True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others, at whatever cost.

-Arthur Ashe

David Rossi lay in bed, wishing he could just fall asleep, even for a little while. But his mind just wouldn't shut down. He lay, holding Lisa, who'd had no problem falling asleep. He'd watched as the afternoon sky changed from midday brightness to dusk, knowing that the sun was setting on the other side of the house by the light it cast.

They'd made it out to Little Creek by lunch time, although neither one of them wanted food. They'd hardly spoken on the ride from Quantico, exhaustion setting as they drove. She suggested that they lay down for a bit and he was more than happy to allow her to take his hand and lead him upstairs.

He watched, as she changed from her suit to pair of his sweatpants and a t-shirt, and then padded, barefoot to the bed. She lay down, patting the bed next to her, asking him to join her.

His intent had been simply to lay with her, but when he took her in his arms and kissed her, she responded passionately. Driven by exhaustion coupled with emotion, they made love. He didn't know if it was because of her raw emotions or the pregnancy or a combination of both, but she was extra sensitive, responding to every move and touch more so than usual. Her response worked wonders on his libido and by the time they were done, his body was more than ready for a long nap.

Unfortunately, his mind stayed alert. She'd slept, soundly, for the rest of the afternoon. Although he knew she needed the rest, he knew she hadn't eaten anything all day. This couldn't be good for the baby. She hadn't even put back the five pounds she'd lost due to her morning sickness. No, he needed to wake her and make her eat.

Gently rubbing her arm, he softly said, "Wake up, Little Girl…"

She stirred slightly, eyelids fluttering a bit, then fell back to sleep.

"Come on, Lisa," he said, a bit louder. "Wake up…"

"Tired," she mumbled.

"I know so am I," he continued, "But you need to eat."

"Not hungry…"

"You haven't eaten all day," he rationalized.

She opened her eyes and after taking a moment to focus, she looked at him. "What time is it?"

"A little after 7."

"Shit," she ran her hands through her hair, "I slept all day." She looked at him, "You haven't slept at all, have you?"

He shrugged.

"Dave," she continued, "I know you too well, you're holding something back. Talk to me."

"I wanted to wait until after we had something to eat," he began, but she shook her head. She wasn't going to let him get out of bed without telling her what was on his mind. That much, he could tell by the set of her jaw. Taking a deep breath, he spoke. "I've been laying here thinking."

"About?"

"Us," he admitted, "The baby."

"And?"

He was too tired and strung out to mince words, so he decided to just lay it all on the line. "We need to stop pretending that we're not having a baby, Lisa. We need to own up to it and start making some plans."

"We're going to buy maternity clothes tomorrow," she said, the subtle shift of her eyes telling him that she wasn't ready to own up to it. Unfortunately, he was and he was going to have to convince her that she was too.

"That's not what I mean," he countered. "While we were in New York, right before the explosion, JJ admitted that she was pregnant."

Lisa's eyes lit up, "She is?"

He nodded, "Apparently, Montagne came up to New York to pledge his love and devotion and Reid, Hotch, and Prentiss walked in on it. She had no choice but to confess."

"Wow," she nodded. "When's she due?"

"A couple of weeks before you."

"Good," Lisa decided, "I won't be the only pregnant woman on the third floor."

"No, JJ will be, because you're probably going to pretend you're not pregnant until sometime after your delivery," he dryly said, watching as her eyes narrowed.

"Not funny, Dave," she shot.

"It wasn't meant to be," he shot back. "I'm starting to think you're embarrassed by this."

"Of course I am," she returned, as if he were a slow child. "I'm a grown woman in my 40's and I managed to let my boyfriend knock me up! If that doesn't scream "slut" I don't know what does!"

"Are you calling Jennifer Jareau a slut?" he challenged.

"No," she said.

"Well, she's in the same position that you are," he countered.

"No, she's not. She's JJ, perfect, smart, blond, cute, little JJ. She will probably be a perfect, cute, petite pregnant woman, the kind that men rush to help open doors and women envy," she went on, color rising in her cheeks. "I, on the other hand, have been a puking monster since day one. I'm already turning into a shapeless lard ass and in another couple of months; I'll be lumbering around the office like some freaking Amazon wrestler from hell. Men won't open doors for me; they'll run out of my way!"

"Lisa," he said, holding back a laugh, "That's not true and you know it."

"And of course, they all waked in on Montagne declaring his love and devotion…" she shook her head.

"Would you like me to do the same thing? I can orchestrate it, if you'd like."

"That's not what I mean," she sighed, tiredly. "You don't get it."

"Apparently, I don't," he shrugged, deciding to change this tactics, "So, I was thinking…"

"You've already stated that. What were you thinking about?"

"The best way to convince you to marry me," he seriously said.

"Marry you?" she repeated, "Marry you?"

"Yes, marry me."

"Dave, listen to what you're saying."

"I know what I just said, Little Girl," he said, not pleased by her reaction, although, he fully expected it to be that way. "I love you, you're having my baby, marriage seems like the logical progression."

"Pregnancy is not a reason to get married," she firmly said. "We're not at that stage, Dave."

"I am," he returned, watching as her hard façade cracked, but only for a second.

