As always, thanks for the feedback on the last chapter!
This one is tagged to the completely and utterly adorable ending of "Normal" in season 4. Think of it as an extension of that scene, because, well, who can resist baby Henry? ;)
Happy reading =)
"Having children is life-changing, to state the obvious. It's a gigantic shift in your life…" – Thandie Newton
"Hey, little man. I got you. I got you," I murmur to Henry, who is safely ensconced in my arms. I find myself unable to tear my eyes away from his tiny form. When his eyes open sleepily, I'm completely mesmerized. He begins squirming and reaches a tiny fist upward, flailing it as he opens his mouth. Before he can vocalize his protest, I begin to rock him gently until his eyes flutter closed once more. "You're good, you're okay. Don't worry, little man. I got you."
"You're good with him." My head shoots up to see that I'm not alone in the room – Prentiss is still standing in front of me. She laughs quietly at my shocked expression. "Forgot I was here, did you?"
I smile sheepishly in response. I thought everyone had left.
"Babies'll do that to ya, so I'll let it slide this one time," she says with a smile.
"Trust me, Princess. A baby is about the only thing that could make me forget you're in the room," I say, shooting her a charming smile. I'm rewarded with a quickly raised eyebrow and a shake of her head.
"Hey, where's JJ?" I ask, suddenly acutely aware of the blonde's absence.
Prentiss chuckles. "She left 10 minutes ago with Garcia to give her approval on some online purchases for Henry that PG is pursuing."
"Oh."
"I guess the little man was too mesmerizing for you to notice," she teases.
I smile again sheepishly. "Well can you blame me?"
She steps closer, reaching over to gently stroke Henry's cheek. "I guess not. He is pretty special."
We settle into a comfortable silence, each of us focusing intently on Henry's sleeping form. A thought occurs to me as I remember Sarah and Desi practically fighting each other to hold one of our baby cousins. "Hey… D'you want to uh…" I trail off as I nod toward Henry's lightly dozing form.
Her eyes widen with a mixture of what I think is fear and excitement, but she nods. "Yeah, sure."
I transfer him over to her arms and tuck his blanket back around him tightly before stepping away, watching as her eyes never leave him.
"Hiya, handsome," she coos and a rather goofy smile appears on her face. Her eyes widen in surprise and I hear a soft "oh!" escape her lips as Henry's eyes open and he begins squirming and stretching. "You are a handsome little devil, aren't you?"
I smile as I see her continue to change from the exceedingly stubborn, fiercely independent, and tough FBI agent I know and work with to a warm and almost maternal figure. As I watch her interact with Henry, I'm struck by just how good she is with him, and how easily he fits into her arms. It's a picture that just seems… right.
Knowing that her attention is firmly on Henry, I grab my phone and quickly snap a picture. As the preview comes up, she raises her head and she shoots me a questioning glance. I wordlessly hold out the phone to show her the picture. I prepare to be berated for not telling her I was taking a picture, and subsequently being told to delete it, but the expected reaction never comes. Instead she smiles and asks me to send it to her. I blink in surprise but nod and mumble, "Sure."
Has the queen of compartmentalization and the epitome of calm, cool and collected gone soft? I hear Reid's voice in my head, describing the scientific principles behind women's tendencies to fawn over children. The more I think about it, the more I become convinced that Emily Prentiss is going to be a mom.
Still, it's a bit funny that the woman who seems to break every stereotype thrown her way falls straight into this one. Sure, she's never the damsel in distress, but put her in a room with a baby and she melts into a pile of goo. I shake my head and quietly scoff before muttering, "women."
"What are you on about over there?" she asks, fixing me with an unimpressed and very Emily Prentiss glare. Okay, so maybe she hasn't gone soft.
"Nothin'," I say with a shake of my head.
"C'mon. What is it?" she asks, her voice insistent.
I hesitate because I know this one is gonna get me in some deep trouble with her. Oh, to hell with it. "I'm just realizing how this little guy has all o' you ladies wrapped around his little finger."
