"So, Isla, how are you feeling today?"

I adjusted myself in my seat, letting out a small groan as I nodded my head at Dr. Miller. From the other side of the table she narrowed her eyes in my direction and shuffled to the edge of her seat, watching me carefully as I struggled for comfort.

At this point I was seven months along and really starting to feel it. My stomach looked like it had exploded to double the size overnight and as amazing as it felt to be in the homestretch of things, it also really sucked.

"You okay?"

"Mhm, yup, never better." I finally settled down into the one position I could no longer feel the children kicking me in and let out a sigh, flashing Miller a nervous smile as I nodded my head. "Sorry, what was the question?"

"How are you?"

"Oh, good. I mean, as good as one can be with a pair of boys jumping around in their uterus, right?" I tried to sound as honest as possible as I let out a laugh, knowing Miller wasn't the greatest fan of sarcasm, especially during our sessions.

Not long after the wedding Reid and I discussed the option of therapy. Like our last conversation about the topic I was a little wary at first thanks to, what I now knew, were trust issues. Obviously though, Reid managed to change my mind with a simple run off of the facts, stating that seeking help for mental health related issues was often found to be beneficial. I remember when he said it I had to force myself not to roll my eyes, because deep down I knew he was right. At the end of the day everyone needed help a little help sometimes, even me.

Not long after, I was signed up for counselling. During my first session I remember crying like a baby. The vulnerability of it made me feel sick to my stomach, but afterwards even I had to admit I felt better. Having that release with an outside perspective really sealed the deal for me, especially considering how great Miller was from the start. Immediately from the get go she was my biggest supporter and was able to pin point things about myself that even I wasn't aware of.

After that I started going once a week. During each session we'd discuss various things: life at home, adjusting to the lack of hours at work; simple stuff. At first it was kind of strange, because I figured therapy was all about the trauma, but after asking I realized that wasn't necessarily the case. What happened to me wasn't always the direct result of my mental state; sometimes it was other things.

I remember how absolutely mind blown I felt when she said that, because honestly I knew. My brain was far from perfect, even as a child, but thanks to my stubborn nature I just avoided the problem until I no longer could.

"How have the last few weeks been?"

I blinked in her direction, trying to recall an answer. Over the last month our appointments had been sparse. Every time I found myself close to attending a session something stupid like work or other plans interrupted, forcing me to reschedule. At first I felt bad, because here Miller was trying to improve my mental health, yet I was avoiding the issue and focusing on other things.

"Long," I said with a sigh. As I did she raised her brow; her signature way of posing a question without actually asking it. I learned early on that she wasn't a talker, which seemed pretty fitting considering the majority of her job was to listen and assess.

"Mentally I'm tired, like not bad tired, but tired, tired... if that makes sense."

She nodded slowly as she leaned back in her seat, staring intently.

"I've been working a bit less, like you suggested and it's been going well, but I think I'm at a point where I just need to go," I explained. "I love Cooper and Hotch and everyone else I interact with, but now that I'm so close to the end of this," I paused to motion to my stomach, "I'm just worn out."

"Have you talked to your boss?"

I shook my head, opening my mouth to speak. As I did I felt a weird sensation near the top of my abdomen. I widened my eyes and looked down, feeling the dull ache that I'd had in my lower back for the majority of the day increase. It felt like I was getting kicked in the stomach. I let out a groan and adjusted myself in my seat, glancing at Miller with pleading eyes.

"You sure you're okay?"

I flashed her a thumbs up, but immediately retracted it to the base of my stomach once the uncomfortable feeling seemed to flow down lower. "What the fuck are you guys doing in there?" I asked my stomach.

"How far along are you again?" Miller's already raised brow moved higher, signalling her curiosity.

"Seven m —holy shit!" I tightly shut my eyes and doubled over.

"Isla, I think you're in labor."

"Nope," I responded in between clenched teeth. "Nope, nope, nope." I continued to repeat the response, feeling my stomach tighten uncomfortably. As it did I went to stand up, wondering if somehow straightening my back would help. When I managed to position myself fully upright the pain seemed to settle. I let out a sigh and closed my eyes in relief, listening to Miller's footsteps shuffling across the room.

