* Here we are with chapter 4. Read away! *

Emily tugged at her dress. She had spent over an hour looking for something appropriate to wear to dinner at Rossi's and the only think she could settle on was a grey, fitted cotton dress.

She had bought the dress with the intentions of wearing it that summer when and if she had a day off from work and could actually go out and spend some time in DC and when she wasn't pregnant. But now she was trying to get ready for dinner at Rossi's in the middle of March. It was an unusually warm spring day in the city and she knew that if she put on any other attire she would be uncomfortable. But now, as she examined herself in the mirror, all she could see was how much the dress accentuated her small baby bump. The whole team would be at dinner and the last thing she wanted was everyone staring at her stomach.

It wasn't like the team didn't know that she was pregnant. After the car accident, the word spread and by the time they got back to headquarters, Emily was sure that the whole bureau knew she was having a baby. But she hadn't been showing it off since that day. She would always opt for loose shirts that hid the small bump she had. The dress made her feel exposed. Like she was actually admitting to everyone that she really was pregnant.

She wanted to change, but when she checked the time on her phone, she saw that she was already fifteen minutes late and she had a missed call from Rossi and messages from JJ.

Twenty minutes later, Emily was knocking on David Rossi's front door. It was answered by none other than the host himself.

"Nice of you to join us, Emily." He winked at her, giving her a hard time for being the last to show up.

"How about you just take the wine I brought and forget about me being so late?" Emily held up the botte of red.

Rossi took it and examined it. "I suppose we can work that out."

Emily walked into the house, or more exactly, the mansion. She could hear everyone in the living room and kitchen down the entryway hallway. It was a Sunday family dinner as Rossi had called it, so the whole team and all of the kids were there. The happy shouts and giggles from the smallest members filled the house with joy.

She started down the hallway toward everyone, but she stopped herself. This was the first time they had all been together since the accident, since everyone found out about the baby. It had been mentioned a few times, but each time, Emily did her best to avoid the conversation because she wasn't ready to have it with everyone. Now she knew that she wasn't going to be able to change the subject. There wouldn't be a new case or present case that she could defer to when she didn't want to talk.

With a deep breath, Emily went the rest of the way into the kitchen. Savannah sat at the island listening to Rossi share his recipe. Hank sat at her feet, enthralled by a brightly-colored, plastic toy. JJ, Penelope, and Tara sat in the living room. Morgan, Will, and Reid were in the backyard with JJ's sons.

"You can come in, Em. None of us will bite." JJ could see that her friend was hesitant.

"I think I would know if any of you bit by now." Emily joked, trying to deflect from herself.

She came all the way in, stopping in the kitchen to see what Rossi was cooking. It smelled delicious. Rossi had already set out some hors d'oeuvres and Emily filled a plate with a few of each.

"I'm glad to see that your appetite is back." Tara commented when Emily walked into the living room.

Emily turned red with embarrassment when she realized how much she had actually put on her plate. "Yeah I guess so."

"Don't be embarrassed. It's a good thing that you're hungry. Especially since I'm pretty sure you've eaten almost nothing in the last couple of months." JJ had been there for a few different bouts of Emily's morning sickness, which was more like all day sickness.

"Please let's try to forget all the times you have seen me throw up." Emily took a seat next to Garcia.

"Oh I will happily forget what I have seen of you in the bathroom in the morning." Penelope chimed in having seen as much as JJ.

"Okay, okay." Emily stopped them. "Enough about my bodily functions. What I really need to know is how Morgan talked Reid into playing football?"

They all turned to watch Spencer try and catch the pass Morgan had thrown to him. Being Dr. Spencer Reid, he completely missed, tripping over his own feet while doing so. A sheepish looked covered his face, as Derek just laughed at his friend.

"I think it's because Henry asked him to play with them and we all know that Spence isn't good at saying no to that kid." JJ chuckled at the whole ordeal, feeling bad for Reid.

"What a sport." Tara said.

"You got that right." JJ told her. "Henry is lucky to have him. All the kids are."

"Yes they are. And they are also very lucky to have their aunt Penelope. Especially this new little one." Penelope placed a gentle hand on Emily's stomach, giving it a rub. "When am I going to be able to feel this baby?"

Emily did her best to hide her discomfort; she hadn't quite gotten used to the touching of the bump yet, but she knew Penelope only did it out of love. "Soon, Pen. I promise that you will be the first to know."

"Wait that brings up a more important question. When are you going to find out if this baby is a boy or girl. I feel the need to shop coming on." Garcia always had her priorities straight.

"I hate to break it to you, but…" Emily started but was cut off by Penelope.

"No. You're going to make me buy gender neutral gifts again? You know how hard that was. Now I'm going to have to buy everything in two colors and then wait until the baby is here to take back all the things you can't use."

"So am I hearing this correctly? Emily Prentiss is going to be surprised?" JJ wasn't sure she believed it.

