Emily looked at her watch again. It was well past dinner time. "You want to go in and get something to eat?" she turned to Hotch who was sitting in the driver's seat of the SUV. The team had split up to stake out a number of local restaurants that Danny told them young pregnant waitress's worked at. They were sitting near a diner called Cleo's where a young woman named Rhonda worked. According to Danny, Rhonda was a little over 8 months pregnant and should be working tonight.
Hotch looked at his watch too as he heard Emily's stomach growl. "Ok. Let's go in."
Emily beamed at him and nearly jumped out of the vehicle, "I'm starved."
Hotch couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm for food. She was one of the few women he knew that didn't care what a man thought about her eating habits.
They walked up the street a little before crossing over to Cleo's. The warm air coming from the overhead fan over the doorway felt good compared to the cold December air.
An older woman with the name Wendy on her nametag sat them in a window booth about halfway down the room. They slid into the booth and picked up their menus.
"Not quite how you expected to spend Christmas Eve dinner, huh?" Emily asked, not looking up from her menu.
"Not quite," Hotch replied.
After placing their orders, Emily fiddled with her napkin a moment before saying, "Earlier, you asked me what was bothering me and I said nothing… I lied." She glanced at him quickly to gauge his response.
Hotch sat quietly, and waited for her to continue.
"The reason I was so upset was because each of these women made a choice and it was then stripped from them." Emily didn't meet Hotch's eyes but looked at the napkin in her hands.
Hotch sat for a moment before saying anything. He knew that there was something more behind the thought but that if he pressed he could be crossing a personal line in which there was no return. Except for the casual flirting, his and Emily's relationship has stayed professional. Though he knew that there were deeper feelings stirring within him, he wasn't sure if it was safe to allow them to surface any more. He was also unsure of exactly how Emily felt. The dangers of having a relationship with someone you work with were preached to them yearly during their annual HR refresher briefings. Did either one of them want to bear that burden?
"Is there something you want to tell me about?" he decided to cross the line.
Emily looked at him; stared into his brown eyes which were open, caring, accepting. Her shoulders sank and she sighed lightly. Returning her gaze to her hands, "I've been in their shoes. But I chose not to have my child. These women chose to have them and that choice was taken away from them. They lost their children because someone took them unwillingly."
Hotch reached out and grasped one of Emily's hands. "I'm sorry you had to make that decision. I know that it couldn't have been easy."
"It wasn't but that was a long time ago and I've long since come to terms with it… This case just brings back some of those memories and feelings."
Her hair had fallen over a part of her face and Hotch was having a hard time reading her. He squeezed her hand gently, "You going to be okay?"
"Yeah," she said with a quiet sniffle.
Hotch caught the sniffle and reached up and pushed her hair behind her ear again. In doing so, he caught sight of a small tear making its way down her cheek. He hesitated for a second before cupping her cheek and wiping the tear away with his thumb. "Are you sure?" he asked again as he allowed himself to prolong the touch.
Emily lifted her head and looked into his soft brown eyes again. "Yeah, thanks," she said quietly. Giving a weak smile, she reached up and took his hand that held her cheek into her own. Resisting the urge to kiss his palm, she removed his hand but continued to hold it while they held each other's gaze.
Hotch finally nodded, "Okay." He gave her hand a quick squeeze before releasing it.
Emily could feel her cheeks burning up. She turned toward the window and Hotch respectively looked the other way while she worked to regain her composure.
"How's Jack doing?" she finally asked.
"He's doing good. He's with Jessica tonight. I talked to him a little bit ago and he seemed happy. Hopefully we'll be home tomorrow."
"Even if the case isn't solved, I don't think anyone would complain if you went home to be with him. In fact, I think you should. You guys need each other right now."
"We'll see," Hotch said, looking away from Emily and out the window overlooking the street. After a few moments of silence, Hotch finally broke it. "So what are your plans for the holidays?"
"Nothing really. My Mom's visiting friends in Canada. I plan on drinking lots of hot chocolate and curl up on the couch with some Christmas movies."
