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“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Rossi asked as he walked into his office to find Emily sitting on the couch, her fingers picking at her thumbnail. Emily looked up at him and continued picking at her nails. Rossi’s initial jovial mood was instantly replaced with concern for the younger agent. He didn’t have favourites among his teammates but if he did, it would be her. “Emily?”
“I need to speak to you,” Emily replied as she kept her gaze on her nails, the red, raw skin beneath her nails, the trickles of blood from torn hangnails, the chipped polish that she would need to remove later. “It’s, I don’t need a friend, I need a, a…”
“A parent,” Rossi finished knowingly before he closed his office door. He knew that most of the team viewed him as a paternal figure and he in turn, viewed them as his children. However, this was clearly going to be one of his more serious father-child discussions.
“Yeah,” Emily sighed. The last time she was in this situation, she had no paternal figure to turn to. Although the circumstances were different to last time, the fear and anxiety in the pit of her stomach; that remained the same.
“You know you can tell me anything,” Rossi said as he sat beside Emily on the couch. Emily continued picking at her nails for a moment before she spoke.
“I’m pregnant.” Emily admitted as she moved her hand to her stomach. It felt no different than it had before and so she was certain that the slight swell she felt was more in her mind or bloating than an actual bump. It was too early for her to have a bump but she knew it was there. The strange part was that she had no other symptoms. She hadn’t been nauseous and her period had always been irregular, therefore she had had no reason to take a test. It was just this morning that she had woken up with the notion to take a pregnancy test already in her head. So she had.
“I see,” Rossi said calmly. “And does Aaron know yet?”
Emily shook her head and he was surprised to see tears in her eyes. “I don’t know how to tell him. The last time I told anyone this was-”
“John,” Rossi finished as he stood to fetch the box of tissues from his desk. “Emily, you know that things are different. Neither of you are fifteen years old and Aaron is not John.”
“I know,” Emily sighed as she accepted a tissue and wiped her eyes. “But it’s still not ideal. We’ve only been together for a few months, Jack is still adjusting to the idea of his father dating after Haley’s death. Aaron and I, we haven’t discussed, haven’t planned… we were careful!”
Rossi wisely bit his tongue to hold back any sarcastic comment that he would have normally made at Emily’s admission of being careful in her and Aaron’s unsuccessful attempts to prevent pregnancy. Instead he took Emily’s hand in his and squeezed it tightly. “It might not seem ideal but this is still wonderful news. You will be an amazing mother and both Aaron and Jack will be delighted with the news. It may come as a shock, but they will both be overjoyed. Especially Aaron.”
“What if he isn’t?” Emily asked. It was a valid question; she and Aaron weren’t engaged, weren’t married, weren’t living together; it was only in the past few weeks that they felt comfortable staying the night in one another’s apartments and actually remaining there the next morning; not just leaving at the crack of dawn. They had agreed to take things slow; to allow Aaron and Jack the chance to adjust to a new female presence in their lives. Not as Haley’s replacement but still able to be a partner to Aaron and a surrogate maternal figure to Jack.
“Then I’ll call some of my old buddies from Long Island and we’ll handle him, the way we would in the Old Country,” Rossi quipped and Emily finally gave a small smile before she shoved him lightly. “If he isn’t, then you know the rest of us will be there to support you. Although I would not stop Morgan from kicking his ass.”
Emily shook her head and looked back at her hands. “Things will be OK, won’t they?”
“Of course they will,” Rossi reassured her. “Aaron and Jack love you and they will love this baby. After everything else you three have been through, this baby will be a blessing.”
“I hope so,” Emily said. Now that she had had some time to process it, she could feel herself start to get excited at the possibility of having a baby. She had always wanted to be a mother and she knew that she wasn’t that lonely, terrified teenager anymore. She had a family, she had her friends, she had Aaron and Jack. She could already imagine the team’s reactions; Garcia’s squeals of delight, JJ’s advice and wisdom, Morgan’s jokes, Reid reeling off statistics about pregnancy and foetal development. All of them would be supportive, especially after they had accepted her and Aaron’s relationship so easily.
“I know so,” Rossi insisted. “The two of you will have a beautiful baby and Jack will be delighted to be a big brother.”
“I guess, he’s always so sweet when he plays with Henry,” Emily stated, she knew that Jack would be happy to have a baby brother or sister, like everything else, there may just be an adjustment period.
“Exactly, he’s a sweet kid who adores you almost as much as Aaron does. Think of it like this, you already have two Hotchners who love you. In about nine months, there’ll be a third.”
“A third Hotchner, is the world ready for that?” Emily asked wryly and Rossi shrugged his shoulders.
“It’ll have enough time to prepare.” Rossi stated. “Now, do you feel better?”
“I do,” Emily replied. Aaron and Reid were currently teaching a seminar at the Academy and it was her evening to pick Jack up from after school club. Maybe if she broke the news over dinner? Or perhaps she could tell one, gauge their reaction and then tell the other? Either way, she would have to choose her words carefully. The pregnancy was unexpected but that didn’t mean that it was unwanted. “Thanks Dad,”
“Anytime,” Rossi smiled as he hugged Emily tightly. “And congratulations by the way. With you and Aaron as parents, that is going to be one heck of a kid.”
Emily smiled and with a final hug, left Rossi’s office. He watched her through the window as she gathered her belongings and left the bullpen. Not for the first time, he wanted to find her parents and yell at them for squandering the precious gift of parenthood the way that they had with Emily. Maybe if the Prentiss’s hadn’t wasted their gift, Emily wouldn’t have been so terrified to share the news of her pregnancy with the man she loved and instead had to seek advice and support from a paternal figure.
Rossi shook his head and instead turned his thoughts to how he would be able to spoil the newest BAU baby. Although Jack referred to him as Uncle Dave, for this baby, Rossi hoped that he would be bestowed a different title. After all, Grandpa Dave had a nice ring to it. And if he were lucky enough to be Grandpa to Aaron and Emily’s baby, then his grandchild would have to have the absolute best of everything.
With that thought in mind, Rossi opened his laptop with the intent of searching for the finest handmade oak crib.
Only the best for his nipote after all.