Disclaimer: Sue Thomas FBEYE and Criminal Minds do not belong to me.

Words in capital letters are signed.

Chapter One

FBI Supervisory Agent Derek Morgan raced through the ER doors and nearly attacked the first nurse he saw.
"I'm looking for Dr. Spencer Reid, agent with the FBI!" Morgan waved his badge in the terrified young lady's face.
"Sir." An older nurse stood up behind the admissions desk and glared at him.
"You need to wait in the waiting room."
Morgan strode over and slammed his badge down on the desk. "Where is Spencer Reid? What happened to him? I got a message that he was at the hospital."
Seeing the fear in the dark eyes, the nurse relented and turned to her computer. "I'm sorry, sir. No one with that name has been brought into the ER."
Morgan's shoulders slumped and he rubbed a hand over his head. "He has to be here. Could he have already been admitted?"
"If he had, it would show up here." She glanced up and sighed when she caught the near desperate look in the man's eyes. "Are you sure your friend was brought to this hospital?"
"Yes."
"Do you know what's wrong with him?"
"No." Morgan paced in front of the desk. "With Reid it could be anything. Gunshot, anthrax, migraine,…"
The nurse tuned out the mumblings of the frantic man and turned back to her computer.
"Ah ha, here we go."
Morgan stopped pacing and spun back around to the desk. "What?"
"A Tory Reid, wife of Spencer Reid was admitted to the maternity ward. Sixth floor."
A grin spreading across his face, Morgan sprinted toward the elevators.
"Thank you!" He shouted over his shoulder.

Derek Morgan bolted out the of the elevator the moment the doors slid open to reveal the cheerfully decorated maternity ward and nearly fell headlong over a wheelchair holding a mother and her new daughter.
"I'm sorry. Excuse me. Sorry."
The husband gave Morgan an understanding, sympathetic smile. "Relax, man. You'll survive this."
Morgan stopped in his headlong dash to find Reid and realized that everyone thought he was a frantic father-to-be.
Drawing in a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down. Glancing both ways down the hall, Morgan caught sight of the tall form of his colleague and best friend.

"Reid." Morgan stopped in surprise when the young man spun around cradling a tan-skinned, dark-eyed baby boy on one arm.
"Morgan! Thank God you're here. I need help."
"Kid, the next time you txt to tell me you're at the hospital and need help could you be a little more specific? You nearly gave me a heart attack."
"Sorry. But I need help!"
"Okay. Calm down. What's going on? The nurse said Tory was admitted. Who's that?" Derek pointed to the wide-eyed infant resting comfortably in the crook of one of Reid's arms.
Spencer Reid shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "This is my son."
Derek's eyebrows shot up.
"Reid." He spoke slowly as though afraid his friend had actually snapped and gone crazy. "Tory hasn't had the baby yet. And I don't think they come out that size or that alert."
"It's a long story and I really don't have the time." Reid started his frantic pacing again.
"Hey." Morgan grabbed his arm. "Come on, kid. Calm down. I'm here to help, but I can't if you don't tell what's going on and what you need."
Reid's hazel eyes dropped to the floor. "Please, don't be mad."
"I won't be mad, Pretty Boy. I promise."
"I know I should have told you sooner. Should have told everyone. I wanted to, but…" Reid sighed. "You remember Tory's cousin, Ali, the social worker?"
"Yeah."
"Well, three months ago she told us about a month-old baby boy who had just been turned over to social services." Tears choked Reid's voice. "His parents poured hot oil down his diaper because he wouldn't stop crying."
Reid shrugged. "Tory and I couldn't get him out of our minds. We fell in love with him even though we hadn't seen him and decided we wanted to try to adopt him. We weren't sure if it would work out. If we would be approved or if…"
He swallowed hard. "Or if he would even live. So, we didn't tell anyone. We've been visiting him in the hospital every chance we got. He's had five reconstructive surgeries. This morning we got a call that the adoption had been approved and our son was ready to be released from the hospital. Then Tory went into labor and everything got crazy."

Reid drew in a deep breath and shifted the baby in his arms. "Morgan, I would like for you to meet my son, Derek Matthew Reid."
Spencer raised uncertain hazel eyes to meet Morgan's shocked face. "I hope you don't mind. He is just as much my child as the baby Tory is going to give birth to. And I wanted my firstborn to be named for my brother."
Morgan shook his head.
"Mind? Reid, of course I don't mind. I," he blinked away the tears filling his eyes. "I'm honored beyond measure. Thank you." He reached out and ran a finger down the soft skin of the baby's cheek.
Little Derek stared at him with wide eyes then gave him a heart-melting smile. Morgan brushed away the moisture in his eyes. How could anyone hurt something so beautiful?

"I was wondering if you could keep him in the waiting room for me while I'm with Tory."
"Of course, kid."
Reid hesitated, obviously conflicted about leaving his son even with his best friend.
"He's still very tender and raw in his diaper area. I have medicine and creams in his bag. If he gets fussy or needs to be changed just have a nurse come get me. There are bottles, bottled water, and formula in there two. The formula is already divided into servings. Just dump one section of the container into four ounces of warm water."
Reid glanced at a clock. "He needs to eat in two hours. Sometimes he doesn't eat well. All the surgeries and medications have messed with his appetite."
Morgan grinned at the protectiveness his friend was already showing. He laid a gentle hand on the younger man's arm. "We'll be fine. I promise. This little guy and I will get acquainted and I'll call the others and explain everything. You just go be with Tory and don't worry."
Reid drew in a deep breath. "Okay."
He gently placed the baby in Morgan's waiting arms then leaned down and pressed a kiss on the soft forehead. "Be good, Derek. Daddy loves you."

Bobby Manning groaned as his thirteen-month old daughter rolled over and crawled away for at least the tenth time as he struggled to diaper and dress her.
"Kyra Leigh, stop it." He snatched the toddler and plopped the wriggling body on his lap. "Come on, Pretty Girl. Be still. We have to get you dressed so we can go to Uncle Murdoch's birthday party."
"Doch?" The toddler asked, tilting her head back to look at Bobby.
"Yes."
Bobby took advantage of the momentary distraction and slipped the dress Tara had picked out over their daughter's head. Grinning at his success, Bobby shook his head at the shoes and stood; Kyra on one arm and a tiny pair of shoes dangling from his other hand.
His phone vibrated and Bobby switched the shoes to his other hand and pulled it off his belt.
He glanced at the message and his green eyes widened as a smile stretched across his face. He hurried into the living room where Tara was combing five-year old Robert and Stanley's hair.
"Tara! You'll never believe this. Derek just txt. Spencer and Tory adopted a baby boy, Derek Matthew. And Tory just gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Gideon Riley."