"I'm not," she honestly said, her tone softening. "Not yet anyway. I was finally starting to trust you and relax into figuring out our relationship when this happened. I do love you, but marriage? I swore that if I ever did it again, I would be absolutely sure that it would last forever."

"And you're not there, yet," he said, trying to mask his disappointment.

She picked up on it anyway and with a soft smile said, "Not yet. I just need more time before I make that step. I mean, so far you've been here with me through this whole thing. Damn, you've held my hair while I puked. That shows your commitment level to the baby."

"I thought it showed my commitment level to you," he said, watching as she closed her eyes for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts.

"Let's table the engagement until after the baby's born, okay?" she tried, "I promise, I'm not going anywhere. I just want to be free of these frigging hormones when I make this decision, okay?"

"I will ask you again," he promised, deciding to let the marriage issue go.

"I know," she smiled. "So, was that all you were thinking about?"

"Actually, no," he returned, "I thought you might not be on board with the marriage idea, so I came up with Plan B."

Lisa laughed, "Still the schemer, aye?"

He smiled broadly, "When I want something, Little Girl, you know I won't stop til I get it."

"Okay, so what's Plan B?"

"Your condo only has one bedroom," he began. "My house has four."

She shook her head. "I'm not saying no to living together," she began. "But, Little Creek is just too far from Quantico. I can't put the baby in day care there and drive to Quantico every day and I won't drive the baby that far to put it in day care in Quantico."

"I thought you'd say that," he nodded. "Which is why I thought that maybe, we could look for somewhere closer. We could keep my house as a vacation place. If you don't want to sell the condo, we can rent it out."

"Oh, we can sell the condo," she agreed. "I'm tired of the association fees."

Grateful that she was agreeing to Plan B, he went on. "I'll call a Realtor tomorrow and have them start searching for us."

She nodded, then, with a twinkle in her eye, "See, I'm not that big of a bitch."

"Wait until you hear the next thought…" he laughed.

"What?"

"There's no room in your Spyder for a baby seat."

Her smile faded, "Shit, I didn't think about that." She thought for a moment, "Wait, you've got a BMW, it's got four doors."

"You're going to drive my car to work every day? And leave the Spyder for me?"

"Hell no," she said, only half joking, "You're not going to drive my baby any more than I'm going to sell it."

"So, what are you going to drive?"

"Guess we'll have to find another car," she decided, then, eyes narrowed again, "And not a mini van, either."

He laughed at her expression, "I promise no mini-vans."

"A nice little SUV would work," she nodded, "With four wheel drive, of course. Something like a Navigator?"

"A Navigator's a little SUV?"

"Yeah," she smiled smartly, "It is."

Shaking his head, he gave in. "Fine, we'll go look for that tomorrow in between shopping for maternity clothes." He watched as she frowned. "What?"

"I can give up the condo; I can garage the Spyder, but maternity clothes?" She sighed.

"There has to be somewhere in all of those outlet malls that sells professional clothing for pregnant women."

"Yeah, it's called Omar the Tentmaker's shop of horrors," she sighed, placing a hand to her stomach. "I can feel it already, Dave. I'm going to be huge."

He placed his hand next to hers, "its only temporary, My Love."

"Yeah, but if my staff starts running out of the office as I lumber through…"

"I promise I'll corral them back into the bull pen for you, okay?" he said with a wry smile. "Now, what do you say we go down and make some dinner before you starve my child?"

When you make a commitment to a relationship, you invest your attention and energy in it more profoundly because you now experience ownership of that relationship.Barbara De Angelis

Lisa dropped her shopping bags onto the bed and sat down. She was tired and hungry and her head was spinning. When they'd walked out the door at 9 am that morning, she owned a condo, a Mitsubishi Spyder, and two work outfits that actually still fit. Now, eight hours later, she was also the owner of a Lincoln Navigator and enough properly professional maternity clothes to see her through three pregnancies.

She'd discovered that David Rossi on a mission was a dangerous thing, especially when it came to spending her future child's inheritance. She teased him that he'd have to write another book to make up for all of this. He simply dismissed it and told her the manuscript was completed in long hand and had been sent to the typist, then walked her into the Babies R Us store to look for furniture.

She managed to stop him from buying nursery furniture until they actually had a new house to put it in. He had, of course, contacted the Realtor his lawyer recommended before they even walked out of the house that morning.

"That Realtor is good," he said, carrying his laptop into the bedroom. "She sent us listings already."

"Damn, that fast?"

"She said she may even have a buyer for your condo," he went on, sitting on the bed next to her.

She stopped, feeling completely overwhelmed. "Talk about not having time to think…"

"If we want to get settled before the baby is born, we need to get a move on, Little Girl," he softly said, setting the computer on the bed.

"I know," she said, taking a deep breath and releasing it, she felt the urge to cry. Of course, he picked right up on it.

"Hey," he began, "Are you okay?"

She nodded, "Just a little overwhelmed. I'll be okay."

He smiled, pulling her into his arms. "You will. We all will," he said, confidently. "Have a little faith."

She looked at him, surprised to see true joy in his eyes. She'd spent many years profiling David Rossi and probably knew him better than anyone else. As much as she tried to doubt it, his emotions were real and she knew his intent was sincere. She just hoped that she had what it took to be not just the fourth, but the final Mrs. David Rossi.