Title: Four times Emily held a child in front of Morgan... And one time she didn't
Author: Dri
Ratings: PG
Characters/Pairings: Emily/Dave, Morgan/Reid
Spoilers: Through the series
Author's notes: This is it, the last time Emily and Morgan get together to shoot the breeze. Kind of… A special thanks to Moon for the proper Italian translation in this chapter and in the previous one. And of course none of it would have happened without the help of my betas, Ana and Kelly. Girls, thanks for guiding me through this and for the patience. You ladies rock! And thanks guys for joining me on this little journey. I hope you like it.
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
The Fourth Time is here - http://dri-br.livejournal.com/5821.html#cutid1

And the One Time She Didn't

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The One Time She Didn't

The fifth time it happened, the roles had been reversed: it was Emily who had waddled into the room when Morgan was feeding and having a one sided silly conversation with baby Laticia, who in turn was happily answering her daddy with a babble of her own. Morgan and Reid had signed the final papers for the adoption earlier that week, which made the hard earned smile Morgan was wearing totally justified.

So for posterity sake, Emily took a picture of the moment and didn't apologize. Instead she snapped another shot when Morgan shook his head and Laticia blinked her big caramel eyes and waved her hands to the lens.

"Should you be climbing up stairs in your condition? I don't want Rossi blaming Reid and me again if this one comes early, too."

Emily rubbed her large tummy. "Oh, don't go all Supervisory Special Agent on me. It's just pregnancy; I've been through it before."

"There are twenty steps up here; sue me if I worry. And for Christ sake, get in here and sit down."

Seeing that Morgan's concern was for real, Emily conceded and shimmied her way on the armchair placed next to his until she got comfortable in the narrow space. "I'll get stuck here!"

Morgan must have taken pity on her because he smiled and winked at her, but pushed the low stuffed bench he had been using to rest his feet over to her side. "I don't want you to give Rossi any reason to hurt me and make a young widower out of Reid."

Emily laughed. "After all these years you can't still be scared of Dave."

Morgan looked back down at the baby with the same kind of quiet reverence Dave (and most certainly Emily too) had been showering Giggio with for almost five years now. "You're pregnant with his child. He would do anything in his power to make sure his children are okay."

Emily winced and touched the spot where Mateo had just scored another goal against her bladder. Damn, but the kid was restless today. After a deep breath, she found Morgan looking at her with a mix of sympathy and pure panic.

Emily smiled. "Kid has been hyperactive today. I'm fine, really. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You've got the stares."

Morgan laughed softly. "The stares? Is that how you call it at the Prentiss-Rossi's household?"

Another kick; Emily smoothed her belly. "What do you guys call it around here?"

"Reid rambles about constructing themselves or something like this, but most often than not we agree it's just about the wonder our Laticia causes." His smile sobered. "It gives me a better understanding of that guy now; the stepfather."

It took Emily less than a minute to have that memory brought back to her, of a case from the very beginning, one of the first she had worked with the team. It had happened during the Gideon era, before Dave and before they had stumbled over Morgan's secret; before she had gotten beaten up and they had learned about Reid's addiction; before Hotch's divorce or Garcia getting shot or JJ's first kill. Back to a time when for all of them living had been more about instinct and less about emotion.

Emily should have been surprised Morgan had rescued that memory after such a long time, but she wasn't; not after all these years and these shared moments, which had first started that night, when she had held that parentless baby girl in her arms. Emily just smiled softly at him and let him continue because it was okay; it was Morgan.

"After Reid and I signed the final papers for the adoption, I don't know why I thought about him. The man was scum, a dirty bag, but if he went back to that house for this," Morgan squeezed the baby against his chest, "I guess I can finally understand him, even respect him a little. Biologically speaking, Laticia may not be Reid's or mine, but there isn't a single thing in this world we wouldn't do to keep her here with us."

