"I told you. You don't love someone because of their looks or their clothes or their car. You love them because they sing a song only your heart can understand."
― L.J. Smith
Derek stared at the screen, trying hard to find something that would tip him off. Emily rolled her eyes and swatted his shoulder gently. He grinned up at her and slid back, interlacing his fingers with hers. Dr Montgomery smiled and paused the screen with some measurements on it.
"So there is baby A. They're about 30 centimeters long and weigh about 250 grams. That's the low end of average for multiples, but it's still normal." She smiled and took a few pictures before moving the wand higher up. "This is baby B." The screen froze and they all stared at it. "Baby B is smaller, they're about 24 centimetres long and weigh about 210 grams."
"Does that mean that we're going to lose baby B? Or that something is wrong?" Emily asked quickly, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. Derek's hand squeezed Emily's as his eyes fell shut. They couldn't, not after everything they've been through, lose a baby.
"No. It just means that baby B may need to spend a bit of time in the NICU once they're here." The doctor said seriously. She turned to Emily and gave her a look. "So, Emily, how are you feeling?"
Tearing her eyes away from the screen, Emily shrugged. "Okay. I don't really have anything to compare it to." She said honestly. "But what I've read, it seems to be a lot of the same stuff. Muscle aches and pains, heartburn…"
Addison sat back and looked through Emily's chart. "Headaches?"
"A few." Her heart started to race and Emily's hands came up to her face, her thumbnail in her mouth. "Is this bad news?" She mumbled around her thumb.
Derek sighed silently and gently pulled her hand away from her face. Kissing her knuckles, he smiled before looking back at the doctor.
"It's concerning. It's the first sign of preeclampsia." Addison said rolling back towards her desk. "Your blood pressure right now is on the higher side of normal, but it's still higher. Your body is under a lot of stress with the babies, and I'm not suggesting what so ever that we abandon the pregnancy, but we need to keep on top of this. I'm going to suggest half days and we'll see if that helps. If it doesn't, we might need to seriously look at bedrest until you can deliver these babies, Emily."
Her face darkened and her eyebrows knitted together. Derek knew that look and he winced, bracing himself for an explosion.
"What if I did consults?" Emily asked, her voice a soft whisper. "Not go out into the field unless I have to. Sometimes I have to be there."
Addison exchanged a quick glance with Derek whose face was stone and unreadable. "What does consulting entail?" The redhead asked, her hands folded on her lap.
"I can work from the office, and a lot of it is doing research and communicating with the victims and their families." Her hands twitched in Derek's grasp.
"Emily's specialty is in terrorism, linguistics and child advocacy." Derek interjected. "And as the unit chief, I'm sure there's stuff she'd be able to do in the office." He looked pleadingly at his wife, her face hard.
"I would be more comfortable with Emily not in the field. I understand that this is your job, but I also want to keep you, and your babies as healthy for as long as possible. Actually, what I want is to keep those babies inside of you for as long as possible. I'd love to get you to 35 weeks, that's our goal, but anything after 27 weeks would be amazing. At 27 weeks they're no longer considered micro-preemies and their chance of survival is 95%." The red headed doctor gave them both a smile. "My job is to make sure that you and your babies are safe to the best of my abilities, but we need to work together."
Emily sighed and rubbed her temples. "Okay, I'll figure something out." She mumbled leaning back against the bed. Derek squeezed her hand and gave the doctor a small smile.
Addison nodded and ran her fingers through her hair. "Okay, so how about we get some glamour shots of these two." She said giving Emily and Derek both smiles.
Derek nodded and kissed Emily's fingers. She looked over at him and gave him a watery smile before pulling their connected hands up and kissed his fingers. They waited until a face, a fully formed face, came onto the screen.
"This is baby A." Addison said gently, snapping a few pictures.
"Looks like Baby A got Daddy's nose." Emily said with a gentle smile, watching as a little perfectly formed hand came up to the baby's mouth. "And a thumbsucker."
