It hit him out of nowhere.

Morgan had worked plenty of cases with children, even babies specifically, before. But for some reason, this one was different.

They had just rescued several children, two girls, and an infant from a man and his wife who was sick with cancer. They had been using girls as breeders to make sons to replace the son they had lost. They had been killing and dumping the bodies of the girls they were done with. It was tragic.

Morgan ended up being the negotiator when they found the wife rocking the newborn baby in a nursery in their house. He begged her to let the baby go, promising that he would remember her. She eventually gave up, and Morgan was the one she handed the baby to.

Morgan looked down at the baby boy in his arms and couldn't help but be filled with awe. Even though how the little one had come into being was a horrific story, he was sweet and innocent. The newborn squirmed a little Morgan gently patted his chest with a few fingers. One of the baby's hands wiggled free of his loose swaddling and grasped onto Morgan's fingers, sighing contently. His heart both swelled and broke at the sight. The poor girl who had been through so much already was going to have to try to raise the little thing all on her own.

"Hey, Morgan, you good?" Prentiss called from the doorway.

"What?" He snapped out of his thoughts and turned to her, "Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

"Let's get him to the medics," she gestured to the baby.

Morgan nodded looking down at the baby as he walked, "let's go, Michael. We're gonna get you some help okay, bud?"

The baby made little cooing noises back at him. Prentiss smiled.

"Have you and Y/N thought about it?"

Morgan looked up, "about what?"

"Having kids, babies, a family," she explained.

Morgan sighed, "I know she wants it, and I do too. But I've always been scared of the idea just because of our job."

"Hotch makes it work. So does JJ," she pointed out.

"I know," he conceded, "I just-how can I guarantee I can always keep them safe?"

Prentiss shook her head, "No matter what your job is, there is always a potential for bad things to happen. But if you focus on that, you'll never really be happy."

Morgan nodded thoughtfully, thanking Prentiss for the advice as he walked the baby over to wear the young girl, his mother, was seated on the back of the ambulance.

"Oh my gosh, thank you," she said shakily. She was sobbing, "I was so scared I was going to die down there and never get to see him."

"Hey, listen," he said, squatting so he was eye level with her, "you are by far one of the bravest people I've ever met. To go through what you've been through and still put the baby first is incredible. You're going to make an amazing mama."

The girl smiled, while her tears kept flowing, "What's your name?"

"Derek Morgan," he smiled, "here, let me give you this."

He pulled out one of his cards with his number from his back pocket and handed it to her.

"Take this," he said, "and if you ever need anything, anything at all, you give that number a ring and me and my wife will help in whatever way we can."

The girl shook her head, "I owe you all so much."

"It's our job, you don't owe us anything," Morgan shook his head, patting her knee, "You two take care okay? Your parents are going to meet you at the hospital, and these guys are going to take great care of you."

The girl nodded and whispered shakily one more time, "thank you."

Morgan smiled back, "You're welcome, sweetheart."

You were talking to Prentiss when he made his way over. You looked like you were about to cry.

"Babygirl, what's wrong?" He asked.

You basically tackled him in a hug, startling him for a moment, "you were amazing in there."

"So were you," he said, kissing the spot just next to your ear as he spoke, "you got those boys out of there safely."

You hummed, pulling back to get a good look at his face, "You know those cases that are absolutely heartbreaking, but the outcome makes our entire job worth it?"

"Yeah," he nodded along.

"This was one of those cases," you sniffled, turning and staring back at the farm-esque lot that had seen so much horror, but that day saw so much good.

A few months passed since you arrived back from that case, and you and Morgan were sitting on your couch. It was a Saturday evening, and you were eating takeout while watching some movie you had rented. It was good just to sit in each other's presence, take a chill day from your hectic lives.

Morgan's phone rang, and at first you thought you had gotten another case.

You groaned, "please tell me it's not Hotch?"

Morgan looked at the number with furrowed brows, "no it's not, let me see."

