Disclaimer: see my profile

Emily yawned and pulled her robe around her waist. Reid's side of the bed was empty and cold. She trudged across the hall to the nursery and found it empty. She rubbed at her eyes and wondered where he had got. She went downstairs, lured by the smell of coffee in the kitchen.

"Good morning Helga," she yawned at the housekeeper.

The tall German woman was busy with whisking eggs in a glass bowl. "Ah Miss Emily… You look so tired. Are you vanting ze coffee zis morning?"

"Yes! I was looking for Spencer. Have you seen him?"

"Ja, ze doctor is viz ze tiny Liebchen in your office. Ze poor baby vas very unhappy, but ze doctor vould not let me take care of him."

Emily took a closer look at their housekeeper who had bounced back quickly after her attack one month ago. "You look very tired too Helga. You should let me help you."

"I am okay Miss Emily, but it vas very late vhen Spencer and ze tiny Liebchen vere quiet."

"I'm going to go wake Spencer. Will you be okay with Aaron here today?" She took a welcome sip of her coffee, letting the hot drink wipe the fuzz off her teeth and tongue.

"Of course I vill… Little Aaron is jus unhappy to be - how do you say - teezing."

"I know… I feel so bad for him. It must hurt very much. I wish Spencer had called for me to help. He shouldn't have let me sleep."

"He said zat one of you had to be avake today."

"I know, but I wish he'd called me." Emily argued. "I'll be back with him for some coffee in a few minutes."

"Okay Miss Emily."

Emily left her coffee cup on the table and went down the hall to her shared office with Spencer. She pushed open the door and peeked inside.

Reid lay asleep on the futon that sat against one wall. Aaron was on his chest, sleeping peacefully. They both looked so young, more like brothers, than father and son.

"I wish I could let you sleep." She whispered to her lover.

"I wish you could too." He opened his eyes and blinked in the low light from the hallway.

"Why didn't you let Helga or me help you last night?"

"There was no need for the whole house to be up."

"I know, but you have to work today." Emily watched as Aaron shifted in Reid's arms.

"So do you. One of us should be halfway alert."

"Spencer…"

"It's over now. Why don't you take him while I go up and shower? I just need hot water and a cup of coffee and I'll be fine."

He gave her the baby and stood up. He swayed and stumbled as though coming off a cheap drunk. "I'm okay!" He insisted.

"Sure you are, go upstairs and get into bed. I'll deal with Hotch. Helga can take care of Aaron."

"Emily I can't take the day off."

"You can and you will!"

"You're kind of scary when you order me around." He was weakening she could see.

"I'm a kick ass FBI agent remember."

"When I stop feeling like I'm trying to walk against hurricane force winds, I'll argue about that with you."

She stepped over and planted a hard kiss on his lips.

"That didn't help my loopy head."

"Since when does the genius say words like loopy?"

"When I'm going on less than two hours sleep…"

She followed him all the way to the stairs. Aaron woke after Spencer was out of sight, calling for his breakfast. He seemed to be feeling a bit better that morning. She hoped his misery was over for a little while.

"Poor baby," She said as she went to the kitchen. "Mama will feed you and them you can get some sleep like daddy."

She went to the kitchen and explained to Helga that Spencer would be staying home. She fed the baby and had a quick plate of eggs and some fruit.

"Do not vorry Miss Emily. I vill take care of ze Liebchen. Zey vill be jus fine."

"Promise me that you'll get some rest when Aaron sleeps. You look tired."

"I vill Miss Emily," she promised. "Now you must go get ready for vork,"

Helga watched her employer head upstairs with Aaron. When her Liebchen was out of hearing, she picked up the phone.

"Ja, it is Helga… Ve must do somezing… No zey are all okay. Aaron is keeping them up viz ze teezing… Ja, he is okay. Ja, I vill take care of it. Vill you talk to Miss Emily? Ja, it is no problem. I am liking your idea. Ja, zank you. Zey need some time to be alone. Ja, it vill vork. Goodbye…."

She put the phone in its charging cradle and began cleaning up from breakfast. Soon ze doctor and Miss Emily would have a surprise.

---

Emily poured a fresh cup of coffee from the pot in the break room. The smell was so tantalizing she couldn't resist even though since having Aaron she'd allowed herself only one cup a day so as not to overdose the little guy on caffeine.

