Before long, the team was gathered in the conference room, and things felt strange.

Though the table was round, this morning, there was a clear division, right in half. Emily, JJ, and Spencer were sitting at the head of the table, their backs to the presentation screen. JJ was on Emily's right, while Spencer, who was now all too aware of just how connected he was with JJ's and Emily's family, sat on her left. Penelope sat on the other side of the divide, not saying anything because she already knew, and next to her, each more confused than the next person, were Derek, Rossi, and Hotch.

It was the latter who bit the bullet. "Okay, Emily. Educate us on your daughter, please."

Emily took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I grew up all around the world because of my mom's ambassadorial postings, and twenty-five years ago, we were in Rome."

"How old were you?"

"Fifteen." Emily replied, hoping that she could keep down the blush that was threatening to creep up. "I made certain choices, and the next thing I know, I'm pregnant. Aurora was born on Valentine's Day, and I wanted to keep her because she was my daughter, but it wouldn't have been a good idea."

"Why not?"

"I was a wild child, and I wouldn't have trusted myself to raise a baby because I was afraid of doing something bad that could possibly hurt her. I also didn't want to foist her on my parents while I finished school, either."

A few seats down, Rossi had a lightbulb moment. "So you gave her up."

Emily nodded. "I did, and I also closed the adoption because it would have made me sadder. I didn't see her again until yesterday because of a certain twist of fate."

Derek arched an eyebrow. "And that twist of fate is named Spencer, isn't it?"

Everyone turned to Spencer, who immediately blushed.

"Yes, Aurora is my girlfriend, and we met a few months ago." Spencer said. "How we met is another story altogether, but the short of it is that we've been together ever since, and we are very, very in love."

"And you two have a baby on the way," smiled Rossi. "Mazel tov."

Spencer chuckled nervously. "Thanks, and, uh, the baby isn't the only child I have now, actually."

It was Hotch's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Spencer pulled a picture of Alice out of his wallet and slid it across the table to Hotch.

"That's our Alice Rose. She's three."

Hotch admired the picture and then handed it to Penelope for her to see.

"And so darling!" the blond cooed, having a look before passing the picture on. "She looks like a mini Emily!"

JJ, who had been watching everybody, noticed that Hotch was extra quiet, so she called her partner out on it.

"Aaron? You look like you've gone off to La La Land."

"Do you have a picture of Aurora on hand?"

Emily dug up a picture she and Alice had taken last night on her phone and slid it across the table. Hotch caught her phone and compared the picture on the screen to the picture of Alice that Rossi handed him. Everyone watch, realizing that he was having a lightbulb moment of his own.

"Haley and Jack know them." he finally said.

"I beg your pardon?" Emily, JJ, and Spencer chorused.

"Well, I never made the connection until just now because Haley and Jack refer to them as Rora and Allie, but they met three years ago and they all hang out together on the weekends at the playground by our house when Haley isn't at work. I think the kids are in the same day program together, too." Hotch said, passing the borrowed items back to their owners. "Jack and Alice have known each other their entire lives, but I've never had a chance to meet Alice or her mother because I'm gone most weekends. I do know that Jack adores Alice a lot, though."

Emily queried, "How did you reach that conclusion?"

"Jack has a framed picture of Alice on his bedside table, next to the one of Haley and I, and he blows kisses to it before he goes to bed. Sometimes he talks to the picture, too."

Next to him, Derek suddenly bore an extremely cheeky grin, and just as he opened his mouth to make a jibe, Emily shut him down.

"Derek Dabney Morgan, don't you dare crack any jokes about my grandbaby becoming a Hotchner one day because while I'm quite tickled by the idea, Alice can't even read yet! And no jibes about me being a grandmother, either.

Beside Emily, JJ suddenly giggled and said to Derek, "Your middle name is Dabney?"

"Oh, like Annabelle Euclid is any better?" he shot back. "And I'll have you know that Dabney is a family name, Tinker Bell!"

"Were you two siblings in another life, or something?" Rossi asked in amusement.

"They probably were." Emily sighed, rubbing her temples.

Still in a silly mood, Derek asked JJ, "I suppose jibes about you being a grandmother are off-limits, too?"

"How did you know?" JJ squawked.

"You holding hands with Prentiss confirmed that you two are together, so it was easy to make the leap from there." (Penelope, Rossi, and Hotch nodded in agreement) "How long have you two been together, and is there anything else you want to say?"

"We've been together for the last four, almost five months." JJ answered shyly. "We were just keeping this quiet because of something else really special that we're so excited about."

"Don't leave us hanging!"

"We're both pregnant!"

The air was filled with cheers and congratulations, although more questions were asked quickly after that.

"Emily, do your parents know about Aurora?"

"Do Aurora's adoptive parents know about everything that's going on?"

"Does Alice?"

Emily, JJ, and even Spencer were happy to answer everything.

The day passed by in a blur after that, and before Emily knew it, she was driving to Aurora's house to pick her up for their dinner date. Emily was very amused to see that Aurora had clearly been waiting for her because she was in the driveway for about a minute before she left her house and made her way to the car.

"A little eager to leave, I see." Emily joked a few minutes later after they left Noir Crescent and transitioned onto the main road.

"Like you wouldn't believe, Emily." Aurora leaned back in her seat and glided her hand over her midsection, its roundness just visible under her winter coat. "We told Alice about the baby this morning, and I stayed home with her to hang out with her, but she wouldn't leave me alone about it until I could find something to distract her with."

"Looking forward to your kindergarteners tomorrow?"

"Very much, and just you wait: in three years, you and JJ will have a pair of chatterbox toddlers on your hands."

Emily shuddered and changed lanes, both figuratively and literally. "I would rather just think of your siblings as babies… and also how to propose to JJ."

Aurora lit up at that last part. "You're already thinking about that? Share your ideas with me!"

"Pick a place for dinner first. It's my treat and your choice."

Aurora looked out at the nighttime landscape of their town, surveying her surroundings.

"How about that new Mexican place over by the mall?" she asked her mother, looking back at her. "Do you know it?"

Emily nodded; it was actually in the direction they were headed. "Indeed I do, but if we want to start this night out right, you have to tell me baby stories about Alice. I want to know baby tips, too."

"You mean because you're going to tell me your ideas about how to propose to JJ?"

"Bingo."

"Then it's a deal."

This was going to a great night.