Say It Again

Chapter 25: Full House

Five years later

...

I hum to myself as I scramble eggs for Emily's breakfast. Thank God I can finally smell them without throwing up. The past couple months were rough, that's for sure.

Arms wrap around me from behind, and warm lips press a soft kiss to the side of my neck. A laugh escapes my throat as I turn to face my wife. Her deep brown eyes are full of laughter and love, and my breath catches as it does every time I look at her, even after five years together.

I lean a little closer, and Emily doesn't hesitate as she presses her lips to mine. "Good morning, Mrs. Prentiss," she whispers against my lips. She pulls away and leans down to my middle, which seems to get bigger by the day. "And good morning to you too, precious one." She presses her lips to my stomach gently before standing back up next to me.

"You're in a good mood this morning," I comment with a smile, turning back to the eggs on the stove.

"I always love having a few days of mandatory leave with my beautiful family," Emily replies, winking. "And my wife is conveniently on the same team and has the exact same mandatory leave as me! Crazy isn't it?"

"It is so crazy. You must really love your wife. She sounds absolutely amazing," I turn the knob on the stove until it clicks and the light above it turns off before scooping the eggs onto a plate.

"You have no idea. I think I started falling in love with her the first time I saw her. You two should meet sometime. I have a feeling you'd get along!" Emily takes the plate I offer her, still smiling at me. "You didn't make any for yourself?" She furrows her eyebrows as she glances at the empty bowl currently sitting on the counter.

"Um...our child is currently really craving Reese's Puffs, so I'm going to have a bowl of cereal," I grin at her sheepishly as I pull the orange box from the cabinet next to me.

"Well, our wonderful baby should get exactly what they want to eat," Emily smiles at me, and I love the way her eyes light up when we talk about our baby.

We got married almost two years ago now, and we tried for a year to get pregnant before we were finally successful a few months ago. I can't wait to watch Emily turn into a mom. She's going to be such a good one...

The rest of the day passes by quickly, and I soak up every bit of relaxation that I can. Emily and I spend most of the morning and afternoon on the couch with our cat, Sergio. We watch some of our favorite cheesy rom-coms, and it's nice to avoid thinking about serial killers for a few hours at least.

The whole team is on leave this week, but we all decided to have dinner tonight at Rossi's. My stomach rumbles a little as I think about the pasta he's undoubtedly making.

"Alright, my love, we should probably get ready to head over to Dave's soon, don't you think?" Emily smiles at me, and her brown eyes make me melt. I lean forward without thinking and kiss her softly.

"I suppose we do have to get ready," I say after a few minutes, pulling away. Em's face is flushed from our brief makeout, and I smile. I love it when I get her all hot and bothered, even after five years together.

We walk into the bathroom, and I turn on the shower. I peel my shirt off and slide my sweatpants off before Emily walks up behind me and puts her arms around me. I smile at our reflection in the mirror, my heart swelling with love and joy.

"I love you, Blackbird," she whispers in my ear before kissing the tattoo on my left shoulder. The blackbird matches the one on Emily's chest, covering the damage that bastard Ian Doyle left behind last year.

I grit my teeth remembering what he did to her, and I feel tears spring to my eyes as I recall the fear I felt when I almost lost her again. I can't believe she almost fucking died for the second time since we met. That was one of the worst days of my life. We went to Paris for a bit after that until the team was able to track down Doyle and bring him to justice. Well, a form of justice anyway.