Emily was in a daze. She was going to be a mother.

The thought alone made her delirious with joy.

Her baby had a heartbeat. It was healthy. Alive. Thriving. Emily couldn't ask for more.

So what exactly had her in a daze?

Andrew.

He was due over any minute to talk about… whatever it was he had alluded to earlier. Emily had no idea what Andrew even wanted, but had soon decided on balance that this was just as well because she would have spent the rest of the day feeling very distracted. All she wanted was food and sleep. It felt to her as if her whole day had lasted a week. Emily had never been more glad for a case to be at its end and behind her.

Now that she had been able to slow down, she was right back to feeling ill. Emily's biggest hope concerning Andrew's visit was that she didn't vomit on him. That would be the worst outcome. And the most awkward.

Emily sat up straighter when she heard the front door to the apartment open. She had left it unlocked for Andrew.

He called out as he hung his jacket up. "Emily?"

"On the couch!"

Andrew entered the sitting room to find that Emily wasn't looking so hot. Literally.

She was pale. Her face was devoid of makeup. There were even dark circles under her eyes. Had she been having trouble sleeping? Even her pajamas were mismatched, random. Her shirt was only just covering her chest. The checkered pajama pants were probably from nineteen ninety something. Her kimono robe also looked like it had seen a long life. Emily hadn't cared enough tonight to put in the effort of looking nice. Andrew had never seen her like this before.

He perched on the armchair closest to the end of the couch that she was occupying. "How are you? Is there anything I can do?"

"I also have some things to talk about, but I promise I'm fine." Emily smiled at her boyfriend. "You can go first."

"Well, I've been given a promotion at work, and they do mean changes."

Emily's heart sank like a stone at once. "What sort of changes?"

"To begin with, a raise and a promotion to a better position." Andrew's nerves increased. "They've reassigned me to London. Indefinitely. I didn't have a choice."

Emily's heart sank a little bit lower. "Oh, my God…"

Andrew's tone become one of backpedaling. "This is why I said I wanted to talk."

"That's good, but did you even stop to think about us when this was put into your lap?"

"I really didn't have a choice. My flight is first thing on Monday morning."

"What?" Emily cried. "But this is already Tuesday!"

Each passing moment now made it blindingly obvious where Andrew's priorities were. Emily wasn't sure what to feel.

"It's the nature of the beast, and it isn't all that bad." Andrew offered. "London is a beautiful place with lots of opportunities for both of us."

"What are you saying?" Emily demanded.

"I'm saying that you could come with me. We could have a life together in England."

Before Emily could stop Andrew, he was on one knee in front of her. This was not happening. This could not be happening.

He pulled a small velvet box from one pocket and opened it to reveal a diamond ring. "Emily, would you come with me to England? Would you marry me?"

It was as if time itself had paused.

Emily's life even flashed before her eyes, even her conversation that morning with JJ about misgivings and obligations. She did want to be married, but not if even the idea of saying yes to a marriage proposal filled her with such dread. Never again. She'd last felt this when Ian Doyle had proposed. It hadn't been a fun experience. Andrew's proposal had sent up red flags all over again.

Emily also knew that living in England again was a no-go. She did agree that it was a beautiful place, bit the memories she was associated with it were empty and sad. Hopeless.

Finally, Emily responded by pushing Andrew's hands away.

"No." she said. "I'm sorry, Andrew, but I couldn't do either."

He recoiled and got to his feet. "What? Why?"

"We haven't even honestly said "I love you," yet. I can even see where your priorities are. We've also only been together since November." Emily also stood, but only to create some distance. "I would have said yes if you'd proposed maybe a year or more from now."

"But you're saying no now because I rushed it?"

Emily bobbed her head. "If you really loved me, you would have somehow found a way to say no to your boss or postpone."

"And do what, exactly?" Andrew pocketed the ring box. "Would you have expected me to seek you out while on a case?"

"Yes, especially since you know about this almost all day, and we're not even at a point where you know my full name!"

