Friendship, like the immortality of the soul, is too good to be believed.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"What did you find?" Penelope asked, hurrying to follow him.

"Agent Rossi!" Kevin called, stomping down the stairs like a herd of clydesdales.

"What?" Dave lowered his feet from the footstool and pointed the remote at the TV, lowering the volume of the NHL national championship rerun.

"You need to see this." Kevin said, holding out a stack of papers.

Dave held out his hand, accepting the papers from Kevin, skimming them briefly, he folded them in a square and put them in his jacket pocket. "Why are you showing me Erin's text messages, those are private." Dave said sternly. "You are only supposed to be looking for agency related information."

"It seemed important. Ya know, man to man." Kevin started giving him an exaggerated conspiratorial wink.

"It's personal and doesn't pertain to the investigation," Dave deflected.

"I know it's not my business but I found it when I was looking through the texts for evidence and when I saw what it was, I thought you would want to know, especially since it is such a large amount."

"Kevin." Dave cut in, but Kevin rambled on anyway.

"Between you and me, I'd be worried if my woman had done this. Don't you wonder why she would need an amount that large?"

"Kevin-" Dave tried again to interrupt the tech.

"Why Does she need a fifty million dollar life insurance policy on you? As an agent, you already have a nice insurance policy included in your benefits package, that the FBI pays for. Considering how long you've been with the agency. I know some people buy a supplemental policy to have a little extra, but not that much. Usually when a significant other takes out a policy that large, they have something nefarious in mind. I thought, I should warn you."

"KEVIN!" Morgan, Rossi and Reid said at once, finally breaking through Kevin's tirade.

Dave held up one hand."Let's get one thing straight, you know nothing about my financial affairs."

"Well that is true but I remember seeing how much the benefit was when I was thinking about becoming an agent…" here Lynch trailed off, he'd already said too much.

Dave didn't comment on the slip of the tongue and kept a poker face. He debated on whether he should explain to Lynch what was going on. Finally he decided to put his mind at ease, since it appeared that his intentions were pure in warning him about his life being in possible danger. He didn't want Morgan or Reid to start thinking that Erin was in the relationship for less than pure intentions. He'd tried for so long to get both his personal and professional families together, he didn't need the bombshell that Lynch dropped to torpedo his efforts, especially when he was the one who suggested getting a policy in that amount.

"Kevin, I appreciate you trying to look out for me, but I can assure you, Erin is not intending to kill me. She was texting with an insurance agent about the policy but I can assure you it was with my full knowledge."

"Oh.." Kevin swallowed, trying not to look embarrassed. "Okay, good to know." with that said, he slunk back upstairs with his tail between his legs.

Dave shook his head, "That guy loves the sound of his own voice. Next, he's going to tell me that Erin's friend's with J.J."

"Dang! Rossi," Derek said, "fifty million?"

"I have kids, a risky job and a heart that's seen better days. I'm not about to leave my family high and dry."

"You have her kids." Derek clarified.

"I have our kids," Dave said sharp enough that Derek knew better than to press the issue.

"Oh…" Derek said, "Rossi, I didn't mean to overstep."

Dave nodded and took a sip of his scotch. "Yeah, you did, but that's okay."

"I think life insurance is a good decision," Spencer said. Trying to bring the conversation back. "I'm surprised you found a company willing to insure you."

"Actually," Dave said pointedly. Surprised to have the upper hand on the young genius. "I'm backed by several companies."

"Makes sense," Reid said, "A single company wouldn't be able to assume the risk."

"Still, Rossi." Derek cut in, "fifty million is a pretty penny… you're putting in a lot of effort for this relationship."

"Yeah-" Dave nodded, "Because that's how it works. Look," he said sharply, " Not that it's any of your business, but Erin won't even run my credit card."

"You love her, huh?" Derek asked. "Even after she tried to take down the unit."

"That was a long time ago." Dave argued.

Derek held up his hands, "I just never thought we would get to this point. There was a time I wanted to put Strauss under the jail."

Dave cleared his throat. "She's a different person now and..I'm not going to tell you two how long it took to get her under me." Dave said, on a mission to make the two men uncomfortable.

Reid covered his ears and Derek shook his head, "We don't need to know that."

"No." Dave leaned back in his seat, "but it was funny, seeing the looks on your faces."

