A/N: Yay! They gave my work to someone else to handle. More time for writing.

I have to admit I nearly squeal with excitement every time I see an alert telling me I have a review in my inbox. You guys make my minutes, hours, days and here, now; I really just want to say THANK YOU to greengirl82, Hazmatt, Wtiger5 (for A & B), megameighteen, HGRHfan35 and HPforever-after.

Rated T adult themes and a little bit of chaos.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben.

Creative Chaos

Emily frowned as she looked down at her abdomen. When she'd gone to sleep the night before, she was certain she was just a bit bloated as she frowned at how her tummy was poking out. Yet this morning, with adequate time for the bloating to have subsided, she found herself wondering if she'd somehow put on even more weight since she went to bed.

"Hey love, you're going to be late to Teresa's if you don't leave now. What's wrong?"

She took a deep breath in, watching her abdomen closely, and sighed tiredly.

"Did you see that?"

"Mmm, sexy baby belly. Though by the frown on your face, I'm wondering if I actually saw what you wanted me to see."

"I'm only ten weeks pregnant. Do we agree on this fact?"

Aaron nodded slowly, a wary look on his face. "Yes."

"Then why has my belly popped out so radically in the last 24 hours? You spent a good half an hour kissing and caressing and generally saying hello to the baby yesterday afternoon. Was I, or was I not, still flat in that moment?"

He settled back on his heels and frowned slightly as he thought. Then he blinked and frowned at the bare skin he could see.

"Breathe in again for me please."

She did that and smiled dryly as his eyes grew huge and a slightly dismayed look came over his face.

"Now we're on the same page. I'm betting $50 that it's twins again. Doc Lewis said that it was rare for what happened with Chloe and India to just look like a normally pregnancy the whole way through. She also said that having twins the first time is not a guarantee against having a second set and that if I suddenly popped out overnight, that was a pretty good indication."

Aaron groaned softly. "Like we don't have enough fun with the three children we have now."

Emily smiled wryly. "Jack will be thrilled."

"I wonder if he'll still be thrilled when Mirkal marries our nanny and takes her away just as he's gaining more siblings."

She raised an eyebrow. "Do you know something I don't?"

"Not at all. But I see how he looks at her and I know he's kicking himself for letting her go the first time. He won't hesitate this time when the time is right and I doubt that will be more than six months down the track."

She sighed again. "You're probably right about that. Who on earth is going to want to come in to help with two sets of twins under 18 months and an active seven year old?"

He suddenly grinned. "Maybe we're being overly hasty. You could just have lots of fluid there."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Aaron Hotchner, I'm going to forget that you said that because I don't want to have to kill you today." She looked back at her tummy. "Maybe I should shift the ultrasound appointment forward by a couple of weeks. I know if I explain it, the doctor will understand since we've already been through this scenario."

"Seriously, don't borrow trouble today of all days. We're both running late now, cause I can hear Dave and the guys downstairs. You need to skedaddle."

She giggled at his use of the word she had only ever used around the children and he moved closer with a smile that was turning heated as he brushed his fingers lightly up her arm and across her chest above her bra.

His lips caressed hers lightly, but she pulled back and forced her mind to focus.

"There was a reason for my considerable concern over the extra weight in my abdomen."

"Mmm?"

She doubted he was paying that much attention as his lips brushed down her neck.

"Aaron, the gown I need to wear today is fitted. And I seriously doubt that, as excellent as Matilda is with last-minute alterations, she can get that much extra fabric out of that dress."

He froze as the implications of her words sank in. Pulling back, he studied her face before shaking his head slightly.

"Then you really need to get a move on so you can deal with it before Teresa panics. She's nervous enough as it is thinking Dave's going to change his mind at the last minute. We all know he won't, but trying to tell her that doesn't work."

"I seriously doubt much fazes that woman after years of dealing with Dave but you're right; I should get a move on because I have noticed the nerves; I just didn't realise what was driving them. Carrie's probably waiting for me already anyway and it's not fair to keep everyone else waiting."

She was matron of honour to Aaron's best man. Dave also had Reid and Derek standing with him today as he married the woman he clearly adored. On Teresa's side were two other women she had never met, two of Teresa's closest friends from Cleveland. She'd spoken with them numerous times on the phone though, and she was looking forward to their first meeting later that morning.

As she pulled her sweater on and tugged her hair out from under the collar she added, "I'm so glad this is an afternoon wedding."

Aaron nodded agreement as he crossed the room to get the ringing phone. It was only just after 5 in the morning and he was sure it wasn't good news as he answered.

