PART TWENTY-ONE

"Aaron, sweetheart?"

Hotch looked up from where he was playing chess with his stepfather at his mother's face. "What is it?"

Cheryl smiled slightly. "It's Emily."

He was on his feet in an instant. "What happened?"

"Hormones and pregnancy, honey. She tried to get up from the couch."

Hotch understood and moved into the living room where Emily was curled around her stomach in the middle of the couch. He slid in beside her, wrapping his arm around her. The first time Emily had burst into pointless tears, Hotch had been at a loss as to what to do. JJ had told him the best thing for those instances was to help her remember that people cared. A hug was the best remedy and she'd been so right. Now, it was easy for him to pull her to him and hold on while she cried into her shoulder. She tucked her head under his ear and her breath fanned across his neck as she cried. He rubbed her arm as she cried herself out, then a few moments longer as her tremors subsided.

She took a deep breath and looked up at him. "Okay, it's your turn."

"My turn?" he asked quietly as he tucked her hair behind her ear.

"To be pregnant," she replied. "I'm done. I'm done with the swollen ankles, the aching back, Your turn."

He kissed her temple. "If I could take a turn, I would, sweetheart. Unfortunately, you get the honour."

"Honour. You suffer through cravings and tell me it's an honour."

He chuckled slightly. "With all due respect to what you're going through, Em, remember which one of us is responsible for making sure you can deal with those cravings."

She nodded and watched him stand, then held out her hands. "Help me up?"

That had been just over a month and a half ago and now he sat on a picnic blanket watching Emily and Jack teach Henry and Adam how to properly feed ducks while JJ and Will looked on sitting on the nearby bench. It was a cool October day and the team had decided it was time for a picnic before the weather got cold. Emily was ready to give birth any minute and had managed to avoid bed rest. Their son's heart had continued to beat in an irregular pattern, but the doctor swore their son was healthy. And Hotch was inclined to charge the doctor.

He looked back at his book with a gentle smile, hearing Reid absently mumble 'check' where he was playing chess with Dave.

"Dad!"

His head came up at Jack's frantic cry as his son stood looking as surprised as the children around him.

"Mommy! Auntie Em peed her pants!"

And Emily met Hotch's eyes across the park. He could see the surprise and shock in the tense lines of her body.

Emily had gone into labour.

JJ stepped into Emily's hospital room hours later after they'd all caught a few hours of sleep to find Emily dozing. Hotch had just left to take Jack back to his mother's house, a much easier and better place for the teenager. Emily's eyes fluttered open.

"Aaron?"

"Ran Jack back to Haley's," JJ replied. "He assigned me to Emily duty in the meantime."

"God, he makes me sound like an invalid."

"You know that's not what he thinks," JJ replied, taking the seat Hotch had been using as home for hours. "He just wants to make sure your son doesn't come before he gets back."

"And you can do that?"

JJ laughed. "With my magic wand. I'm a mother. According to my children, I can make anything happen."

Emily started to laugh, then tensed through another contraction. She blew out a breath when it passed. She looked to her best friend. "Jayje... I'm not ready for this."

The blond had expected this. She'd gone through the same thing and had sobbed to her mother weeks before Henry's birth. She was glad she could be here for her best friend. "You can do this."

"A baby, JJ? I'm about to give birth to a small human that can't do anything for himself," Emily whispered.

"You've taken care of Jack before," JJ pointed out.

"He's not an infant."

JJ smiled indulgently at her friend. "Em, there's no handbook on raising kids. There are instincts you either have or you don't, it's that simple. You have maternal instincts. We all see them, we all take advantage of them. You're Mom to Hotch's Dad in the team."

"That's scary. Does that make Dave Grandpa?"

"Probably, but let's not tell him that."

Emily winced as she twisted. "Deal."

JJ reached out for her best friend's hand, standing and pushing some of her sweaty bangs back from her forehead. "Your son is a lucky kid, Em. Between you and Hotch, he's going to be the safest and most loved kid."

"You really think so?"

JJ knew that coming from her, as the only mother Emily respected, her opinion meant a lot. "I really think so. And kids think so. My boys adore you."

Emily laughed and sniffled. "Thanks JJ."