He picked up and held the phone to his ear, answering curiously as to who was calling. His face lit up and he turned to you, "it's Carol, the girl from the baby case a few months ago."

You remembers him telling you he gave her his number and squealed excitedly, "put her on speaker!"

"Hey, girly, you're on speaker," he said, holding the phone out so she could hear you both.

"Hey, Carol, it's Y/N, Morgan's wife," you said, "I know I didn't get to talk to you very long that day, but I want you to know you are one amazing, strong girl."

"Thank you so much," Carol said sweetly, "You both have just been so kind."

"How are you and baby Michael doing?" Morgan asked.

"Actually, that's the main reason why I called," she said, and you worried. Was she in danger? Did something happen to the baby?

"Everything okay?" Morgan questioned anxiously.

"Oh, yes, we're fine," she reassured, "it's about his name, actually. You see, the name Michael brought back a lot of memories for me, and my therapist suggested having it changed."

"That makes sense," you agreed.

"So, I decided to name him after the man who saved his life," she said.

Morgan looked at you and then back at the phone.

"His name is Morgan Thomas. Morgan after you, Thomas after my father's middle name," Carol said excitedly.

Morgan's face welled up with emotion, "Really?"

You grabbed his arm, looking up at him. This was such a huge deal for him, and you couldn't be more excited.

"Really. We went to the courthouse and made it official today, I thought you should be the first to know," Carol said. You could tell she was getting emotional as well.

"Well you have no idea how much that means to me," Morgan said, trying his best not to cry, "hopefully I can meet the little guy again one day."

"The both of you are always welcome," she said sweetly, "let me know when you're in the area."

"We will," Morgan said, "You two take care, okay?"

"Thank you, you two have a good weekend," she said.

"You too, sweetheart!" You said with a smile.

You and Morgan said your goodbyes to the girl and hung up. As soon as the call ended, your husband dissolved into tears.

"Aw, baby," you cooed, pulling him to you. You rubbed his back soothingly until he calmed down.

He sat up and looked into your eyes, his own teary and puffy, "Up until now, I've really questioned if what we do is all really worth it. Like I would tell myself it was, but deep down I was never really sure. But that. I made such an impact of that girl's life that she named her child after me. I really am making a difference. We are making a difference."

"Yes, we are," you agreed, rubbing his knee, "and now you have something that will never let you forget it."

Morgan pulled you into his lap and held you close, you could tell he was deep in thought.

"What's got you thinking so hard?" You asked with a smile.

"When I was holding the baby-Morgan-that day, Prentiss asked me something," he said.

"What did she ask you?" You pushed curiously.

He stared at you for a long moment before answering, "If we wanted one."

"A baby?" You perked up.

"Yeah," he chuckled, "our own baby."

"And what did you say?" You asked, excitement bubbling up in you.

"I told her that we were both, well, me for the most part, scared of having a family with our job," he explained.

You deflated a little, "Yeah, I know."

"But she said something that really struck me, he continued, "she said that no matter what job you have, there is no guarantee that nothing bad will happen to you or someone you love. And if you live your life focused on what might go wrong, you'll be holding yourself back from really being happy."

A flicker of hope came back. Maybe he was saying what you hoped he was saying.

"Prentiss always has been full of wisdom," you agreed.

"So," he said quietly, his brown eyes boring into you, "what do you think? Should we go for it, babygirl?"

Your eyes widened, "You really want to start a family?"

Morgan chuckled, his grip on you tightening, "If they turn out anything like you, I'm all for it."

You squealed, wrapping your arms around him tightly. You didn't know it was humanly possible to feel that much love and excitement all at once.

"Now if I'm not mistaken," he smirked, "the first step in this whole baby thing is the fun part."

You smacked his chest lightly, "Derek Morgan, do you want a baby or do you just want an excuse to sleep with me more?"

"Babygirl, I want this baby with you," he chuckled, "an excuse to sleep with you more is just a perk."

You giggled as he stood up with you in his arms, carrying you back to the bedroom. Why waste precious time off?