A/N: This is for SSAEmilyHotchner, who wrote review #101 for Calleth You, Cometh I (a collab by SussiRay and me, under the pen name ~TTTGF – go check it out!). Prompt: "pickles and ice cream." PURE FLUFF. Expect nothing else. Also, very short. Apologies.

"Want to know one thing you'll never understand?" Emily asked Hotch as they both settled into bed for the night.

"There's only one thing? I thought there were a few." Hotch smiled and laid a kiss on his wife's cheek, then a hand on her very pregnant belly. They sat up against the pillows together.

"What, you mean periods?" Emily asked. "You can at least imagine that even if you can't fully understand it."

"What about why you need nine different pairs of black shoes?"

"You still don't understand that one?"

"I don't understand a woman's obsession with shoes, no. Have a black pair, a brown pair, one of each in heels and flats, if you must…that's all you need."

"Okay, well, would you like to know one more thing you'll never understand?"

"What's that?"

"What it feels like to have a miniature person growing inside of you. To be walking around knowing a human being is just…curled up in there, completely dependent upon you, growing every single day. And when she kicks? Don't get me started on when she kicks. And when she has the hiccups? Okay, I have to stop now," Emily said, her voice cracking. She waved her hand in front of her eyes.

"Hey, as long as they're happy tears."

"Yeah," Emily sighed. "I've just been all over the place lately. And no smartass comments about how you know."

"I have no such comments," Hotch said, holding up both hands. "Want some pickles and ice cream?"

"Oh God," Emily groaned, throwing her head back and laughing. "Who started that, anyway? I bet one woman liked pickles and ice cream when she was pregnant and then it caught on as truth. I've had lengthy conversations with JJ about this. It's all about the salty and sweet. Chocolate and pretzels? Yum. Pickles and ice cream, though? Not so much."

"You want chocolate and pretzels?"

"No," Emily said, laying her hand on top of Hotch's. "Just explaining."

"Are you hungry at all?"

"I never said I was hungry. Really, I'm fine. I wouldn't mind delivering soon, though. Every day past her due date, I just picture her getting bigger and bigger."

"She just wants to make a grand entrance," Hotch said.

"Well, Olivia, right now is grand enough. All right?"

"We never agreed on Olivia."

"Well, we sure as hell aren't agreeing on any of the names you've picked so far. So come up with something better." Emily sat straight up suddenly, wincing. "Ooh."

"Contraction?" Hotch asked, lowering his hand with Emily's down below her tummy, closer to the pain. Emily nodded. "A real one this time?" They'd already been to the hospital once, two weeks ago, when Emily had gone into false labor. She nodded again.

—

"Emily?" A knock sounded at the bathroom door, just as patient and gentle as Hotch's voice. Soon upon waking from her dream that had felt like anything but, Emily had rushed into the bathroom and had gotten two pregnancy tests out of her stash that was now running low. She'd promised herself she wouldn't replenish her stock once it was gone, thinking that it would be a sign that a baby just wasn't in the cards, or at least a sign that she needed to relax.

"Just a sec."

Hotch twisted the doorknob, only to find it locked. "You never lock the door."

Emily sighed and rolled her eyes. She glanced at her watch. Thirty more seconds. She sneaked a peek at the tests anyway.

"Are you all right? What's going on?"

Emily put on her best poker face before opening the door, though her heart fluttered in her chest and she felt a heat radiating from where she knew resided only a tiny thing, barely visible. "What do you think of Olivia for a girl's name?"

A/N: I hope you enjoyed. I needed some fluff.