AN: Thanks for all the views and thank you Emobunnyme for the feedback on each chapter. :)

And now the exciting continuation...

SIX: Her Firstborn Son

"Okay. How far apart?"

Hush fell over the team as they realized what was happening.

"Um... the last one was probably at least twenty minutes after the one before."

"Okay," Hotch repeated, as much to himself as to Beth. "Has your water broken?"

"Not yet."

"How's Jack?"

"He's pretty good... I told him a little bit of what to expect..."

"Yeah, I did that, too." Hotch let himself out of the office and closed the door behind him for privacy. "He should be fine for the early phase. Can you put him on?"

"Sure."

After a pause, Hotch heard his son's voice.

"Hi, daddy."

"Hey, buddy. How are you doing?"

"Good."

"Are you taking care of Beth?"

"Yeah... but she doesn't need much. She said she's fine."

"You remember what I said might happen when she goes into labor?"

"Yeah... when the baby's ready to come out some water and stuff might come out of where the baby's been living."

"Right. And that doesn't always mean it's about to be born right away. Usually the mom is in labor quite a while after that."

"Mhm."

"So, I want you to do something to help me out, okay?"

"Okay."

"I want you to check the time whenever Beth has a contraction. If they're far apart, that's fine. She should just try to keep resting as much as she can. But if they get to be less than ten minutes apart, she needs to call me again. If she can't, you need to call me. Got that?"

"Yeah. Less than ten minutes apart then we call you."

"Right. And if her water does break, I want you to remember what time it happened, and if it's not clear then what color it is, and what it smells like."

"What it smells like?"

"Yeah. Can you do that?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good man. You can give the phone back to Beth now."

He could hear the smile in Beth's voice when she spoke again. "He's a little trooper."

"Yeah, he is. Do Bob and Jenny know you're in labor?"

"I sent Jenny a text. It's late, though... they might be asleep."

"Okay. Listen... about what's been happening in town. If someone hears that you're in labor, word could get back to the killer and you might be targeted. It's a slim chance, but I don't want to risk it. There's an empty Glock 19 in the glove compartment of the SUV and ammunition in the spare tire compartment in the back. I want you to wait until after your next contraction and then take Jack and go get them. Keep them in the trailer with you. Jack knows not to touch my guns, but give him a reminder just to be safe. He's not allowed to handle it."

"All right."

"Send me a text so I know you've got it and you're back in the trailer."

"Okay, I will."

"You know how to operate it?"

"It's been a while, but I think I remember."

"All right... Beth... I want you to know that..." Hotch swallowed and took a deep breath. "Whoever the father is, I'm willing to raise this child with you. I love you and I want you to be my wife."

For a moment he heard only Beth's excited breathing. Then she said breathily, "Does that mean you believe me?"

"It means that... I think if you had lied to me you would have told me by now. And it would be okay either way. I love you too much to lose you over this."

She sniffed. "I didn't lie to you, Aaron. I never have."

Tears ran down Hotch's face. "Okay. I believe you. I'm sorry it's been so hard..."

"It's okay. And by the way... yes, I'll marry you."

Overcome with emotion for the moment, Hotch couldn't say anything. Then he heard Jack exclaim, "You're gonna get married?" He grinned and wiped his tears away. "I need to pull myself together and get back to my team," he said. "I'm sorry I can't be with you right now."

"It's okay. What you're doing is important."

"Remember to text me when you're back with the Glock."

"All right. I love you. Be careful."

"I will. I love you too."

"So?" asked JJ when he rejoined the others.

"Baby Hotchner is coming!" Garcia all but squealed.

"We're not married, Garcia," Hotch said flatly.

"Baby... Clemmons, right? But you're together..."

"And I probably will adopt him. I just asked Beth to marry me."

"Congratulations," said Prentiss.

"About time," muttered Morgan.

"But... you don't need to adopt him if he's..." Garcia clapped a hand over her mouth.

"You might as well know," Hotch said to the room at large. "The baby isn't mine."

Silence fell again until JJ stammered, "But... but Beth isn't..."

"No, she's not the type to cheat on me. That's not what happened. It's a long story. The important thing is that we're going to get married and raise the kid together. And the other thing is, even though I'm not the father, the unsub won't know that. Beth and I both have ties to this town, and both of us have a parent of Jewish descent. Since we haven't been living here I don't think he has any way of being aware of Beth's pregnancy, or any special interest in our baby, but if he does hear about him somehow, he'll be the prime target."

"You should be with her now," said Prentiss. "Don't you want to get her to the hospital?"

"It's too early for that. Besides, the hospital is the last place I want the baby to be born. The profile says the unsub uses the hospital to find targets."

