Chapter 13: What If
"Would the two of you like to know the gender?" The doctor asked Emily and Spencer. Both shook their heads. They wanted it to be a surprise.
"We want it to be a surprise." Emily spoke up before the doctor told them anything. The only thing that mattered to her was that their baby was healthy.
"You do know the team is betting on this." He reminded her that keeping them waiting was going to be fun. She was trying hard not to laugh while the doctor was finishing the scan. Right as the doctor was showing them a good view of their baby, Spencer's phone rings. "I'll be right back." Spencer said as he excused himself to take the call.
"Probably another case." Emily mumbled as she happily looked at the screen to see their child.
"The two of you never get a break." The doctor commented remembering how they had to reschedule appointments a few times due to them being called out on a case.
"We both knew when we first took the job that we are always on call. Whatever time we do get is devoted to us, and soon the little family we started." Emily explained that they were aware of the requirements of the job. Spencer joined them again just as the doctor was finishing up.
"What did I miss?" Spencer asked hoping he didn't miss too much. He had promised Emily that he would be there for her through everything.
"Everything looks fine and measures as it should be at this point in the pregnancy. Baby has a strong heartbeat and is moving around quite a bit." The doctor explained as she printed the pictures from this scan for them to keep. "You're way through, Emily." She added getting a smile from the happy couple.
"Baby is definitely awake now." Emily chuckled as Spencer helped her up off the bed. He also informed her that they would be taking off as soon as they got to the office.
"That was Hotch, we have another case." He stated as they made their way out. She wasn't really surprised by this. When they got to the office, they grabbed their go bags and met the team on the jet. Hotch waited until everyone was settled before he started going over the case. He also warned them that this case involved children.
"Care to join us Prentiss and Boy Genius." Morgan called out motioning for them to sit at the table with everyone.
"You mean Baby Mama and Boy Genius." Garcia corrected him from the video call. "So do we get to find out if the newest member of the BAU family is a boy or girl?" Garcia asked excitedly getting a look from Hotch. As much as they wanted to continue the fun, they still had a case to work.
"Garcia, not now." Hatch stated reminding them that they had a case to start working on. As they were going over who would do what when they landed, Emily spoke up.
"I don't want to be left in the office doing nothing." Emily protested after Hotch said she would stay in the office working on the geographical profile and victimology. Reid, and shockingly Rossi came to her defense.
"She could come to the crime scene with me." Reid offered coming to her defense. Rossi agreed with Reid and offered for her to go to the current victim's house with him.
"Aaron, she's pregnant not paralyzed." Rossi reminded him. She decided to go with Rossi for a few reasons. One was Erin Strauss who always seemed to have the team under a microscope. She also wanted to thank him for coming to her defense again. This wasn't the first time that he stood up for her against Hotch.
"I'll go with Rossi to speak with the Miller's." Prentiss replied making her decision. That left Morgan to go the to the crime scene with Reid. Emily looked over to Rossi and mouthed a silent thank you. Once they landed the team split up.
"He only does that because he cares." Rossi broke the silence. Emily knew that too but hated sitting around in the office when she could be out in the field. She also decided to fill Rossi in on what happened to her months ago to make Hotch's call to keep her in the office make sense.
"I know that." Emily mumbled trying not to let the hormones get the better of her. "Were you there to watch the interrogation when I questioned Doyle about his son?" She asked not remembering if he was in the office at that time or not. Rossi was not at the station when Emily had questioned Doyle.
"No, Morgan and I were checking out the crime scene." He admitted wondering where she was going with this. He knew that whatever Emily was about to say had already upset her. He could see it in her pained expression when she asked. It took her a few minutes to compose herself.
"During the interrogation…" She paused trying not to break down. "Doyle also confessed to deliberately causing me to have a miscarriage by beating and kicking me the way he did." She managed to choke out. She also explained how she didn't know that she was even pregnant at the time. Someone had invaded her home before she could read the results of the pregnancy test.
