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Warning: see my profile and the first chapter.

A/n hey all, just two more chapters after this. Thank you all for your great support of this story. I'm so overwhelmed by all the feedback. You guys are great.

It was five pm on October 21 just shy of 8 hours since Aaron Reid's birth. He lay in a bassinet next to one wall painted a dark steel blue. The pictures that adorned the walls were of happy park scenes with children playing and families picnicking together. The bed Emily slept on looked like a regular twin bed with dark blue sheets that had a gold stripe running along the edges. The bedspread matched down to the gold stripe. The head of the bed was raised, betraying where they were if anyone thought they were in a nice hotel. There were two end tables on opposite sides of the bed with regular squat looking lamps painted terracotta red topped with cream-colored pleated shades.

Scattered around the room were several helium filled balloons in the shapes of animals and clowns with the words "Congratulations," and "It's a boy," printed on their sides. They floated in the air as though pushed around by an invisible hand. Several gifts, including an elaborate hand knitted blanket from Garcia were stacked in a corner. Reid had Hotch's gift stuffed in his back pocket. His boss had bought the baby a CD that should net him a great start in life if they were smart. JJ, Will, and Henry had brought the new baby several outfits that Henry had outgrown. JJ had seemed happy that babies would wear the clothes that Henry had barely worn twice before getting too big for them. The best gift, in Reid's opinion, was Morgan's contribution which was a large collection of dinosaur figures that were too old for the baby to play with now, but Reid privately had decided that he would 'help' the baby play with them.

Reid was ensconced in an easy chair that resided in one corner of the room. His eyes were so heavy… It felt like there were ten-pound weights attached to his eyelids. His head snapped forward and he jerked his eyes open. He could go get more coffee, but it was so bad here. If he left, Aaron night need him. He needed to stay awake in case the baby needed him.

A small sound inserted itself into the hazy fog that had taken over his brain. It wasn't a cry, just a little squeak from his son. God… He couldn't get over the thought that he had a tiny little boy that depended on him.

Adrenaline pushed into his blood and gave him the strength to get up out of his chair and hurry to the small bassinet. The baby was squirming in his blanket. His dark brown eyes roamed all over, not really focusing on anything. He wore a light blue knitted cap on his head that hid his dark, wavy hair.

"Hey little man… "

His long fingered hands picked up his baby and held him close. The little snuffles and squeaks continued, but it didn't appear that the baby was going to cry anytime soon. This was a relief, as Reid wasn't sure he was ready to deal with a crying baby on his own yet.

"How about we go sit in that comfortable chair over there?"

Aaron didn't object to this idea, Reid noticed, so he took the baby over to his easy chair and sat down awkwardly.

The baby opened his eyes about halfway and seemed to look straight into his father's eyes for a minute. Then the moment was over and his eyes closed once again. To Reid, it was as if the dream of a dream that he couldn't convince himself had really happened.

"We have to be quiet so mommy can get some sleep. She's had a hard time in the last couple of days. She loves you very much, though, and I'm sure she thinks you were totally worth the work."

His son had closed his eyes. He kicked his legs in the blanket. Every little movement that Reid felt through the medium of his hands and arms was a complete miracle. Aaron's tiny little hands were free of their confinement of the blanket so Reid counted his fingers. Emily said that Aaron had Reid's hands. He picked up one of the small hands and looked at it as his hands inspected the fingers through touch. They looked like little hands to him. Didn't all babies have skinny fingers? Emily also said that the baby had his eyes. She'd complained that it was unfair that men seemed to get the good cheekbones and long eyelashes. She said that the baby looked like him. He thought he could see it in the shape of the baby's little face, but it was hard to tell.

"I hope you look more like your mom when you're older. She's the most beautiful person in the world."

Aaron shifted a bit in his father's arms. His tiny hand gripped Reid's finger with surprising strength that made Reid smile when he attempted to extricate his finger from the little guy.

"Okay… If you like the finger, you can keep it for now. I warn you that I'm going to need that for a really neat magic trick I'm going to show you when we get home. You're going to love our new house. Everyone helped paint your room. It's yellow so you have the sun all the time. There's a great rocking chair for mommy when she feeds you. You're going to love rocking. It's the greatest… You have lots of little stuffed canines and rabbits to keep you company when you sleep, that your Aunt Penelope bought for you. She's awesome and she loves you very much. Your Aunt JJ gave you the best little mobile over your crib. I'm gonna teach you all about the solar system and the universe."

Aaron let go of Reid's finger and opened his eyes for a brief moment before letting them close again.

"You've got the easy life little man. All you have to do is sleep and eat. Mommy and I will do the rest."

Aaron had gone back to sleep. The adrenaline that had been keeping Reid awake was beginning to wear off. His eyes felt hot and grainy and they wanted to close as the baby's eyes had closed. He got up one last time and put the sleeping boy in the bassinet. It was hard to give up the little boy, but he was deathly afraid of falling asleep and dropping his son.

