Summary: Emily goes into labor and Hotch is late getting to the hospital. What could have held him up for the birth of his second child?
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.
And Baby Makes Four
"I am not having this baby now!" Emily cried from the hospital bed she had been put in twenty minutes earlier.
"You know, statistics show that ten percent of pregnant woman go in to pre-term labor versus the fourteen percent that actually carry their child past forty-two weeks gestation. Post-date pregnancies are associated with an increased risk for umbilical cord compression, fetal distress…" Reid was quickly cut off when JJ threw her hand over the genius's mouth.
"Spence, not now, Emily doesn't need to hear the statistics. All she needs right now is to have the baby's father here instead of having him stuck in traffic across town," JJ said and then removed her hand from Reid's mouth.
"Sorry," Reid said as he hung his with an ashamed look on his face.
"Reid, it's okay. Just please go and try to get a hold of Aaron and find out where he is at." Emily said from where she was lying in the uncomfortable hospital bed while hooked to a baby monitor.
"Sure, I can do that," Reid said as he hurried out of the room and away from the two crazy women.
After Reid left, JJ turned to Emily, taking her hand in hers and squeezing it gently. "How are you feeling?" she asked her friend.
"JJ, please don't use the mother voice with me. Please not right now, not when I am about to have this baby without her father being here," Emily said as another contraction rolled through her body.
JJ grabbed the cool washcloth off the stand by the bed and wiped it over Emily's face and neck.
"God, please stop… It's not helping… Where the hell is Aaron… and where the hell is the… anesthesiologist at… with my epidural?" Emily huffed between breaths as she pushed JJ's hand away from her.
"Reid's checking on Hotch and your epidural will be here soon. Just keep doing your breathing and the pain will subside in a little bit," JJ said trying to comfort her.
"Shut up JJ. You have no idea what I am going through right now," Emily said as she glared at her friend.
"Emily, I know how you feel, I really do. Remember I do have child of my own so I know the pain you are feeling," JJ replied, unfazed by her friends rudeness.
"I'm sorry Jayje, I didn't mean that. I know you know how I am feeling. How long can it take to get across town, even in traffic?" Emily's head fell back onto the pillow and she moaned in pain as another contraction hit her. "Okay… I've changed… my mind… I don't want… to do… this anymore," Emily said.
"Well sweetie, I'm afraid that that isn't an option anymore. Just think about how beautiful she is going to be when you hold her for the first time. It is all worth it, I promise," JJ said as she pushed Emily's damp hair back off her forehead with tears in her eyes as she remembered holding Henry for the first time.
Fifteen minutes later, the anesthesiologist had shown up and given Emily her epidural and she was resting comfortably waiting for Aaron to get there. Reid was waiting with her while JJ went to call Penelope, who was with Morgan at the mall when JJ called her to tell them about Emily going into labor.
"Reid, where was Aaron when you talked to him?" Emily asked her jittery friend as he sat there fidgeting in his chair.
"He was stuck at the corner of Washington and Lexington. There had been an accident and he was waiting for them to clear the intersection so he could get through. He should be here in a few minutes if I calculated right on how long it would take to clear the road," Reid said as he squirmed uncomfortably in the chair.
"Reid, he isn't going to make it in time. The baby is fixing to come and her father isn't even here to witness the birth. He knew she could come at any time, but no, he had to go play golf with Rossi today," Emily said as she felt the urge to start pushing. "Oh God, she's fixing to come. Please get JJ for me and see if you can get Aaron on the phone and find out if he is any closer to getting here."
Reid looked at her with a panicked look on his face and without a word, ran out of the room. JJ rushed back in a few minutes later with a couple of nurses in tow. The two nurses checked Emily and put her feet in the stirrups to get her ready to start pushing, the doctor arrived a few minutes later.
"Okay Ms. Prentiss let's see what's going on," the doctor said as she sat on the stool at Emily's feet.
"I'll tell you what's going on… I'm not having this baby without her father being here. That's what is going on here Dr. Henderson." Emily said loudly as the urge to push quickly overtook her.
"Okay Emily, I want you to take a deep breath and bear down for me, then count to ten and release the breath slowly." Erica Henderson, Emily's OBGYN, said.
