A blood-curdling scream ripped from JJ's throat when she heard the gunshots, and she immediately went down like a sack of potatoes when her legs gave out. Luckily, Spencer had been close by and caught her, sitting her on the bumper of the nearest ambulance.

It was a minute before JJ could speak. "Haley has to live! She just has to!"

Spencer sat next to her. "JJ—"

"Spence, Haley is pregnant!"

Immediately at a loss for words, the profiler just held his friend closer.

Inside the house, Vera Sutherland lay on the floor, dead as a door nail; she'd been shot by a policeman sniper, and the bullet had made its mark in her forehead, killing her instantly. A fraction of a second earlier, she'd fired her own gun, and while it hadn't killed Haley, the force of it had knocked her on her butt, and the bullet itself had grazed the surface her left arm, causing it to bleed. Her arm stung, but she was lucky in that she had always had a very high pain tolerance.

"Haley?"

Startled, Haley snapped out of her trance and looked around to see that the room was now swarming with police officers, but Derek Morgan was crouching in front of her, looking at her with concern.

"Derek?" The blond could hardly believe her eyes. "I'm still alive?"

He bobbed his head in confirmation, reminding himself to take it easy because Haley had just had a proper scare and was in a little bit of shock. Moving slowly, so as not to spook Haley, Derek motioned towards the woman's arm, where she had instinctively clamped her hand over her wound to staunch the blood.

"May I see it?"

Haley uncovered her arm and showed it to him.

"It's just a flesh wound, and you won't even need stitches." He explained as he examined it and took a clean strip of gauze from the medical pocket of his vest and wrapped it around the wound. "I'll put this on it to stop the blood, and then we'll go out to the ambulance."

That last word triggered something in Haley's brain. "Derek, have you seen my boys?"

"Jack is being brought to the hospital for dehydration, and Aaron went with him so he wouldn't be alone." Derek secured the gauze and gave Haley a friendly smile. "Emily went, too."

"She did?"

"Uh-huh. Jack asked for her."

Haley actually managed a small smile at that. "And what of JJ?"

"She's outside, and she'll be overjoyed to see you."

Derek stood and held a hand out to Haley, intending to pull her up. She gave him her hand, but made no other move.

"I can't make my legs work, Derek." she muttered.

"Is it alright if I carry you?"

"Yes, but please be careful—I'm pregnant."

Heeding Haley's words, Derek picked her up and carefully carried her outside, soon handing her into the care of a paramedic before going to fetch JJ.

He spoke gently to the young woman when he saw that her eyes were puffy from crying. "JJ, I need you to come with me right now."

"For what?" She asked stubbornly, still feeling heart-stricken.

"Haley made it."

JJ's expression immediately changed to one of shock and hope. "She's alive?"

"Yes, and she's over by the other ambulance. Come on."

When they got to the ambulance, Haley was being treated for her wound by one paramedic while a second one was doing a quick ultrasound on her to make sure everything was in order with the baby, which it was. The second the medics were done and cleaned Haley up while she fixed her shirt, they helped JJ into the ambulance and then gave the two their space.

No words were said between the two for a minute because none had to be, and they just hugged each other.

"Haley," JJ finally said, pulling away and arranging a blanket over the other woman's back and shoulders. "Can you breathe properly right now? It's really important for the baby that you do that."

Being a nurse, Haley knew this, but she still forced herself to regulate her breathing before answering. "I promise I'm good now, JJ. Has anyone called my sister? She needs to know that Jack and I are safe."

"Dave is calling her—I heard him on the phone with her just now on my way over here." JJ patted Haley's knee absently, wanting to make sure she was really there. "You saved my family back there, you know, and you saved yourself and your own children, too."

"Vera was getting ready to shoot me in the stomach, but I talked her down…"

"And that gave the sniper enough time to take her out."

Haley pulled the blanket closer for warmth. "I really did save my children, didn't I?"

"Yes, and the most important thing is that you survived. How did you get so brave like that, though? It was practically profiler material."

"My parents liked to get high when my sister and I were kids," Haley said at length. "And since I'm older than Jessica by five years, it was up to me to protect her. I still have scars from different things my parents did to me."

JJ had always admired Haley, but now she admired her for being a survivor in every sense of the word. "So you had to learn early on how to stand up to bad people."

Too early, Haley thought as she nodded and rubbed her middle, trying to get used to a baby being in there. "When you have children, or someone who is as good as one of yours, you will go above and beyond the call of duty to protect them."

"Speaking of children, do you want to see Jack?"

Haley's answer was immediate. "I do."

"His fever is probably broken by now, but his dehydration will be really easy to treat in a hospital."

