"I fell in love with her courage, her sincerity, and her flaming self respect. And it's these things I'd believe in, even if the whole world indulged in wild suspicions that she wasn't all she should be. I love her and it is the beginning of everything."

― F. Scott Fitzgerald

They had been home for 8 weeks and she was still getting used to the whole "Mrs. Morgan", though thankfully at work she had decided to keep going by Prentiss. Two Agent Morgans were enough. Eight weeks. When they first came back from Fiji, Emily realised that she was late. She waited, hopes high and then a week later she felt the telltale twinge in her abdomen. The next morning she awoke to her period, heavier than normal.

She knew that it could take them a little while to get pregnant, but it had been already 5 months since she had been off of her birth control.

Then the next month, she was even later. Emily had been regular from the time she was about 18, so she knew something was up. After work she headed to the pharmacy and picked up a pregnancy test with plans to take it the next day when Derek got back from his case.

Cuddled up on the couch, Emily flipped idly through her book unable to concentrate. Her fingers floated over her phone when she felt it. The smallest cramp that she knew was a precursor to her week.

When Derek came back, he found her lying on their bed, a heating pack on her abdomen, tears in her eyes. "Hey Princess." He whispered, crawling into bed with her. "That bad?"

Shrugging, Emily leaned against him and sighed. "Today it was pretty heavy. But I was late, Derek. Over a week late." A few tears escaped and rolled down her cheeks. "I know I'm older, Derek, but why is my body betraying me?" The flood gates opened and she turned, crying into his chest. "I just want to give you a baby, a family."

Derek sighed and pressed his lips to Emily's hair. "Emily." He whispered softly. "Honey. Princess. I love you so much. You are so amazing, and nothing is going to change that, okay? We'll have our baby, I promise you that." His fingers raked through her hair softly as he let her cry into his chest. "Em, maybe we should take Taala up on the offer to go see her friend who is the fertility specialist."

She froze in his arms, his breath held. "You think it's me."

"No, both of us should go. I'm not getting any younger either, Emily. We should both go and see if things are normal, okay? And if they're not, for either one of us, we can figure out our next step." Derek held her tightly and rested his chin on the top of her head. "Things will work out for us Emily, one way or another. We've both gone through too much shit for it not to."

They fell asleep like that, her head buried in his chest, his arms wrapped protectively around her. The next morning Derek texted Taala for the number of the fertility specialist. Emily was silent. She was silent as they ate breakfast and made coffee. She was silent on the trip into work, her nails chewed to the quick. Reaching out, he gently placed his hand on her thigh and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It's going to be okay, Em." She didn't reply, choosing to stare out the window in silence.

He walked her up to the BAU floor. She gave him a chaste kiss before heading into her office and shutting the door, the blinds closing. Everyone turned to him, concern written across their faces. Motioning to JJ, Derek walked out with her and explained the situation, knowing that the blonde would keep their secret, and that she would keep an eye on her best friend.

"When is your appointment?"

Derek shrugged. "I'll make the call once I get to my office, but I'm hoping sooner rather than later."

JJ nodded. "You know, regardless of the test results, she's going to blame herself, right?"

Sighing, Derek gave JJ a sad nod. "I know, but right now all we can do is get the appointment planned and go from there. Just...keep an eye on her today?"

On her tiptoes, JJ wrapped her arms around her friend. "Got it, boss." She teased softly. "Now go do your job, I've got her."

With a fleeting glance, Derek headed up to his floor, calling the fertility specialist. Taala had warned her that they would be calling and because of Taala they were able to get an appointment for tomorrow afternoon. He sent Emily an email with the appointment time that she left on read throughout most of the day before she sent a short reply.

The day dragged by and when it was finally time to head home, Derek headed down to the BAU floor and found Emily's door still closed.

"Did she come out at all?"

Spencer shrugged and packed up his bag. "Twice, but both times to use the washroom."

Sighing, Derek took the stairs two by two and opened the door without knocking. Emily was at her desk, files open on her desk with her tablet beside her. He quietly shut the door and sat down across from her, waiting for her to look up. Finally she closed her file and looked up at Derek.

"You're okay with us going to the appointment tomorrow?" He asked, leaning forward on his elbows. "It's at Walter Reed, everything's covered. It's at 4pm so we'll take a late lunch."

Emily nodded. "Yeah, it's fine." Organizing her desk she got up. "Let's go home."

Waiting, Derek wrapped his arm around her waist and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "It's the first step to us having our own family, Emily. And for all we know my swimmers could be going in circles."

She chuckled softly and shook her head. "Let's just go home."

"Your wish is my command, Princess." They headed down to the parking garage, his arm around her waist.

