Dave swallowed hard and squeezed her hand in return. His heart swelled with pride. "That still sounds...weird. My baby."

"Well you say it all the time." If only he could look at her face the same way he looked at her stomach...what she wouldn't give to have that same love sick, adoring expression directed towards her as a woman, if he could just see her as a woman...

Not just some...child rearing machine...capable of giving him the one thing he wanted out of this life...she bit back a sigh...she was forty-five and jealous of her unborn child. How absolutely pitiful.

"You don't," his voice brought her out of her thoughts and into the present moment.

"Well I didn't think you needed reminding," she said and yawned abruptly. "They're doing an ultrasound in the morning-"

"I want to be here-"

"Good, because I'll need a ride home afterwards." She sounded like she was negotiating a business deal.

"You got it," a knock at the door and a nurse stuck her head through the door and sat a paper cup on the table. "Ten more minutes, you can come back in the morning," she said and closed the door behind her.

"Sounds like someone's got a bedtime," he quipped.

Erin winced in pain as she reached for the cup. "Oww, my ribs!"

"I got this," he took the cup from the table and pushed it closer to her dumping the pills in his hand he frowned raising an eyebrow. "I don't think Tylenol is going to help. They can't give you something stronger?"

She sucked in a breath, " Vicodin were offered but I didn't want to risk it."

"Vicodin?" He repeated half in shock and broke the two tablets in half.

"I didn't like it either," she took another sip of water as he handed her half the tablet. "You're a good mother."

"How did you remember that?"

"What? "

"The Tylenol."

"Oh, how could I forgot the and I quote, " the worst hangover of 1983?"

"It was awful, " the grin on her face betrayed her words. As she remembered the night she spent camped out on the couch in the Hoover Building's bomb shelter surrounded by fledgling profilers.

"Jason was taking bets on how many shots would lay you out that night," Dave said thinking back to the Bureau's annual Christmas shindig.

Erin flashed him a look, and he sat the water back on the table. "Tell me you're kidding?"

"I told him it was a bad bet," he said with a shrug. His eyes sparked with unspoken humor.

"Okay," she huffed, "now I have to know, how much was the bet?"

His grin grew wider. "To be fair," he held his hand up in surrender. "They didn't know you as well as I did. And the statute of limitations is well past."

"Deal, now tell me," she prodded,"I want to know. "

"Hotch said you would quit at four shots of tequila and still keep dancing."

"Hmm...and what was the wager?"

"Two-Hundred bucks and one vacation day."

"Carry on." She said with a flippant wave of her one good hand.

"Anyway, " he spread his hands wide. "Jason said five shots and someone would find us in the closet the next morning."

"Us?" She repeated, one perfect eyebrow arched in disbelief. "As in you and me?"

"Yep, and then I won."

"And you won," she mocked,"please, don't flatter yourself. The one year the Bureau decided to spring for an open bar, I came down with a migraine."

"Thank God for small favors and if you remember correctly, I wasn't as...well endowed as I am now. So... thanks for not drinking that night. "

"Oh I'm sure that's not true." She quipped to bring him back from his thoughts.

His eyes flashed when he caught her double meaning, "naughty girl."

He moved from the chair and flipped off the light.

"Well apparently my reputation is deceiving, the next time you talk to Jason you can tell him it only took two Tylenol to put me on my ass."

"That's one sexy ass, and it only took two Tylenol to get you to spend the night with me."

"Not the most romantic night of my life," she deadpanned. She continued in a softer tone, "but to your credit, you didn't leave my side."

"I was an ass-hole wrapped in tin foil," he admitted. Crossing the room he adjusted the pillows behind her back and prayed he wouldn't aggravate her ribs.

"I don't need help," she argued and struggled to sit up.

"I think you do, " he grabbed the pillow away from her back.

"Okay, I do! " She panted as her ribs pulled and she fell backwards.

He slipped one hand between her shoulder blades and eased her head against the pillow.

"I think you've upgraded to armor," she said breathlessly as her bruised ribs adjusted to laying back.

"You know, " he brushed her hair out of her face in the semi-darkness. "I wouldn't be leaving now if-"

"You can go home, Dave,"she mumbled as her eyes began to drift closed and sleep began to claim her. "I'll still be here."

He kissed her forehead and she smiled in the dark as his beard scratched her skin.

"Goodnight, Erin," she listened as he stepped towards the door.

