Where the Heart Is

Chapter 1

Emily Prentiss had barely stepped off of the plane when her team surrounded her. JJ's arms were around Emily's neck in an instant, pulling her into a very tight and immediately returned hug.

The moment she let go, Morgan threw his arms around her waist, lifting her off of the ground and spinning her around in a circle. He planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Garcia!" Emily exclaimed as Morgan set her down. She found herself immediately enveloped in a one-armed hug from the Technical Analyst, and pulled away almost immediately.

"Why are you - oh, my God!" Emily squealed, her eyes landing on the caramel-colored baby in Garcia's other arm. The child was asleep and looked to be about six months old. "Penelope Garcia!" she exclaimed incredulously, turning from Garcia to Morgan to the baby.

Garcia smiled and shrugged playfully, and then Morgan came up behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"So, what, are you two, like, a thing now?" Emily asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, well," Garcia said, blushing, "No. Not really."

Emily's eyebrows shot up. "Not really?"

"We're both, um, kind of... seeing other people," Garcia explained.

"So... you had a baby together... but now you're just, not dating?"

Morgan and Garcia exchanged a look, and then they both nodded.

"Um, okay," said Emily, frowning slightly as she looked back at the baby, "Oh, my God, she's so cute, though. What's her name?"

"Kendall Fracine Morgan," Morgan said proudly. "After my mother."

Garcia wrinkled her nose in what resembled disgust at the mention of the name "Francine", and Emily bit back a laugh.

"It's the genetically perfect offspring of Derek Morgan and Penelope Garcia," Emily stated, winking at the technical analyst.

She looked along the line of agents and children gathered to see her. "Hotch," she declared, stepping forward to pull him into an awkward hug, which he returned with surprising passion.

"We've missed you, Prentiss," Hotch said, flashing her one of his rare dimpled smiles.

"I've missed you guys, too," said Emily, smiling at them. "So much." She stepped back again, looking at the agents. "Wow, Jack, you've gotten so big! How old are you?"

"Eight."

"Wow, practically a grown man!" Emily exclaimed, beaming at the child. "And Henry, how old are you?"

"I'm six," he said, smiling up at her. "I missed you, Auntie Emmy!" he exclaimed loudly. Emily bent down and scooped the little boy up onto her hip, planting a kiss on his cheek.

"I missed you, too, buddy!" Emily said happily. She turned to Rossi, who kissed her on the cheek.

"You're looking good, kiddo," he said, pulling her into a hug. "We missed you so much."

"I've missed you all so much, too," said Emily, hugging Reid. "Oh, my God, and JJ is pregnant! You're huge! How far are you?"

"Seven months," said JJ, running her hands over her baby bump. "It's twins."

"Aww, really? That's great!" Emily said, placing her right hand on JJ's swollen stomach, still holding Henry on her left hip, her left arm curled around the little boy's torso. Henry began to twist a braid into a section of Emily's hair.

"So, where's Will?"

The entire team tensed up along with the little boy in her arms, and Emily immediately knew that something was wrong.