Any real father would, Emily had wanted to say, but it wasn't necessary, not for them. They were parents; they shared that visceral emotion, that driving force to protect and to shelter their children. Too basic and yet too complex to be named, it had been what had moved Reid to do as Dave had done when Giggio was born and step down from the field to assume a teaching position within the BSU, and Morgan to leave the BAU and be in charge of his own team at the Hate Crimes division in the DC office so they could work more regular hours when they had decided to apply for adoption.

And here they were, Emily and Morgan, years later, sitting in a room with white and lilac walls and stuffed bears and pictures of two exhilarated men holding the precious treasure that was their daughter. Emily's own son was playing with his friends out in the backyard under the watchful eyes of his father, and another one was content to play soccer in her womb.

"Morgan, that night, after everything was over, you said maybe that was the kind of change that girl needed."

Morgan nodded. "Yeah, I remember that."

"She would bring that same kind of change to the family who adopted her, too," Emily said smiling gently. "You and Reid, you are awesome for sharing this love you have for each other with Laticia. And this little girl," she caressed the baby's cheek. "She is a very lucky young lady for having you guys changing things for her."

Morgan's bright, grateful warm eyes were all the thanks Emily needed to hear from him. They were also everything Emily had once needed to see in her own mother's eyes. Now older, wiser and a mother herself, Emily could just feel sorry for her mother because it would forever be the Ambassador's loss if she never experienced this kind of bond and joy that Emily now did.

It was what had made Emily, after long conversations with Dave, decide to ask for a two year leave of absence after her maternity leave was up. She wanted to be there for her kids in a more regular basis while they were growing up. She loved her job and wished she could do both, like JJ, but compartmentalizing was not an option when her family was involved.

Laticia got bored and started squirming in Morgan's lap until he put her up against his body and the baby immediately laid her head full of fuzzy braided hair and colored hair clips against his shoulder. He closed his eyes and inhaled the scent that was unique to babies, kissing smiles against her cheek. Hormones or not, Emily let a tear fall and smiled.

"As I had told you, Spencer, watching paint dry makes her cry these days."

"It's natural and common because her hormone levels are changing, Rossi. From elation to depression, mood swings are something to be more expected in her third semester. Her changing body shape can disturb her self-image, but in my opinion pregnant women just get to be so f..."

"If you use the 'f' word, I swear to God, Reid, I'll shoot you!"

"Fabulously beautiful," Reid completed, smiling and looking adorable, making Rossi and Morgan laugh while Emily wiped the tears ruining her make up.

At hearing her other daddy's voice, little Laticia didn't stop bouncing in Morgan's lap until he put her on the floor.

"Pa-pa-pa"

Baby Laticia assumed the crawling position and, encouraged by both her daddies, inched twice towards Reid before she lost her balance and fell. She looked confusedly at Reid, pout lips trembling.

"Pa-pa-pa"

"Yeah, it's pa." Reid moved closer, stopping just a few feet from her. "Come on, princess. Let's crawl and let the repetitive movement stimulate your brain activity. This way you can develop cognitive processes such as concentration, memory and comprehension and also..."

By now Rossi and Emily were laughing. The tears wouldn't let Emily be sure, but she was positive Morgan was rolling his eyes.

"Baby, I've already told you a simple 'come to pa' will do." Reid smiled sheepishly at Morgan and wiggled his fingers at their baby girl.

"Pa-pa-pa"

Helped by Morgan, the baby started moving little knees and hands forward again, and this time she reached Reid's legs. He immediately scooped her up in his arms and blew dozens of raspberries on her face. Laticia squealed and Morgan hugged them both from behind, rubbing his symbolic wedding ring against Reid's. Smiling, he rested his chin on Reid's shoulder as Laticia presented her papa with an open mouthed kiss full of drool.

It was twice as hard to shimmy her way out of the chair as it had been to shimmy her way in it, because Emily was crying and Mateo was kicking her bladder, and she wanted to snap another shot before she made her way to the bathroom to pee. Dave's assistance was more than welcome.

