The Hunting Hour - A Criminal Minds Fiction

Chapter 52: The Top Of The Hill

"Congratulations" the woman said.

"Thank you" Emily smiled and then looked at Bella. The girl was smiling too.

"So let's go?" Emily asked Bella and the child nodded.
They headed to the house and Emily was all smiles when she saw her happy bubbly 9 year-old running around in the backyard with her puppy.

Emily let Bella play with the dog while she walked around the house and wrote down what she wanted to do.
30 minutes after they got there, Bella got tired and went inside with Lulu.

"Mom?" Bella called but got no response.
"Mom, where are you?" Bella yelled.

"Upstairs" Emily yelled and Bella ran up the stairs.
She found Emily inside a room.

"Which bedroom do you want? They look the same but the other one has a bigger closet and a bigger bathroom" Emily said.

"Can I have this one? It's smaller and it's not close to the stairs" Bella said.

"Of course you can." Emily smiled and wrapped Bella in a hug.

"Are you happy?" Emily asked. "This is our new home"
Bella looked at Emily's eyes and smiled. Emily picked her up.
"I love you" Emily said.

"I love you too" Bella said. The hugged for a while and then Emily put her down.

"And you know what mom? You need the big closet to fit all your clothes" Bella said and Emily laughed and hugged her again. "Oh and all of your shoes, of course" she added and they both laughed.

Suddenly Lulu ran in.

"So... What do you think of dropping Lulu at Derek's and go get the paint for your room?" Emily said petting the dog.

"Right now?" Bella asked.

"Yeah, we can paint it today. We don't really have anything else to do and it's going take a while to dry" Emily said.

"Okay then" Bella said with a little smile.

Emily grabbed Bella's hand and they walked downstairs. Emily set up the alarm and they walked outside.
They dropped Lulu off at Derek's and then stopped to buy paint. Bella ended up choosing a really pretty pale pink for three walls and a darker one for one wall. Emily loved the color. She chose grey and white for hers; they got everything they needed, paid and headed back to their new house.

"Mom, I have to tell you that I suck at this" Bella said getting the paint ready.

"When did you ever paint a wall?" Emily asked confused.

"Derek's" Bella said. "My arms get tired easily" she added.

"Well, your arms must be tough today because we have a lot of walls to paint." Emily smiled handing a brush to the girl.

They started to cover the floor and suddenly Emily's phone rang.
It was Morgan.

"Hey" Emily answered.

"We just got home. Where are you guys?" He asked.

"Oh you got back early today" Emily said.

"Yeah. Hotch had a meeting and we just had paperwork" Derek said. "But where are you?"

"At the new house" Emily said.

"You got the keys already?" He asked surprised.

"Yes and guess who wants a pink bedroom" she smiled and Bella smiled too.

"You're painting her bedroom?" Derek asked even more surprised.

"Yeah, it will take a while to dry and we didn't have any plans for today so I thought why not just do it" Emily said.