"Emily, I can't even imagine." He tried his best to comfort her. "I meant what I said, I'm here for you if you ever need anything. You, Spencer, Penelope, Derek, JJ and Aaron are all family to me." He went on about how family isn't always blood related.
"Maybe Hotch is right to keep me in the office. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to this baby that I could have prevented." She admitted thinking she was at fault for what happened in the past. He disagreed with her.
"Nothing bad is going to happen to this little one on my watch." He promised that they would all keep her out of harms way. Hearing that meant a lot to Emily.
"Thank you, Dave." He thought of them as family, and this gave Emily Prentiss even more reason to plant roots and stay in the area close to family.
"Did you and Spencer find out what you are having?" He asked. She shook her head and explained that they wanted to be surprised.
"As long as this baby is healthy, I'm happy." She said as she protectively put a hand over her now noticeable bump. Rossi knew the other reason she was constantly on edge.
"Enjoy this time while it's just the two of you and don't worry about the what ifs." He motioned towards her bump. Rossi knew she wasn't going to admit it, but knew she needed to hear it. Emily was in fact on edge about this pregnancy, and rightfully so.
"Thank you." She wiped her tears away. "I really needed that." Hearing that from Rossi made her realize she should be enjoying this time she has with her baby. They walked up to the front door of the Miller's home and knocked. They didn't have to wait long before someone answered the door. Rossi was the one that introduced them and asked if they could come in to speak.
"Ms. Miller, I'm special agent David Rossi and this is special agent Emily Prentiss, and we are with the FBI, may we come in to speak with you?" The woman let them in without hesitation. She figured that they were here to ask about her son. He was reported missing a few hours ago.
"You're here to ask about Gabriel, aren't you?" She asked knowing the answer. Emily nodded dreading how the rest of this was going to go.
"Ms. Miller, what can you tell us?" Emily asked hoping she would be able to get through it.
"Please, just call me Annie." She responded as she brought coffee mugs to the table for her guests. "Would either of you like coffee?" She asked as she grabbed the coffee pot.
"Sure!" Rossi took her up on the coffee instantly.
"I'm going to pass but thank you for the offer." Emily politely declined the offer.
"Can I get you as glass of water?" Annie offered. Emily gladly took her up on that.
"That would be great, thank you." Emily instantly took a sip. Annie Miller must have noticed Emily's bump because what she asked next took both agents by surprise.
"Boy or girl?" Rossi was about to tell the woman something, but Emily spoke up first. She figured that relating to the woman might be a better approach at getting answers.
"We want it to be a surprise." Emily admitted getting Annie Miller to open up to them more.
"Is this your first?" Emily nodded happily. Rossi decided to sit back and see where Emily was going with this.
"Yes, and there's not a thing I wouldn't do to keep him or her safe." She went on about how she would do anything for her baby. Rossi knew that Emily meant that. He also realized that she was taking a play from JJ's book and using the fact that she's a mother to relate to the victims and their families. Emily was pretty sure that the woman had told them everything that she knew. Just to make sure, Emily used her pregnancy to her advantage again to search around the house for something that might help them find Gabriel Miller.
"Do you know who your son hangs out with?" Rossi asked and took down the names of those families. He assured the woman that they would do everything they could to bring Gabriel back home to her.
"Where's your restroom?" Emily asked actually needing to go but was also going to take advantage of looking around while back there. Rossi caught on to what she was doing right away. He helped Emily out by asking Ms. Miller more questions. He also noted that he would tell Hotch that it would be beneficial to keep Emily out in the field on cases instead of putting her in the office. There wasn't much harm or danger in speaking to the victims, their families, and witnesses.
Emily managed to find Gabriel's room. She was hoping that Rossi could buy her another few minutes. If she took too long Ms. Miller might head back there to look for her. She managed to gather some new information from looking in his bedroom. She just received a text from Rossi saying he couldn't stall her much longer. Emily replied to him to ask about Gabriel's father as she exited the bedroom quietly. She made it to the restroom just in time. Rossi replied that the woman was asking if she was okay and that hopefully she was in the restroom.
