Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my own creations.
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New Years Eve, 2009:
As David Rossi opened the door at 4pm to the first of the BAU team arrivals, he wondered how on earth he'd ended up hosting the New Years Eve shindig. Welcoming Morgan and Garcia into his home, he led them into the lounge room.
As Garcia gushed about his house, and Morgan expressed his appreciation, he left to answer the door once again to let Reid in.
When the heavily pregnant Emily and Hotch arrived next the party was getting started. That is until Emily's scream reverberated throughout the house. Hotch had actually dropped the drink he was holding and moved faster than Rossi had ever seen him before as he raced inside.
Apparently Emily had been battling discomfort all day, but had written it off as Braxton Hicks, knowing that she wasn't due for another twelve days. Looking at how Emily was currently gripping her husband, Rossi had strong suspicions that perhaps this was for real!
Hotch snapped into the team leader persona that they all knew so well as Garcia jumped up and down and babbled happily, thrilled at the prospect that she would be an aunty again. As Rossi pulled out his phone to call the still absent JJ, Hotch put Morgan on driving duty, and ordered Garcia and Reid to get Emily's hospital bag from their place.
Will was dropping off JJ and Henry at Rossi's place, before heading off to work for the night. So when Rossi's call came through, they were fifteen minutes out. Rossi promises to wait and give JJ and Henry a lift to the hospital when they arrived, as everyone else headed for their cars and respective duties.
Shaking his head as he looked around at his party preparations – not that he had actually personally prepared it! – Rossi grinned as he realised that nothing was ever going to go smoothly for the BAU team. Gathering up some food, he waited for the arrival of JJ and co.
When Will's car pulled up into his driveway, Rossi shrugged on his jacket, locked the door, unlocked his car and made his way over to Will's car. When JJ came dashing at him he looked at her bemusedly. When she uttered 'toilet', he laughed and handed her his keys as she streaked past him.
Turning back to the car, he nods to Will who has his son in his arms. Passing Rossi the baby, Will silently unstraps the car seat and inserts it into Rossi's car with practiced ease, before retrieving his giggling son from Rossi's arms and strapping him in.
When JJ joins them both, she attempts to distil the uncomfortable silence between them all by waving farewell to Will, before he drives off.
Nudging her in his car's direction, Rossi grins. 'Let's get to the hospital shall we?'
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Parking at the hospital, they bump into Garcia and Reid in the car park. Entering the waiting room to join Morgan, and after Garcia has ordered a nurse to take in Emily's hospital bag, they all sit down, feeling fairly jovial as they prepare to wait out the arrival of baby Hotchner.
Henry is a great source of amusement for them all. Crawling between his Aunt Penny and Uncle Derek, he giggles out loud as each person throws him up in the air upon arrival before sending him back in the other direction.
After he tires of this game of this game, Henry stands between Rossi's legs, braces his arms on his knees and bounces happily on his feet, surveying all before him.
Reid also has his turn at minding the baby, as Henry sat on his lap and alternated between playing with his toes and the toy ball in his lap. But Reid was quick to relinquish his bundle when an old lady seated next to him commented how cute his son was. Hastily correcting her, he passed Henry to his mother with a declaration of 'It's not mine!'
JJ laughed at Reid's horrified face as she dug into her bag for Henry's food. Giving into Garcia's requests – more like begs! – to feed her godson, JJ handed Garcia Henry, the container of pureed pumpkin and sweet potato and a spoon. Popping on Henry's bib, she asked if Garcia wanted one too. She laughingly said no, but after ten minutes of feeding Henry, Garcia had her fair share of orange guck on her shirt.
When Rossi unveiled the goodies that he'd brought with him from home, Morgan praised the stars, and the team digged in.
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By 9pm Henry was starting to get cranky, and so JJ asked a nurse if she could get her bottle heated up to feed her ten month old son. Holding her son close to her chest, JJ fed Henry who fell asleep soon after. Dropping the bottle into her bag, she searches for Henry's blanket.
JJ realised that she must have left it in the car, but before she can start worrying, Rossi hands her his jacket. Wrapping up Henry firmly, JJ smiles her thanks.
As Garcia plays with a computer program on her PDA that that warps the faces of adults into what their baby might look like in an attempt to suss out what Emily and Hotch's baby might look like, and as Morgan and Reid look over her shoulder and criticise her efforts, JJ and Rossi exchange a look when a bed pan is dropped on the ground nearby with a loud clatter and Henry sleeps on oblivious.
When JJ stands up to go to the toilet soon after, she places her sleeping son in Rossi's arms. Perhaps it was because they shared the secret about Henry's deafness, or maybe just perhaps because he was seated the closest, but she knew that it was because she trusted that Rossi's arms were the safest place that her son could be at the moment.
Willingly accepting Henry, Rossi positioned him on his lap so he was seated semi-upright, back against his chest. Gently crossing his arms over the small body, he relaxed back in his chair as Henry's head rested onto one of his arms and he continued to sleep.
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Two hours later, just after twelve, the room erupted in cheers when a nurse announced that baby Hotchner had made its arrival – a baby girl. Hotch came out to see them all soon after with a huge grin on his face.
Alexandra Saoirse Hotchner was born at twenty one seconds past midnight, the first Virginian baby born in the year 2010.
After everyone scrambled into the room just after one am to have a quick peek at Lexi (as she has already been nicknamed) and congratulate Emily and Hotch, the BAU team left the new parents to recover and headed home, wide grins on all their faces.
They returned to the hospital en masse just hours later that morning with a pile of presents, balloons and flowers. Hayley agreed to bring Jack by later that morning, and JJ and Rossi were left gobsmacked when they were asked to be Lexi's godparents.
All in all, it was a most interesting start to what would be a most interesting year.