For the record, this is pre-Seth, but I'll file it there later, as per usual.

LITTLE SURPRISE

PROMPT: Something Nice Back Home (Lost)

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"There's no other flights?"

The attendant looked at him sadly. "I'm afraid not, sir. Everything's been cancelled into Washington. It's too dangerous."

Aaron Hotchner sighed, the corner of his eye catching his wedding ring. God, this pissed him off. Emily would be upset too. They didn't always do well when they were apart. Thank God the front desk of his hotel owed him a favour for dealing with a few customer issues without things getting out of hand. He'd thought for sure the wife was going for her steak knife.

He'd been in LA for a guest lecture, that was all. Guest lecture a law class, do a round-table discussion and a private Q & A with some of the students. He wasn't originally going to go home until tomorrow, unsure of when tonight's meet-and-greet-slash- Q & A was supposed to end, but when it had ended early, he'd moved up his flight. Until, as he'd just discovered, they'd all been cancelled. Bad weather in Washington, they said, terrible snowstorms that made it dangerous to fly.

All he wanted to do was go home.

Instead, he pulled out his phone, hitting the speed dial.

"Tell me you're on solid ground."

His mouth quirked upwards. "Hello to you too."

"Aaron, I'm serious. Where are you?"

He sighed. "LA." He'd already called her to say he'd managed to find a flight that would get him home that night.

She let out a relieved sigh. "Thank God. The storm here is brutal. It's knocked out power to most of the city."

"Is everyone okay?"

"Mmhmm. We did the phone and text tree to make sure everyone was fine. All of the kids are home safe and sound and were before the storm got bad. Even Jack."

They'd gone to a fair with his parents, Aaron remembered. "I'm glad."

"Me too. They cut it close." There was a pause. "You can't get out tonight, can you?"

"No," he replied. "They say the storms are too rough to chance flying in. All flights into Washington have been cancelled."

"I checked online, they said the same thing," she agreed. "I'm glad you're not in the air, but I wish you were home."

God, she sounded so vulnerable. "Everything okay?"

"Fine," she replied, though he could hear the tears in her eyes. "I miss you."

"I know," he commiserated. "I miss you too, sweetheart. Are you sure there's nothing bothering you?" Emily wasn't emotional by nature, and if he was right, her period should have been two weeks ago. This over emotional nature wasn't like her unless something dire had happened. "I'm on the next plane out."

She sniffled. "Just let me know when you're going to land."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

He had called, and Emily hadn't picked up. When he called Dave, his mentor mentioned Emily having to be called in, but thought for sure she'd already have been home. Aaron sighed. He'd been looking forward to having his family pick him up at the airport, and part of him worried. It wasn't like Emily not to let him know when she had to cancel something. He ended up in a cab.

The house was quiet when he walked in. "Emily? Jack?"

He heard the pitter patter of little feet and his mouth widened. He knew those feet and sure enough, AJ came racing around the corner.

"Shhh Daddy! You gotta be quiet!" she scolded even as she scampered towards him.

He scooped her into his arms, giving her hugs and kisses before looking at her quizzically. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Mommy and Katie are sleeping," the four-year-old informed him.

Emily sleeping? In the middle of the day? "Is everything okay?"

"Mommy's been sick," AJ reported. "She throwed up in'a bathroom."

His brow wrinkled. He hadn't noticed anything wrong with her before he'd left for LA. Emily was sick and she was sleeping… "How long has Mommy been sick?"

"I dunno," AJ replied with a shrug of her little shoulders. "She's gonna be okay, right?"

"She's Mommy," he replied, tickling her stomach. "Of course she's going to be okay."

He carried his daughter back into the living room where, sure enough, Emily was sleeping, Kate curled up against her chest. This was what he'd missed. This was what he'd wanted to come home to the previous night. He put AJ down before crouching down beside his wife and daughter. "Emily."

Her eyes fluttered as his hand brushed over her hair. "Aaron?"

"Hey."

"You're home!" she said, grasping the t-shirt he'd travelled in.

"In one piece," he agreed, leaning in to kiss her hello.

"I have something for you," she said nervously as she pulled away. With a couple of deft shifts only their parenthood could make possible, Aaron was carrying Kate upstairs while Emily followed behind. AJ had gotten absorbed back into the movie they'd been watching and would be safe while he said a proper not-child-friendly hello to his wife. But as he walked into their bedroom, he noticed that Emily seemed out of sorts.

"What is it, Emily?"

She simply held out a small, wrapped package.

He noticed her hands shaking as he took it, pulling off the bow and lifting the top of the box. Inside was a pregnancy test. A positive pregnancy test.

"A baby!"

She sniffled. "I wanted to tell you on the phone, and then I got all emotional…"

The sleeping, the throwing up, the emotions… Pregnancy symptoms. He should have known. She'd had the same ones with both AJ and Kate. "A baby."

A smile stretched across her face at his awe. "A baby. Another baby."

He allowed himself to uncharacteristically plop beside her on the bed. "Another baby." He reached out and took her hand. "Another little you."

She chuckled slightly, wiping her tears. Both of their daughters had turned out more like Emily in looks than they had taken genetics from their father. "I can't help it if my genes are the dominant ones."

"Emily, I don't really care whose genes are dominant. We're having another baby."

And suddenly he didn't mind the delay, didn't care that he'd been held up literally across the country because they were going to have another child. He was going to have another son or daughter to love, to cuddle, to tell stories to. There couldn't be anything better to come home to than his family.

So, I had a Seth-centered one to put here originally, but then this one came to me, so I had to go with it.

And as you can see, there's a new prompt list up! The challenge seems to have dwindled to Sienna and I, and we'd really like to see others particiapating again. It doesn't have to be a huge story, it can be a chapter in one of your own stories that fits a particular prompt, we'd just like to see more people taking a crack at what's offered.

Love reviews!