"I am glad you think so." Derek said dryly.

Spencer glanced towards the door, "Strauss is standing in the doorway and she doesn't look amused." Dave's head shot up. The look on his face was comical. He started to say, "Erin I…" His voice trailed off as he realized, no one was there. He glared at Reid, as he and Morgan burst out laughing. "Funny, smart guys," he said.

"We thought it was," said Spencer, chuckling behind his hand.

"Hysterical," Morgan responded with a grin.

"I guess we know who is being written out of the will," Dave grumbled back good naturedly.

"Promises, promises." said Morgan. "If we had a buck for every time you wrote someone on the team out of the will, we'd all be able to retire early.

"I'll drink to that," Reid said as he raised his glass cheerfully. It had become a running joke that everytime one of the members of Alpha team got the best of Dave, he'd threaten to write them out of the will. They teased him about it when he lost a bet to someone on the team. It had been a while since anyone had joked with him about it. The joke hit too close to home when Rossi actually had his heart attack. Now that he had been given a clean bill of health, it felt good to be able to goodnaturedly harass him again.

"I'm serious, this time." Dave grumbled and took another sip of his scotch.

A cheery voice floated through the room. "What are you guys up to?" Penelope asked.

"Drinking," Spencer said.

"Oooh..Boy Genius is gettin' his buzz on!" Penelope said, her usual effervescent self. She plopped down on the sofa beside Derek.

Derek raised an eyebrow, "aren't you on the clock?"

"Technically…" Penelope said sweetly.

"Get yourself back upstairs," Derek admonished. "We'll save you a drink."

"You're my hero." She stood up and blew him a kiss, before breezing back upstairs.

"When are you going to make your move?" Dave asked, turning the tables on Derek.

"Probably never," Reid said. The alcohol kicked in and he was feeling it. "She's only been lusting after him for seven years and he hasn't acted on it. Statistics show-"

"Hush up, Pretty Boy." Derek said sharply. "Drink your scotch and be quiet."

"It's not nice to keep a good woman on the hook." Spencer said, "my mother's in a sanatorium and she was sane enough to teach me that." Spencer muttered under his breath. Well he thought it was under his breath but since he was well on his way to getting sloshed, it came out as a very loud whisper.

"I heard that Pretty Boy!" Derek said.

"Derek," Dave said smoothly, seeing the smoke coming out of his ears. "Don't listen to him," Dave tried to defuse the situation. "You know he doesn't mean that. He's drunk."

"Yeah," Derek grumbled, "He gets a pass this time."

Dave thought it wise to change the subject. "Who needs a refill?"

Derek held up their glasses in response.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Dave asked, he raised an eyebrow at Spencer. "You look like you've had plenty."

Spencer shook his head. "I'm a grown man."

"Okay, fine." Dave said and poured the three of them a measure of scotch, he walked over to the kitchen cabinet and grabbed two bags of chips. Dave tossed them to Morgan, even though Reid was closer. Spencer Reid was not known for his coordination on a good day. Rossi was pretty sure, it sucked even worse, when he was three sheets to the wind.

"What do we think?" J.J. asked, holding up a teal baby blanket.

"I think all the cute things in the store are in our cart," Erin said. "J.J. you are a bad influence on me."

"Don't blame this haul on me." J.J. said with a smile and threw another package of diapers into the cart.

"Oh, I am." Erin said, wagging one finger at J.J. "Last week, David had to practically turn himself inside out, to get me to buy cribs for the babies. One afternoon with you and I'm buying the whole place out, like I've won the Publisher's Clearing House."

"Hey, don't blame this on me. I thought that we would only be bringing a few things back with us, since we don't have Penelope Garcia, with us." J.J. said. "She's the goddess of shopping."

"Oh, I know." Erin gushed. "Her reputation for buying out a store, precedes her."

J.J. nodded, "She knows where all the sales are. If I had thought about it, I would have asked her for her list."

Erin's brow furrowed, "she has a list?"

"That's how she can get away with it. She keeps a tab on which stores have sales."

Erin looked down at the mountain in her shopping cart. "I'll have to remember that, for next time. Dave's credit card is going to feel the squeeze."

