"This is the true measure of love: when we believe that we alone can love, that no one could ever have loved so before us, and that no one will ever love in the same way after us."

Johann Wolfgang von Goeth

Emily fingered the soft material and gave her mother-in-law a smile. "Thank you so much for this, Fran." She said looking at the clothes that the older woman had purchased for her. Two maternity sweaters, both that she could wear after.

"This one is a nursing sweater." Fran explained. "This top part lifts." She passed the other shirt to Emily. "And this one, it's stretchy, but it also has panels you can zip in so it will fit over a baby carrier, and you can nurse under it." She shrugged and gave the younger woman a smile. "There are also a couple of pairs of pants in there with adjustable stretchy panels."

"Thank you." Emily gave her mother-in-law a gentle hug. "I'm so sorry that I had to leave and cut our visit short."

Fran shook her head. "It's fine. You were saving lives, and I'll come and visit you more often now."

Derek looked and gave them a smile. "Okay, Princess. It's time that you go to bed and take a nap." He said looking at his wife sternly. "I heard that you guys had a tough case and you were up all night. Go." He ordered.

Sighing, Emily nodded and gave her mother-in-law one more time before heading to their bedroom. She stripped off her work clothes and pulled on an oversized shirt. Crawling into bed closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.

"You take care of your wife." Fran told her son, giving him a strong hug.

"You know I will, Ma." He said softly, his arms tightening around her. "Have a safe trip." Watching as his mother went through security, he headed back to the vehicle and back home. The house was silent as he walked in, a sign, he hoped, that Emily was able to get a few hours of sleep. He hadn't gotten the whole run down on the case but Penelope had given him a brief that it was hard, long, and both physically and mentally taxing. He slowly opened the bedroom door and peered in. She was sprawled out on the bed, her arm draped over her belly protectively. It was a sight he would never get tired of. Now he knew why Matt had four kids. Not wanting to wake her, he moved to shut the door, but her eyes fluttered open.

"Hey babe." He whispered sitting on the edge of the bed. "Sorry."

She was still half asleep, her eyelids heavy, long eyelashes fluttering. "Don't be. If I sleep too much now, I'll be up all night." She reasoned, her eyes opening fully.

"Doubtful, you'll probably sleep through the night." He reassured her, carding his fingers through her hair and massaging her scalp lightly.

Her eyes fluttered closed again and she groaned, swatting clumsily at his hand. "We haven't had a lot of time to spend together." She reasoned. Sitting up, she gave him a bright smile, smoothing her hair down with her hands. "Maybe we can start to look at prenatal classes and stuff." She suggested stretching out like a cat, the noises that slipped out of her mouth making him fall in love with her over and over again.

"You're cute."

"Shut up." Her reply was quick and he laughed.

"You stay in bed and I'll grab an iPad and we can start to look at different classes."

"Can you get me some peanut butter cookies your mom made?" She called, batting her eyelashes at him.

He placed some cookies on a tray and poured a glass of milk. Snagging the iPad from the charging dock he headed back to the bedroom where Emily was sitting up against the headboard.

"Ma froze a bunch of cookies." He said smiling as Emily grabbed one and took a large bite. "She also made some chocolate ones, and another type."

She grinned and chewed slowly. "Your mother is a godsend." She said finally. "Alright, let's look at some classes." Emily watched as Derek flipped through some pages. "Okay, lamaze is obviously the first one." She said, sipping her glass of milk.

"Obviously." He smirked and tapped on it, signing them up for the weekend classes. "How about prenatal yoga?"

"If we can swing it sure. There's also a class about surviving with multiples. We should probably take that one."

He nodded and signed them up for a few different classes before closing the iPad cover. "So, how are my babies doing?"

Emily shrugged and lifted her shirt revealing her belly. "Still haven't felt any movements, but Reid told me that multiples don't necessarily move earlier than singleton pregnancies. He's done a bunch of research about pregnancy with multiples. It's sweet. A bit overwhelming, but sweet." She watched his hand on her belly, the contrast between his dark skin and her pale skin.

"Can I rub the lotion into your belly?" He asked softly, his eyes gauging her reaction. He knew that all the changes in her body were new and he didn't want to push her. He found her new body beautiful, but there were days that he found her standing in front of the mirror staring at herself.

She nodded and stripped off her shirt, leaving her naked from the waist up. His eyes were huge and he stared at her, swallowing hard. With shaking hands, he took some of the cream and rubbed it softly into the skin of her abdomen. He watched it melt and disappear into her skin using the pads of his fingertips to rub it in. His eyes kept trailing up to her breasts before pulling away. His cheeks darkened and he gave her a smile. "You're beautiful."

Her dark eyes sparked and Emily returned the smile, pulling him down for a deep kiss, this teeth clashing, their tongues dueling. He was careful as he rolled her over, bathing her with kisses.


Her scream pierced his unconsciousness. Sitting up, he paused momentarily when he heard her scream again. Dark hair was plastered to her forehead, sticky with sweat.

"Em…" He whispered softly, his hand rubbing her bare shoulder. "Emily." Her skin was damp and slick with sweat. She was still held under, suffocating by her nightmares. Gently he shook her, watching her eyes shoot open. She looked around desperately, her hands flying to her abdomen and rubbing it. Her breathing was still coming in deep desperate gasps, tears staining her cheeks.