"I better put you back in bed. Don't worry, Mommy and I will be right here when you wake up."

----

Elizabeth Prentiss was rarely surprised. She had spent her entire adult life serving in diplomacy. There was very little that could ruffle her feathers. In fact, some of her staffers called her the Ice Queen when they thought she wasn't listening. It didn't matter. You had to be unflappable when dealing with the politics of another culture and finding a way to make it work with the needs of the US.

Even so, when she walked into her daughter's hospital room with her arms full of flowers and a gift bag for the baby, the sight of Dr. Spencer Reid with the baby in his arms shocked the hell out of her. It was eight pm, and she'd just arrived back from a meeting called by the President. The desire to see her new grandson had overwhelmed even the need for sleep after the two-day gathering.

Reid had looked up when she knocked and entered the room. Her daughter was sleeping peacefully, so she turned her attention to the young man sitting in an easy chair in the corner. There was a sofa next to the easy chair that looked like it might be comfortable so she took a seat. The, she addressed the man her daughter had chosen to be the father of her child.

"Hello Dr. Reid," Hiding surprise was a talent that came in handy anywhere.

"H-hi." He squeaked.

The bundle he held in his arms shifted a little. The blanket was light blue and the cap on the baby's head was white. She leaned over a bit and caught a glimpse of his beautiful face and some locks of dark brown hair.

"He's beautiful," she exclaimed, letting go of some of the reserve that made her hold back with everyone.

"Yeah… He looks a lot like Emily." Reid said proudly as he cuddled the baby close.

She felt tears gathering in her eyes at the tenderness of this young man's care for her little grandson.

The strange thing was that she had expected that he would look different somehow. Instead, he wore a white dress shirt rolled up at the sleeves, a pair of brown cords and a brown and white checked sweater vest. It was more or less that same kind of outfit she'd seen him wear when they'd met a couple of years ago. She'd thought he was a kid on some college program when she'd first seen him, but then she'd got to know his abilities, and talents, and realized he was a very special young man.

Her daughter might not think that Elizabeth paid attention, but she did. She'd seen the way her daughter had looked at Reid, even then, when she wasn't ready to admit her feelings or even acknowledge them on a conscious level. Elizabeth had been able to see it though. She hadn't been happy about it. She'd wanted her daughter to marry a diplomat or some powerful man's son with a lot of money so she could be comfortable. Now she knew her daughter was the wiser one.

"Are you alright Ambassador?"

"Would you please call me Elizabeth?"

He went red in the face and it made her smile around her tears. "Um… sure… Ah okay, I'd like that."

He was playing with tiny hand of her grandson while the baby slept in his arms. The way he looked at the little boy with such love in his eyes made her heart beat fast in her chest. There was no way to describe the feelings that surfaced just by seeing her little grandson in the arms of his father.

"How's Emily?"

He beamed at her and she saw that he loved her daughter as much as he loved his son, or maybe even more. She saw his eyes flick over to the bed. They were rapturous.

"She's fine. She was awake about an hour ago. The doctor said that she came through the delivery just fine and will be able to go home tomorrow afternoon."

"I'm glad she's okay.

"She was pretty scared for awhile. Her pregnancy brought up a lot of bad memories."

"She told you what happened to her as a teenager."

"Yes…" He fiddled with the edge of the blanket.

"Then you know that I didn't handle it well. You know that I was far too rough on her when I should have been understanding and supportive."

"Oh… well I think that -"

"It's okay Dr. Reid. I think she and I have put the past behind us. I love her very much and I always have. I want to start again if that's possible, for her sake as well as yours and the baby."

"His name is Aaron."

She grinned at him. "I bet Agent Hotchner isn't very happy about that."

"Actually… we haven't told him yet. We sort of told everyone that we hadn't made up our minds yet."

"I never thought you and my daughter were afraid of Aaron Hotchner. He's a very nice man."

Reid laughed nervously. "Yeah, but he's our boss. He could suspend us for a week, just for this idea."

"I don't think so. Can I be here when you tell him?" She joked.

"Sure…"

Emily moved on the bed. Reid jumped up with the baby and went to her side. "You mother is here."

Elizabeth went to her daughter's side and smiled down at her. "I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner."

"It's okay mom."

"I love you very much Emily. I'm so proud of you."

She turned to Reid and put a hand on his arm. "This is a good man you have here."

"I know… He's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Reid flushed scarlet and busied himself with the cap on the baby's head so he didn't have to look at them.

"Have you held Aaron?"

"No…"

"Oh… I'm sorry Mrs. Pren- I mean Elizabeth."

He put the baby into her arms and a small tear fell down her face. "He's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"Yeah… he's something special." Emily said softly.

Elizabeth looked at her daughter who had taken Dr. Reid's hand. They looked at each other with so much love that her heart nearly broke. The beginning of a blessed family stood in front of her. She could finally step back and let her daughter be happy. There was no more reason to fear.