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Warning: see my profile and the first chapter

Reid whipped around guiltily as though caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Garcia was standing there with a pink tote slung over her shoulder. She wore a pair of pink sweat pants and a yellow tee shirt with musical notes on the front. Her feet were encased in an ordinary pair of sneakers. Or, they would have been ordinary if not for the hot pink shoelaces against the white shoes.

"Um… H-hi Garcia," He squeaked.

"You might want to wipe that guilty look off your face." She advised him. He flushed bright red as she hugged him tight. "The cat's out of the bag." She reminded him. "You don't have to pretend anymore."

"What are you doing here?" Emily inquired.

"When the best looking genius in this half of the universe calls, I drop everything and come running."

"Garcia!" Reid squeaked again.

"I'm glad he called you."

Garcia bent down and hugged Emily carefully.

"So… Baby Reid's finally making an appearance." She clucked her tongue and shook her head as though she were severely disappointed in the fetus's behavior.

Emily laughed and Reid smiled in relief at his friend's mock outrage. At least the attention was off him for a minute.

"I scared him to death." Emily was saying.

Well it looked like the attention was back on him!

"I noticed…"

"I had a very realistic nightmare and freaked out at him."

"Poor baby…" Garcia threw an arm around Reid's shoulders and kissed his cheek.

"Garcia!" He had regained his normal facial color but now it went scarlet.

"Ow…" Emily shouted.

"T-they're g-getting c-closer t-together." Reid stuttered.

"That's a good thing." Another voice said from behind him.

"Mai…" Emily exclaimed.

"Don't sound so surprised. Dr Kelly called me. I wouldn't miss this for the world."

"I'm glad," Emily said through clenched teeth.

"Me too,' Reid gave her a shy wave.

"How are you?" Mai asked Emily.

"I'm just fine. I'm having a great time. There's nothing I'd rather be doing then enduring excruciating pain."

"Well, sarcasm is good." Mai responded.

"It's not sarcasm!"

"Okay… Why don't I just see how far you've progressed?" She reached over and snapped on a protective glove.

"That's our cue to leave." Garcia pulled Reid from the room. "We'll be back soon."

---

Garcia herded Reid down the hallway to the family waiting room. It was supposed to be a warm welcoming room with light yellow walls and furniture that was done in blues and greens. It reminded Reid of the ocean. He didn't find the décor at all soothing at that moment.

He went to the far end of the room and flopped down on one of the couches that also had some gold worked into the upholstery. The threads of implied sunshine held all of his attention.

"Okay Dr. Reid, spill it!"

"Spill what," He started to pick at the gold threads.

"You know what I'm talking about. Emily's too busy with labor or she'd be interrogating you too."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Fine… We'll do this the hard way."

He continued to avoid her eyes by staring up at a painting on the wall of green grassy hills, red tulips, and blue skies with white fluffy clouds.

Garcia stood watching him in silence for several minutes. His delicate hands were shaking. His face was white and his eyes were dark with suppressed worry.

The fact that he didn't so much as flinch when she decided to sit down next to him, scared her. She took his hand and squeezed it.

She waited.

"It's my f-fault." He stuttered in a small voice that belonged to a small child, not the man sitting next to her.

"What's your fault?"

"I did it." He insisted.

"What did you do?" She asked again.

"Emily's in pain because of me. She was so scared and it was my fault."

"Hey… Emily's a big girl. She's the one that wanted to have a baby. You guys didn't do things the old-fashioned way, but the result is the same. And it was a good result!"

"I didn't know when I agreed to this that she'd lost baby years ago. I would've said no if I'd known."

"Then you would've made a huge mistake."

"You didn't see her. She was terrified. You know Emily doesn't freak out easily." He squeaked. "I didn't know what to do or say to comfort her. What kind of man does that make me?"

"You're a special man, Dr Spencer Reid." She snapped back at him, matching his tone. "You're kind, and gentle, and loving. Emily loves you very much. She doesn't blame you for anything."

"But I -"

She clamped a hand over her friend's mouth. "You get to have the best gift anyone could get. You get to be a father. This baby is going to be fine. He or she is going to be beautiful, and smart and perfect. So stop blaming yourself this instant!"

His eyes were huge, but his face wasn't the ghostly pale that had scared her so badly. She moved her hand away from his mouth so he could speak.

"It's still my fault she's here tonight."

"Reid!"

"No! I don't mean that she's pregnant. I mean that she's in labor. She was supposed to come in and be induced tomorrow with drugs and the supervision of a doctor. Then we -"

He stopped and went beet red in the face.

"What happened baby cakes?"

"I can't tell you."

"Yes you can. You can trust me."

She crossed her heart and looked so innocent that he almost laughed.

"Um… I shouldn't tell you."