She raises an eyebrow in response. "Uh, Morgan? Let's remember that I was the one who interrupted your little moment with him a few minutes ago." My mouth hangs open for a moment as I try and think of a way to refute her claim. She shakes her head with a knowing smile and scoffs, "men."
"Okay," I concede, my hands rising in surrender. "He's got all of us wrapped around his little finger."
"Hey guys, sorry. Garcia had a lot more stuff than I thought… I was trying to convince her to not get all of it, but unfortunately there's just no reasoning with her," JJ says as she enters the room.
"No problem. This little man was in good hands," I say nodding toward Emily whose focus had centred back onto Henry. JJ chuckles softly.
"Hey, Em? I think JJ wants her son back now," I quip, finally getting Emily's attention. "But if you really want one of your own, I could help you out with that," I saw, wagging my eyebrows.
"What makes you think I'd want to have a baby with you?" she fires back, her smile shifting to an expression of annoyance.
"I happen to have good genes, thank you very much."
"Oh you do, do you?"
"Yep. Flawless skin, natural athletic ability, and a very strong immune system."
"And so modest."
"I'm just saying, we would produce some amazing offspring. You should think about it."
"Oh it'll go top of my list of things to ponder, I assure you."
"Aw, c'mon Princess, you know you want one of your own," I tease.
She smiles faintly and her eyes are slowly drawn back to Henry. I see a flash of what I think is regret and guilt settle onto her face before she turns around to place Henry in his carrier. My face scrunches slightly in confusion. Guilt? Over what?
"Hey, don't tease her too much," JJ says softly, interrupting my thinking. "This job makes finding Prince Charming and living happily ever after pretty difficult. And I hear biological clocks can tick pretty loudly."
I nod sympathetically and turn my attention back to Em, who is just finishing tucking Henry's blanket back around him.
"Lunch soon?" she asks as she wraps her arms around JJ in a hug.
"You bet. I don't think this little man has quite gotten his fill of his Aunt Emily yet," JJ replies. "And of course I miss you too."
Emily smiles widely and waves as JJ picks up Henry's carrier and disappears down the hallway.
"Hey Princess, you still up for a bite to eat?" I ask, turning toward her.
"Sure," she agrees.
"Woman! What are you doing?" I exclaim as I spy her fingers grabbing another few fries from my plate.
She looks up at me innocently, batting her long eyelashes as she pops the fries into her mouth.
"Ugh," I groan. "You are unbelievable. I told you to order yourself some fries."
"But I don't want a whole order," she says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"So you just thought you'd steal all of mine instead?"
"Not all of them, just a few here and there."
"Princess, I hate to burst your bubble, but you've eaten half of mine."
"I have not."
"Yeah you have."
"Have not."
"Have to."
She opens her mouth to argue further but I beat her to the punch, shoving a few fries into her mouth instead. She glares for a moment before chewing them appreciatively and offering a dramatic moan of pleasure.
"Mmm. Soooooo good."
"Are you finished acting like a two year-old?" I say, fixing her with an unimpressed look. She grins and moves to snatch another few fries but I grab her hand and shoot her a look of warning. "Princess, there are many things I'd do for you, but giving you all my fries is not one of them."
"Fine. I shouldn't have 'em anyway. My girlish figure could stand to lose a few," she deadpans.
Even though I know she's joking, I can't help the words from tumbling out of my mouth, "You're crazy. You're gorgeous."
My eyes widen slightly as I process the words that had escaped my mouth, and I swear I see the slightest blush tinge her cheeks before she turns her attention back to her plate and mumbles, "Thanks."
"So Henry's pretty adorable, eh?" I say in an effort to bring us back onto safe and comfortable topics.
A smile quickly appears on her face. "Yeah, he looks just like Will."
"Yeah, but you can see JJ too. He's a pretty good combination of the two of them."
"Do you ever think about doing that?" she asks, tilting her head slightly. "The whole kids thing, I mean," she clarifies.