"Erin it really isn't that much when you consider the fact that you are having twins. You need twice as many outfits really as babies need to have their clothes changed several times a day for newborns and then they grow so fast…"

"Jennifer," Erin interrupted and put her hand on J.J.'s shoulder. "Take a breath. If you keep going on like that, you are going to pass out before we get out of the store."

"Sorry, I just get excited, when it comes to babies. I remember when I was expecting Henry. I bought so much stuff that Will used to tease me that there would be nothing left for people to buy for the baby shower. Speaking of which…" J.J gave her a pointed look, "have you made a registry?"

Erin held up one hand, "nope." She gestured to the cart, "we have plenty of stuff."

"Penelope would flip and Rossi wants you to be a part of the team. You know he never misses a chance to throw a party."

"Has anyone ever told you, you play hard ball?" Erin asked, exasperated.

Suddenly, J.J.'s phone rang. "Hopefully this is Rossi, telling us that Kevin left." She said and answered the call.

"No, I am not interested in a free cruise. Take my name off your list." JJ said and hung up the call. She hadn't checked the caller id or she would have blocked the call, instead of answering.

Erin smirked at the agent, because J.J. was grumbling under her breath about firing squads and telemarketers.

J.J'.s phone rang again. This time she sent it to voicemail, it was another spam call.

She and Erin walked a few feet and the phone rang a third time. J.J. had enough and picked it up to lambast the person on the other end. Why was a pizza place calling her anyway? It wasn't even her normal pizza place. It was not even a Virginia area code, for crying out loud. She answered, "hello." She waited to see what was going on before she read them the riot act.

"Is this Jennifer Jureau?" the voice on the other end inquired.

"How can I help you?" J.J. responded cooly. It was weird but she was going to give the caller enough room to hang himself. If he was trying to scam her, he was barking up the wrong tree. She was an FBI agent, for Pete's sake!

"Ma'am we are outside your door, with your pizza delivery. We rang several times but you didn't answer the door."

"I think you have mistaken me with someone else." J.J. told the nasally voiced man.

"Ma'am I don't know what game you are playing but we have 20 pizzas, 50 wings, and 5 cokes here on your doorstep that you ordered and we need you to open the door and pay us."

"I don't know who placed that order but it certainly wasn't me."

"Ma'am are you, Jennifer Jureau, that lives at," the man rattled off J.J. 's address.

They had the correct address but J.J. knew neither she nor Will had ordered pizza because he had cooked lunch before she left home. She was smart enough to know not to tell them that she wasn't home, in case they wanted to see if anyone was there before trying to break in. Evidently she was silent too long for the caller as he started making demands.

"Ma'am, I don't know what game you think you are playing but you ordered this food and if you don't come out and pay for it, there will be severe consequences."

J.J. saw red. "Are you threatening me?" her voice raised in pitch.

"What if I am? What are you going to do about it?" Came the reply from the other end.

"Listen here, you little…" that is when she heard it. Giggling was coming from the background.

"Jesus, Reid. You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry, J.J." Reid said between giggles. "It won't, he hiccuped. "Happen again."

"Spencer…" J.J. said cautiously, her eyebrows rose in confusion. "Are you..drunk?"

There was some shuffling on the line and Derek's voice came through the phone. Pretty Boy forgot how to pace himself on Rossi's scotch."

"And you let him!" J.J. asked, furious. "How bad is it?"

"What's going on?" Erin asked, coming to J.J.'s side. J.J. covered the receiver.

"Spencer had too much to drink, so he's making prank calls from unknown numbers."

Erin's brow furrowed in concern. "He doesn't drink, does he?"

J.J. shook her head, "twice a year, at best."

Erin rolled her eyes and held out her hand for the phone. "Let me speak to him."

Knowing that Derek was about to get his comeuppance, J.J. handed the phone over with pleasure.

"Derek Morgan." Erin said coldly.

"Oh shit," said Morgan. Strauss was on the line and she was pissed. "Ma'am, I-" Strauss cut him off before he could stutter his way through the rest of his explanation.

"I have a few choice words for you and your merry band of conspirators. And yes, I know you weren't the only one involved. Put me on speaker." She waited until he clicked the button then she proceeded to blast the room's occupants until she ran out of breath. She was aware that she was in public so she kept her tone just loud enough to carry across the line but her words were sharp enough to slice like blades. She started with Morgan. "When are you going to grow up and realize how childish pranks make you seem? You're a federal agent for goodness sakes, not a middle school adolescent. I would expect you to be able to act your age!"

