Title: Four times Emily held a child in front of Morgan... And one time she didn’t
Author: Dri
Ratings: PG
Characters: Emily, Morgan, Reid, Dave, JJ, Will
Spoilers: Through the series
Warnings: A bit of fluffy, perhaps; the answer to your questions, I hope ;)
Author’s notes: This fic is finished, going through beta. I’ll be posting a new chapter every couple of days or so. Also, there would be no fic at all without the help of my betas, who endured my changing of sentences and whole paragraphs without giving up on me. Any remaining mistake is mine because these ladies rock.
Feedback: Always a joy!
Disclaimer: They belong to CBS, and I’m not making any money with this fic.

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First Time is here - http://dri-br.livejournal.com/4615.html#cutid1
Second Time is here - http://dri-br.livejournal.com/4978.html#cutid1
Third Time is here - http://dri-br.livejournal.com/5254.html

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The Fourth Time

The fourth time happened about twenty months later, at Emily and Dave’s and lasted less than five minutes because little Giovanni had just been fed and Emily had to settle him for the night.

Emily and Dave had a nice routine around the house: she didn’t mess with his kitchen, he didn’t mess with her office; she did the laundry, he collected the dry cleaning; they shopped and did the cleaning together. And by the end of the day, be it in bed, in the shower, or any other place inside (or not) the house that could give them enough leverage, Emily did her best to show Dave how precious he was to her. Dave loved the attention and didn’t mind paying it back in kind.

Now they were adjusting their routine around the baby, and there were already moments shared by this little family of hers that Emily would not forget for as long as she lived.


Giggio scrunched his little face and started whimpering, and Emily rushed to kiss his little fingers. “Ti manca il tuo papà, che ti canta la ninna nanna, piccolo mio? Papa is busy with the nice people downstairs. Won’t mamma singing do for tonight, huh? ” she cooed with the kind of love that grew anew every time she talked to, looked at or just thought about her son. Her smile broadened when the little hands stopped fussing and Giggio finally slept. “See? Mamma is not so bad.”

“You should have tried rap, or hip hop. Would have saved you time,” came a voice from the doorway.

Emily looked up and motioned Morgan inside the nursery. For a heartbeat he hesitated, but then he walked inside with soft steps.

“Uncle Morgan will teach you everything about the good stuff, kid: Tupac, Notorious. Bone Thugs… Fifty Cents,” Morgan teased, winking at her.

Emily rolled her eyes. “Do you have a death wish?”

“Hey, I’m the kid’s named guardian. I should have some say in his musical education.”

“You can teach him anything you like about self-defense. Let his other guardian be in charge of his musical upbringing.”

“Reid likes classical,” Morgan replied affronted. The mere mention of his partner’s name, however, added a new sparkle to his eyes.

“You try teaching this kid rap and his papa is going to kill you. And I’ll help Dave get rid of the body.”

Morgan laughed softly. “You’re too much of a good girl to do that.”

Something inside of Emily gentled. Morgan must have sensed it because he looked at her with a different kind of intensity, full of understanding.

“I would at least consider it, Morgan.” She laughed feeling silly and embarrassed, but oh-so-happy. “Jesus, I don’t think there’s a thing in the world I wouldn’t do for my boys.”

Morgan fingered a lock of dark hair in the baby’s head. “I know the feeling. Scaring, huh?”

“Yes,” Emily simply agreed. Reid was a lucky man.

There had been a Morgan/Reid for almost as long as there had been a Rossi/Prentiss. The road her friends had to go through to be together had been bumpier, though.

As weird as it still was to see Morgan being in a committed relationship with anyone, let alone with another man, and Reid being in a relationship at all, neither ever wavered once the awkwardness of it all was gone and they realized what they had was worth fighting for.

And there had been challenges: Morgan’s issues, Reid’s insecurities, and to top all that the kind of job they had. Owning up to their homosexual relationship amidst law enforcement had almost caused Morgan to get transferred to another state and Reid to quit and go with him. At that time, Hotch’s and Dave’s influence as well as their teammates’ professionalism and support had been the glue that had held the team together.

And in the end, to have Morgan and Reid so comfortably sitting close to each other, holding hands and sharing hugs at Garcia and Kevin’s wedding two months ago had been worth the entire headache they had faced in the beginning. Emily was sure the kiss she had witnessed at the reception, when Morgan and Reid thought nobody was looking, was what had set her off into early labor.

“You and Rossi did well choosing JJ and Hotch to be the kid’s godparents.”

“You and Reid were the right choices to be his guardians, too,” Emily said, brought back to the moment. “And I know Garcia will find her own way to be special to him.” Emily smiled. “In fact, Garcia will be a handful once baby Bruno makes his appearance into this world.”

Morgan scrunched his nose, but the smile was still there. “I can’t believe that Kevin boy touched my girl. If he hadn’t made an honest woman out of her…”

“I’ve always thought Garcia was the deviant one in this story,” Emily corrected him, good-humored. “Speaking of which, when are you going to make an honest man out of Reid?”

Morgan’s smile faded a little. “I asked him to move in. He hasn’t answered yet.”

Morgan enveloped the hand she had reached out to him with both of his, her engagement ring digging in his palm. “Have no fear, Derek; he’ll say yes.” Morgan nodded, squeezed her hand one last time and let go.

There was hushed conversation coming from down the corridor, and Emily looked up to see the small committee headed by JJ and a reluctant Will followed by Dave and Reid coming to the nursery.

“We came up to say goodnight; we have to go and relieve the sitter,” JJ whispered from the doorway. Will’s hand on her shoulders was certainly the only thing keeping her from coming into the room. Dave stepped around the couple and waved his hand, inviting everybody inside.

“Where are Hotch and Jordan?” Emily asked Dave.

“They already left.” Dave perched himself on the arm of the chair Emily and their baby were sharing. “You were supposed to just check if Emily had the bambino settled for the night, Derek,” he scolded Morgan smiling playfully.

“Emily and I were making arrangements for the kid’s first lesson in rap, man.”

Emily moved sideways and very carefully handed Dave their son. “Over my dead body,” Dave replied, his eyes now on the sleeping baby in his arms.

“That can be arranged. I’ll even help him get rid of your body,” Reid said, hugging Morgan from behind. Since the announcement of her pregnancy those hugs had gone from a claim of ownership to a natural display of affection, which pleased Emily immensely; Reid’s wariness towards her was finally gone.

Morgan shared a secret smile with Emily before turning his head to kiss his boyfriend on the cheek. “Thanks, babe.”

JJ, who by now had pulled Will closer to the group, was looking at Giggio with a restrained longing all too familiar to Emily. “Do you remember when Henry was this small?” JJ asked Will, resting her head on his shoulder. Will hugged her around the waist and kissed her hair as JJ covered the hand he had placed on her belly with hers.

It saddened Emily to see Morgan, with his arms covering Reid’s, and Reid, with his chin resting on Morgan’s shoulder, sharing the same longing with a lot less hope.

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to be concluded next time