I consider her question for a moment before answering. "Sometimes. But with this job…"
"Mm," she agrees with a knowing nod of her head.
"But I think my mama might kill me if I don't give her some grandbabies soon," I say with a chuckle.
"She's not totally out of line – it'd be a shame for you not to be a dad. You're great with kids. I can see you with a big house, and a bunch of kids with way too much energy. You'd definitely be the type to chase them around the backyard with Clooney hot on your heels."
I smile at her level of detail. "Think about that often, Prentiss?" I tease, with a quick wink, falling back into our witty and flirty banter easily. JJ's words from earlier echo in my mind and I wonder if I overstepped.
When I receive a smack for my comment, I know that she's fine. "I'm trying to have an adult conversation and you steer us right into the gutter. God. You're such a man."
"Okay, okay. What about you? Think you'll ever pop out a mini-Emily?" I ask, an image of a baby girl with dark hair, dark eyes, beautifully pale skin, and a decidedly goofy grin suddenly appearing in my mind.
"God, there better not be any "popping" 'cause that's enough to turn me off of it right now," she says with mock horror.
I smile and shake my head at her antics. "For real, though. You think you'll have kids?"
"Have to find a viable donor first."
"Aw c'mon Prentiss. We're not all bad."
She arches an eyebrow in response.
"Okay, assuming you could find a suitable man…"
She considers it for a moment, her expression thoughtful. "I think it's an issue of timing more than anything."
"Timing?"
"Well, I'm not getting any younger."
"Please. You're practically a spring chicken."
She laughs and places a hand on my arm for a moment. "You're sweet, but we both know that's not true."
"Okay, assuming you can find a suitable man, and it's well before you suddenly need a walker and a hip replacement, d'you think you'll have kids?" My tone is light and playful, but I'm genuinely curious to find out her answer.
She bites her lower lip and scrunches her face slightly in concentration. I can tell she's really thinking about it. "I'm really not sure. I don't think I'd dismiss it outright, but it's also not something I absolutely need to do."
Now that is surprising. With the longing looks at Henry, and that something that appears in her eyes whenever kids are involved in cases, I was certain she'd definitely want kids. The profiler in me kicks into gear and I chalk her reluctance up to a defence mechanism.
"Okay. For the record though, I think you'd make a great mom."
Her eyes widen and blink quickly in surprise. Evidently she thinks differently. "You do?"
"Yeah, I really do," I say honestly. "You don't think so?" The question is out of genuine interest and a little concern. Even if she puts on a brave and strong face, I can see the cracks in her armour every once in a while. Every so often, when something hits a little too close to home for her, I can see the doubts and fragile self-esteem she boxes away.
She shrugs uncomfortably. "I don't exactly scream mother of the year." I frown at her self-deprecation. There's another defence mechanism. "What? I had way too screwed up of a childhood to know how to be anyone's mother," she says, responding to my silence.
"Now you're just making excuses. Come on, you're a natural with kids. The kids we see on cases are always drawn to you, and you always know just how to connect with them. Don't let your anxiety cloud what could be amazing."
"You're sweet, Derek. Thank you. And for what it's worth, you're gonna be a great dad," she says sincerely.
"Anything for dessert tonight loves?" the waitress asks as she appears at our table.
I glance at Emily who quickly grabs the small dessert menu and scans it. "I think I'll try the cheesecake," she says and hands the menu to me. I skim its contents quickly and settle on strawberry rhubarb pie. I give my order to the waitress who disappears into the back. Less than a minute later she returns, delivers our desserts, and promises to return with the bill.
"You know, if you ever need any help making that whole motherhood thing happen, you let me know," I say with a wink after finishing off the last of my pie.
She arches an eyebrow and shakes her head. "Are you flirting with me, Agent Morgan?"
"That depends. Is it working?"
She laughs. "You couldn't handle me, Morgan."
"Now that sounds like a challenge, Princess."
If you have the opportunity, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one - reviews always make my day. =D