"Dr. Reid? Hi, this is Dr. Miller, Isla's therapist..." I scrunched up my face in confusion and went to move forward. As I did though, I felt a burst of liquid flow down the length of my inner thigh, prompting me to look down and scream.

Miller's eyes shot towards me, her eyebrows furrowing to the centre of her face as she quickly moved to my side and put her hand to my back. "Uh, yes everything's fine, but I'm fairly certain your wife's water just broke."

Even though I could hear Reid yelling with excitement on the other end of the line, whatever he was saying was a mystery, because the pain in my back had returned. By then I'd completely lost focus; the only thought in my mind being that I needed to breathe and get to the hospital.

I turned to Miller and grabbed her shoulder, letting out a series of pained breaths as she continued to talk to Reid. The two of them discussed some details before eventually Miller hung up and threw her phone in her pocket, immediately turning her attention to me. "Okay, Isla, Spencer's on his way to the hospital. He's going to call your brother to come pick you up."

I let out a groan, but not from the pain. The last thing I wanted was to hang out with Issac while I was going through labor. His chaotic demeanour was the last thing I needed. Unfortunately though, I knew I didn't have a choice, so instead of protesting I followed Miller's breathing instructions until he arrived.

He didn't even bother knocking on the door before ploughing through it. His face, which was covered in sweat, was beet red and contorted into a worried expression. I rolled my eyes at the sight and held out my hand for Miller to grab. Carefully, she pulled me to my feet and moved me towards my brother who was breathing so heavily I thought he was going to pass out. "I'm sorry," he said in between breaths, "traffic was bad and-"

"Shut the fuck up," I growled.

I think he knew it wasn't the time to argue, because for the first time in his life he didn't respond. Instead, he wrapped his arm around me and ushered me out into the hall. Once there, Miller darted back into the room to grab my stuff and handed it over. "Good luck in there." She gave me a pat on the back and smiled.

I hummed a lazy response, feeling Issac pull me towards the doors. Together we slowly moved out to the car, stopping every so often so that I could ride out what I knew were contractions.

The pain was excruciating and on more than one occasion I genuinely thought I was going to die. The whole way there I just pressed my face against the cold window and groaned. From the driver's side, Issac kept looking over to see if I was okay, making sure to remain as silent as possible.

At around the halfway point I pulled out my phone and called Prentiss, hoping to distract myself. After the wedding ceremony, I promised I'd inform her when I was going into the labor the second I could. When I said it she merely just laughed, knowing how bad my track record was.

It took four rings for her to finally answer and when she did she let out a sigh. "Wow, Isla Reid, what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Babies," I said breathlessly, running my fingers through my hair. I was at a point with my contractions where they were at their lowest, which made me thankful, because I really didn't feel like yelling at Prentiss through the phone. "Having babies."

The line was silent for just a moment before she erupted in joyous yells. I closed my eyes and smiled, listening to her to ramble. The sound of her voice was exactly what I needed and even through the pain of it all I felt slightly more calm that I would've.

"Are you ready?" She asked.

I let out a soft chuckle and shook my head. "No."

"No?"

"It hurts," I groaned.

"Of course it hurts," she responded with a laugh. "You're pushing two humans out of your vagina."

I scrunched up my face in disgust as I looked out the window. By now the hospital was in view and I could feel my heartbeat increase. I glanced over at Issac who, without even asking, stepped on the gas. "We're almost there. I'll get someone to call you."

"Okay. Be safe okay? Don't do too many drugs."

I snorted and hung up the phone, feeling too tired to say a goodbye. After that we pulled into the lot. Issac parked the car and circled around to my side to pull me out, quietly whispering supportive words. The niceness in his tone kind of surprised me, but I didn't reply, instead I tightly gripped the fabric of his shirt as we walked through the entrance and down the hall. The moments between us signing in and me getting into the bed were a complete blur. The pain in my body somehow increased ten fold in that time frame and the next thing I knew I was sitting in a dressing gown, holding Reid's hand so tightly I thought it was going to break.

