The SUV

It was his first day back at work and he was nervous. It wasn't that he was worried about getting shot again, even though that thought did occur to him a time or two. It was the thought that Emily could get hurt. It had always plagued him, since the first moment he realized how deep his feelings for her really were. But since he'd been hit, it haunted him.

Hotch had decided to give him an easy first day and sent the two of them to Chester to interview a serial rapist there. Rapes were occurring in the Baltimore area that were very similar to the one committed by the prisoner in Chester. His trial had just concluded and he would be transported to the state prison the following day. But Hotch needed answers now. The cases were too similar to be coincidence.

Dave glanced over to her in the passenger seat. She was looking out the window at the passing countryside. As he reflected on her beauty he realized something had been missing from his morning. "Em," he said softly with a hint of question in his voice.

She turned and looked at him inquiringly. "Dave," she replied.

"Nothing… I just didn't tell you this morning how beautiful you look."

A quiet smile worked across her features. "No, you didn't. But the looks you've been giving me… they made me feel beautiful."

"Just a man appreciating his wife," he said suggestively, "And remembering what she did to him last night."

"Hmmm…right. We've been doing a lot of that lately."

"What? You haven't seemed to mind it. Is there something I'm not aware of, some change in our relationship that only women know and men get left in the dark…"

She sniggered. "I didn't mind…don't mind."

"Then what?" He teased.

"Nothing…" she answered mysteriously.

"Okay. Now I know something's going on. Because when you get like that…all mysterious and telling me nothing, there's always something. What is it with women anyway? Why do you do that to us guys? All we want to do is make you happy but we're not mind readers, you know. Seriously, I like being flirted with and you being all coy as much as any man….wait, nix that. No other man should be flirting and coy with you. If I ever catch another man…"

"I'm pregnant," she said quickly, trying to get it in between his ramblings.

His mouth gaped open and as he turned to look at her. "The road," she yelped.

He turned his attention back to the road and quickly found a place to pull over. After putting the big SUV in park, he turned to her. "Did you say what…"

"I'm pregnant," she said softly.

He couldn't believe his ears. But his heart did because it swelled within his chest to an impossible size. "You...we're… how much…pregnant are we, I mean?"

She sat there, grinning at him, her dark eyes laughing. "Twelve weeks."

He frowned, doing the calculations quickly in his head. "But that means…"

"It had to have been that night in the hotel, the night before you were shot." She watched him with teary eyes, waiting to see his response.

He remained very still, frozen in his spot as his mind grasped what she was telling him. He looked at her expectant face and knew he should do something, say something but it was all too overwhelming. As much as the twins had meant to them, as much as he'd rejoiced over their conception and birth, this one held so much significance. Wait, his mind stopped him and he looked at her again, almost fearfully. "It's just… there aren't…"

"No," she laughed. "Just one bun in the oven this time."

He relaxed a little and then sighed. "You…you're really pregnant? We're having a baby?"

I really am. We really are."

And then he did something neither of them expected. He began to cry, not heavy sobs but tears of joy and humility. "I really am the luckiest son of a bitch on this planet," he told her as he took her into his arms.