"No. I'm not having this baby until Aaron gets here." Emily huffed out in a rush of words as she tried to fight the urge to push.
Just as Dr. Henderson removed the sheet that had been covering Emily from the waist down, Reid came back in.
"Hotch is on his way up…" Reid said and then stopped mid-sentence. "Oh my God… Oh my God… I'm so sorry… I didn't know…," he rambled as he tried to look at anything other than what he saw when he walked in.
"Reid… Get… Out…" Emily screamed at the flustered man.
Reid jumped, startled at Emily's outburst. The last thing he wanted to do was agitate the fuming woman. He turned and ran from the room, running into Hotch as he turned the corner, both men hitting the floor, stunned.
"Reid. What the hell are you doing?" Hotch asked the surprised man who was on the floor in front of him.
"Emily… she… she's lost her mind… she's crazy man… don't go in there… she's possessed or something…" the boy genius stammered.
"Reid, calm down. What's wrong with Emily? What do you mean, she's possessed?" Hotch asked, quickly getting to his feet and the reaching down and pulling Reid to his.
"She is about to have the baby and she has lost her mind. She yelled at me to get out. Mind you, it was after I walked in and saw her… let's just say that she wasn't happy. She never yells at me Hotch. I'm her favorite, well besides you that is." Reid babbled out in a flow of words so fast that Hotch found it hard to understand him.
"Reid, you go wait in the waiting room and I will come and get you after she has the baby. Thank you for being here for her." Hotch said and turn to go in the room where he could now hear Emily screaming.
"Wait, you're going in there? Are you crazy? Did you hit your head when you fell? You are not listening to me. I'm telling you SHE HAS LOST HER MIND." Reid told him in another wave of panic.
"Reid I have to go in there. She is having my child and I will not let her have the baby alone. Mind or no mind." Hotch said as he turned and walked toward Emily's room.
"Well don't say I didn't warn you." Reid called after him.
Hotch pushed open the door and saw his wife lying there, hair soaked with sweat. He quickly made his way to her side.
Emily opened her eyes and saw the man she was madly in love with hurrying toward her.
"Where the hell have you been? You knew she was going to make her debut any time but you still went to play golf." Emily cried out as another wave of pain hit her.
"I'm so sorry sweetheart. I know I should have listened to you. I'm here now and I promise I'm not going anywhere." Hotch said as he bent down to kiss Emily on her forehead.
Hotch looked up and saw JJ standing on the other side of Emily.
"JJ, you might want to go check on Reid in the waiting room. Em has him a little freaked out. Oh can you call Jessica and tell her to bring Jack up soon?" He asked as he turned his attention back to his wife, who at the moment was squeezing the life out if his hand.
"Sure Hotch. I'll wait with Reid and call Pen. She said she would be here as soon as she could. She was having to wait on Morgan to get dressed. I don't know what she meant by that and I didn't really want her to tell me. If you need me I'll be down the hall." JJ said and then bent down and kissed Emily on the cheek. "Don't yell at him to bad, okay." She whispered in Emily's ear before turning and leaving the room to go find Spence.
"Okay Emily, when you feel the next contractions I need you to push." Dr. Henderson said as another contraction washed over Emily.
"Okay baby, I need you to push now. One, two, three, that's it... five, six, seven... you're doing so good... ten." Hotch said, coaching her through the pain.
"The baby's head is almost out Emily. I need you to push." Dr. Henderson said as Emily began to push again.
"Aaron... I can't do this." Emily cried as the pain continued to wreck havoc on her body.
"Emily, the epidural is wearing off, that is why you are feeling the pain. Just keep pushing and lets get your daughter out of there okay." Dr. Henderson said from the foot of the bed.
"Emily you can do this. I know you have it in you baby." Hotch tried to comfort his wife.
"Aaron... We don't even... have a name picked out for her yet. Oh god... another one." Emily cried out as she bore down one more time.
Twenty minutes of pushing later Dr. Henderson told Emily to push one more time. Emily was exhausted, her hair was soaked with sweat. She leaned up one more time with Hotch's help and pushed. Hotch watched as his daughter entered the world and then waited for her to cry.