Haley let out a gusty sigh of relief. "Derek told me that Jack is en route to the hospital, and that Aaron went with him, but he also said that Emily tagged along because Jack asked for her?"

"It's all true."

Haley smiled a little bit and began to ramble, the knots in her stomach finally coming undone. "You know, Jack has been wishing for a sibling lately, especially a sister, and I know he'll be over the moon to find out that his wish has been granted… but I'm scared to tell Aaron that it's actually happening. What if he still wants a divorce?"

"Something tells me that after all this, he'll have changed his mind about that, and he'll be happy to be a dad again." JJ said thoughtfully. "He is a private guy, yes, but I've known him since I was a rookie at the academy, and there was one thing I learned about Aaron Hotchner straight away, even before I first met you."

"And what's that?"

"He loves you so deeply, Haley, that he would do anything—or fight anyone—for you. A love like that is beautiful and meant to last a lifetime; I remember telling myself that I'd find a love like that for myself one day, and I finally did with Emily, but I wouldn't have known what to look for if I hadn't noticed that about Aaron first."

Haley was deeply moved by JJ's words, and not only did they make her feel better, but they instilled her with better hope, something she'd felt had forsaken her.

But not now.

Now, because of JJ, things felt brighter when she thought of her husband. She also knew that taking another shot—with a better attitude—at mending things was going to be completely worth it.

"Thank you, JJ." She finally managed with a smile.

"Any time." JJ patted her on the knee again. "Let's go look for Derek—he'll give us a ride to the hospital."


Over at the establishment in question, Jack Hotchner had been given his own room in the pediatric ward because he was exhausted, and because the activity in the general patient room would overstimulate him. That was the last thing he needed at the moment, and he was already too tired to even think about anything like eating. That would be a project for later.

As a treatment for his dehydration, the nurses hooked Jack up to a nasal oxygen supply and an electrolyte IV, but because he was a toddler, the idea of having strange things put into his body really freaked him out. Hotch tried to comfort him, but he wouldn't have it and sobbed for Emily because she was the closest he had to Haley.

Taken aback because she'd never been called upon a child in such distress, Emily jumped right in and sat with Jack, holding him and kissing him as though he had been born of her body. It took a few minutes, but she got him calm and kept him distracted long enough to let the nurses to move in and do what they had to.

After the nurses left, Jack hung tight to Emily like a baby koala, refusing to let go. Realizing how much her little friend needed her, Emily laid on the bed with him, big belly and all, and proceeded to tell him that she loved him and that she was proud of him for being so brave.

A quiet, "I love you, Auntie Emmy," could be heard from Jack just as he fell asleep.


After a health update about Caitlín was delivered to Emily, her thoughts drifted back to Christmastime at the house on Kissing Rock Lane, and all the time she'd spent with her nieces.

"Hotch," Emily said softly. "Do you have any nieces or nephews?"

"Two nephews and two nieces, one of whom is due to be born in a month; they're my sister-in-law's kids."

"What are their names?"

"The boys are Dashiell and Roman, and their little sister is Aurora. The sister on the way has already been named Scout."

"What cool names." Emily remarked.

"What makes you so curious?"

"I became an auntie over Christmas."

"Oh?"

Emily nodded. "JJ's brother Bartholomew has a daughter named Ming, and her other brother, Wesley, has a daighter named Agnes. They're little ones yet, and they're both extremely cuddly."

"Jack reminds you of them?"

Again, Emily nodded. "He does, and I didn't know until I met my nieces just how delightful it is to cuddle with little ones."

"It's one of the best feelings in the world, and just think—this time next year, you and JJ will have three kids to cuddle."

"We're looking forward to that," Emily rubbed the side of her baby bump absently. "Especially since this time next year, JJ and I will have a house big enough to fit us all, and she and I will be married."

Hotch raised an eyebrow. "You proposed?"

Emily nodded bashfully. "The ring was in my pocket an hour before I was taken because I'd been looking at it, and I didn't realize I'd stuck it in there until after we were out of the house. I asked her just before the paramedic told me that Jack wanted me, and JJ said yes. She's got the ring on right now."

"All of that, and you still came with us?"

"Of course—you guys are my family and besides," she kissed Jack's forehead. "This little guy is irresistible."

"That's for sure," Hotch smiled when he saw Jack respond to the kiss by relaxing his hold on Emily as he slept. "But congratulations on your engagement, Emily."

The agent smiled at that, but before she could say anything, the hospital-issued phone on the other side of the bed rang. Miraculously, Emily managed to get it and answer it without waking the sleeping boy in her arms.

Penelope was on the other line, ready to tell her the good news about Haley, and by the time she hung up, Emily's heart was beating all over the place and she hugged Jack a little tighter while the twins wiggled frantically inside her, pissed off by her sudden up-tempo heartbeat.