"He's an adult," Derek fired back, not about to take the tongue lashing sitting down. "He knew what he was doing."

"And you're supposed to watch out for him when you know he's not used to heavy drinking." She rolled her eyes, knowing she was getting nowhere with Morgan. "Put Ms. Garcia on the line."

She knew Garcia was still there as she heard Penelope comforting Morgan when she was jumping on him with two feet. Strauss pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to stay calm. "Ms. Garcia." She said cooly "I have seen how much you care for your teammates, therefore it surprises me that you would engage in behavior that could easily lead to one of your friends suffering alcohol poisoning. Get him some water and put him in bed."

"Yes, Ma'am," Penelope said quietly. "Would you like to speak to Rossi?"

"Oh...would I." Erin said dryly.

"Hey, Babe," Dave said, a little too cheerfully for someone about to receive the tongue lashing of a lifetime.

"Why, David?" Erin asked, with venom on her tongue. "I'm being investigated right now and you let Reid get LOADED in our house. What the hell were you thinking, David!"

"Kevin left before Reid got plastered. The man is 30 years old. He's entitled to a drink every once in a while."

"Be that as it may, he's drunk himself sick in my house. Suppose he gets so bad you have to call an ambulance. Internal Affairs would have a field day!. How would you like to be the one to inform Mrs. Reid, that something happened to her son, at your home?"

"It's not that bad," Dave chanced a look over at Reid, who was being propped up on the floor, by Derek and Penelope. "Never mind…" Dave said quickly. "It probably is, that bad." Reid jumped up with his hand over his mouth, making retching sounds as he ran towards one of the guest bathrooms.

"Oh now you start using your brain. Did you think about the possible repercussions of your actions beforehand? You know that Dr. Reid doesn't drink and yet you sit there and let him get sloshed? Did you really not take the time to think about how I would feel walking back into a houseful of people drunk off their socks?"

"Erin-" Dave said sharply. "It's not that serious, you need to calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down, David Rossi!" Maybe Jenifer and I should join the party. We'll stop by the liquor store on the way home."

"Erin!" Dave cut in, "I'm sorry. We got a little out of hand, but this is my house too."

"David," Erin said coldly. "I feel very disrespected right now."

"I love you." Dave said. "I'm sorry." He said, trying to placate her.

Erin didn't return the words. Instead, she ended the call.

"Whew." I am glad I was not on the receiving end of that," was all J.J. could say.

Erin handed JJ back her phone and said with a laugh. "don't worry, I have a feeling it will be a long, long time before any of them try to get the good doctor drunk again. Now, I want to look at the swings, before we check out."

"Are you sure?" J.J. asked, skeptically.

"Of course. When we're done here, let's go get ice cream. My treat. I don't want to hurry home too soon. They all need some more time to think about the consequences of their actions before we go back and let them off the hook. Well that is, as long as Dr. Reid is all right."

"I'm sure Reid is fine," J.J. brushed it off. "Rossi will make his famous hangover cure and he'll be fighting fit. I'm more concerned about Rossi. I think you really hurt his feelings."

"He'll live," Erin said. "I'll go home and 'forgive him."

"Well I'll be..." JJ trailed off, not believing the change in Erin's tone. "It was all an act. You're not angry with them?"

"Nope." Erin laughed at the look of amazement on J.J.'s face.

"Derek's right, Dr. Reid is a grown man and has the right to drink. I have heard enough stories, I know your teammates and how they like to take competition too far. Especially when it comes to pushing the team's youngest member to do things they know he shouldn't. Sometimes all you do is haze each other."

"That's not true," J.J. said, offended. "We're the best at what we do."

"I didn't say you weren't," Erin said. "All I'm saying is, Dr. Reid is the youngest male, Dave and Derek treat him like a pledge, going out of their way to embarrass him. I don't envy Agent Hotchner, having to keep all you guys in line."

"We aren't that bad", JJ said, trying to take up for her team, even though she knew deep down, Strauss was right.

"Keep telling yourself that, Jen but I am not buying. As long as I don't hear about it 'Officially' then Aaron can deal with the headaches." Strauss walked away leaving J.J. with her mouth hanging open, in shock. Erin called over her shoulder to the shell-shocked woman, "Are you coming Jennifer?"

