Criminal Minds: Emily's Surprise

A year ago, I posted what has become one of my popular stories about Dr Spencer Reid finding love and happiness in the arms of an old friend. I have received many kind emails about that story. I have toyed with several others over the past year, but found it hard to live up that same standard. Until now, I hope you enjoy this further tale of love at the BAU. Please email me comments.

***

Emily stared out the plane window at the nondescript landscape far below. Even after three days of virtually no rest as the team chased yet another unsub, her mind was in too much turmoil to allow her the respite of sleep that Hotchner and Rossi had sought. JJ and Reid were deep in another animated conversation about pregnancy and birth. Who would have thought that the 'boy genius' would be happily married and expecting a new baby genius?

Emily tried not to be too obvious as she listened in on them. The topic of the moment seemed to be morning sickness. It was, she hated to admit it, a topic a tad too relevant to her own situation to ignore. It seemed that even at almost six months Reid's wife Alexa continued to be plagued by seemingly not stop nausea. It was not a prospect that she wanted to consider as she placed her hand softly across her still flat tummy.

Of course, none of this was how she had hoped or planned it to be. Looking over at where Hotchner rested with his dark head against a pillow, she shook her head. How long had she secretly harboured hopes that he would notice her as a woman and not just another agent? Especially after Halley's death, she had allowed her too fertile imagination to conjure up images of an instant family with him and his son Jack.

But that was not to be. Looking back out the window, Emily was thankful for the absence of the other team member. Derek would be catching a commercial flight later. He had wanted time to catch up with his close knit family. He tried to do that every time they had a case close to Chicago. Emily could not blame him.

Her one experience with his family had not been under the best of circumstances as Derek was accused of the brutal murder of three teenage boys in his old neighbourhood. But still the love and openness that his mother and sisters had shown to all of them was starkly different from anything she had ever experienced as the Ambassador's daughter.

Her mind played over those thoughts, turning them from angle to sharp angle. It made her decision even harder, if that were possible. The only thing that she knew for certain was that this was too precious an opportunity to waste. The last time she had been pregnant she was a confused and angry teenager. She did not regret her decision to have an abortion all those years ago. She knew that she was not prepared back then to be a mother, but she was now. In fact, it had been the one dream that she despaired of ever fulfilling.

But she was disappointed that all those years had not taught her the most important lesson of all: best friends and alcohol do not mix. She could forgive that teen for her indiscretion, but she was finding her current predicament more challenging. How was it that a particularly nasty case, a bottle of wine, alright three of them, and the companionship of a colleague that had become a close friend had resulted in another unplanned pregnancy? She should have known better.

Alright, Derek was drop dead gorgeous, anyone could see that. But their friendship had been built on things other than those looks, things like their shared love of author Kurt Vonnegut and the deep need to make sense of the craziness that was their job. She had barely noticed his looks, considering him more like a brother in some strange way.

Besides one thing that Emily had learned was that smoking hot men that looked too good to be true usually were. The type was usually so caught up in themselves and their needs to be good boyfriends or lovers.

Her mind going back those weeks to that one unbelievable night Emily had to admit that Derek Morgan was definitely not that type. If anything, he was actually a better lover than his impressive packaging boasted. He had been not only tender and caring, but more than considerate in terms of making sure that she enjoyed it as much as he did. And had she. All night long and well into the early dawn hours in fact.

The problem was that they had enjoyed it a tad too much when the last condom was gone but the passion was not. Emily could not blame Derek; as she remembered she was the one that had refused to take 'no' for an answer. She had felt downright giddy as she had used her mouth and hands to toy and tempt him until he was once again hard and ready. She knew that she should have finished the game in the same manner.

Whether it was the alcohol still coursing through her blood or some insanity that was unnameable, she had instead slowly slid up his lithe body until she sat astride his firm thighs. Her dark eyes had dared him any further protest as she sank down on him slowly. It was more than she had bargained for, in more ways than this one. It had been an incredible experience. For someone that had spent most of her adult life walking on the safe side of all decisions, there was a wild abandonment that came with this particular risk.

She had come over and over again as she rode his hard cock as the rising sun streamed through the closed blinds of her fashionable Virginia condo overlooking the spectacular scenery of the Washington Mall. The firm muscles of her thighs had turned to Jell-O from the repeated tremors that shot through her from head to toe.

Then when she had thought that she would collapse at any moment, Derek had rolled them so that he was once again on top. He had lifted her legs until they rested against the warm coffee of his skin. He had surged into her then, deeper than before. It was all that it took as she gripped the sheets and arched her back of the bed. Her dark hair spread across the pillow as she came harder than she ever had in her whole life.

It had definitely been the hottest sex of her life...and then some. But the price had been steep as well. Her friendship with Derek had been strained, both uncertain what to say or do. They had dropped into almost comatose sleep after that last wild ride, only to be awakened a couple of hours later by the dual ringing of their cell phones. JJ had called them back to work.