Emily shook her head slightly as she gently stroked the swell of her abdomen. If they ended up having another set of twins, she figured she'd finally stop worrying about all the extra space they'd have in the house. But if she did have two more babies, she and Aaron were going to have a serious talk about abstinence in the aftermath of their birth.

"Em, Teresa was just on the phone and she doesn't sound too good. You need to head off and give her a call on your way."

She grimaced and kissed him quickly. "I'll see you this afternoon handsome."

She grabbed her bag and rushed out of the room and down the stairs. Carrie was leaning against the front door while the guys waited in the hall chatting with her.

"Where are the kids? It seems far too quiet for the hour."

Carrie grinned as Emily pulled out her phone and her keys. "Elizabeth and Thomas arrived in town a couple of days ago. The intention was to spend time with the family and it just worked out perfectly. They have Toby and their grandkids for the day and Emily and I get a clear run to ensure that your day is perfect."

Dave smiled. "That makes perfect sense to me."

"We need to go now, so you boys have fun and stay out of trouble."

"I don't intend to get into any trouble at all," Reid intoned seriously, causing everyone around him to roll their eyes. The girls left the guys ribbing the youngest of their group.

Emily dialled and put the phone to her ear as she held out the keys. "Could you drive for me please?"

"Emily! Thank God. Tell me you're almost here?"

"I'm sorry; we're only just leaving." Emily jumped as Teresa let out a wail of despair. The look Carrie shot her said the other woman had also heard the cry and now they were both worried. "Honey, calm down and tell me what's wrong."

"I'm standing outside the cathedral where we're meant to be getting married today and there's police crime tape everywhere and police officers here telling me no one is going to be entering this building for the next few days at least."

"Whoa, okay. Did you drive there?"

"No, I couldn't sleep so I went for a run. What are we going to do?"

"Breathe for a start. Honey, you need to calm down. This isn't good for you and it certainly isn't good for the baby."

She listened to Teresa's shaky attempts to calm down, softly encouraging her once she'd redirected Carrie to pick the other woman up.

"Okay, that's better. It'll take us about half an hour to get there, so try and find somewhere warm to wait or better yet, head home and we'll meet you there. I'll attempt to find out what's going on from this end."

"O...okay. Sorry; I've just been really nervous wondering if Dave's going to cancel at the last minute and now with something being wrong at the church I'm certain he's going to cancel on me and..."

"Teresa!" Emily snapped sharply, causing the younger woman to stop. "I'm hanging up now. And when Dave calls you in the next two minutes, you're going to answer the phone and you're going to believe him when he reassures you. In addition to this, you're going to calm down and lean on me, your matron of honour, like you're supposed to. Are we clear on all of this?"

"Yes," she said in a small voice.

"Very good. Remember we love you and we'll see you soon. Message me if you decide to head home; otherwise we'll meet you outside the cathedral."

She hung up and rolled her neck as Carrie said, "That sounds complicated."

"Like you wouldn't believe. How do you find a cathedral and redirect everything there for a wedding with less than twelve hours to get it all arranged?"

"Oh dear. Maybe we should call the girls in to help. It sounds like you'll need it."

She nodded agreement as Dave finally answered his phone.

New Section

They exchanged a quick look of dismay at what they saw as the cathedral Dave and Teresa had chosen for their special day came into view. Police were everywhere, as were crime scene technicians and unfortunately on top of everything else, there were reporters hovering around outside of the tape.

"It always looks a bit like a circus to me," Carrie murmured as she pulled the car over.

Emily nodded agreement and scanned the crowd for their bride. Teresa appeared out of the spectators that had also gathered and jogged toward them, climbing into the back of the car and sighing wearily.

Emily and Carrie turned to her as she explained, "I spoke with Father Vercelli. Apparently one of their parishioners was found murdered in the late hours of last evening. The entire grounds are closed off to everyone until the police have finished their investigation. He is incredibly apologetic and has promised that if we can find somewhere else for the wedding, he will come to wherever it is and he will still marry us. Even if it is a church of another religion or some other venue with no religious background."

"Okay, so that's workable," Carrie said encouragingly with a look at Emily, who was nodding slowly.

"I agree. We can work around this. But we are definitely going to need all the phones we can muster with some willing volunteers once we sort out the new venue in order to alert all your guests in time. And since we can't do that so early, the least we can do is wake the girls up and get them on their way to your place so we're ready to go."

Teresa looked relieved as she did up her seatbelt and Carrie turned the car around.

New Section

"I hope you have a very, very good reason for waking me up so early," Penelope mumbled with a yawn as she walked into the living room with Kevin in her wake.