J.J. shook her head, what did she get herself into? "Yes, I'm coming." J.J. said following Erin towards the back of the store, to where the baby swings were located.

Dave knew Erin was out for blood. He had to find a way to soothe her when she got home. Rossi went in the kitchen, he did his best thinking while cooking. Dave went over to the fridge and opened the freezer side, taking out some frozen meals he had prepped last weekend while Erin was napping.

Lynch took longer going through their computers than he anticipated. Dave looked at the clock. It was too late to cook a meal from scratch. He pulled out two meat lasagnas and one vegetable lasagna for Garcia. He tried to keep something vegetarian on hand for whenever she came to visit. Before Erin moved in, Penelope would come over frequently whenever she was having a rough day. Either that, or she'd developed a fondness for his scotch. He was pretty sure it was the latter. Dave waited until the oven preheated and then popped the food in. He had set the temperature on 400, to heat the frozen food quickly so it would be ready by the time Erin returned home. If he learned one thing while living with a pregnant woman, she didn't wait for food.

He took some plates from the cabinet and laid them out on the table in a way that would make his mother proud. It was bad enough that his friends were sloppy drunk, in her house. He needed to make it up to her somehow. If he knew he could get a flower arrangement in an hour, he would have. He paused from laying out the flatware and grabbed his phone.

"Hotch?" Dave said, surprised when his best friend picked up on the first ring. "Nobody in my house is in any shape to investigate today."

"What's going on?" Hotch asked, mildly concerned.

"Reid's drunk, Derek's pissed and Kevin's already left. I need you to come over for dinner."

Hotch nodded, "Reid's drunk?"

"Very. Now, Erin's pissed at me and I can't get flowers delivered before she gets here."

"And you want me to bring some?" Hotch asked, putting the dots together.

Dave sounded hopeful, "will you?"

Hotch shook his head, "Sometimes the favors you ask of me, are really weird. What kind do you want?"

"Something yellow. I'll tip if you can beat Erin home."

"I see your tip," Hotch said dryly. "Here's one for you; stop pissing off your fiance."

"Believe me, Hotch. I'm not trying to, it just keeps happening."

"Alright Dave, in the interest of not seeing my best friend face a firing squad, I'll do this favor for you but you owe me one and just for the record," Hotch paused, "I plan to collect in the most painful way possible."

"Should I be worried?"

" I don't know yet, but I will think of something.

"Sure, sure, Aaron. Anything you want, just get the flowers and get here fast."

"Wait, what do you want the card to say?" Hotch asked Rossi before he hung up.

"I haven't thought of the appropriate words yet, so just hurry and I'll write out the card when you get here, hopefully before my fiance gets back home."

Arriving in the baby swing section, Strauss was amazed at how many different options there were. Things had certainly changed since she was pregnant with her older kids. J.J. noticed the look of astonishment on Erin's face at the options available and decided to offer advice on which swing she thought was best.

"We used this one with Henry," J.J. said, running her hand over the swing.

"Erin?" J.J. asked she turned away from the swing. "Are you okay?"

Erin squeezed her eyes closed and gripped the shopping cart until her knuckles turned white.

"I-I'm fine," Erin deflected, "but I think we should sit down. I need a break." She didn't want to admit it, but her body hurt. She'd been out of the house for an hour and she was ready to go home.

There was a bench on the back wall of the store near the restroom. "Come sit down." J.J. said, concerned.

"Are you sure you're okay?" J.J. asked, touching her shoulder. "Don't pass out on me in the middle of this store." J.J. said.

Erin rolled her eyes, "I'll be sure to schedule my fainting spells next time," she said through clenched teeth.

J.J.'s phone rang and Erin grabbed her wrist. "Hey, don't tell Dave about this. He worries too much as it is."

J.J. nodded and answered the call. "Hey, Rossi."

"Would you please bring my wife home."

J.J. raised her eyebrow, "are you..sober?"

"I was sober when I called the last time," Dave said, annoyed at being given the third degree. "Reid's asleep in the office and Kevin left an hour ago."

J.J. pulled the phone away from her ear and muted the call. "If I had to guess, I'd say Rossi misses you."

"Bull." Erin scoffed, "he misses this belly and he thinks I'm still mad at him."

