Chapter 1
With her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice, in the palm of her sweaty hand, the seventeen ear old brunette boarded the plane that was ready to take her from her home. Emily Prentiss' parents had set her up in a foreign exchange student program to get her away for the holidays and had somehow managed to not get a teenager in return from the states. Leaving France was the one thing Emily was alright with, wanting to go back to the land where she had lived until she was ten.
The chocolate eyed girl sat down as quietly as she could and immediately put her earbuds into hers ears, opening up her favorite book to the first page for the hundredth time in her life and beginning to read.
"Excuse me, miss?" The redheaded stuartess frowned lightly when the teenager didn't respond, and she gently tapped on her shoulder. "Miss?"
Emily looked up from her book, tugging one of the earbuds from her ear. "Hi."
"Are you flying alone, miss?"
The seventeen year old gave a small smile. "Yes I am."
"Alright then, if you'll be needing any assistance I'm right up there near the captain's corridor during the entire flight."
Emily tried to hide her oncoming laugh at the thirty year old woman smiling freakishly wide at her, and she quickly nodded her head. "Thank you." She waited until the redheaded woman had walked away from her seat before sticking her earbud back into her ear, ready for this flight to begin and be over with already.
Not a mere eight hours later, the plane had landed on the snowy tarmac of a Pennsylvania airport.
The brunette teenager held her backpack's strap tight in her hand and her book clutched to her chest as she ambled off the airplane and into the airport, nervous to see what her new 'family' was going to be like. She knew that there were three children, the mother was a Sunday school teacher and the father was a principal at a high school.
The exact opposite of her diplomatic parents.
Emily nibble into her bottom lip as she strode out of the terminal gate, her dark eyes searching all the people who stood around, trying to find their boarding passes and tickets and doing their best to stuff as much as they could into their carry-on bags.
"Emily Prentiss?"
The ivory girl turned at the almost jolly voice she heard. "Hi," she smiled carefully. "Are you Mr. Jareau?"
James laughed heartily before taking the teenager into a hug, holding her tense body tight in his hold. "I am! Hi sweetheart, it's so great to finally have you here." He took a step back before looking the brunette up and down. "No accent?"
Emily smiled, loving the sound of the father of three's laugh. "No, I actually grew up here in the states. I only moved to France when I was ten." Her brown eyes looked around, frowning slightly when she saw no other blonde's standing around. "Where is everyone?"
"Oh the children had Sunday school to go to with their mother," he smiled, leading them both over to baggage to pick up the teen's suitcase. "You're just going to love them, I know it."
Emily rested her head back against the headrest of the passenger's seat as they drove up the road to her new home, her dark orbs taking in the homey scenery. "I'm sorry you have to be stuck with me for a couple of months."
James glanced over to the brunette girl, a frown creasing over his clean-shaven face. "Emily what are you talking about? You say it like it's a bad thing."
The seventeen year old felt ashamed as she looked over to the older man. "My parents think so," she whispered. "They got rid of me for four months because they didn't want me around. Too much of me I guess."
The father of three reached over and held her hand, smiling gently when he saw a pained shock cross over her features. "Emily no one could ever get too much of you. I've known you for five minutes and I already want you to stay with us," he grinned. "Don't you ever believe that you're less than perfect. Alright?"
Emily's dark eyes stung as she nodded her head, letting James squeeze her hand. "Thank you." She let out a small breath just as they pulled into an older Victorian house's driveway, her eyes glancing over to a group of kids playing on the lawn. "Alright," she nodded to herself. "Go time."