"Okay, so home birth," JJ said. "You're going to need the paperwork to file the birth certificate."

"I can get that," Garcia said, jumping up.

"Where are you staying? I can come help with the birth. If Reid gets here in time, he can too."

"That's fine, but we have plenty of time," Hotch said, ignoring JJ's question. "We need to stay focused on the unsub."

"Seriously, man, you should be with Beth," said Morgan.

"She's fine for now. How can I look in the eyes of another mother of a dead baby if I don't put everything I can into this case? Besides, catching the unsub means keeping the baby safe."

No one could argue with that point.

Hotch delved back into the files of the victims that had been killed before the team arrived in Bethlehem. After a few minutes, he called for everyone's attention. "It seems that there may have been another criterion that the unsub gave up when he started devolving. Each of the early victims was a first child, or at least a first son. None of them were second sons."

"You're right," JJ said, flipping back through her copy of the paperwork. "Even most of the more recent victims are only children. Dan, the baby taken from the park, had a big sister, but she was adopted."

"So, it stands to reason that Dan was vetted some time ago," said Morgan, "back when he had time to do research."

"Let's look at potential victims with no older siblings and see if we can predict where he'll strike next," Hotch said.

Hours later, before their latest line of inquiry could pan out, the team was following a lead. Another baby had been murdered, this time in its own home. A witness had seen a figure moving between houses and reported the prowler shortly before the child was discovered dead. Now they were following up another prowler tip. The tip line had been getting regular use since the ten o'clock news report. JJ had spoken to the public, urging the inhabitants of Bethlehem to keep their doors locked and to report any suspicious behavior—if possible, without alerting the unsub. This time, it seemed that the prowler was completely unaware that he had been spotted. He was moving from house to house in a poorly-lit neighborhood, undoubtedly looking for signs that an infant was in one of the homes.

Riding to the neighborhood with Hotch, Morgan said, "I know it's not really my business... but are you sure Beth's baby isn't yours? The pill isn't a hundred percent effective... condoms fail sometimes..."

"Morgan." Hotch didn't care to have this discussion at all, let alone now. But he decided it was better to shut it down than put it off. "We were waiting. It's not mine."

"You were...? Okay."

"You don't believe me?"

"No, I'm just... surprised."

"Well, you were right: it's not really your business."

"Yeah. Sorry."

Police and FBI vehicles were converging on the area when they arrived, lights and sirens off. Hotch quickly briefed everyone before they began to spread out.

"Everyone must have an earpiece," he said. "We can't have squawking radios alerting the unsub that we're here. We're dividing into teams to search the area. Do not open fire unless absolutely necessary. We have no evidence that the unsub is armed, and we don't want any chance of hitting each other or a civilian in the dark. If you understand, signify by silence."

No one spoke.

"Good. follow your team leader and let's move out."

The teams flowed around the buildings, barely making a sound. After a few minutes of careful searching, Hotch heard Morgan's voice speaking quietly in his ear.

"I've got a possible unsub at house two-eighteen. That's two, one, eight. He's just entered the home. My team has closed a perimeter, but we need backup to take him down."

"Roger that," Hotch said, already turning in the direction of Morgan's location. "Maintain the perimeter until we get there. We can't afford to lose him." He knew that waiting to enter the home might mean the death of the baby inside, but letting the killer get away could mean the deaths of many more.

Soon everyone was in position and Garcia had filled them in on the homeowners' basic information as they moved.

Hotch knocked loudly on the front door of the house. "Mister and Missus Matthews, this is the FBI! The house is surrounded. We're coming in."

He let the police force the door open and headed inside, holding his flashlight and gun up ahead of him. As he proceeded, officers entering the house behind him found wall switches and flooded the home with light. Soon they cleared all the rooms on the first floor. Then they heard shouts from upstairs.

Following the sound, Hotch found the Matthewses in the upstairs hallway, pleading with someone through a doorway.

"Please don't hurt her! She's just a baby!"

"This baby's a girl?" came a muffled, incredulous voice from inside. "You're just saying that because you think I won't kill him if I think it's a girl..."

Hotch quietly came up behind the distraught couple and looked into the room.

"Our last baby was a boy, but we lost him," Mr. Matthews said, ignoring Hotch's presence. "We never changed the wallpaper or anything... but that's a girl. Her name is Martha. She's not even a year old. Please..."

The unsub, dressed all in black, was standing behind the crib, one arm down inside it. His hand wasn't visible behind the soft bumper that lined the sides of the crib.

Hotch gently nudged the parents to the side and Morgan urged them on down the hall.

"It's over," Hotch told the unsub. "Step away from the crib."

Don't mess with kids when Hotch is around. Fair warning. Thanks for reading!