Derek choked back tears as he watched the screen. After a few moments Addison moved the wand higher up and another face came onto the screen. Baby B came on the screen and they smiled as the fetus brushed a hand over its face and squirmed around. His fingers tightened around Emily's and he pressed a soft kiss on her forehead. This was something he imagined, but never thought would be possible.
They left, with pictures in hand heading back to the office. Sure, they could've taken the rest of the day off, but Derek wanted to show the team his babies. With his chest puffed out with pride, he showed the pictures off to anyone and everyone. Garcia, of course, wanted copies to post. Emily sat in her office, one hand protectively over her growing abdomen, her mind elsewhere. Since she had graduated Yale, being a member of the FBI and the BAU was the only thing she ever wanted. Maybe she wanted to be the head of the FBI, but as she sat there, feeling her babies move under her hands, she wondered if she made the right decision.
The door opened silently and slowly, the blonde sliding in quietly and coming to rest beside her best friend. Emily glanced over and gave JJ a soft smile. The blonde sat down on the chair and waited. Out of the two, JJ was the one who was a talker, Emily was happy to sit in silence. They sat there, Emily running small circles on her belly, JJ watching her, biting down on her lower lip.
"The doctor suggested that I start staying in the office more, and maybe I start doing half days. Or maybe eventually bedrest." Emily's hand slid over to where By B was kicking up a storm. She sighed and looked at JJ. "I just...I just want these babies to be healthy."
The blonde nodded and slid closer to Emily, pressing her hand against her friend's belly. "You and Derek will have to discuss what to do and I know that you two will do what's the best for you, and your babies." She said softly. "And we have more members of the team than we've ever had." She continued. "We can handle it."
Emily sighed and slid her hand over to the bottom where Baby A was now moving. "I know you guys can, and that's part of the problem. I don't want to give Barnes any reason to fire me." She sighed, her hand never leaving the bump.
"She can't fire you because you're pregnant. That's illegal on so many different levels and would be bad press for the FBI and Barnes." JJ said, smiling as she felt a strong kick. "And your doctor is probably more concerned about the amount of time we spend flying than she is about the amount of time you're on the job." She reasoned.
It was true, they spent a huge amount of time on a plane, which wasn't exactly healthy for pregnant women at the best of times, let alone a woman at her age, carrying twins. "Yeah, that could be it." She said softly. "Maybe I'll start slowly, you know, only stay home when it's a trip that's more than 3 hours by plane."
Derek stood in the doorway, a gentle smile on his face and looked down at the two women. "Start slowly." He repeated shaking his head.
The two of them looked up with a guilty smile on their faces.
"Hey, I know full well that I'm not going to change you." He said honestly. "But hearing you say that you're going to make some small steps, that's reassuring." His smile reached his eyes, the darkness twinkling with mirth.
JJ got to her feet, pressing a soft kiss on the temple of her best friend. "We just want what's best for you, Mama." Her fingers grazed Emily's belly before she left, closing the door behind her.
"You don't think I'm stupid and taking irrational risks?" Emily asked softly, cupping her belly.
Derek took JJ's spot and rested his hand on top of hers. "Never." Leaning over, he pecked her lips softly. "Anyway, I need to go do a consultation on a case and I'm sure you have some stuff you need to do, boss lady." His eyebrows wiggled and he kissed her again. "Message me when you're ready to go."
Her hand rubbed small circles on her belly as she watched him go. Sighing, she pulled out the files on her desk and started to go through them.
The chill wrapped around them and Emily tried to wrap her arms around herself. Derek shrugged off his sweater and tugged it over her. She smiled softly and leaned her head against his shoulder, walking through the underground. It was late October, the cool wind bit into their skin. He felt the shiver run through her body and he gently rubbed her sides. Climbing into the SUV, Emily turned up the heat and warmed her hands as they pulled out of the underground parking.
"We should start looking at things like carseats and strollers and getting the nursery together." She commented as the SUV started to warm up.
Derek nodded and reached over, their fingers interlacing. "We should, but how about we wait until next weekend after the surprise baby shower that isn't a surprise."