"Anytime."

"Em?"

JJ looked up to see Hotch panting in the doorway. "Everything's fine. The doctor hasn't even come in the check on her."

"You're okay?"

"For now, I'm fine," she promised. "Ask me when your son finally wants to grace us with his presence."

JJ smiled as she got out of Hotch's way. "Coffee?"

"And bring a juice?" Hotch requested quietly.

JJ smiled and squeezed Emily's hand before she left.

After almost twenty-four hours of labour and too many laps around the hospital to count, the doctor smiled up at Emily. "Alright, you ready to push?"

"No," Emily replied, even as she readjusted herself to get better leverage.

"Okay, when the next contraction comes I want you to push as hard as you can,"

She felt Aaron kiss her forehead and take her hand. "We're going to meet our little boy soon," he whispered to her.

She could feel the twinge starting and took in a deep breath. Then the pain hit and she closed her eyes pushing with everything in her. She barely heard what was going on around her as the doctor and Aaron counted backwards from ten. Then she collapsed with a gasp. "Jesus."

"I know. I'm going to need you to do it again, Emily," the doctor said.

She prepared herself again, then looked up at Aaron. "I'm going to kill you."

"You can do whatever you want," he told her, brushing her hair out of her face.

"Okay, Emily."

Then the next contraction was hitting and Emily was pushing with everything in her. Her teeth clenched together as she pushed, squeezing Aaron's hand. The contraction passed and Emily fell against the bed again. "Okay, who's taking over?"

"You're almost there," the doctor promised. "He's crowning, so it's a matter of seconds. One last push and you'll be able to meet your son."

"I don't have one last push in me," Emily replied, dropping her head against the pillow. Then her body wasn't giving her the choice and she found herself pushing again.

"There we go!"

Emily strained her ears to hear, relaxing with an almost hysterical laugh as she heard the little cry. The the doctor said the words that Emily would remember for the rest of her life.

"Hold on. We're not done yet."

"What?!" she exclaimed. "What do you mean we're not done?"

"You're going to need to push again for me," the doctor replied. "It looks like your little boy had a friend."

"Twins?" Hotch breathed out. "Twins?"

"Certainly looks that way Dad. If you can go cut your son's umbilical cord, we'll bring your next infant into the world."

But Emily wouldn't let go of his hand. "Aaron, we can't have twins!"

"You can do this," he tried to reassure her, "I'll be back in a second, okay?"

"Okay, Emily. I need you to push."

It was fear that had her pushing again, going through the same process she had with her little boy. One more push later and she heard another little cry.

"Congratulations! You have a baby boy and a baby girl."

And as Emily met Hotch's eyes she knew he was as surprised as she was. Twins. The one thing they hadn't been expecting. She dropped her head back in exhaustion. "We're going to need the name book."

"Hannah."

Emily shook her head later that night after having a little bit of a nap, her finger grasped tightly in her daughter's little fist. She was awed by the little life in her arms as Hotch held their son. Jamie's name, short for Jamison, had been picked out for months. It make it so much easier when they knew the gender before hand. But this little girl had been a complete surprise.

"Madison?" he asked, glancing down the list that they had tucked into the front of the baby book. They'd been vaguely looking at names since Emily had found out she was pregnant, just narrowed it to names for boys after they'd discovered she was going to give birth to a son.

"Too popular. I want her to have a name no one else is going to have."

She heard the page turn awkwardly. "Ciara?"

Emily shook her head again. "What about Sophie?"

Hotch wrinkled his nose. "Jamie and Sophie?" He paused as he scanned the names. "Aubrey?"

"Ew, no. I knew a girl named Aubrey in high school, enough said." She thought for a minute. "Alexis?"

Her daughter's eyes fluttered open, meeting the identical ones of her mother. She looked up at Hotch. "I think she likes it."

For those of you who mentioned the oddity that was Emily having a boy, here's the reason! I was really at a loss, then someone was like 'twins'! So this is what happened!

I think there's going to be one more chapter, then a short little epilogue-like thing. And I've posted the prologue for the JJ/Rossi spin off. But after that, I actually have no new ideas. Dark of My Nightmares doesn't have that much left to go either and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Review!