"Hey… You guys… tur, turn a little to your left… I want a picture…"

Morgan tenderly directed his family towards the camera and Emily got her picture as Laticia, cajoled by her parents, was blowing z's through her baby teeth.

"Shouldn't… you and Reid work… on profiles or teach recruits… instead of talk… about my hormone problems?" Emily asked, accepting Dave's hug and hiding her face against his shoulder.

"Teacher's lounge gets boring after sometime."

"Just find, find something else to talk about," she hiccupped behind a laugh. "Or I'll have to hurt you both for real."

"Okay," Reid agreed laughing. Then he turned his head to kiss Morgan's cheek. "Mom wants to take pictures of all the kids."

Emily felt her face hot with embarrassment. "Yeah, I came here to get you, but then we started talking and I forgot."

"That's okay, Prentiss. I think by now everybody is used to yours and Morgan's chat sessions," Reid smiled at her. "But, you know, there's a party going on downstairs."

Yes, there was. Morgan and Reid had organized the cookout to celebrate the finalization of the adoption process after a ten month wait, even though Laticia had been living with them since she was a couple of weeks old. Such a blessed child for being watched over by two of the most decent men Emily had ever crossed paths with.

"Pronta a uscire alla luce del sole con me, gioia?"

Emily nodded against Dave's shoulder, the father of her children, the constant source of her strength and joy. Oh, yes; she was ready; she had been born to live this moment. She wasn't fifteen anymore, life was happening downstairs, and it was high time she let Dave take her out into the sunny afternoon.

But Emily needed a bathroom break first.

The backyard in Morgan's and Reid's place was smaller than the one in her house, but it was equally sunny and the kids had enough space to run around and play without disturbing the adults who weren't playing with them or getting too close to the barbecue pit.

Fran Morgan got Laticia from Reid, kissed her granddaughter's happy face, and started directing Desiree and Sara to take the other kids to the other side of the yard, because yeah, the children would look wonderful in that background with the flowerbed. Eventually Emily had to join JJ and Garcia in the organization because the kids were having so much fun playing tag with Kevin or Frisbee with Morgan's brothers-in-law, they didn't want to stop even for a second long enough for Fran to be satisfied with the pictures she got. Tempers were soothed when Desiree and Sarah came out from the kitchen carrying trays of strawberry jelly and ice cream. The meaning wasn't lost on Emily.

Morgan joined Reid and Laticia on a bench near the flowerbed with a cup of the dessert in his hand and the smile Emily had only seen him share with Reid, and now Laticia. Reid welcomed Morgan with a similar smile of his own as Laticia reached out for the jelly.

Laticia had Reid's eyes, Morgan's complexion and she looked so lovely opening her mouth in a big shaped 'o' like Morgan was showing her how to while Reid fed her the sweet treat and probably lectured her on the nutritious value of jelly… The hell with biology! Laticia was theirs.

Emily hid a smile against Dave's shoulder when sometime later it was photo session again and only a stern look from his father made Jack leave the chess match he and Jordan had been engaged in to join Morgan, Reid and Laticia and the rest of the kids on the bench.

"Now you kids go and get your parents," Fran ordered and all the kids scattered around to do as they were told. "I want a beautiful family picture to take back with me to Chicago."

And as a beaming Giggio pulled his mother and father to share the space around the bench with Morgan's sisters, their husbands, as well as JJ and Will, Kevin and Garcia, Hotch and Jordan, and all their children (eight now, counting Morgan's nephew and nieces) being rambunctious and disorganized arranging themselves on the ground, Emily rubbed her round belly and compartmentalized for the last time.

Yes, they were her family. And she would even have a picture to show around.


Giovanni - Varian of John 'God has shown favor'
Mateo - Gift of God
Laticia - Latin for 'Joy'

Thanks for reading.