Emily nodded and leaned back heavily against the seat. "Right, the halloween costume baby shower."
Shrugging, Derek pulled onto the freeway. "You know Garcia, and I refuse to argue with her."
"Everyone refuses to argue with her." Emily closed her eyes for a few moments before looking back at Derek. "Apparently we all need costumes."
"We do." He gave her a smile. "We can figure something out. Garcia has already been sending me pictures of couples costumes."
Her eyes flicked towards him but she didn't say anything as they drove. They turned onto their street and found a car parked in the driveway with out of state plates. Exchanging glances, Derek put the vehicle into park and climbed out. The lights in their house were on and he walked in, a confused look on his face.
"Ma, what are you doing here?"
Fran smiled at the couple and nodded towards the meal on the table. "Mackenzie let me in." She said in way of explanation. "Come, sit. It's not much, but I made supper. Chicken, rice, roasted vegetables." Motioning to the table, she gave both of them a hard stare and Derek dropped on the chair, quickly followed by Emily.
"I love you, Ma, but...what are you doing here?" Derek asked finally as he finished his plate of food.
The older woman smiled and placed more food on Derek's plate. "Well, I moved here. To be closer to you guys. And don't worry, I didn't sell the house. Desi gave up her lease and she's there right now."
"So where are you living now?" He asked slowly, glancing at Emily who was picking at her food.
"Well, I'll be renting a place not that far from here. I want to help out. I can help clean and cook for you guys, and then help out when the babies are born."
Emily put her fork down and glanced at Derek who seemed stunned. "This is stupid." She said, shaking her head when Fran's face fell. "You shouldn't be at a hotel, Fran. We have plenty of room here." Emily gave her mother-in-law a smile. "We have two extra bedrooms, one is obviously going to be eventually turned into a nursery." She shot Derek a look before looking back at Fran. "The spare bedroom is all yours."
Fran smiled and squeezed Emily's forearm. "The offer is sweet, Emily. But you two need your own space, and the apartment is close enough…"
Derek stopped listening as an idea popped into his mind. Without finishing eating, or excusing himself, he got to his feet and walked into the backyard. They had a pool house in the backyard, complete with plumbing and electricity. It was big for a pool house, about 350 square feet, but only one story. He had an idea. Walking back to the house, he pulled out a pad of paper and started to sketch, only stopping when he felt Emily's bump against his back.
"What about a granny suite?"
Emily tightened her grip and pulled herself as close as possible against Derek. "What about it?"
"For mom. We can add a second floor to the pool house for a bedroom and lounge area. It already has plumbing. I could apply for the permit." He turned and looked at his wife. "What do you think? Then she would have space but would be close."
Shrugging, Emily stood on her toes and pressed a kiss on his lips. "How about you discuss it with her. I'm fine with whatever you two are fine with. You know I love your mom."
Derek nodded and wrapped his arms around her waist before leading her to where his mom was filling the dishwasher. "Ma, how about I change the pool house out back into a granny suite? Get a permit to add a floor and we'd put in a kitchen and a washroom, and then you'd have a bedroom and a lounge area. You would still have access to the house, obviously, but you'd have your own space."
"You don't have to do that for me, Derek. I'd be fine renting a place."
Rolling his eyes, Derek shook his head. "We know you would be, but we'd love to have you close when the babies are born and all."
Fran looked between the two of them, Emily leaning against Derek with a smile on her face. "Are you two sure?"
"Positive. We would be honoured to have you with us, Fran. And the babies would be SO lucky to have you as their grandma and for you to be with them all the time." She said quietly. "You're the only grandparent they have right now."
With tears in her eyes Fran nodded. "Of course, if you two want me here, I'll be here. I want to be here for you, and of course my grandbabies." She walked over and embraced her son, before embracing Emily, her hands falling to her belly and leaving her palm pressed against the side.
"Guess I have some applications to fill out." Derek said with a smirk as he went and grabbed his laptop.
Emily smiled and placed her hand on Fran's. "I'm glad you're here, Fran.
"Me too, Emily. Me too."