"And what is your name?" Andrew huffed.

"It's Emelise Adele, and there are a number of reasons that I can't just pick up and go all the way to England."

"Like what?"

"My parents—they're getting old. It's been too long since I've lived in the same country as them. Next year, I turn the big 5-0." Emily shuddered at this last admission. "I'm just too old to start over again. D.C. is where I want to retire someday."

Emily had valid points, and now Andrew felt frustrated. He'd just accidentally let a unicorn go because he'd jumped the gun. What frustrated him the most was that he would never have a chance to do this over. Andrew also had a feeling that Emily had more strong reasons about staying in D.C. besides her parents and her own age.

"What else is there?" he asked her.

"The BAU—I love it, and I love leading it." Emily went on. "My team is my family, and we've been through so much together. I can't leave them. Not again."

"Just how long have you been part of the Behavioral Analysis Unit, anyway?"

"Since 2006."

"And when did you go?" Andrew said sardonically.

Emily rose above the sadness threatening to engulf her because of the memories. "The first time was in 2012. It hurt like hell in a few different ways, and then after a particular hurdle, I became too blinded by ambition to see what it was going to do to me in the long run."

"When did you go back?"

"For a brief moment in 2014 because it was a family emergency, and then I made a permanent return in 2016. I promised them that I'd never go again. It was a good thing I told them, too."

"Why?"

"We lost our leader, and I picked up the mantle in getting the team on its feet." Emily thought fleetingly of Hotch. "I'm also the BAU's Unit Chief. That's a pretty big deal. Nobody on the team would be able to make it if anyone was missing—we'd be adrift."

Even though Andrew had worked with the BAU before, he was challenging Emily because he was buying time to figure out a way to change her mind. "Why do you about them care so much? You all are just a group of people."

"The Avengers we are not, but I've been through life and death with my team in more ways than one. They are my family. I also can't live in England."

Andrew paused. Emily was a seasoned world traveller, and she loved seeing new places. Expressing an untoward feeling towards any one country was out of character.

"Why on earth not? Have you even lived there before?"

"Yes, I have." Emily said softly. "I lived there because I had an entire division of Interpol at my command."

"You what?" Andrew sputtered.

"We both work for the government, Andrew, but I've really been around the block."

"Sounds like you didn't enjoy the one called England." he observed. "Care to explain?"

"I didn't have any friends there—not real ones, anyway. Everyone I love is here."

He simmered down slightly. "Choosing the job over friends and family didn't go that well, did it?"

"Not one bit. The loneliness almost made me come undone." Emily looked upon him with scrutiny. "And you don't have any family, right?"

Emily had him there. In a conversation once about their families, Andrew had confessed that he was an adult orphan in every sense of the term.

"Yes." Andrew said. "That's right."

"Did that make it easier for you to accept reassignment so fast? Tell the truth."

When Andrew spoke next, it sounded like his words were causing him intense suffering. "Yes. It did."

"I rest my case." Emily said simply.

"Why are you giving me such a hard time? I l—"

Emily made a slashing motion with her hands. "Don't you dare make it worse by saying those words now, just to say them."

Andrew quickly changed tracks. "You're seriously digging in your heels about something. What is it?"

"Even though you went as far to buy me a beautiful diamond ring, you didn't stop to consider that I might not give you the answer you wanted to hear. I was just an afterthought. A shiny, beautiful afterthought."

"I'm sorry." Andrew tried lamely. "Is there anything I can do? Is there a chance?"

Emily stood her ground. "No. Not since you made it clear that your job means more to you than I do."

This really is the end, Andrew thought. "At least it isn't like we have a kid to worry about. That is the last thing that either of us need."

Emily's heart broke even more.

"That's that—I can't be with someone who doesn't want kids, and it's a lot like we have a kid to worry about." Emily pointed to her middle. "The little guy or doll is right here. I just found out tonight."

There was a wild moment of silence. Andrew didn't know how to respond. He'd never wanted kids, and here… he and Emily had managed to make one without even trying.