Emily rejoined them back in the dining room. She walked in on the tail end of the conversation about Mr. Miller. They found out that the woman's husband had passed away when Gabriel was very young. This prompted Emily to ask if there was someone that Gabriel saw as a father figure in his life. They noted that as well.
"If that's all you have for us, we will be leaving to continue our investigation." Rossi said as they got up to leave. Once they were back in the SUV, Emily told him about what she found in the bedrooms. Rossi chuckled at the fact that she managed to sneak into both rooms silently.
Reid and Morgan were still at the crime scene gathering information to help them with the case. This case was reminding Reid just how important family was, and that he would do anything to keep them safe. Derek noticed that Spencer had something on his mind because he seemed distracted. He tried to get his attention twice but was unsuccessful.
"Earth to Spencer." Derek called out to him finally getting his attention. Spencer finally heard him.
"Yes." He finally answered back.
"Are you okay?" He asked knowing that something was bothering his friend. "You know I'm here for you and you can tell me anything." He added hoping to get him to say something. Spencer finally decided to say what was on his mind.
"This case really has me thinking, that's all." He answered honestly. Derek nodded; it was a start. He knew it was something serious because very rarely did Spencer go into detail about what was on his mind.
"Thinking about what?" Derek asked genuinely concerned for his friend.
"I know Emily is fine and won't go down without a fight, but there's not a thing I wouldn't do to keep her and the baby safe." He admitted that the urge to keep them safe has been getting stronger.
"That, my friend, is the dad coming out in you." Morgan laughed but was serious about what he said. That comment worried Spencer even more.
"What if I'm not good at this dad thing, then what?" Morgan knew what this was all about now, Spencer was nervous. He didn't blame him being responsible for another human being was a major life change.
"No what ifs, Spencer. You are going to be an amazing dad." His friend assured him he would do fine. "The moment you meet Baby Genius, your life will change." He added knowing that not knowing about something scared Spencer. He was used to being prepared for everything, but he knew that a book, online article, or anything wouldn't actually prepare him for this.
"Baby Genius?" Spencer repeated shocked that Morgan referred to their baby as that as well. He thought only Emily called their baby that.
"I hope that's okay since you and Emily want the baby's gender to be a surprise." He said in his defense. "I heard Emily calling the kid Baby Genius lately too." He added causing Spencer to laugh.
"She sure does." He answered excitedly as he went on about how she had been speaking to the baby a lot recently. "I told her that the baby may be able to hear her at this point." He went on about how he told Emily to watch her language because there's a child present. Morgan laughing at this as well knowing that it couldn't have gone well.
"You're trying to tell me that you told our Emily, Emily Prentiss to watch her language?" He still didn't believe Reid.
"Yeah." Spencer said in the calmest tone as if what he did was no big deal. If it were anyone else but Spencer, she would have told them something.
"She must really love you, because the rest of us are terrified of what would happen if we did that. Derek still didn't understand how he had such an effect on Emily.
"Yes, she loves me, but if you haven't noticed lately, she's been very hormonal." Spencer let him know what happened afterward. "When I asked her to watch her language, she said every swear word or phrase you could possibly think of and proceeded to say more in the languages that she's fluent in." He told Derek all he could do was laugh even though he probably shouldn't have.
"I really don't know what to say to you, Kid. Did you really expect anything less?" Derek was still at a loss for words after hearing this. He really wasn't surprised though. Spencer continued his story.
"It gets even better. The baby started kicking and moving around after Emily did that. It was almost as if she was letting her mom know she heard all of that." Spencer continued with his story. Emily went from annoyed to happy in a matter of seconds. "Right after that she grabbed my hand and placed it on her bump. Sure enough, I felt our baby moving around. That was also when he told her that even the baby says watch your language, mom. Derek couldn't stop laughing. Better Spencer than him he thought.
"I think you and Emily are having a girl and she already has her mom's attitude." Derek told Spencer his prediction before they went back to the police station to join the rest of the team. So far, they had two people tell them they predicted that the baby is a girl. Spencer had one more thing that he wanted to ask before they rejoined the team to go over their findings.