"Don't complain; we could have called you two hours ago despite how pointless that would have been at that early hour," Carrie said as she continued checking a list in front of her.

"Why did you call us, and where is superwoman and our gorgeous bride?"

"We called everyone we could think of; you just arrived first so don't think you're the only one we intend to torture. Teresa is currently being comforted by Dave's dulcet tones and Emily is in one of the spare rooms with Matilda as our expert seamstress attempts to find a few extra inches in Emily's dress."

"Why does she need to do that?" JJ asked as she walked in with Will, who was carrying a sleepy Henry in his arms. JJ herself was wide awake.

"Because somehow overnight Emily put on almost four pounds, all of it in her abdomen."

"Is she having twins again?" Penelope asked eagerly, suddenly wide awake despite the early hour.

Carrie shrugged. "It's a thought."

"So what's going to happen when you marry Mirkal?" Jordan asked as she walked in with Austin, Kelly and Brad.

Carrie looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Do you know something I don't?"

"Only that the man is crazy about you."

She smiled a small smile. "At the moment we're just happily dating and I don't think we'll be changing the status quo anytime soon."

"That's a relief to hear," Emily said as she walked in to the room. "Not that I won't be over the moon thrilled for you and Mirkal when it happens, but for now it's too scary to contemplate having to find someone else. Where's Teresa?"

"Still on the phone with Dave. Is there a problem?"

"If by problem you mean the dress can't be altered, then yes; we do have a problem."

Entering the room at that moment, Teresa blanched slightly; the happy smile fell off her face and she sat down heavily when only a moment ago she'd been bouncing with happiness.

Matilda smiled kindly at her. "I'm really sorry Teresa, but it just can't be done. I do have an alternative to offer though. Some brides like their matrons to dress differently; sometimes it is a completely different style of dress, but most often it is just a different shade of the colour. I have the exact same gown you have chosen in a couple of larger sizes that I could easily adjust in time to suit Emily's growing figure; the only difference is that they are three shades darker."

Emily moved to sit on the coffee table in front of Teresa's chair. Taking her friends hands in hers, she assured softly, "It will look lovely and it won't be at all out of place. We can start with Matilda having the dresses brought over and we can go from there. Does that sound alright?"

Teresa took a breath and nodded, and Matilda immediately moved out of the room with her phone to make the request.

"I'm sorry."

"For what honey?"

"I promised myself I wasn't going to be one of those high-maintenance brides who needs her hand held through the whole process. Now I'm turning into just that. You must think I'm terrible right now."

Emily smiled gently. "Not at all. You've been given a couple of hard knocks but you're bouncing back and we'll get there in the end. Have you and Dave given any thought to where else you might get married?"

"Father Vercelli made a couple of suggestions, but Dave has phoned them all and they aren't free. So getting married in a cathedral in this city today is out."

"Okay. What did Dave suggest?"

A ghost of an amused smile touched Teresa's lips. "After we got done discussing it, the verdict was that in the end, he doesn't care and neither do I; as long as we are together."

Everyone agreed that was a good attitude to have and Teresa sat up straighter and started looking happier again.

Austin's hand came up slowly. "Do you know, there's a hotel about 15 minutes from here with a grand ballroom that looks like a cathedral right out of the olden days. I can't remember off the top of my head what it's called, but I would know it on sight."

"Oooh, lets Google it," Carrie said with a beaming smile just as Emily's phone rang.

She checked the number and smiled. "This'll be the florist confirming the order. Hello?"

She walked out of the room slowly as she listened, but by her very stance and despite her silence, everyone knew instinctively that something else had gone wrong. They waited with bated breath until she returned.

"Okay that was the florist saying they double booked us with another wedding they're catering to and they don't have nearly enough roses for what we requested." Seeing Teresa's hopeful smile disappear, Emily lifted a hand quickly and continued. "But because they are incredibly sorry about the mix-up, they are already in the process of sourcing somewhere else to help us out and they will not only cover any additional costs incurred, but they will also waive the fees they normally charge for a last minute change of venue."

Teresa relaxed. "So it's going to be alright? We'll have enough roses?"

"Even if I have to take a drive to mother's city estate and prune her prized roses myself."

Teresa smiled and quite a few of the girls giggled just as a cheery voice called, "Honey we're heeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrre!"

Teresa bounced up and flew out of the room with a happy laugh and Emily relaxed.

Carrie looked at her and said wryly, "What's the bet the caterer has an issue next?"