"Oh… I know that look."

Garcia hugged him before he could escape her grasp. "You guys finally did it. So how was it? Tell me everything." Her eyes were shinning like stars at him.

"I can't do that!" He exclaimed.

"I'm sorry baby cakes. I don't get why you're so upset."

"I know better Garcia. All the books say that intercourse can bring on labor. I pushed her into bed. This wasn't supposed to happen. I didn't mean to hurt the baby."

He tugged his hand out of her grasp and got up to pace the room.

"What if the baby has brain damage? What am I going to tell him or her? That daddy couldn't wait until they were born before getting into mama's pants."

"Hey… That's enough! You didn't do anything wrong. Did Emily say no at any time?"

"No… But I don't see how -"

"Shh… If she didn't say no then I don't see what's so bad about a little lovin'".

Reid laughed. "You sound like Morgan."

Garcia made a face and he felt his worries lighten a bit.

"Don't lump me in with him!"

She smiled and got up to hug him again. "Sorry," She apologized.

"I still don't think -"

"You know what?" She interrupted him again. "You think way too much. That's your biggest problem. Why don't you look at this logically and rationally, like a good genius?

There are lots of women that deliberately have sex to start labor. The babies turn out just fine. You know this; in fact, I bet you could quote me statistics about it."

He opened his mouth. Garcia held up a hand to stop the speech that was coming.

"I don't want to hear them sweet cheeks. I've just got one question. I assume everything went well for you two."

"I'm not answering that!"

"You don't have to baby cakes. Your eyes tell all."

"Are we done? I'm going back to Emily."

"I'm just teasing you handsome."

"I don't want the baby to be hurt." He stood just inside the doorway to the waiting room.

"I know that sweetie. Just think, in a few hours you're going to be a dad."

He gulped. "That's what scares me."

"Don't worry… You're going to be the best dad in the world."

Mai appeared in the hallway as they were leaving the waiting room. She wore a smile that made her eyes twinkle like stars.

"There you are!" Emily's asking for you."

"I-is she okay?"

"She's doing great. She's dilated to a four so we have a ways to go."

"Oh…"

"Well, don't just stand there Dad. Get in there." Mai pushed him in the direction of Emily's room.

Garcia watched him hurry off down the hall with a big smile.

"Why do you look so happy?" Mai wanted to know.

"Why don't you step into my office and I'll tell you."

---

Emily was staring at the door when Reid entered looking very guilty. "H-hi," He squeaked, giving her that little wave that always made her heart go to mush.

"I was wondering if you'd decided to skip out on me." She kidded.

"Um… I wouldn't… Y-you know I -"

"I know Spencer. I was kidding."

"Oh…" He stood there wringing his hands and looking very upset.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing!"

"Spencer!"

"Um… I was talking to Garcia. Um… Are you okay? Has the doctor come in?"

"Yeah… He was here a minute ago. I told him about last night."

"You did?" He squeaked, going red again.

"Well yeah… He asked me when the labor had started. He wanted to know what I'd eaten or if I'd done anything strenuous. So I told him."

"Um…"

"I didn't give him the gory details, Spence. Give me some credit!" She snapped and then groaned as another contraction hit."

"Oh… I'm sorry, I -"

"It's okay. Are you going to stand there or come closer? I won't bite."

He sat next to her bed and took her hand.

"Are you going to tell me what's bothering you or do I have to get Garcia to erase your existence?"

"Really!"

"You didn't cause this or hurt the baby."

"How did -"

"I know how you think Spencer Reid. You blame yourself for everything. I may have been distracted by all my fears, but I know exactly what you're thinking. The doctor said I'm fine and so is the baby."

He reached out with a trembling hand and touched her stomach. "I love you both so much."

"We know that baby."

He smiled up at her and most of the guilt that had darkened his expression was gone.

"You're so sweet to worry like you do, but I'm fine. Soon we're going to be parents. Isn't that a kick in the pants?

He swallowed hard and she grinned up at him.

"Scary thought, isn't it."

"Yeah…"

"Did you call the others?" She asked.

"No… I can go now." He jumped up.

"No! Don't bother them till it's over."

"Okay!"

"Just sit here with me. I need you close to me."

"Alright."

She looked at him and began making a mental list of all the qualities she loved about him. His kindness, his beautiful face and his awe-inspiring mind were at the top of the list. Everything else was just icing on the cake for her.

"What are you thinking?" He said, bringing her back to reality.

"I was thinking about all the things I adore about you. I want the baby to be just like you."

"I want the baby to be like you." He insisted.

She bit back the urge to ask why because the sincerity in his eyes left no room for doubts.

"Maybe we should hope that he or she has our good qualities and not the bad."

"You've got a deal." He agreed. They shook on it solemnly and kissed to seal the deal.