"Goodnight, Snitch."

Dave chuckled and stepped into the hallway. He checked his phone for the time. 2:00am no wonder the nurse wanted him gone. He didn't want to go home, he didn't want to listen to the clock ticking on the wall of his bedroom as sleep evaded. He passed the nurse's station and boarded the elevator. The BAU was closer to the hospital with any luck he could pass out on the couch in his office and be back in Erin's room by 6:00am.

He spotted his car and got in he slipped the key in the ignition when his phone buzzed from his pocket.

He read the text and smiled.

Thanks for coming

He tapped out:You're supposed to be resting pausing for a second his hands froze over the keys. Saying I love you over text seemed so impersonal. Just the thought of saying the words sent a familiar warmth spreading through him but, what if she didn't say it back?

He shook his head and tried to focus on the drive back to the office. Thankfully the traffic was light and by the time he parked the car in the parking garage a strong wind could have blown him over.

He unlocked his office and laid back on the sofa.

"What day is it?" Erin asked when Mary walked in the room, her small frame was hidden behind the ultrasound machine she was pushing.

"It's Saturday, why?"

"That weasel!" Erin struggled to sit up. "Why did you let me marry him?"

"You and Mark were happy honeymooners well before I came on the scene and good morning to you, too." Mary emerged from behind the machine a sat down on the stool. "What's he done now?"

She listened as Erin recounted her conversion with Mark and all of the ugly details of the last two months.

"Jesus , Erin," Mary gestured to the bruises on her face and broken arm. As if Erin hadn't spoken even though she would remember every word.

"If this is what it takes to put you in front of me you might want to switch doctors. "

"Well, clearly I've been busy," Erin deflected. She pressed the button on the bed's remote until she was sitting up.

"Well," Mary huffed, "it happens, enough chatter." She took the tube of gel off the cart with a glimmer of excitement in her eyes. This was her favorite part of her job. "Let's see that baby."

"Wait-" she held up one hand, "Dave's not here."

"Erin, I'm sorry...I have other patients..."

"You can't come back?" She asked, even as she said it, Erin knew she was grasping at straws.

"I'm sorry..."

"Damnit!" Dave swore as the elevator departed without him. He glanced at his phone, no service flashed on the screen. He looked around at the boxes that lined the wall. The hospital's storage room was less organized than he expected.

"I've waited this long without an ultrasound, a few minutes isn't going to hurt," Erin argued. "Please?"

"Let me finish the rest of the exam and I'll do the ultrasound last, but if he's not here by then-"

"Deal." Erin said and lay back with her feet in the stirrups. One question burned in her mind. Where the hell was Dave?

Mary pulled on a pair of exam gloves, snapping them in place she said, "if he shows up you better marry him."

His heart beating against his breastbone, Dave rushed down the hall. He couldn't miss this. With the nurse's post-it note crunched in his fist he scanned the hall for room 504.

He skidded to a halt in front of the door his hand shook against the handle. He took an unsteady breath and pushed the door open.

"Am I late?" He closed the door and stood by Erin. "Did I miss anything?"

"Right on time, " Erin said and reached for his hand. She pulled up her gown, excitement lit her face. "Show us our baby."

"The gel might be cold," Mary said applying some to Erin's stomach.

Erin nodded shivering slightly, "eighteen years and it hasn't gotten any warmer."

"That's the uterus, " Mary said moving the probe around and that's...your baby."

"That's our baby, Erin!"

Erin squeezed Dave's hand tighter. "I know...look that's the hand!"

"He's waving at us!" Dave beamed with happiness he couldn't express. At that moment he was a writer without words.

"Everything looks perfect if not a little small. Do you want to know the gender?"

Erin shook her head Dave was bouncing on his toes. "Then cover your ears, Sweetheart I don't like surprises."

Mary moved the probe around, "and there's something else." She turned the monitor towards them so they saw the whole screen.

Erin felt her stomach drop for a moment everything went dark Dave's voice was drowned out by the blood that rushed through her ears as she focused on the screen. Perfect fingers and toes stared back at her. Love for her family and the new life she was piecing together with Dave unexpectedly flooded her heart.

Dave kissed the side of her head.

"This is amazing Erin," he said as the sound of tiny heartbeats filled the room.

She turned towards him eyes brimming with tears she wouldn't let fall, "it really is."

There are two things this world is never prepared for-twins.

-Henry Kissinger-