They had taken turns in Emily's shower, Derek climbing back into the same clothes from the day before. Not that anyone would be that surprised, after all he was Derek. Emily had made a particularly strong pot of coffee while she waited her turn.

Little had been said that morning or in the weeks since. Derek had tried to bring the subject up a couple of times, but Emily had always managed to slip away or change the subject. But she knew that it was not a luxury she could afford for much longer.

***

Derek relaxed on the large sofa in his mother's living room. His stomach was full of her best fried chicken and all the fixings. She always overcooked when he showed up unannounced on her doorstep. She was in the kitchen frosting the chocolate cake that was sure to add at least a couple of pounds to his frame. Smiling, he realized just how much he loved his momma. He even missed those two meddling hellions that called themselves his older sisters, Sarah and Desiree.

He was glad to be home, more so than usual. A dark scowl crossed his almost beautiful face. The past few weeks had been tough. He had screwed up, big time, and he did not know how to make things right again. He had enjoyed the most mind blowing sex of his life with his best friend. If that was not bad enough, now Emily seemed to be avoiding him. Even when he gathered up the courage to try and talk to her about what had happened she seemed to weasel out of it.

He just wanted his friend back. Well, maybe not completely, he would not mind quite a few more nights like that one. He would have never thought that shy, quiet Emily was such a hellion in the sack. There was not much the two of them had not tried in those few precious moments of abandoned lust. Sometimes when he closed his eyes he could almost feel her warm mouth moving up and down slowly on his hard shaft. He shifted uncomfortably on the couch just at the thought.

"Alright, tell Mama all about it," his still stunningly beautiful mother pronounced from where she stood in the doorway. A piece of chocolate cake on the finest china was in both her hands.

Derek shook his head at his mother's always accurate reading of his moods. The BAU missed a great profiler in his mother. "I was just thinking how much I missed you is all," he lied through one of his stunning smiles.

Taking the seat next to her son on the sofa, her green eyes pinned him down, "What's her name?"

"Mama, what makes you think there is a her. You are always trying to marry me off," Derek complained, trying to stall for time.

"That look is one that men get only when some woman has their guts twisted in knots," smiling sweetly she added, "I gave it to your father often enough over the years. And besides, you still owe me grandbabies."

Derek collected his thoughts as he lifted first a fork of the best tasting chocolate cake on the earth to his full lips and then buying more time a steaming cup of coffee almost as strong as Emily had made that morning. He knew from years of experience that his mother would not drop the subject. Besides, he could honestly use a woman's point of view on this one.

"Your baby boy messed up bad, mama." Looking his mother in the eyes, it all flooded out, "I slept with Emily. You know Emily Prentiss from the team. I know I shouldn't have, but it just sort of happened. We have been friends for some time now. She's real easy to talk to you, just like you or Sarah or Desiree. She even likes Kurt Vonnegut, remember how much I used to love reading his books..."

Shaking her reddish curls about her mature but still breath-taking features, his mother placed her fingers against his lips like she once had when he would run on and on as a child. "Slow down, Derek. What makes you think that you messed up anything?"

Sighing deeply, Derek began again, "Because now Emily will hardly talk to me, unless it is about a case."

Nodding her head in understanding, his mother picked up her cup of coffee. "Have you tried talking to her about what happened?"

"A couple of times, but she changes the subject or runs away."

Sipping the dark, sweet liquid slowly, she considered her advice carefully. On one hand, her son might be right. Relationships, especially between friends and work colleagues, could be difficult. The woman might fear that her actions reflected unprofessionally in some way.

But just as likely, she was just as confused and insecure as her son. She knew from her own successful marriage that sometimes the best love was to be found in those you called your closest friends. She did not want to read too much into the situation or offer her son false hope, but neither did she want him to casually dismiss it all as a mistake.

"Well, first thing you need to do is correct that mistake." Placing the cup back on the table, she wrapped her hands around her sons and looked deep into the eyes that reminded her so much of the man, whom she would love to her dying breath, her own best friend. "Talking about these things is never easy, but ignoring them won't make them go away either."

Derek nodded. He had known that it was the obvious answer all along. But he was not sure exactly how to bring up the subject with Emily. While his mind and body might opt for the casual, 'Care for another night of passion,' he doubted that such a move would earn him more than a slap from his friend.

Derek was glad when the topic of conversation turned back to gossip about the old neighbourhood and what he had been working on. By the time, he snuck down the hall to his old room decorated still with out-dated posters of Michael Jordan from the height of his old Bull days he was exhausted.

But even in sleep, his dreams were haunted by her. The sparkle in those dark eyes when he discussed some esoteric piece of Vonnegut's work. Her soft laughter at one of Reid's odd jokes. But especially, the sensual and soft woman that he had held all too briefly in his arms that night.

***

Emily knocked softly on Hotchner's office door. Her hands trembled with the plain white envelop that she gripped too tightly. It committed her future. For good or bad. She had decided to leave the BAU. In her hand was her letter of resignation.