J.J. unmuted the call and put the phone on speaker. "We're almost done here."

"Good," Dave put the call on speaker and pulled the lasagna pans from the oven. "I made dinner."

"We're starving." J.J. glanced over at Erin who looked pale and shaky. J.J. hung up the phone and dropped it in her purse. Erin still looked pale so J.J. rummaged around in her bag for something to help.

"Are you sure you're okay?" J.J. pulled a bag of pretzels out of her purse and handed them to Erin. "Rossi made dinner, but these will raise your blood sugar long enough to make it through the checkout."

"You're a good friend," Erin said and ripped open the bag. "How's Henry?" She asked, in an effort to make conversation.

J.J. nodded, "he's good. He and Will were going to the movies when I left the house." J.J. got up from the bench and went over to the shopping cart. "I haven't said anything to Will."

"What's going on?" Erin stood up and went over to the cart.

J.J. looked up from the baby blanket in her hand, "I think I want to have another baby."

Erin nodded, "Why haven't you told Will?"

J.J. shook her head, her shoulder slumped forward. "I know he's not ready and I don't want to pressure him."

"Have you asked him?"

"That's not a conversation I'm ready to have," J.J. said, shaking her head.

"Listen to me," Erin said. Suddenly, J.J. had her full attention. "Your husband gave up his whole life in New Orleans for you and Henry. He's comfortable staying home with your son so you can travel with the B.A.U. I don't think he's the kind of man to tell you 'no."

J.J. grinned slightly, "he did say that testosterone would make a man follow a woman to Thailand, barefoot."

"He's not wrong." Erin said, saucily. "Maybe take his testosterone into consideration," she said with a wink.

"So, are you saying I should take the situation into hand and jump while I can?" J.J. said saucilly trying to pay Erin back for the many times she said things to make J.J. blush on this shopping excursion. Unfortunately for J.J., she underestimated the gutter factor of Erin Strauss' mind. People thought David Rossi was the bad influence on Erin when in actuality there was enough she could teach Dave to create a new unabridged dictionary.

"That's what happened for David and I." Strauss said as she patted her swollen midsection for emphasis.

J.J. nodded and giggled. "Let's go checkout. I don't want Rossi on my bad side for keeping you out so long."

"What took you so long?" Dave snapped and took the flower arrangement from Hotch and laid it carefully on the dining room table.

Hotch raised an eyebrow. "I got caught in traffic, calm down."

Dave brushed him off, "go upstairs and check on Reid."

"Yes, Sir." Hotch deadpanned and rolled his eyes at Dave's dramatics.

"Look here, Buddy, my house, my rules." Dave returned, wagging his finger at Hotch. Then he hurried out the door as J.J.'s car pulled into the driveway. "DId you max out the credit card?" He asked, holding open Erin's door.

"Don't worry," Erin said, stepping out of the car. "Your black card is safe." She pulled the card from her pocket and handed it to him.

"I wasn't worried." He said and went around to the trunk.

J.J. pressed a button on the door and the trunk opened automatically. Dave grabbed a box of diapers and hurried back to the house. He stepped inside, the box landed next to Derek's head with a thud. Derek shot up from the sofa, suddenly wide awake. The glass he had been holding, rolled off the couch. Dave caught it in the nick of time before it shattered on the floor.

"What's going on Rossi?" Derek mumbled sleepily.

"You drank all my scotch." Dave griped, "As payback you can get up and help me carry this stuff inside."

"Was there anything left in the store?" Derek asked, grabbing bags from the back of J.J.'s car.

"Not much," J.J. quipped, getting out of the car.

Erin started towards the trunk to help carry things, when Derek grabbed her elbow, shaking his head. "Go sit down."

"No." She brushed past him, bumping him with her belly. "I can handle it."

Dave reached into the trunk and pulled out a bag of baby sleepers. "Take these and then go inside." Dave knew she was about to argue but there was no way in hell he was going to let her carry anything heavy, when she'd only been off bedrest for a couple weeks.

"Sweetheart," Dave grabbed her hand as she reached for a bag. "Let Derek and I handle it."

"I'm pregnant, David. Not dead, I'll have you know that J.J. and I loaded everything into the trunk, without your help."

"I know and you've both done too much already." Dave glanced down at her abdomen for emphasis, "think about what's at stake here."

