PART FOURTEEN

A case had postponed their shopping trip, but JJ, Emily and Penelope were used to having to play to flexible schedules. So it was three weeks after she and Hotch had put down their bid for the house, three days after they'd gotten the confirmation, before the three agents got a chance to just be women.

"A house? You bought a house?" Penelope squealed.

"I know," Emily said with a giggle, chewing the chocolate off of her ice cream. "I don't think I ever expected to be here."

"Where's here?" JJ asked, scrutinizing another window of a maternity store. She was the master shopper in this area and Emily had willingly deferred to her supposed expertise. The fact that the blond knew her brunette friend was really just a bonus.

"Buying a house, having a baby... I never expected it," Emily replied, shaking her head.

"And the man?" Penelope asked as she wandered arm and arm with Emily.

The brunette blew out a breath. "Do we have to talk about it?"

"I just don't understand how both of you can be so blind," Penelope replied.

"Fear is a very good motivator," JJ murmured, though both of her companions heard her.

Penelope ignored her. "You do realize you're doing this completely backwards, right?"

Emily simply arched an eyebrow.

"Baby comes first," Penelope said, one arm crossing her stomach so she could tick the items off on the fingers of the arm tucked into Emily's. "Then the house, which, admittedly, is not necessarily out of the pattern since people move in together before they get married all the time."

Emily's eyes widened. "Marriage? Where the heck are you going with this Penelope?"

JJ snorted. "You're kidding me, right? Hotch was meant to be a family man." She had been completely floored when Emily had explained the deal to her in the first place. It wasn't like Hotch to allow a child to be born out of wedlock. He was traditional almost to a fault, though he really did respect both her and Emily in the field.

"And we've been trying to tell you for years he's in love with you. And I mean head over heels, honey," Penelope agreed. "You're the only one that's been too blind to see it."

Emily rolled her eyes. "He's helping out a friend in doing this, that's all. Could you imagine me going to a sperm bank to pick out a donor for my child?"

"Yeah, but he didn't have to go through the process of buying a house with you," Penelope pointed out. "Heck, he didn't have to do anything past fertilizing the egg. How did that happen, anyway?"

Emily knew she'd gone bright red at Penelope's question. "Hotch is a gentleman, you guys know that."

"Yeah, but to go this far?" JJ asked, stopping to turn. This conversation was turning serious and she wasn't going to miss out on a single word because she was trying to find a store Emily may actually pick something out in. Her friend was surprisingly picky. "Come on, Em. You know Hotch better than any of us do, so you know very well that even gentlemen don't jump through this kind of hoops for a woman they're supposed to be a donor for. You want him to have part custody of this kid and to facilitate that, you're moving in together. Do you have any idea how much work a baby takes? If you think either of you is going to be dating for the first four years of that kid's life, you're dreaming."

Emily believed every word JJ had said. No one knew about children better than she did at this point and Emily knew she and Will hadn't been married when Henry had graced them with his presence. "You knew from the beginning that this was going to be unorthodox."

"Peaches, there's unorthodox, and then there's plain blindness. You are falling into that second category," Penelope replied. "Why are you even fighting this?"

Emily blew out a breath. "Because I'd much rather be his friend and the mother of his child than have him realize I'm not what he wants years down the line."

"Oh please. How many years has that man been divorced? How many women has he dated in the mean time? And how many times have those women given him the ultimatum its either her or you?"

Emily blinked. "What?"

"Come on. No woman likes another woman in her man's life, especially one that's so incredibly close with his son who is not related," Penelope said with a roll of her eyes. "You study behaviour, Em, you can't be blind to that."

"I'm not privy to what he may have talked to another woman about on a date," Emily defended. "And there's nothing of mine in his apartment. Well, nothing much."

"Nothing much?" Penelope asked with an arched eyebrow.

"A pair of sweats, an old t-shirt, comfort clothes," Emily replied.

"Anything else?" JJ asked, her voice almost distracted. "He keep a toothbrush under the sink in the bathroom for you?"

Emily bit her tongue.

"He does!" Penelope crowed.

"What difference does it make if he does or not?" Emily snapped, starting to get irritated. She was sick of her friends picking at her relationship with Hotch.

JJ shrugged. "Honestly? It makes no difference to me. You guys are just hurting yourselves by not allowing yourselves to just love each other. Boundaries suck."

"And what if you're wrong?" Emily asked.

JJ and Penelope exchanged a glance. Fear went along with relationships for Emily like peanut butter and jam in a sandwich.

"Em," Penelope began softly. "There's no way we can be wrong on this. It's just not possible."

JJ squeezed her best friend's shoulder with a little smile. "Come on. We have clothes to buy. And while we're at it pay attention to everything else. We are going to have to throw you a shower at some point."

Emily smiled back. "Thanks, Jayje."

"Always."

But it was enough to make Emily think. So when she was over at Hotch's that night, sitting on the couch with him, watching a movie, she couldn't focus to save her life. And Hotch noticed.

"Everything okay?" he asked, wrapping his arms more securely about her.

She tried to smile. "Everything's fine."

"Emily."

She knew that warning tone and honestly, also knew there was no way she could hide everything from him. If there was one thing she learned, it was that telling as much of the truth as possible was the best way to lie. "I'm exhausted. I love JJ and I love Penelope. I really, really do, but they are exhausting individuals. And they're like dogs with bones with some things like – oh!"

"Emily?"

He was kneeling in front of her in an instant, looking about ready to reach out for the phone. "I... I think I'm okay."

"You think? You've got to give me something better than that, sweetheart."

"I'm not exactly sure what-" She gasped, then grabbed for his hand, placing it over the flutter that she'd felt across her stomach. She knew her grip was tight, but excitement coursed through her. "Can you feel it?"

She watched his face as her hands held his. She could tell the minute he realized what he was feeling. Awe washed over his face. "Is this..."

"Our baby," she breathed. "That's our baby, Aaron!"

"That's our baby," he repeated, just as breathless as she was. He'd missed Jack's first movements in Haley's stomach. Not only that though, but this seemed like so much more than that.

Tears sprung to her eyes as she started to laugh a little. This was their baby, moving in her stomach. She was still laughing as he pulled himself back up, his hand still on her stomach. "I've never felt anything like that," she whispered.

He kissed her forehead, her nose, and then finally kissed her fully. She knew she could taste the tears on her lips. She cuddled into his side after a moment, his hand still on her stomach. Emily wasn't sure if his mind was on the movie anymore than hers was after that, but it didn't matter. If anything, it solidified the fact that they really were going to be raising a child together, and it was an honour and a blessing she never thought she'd experience.