"Where are we going?" Emily asked, just a note of whining in her voice. "You know I hate surprises..." She had her arms crossed firmly over her chest, a childish pout on her lips as they left the driveway, Garcia and the girls waving goodbye in the rear-view mirror.

"I know," Lucy replied with a smirk. "That's why it's a surprise." Usually, she would indulge Emily's patented hatred of surprises by telling her ahead of time what her plans were...but on this particular occasion, she was steadfastly keeping it a secret.

Emily groaned, rolled her eyes. "You're mean."

She just laughed, shook her head, fond smile on her lips. "All you need to know is that we're taking a little break for some romance before Little Bear arrives," she said. Between Clara and Aurora, the baby on the way, and Emily's job, their time alone was few and far between and Lucy wanted to take advantage of the time they did have while it lasted.

"Romance, hmm?" Emily said with a playful smirk, reaching across the centre console to rest a hand on Lucy's thigh, letting it creep ever higher... "What exactly are you planning?"

Lucy snorted with laughter, swatted her hand away. "You're ridiculous, you know that, right?" Then, as if to soften the verbal blow, she leaned across to steal a kiss while they were stopped at a red light.

"Do you miss this?" Lucy asked, squeezing Emily's hand as they walked together through the fairgrounds erected to celebrate the Chincoteague Pony Swim. "Being alone, without the munchkins?" she elaborated.

Emily hummed quietly. "Maybe sometimes," she murmured, "But never so much that I'd trade them for all the quiet nights in and sex in the kitchen and gourmet meals in the world."

"Remember you said that when Little Bear arrives and it's all sleepless nights and poopy diapers," she teased. She actually agreed with Emily's sentiment, but that didn't mean she never found herself wistfully thinking of their childless days.

She just smiled, shook her head. "I can't wait," she insisted, "I can't wait for all of it. Even giving birth."

Lucy raised a brow. "You're not scared?" she asked, mildly surprised. Afterall, she'd given birth twice and it was no picnic...

"Maybe. A little," she said with a shrug. "But good scared, you know?" She glanced over at Lucy, smiled shyly. "Like before we got married scared – the fear that comes before you finally get something you've wanted for so long and you're scared you'll wake up and find it's all a dream..."

With a little laugh, Lucy said, "Your dream is macaroni and cheese with dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets for dinner, washing mashed pasta out of toddler hair, then being too tired for sex...and doing it all over again, every day for the rest of our lives?" she teased.

Emily nodded. "Every single part of it. I waited so long to have my own family – when I met you, I was starting to think I was never going to have that, then you turned my entire world upside down in the best possible way. My mother never did these things with me, she never had family meals with me, never did bath time, never put me to bed and read me stories; it was always nannies. And I always swore that if I had kids, I would do things different, so even when I feel like I'll die if I eat one more chicken nugget shaped like a dinosaur, I just remember how badly I wanted these moments."

"You're adorable, you know that?" Lucy murmured, leaning in for a kiss. "I'm so glad you're the one I'm having a family with."

Humming her agreement, Emily pulled back from the kiss with a contented little sigh. Then, her eyes lit up. "I smell mini donuts..." she declared, already dragging Lucy toward the source of the scent. She'd been craving them for a solid month and a half, but couldn't find them anywhere...and she fully intended to eat her weight in the cinnamon-sugar coated donuts now that she'd finally found a ready supply.

"And just like that, the romantic moment is over," Lucy teased.

Lucy lay curled into Emily's body, her hand rubbing slow circles on her belly. The morning sunshine streaming into the room landed on her bare back, warming her gently as they enjoyed a rare lazy morning.

"Little Bear sure is busy this morning," she murmured, smile soft against Emily's shoulder.

"It's because he hears you talking," she replied. "Not even here yet and he already has a favourite parent."

Lucy laughed. "Well, to be fair, the other two prefer you..."

"I can't help it that I'm lovable," she teased.

Snorting with laughter this time, Lucy agreed, "I mean...you are, but still..."

Their playful banter was interrupted by Emily's phone going off. With an exasperated sigh, she grabbed it, glancing at the screen, then groaning. "Dammit, Rossi," she muttered. Answering, she snapped, "What?"

Lucy waited patiently for the conversation to end, her hand following the baby's kicks. When Emily hung up, she asked, "They need your help on a case?"

"He just wanted my approval for some not exactly 'above board' actions," she said on a sigh.

"What are they going to do when you go on your maternity leave?" Lucy asked after several moments of quiet.

Emily hummed a quiet note. "That definitely seems to be the million dollar question, doesn't it?"

Lucy nodded slightly. "It's not going to be like it was when you went on leave when I had the girls. For one thing, you're the one who's going to be recovering from the birth. And for another, you're the Unit Chief now..." She shrugged ambiguously.

"I know," she whispered. She'd actually been thinking about this a lot, the more heavily pregnant she became. She wanted to be able to enjoy their son's first months of life without being constantly interrupted by work...she just wasn't entirely certain how she was going to pull that off.