"What is it?" Hotch asked anxiously.

"Other than a very, very minor flesh wound, Haley made it."

Hotch's heart leapt into his throat upon hearing those words. "She's alive? My wife is alive?"

"Uh-huh, and JJ's been looking after her."

Hotch's heart suddenly filled with affection for Emily and JJ both; he already liked them more than he liked his own sibling (who was a right pain in the ass), but now he genuinely loved them both like they were the sisters he'd never gotten because without them, his wife and son would not have left that house alive.

"I—I don't know what to say." Hotch stuttered.

"Then just rest and know that Derek and JJ are bringing her here."

That suited Hotch well.


Despite the wounds that she'd sustained while being held hostage, the only immediate care that Haley needed after a brief examination by her OBGYN upon arriving at the hospital was an intravenous electrolyte drip because she'd presented with a small of dehydration, too, but because she was pregnant and had been a prisoner, it wasn't something to be overlooked.

Haley's doctor had insisted, though, that as long as she was in the hospital, that she navigate the place in a wheelchair and with her IV drip on a pole. Since this was the hospital where she worked and all she wanted was to be with her husband and her son, Haley had no objections to getting the medicine, or to when JJ volunteered to push her wheelchair when Derek parted ways to go look for Penelope.

"Anyone home?"

This was from Haley as they entered Jack's room and when Hotch saw her, bruised and battered as she was, he was on his feet in a heartbeat and rushing to her.

"Haley," he said to her after a sound kiss as they both cried happy tears. "I'm so glad to see you, and that's just the first thing that comes to mind."

Of course he was glad to see her, but they'd been best friends ever since their first meeting at age sixteen; that meant that a few words, like what he'd said, went a long way between the two of them, even if other people couldn't tell. Haley and Hotch really understood each other, and even at the end of the day, after all their fights, she was his heart and he was hers.

"I'm glad, too, Aaron." Haley got in another kiss and lovingly stroked his face. "I thought I'd never see you or Jack again. Where is he?"

"Snoozing on the bed; Emily's holding him."

"I need to hold him."

When Haley was on the bed with her son in her arms and Emily was on her feet, Haley looked at the other couple.

"Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for taking care of us. We wouldn't have made it without either of you."

"You're very welcome, Haley." JJ responded with a sincere smile.

"Family takes care of family," Emily added, repeating her words from earlier. "And the Hotchners are now part of ours."

Haley beamed, knowing that Emily, JJ, and their family were going to be in their lives from now on.

"JJ? Emily?"

"Yes?" They asked in unison.

"I saw the ring earlier—congratulations to you both."

Elated because this was going to be the first of many congratulations they were going to hear, they thanked her graciously and left.

However, they didn't even make it all the way past Jack's hospital room when JJ's legs became wobbly as a second adrenaline crash hit her. At Emily's insistence, she sat in the wheelchair.

"You okay, Jayje?" Emily asked as she parked the wheelchair against the nearest wall and sat next to her in an empty chair.

"Uh-huh." JJ nodded. "It's just a tiny adrenaline crash—nothing that a minute of rest can't cure before we see Sinéad and Caitlín. I just wish that Baby Bird wasn't making me feel so topsy-turvy; she's being wigglier than usual."

Emily put a hand over her heart when she heard the gender-confirming adjective. "Baby Bird is a girl?"

"Mhm. Haley used the portable ultrasound machine on me the day before you and Jack arrived. I just pushed the information to the back of my brain."

"Totally understandable," Emily said, processing the new information. "Although this is the part where I should mention that the paramedics had a look at Sprout and Ladybug on my ride over here with Jack… and now I know who is what."

"Well, don't stop there, babe."

"Ladybug is another girl, but Sprout is a boy."

JJ's heart promptly did a cartwheel. "We're having a son and two daughters?"

Emily nodded and then quipped, "Well, would you look at that?" as she looked back towards the Hotchners.

JJ followed her fiancée's gaze to see a content look on Haley's face as Hotch pressed sweet, gentle kisses to her middle; obviously, she'd told him about the baby, and he was incredibly happy about it. Jack remained asleep in his mother's arms, oblivious to everything.

"Nothing but good news there, huh?"

"Or here." JJ responded, her heart suddenly doing more cartwheels. "Give me your hands!"

Moving as fast as she could because of her distended middle, Emily knelt down in front of JJ, who immediately held both of Emily's hands to a particular spot on her own pregnant middle.

"Is she…?" Emily's breath caught in her throat as she became completely mesmerized by what she was feeling.

"Yes, she is!" JJ held her free hand next to Emily's and pressed down slightly, laughing when she got the desired reaction. "The baby is kicking!"