"Why isn't she crying, Aaron? What's wrong with her? Is she okay?" Emily asked as she tried to see their baby and a new wave of tears started to flow down her cheeks.
"Emily, stop. She's fine. The nurses need to clean her off and then you will get to see her." Dr. Henderson said trying to calm Emily down.
"Why isn't she crying? Aaron... why isn't she crying?" Emily cried in a panic as the seconds ticked by and she didn't hear their daughter start to cry.
Just then she heard the tiniest little cry from the corner of the room where the nurses were at with the baby. Then another little whimper before the loudest cry Emily had ever heard was let loose as the baby began to cry in earnest.
"Oh yeah, she has your temper Aaron." Emily teased as one of the nurses brought the tiny little bundle over to the proud parents.
Emily held her daughter to her chest and just stared at her beautiful little face.
"Look what we made. She is so beautiful." Emily said as she looked up at Aaron with fresh tears streaming down her face.
"Of course she is beautiful, she looks like you. Look at all the hair. It's amazing. Jack didn't have that much when he was born." Hotch said as he reached out and rubbed his hand gently over his daughter's head.
"Do you have a name picked out for her yet?" Dr. Henderson asked from where she was finishing up with Emily.
Emily and Hotch looked at each other with guilty looks on both of there faces.
"Not yet. We can't agree on one." Emily said as she continued to stare at Aaron.
"Well just as long as she has one before you leave. We will need it for the birth certificate. They are going to take the baby and get her cleaned up while they get you settled in your room. I'll tell your friends which room and have them meet you upstairs soon." Dr. Henderson said before leaving the room.
"Thank you." Hotch called after the woman.
"Now let's discuss baby names." Hotch said as he looked down at his wife and daughter.
Thirty minutes later Emily was settled into her room and her hand Hotch were both squeezed onto the small hospital bed. Hotch held his daughter and couldn't keep the smile from his face as he looked down at her asleep in his arms.
Then thing they heard was a ruckus in the hallway right before the door swung open and in walked Jack and Penelope.
"They only let two of us come back here, so I volunteered to bring Jack." Penelope said in a winded breath.
"Daddy... Emily." Jack said excitedly as he ran over to the bed. "Can I see her? What's her name?" Jack asked as he peered over his parents to look at his baby sister.
"Well we have a name picked out for her but we need to know if you are okay with it too." Hotch spoke up and looks over at Emily.
"Okay. What is it? If you don't tell me what it is then I can't tell you if I like it or not." Jack said, giving them both a look Emily could have sworn was a Hotch look.
"Well we wanted the name to be special..." Emily began but Jack interrupted her before she could finish her sentence.
"It will be special, doesn't matter the name, it will be special because it will be her name and she is special so that makes it special." Jack said with a huge smile on his face.
"Smart kid." Penelope said from the other side of the bed. "Now what is her name?"
Just then the rest if the team piled through the door. The last through the door was Reid, who stood just inside the door by Alex Blake, the newest member of the team, just in case he needed to make a quick exit.
"Okay Jack, climb up on the foot of the bed because this is going to be your decision." Emily said to her stepson.
"You to Dave." Hotch said and then watched Dave move in front if Penelope and Morgan to sit on the foot of the bed beside Jack.
"Okay we picked this name because we really couldn't agree on another one and we wanted it to be a very special name. How does Erin Haley Hotchner sound to the two of you?" Emily asked the two sitting at the foot of the bed.
Dave teared up a little before he nodded his head, "Erin would love that. How about you Jack, do you like it?"
Jack looked at his baby sister for a minute before looking up at his parents.
"I thinks it's a good name. Mom would have liked that. Don't you think she would like it dad?" Jack asked his father.
"I think she would love it Jack. So everyone say hello to Erin Haley Hotchner, the newest member of the BAU." Hotch said as he started to hand the baby to Dave only to be stopped by Penelope.
"Oh no, I'm the fairy godmother here so I get to hold her first. The rest of you can come back tomorrow and hold her." Penelope said as she took her newest godchild from Hotch.
"She is beautiful. She looks just like Emily. Look she's smiling, she has your dimples Hotch." Penelope gushed over the little one as everyone else surrounded her for a peek.
Hotch and Emily looked at each other and smiled. "Gas." They said together and the rest of the team laughed.