Author's Note: Written for the Profiler Choice Awards.

Welcome Home Again

Emily had just closed the door on the nursery when her cell phone rang. She breathed a sigh of relief at the timing as her daughter, Jenna, was notoriously hard to put down for bed. Stubborn like Emily, she was also afraid of missing anything like her mama. The combination made for a rough bedtime routine each night.

"Hello?"

"Hey, sweetheart," Garcia sighed, her voice void of any of it's normal perkiness. "I didn't wake Jenna, did I?"

Emily smiled as she gathered up toys from around the living room. "No. I had already left the room by the time you called."

She could hear the frown in Garcia's voice as she replied, "I'm sorry that I missed her."

"I know you are, but it's fine. She's fine. I'm fine," Emily assured her. "It's not like this is a common occurrence. You're allowed to work late. Lord knows I've missed enough bedtimes."

"Didn't we make a pat a long time ago not to beat ourselves up over everything that we miss?" Garcia asked.

Emily chuckled as she tossed the toys into the bin. "You're right. I take it back. When do you think you'll be home?"

Garcia sighed. "Soon. They got the unsub. I'm just closing out a few things."

"Bad one, huh?"

"Really bad," Garcia agreed. "Really, really bad. I'm going to need a mind cleanse from this one. Hotch gave us tomorrow off."

"That's probably because JJ's entered the really horny stage of pregnancy and he wants to take advantage of that," Emily joked.

Garcia gave off a wistful sigh. "That was definitely my favorite part of your pregnancy. Well, that and feeling Jenna kick."

Laughing, Emily reminded her, "You're still having the next one."

"I look forward to it," Garcia commented. "I think it might be time to start discussing that, by the way. I know Jenna's not even quite a year yet, but it took a long time to conceive with her and face it, my dear, neither of us is getting any younger."

"Are you calling me old?"

"No, but only because I'd be calling myself old, too," Garcia heckled.

Emily grinned, shaking her head. "We can talk about it. Tomorrow. Tonight is going to be just about you and me and the 3 o'clock wake-up call that Jenna is sure to provide."

Garcia paused. "Are you 'handling' me?"

"Yes. But before you protest, how many times have you done the same to me?" Emily countered.

"Only once or twice."

Emily burst out laughing at this. "Sure." She sobered when Garcia gave out only a half-hearted laugh of her own. "Love, I'm not 'handling' you. I just know that you've had a stressful day. I used to work for the BAU, remember? I'm not handling you. I'm making sure that you have a soft place to land when you walk through the door.

Garcia smiled, though she had tears in her eyes. "Would you be that soft place?"

"Eventually, but at first, I'm thinking a long, hot bath with bubbles, candles, and a bottle of wine while I feed you bits of cheese and fruits. Then, I lead you to our bedroom and treat you to a full body massage. After that, it's up to you what we do."

"I love you, Emily Prentiss-Garcia," Garcia sniffed.

"I love you, too, Penelope Prentiss-Garcia," Emily replied. "And I can't wait for you to come home."

END

Author's Note: The final ballot for the Profiler Choice Awards is up. Please head over to the Profiler Choice Awards forum for details on how to vote. Voting runs until December 14, 2013. Good luck to all nominees! www. Fanfiction forum /Profiler-Choice-Awards-2013/ 141001/