this time?" Gavin asked making a face.

"He apologized and he invited mom and I for dinner tonight" she said.

"Did you forgive him?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah" Bella said nodding. "He's my brother. I mean I guess he was worried and scared or whatever. But you know... I'm home now and that's what matters" she said.

"So what's worrying you about the dinner?" Gavin asked.

"I don't know" she said. "What if it's too weird?" She said.

"Well it's gonna be weird after everything. But maybe it will be fun" Chloe said.

"Yeah. You guys used to have fun together, right?" Gavin asked and Bella nodded yes. She used to love going out with him.

"It might be fun B" Chloe said smiling.

"Yeah maybe" Bella said not sounding very excited.

"Hey, I'm sure that if you tell your mom you want to leave she'll take you out in a flash" Gavin smiled.

Bella couldn't help but smile too.

The bell rang and they headed back to class. Bella decided to give it a try so she sent her mother a text.

'Mom, let's go to dinner with Jeremy tonight. It's okay ;)'

Emily was sitting with Morgan in the conference room when she got the text. She smiled and felt proud of Bella for deciding to go.

'Okay. I'll let him know. See you soon. Love, mom'

Bella smiled at the reply and went back to paying attention to the class.

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The day went by superfast.
After school Bella went to the BAU and sat in Penelope's office to work on her homework. When she was done she sat on the floor below Emily's desk and read the book Spencer had given her.
When Emily was done with work they headed home and got ready to go out to eat.

"Let's go?" Emily asked as Bella walked downstairs. The girl had a black dress with white polka dots on it and her pink sparkly doc martins. Emily smiled at the outfit choice.
They headed to the car and drove to Olive Garden at the mall. When they got there she could see Bella was very nervous.

"If you want to go home just tell me and we'll go" Emily said and Isabella smiled remembering what her friends had said earlier that day.

"Why are you smiling?" Emily asked confused.

"Gavin said you'd take me home in flash" Bella said.

"I'm glad your friends know me" Emily smiled.

"Let's go mom" Bella said firm. She was ready.

They walked out and Emily grabbed Isabella's hand. They walked in to find Jeremy and Marley waiting for them.

"Why is she here?" Bella asked a little tense.

"Hey. It's okay." Emily said smiling trying to calm the girl.
They walked to the table and Marley and Jeremy smiled.

"Hi. I'm glad you came" Jeremy told Bella who gave him a shy smile and failed at trying not to look so nervous.

They sat and ordered. While waiting for the food Jeremy started asking questions about the trip.
"so how was Disney world?" He asked.

Bella just sat there so Emily answered.
"It was fun. We went to the Harry Potter Park too" she said.

"Oh really? I bet you loved that Bella" Marley said.

Bella looked at her and nodded. She was trying hard to control her breathing because she wasn't feeling very good.

"Are you okay? You look a little pale" Emily said grabbing Isabella's hand.

Bella nodded yes but hid her face on Emily's chest.

"Do you want to go home?" Emily asked.
Bella shook her head no and Emily felt her body shake as the girl started crying.
"Oh Bella" Emily said hugging the girl.

Jeremy walked to her and kneed down.
"I'm so sorry" he said with tears in his eyes. "I never wanted things to be like this" he said as a tear escaped.

Isabella let go of Emily and wrapped her arms around Jeremy's neck. He just hugged her and both cried.

"I'm sorry" he said after a while.

"It's okay" Bella said letting go of the hug and sitting straight on her chair. Jeremy stood up and hugged her again and then sat on his seat.
The girl looked sad and Jeremy just felt awful.

The food got there and they started eating. Bella was a little shy but Emily could tell she wasn't so tense anymore.

Suddenly Bella told Jeremy "That looks good. Can I have a bite?"

The three grownups smiled and Jeremy let her try it.
"It's good huh?" He said smiling and she nodded yes smiling shyly.

The rest of the dinner went great. By the end of it Bella seemed more relaxed and she was telling Jeremy things she did on the trip. He was excited and happy that things were going great.

"So I'll see you soon?" Jeremy asked Bella.

Bella just smiled shyly. He hugged her and they said their goodbye and headed to the car.

Emily drove to an ice cream shop at the other side of the mall.

"Why are we stopping?" Bella asked confused.

"Do you want to go in there?" Emily asked pointing to the ice cream shop.
Bella smiled and nodded yes. They walked to the shop and Emily had one arm around Bella's shoulders. They got their ice creams and sat to eat.

"Is it good?" Emily asked smiling as Bella took a big bite.

"Yeah" Bella said with her mouth full of chocolate ice cream and Emily couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm very very proud of you today" Emily said and Bella smiled shyly. "Your dad would be proud too" Emily added.

"Mom?" Bella said.

"Yes?" Emily said waiting for a question.

"Do you think things will be like before?" Bella said and Emily looked a bit confused. "With Jeremy and I. Like before dad died" Bella explained.

"I think it might" Emily said. She knew even though he hurt Bella, the girl just wanted her big brother back. Back like he used to be. The fun big brother that took her out to have fun and was always making her laugh.
She knew Bella just wanted that version of Jeremy back.

Isabella smiled and they finished eating their ice cream.

They headed home and got ready for bed.
"Go brush your teeth" Emily told Bella when the girl finished brushing her hair. Bella did what she was told and then headed to Emily's bedroom. This time she had her blanket in hands.
Emily looked a bit concern when she saw it.

"relax mom. I'll leave it under the pillow" Bella said walking to the bed where Emily was sitting. She put the blanket under the pillow and sat next to Emily resting her back on the head of the bed.

"I don't mind you using your blanket, honey" Emily said.

"I know". Bella said. "But you did look a little scared" the girl added.

"It's just that you haven't been using it since we were in Orlando so I thought something was wrong" Emily said.

"I'm okay. There's nothing wrong. It was just a long day" Bella said and Emily smiled and wrapped the girl in a hug.

"Will you go on a case on Monday?" Bella asked letting go of the hug.

"Maybe" Emily said.

"When I'm with Penelope I can use my blanket, right? I mean... if I need to" Bella asked shyly.

"Of course you can, Bells" Emily said smiling and hugging the girl again.

"It's just that sometimes when you're away I get a little scared" Bella said not lifting her head from Emily's chest.

"Scared of what?" Emily said and kept hugging the girl.

"I don't know. A bunch of things I guess" Bella said.

"It's okay to be scared. We talked about that before, right?" Emily said.

"But now there's Jeremy. And I know he can't get me anymore but I just can't stop thinking about it. It's like he's gonna show up when you're not here and take me" Bella said. "I forgave him mommy I really did and I love him but I'm a little scared of that still" Bella said letting a couple tears fall.

"Baby, your brother loves you. And he promised to never hurt you again. He promised me that and I know he'll keep his promise. You don't have to be afraid of him. Not even one little bit." Emily said. "He'll never do anything to take you from me ever again" Emily said and Bella just stayed quiet.

After a little while Emily laid down and took the girl with her. She kept hugging Bella as both closed their eyes.

"Mommy?" Bella whispered.

"Yeah" Emily said opening her eyes to find the girl staring at her.

"No one will take me from you, right?" Bella said.

"No one" Emily said and tightened the hug.
She ran her hand on the girl's back till both of them fell asleep.