I turned to face him, tears in my eyes as I shook my head. "I know the deal to get married was four, but," I paused to cringe at the pain, hearing him laugh beside me. "No more kids."

"We'll talk about it later." He reached out to pet my head, pushing the loose strands of hair that were stuck to my forehead.

I opened my mouth to make some smart ass comment, but was interrupted by a low groan. At that point Reid worryingly glanced between me and the doorway, which was now filling up with doctors. They walked over, adjusting their gear as they talked us through the process. Even though I was almost at the point of delirium, I listened carefully, nodding my head when they needed assurance. Reid, like usual, asked a ton of questions, which would've been fine if I wasn't in the process of preparing to basically shit out two watermelons.

Near the tail end of their speech I clamped a hand over his mouth, narrowing my eyes threatening. "Reid, stop or I swear to god you'll never touch me again."

Thankfully that shut him up. He swallowed hard and nodded his head, earning a chorus of laughter from the doctors who began preparing the space. As they did, he shook his head in embarrassment and moved my hand from his face, lacing his fingers in mine. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sure you are," I retorted angrily, while rolling my eyes.

"Alright Isla. I'll just get you to put your feet on the these guys and we'll take a look at how things are coming along." Without a word I followed instructions, slowly moving my feet to the stirrups. As soon as I did the doctor who spoke moved the sheet that was overtop of me, peeking his head underneath to take a lot.

A rush of insecurity ran through me. I looked over at Reid and scrunched up my face in disgust, because like most people, I wasn't a fan of having my genitals being looked at by strangers. Obviously though, I couldn't do this without that so I took a deep breath and threw my head back against the pillow, feeling Reid's hand move lovingly to my shoulder. "I love you."

"I know," I replied with a smirk.

After that the doctor moved out from underneath the sheet, shooting us an excited look. "Looks like we're ready to go."

"Go?" I questioned in surprise.

He nodded and turned to one the nurses, listing of a series of instructions before turning back to me. "You're fully dilated."

"Wait, what about the drugs?" I glanced between him and Reid, eyes widening with each passing second the room remained silent. "I get drugs, right?" I questioned again.

Reid clenched his jaw, flashing me an awkward look as he shook his head, while the doctor let out a sigh. "Once you're in transition the option for an epidural is no longer feasible."

Without missing a beat, my body erupted in pain again, causing me to double over and groan. I tightly shut my eyes and strengthened my grip on Reid's hand, digging my nails into his skin as I felt the doctor begin to prep my lower half. "Oh, my god I'm never having sex again!" I yelled.

After that I started to push. Everyone in the room kept asking me questions and telling me what to do and while part of me was thankful, the other, much larger part was so annoyed by it all I just wanted to scream. Throughout the entire process Reid offered his undying support whether it was to whisper sweet nothings or be my punching bag. As I continued to push I kept having to tell myself that this bullshit was worth it.

By the time I heard that first cry I was down for the count. My breathing was staggered, my body was sore, and I was coated in so much sweat that when they put that first little human in my arms I thought he was going to slip away. At that point, even though our son was placed into the crook of my elbow I could barely register his face. I blinked to focus my vision and stared at his bloodied skin, which was plump and purple. Even though everyone told me that seeing your child for the first time was the most beautiful moment of your life, I couldn't help, but laugh at the sight. "He's so ugly," I said, holding back a sob. Like the rest of me, my emotions were in overdrive, so even though I was so unbelievably happy I still couldn't stop the pain from forcing some tears out.

Reid, who was also crying, let out the loudest laugh I think I'd ever heard and scooped him from my arms. As he did I wined and reached out to hold him, earning myself a shake of the head. "We still have one more to go," he said as he handed him off to one of the nurses.

When the realization hit that I wasn't quite done I immediately started sobbing. Reid let out another laugh, along with a series of awes as he ran his hand through my hair and kissed my face. At that moment I wanted to punch him in the face, but as luck would have it, before I could I was instructed to push again. I groaned in response and did as I was told, reaching for Reid as I tightened my core and redid the process.

