The Most Life Changing Thing
Reid and Prentiss
Chapter Eleven
December 2010
Emily stood in front of a full length mirror, dressed in a long gown with her hair in a updo, and placed her hand on her stomach, trying to decide if there was a small baby bump there. She was just ten weeks along and no where near showing yet but still she checked every angle anyway. But even nude there was nothing to see to tip Spencer off to her hidden miracle.
In this moment she found it hard to believe this was her life. It was just too good to belong all to her. Her life always went to crap, everyone knows that. She had screwed up majorly in every category of her life at some time or another: family relationships, romantic love affairs, school, work, friendships.
And still she worked overtime to get everything she wanted for herself back after each time she messed up her life. Pure determination is what drove her to get anything she had now. She didn't give up on her goals, no matter how hard they were to reach.
Getting a job at the BAU had been tough.
When she left Interpol she seemed to be marked as rogue style agent who had no limits to what she would do to get what she wanted. Emily got assigned to a desk and thought she'd be stuck there forever. Strauss only sent her to the BAU to try and use her to bring the unit down from within. Emily had managed to turn that situation around and ended up loving her dream job and working with people she now considered a family.
Four years later and, as much as Emily didn't want to leave the team, she knew it was time for a major life change.
Her biological clock screamed that if she wanted a child then the time was now. And she did want a child, very badly. She yearned to be a mother now in a way she hadn't in her younger years.
Rubbing her stomach, she murmured "Guess what I'm doing tonight, baby? I'm going to the ballet with Spencer. If he knew about you I'd hear hours of lectures about how you are developing in there. When you meet him he'll be the tall guy who seems to know everything about everything." She softly smiled.
For a moment Emily tried to picture her life a year from now at her baby's first Christmas. Would she be lonely, since she planned to take a couple years away from work to be a stay-at-home mother? Would the baby be healthy? Would they spend the holiday with Emily's mother or with Emily's friends? If Emily could have next Christmas be the one out of fantasies then there would be a night spent curled in front of roaring fire with Spencer rambling on about something or another, while the baby lay on his chest.
But that was just too much to even dream about so Emily quickly walked away from the mirror and into the bathroom to finish her make-up. She wasn't the type to believe in fairytale endings. She already had so much more than she felt she deserved or ever thought she'd get.
She was excited about this date with Spencer, excited about the little life growing inside of her, and excited about the upcoming Christmas holidays that would give her a short vacation from work. There was no need to bring herself down by picturing too far ahead in the future to that vast unknown that she was barreling towards.
It would get here when it got here. For now she wanted to live in and fully enjoy the present.
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Emily had a tender smile on her lips when she opened the door of her apartment to let Reid in that evening. Her eyes flared with lust as she saw him standing there in a pin striped suit.
One hand was behind his back. He brought it out and revealed a single purple orchid. She gasped and her eyebrows furrowed.
He grew concerned "Oh, are you allergic? I didn't realize-"
"Relax, handsome, nothing a Claritin won't solve." She took the flower. "Thank you. Its lovely, really. I adore flowers. Its just that they don't adore me back." That was a lie but she didn't want to bring up her complicated past that would explain her reaction to the flower.
Emily did her best to push away all the memories the flower had brought to mind, as a cold chill shivered down her spine and goosebumps formed on her arms. She said "Just let me put this in a vase and then I'll be ready to go."
She went to the kitchen and when she came back Reid was still standing in the same spot, nervously rocking on his heels. He looked over her dress and declared "Wow...I mean...wow."
She chuckled. Walking close to him she caressed his arm. "Right back at you. You should dress in suits more often."
"Actually, I'd rather not. Its not really all that comfortable." He yanked on the collar a little.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a slow, sensual kiss. When she broke away she said "Seeing you in a suit makes me want to do one thing and one thing only. Wanna guess what that is?"
"See me out of a suit?"
"Oh, he is a genius after all," she teased as Reid gathered her into his arms even tighter and slanted his mouth over hers for another kiss.
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After going to the Nutcracker, Reid and Prentiss went out for dessert. Reid had picked out a restaurant ahead of time, on Derek's suggestion, that was warm and inviting with candles on each table and rounded booths.