Strauss sighed and rolled her eyes. Dave was right, she hated to admit it. Mary had warned her at her last appointment to take it easy and to not lift anything over five pounds. Was it really worth risking her pregnancy, just to prove that she wasn't an invalid? "You know what, now that I think about it, we deserve a break. Come on Jennifer, I don't know about you but all that shopping made me thirsty. Let's go inside and I'll pour you some lemonade."

"I'm right behind you," J.J. said.

"Both of you take a load off," Dave said, watching the two women walk inside the house.

"What's all this?" J.J. asked, the table was set with cloth napkins and a fresh flower arrangement sat proudly on the table. "Rossi pulled out all the stops for this apology."

"Serves him right," Erin said and pulled a pitcher of lemonade from the refrigerator and poured two glasses.

"If Will apologized like this, I'd never see my kitchen table again." J.J. joked, eyeing the arrangement of lilies, yellow daisies and sunflowers.

"I wonder what other kinds of trouble they got into while we were gone." Erin looked pointedly at the flowers, "this is not Dave's run-of -the mill apology."

"Getting three quarters of the team trashed, isn't a run of the mill screw up." J.J. said. "I thought he called us here to work on your case."

"He did." Erin said, "but Lynch got here and took over."

J.J. nodded her head and took the bowl of salad from Erin and laid it on the table. "That's what I thought. After that, I guess everything got out of hand."

Suddenly, the front door opened, Derek and Dave fumbled inside, both sets of arms were heavily laden with boxes and bags.

"Man Rossi, I think your woman can give Baby Girl a run for her title as Shopping Queen. It's a good thing I ate my Wheaties this morning or I'd need a truss after carrying all this stuff. Are you sure Strauss isn't trying to send you to the poor house?"

"Less bitching, more carrying." Dave snapped. "If I were you, I don't think I would let Erin hear you making comments like that right now. She's already ticked at us for getting Reid three sheets to the wind, do you really want to antagonize her more? Before you answer that," Dave paused, "let me remind you that one of the women in the kitchen is a crack shot, who shoots better than anyone else on our team and the other one out scored her at the shooting range."

"Point taken, Rossi. I'm shutting the hell up." Morgan responded. "Where do you want these things anyway?'' Derek asked Dave.

"I would say upstairs in the nursery but since I don't know what they have in all these bags, I better ask first. Erin?" Rossi shouted, in a calm voice. He wanted his voice to carry but he didn't want to scare her or wake Reid. Although as drunk as he was earlier, an atomic bomb probably would have a hard time rousing the good doctor, from his alcohol induced slumber. When Strauss appeared at the kitchen door, Dave asked, "Where do you want us to put this stuff?"

"Put the diapers upstairs and I'll sort through everything else after dinner." Erin said, laying the trays of lasagna on the table, with a knife and a spatula.

Dave did as he was told and hurried up the stairs with Derek at his heels.. Dave stacked the boxes of diapers against the wall of the nursery. The pale white walls were depressing. They needed to decide on a color, preferably before the babies arrived.

Hotch poked his head around the corner. "Reid's on the floor of the office and Penelope's on the couch. They're both asleep. Derek is trying to get them up so he can drive them home."

Dave raised his eyebrow, "great…"

"Is everything alright in here?" Hotch asked, "It looks a little empty. He said, surveying the room.

Two cribs were still in their boxes, leaned against the wall. The walls were stark white and baby clothes filled cardboard boxes to the brim. There wasn't a personal detail for miles away. The room looked more like the Babies R Us warehouse, than an actual nursery.

"It is empty." Dave tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I don't like it."

"I could help," Hotch offered. "I've put a crib together before. It's been about 10 years, but they haven't changed that much."

Dave nodded, still staring at the blank walls. "Are you sure you don't have something better to do? Aren't you pulling double duty."

Hotch shook his head, sarcasm dripped off his tongue. "My technical analyst is investigating my section chief, while she's out on medical leave. I'm down one man because my senior agent turned in his badge. Yeah, I have time."

Dave's mouth pulled to the side, "well, when you put it like that…"

Hotch knelt down on the floor and started opening one of the cribs.

"What are you doing? Didn't we just discuss how busy you are?"

Hotch dropped his shoulder, " I'm never too busy for Godfather duty."

Dave grinned, "I'll get the toolkit."