"You're pregnant?" Andrew finally said, although very flabbergasted. "Are you sure? Do you have proof?"

"Besides wondering if or when I'm going to vomit, and having a hankering for something spicy, I saw the little one at the doctor's office. Everything about the baby is perfect." Emily touched her hands to her middle for emphasis. "That's really saying a lot because I chase crazy killers for a living. I didn't know because these last few weeks have been plain crazy at work, and then the case we had today screwed with all of us."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly, no."

She was shutting him out because they both knew that their relationship was at the end of the road. Finished.

He wasn't sure how to best pose is his next thought, so all he got out was, "When...?"

"It was the November blizzard, eleven weeks ago. Remember?"

D.C. had been shut down two days before Thanksgiving, thanks to a massive snowstorm. Andrew had stayed with Emily at her apartment because her building had a generator. They hadn't lost power. All the same, they'd found ways to pass the time. Lots of ways.

"I definitely remember, but I don't think I'll ever be able to forget. We had fun."

"We did." Emily admitted. "I really didn't start thinking about a pregnancy until recently because these last few weeks have been really catching up with me. Forgiving myself wouldn't be an option if something happened."

"So… you're keeping it?"

Andrew almost sounded disappointed. Emily's heart finally fell to the floor.

"Of course I am!" she cried.

Andrew tried to steer her away from her flights of fancy. "But you said it yourself that you chase crazy killers for a living. How are you going to do that, and raise a kid?"

"I'm hardly the first person on my team or in the FBI to be a parent," Emily scoffed. "And I'll find a way because I always do."

"So then this means you're not going to give it up, either?"

Emily shook her head, amazed with herself that she wasn't yelling. "I want this kid because I've always wanted to be a mom. Ever since… ever since what happened to my last baby…"

Feeling like he was going to regret it if he didn't ask, Andrew said cautiously, "Was there a miscarriage?"

"No. I was a wild child, and I was afraid."

"You had an abortion…"

"I did. But it's been thirty-four years. This is my second chance." Emily smoothed out a fold in the carpet with one foot. "Obviously, I've grown a lot, and I'm a lot more capable of raising a kid now. Do you really not want any?"

"I really don't, Emily." Andrew answered solemnly. "They're loud, expensive, and messy. I also have a government job I can't exactly pause."

"It doesn't seem like you're even willing to try to make an effort." Emily grumbled. No kid deserves to be caught in the middle of this crumbling relationship. I don't want to do it anymore, and I don't think I can."

"Okay, Emily." Andrew gave one last attempt at being apologetic. "I am sorry."

She breezed past this. "Look—I don't care what you do with your life after this, but if your mind is ever changed about having kids, tell me if you and your future wife have one."

"Why?"

Emily remembered witnessing the damage done to the Jareau siblings by kept secrets. "Because ours deserves the chance of seeing them out when they're older."

"I'll do that for you." Andrew said calmly.

Tears filled Emily's eyes. "It isn't for me—this is for the little one you're turning away. What I need you to do on my part is much harder: unless you have that other kid one day, I never want to see you again. We'll be able to move on without each other."

Andrew stuck his hands in his pockets. "I was thinking the same thing."

"On that note, I want you to be the one to draw up the papers about custody severance."

"I wasn't going to fight you on that, either. Just tell me why you want me to be the one to initiate that part."

"It'll show that you can let us go, just like I know I can let you go."

Andrew's voice was heavy with resignation. "Alright—those terms work for me. Are you sure there isn't anything I can do to make you change your mind about England?"

Emily crossed her arms. "Would you change your mind about anything you've said here tonight?"

"No."

"Then there's your answer."

"Okay, Emily. Good bye."

Andrew wanted to hug her, but she just took another step away from him.

"Don't touch me." Emily pointed towards the door, struggling to hold her tears back. "Just go."

Andrew collected his coat and left, closing the door behind him.

Emily wept.