"I don't think that I have enough words in my vocabulary to explain how infuriated I am with you right now, Aaron."
He sheepishly looked down into his lap as he gave her a small nod. "I know, I reacted recklessly at the end of this case."
"You did, and you could have left two children without fathers. And how would I have explained that to Elise when she's old enough to understand that adult lives are messy and complicated and beautiful? I just…I am hanging on by a thread here, I need to know that you're not going to take risks like that again. Please." Erin hated how vulnerable she sounded in that moment, because she didn't like being perceived as weak by anyone. Yet that strange bleat of a last word was what caught Aaron's attention, as his head shot up to look at her, pain and loneliness stamped on his features. "Elise has loved seeing her uncle Aaron more, and if you die…"
Her words were abruptly cut off by her tears that clogged her throat, and she looked away from him as she fished for her handkerchief in her pocket. Vaguely, she heard a chair scrape against the floor, and then Aaron was kneeling on the floor in front of her, holding out his own handkerchief, and she took it from his hand, dabbing at her eyes as she tried to stop her tears. "The hormones are strong today?" he asked, trying to give her an out, and she shook her head as she smacked at his shoulder.
"No! I am furious with you! And terrified. Both of those emotions are enough to make me cry without the added hormones coursing through my system."
To her shock, Aaron got to his feet before giving her a quick, fierce, hug. "Would you believe me if I told you that I was trying to be more like Morgan? He's always charging in headfirst into situations, and I thought that if I took those same chances, I could still be an important part of the team."
Letting out a deep sigh, she grabbed hold of his hand and held on tightly as she stared into his face. "You are the leader of Alpha, no matter what is currently happening. I am fairly certain that everyone still sees you as the leader behind Agent Morgan, and they're looking to you for guidance, even as they're trying to look out for you and make certain that you're going to be all right."
Erin rested her free hand on her bump, feeling the baby kick out against her touch, and she smiled a little at the feeling. "So you do have faith in me," he murmured and she drew in a long breath through her nose as she nodded. "That's good to know."
"There were times when you gave me reason to question that faith, I won't lie. But seeing you now, dealing with Haley's absence and a madman who is trying to drive you mad by hunting you and separating you from your family, I have every faith in you, that you will do your duty to the team and the FBI. I just have to walk a very fine line when acting as the buffer between you and those above my paygrade. While Director Shepperd might be on my side, even he has people over him who grouse and complain when too much negative attention is drawn to your team, since it does reflect negatively on the FBI as a whole. I hate playing politics, but I'm good at it, and if it keeps you together and functioning, I'll do what I have to. Just, please, don't make my job more difficult than it already is right now? This pregnancy has been easier than Elise's was, but I'd rather not have to go on bedrest for the last ten weeks?"
He nodded as he leaned against her desk, giving her a wry smile. "Haley hated being on bedrest with Jack. Jessica had to take a leave of absence from her job at the time, so that she could entertain Haley. But it helped knowing that I had help watching over her, just in case something went wrong. Just like you had Dave to take care of you."
Erin smiled and nodded as she thought back to that time. "David was incredibly patient with me, especially when it became clear that I was not coping well with everything."
"Because I knew what you needed, stellina. Are you ready to head home? Karen already called to let me know that she's already fed Elise and is going to give her a bath before reading her a few stories." Erin nodded at her fiancé as she leaned on Aaron's thigh to boost herself to her feet, wobbling a little. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, it's just my center of gravity is changing again, as my bump gets bigger. I'm just having a little trouble adjusting to this. And what's infuriating is that it's affecting how I shoot. At least when I was pregnant with Elise, my shooting skills weren't affected so."
Both Aaron and David laughed, and she had to fight the urge to stamp her foot in frustration, knowing that would just tickle them further. Instead, she hurriedly packed up her bag and thrust it into David's arms before slinging her purse across her body as she fixed a look on them both. "Oh, I recognize that look from Haley, Dave. You might be sleeping in the guest room this evening."
"I'd listen to Aaron, darling. You are on very thin ice at the moment." David winked at her before reaching out for her hand, which she clasped without hesitation. Together, they walked out to the elevators, and as soon as they were alone inside the car, she sagged against him, the adrenaline over confronting Aaron on his rash actions bleeding from her body as the elevator sank down to the ground floor. "I think that you might get on thicker ice if you agree to taking a shower with me. I just need someone to hold me upright, and maybe wash my hair."
"I think that I can do that, Erin," he said as he guided her out to their car, helping her into the passenger seat before climbing behind the wheel and driving them home. As they drove, Erin scrolled through her messages that she had received, smiling a little to see that Jessica had reached out to her, telling her that Haley was doing all right, even if they had been moved to a new safe house. Rolling her eyes a little, Erin sent back a text telling Jessica that she needed to not talk to Haley quite so much, since then Haley could stay in one place until it was time to come home. "Let me guess, Jessica was relaying a message to you from Haley?"
She nodded. "I can't begin to imagine what Haley is going through, but she's going to get Foyet on her trail if she's not careful. I want to judge her, but odds are I might do the same thing, if I was in her position. Because it would be literal hell to be cut off from you and my children and my parents, knowing that there was a madman hellbent on hurting you through whatever means possible." Letting out a small sigh, Erin reached across the car and curled her hand around his arm, wanting to keep ahold of him the entire drive home, to assure herself that he was still there, and that maybe there wasn't so much to worry about. Maybe…