Her leg jiggled as they sat there, waiting for their names to be called. Derek reached over and took her hand intertwining their fingers. "It's gonna be okay." He whispered, praying that the words he was saying were true. When their names were finally called they walked into a bright office and met by a pleasant woman, her grey hair pulled up in a high bun.

"Hi, you must be Derek and Emily. Taala has told me all about you, please grab a seat." She said motioning to the chairs across from her. "I'm Dr. Anna Moore. We're going to be running a few tests today. First is blood tests to check on your hormone levels and Derek we're going to sperm count. Reading through your medical history, I'd also like to do an ultrasound on you, Emily." She spoke at a fast clip and passed the two pamphlets. "I just want to see if there's any scar tissue. I'll get your hormone tests rushed and hopefully we can get your counts done by the end of the appointment."

Emily swallowed hard. "That soon?"

"Taala called in a favour." Anna said with a laugh. "No one says no to Taala. So, we'll get started. We'll draw some blood and I'll get those sent away and then Derek, we'll send you off to get a sperm sample and then we can do Emily's ultrasound after, if you want to be there for it."

Derek nodded. "Yeah, we're in it together. Let's get this party started."

Nurses came in and took four vials of blood and sent them off before they sent Derek off with a little jar. He sent Emily a look and pulled her close. "Glad we have the pictures from our honeymoon." He whispered, causing Emily to blush a deep red.

When he returned, they were ushered into an exam room where Emily climbed onto the bed. A radiologist tech came in and did the ultrasound, snapping pictures on the screen along the way. Once they were done, they were ushered back to Dr. Moore's office. She came in a little while later with a file and sat down.

"When I said we put a rush on them, we put a rush on them. So, Derek, your sperm count is normal and your hormone level is also normal. Getting closer to the low end of normal, but normal. Emily, your hormone level is also on the low end of normal." She pulled out the pictures from the ultrasound and put them on the table. "But this is where the problem lies. Emily, you have scar tissue in your abdomen and uterus. Are your periods painful?"

Emily shrugged. "I mean, they've gotten worse in the past few years."

"Since…" Derek nodded and rubbed Emily's arm. "Yeah, she takes more pills. Like midol and stuff and sometimes is out of commission for a full day without it."

Dr. Moore wrote something down and nodded. "Alright, so in my professional opinion, the reason why you're having problems conceiving is because of this scar tissue."

Emily's face fell, head shaking slightly. She was ready to get up and leave when she felt Derek's hand on her arm.

"But, now that we know what the problem is, we can work with it. We can do some ultrasound therapy - basically we use soundwaves to break up the scar tissue and then we'll put you on some hormones. Basically we'll flood your system and force the embryos to stick."

Blinking a few times, Emily rubbed her face. "Hormones. Okay. What does that entail?"

"Shots, unfortunately. I'll do the first one here and then I'll send you guys home with the rest. Derek can administer them since you'll have to get a shot in the postier."

Derek nodded, stealing a glance at his wife. "Alight. And the ultrasound? Do we have to keep coming back here?"

The Dr shook her head. "No, I'll get it set up somewhere of your choice. I know there's a clinic about 10 minutes from FBI headquarters. We'll start with twice a week and see how things go from there."

Emily nodded and squeezed Derek's hand. "How long would this be for?"

"Guess it depends if you guys are in it for the long run or not. It usually takes between 2-10 months." Dr. Moore replied. "So is this something you want to try?"

Gazes met and Emily nodded. "We want a baby, so let's give it a try." Her nerves washed over her and her stomach was in knots, but it was true. They wanted a baby.

"Alright then, well I'll do the first shot. The hormones need to be kept in the fridge and properly dispose of the needle once you're finished with it. I'll give you enough syringes for the month." Dr Moore got to her feet. "Alright Emily, I'm going to need you to drop your pants and underwear and lean forward on the exam table and Derek I need you to pay attention."

Emily stood up and unbuttoned her pants, and tugged them down and her underwear. Trying to watch over her shoulder, she inhaled deeply.

"Okay, so first take the alcohol wipe and wipe down a spot for 30 seconds to make sure it's clean." Dr. Moore said as Emily felt the cold wipe on a spot on her ass. "Then fill the syringe up to this line," she showed Derek talking him through everything. "Then you need to put it in at 90 degrees in one swift motion and push the plunger down." Emily winced feeling the needle until it got removed. "Then let it air dry for about a minute and then it's done."

Derek walked over to the other side of the table and gave Emily a gentle smile. "You okay?"

"It's not that bad." Emily replied, pulling him down for a small kiss. After she pulled up her pants and gave the doctor a smile.

"You can also do the top of the hip muscle, and then the outside of the thigh muscle for injection sites, but from my experience the hip muscle is far more painful." Dr. Moore said, writing them a prescription. "It's for a full year, but in about 3 months we'll meet and see how things are going, okay?"

Nodding, Emily took Derek's hand and squeezed it. "Okay."