"I'm okay." She whispered softly. "I'm...okay."

He stared at her, his eyebrows arched. "Do you want to go for a bath?" Derek whispered slowly, pulling her towards him.

She nodded slowly, not quite trusting her voice.

"Okay." He got out of bed slowly and carefully looped his arm under her legs and the other around her back. She cuddled up against him, her cheek warm against his chest. She was still light, despite being 4 months pregnant and he carried her carefully to the washroom. With a quick flick of the wrist the tub started to fill up and he lowered the two of them into it, her slotted between his thighs. "Want to talk about it?"

Emily rested heavily against his chest and she shrugged, her fingers dancing over the warm water. "The case we had was pretty bad." She mumbled.

"I figured." His hands draped around her middle gently. "What was so bad about it?"

Her body stiffened and her hands came up to her face in an attempt to wipe away tears that had fallen. "First of all, we didn't catch the guy." She said angrily. "And...he was killing interracial couples. White women. Black men." Her voice shook as she spoke. "He took their babies and buried them alive. We found mass graves."

"Oh, Princess." He whispered feeling her stiffen in his arms. Her soft sobs echoed in the tiled space and he held her tight. "I'm so sorry you had to see that." His lips fluttered against her skin. "I'm so sorry, baby. But you're safe. I'm safe."

She sobbed and he wondered what she had seen. Had she gone to the crime scene? Even if she hadn't he knew how graphic the pictures could be.

"I love you." He whispered. "You're safe."

The water began to grow cold around them and he slowly sat her up. Reaching around her, he drained the tub and got out. He wrapped a towel around his waist and grabbed her fuzzy robe. Wrapping her tight, he held his arms out to her and she carefully got out of the tub.

"Let's go watch something on TV and we can cuddle. I won't let you go."

She nodded and they walked back to the bedroom where she tugged on a heavy hoodie and sweats and he pulled on sweats and a tshirt. Slowly they walked to the main room where Derek gathered all of their blankets and he made a nest on the couch, pulling Emily into his arms. "You're okay." He whispered, as he buried his face in her hair and held her.

Against his skin he could feel her heart hammering. Fast. Erratic. There were no words he could say that would make this situation better. Turning on a pointless comedy, Derek kept his lips pressed to her skin until he felt her heartbeat slowly begin to return to normal and soon he felt her drift off to a restless sleep. She tossed and wriggled in his arms, though calming at his soft whispers. It wasn't until the sun peered over the horizon that she had finally calmed in his arms. Thankful that their blinds were thick and drawn, they slept on, his body shielding hers.

It was midday when she awoke, her stomach grumbling angrily from the lack of food. She was lying on the couch, a blanket pulled up to her chest. Derek looked over and gave her a smile. "Morning, Princess. Are you feeling better?"

She shrugged and sat up, running her hands through her dark hair. "I woke up because I'm hungry."

"Fair enough." He smiled softly and got to his feet. "What can I make you?"

Emily blinked a few times before speaking. "Something small maybe? Scrambled eggs?"

He nodded and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before heading to the kitchen. Putting bread in the toaster, he made a plate of scrambled eggs and brought them back to her. She ate in silence before looking up and giving him a small smile.

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

She sighed heavily and took another bite of her eggs. "Yeah, I just thought that…"

"You could handle it." He dropped down beside her and rested a hand on her abdomen. "I know, and I understand the feeling, but we're married. We're more than just partners now, we're a team. We're together, no matter what" Taking her hand he kissed her palm. "We took vows."

"I know." She gave him a tight lipped smile.

He let the subject drop and just raked his fingers through her hair softly. "You're pretty amazing, you know that?" He mused softly.

Emily leaned against him, her head on his shoulder. "So are you."

His hands rested on her belly and he tapped his fingers against the soft roundness gently. "I can't wait until we get to feel these two moving." He said, his fingertips dancing over her skin.

"Me too." Emily watched his hands on her abdomen. "Though, I'm sure once they start racing around in there I'm sure I'll feel different."

He smiled, the soft sweet gentle smile that he rarely showed, the ones that he shot her across the bullpen. The ones that he gave her when she did something so incredible that he couldn't keep it to himself. "You're awesome. You are so amazing and you're going to be an amazing mother. I'm in awe of you every single day."

Her face lit up. The sight that he loved with every fiber of his being. The glow that seemed to radiate from her soul, washing over the two of them. When they first met, her smiles were rare. A treat. The longer they were together, the less rare they became, though he still liked to think that she saved those special smiles just for him. "You're going to be an amazing father." Pulling him down for a gentle kiss, their lips barely brushing.

She was still anxious, he could see that, but she was more relaxed.

"You ready for the ultrasound?" He asked, raking his fingers through her hair.

Emily smiled. "Yeah, I am. I want to make sure that these little….nuggets. Beans? Babes….are okay." She said honestly.

"And that you're okay."

"Well, yeah." Derek laughed and got to his feet. "Because you, darling, are the love of my life."

Her laugh rained down, the soft tinkling music to his tired ears. "I love you too, kiss ass."