Emily rolled her eyes. "I was thinking pretty high, so I called them to check when I got off with the florist. They only have the reception to cover for today, so there aren't any scheduling difficulties to get around. I also called the venue for the reception and they are still good to go after we got finished with the decorations yesterday morning."

"So we just have to hope for the roses and source the ceremony venue."

"And deal with the gown."

"And deal with the gown. It all sounds doable, but I'm sitting here waiting for the other shoe to drop."

Emily decided to change the subject. "Any luck with finding the ballroom?"

"Mmm, Austin is on the phone to them now to see if they are available. She did point out a need for enough chairs, but the thought was that we could see if the hotel had them if the ballroom is available."

"Yes!" Austin shouted as Teresa returned to the room with her arms linked with her two friends. "The ballroom is available all day today, they have plenty of chairs for the numbers we've got and the best thing is, the manager was totally sympathetic and will let you have it for free because I said we'll do all the decorating and the cleaning up afterwards."

Everyone cheered and Teresa hurried over to see the pictures of the room as Emily introduced herself to Tessa and Marlene. Once they were sure that Teresa was happy with the look of the room, they called Dave to tell him to have a look at the site as well. When he indicated he was happy with that, they hung up and turned to the task of calling everyone.

"Right," Penelope said. "I've grouped everyone by accommodation, which allows us to make just a few calls as opposed to potentially hundreds. Messages can be left with the concierge desk as long as we stress the urgency of the messages getting to their intended targets by noon today."

"Works for me, considering we need to get over to the ballroom soonest so we can get it set up in time."

"Right, everyone take a list and start dialling."

New Section

Emily smiled as she stepped back from Teresa. The panicky woman from early that morning had disappeared into the confident bride standing ready in front of her.

"Do you think Dave will like the dress?"

Well, mostly confident anyway.

"He's going to simply love the dress Reese, you don't have a thing to worry about," Marlene assured her.

"And if he does have a problem with it, send him my way and I'll sort him out for you," Tessa added with an impish grin.

Emily laughed and soothed a hand over her abdomen. "He'll love it because you're wearing it, but don't be surprised if the Italian father-to-be in him spends the entire afternoon and evening insinuating on how much fun he's going to have getting you out of it."

"Is that personal experience talking?" Tessa asked curiously.

"Not really; we didn't find out I was pregnant until the week after the wedding, but regardless he was definitely thinking naughty thoughts the whole day."

More laughter heralded that pronouncement as they all moved to check that everything was in place and ready to go for the ceremony due to start in just a few minutes. Already the strains of the old fashioned organ Penelope had found somewhere and hired for the afternoon could be heard filling the room underneath them. The part Teresa had loved the most about the room? The gorgeous staircase she got to walk down from this room they were getting ready in as part of her bridal march.

Teresa had opted to have her hair pulled up into an elegant chignon, with a crown of delicately thin snowflakes on her head. What took the crown from tacky to simply stunning were the myriad tiny, perfectly cut, diamonds filling up each flake and causing the light to flare beautifully as it struck the piece. Larger diamonds hung from her ears and her necklace.

The dress was stunning and perfect for winter. From the square cut neckline down to the waist of the gown the dress was a solid wall of appliqué both front and back. The long sleeves flared slightly at the elbows to fall wide around her wrists and was see-through except where additional appliqué traced delicate patterns out to the edge of the fabric. The ball gown shaped bell of the skirt was satin and appliqué traced more delicate patterns around the bottom edges of the dress. The whole dress was white, slightly vintage, and perfectly Teresa.

The whole effect was enough to make them all sigh with longing at the same time which led to more laughter just as there was a knock at the door. Emily opened it up and smiled warmly at Teresa's father standing on the other side.

"Show time ladies."

First Emily, then Tessa and finally Marlene descended, holding their bouquets and smiling as they fought the urge to look down and watch their footing on the unfamiliar set of stairs. Then the music changed and everyone stood as they turned to watch Teresa descend on her father's arm, her smile radiant as she caught sight of Dave.

Both halves of the couple were entirely oblivious to everyone around them as they gazed into each others eyes. And when it came to the end, Dave didn't wait for the priest to give him permission to kiss his wife. Sliding his hands down her arms, he stepped into her space and leaned down as she lifted her face with a soft smile. Her arms came up around his neck as his hands settled at the small of her back.

Everyone gave them just a couple of seconds before the cheering and whistling started and as they pulled back from each other, they silently acknowledged that their 12 year journey to this point, though fraught with tension, arguments and several near-breakups, was completely worth it.

They were worth it.

End-

A/N: Stay tuned to this space to find out what one thing Penelope Garcia-Lynch simply can't deal with seeing.

D is for...

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