Note- I want to give a sincere thank you to all the readers who gave me nice reviews. I probably won't be posting another CM story for a few months or more since I am struggling very much these days with my writing. I am having a crisis of confidence, lack of inspiration and every single story gets harder and harder than the last one to produce so I need to give myself a break till my circumstances change. There are still more chapters to this story left though and I'll get it all posted soon.

Anyway, thank you to the people who are taking the time to read my work.

On My Own Too Long

Reid and Prentiss

Chapter Seven

September 2011

Tears welled in Emily's eyes as she lay in the hospital bed with Reid holding her hand, moments after they were reunited.

"They came so early! They're so small!" She wiped away some tears. "But the doctors said that for being born at thirty four weeks and being twins they were doing good so far. I just pray they don't have any problems. I can't handle thinking that our kids will have to struggle just because Doyle did all this and made them come early! I'm so pissed off, Reid!"

"Shhh," he said, brushing a kiss on her hand before looking up into her eyes. With his voice breaking he asked "I'm the father? I didn't want to assume..."

"Either you or immaculate conception."

He smiled through his own tears and kissed her hand again. "I missed you so much, Emily. I'm going to be here for you and the babies, I promise."

She ran her fingers through his hair. "I've had six months since I found out I was pregnant but you've only had a few hours, I don't expect you to make me any promises right now. You deserve time to figure out how you feel about all this."

"How I feel is that I never thought I could love anything or anyone as much as I did when I first looked at the twins."

"They're beautiful, aren't they? I hope they let me go see them soon because I will not be able to stand staying in this room while they are down there. I wonder how long they'll have to stay here. Maybe weeks?"

"However long it is, I'll be right here with you all. It was wrong for you to be here alone all these months."

"Reid, don't feel guilty about that. Its my own fault that Doyle attacked me that first time because I didn't tell the team what was going on and that's why everything that happened afterwards happened. I screwed up big time and I know I hurt you when I pushed you away."

"Yeah you did. We're best friends and there's nothing you need to hide from me or be afraid to tell me. I hope one day you feel that way, Emily."

"I'm pretty stuck in my ways but I'll try. I promise to try harder to be open because I want things to stay good between us, especially for the twins sake. I'm so scared for them, Reid. You think they'll make it, don't you? The doctor said they were breathing on their own and that means their lungs were well developed."

Just then a nurse came in to check on Emily and Reid stepped out of the room, more determined than ever to find a doctor and make sure the babies were in good health, then to get a book on premature infants so Reid could learn every statistic known to man about what his children might be facing.

Right outside the door of the room he ran into the rest of the team, who hadn't gone for coffee because they were too anxious to find out if Reid was the father of the baby. Morgan, Garcia and JJ knew that Reid and Prentiss had a one night stand back during winter and Rossi and Hotch could tell by everyone's behavior that Reid and Prentiss must have been involved in some way.

Morgan searched Reid's face to tell if he was happy or upset. Reid's clenched jaw made it seem like he was fuming with anger so Morgan patted him on the shoulder and said "Lets go get some air, kid."

"No, I need to see a doctor to find out about the health of the twins. Emily won't be able to go visit them for hours still because she is on bed rest so its up to me to make sure they're okay. I'm their father and they're counting on me."

JJ let out a cry of joy and hugged Reid. "Spence, that's wonderful! I'm so happy for you."

Rossi smiled from ear-to-ear. Even Hotch cracked a tiny smile. Morgan let out a happy sigh and went to call Garcia with another update.

A little while later Spencer had a doctor paged and he came to sit down with Spencer and explain the health of the twins, what they knew so far and what they needed to be on the look out for happening. The only health concern the babies had was that they couldn't take a bottle yet because their sucking reflex was not developed so they would have to be fed intravenously for the time being.

A weight was lifted off Reid when he heard the doctor tell him his children were perfectly formed and not facing any major medical crisis at the moment. Until today Reid had no idea how truly terrifying it could be to a parent. He would do anything for his two kids already.

Though he had only been a father for less than a hour he already was completely devoted to the babies and relieved to have Emily alive and well, here to help him tackle raising the kids. A chill went through him at the thought that she could have died today. They all could have died.

Reid was learning how it felt to love so deeply that their lives meant way more to him than his own because that is how he felt about Emily and the kids.

XXXXXXXX

Rossi looked around the small home where Emily was staying while in witness protection. It had two bedrooms. One had belonged to Marshall Serena Watkins, who was shot three times by Doyle's men, twice in her bullet proof vest and once in the leg. She had survived her injuries and was hospitalized currently.

The other bedroom belonged to Emily. Rossi decided to hire a maid to make sure the place stayed clean and the fridge stayed stocked during the time that Reid would need to live in Iowa, waiting for Emily and the kids to be released from the hospital.

"Well this place is cozy," Rossi said, with a hint of sarcasm in his tone. "Tight quarters, huh?"

"We've stayed in smaller," Hotch said. "You can take the couch."

"Like hell," Dave joked. "I'm driving back into town to find a Ritz-Carleton."

"You better keep driving right through town cause I doubt there is one within a hundred miles of here."

"Something comparable then."

Hotch chuckled. "Good luck with that." He looked around the small house for a moment and then said "You know when the twins come home Prentiss will need plenty of baby stuff. I put some of Jack's stuff in our attic but she'll need more."

"Are you suggesting we throw a baby shower? Isn't that more up the girls' alley?"

"Uncle Dave could just charge up his credit card."

Rossi chuckled. "So could Uncle Hotch."

"Yes but Uncle Hotch doesn't have Uncle Dave's money."

The men laughed and soon after decided to head back to town for a steak dinner and some beers to celebrate the arrival of the twins and the safe rescue of Emily.