"Derek, can I ask you something?" Spencer asked his friend hoping he could answer the question that's been on his mind this entire case.
"Spencer, you know you can ask me anything." Derek realized that this is probably what has been on his mind for the entire case.
"Why does she love me, let alone enough to have a child with me." Derek was not expecting this at all. "She could have anyone in the world, but she chose me, why?" Spencer went on about how he was awkward in social situations, always interested in nerdy things rather than what's popular. Derek honestly couldn't answer that question for him. That was something that he had to ask Emily herself. "What if our child ends up like me." He added.
"I don't know Kid, that's something you are going to have to ask her yourself." Once again Derek Morgan was at a loss for words. That was something only Emily could explain to Spencer.
Once everyone was back at the police station, they were able to go over what they found. Every group had something useful to bring to the table. Morgan and Reid got a lot of useful information from the crime scenes. Rossi and Prentiss got more than enough information from talking with Annie Miller. Probably enough to get the identity of the unsub. JJ, Hotch and Garcia who is always a call away got a possible location.
"I think we have our guy and our location." Hotch informed the team where they would be going next. "Let's go!" He added as they all walked out of the police station and to the vehicles.
They went over the operation and split up. They had eyes on the killer and decided to go in. Hotch and Rossi entered through the front door. Morgan and Reid went around to the back to make sure that he couldn't escape that way. Emily and JJ waited outside in front of the house with the police until it was safe for them to come in and find the missing child. Once they got the all clear they went into the house to look for the missing boy. It was Emily who found him.
"It's okay Gabriel, you're safe now." Emily assured him as she gently lead him out of the house to safety.
"Let's get you home to your mother." The officer said as Emily opened the car door for the child.
After the team wrapped things up, they went back to where they were staying to gather their things. They were exhausted but satisfied. This case ended well for them. They managed to save Gabriel Miller from a terrible fate, made sure that the guy responsible would never kill again. Once on the jet, everyone was able to relax and enjoy the flight back home. Reid decided that now was the perfect time to ask Emily what he had asked Morgan the day before. Before doing so, he made sure everyone else was either sleeping or occupied. After grabbing a bottle of water for Emily, he sat down next to her.
"Why me?" He quietly asked her catching her completely off guard. Emily had no clue what Spencer meant by that question.
"Why you, what?" She asked confused as to what he meant by that.
"You can have anyone in the world, and you choose me who is weird, nerdy and super awkward." He explained. It saddened her that he thought all the things that made him unique and loveable were a bad thing.
"You list those qualities like they are a bad thing." Emily explained that there was nothing wrong with being different. "Those are some of the things I absolutely love about you, Spencer." Emily continued listing qualities that she Loved about him.
"Really?" He asked still not believing that she loved all of his quirks.
"Yes, really. Your proof will arrive sometime after Christmas." She reminded him that their child was created out of love, and that she doesn't make babies with random men. "I don't make beautiful babies with just anyone." She teased. This reminded Spencer of the other question he wanted to ask her.
"Hey Em, do you worry that our baby will end up like me?" She might love all his quirks, but not everyone did. She wanted to know where he was going with this. She already told him that she wasn't worried about their child inheriting certain conditions. Did he mean his personality and mannerisms, or did he mean the possibility of schizophrenia?
"Spencer, what do you mean by like you?" She asked still wondering where all of this was coming from.
"If our child is anything like me then they will be mercilessly bullied." Spencer reminded her that not everyone that he went to school with was kind. This really saddened Emily. She now understood why Spencer was asking her this. She too dealt with some of the same issues growing up. In her case people picked on her because she was the new kid quite often.
"Actually, I would love nothing more than for our child to be like you." She admitted and again reminded him of all the things she loved about him. She also reminded him that she was picked on in school too.
"I was hoping the baby would be more like you." He told her that she was beautiful, smart and not awkward. She corrected him on that. Emily did not think of herself as a very social person. Their child was going to be loved regardless of the outcome.
"I guess we will have to wait and see." She teased as she placed her hand over where she felt movement.