"Why don't you join my family?" Hotch said before he even thought about it.
Emily gave him a startled, doe in the headlights look. "Well… I…"
"You don't have to if you don't want to," Hotch quickly tried to cover up his blunder. After he said it, he realized that he really wanted her to come, but her reaction made him think otherwise. They had always lightly flirted with each other, but now he wondered if he was mistaken regarding her feelings for him.
"No, um, I mean… that would be nice… if we're done here in time. Thank you," Emily didn't really know what to say. His invitation was so out of the blue and she was thrown off guard. As they sat there in awkward silence, she felt her stomach doing little flips at the thought of spending the holidays with Aaron Hotchner. She couldn't stop the slightly giddy feeling she got, nor the new rush of blood to her face.
* * * *
After dinner, they headed back to the SUV which was freezing inside. They sat quietly for a while, watching their breath as they each sorted through their own thoughts.
"Would you like to get a cup of coffee when this is all done?" Hotch asked into the silence.
Emily looked at him through the darkness for a moment. Hotch didn't turn to look at her, but continued to look forward, toward the restaurant. "Hotch?"
"I'm sorry. I was out of line," he interrupted.
"No. No, you weren't. I just want to know where this is leading."
"I understand," he shifted in his seat slightly to face Emily better. "Haley and I… we loved each other. We had some wonderful times together too. But our relationship was over a long time ago. I feel horrible about what happened, and in many ways, I blame myself. But I'm ready to move on," his eyes dropped to his hands. "For myself and for Jack."
"Hotch…" Emily's voice sounded distant.
"I'm sorry…"
"No, Hotch," Emily was more forceful. "Someone just walked into the alley next to Cleo's. It's almost midnight. Rhonda will be getting off."
Hotch jerked back to the front and peered through the window. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
A scream reached their ears.
They reached for their door handles, jumped out of the vehicle and raced across the street. Hotch was the first to the alleyway entrance. He braced his back against the wall and waited for Emily. She was only a second behind him and nodded that she was ready. He spun around the corner, gun held at chest height. "FBI."
He could see two dark figures near the back door to Cleo's. The larger figure landed a blow on the smaller figure's torso before turning toward him. "FBI," he said again.
The larger figure darted further down the alley, leaving the smaller figure to crumple to the ground. Hotch took off in pursuit. He watched as the person darted around the corner of the next street over. He was right on their heels. Less than half a block away, he tackled the person to the ground. They rolled over in a heap a few times before coming to a halt. Hotch was on top and quickly pulled the Unsub's arm up behind their back and slapped a cuff around it.
* * * *
Emily took the corner right after Aaron, her gun at the ready. She saw the two figures near the back door as one turned to race down the alley. The other figure crumpled to the ground. As Aaron took off after the first person, she stopped next to the second. It was Rhonda. Her face was bloody and bruising was already starting to show. She was clutching her stomach and crying while trying to catch her breath. Emily looked down the alley where Hotch had taken off. He was rounding the corner, leaving the alley, right on the Unsub's heels. She knew that he would catch up within a few seconds.
"Rhonda, look at me," Emily tried to get the girl's attention. "I'm Agent Prentiss, I'm with the FBI. I need you to look at me and take a deep breath," she said in a firm but calming voice.
Rhonda looked up at her with red puffy eyes and tried to take a staggering breath.
"That's it. Now do it again." Emily looked her over in the yellow light that hung over the nearby door.
"It hurts so bad," Rhonda whimpered.
"Where does it hurt?" Emily asked quietly.
"I think…" she winced. "I think I'm having contractions. I'm not ready to have my baby yet. It isn't time." A whole new set of tears began to roll down her cheeks.
"It's ok. Take a deep breath. The paramedics are going to be here soon," Emily tried to reassure her. She looked around her but couldn't find anything that would be useful. She pulled her coat off and bunched it up behind Rhonda's back. "Here, lay back and try to relax." She pulled her phone out and called 911.
When the operator picked up, "I'm Agent Emily Prentiss with the FBI. I'm in an alleyway on Minnesota Ave Southeast, near 34th Street Southeast. At Cleo's Diner. I need paramedics right away. A woman is going into labor."