The next few minutes were a blur. Emily hated politics. She always had. She tried to explain her sudden departure without revealing the whole truth, but in the end she admitted that her pregnancy was the personal reasons alluded to in the letter.

If he was shocked at the news that she would be having a baby, Aaron Hotchner was too professional to pry further. She did though ask that he not mention it to the other team members. Emily knew that JJ and Penelope would not have any qualms about prying into her personal life. Even Reid and Rossi might pose an uncomfortable question or two. But the truth was that she did not want Derek to find out the news through the office grapevine.

Just because she had made up her mind about this baby did not mean that she was placing any obligations or expectations on Derek. They had both known how the Bureau looked upon fraternizing. Derek's future with the FBI was bright and she had no intention of tarnishing it with a scandalous office romance. In a little over three months, she and her child would be gone from the BAU. If Derek wanted nothing more to do with them, well she would just get on with her new life and this new creature that she already loved.

But she also knew what an honourable person her friend was. She doubted very much if he could ever just walk away from a child, any child, but especially his child. She had seen it so many times over the past few years. Derek Morgan, who could be hot headed and rash, would melt when it came to children.

His own childhood growing up without a father had left him sensitive to the needs of others, especially fatherless boys like the time that they had lost a police man in the line of duty. Derek had stayed behind to speak to the boy at the funeral. She had tried to comfort him with words about his father dying a hero, but Derek 's pain had been clear when he revealed that was little comfort to him as a boy.

No, as hard as it was going to be, Emily knew where her next stop must be. Since taking over as temporary bureau Chief Derek had a small office down the hall from Rossi and Hotchner's. It was another symbol of his rising stature at the bureau. She paused outside the slightly open door gathering her courage. She had not even managed to knock when the door flew open and the object of her dreams and fears loomed larger than life in front of her.

His hands came out to grip her shoulders, to steady them both. "Emily," her name sounded so much prettier when he said it in that almost breathless prayer. She could not count the number of times that he had whispered and groaned it that night.

Shaking her head, she reminded herself that they were in the middle of the BAU offices not her secluded apartment. She did not want anyone getting the wrong idea, even if it was technically the correct one.

Seeing a reprieve at hand, she stepped back. "I'll catch you later."

But Derek was having none of her usual excuses. He drew her back into his office and closed the door. If she had not looked so pale and uncomfortable, he might have well pulled her straight into his arms and kissed her so deep that neither could breathe. But instead, he pulled out a chair and offered it to her, afraid that she might collapse if she did not sit down.

"Is something wrong?" he began. 'Of course, something was wrong, you moron. You slept with your best friend and destroyed that friendship forever,' he thought.

Emily plunged ahead nervously, "I resigned from the BAU," she began in the middle.

"What?" Derek had known that things were tense between them, but he had no idea that it was that bad. Emily was good, damned good. He could not let her throw her career away over one night, even if that night had been unforgettable. "I'll transfer to another unit," he offered.

Shaking her head, Emily realized that she had done her usual nerdy thing and completely lost the plot. "No, it isn't that. Well, it is that. But not like that," she stammered before blurting out "I'm pregnant."

Derek was not sure what he expected this conversation to be like for them even though he had rehearsed it hundreds of times since his visit to his mother. But this was not it. He was dumb struck by her words. Of course, logically, he knew how it happened. Still, it seemed surreal somehow. Emily was pregnant. Emily was pregnant with his child. He played the words over and over and over in his mind.

Wringing her small hands in her lap, Emily fought back both tears and nausea. This was not how she had planned to tell Derek. Nothing was going right. It seemed that since she had stared at those two purple lines on the home pregnancy test almost two weeks ago the confidant professional was gone. Abandoning her for some insecure, emotional wreck that could barely make it through each moment let alone almost eight more months of this hormone driven insanity.

"This doesn't mean anything to you," she fumbled ineptly with words. "I mean just because I have decided to have the baby and keep her doesn't mean that I expect anything from you. Even without my job, I have my condo and plenty of money. We won't need anything." She rambled on.

Derek's mind might have been a tad fuzzy at the moment, but one thing was for damned sure he was not about to let even Emily push him to the side lines of his child's life. "Maybe, but there is one thing that I can provide my child that you don't seem to have thought of...a father," he said a tad too firmly.

Emily did not want to get into an argument with Derek. She was too tired and sick to manage it, even if her brain had been functioning through all these crazy hormones. "I didn't say that, Derek. Of course, I would not keep you from the baby. Just that you don't have to...I can manage on my own." The room was spinning too fast as she reached out blindly catching the firm muscles of his broad shoulders that had made the perfect pillow for her head that night.

Derek recognized that she was in real distress. Softening a bit, he grabbed the cup of water from his desk and brought it slowly to her lips. "Drink this," he commanded. He wanted nothing more than to wrap her in his arms and reassure her that everything would be fine. A baby. Their baby. But he knew that this conversation was far from over, it had just begun.