It only took a couple of minutes to push out the second one; a fact I was fully aware of thanks Reid's extensive research. When I felt him slide out I moaned in relief and threw back my head, hearing a chorus of cries. Like the first, he was plopped into my arms and when I looked down to greet him I couldn't help, but smile, knowing it was over. 

♡

"We have to name him," I said with a sigh, cradling the boy in my arms. At this point we'd been sitting for a while, snuggling underneath the covers of a fresh sheet, while holding our children and staring in awe. As I glanced up at Reid I realized how surreal everything felt, because here we were in a hospital, holding our kids. "Any suggestions?"

He leaned over my shoulder to stare at him curiously. Almost immediately he knitted his brows and licked his bottom lip, running through the various options. He and I both knew the implications of naming a child. The process was difficult and as fun as it was to research potentials the end result was honestly daunting.

"What about Issac?" He eventually asked, raising his brow. "It's Hebrew in origin and means he will laugh, which is fitting considering you laughed the second you saw him." He reached out to tickle the child's chin, grinning from ear to ear when he wiggled in response.

I let out a snort and rolled my eyes. "I also already did call him ugly."

"Mom didn't meant that, Issac," Reid cooed. He awkwardly leaned forward, placing a kiss on his head before sitting back up and letting out a sigh.

"Issac's gonna flip," I responded. Deep down I always considered it. The name Issac was unique enough that it wasn't used much, but still fairly normal, which was exactly what we wanted.

"I suppose I should call in the team then, huh?" Reid shot me a questionable look. When I nodded in response he nodded back and moved off the bed, glancing towards the rolling crib next to the bed. Carefully, he placed Percy inside and kissed him goodbye before wandering out of the room.

When he was gone I laid back on the bed and closed my eyes, taking a couple of heavy breaths as I rocked Issac back and forth, listening to his coos. For a newborn he seemed pretty noisy, which I realized only made the name more fitting.

By the time everyone entered the room I was already half asleep. Quietly, Reid moved to my side and placed a hand on my shoulder, giving it a quick rub. My eyes darted open and moved to his frame, blinking lazily in order to focus my vision. "Hm?"

"Party's here," he joked.

I smiled warmly and looked behind him, noticing the large group of people standing near the entrance. I shuffled upwards and handed Issac off to Reid before waving them over. "Hey guys."

"Hi mama," Morgan was the first one to wander over. He brushed past Reid and leaned over the bed, pulling me into a hug. "Congrats."

"Thanks."

"They're so cute, oh, my god!" Garcia threw her hands to either side of her face as she scurried over to the crib and stared at Percy. Immediately, she ran her hand along his head, holding back tears as she looked over at me and smiled. "He's so small."

"Six pounds, two ounces," Reid responded proudly. He motioned to Issac afterwards and widened his smile. "He was six pounds exactly."

"Good size," Hotch commented with a nod.

"Is it?" I questioned jokingly. "Because honestly I would've loved it if they were a lot smaller."

JJ laughed as she moved to Reid's side, happily staring as she held her hands to her face in excitement. "Henry was eight pounds."

"So, consider yourself lucky," Alex commented.

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. Even after literally pushing two children out of my body I couldn't catch a break.

Everyone fell silent after that; their eyes moving towards the crib. Reid carefully placed Issac inside and rubbed his head. The rest of the team crowded around, while my brother stood aside awkwardly, flashing me a smile. As he did I motioned him to come over, patting the mattress gently. Without a word he walked over and sat down, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Sorry I yelled at you," I said with a laugh.

He waved his hand nonchalantly and scoffed. "I probably deserved it."

"True."

He chuckled nervously and played with the fabric of the sheet, staring down at the floor as I moved closer towards him. I reached for his shoulder and bit my lip, watching his gaze move towards me, his eyes looking tired. "Issac Morgan Reid," I stated calmly.

He scrunched up his face in confusion and shuffled closer to me. "What?"