When the waiter came to take their order Reid asked for coffee and Emily said she would have club soda. Reid told her "Feel free to order wine. Just because I don't drink anymore, I wouldn't mind, honestly."
"No, its fine. I'm not in the mood for wine tonight." Once the waiter left Emily moved closer to Reid, snuggling against his side, and let her hand sneak under the table to stroke up his thigh. Against his ear she said "This is what I'm in the mood for tonight."
"That makes perfect scientific sense actually because-"
"Reid," she groaned his name in a playful way.
"Really, you're gonna want to hear this. Its fascinating how our bodies are set up for the procreation of the human race. During the first eighteen months of a courtship hormones that regulate sexual desire spike, making it so that the couple thinks about and desires to engage in sex more often than any other time during their relationship. This is to ensure that they bond and, if all works out, create a child and keep the human race going. After eighteen months hormone levels gradually decrease but because they have a bond and, ideally, a child together that is supposed to keep them united and working together to raise their offspring. Isn't that interesting? Love really is biochemistry at its most sneaky."
Emily smirked. "You're like a walking, talking episode of some show off the Discovery Channel."
"Thank you."
She chuckled. "No wonder the divorce rate is so high, the fun sexy hormones wear off and people are like: what the hell am I doing with you?"
"Not if they're bonded properly."
"I guess that's the trick then," she teased him. "So, Dr. Reid, explain to me how a couple properly bonds to ensure they still can stand each other for the long haul?"
"I have no practical knowledge of it but I've heard good and honest communication is key to a successful, healthy relationship."
"Communication, huh? And what if all they feel like saying to each other is: You get on my last freaking nerve? Would that be healthy communication still?" Emily chuckled.
"Its better to be honest and work through it, if possible, than to hold it in and explode eventually."
"The people on Jerry Springer get pretty honest with each other but it doesn't seem healthy at all," she joked.
Reid looked confused. "On Jerry? Jerry who? And why are they on him? What do you mean?"
Emily rolled her eyes. "Forget it." She caressed his face and stared in his eyes. "You are better at this kinda stuff than you give yourself credit for. A lot better than me at it, that's for sure."
"Not possible. I barely know what I'm doing."
"Then you must be a natural," she murmured before softly kissing him.
After they had drinks they went back to his place. Standing by his bed, with just moonlight streaming in the window to illuminate them, they slowly undressed each other and began making love, each kiss and caress gentle and sweet. When they rocked against each other it was in a slow rhythm that built upon itself over long minutes. Their hands intertwined, her mouth sucking and kissing on his shoulder, the only sound in the room was their heavy panting, bodies moving together and the bed creaking.
She cried out in pleasure and arched her back when her orgasm came, this time from deeper inside of her than ever before, and he let out a loud grunt as he stiffened with his release.
A few minutes later she lay with her head resting on his chest. "Tonight was the best date I've ever had." She softly kissed his chest.
He ran his fingers through her hair. "Everyone should be friends before dating. It makes the whole experience much more meaningful. If more people cultivated friendships before pursuing romance I think the divorce rate would fall considerably."
"Maybe but I'm pretty sure its more complicated than just that."
"I know but I think it makes a positive difference, at least it feels like it has to me. In my past relationships...I never felt like this: so comfortable, able to be myself. You knew me so well before we ever kissed ...That's why I still can't get over the surprise that you ever wanted to kiss me in the first place."
She propped herself up so she could look in his eyes. "Why? Do you think that if I really know who you are I wouldn't want you?" She slid up his body until her lips hovered over his. "I do know you and I do want you." She brushed her lips against his. Her voice got softer and more filled with emotion. "And I do love you, Spencer Reid."
Quickly Emily pressed her lips to his and they shared an emotion filled kiss, moaning and caressing each other as he pressed her onto her back. Reid stared down into Emily's eyes for a long moment before he started to tell her, slowly and deliberately, over and over, in at least ten different languages, "I love you."
As she listened to him confess his love in foreign tongues she knew that this was the last man she'd ever feel this way about. No other who might come along later would compare to him. She'd never be loved again like she was loved by him.