PART ELEVEN

When Emily stepped into the bullpen a few weeks later, she found a box of healthy granola bars and a box of different teas. She found herself pouting, her hands on her hips. She really didn't want to play this game with Aaron, but she didn't take well to being hovered over, and he knew that. The one time she'd been deathly ill, ill enough to call in sick, he'd tried to be nice and come over, but she'd been belligerent and he'd gone home quickly. She'd apologized a few days later, when she'd returned to the office, but he'd learned his lesson.

JJ was the next into the office, making a beeline for Emily's desk and stopping dead when she noticed her friend staring at the offending items on her desk. She laughed slightly. "Coffee is the hardest," she said sympathetically.

Emily sighed. JJ had two boys with Will so Emily imagined if anyone knew what she was about to go through, it was JJ. Though she wasn't sure Will was as overprotective as Hotch had a habit of being. "I can do the wine, but coffee too? How am I supposed to survive cases?"

JJ shook a shopping bag at her best friend. "With these. My staple."

Emily glanced in the bag and turned a grin at JJ. "You are a godsend." She pulled from the bag less healthy granola bars of chocolate and marshmallow. "I'm going to have to hide these."

"Oh you bet you will. Looks like Hotch wants nothing but the best for you. What else is new?"

"Not now, okay?" Emily pleaded.

"How many times to I have to tell you that everything will be fine?" JJ asked with a chuckle. "You're forgetting that we've been waiting for the two of you to just admit that you're in love with each other."

"JJ!"

"Right. We're not supposed to talk about that," JJ said, a little grin tilting the corners of her mouth. "Try the tea, eat a granola bar and I'll see you in an hour."


Derek eyed Emily with trepidation. Something had been off with the brunette for the past three months and he really wasn't sure what to make of it. There were times she seemed incredibly happy, then, in the blink of an eye, could burst into tears. Just yesterday she'd ripped into Reid about the colour of his shirt clashing with the colour of his shoes. It had scared the poor genius and put Derek even more on edge than usual. And that wasn't even the strangest part.

The strangest part was the people Emily seemed to gravitate towards when she had one of her swings. Hotch wasn't a surprising one. JJ, on the other hand, was. So often, Derek had seen Penelope and JJ go to Emily with their problems, never the other way around. And the blond just seemed to have an uncanny ability of showing up at exactly the right time in order to calm Emily down. And Hotch seemed to have begun catering to her every whim. She said jump, he said how high. Along with her mood swings and JJ's attitude, it was starting to get disconcerting.

Even now he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. He'd been sitting there, watching her hum out of the corner of his eye for the better part of twenty minutes, wondering who she'd snap at next. Yesterday, it had been a poor rookie from counter-terrorism who had come in to ask her opinion on a case. Why he'd picked Emily when Derek had tried to make it clear to the virtual boy that it was a bad idea, Derek had no idea. Yet part of him had been glad it had been the kid and not him that Emily had turned on.

"Derek, can you stop watching me like I'm insane?"

He saw Reid's eyes dart up as he turned fully to face her, trying not to swallow thickly. "You bit of some rookie's head yesterday. I'm sorry if I'm a little nervous."

Emily arched an eyebrow. Derek gauged her mood. She was still happy. And ready to tease. "He deserved it. He was asking stupid questions."

"There's no such thing as a stupid question," Derek replied. "Especially when it comes to terrorism."

She nodded, but shifted in her seat and he wondered if there was something she wasn't telling them. She sighed. "Will you boys excuse me?"

Derek arched an eyebrow at Reid as Emily raced off. He'd seen that look on her face before and wondered why on earth she was trying to hold in the fact that she had to go to the bathroom.

"She's been doing that a lot recently," Reid said, his eyes losing focus as his brain kicked in.

"Doing what?"

Derek jumped. Why on earth did the man have to do that? And how had he not noticed? "Going to the bathroom. We're wondering if something is wrong. That, and the mood swings.... Not to mention the four doctor's visits in the last three months. There's something she's not telling us." Derek knew better than to lie to his boss. The man could smell a lie from across the country. And if he was being really honest, he was worried about her anyway. Health was not something to be messed with.

Something flickered over Hotch's face, but it was really too fast for Derek to catch and interpret. "I'll talk to her about it," he offered.

"We just want to make sure she's okay," Reid piped up, though his eyes told of fear. He wanted to know if Emily was liable to kill him again.

Derek found himself chuckling. "Did you throw out the blue shirt?"

Reid shook his head. "The pants."

Both men laughed.


Emily was surprised to find she'd been called into Hotch's office when she returned from her eight millionth bathroom break of the day. She was trying to hold it in an attempt to keep suspicion down, but even she knew she hadn't done a good job. She knew Reid was now terrified of her. So she reached into the bottom drawer of her desk, digging around for a few minutes before she found her prize. Triumphantly pulling it out of the drawer, she made her way up to Hotch's office.

"You wanted to see me?"

His entire face softened when he saw her and Emily felt her insides melt a little. That look, the look that told her the child she was carrying meant as much to him as the one he already had at home, never ceased to hit her heart. And she knew he was only looking at the baby.

"I did," he said finally. "Close the door."

"Uh oh. I have a feeling this isn't a social call."

He laughed slightly. "Actually, you could call it a social call."

"Oh?" Now she was confused and probably a little apprehensive. They deliberately kept personal out of the office. Usually any talk that had to do with home they had either over dinner or over the phone.

"You're scaring the kids, Emily."

It took a moment for her brain to process the words, then another for her to burst out laughing. When she finally calmed down, she met his eyes. "I can't control them. You know that." As if to prove her point, she pulled out the granola bar she'd snatched from her desk.

He eyed the package with suspicion. "That's not one of the ones I got you."

"Nope," she replied happily, tearing open the wrapper. "I have someone on the inside."

"I'll talk to JJ when I'm done with you."

She arched an eyebrow. "Done with me? What are you implying?"

"Emily."

His tone was warning and for now, she heeded it. "What do you want me to do?"

"Not you," he said, coming around the desk and reaching for her hands. "Us."

"Us?" she questioned.

"I think it's time Emily," he told her, stroking a thumb over the back of her hand. "I think it's time to tell the team about the baby."


I'm so incredibly sorry this took so long! Between planning a formal and writing an exam and a paper I had no time to write stories so I had to choose carefully. And this one was giving me some serious issues to boot. I was not happy.

But I did it! And I hope you enjoyed it!