She hung up as Hotch re-entered the alley with the Unsub in cuffs. "Hotch!! I need you now!"
Hotch pushed the Unsub forward.
Emily did a double take as she watched Hotch force the woman in his custody to sit next to the dumpster. She absently handed him her cuffs and Hotch cuffed the woman to the dumpster. She couldn't believe that a woman would be so cruel as to destroy another woman's unborn child.
Rhonda's whimper brought her back to the present. "She's going into labor," she said as Hotch knelt down beside her.
"Rhonda, I'm Agent Aaron Hotchner with the FBI. Paramedics are on the way and everything is going to be okay." He took her hand in his and squeezed it. "I have a child too. I'm going to coach you through this, ok?"
Rhonda nodded while biting her lower lip.
"Emily, run inside and see if you can get some linens."
Emily quickly dashed inside the door. She came back moments later with an armful of towels and followed by a heavy set black woman.
"Cleo!" Rhonda cried.
"It's alright, child. We're gonna get you through this. Don't you worry your pretty lit'l head 'bout a thing," Cleo cooed to Rhonda as she knelt down beside her. "Emily, here tells me you's from the FBI," she said, turning to Hotch.
He nodded, "I'm Aaron."
"I'm Cleo." They nodded to each other in greeting.
Quickly, they got to work, setting Rhonda up so that she'd be comfortable. As they set the towels under her, they realized that her water had already broken.
"Where are the paramedics? They should have been here by now," Emily worried aloud.
"Streets are pack'd this time of year, ma'am. Always are. They's get here when they's can," Cleo said without looking away from Rhonda.
"Now when I tells you to push, you push wit all you got. You bite on this if you needs to," Cleo handed Rhonda a wooden cooking spoon.
The wide-eyed girl nodded.
Hotch and Emily set themselves up behind Rhonda's shoulders to lend her their support while Cleo took her place at Rhonda's knees.
It wasn't long before Cleo had Rhonda pushing with all of her might. Emily thought Rhonda might have broken her hand with all of the pressure she was putting on it. But every moment was worth it when they all heard the first cries of a baby. Cleo swaddled the baby in clean towels after cutting the umbilical cord and handed the new child over to Rhonda.
"It's a girl," she beamed at Rhonda. "And a Christmas baby by my guess."
Rhonda accepted the bundle with shaking arms. She was silently crying as she looked down on the child's face. "Thank you so much."
Hotch and Emily moved and made Rhonda more comfortable as they heard the sound of the ambulance sirens. "Now they come," Emily said wearily.
Hotch smiled at her, "That was amazing."
"It was, wasn't it?"
Then their eyes fell on the woman sitting cuffed to the dumpster.
"We were wrong," Emily pointed out bluntly.
"We were."
Hotch pulled out his phone and called Morgan. After explaining everything, Morgan instructed him to send the woman with a cop back to the station and they would all meet in the morning at the hotel.
Hotch handed the Unsub over to the first officer that arrived on scene while Emily and Cleo supervised the paramedics overseeing Rhonda. As the scene was clearing, Hotch turned to Emily. She was shivering as she watched the ambulance pull away from the curb. He took his coat off and silently draped it over her shoulders.
Emily looked up at him with an appreciative smile, "Thanks."
Hotch found himself smiling back. "Who ever said that miracles don't happen?" he said, glancing at the retreating ambulance.
They stood silently for a moment. "Want to go for that cup of coffee now?" Emily asked quietly.
Hotch put his arm around her shoulders and smiled softly at her. "Sure," he said as he steered her down the street.
As Emily smiled up at him, she saw snowflakes fall gracefully through the air around them. "Miracles…" she whispered.
A/N: Well, that's it... for this story. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of my reviewers. And if your a lurker, I really appreciate you too!! This is your last chace to review if you liked the story. My next story is already in the works. It will be totally different but fun. Hopefully it will be up sometime next month, so put me on author alert if you're interested in reading it when it comes out.
Happy New Year Everyone!!!!