"Hey Emily…." JJ breezed into the break room with a stack of files in her arms that Emily sincerely hoped weren't mean for her.

"Hi JJ. How're Henry and Will?"

"They're doing great. Henry is so cute, toddling all over the place. Of course, Will said I wouldn't be so happy with his walking if I were there all the time making sure he doesn't get into everything not nailed down. He was so cute the other day. Do you remember the puppy we had last summer? Well, the dog has gotten big and Henry thought he would try to chase him through the snow. Well the poor little guy slipped and face planted in the snow. I shouldn't have laughed because he was not happy with a face full of snow, but I couldn't help myself. Then Rex came over and started licking his face like crazy. It was too funny. Will had to rescue him, but he was laughing too. You know parents should write all this stuff down because it would be -"

She suddenly broke off. "Hey, you're staring at the wall like it was going to get up and walk away. What's wrong? Have I become one of those parents that bore their friends to tears with their stories?"

"It's not you JJ. I've bored you with enough stories about Aaron and he's only four months old. It was just a bad night."

JJ nodded her head and picked up the coffee pot. "Oh… One of those nights."

"Unfortunately no… Aaron is starting to teethe and Spencer was up with him all night. I was up pretty late myself. I thought Aaron had gone to sleep, but he woke again and Spencer didn't tell me about it."

"Wait a minute!" JJ held up a hand. "You said 'unfortunately not…' then you go into this explanation about Aaron. What did you mean?"

Emily went red. "Did I say that out loud? I thought you were thinking about other late night activities."

JJ grinned, "Oh…"

"Don't say it like that. I misunderstood you, that's all."

"Okay, don't get upset. I just want you to be happy."

Emily drooped against the counter top. "I'm sorry… I feel so bad for Aaron and I love him so much, but I love Spencer too. Our entire relationship has been backwards from the word go. I mean, we've never gone out on an actual date since Aaron was conceived."

"Meaning you've never been out on a date." JJ interpreted.

"Yeah… I just want time to spend with him alone for a little while."

"You know Will and I will sit with him anytime. You have Helga too I'm sure she'd -"

"I can't ask her or any of you to take responsibility for him while he's teething. It's not right."

"You need a break!"

"I can't do it JJ."

"Okay… I'll leave it alone." JJ said.

"You coming," Emily asked as she headed out into the bullpen.

"Right behind you." She followed Emily to her desk dropped half the dreaded stack on Morgan's desk and carried the other half up the stairs.

"Hey… Why do I get half and you didn't give any to the happy couple." Morgan called after her.

"Suck it up!" JJ said as she hurried off to Garcia's office.

"What's wrong with everyone today?" Morgan asked Emily. "And, where's our resident genius today?"

"He's sleeping! Leave JJ alone," Emily snapped going back to her files.

"Geez… What's with everyone?" He sulked.

He'd go see Garcia once JJ was done. Whatever was going on, she'd know and tell him. Satisfied with that plan he went back to his stack of files with a happy smile.

----

"Come in…" Garcia called when a tap sounded on her door.

"Hey Garcia…"

"Hey there Sunshine! What's up?"

"We have a big problem," She responded dropping into the extra chair.

"Let me guess, it has to do with a certain genius and his fair lady love."

"Why do I even try to surprise you?" JJ whined.

"There's a reason why Morgan calls me goddess. I know all and see all."

"No! You just have good contacts."

"You wound me my dove."

"Garcia!" JJ slapped her files down on the edge of Garcia's desk impatiently.

"Okay… I got a call from a certain German housekeeper."

"You talk to Helga!"

"Yeah… Who do you think found her for Reid? He likes to take credit for her, but she was my idea."

"Do I want to know?

"It's better that you don't," Garcia said with an innocent smile.

"So what did Helga say?"

"The same thing you did. They need a night out and I'm thinking I know exactly how to make that happen."

JJ narrowed her eyes at the tech who wore a brilliant red blouse with a white, yellow and red striped skirt. Her hair was in two braided pigtails and her earrings were in the shape of two red hearts.

"Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Yeah… It's Valentines Day in three days. We're going to give them a night they won't forget."