Hotch's eyes roamed over the handwritten note in his hand, his knuckles almost turning white as he passed over the words that had gotten smudged from his friend's tears.

To my Emilia: the first words he had man had supposedly been Emily's best friend, her oldest friend, and the friend she could trust the most, and now she was bombarded with the fact that he had a kid that he had never told her about.

And now he wanted her to take care of her.

Hearing his friend's cough from beside him, the BAU Unit Chief let the paper fall to the pew and leaned down before the brunette woman. "Emily?"

Glaring at the older man, the teary eyed woman reached forward to slap away his hands. "Don't touch me," she stated firmly, her watering eyes staring hard at the marble floors. "Please, no one touch me."

"Emily, can I get you some water?"

Emily's head slowly picked itself up at the new familiar sound of her friend's boyfriend's voice. "I'm ok," she nodded, slowly letting her fingers wipe away the new tears that fell down her cheeks. "I just need a minute."

Thomas watched as the woman his boyfriend had talked about almost every minute of the day did her best to take a deep breath and compose herself, those big brown eyes closing so she'd stop her tears. From the way she had reacted it was clear that Matthew hadn't ever told his friend about the little girl he'd helped bring into this world. That's the part the editor had found so confusing.

You keep your daughter a secret from one of your best friends who happened to be in the will the entire time to have custody of her if anything were to ever happen?

Sniffling, Emily took her hands from her face and shook her head. "Why wouldn't he tell me?" She looked up to the two men before her as if to gain some kind of new perspective, but all she found were blank faces staring back at her. "Did you know?"

Thomas hesitated before giving a nod of the head.

"Was there a reason he didn't tell me?"

The bald man sighed before standing and sitting himself in the pew before the FBI agent. "I can't speak for Matthew. All I know is that he wanted to tell you at the right time."

Emily's jaw fell to the church floor. "And that wasn't when he found out he got someone pregnant? When the baby came?" She angrily shook her head, wiping the back of her hand under her nose.

The editor's eyes never left the brunette beside him. "It was all as he was getting sober," he said quietly, watching as Emily looked up to him from her hands. "He wanted to wait until he knew everything was perfect. He wanted you to be proud of him."

Emily felt her chin uncontrollably trembling at the thought of her dead friend. "How old is she anyway?"

"I only met her a few times," he nodded. "She lives with her mother's parents. Still a baby."

Her eyes felt sore from how much the agent was crying. "Then why do I get custody?"

Thomas gave a small shrug of the shoulders. "I don't know everything about it. Whoever her mother was died of an overdose and the baby's grandparents didn't want Matthew to have custody because of his past with drugs." He could see Emily doing her best to stop her tears, and he reached over the back of his pew to take her hand. "He was in the process of gaining custody."

Emily's heart stopped. "Really?"

"He won," the editor stated quietly. "Three weeks ago. He was getting the house ready for her." Thomas felt himself choking up at the thought of the little girl he was supposed to call his daughter being in the hands of someone else. "The night he died, he was supposed to call you. He wanted to take you out to dinner and surprise you with her."

The brunette woman reached blindly for Hotch's hand and gave it a firm squeeze.

"Do you want me to take you to her?"

Emily let herself take a deep breath, her eyes in her lap as she tried to get herself together. "Shouldn't she be with CPS?"

Thomas frowned. "Well she is their granddaughter."

The baby was a part of Matthew, and Matthew was the best friend the ambassador's daughter could have ever asked for. It was the biggest surprise of her life but as far as Emily was concerned, she would be taking that baby. "Do you think they'll let me have her?"

"It's in his will. The baby's mother didn't have a will, so unless they want to go to court and petition for guardianship under the impression of you being an unfit parent, she's yours."

Slowly, Emily slid her hand out of Thomas' and let herself stand, her eyes glaring back to the EMTs who started toward her. "Don't," she warned, her voice deep.

Hotch felt his heart swell at the fact that the younger woman kept her hand tight in his, and he gave it a firm squeeze. "Can I do anything for you?"

"I'm afraid," she whispered, looking up to the older man with her sad eyes. "I never wanted children. What am I supposed to do?" How was she supposed to balance her job with a child that wasn't even hers?

Then again, she was Matthew's.

The Unit Chief gave a short nod of the head. "Do you want custody?"

Emily took a struggled swallow before quickly nodding her head. "She's Matthew's. I can't let her end up in foster care." If Matthew's plan was for her to have custody of his baby girl, there was no way she would go against his wishes. Turning when she saw Matthew's parents walking back toward the church, Emily clenched her jaw, her nerves getting the best of her. "What's her name?"

"Grace Emilia."