I pointed to the child on the left and grinned, watching my brother's eyes eventually widen. "Even though you're the biggest pain in my ass, you're also my best friend so it seemed fitting to name him after you." I guess that must've struck a chord, because the next thing I knew he was pulling me into his chest and crying. I laughed in response and rubbed his back, feeling him shake underneath my grasp. Issac never cried, so seeing him like this was honestly kind of funny. "Get it together, man," I joked.

He pulled away and wiped his eyes, flashing me his middle finger. From beside him, the team looked over and laughed. "Fuck you," he mumbled grumpily, "you're the worst sister I could've ever been given."

"What'd she do now?" Morgan asked, glancing between us and Reid.

"Named our kid after him," Reid responded simply.

Garcia squealed with delight and reached for Reid's arm, pulling at his sleeve. "You guys already picked out names?"

I nodded with a laugh, while Reid motioned to the crib. "Issac Morgan Reid," he repeated, glancing up at Morgan who just closed his eyes and held back a grin, "and Percy David Reid."

"The middle name was going to be Rossi, but we decided that was too many R's," I added, flashing Rossi a grin.

He let out a heavy breath and wandered over to my side, pulling me into a hug. "Way to make the old man cry," he said with a sniff.

"That was my intention," I replied with a smirk.

He rolled his eyes and gently pushed me away, both of us laughing as he wandered back over to the group to continue admiring the kids.

After that we casually chatted until our nurse returned. At that point it was time for a break, which even though I enjoyed the company, I knew I needed. The rest of the group offered their congratulations one last time before hugging us both goodbye and exiting calmly, letting us know that they'd all be in touch.

As they all wandered out I waved them goodbye, smiling widely until they were all out of sight and it was just the three of us left. After that the nurse carefully did a couple of checkups on both myself and the kids before eventually leaving herself. When she was gone I let out a sigh and settled into the mattress, feeling Reid slide in next to me slowly.

He ran his hand through my hair before moving it behind my head and settling it across the length of my shoulders. He pulled me into his chest, which I happily snuggled into; the warmth of his skin instantly calming my nerves, which were still pretty high despite the hardest part being over. "You did so good," he said quietly. He moved his other hand to my own and rubbed circles into my skin and smiled.

"Thanks for dealing with me."

"You're welcome, it was pretty tough to be honest. You're mean when you're birthing."

I snorted and gently slapped his chest. "I'm pretty sure it's a rule that when a woman provides her husband with a child that he's supposed to be nice."

"I just complimented you," he pointed out.

"And then you insulted me."

"Isn't it my right as a husband to be honest?"

"I mean, yeah, but-"

"Then we have nothing to talk about." He flashed me the biggest smirk he could muster before placing a kiss to the side of my face and resting his head on mine.

"I want a divorce."

"Sorry, divorces are illegal now."

"Since when?" I asked, while raising my brow.

Before he could respond Percy let out a cry, which prompted Issac to do the same. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh, because this was our life now. Crying children were the norm and as annoying as I knew it was going be I couldn't imagine it any other way.

"I got it." Reid slid himself away from me and moved to the edge of the bed, giving his eyes a quick rub before grabbing Percy and handing him over. After I got ahold of him I started to rock him, quietly whispering as Reid grabbed Issac and did the same. When he sat down next to me I looked over and smiled, causing Reid to raise his brow. "What are you smiling about?" He asked.

"This." I motioned to him with my chin and bit my lip, watching him return my expression.

At that moment, even with the sounds of babies crying I was at my happiest. No longer did I feel empty and alone and anxious. Instead, I felt full; like everything I ever did finally had meaning that didn't directly correlate to success. I didn't need to work to fill the void, because at the end of the day my purpose had been changed. I was a mom now; a wife and a friend and a sister, and even though it was weird, as I sat there with Reid holding our kids, the thought of being anything else barely crossed my mind. I was finally content.

"Hey." I tugged at Reid's shirt, watching him turn to face me. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he said, flashing me that tight-lipped grin that I knew and loved as he closed the space between us, leaving me breathless for the millionth time.