"I thought you didn't like surprises?" Tara was confused, because since joining the team that was one thing she knew for sure: Emily was not a fan of surprises.

Emily threw her hands up in defeat. "I know, I know. But I decided that this was a surprise I could handle. At least for now; we've got a lot of time before I actually have this baby."

"Maybe this will finally be the little girl the team needs." Tara laughed.

"Don't hold your breath." JJ warned her. "If this team has one talent it is having boys."

Someone's ringing cell phone interrupted their conversation. They all checked their phones, but of course it was Emily's. She swore that since becoming unit chief her phone was constantly going off with calls, messages, or emails.

"Hello." She answered as she walked back down the hallway for a little privacy.

JJ watched her closely. It was Sunday night and she knew that things came in at all times, but for some reason she had a feeling that this call was a little more personal than professional. And as soon as Emily hung up and looked at her she knew that whatever the call was regarding it was not good.

"Emily what's wrong?" JJ ran to her friend who seemed stunned.

"Hotch." Was all that Emily could get out of her mouth.

"What about Hotch?" JJ pressed her.

Emily just shook her head. Her shaking hand held her phone while her other went immediately to her stomach.

"What happened to Hotch, Emily?" JJ was becoming scared.

"He was… he was… shot." Emily had never struggled with a sentence more.

"Damn it." JJ left Emily to tell the rest of the team. She gathered up everyone. Will and Savannah offered to stay with the kids while the rest of the team got to the hospital. Rossi called for the jet as it would be much faster to get to him that way than by car; he was hours away now.

"Em we have to go." JJ spoke to her, but Emily didn't even react. "Emily we have to go."

She just nodded and JJ followed her out of the door. The blonde knew that they all cared about Hotch, but she had never seen Emily react so horribly to something happening to someone on the team. She was usually the first to keep everyone else in line.

Emily said nothing the whole car ride to the jet. She stared out the window and her hand never left her stomach.

"Is she okay?" Tara asked JJ just before take-off.

JJ looked at Emily, who sat at the other end of the plane alone. "I don't know. Something is wrong, but she won't say what it is."

"We can't just let her be alone down there." Penelope said.

"Yes we can. She'll shut down even more if we push her." JJ knew she needed her space and right now they all needed to get to Hotch. "We need to give her some time."

The plane ride felt like it went by in the blink of an eye.

But it wouldn't matter how fast they got to the hospital where Hotch was. They were too late.

His doctor met them in the hallway outside of what had been his room. He knew they were coming and he knew that he needed to be the one to tell them before they found out by entering the now empty hospital room.

"No. No." Penelope cried.

JJ hugged her, doing her best to comfort her and herself.

Reid looked heartbroken and Rossi and Morgan were trying to hold in their emotions, trying to be the strong men for the team even though they were just as upset as everyone else.

Hotch was family. Whether he was with the team recently or not, he was always important to them and now he was gone. It felt like a piece was missing from all of their lives.

Emily was completely overwhelmed. She felt like her whole world was tumbling down around her and she didn't know what to do. But soon she found herself running from the rest of the team to the nearest bathroom.

"Em?" JJ walked in a few minutes later to find Emily sitting on the bathroom floor.

But instead of getting a reply, Emily leaned over and lost the rest of her stomach contents in the toilet.

"Em… was Hotch…?" JJ was pretty sure she already knew that answer. When they got on the plane it dawned on her why Emily would react that way that she did. She knew they had secretly seen each since Emily took Hotch's position as unit chief.

Emily looked up at her and nodded. She didn't want to admit it. She felt like an idiot for being able to say yes to JJ's question. She had gotten pregnant after a one-night stand with her former boss and now she was sitting on the bathroom floor of hospital sick to her stomach over his death. It was all too messed up.

"Why didn't you tell me?" JJ asked her.

"Because I didn't even want to admit it to myself." Emily said quietly.

JJ put her hands out and Emily took them. JJ pulled her up to her feet slowly, making sure that she wouldn't be sick again. She helped Emily clean up a bit.

"How did it come to this?" Emily said it out loud but it seemed like a question for herself.

"Did he know?" JJ couldn't help herself from asking.

"No. And I was never going to tell him."

"Why not? Em, he would have wanted to know."

"I know… I know. But he had this whole new life. The last thing he needed was me and this baby to make him have to come back. And Jack needed him; he doesn't have anybody else. This baby had me, even if that means they got the bad end of the deal, but Jack only had his father and he deserved all of his attention. I just couldn't… I couldn't ruin his life by telling him." For the first time since she had gotten the news, Emily felt the tears streaming down her face.

"I'm so sorry, Em." JJ pulled her in, feeling her body shake with sadness.

* There you have it. Some more drama and now we know where Hotch is. I wanted Hotch to be the father, but I didn't want to write a story about him and Emily as a couple, so this is what I went with instead. I hope you all like it. Let me know what you think! *