AN: Just a little preview for all of you. I wanted to get this out to you before I left for work because I don't think I'll have enough time to after I get home. So tell me what you think of this. I promise that the chapters will be longer than this. PLZ R&R!

Disclaimer: I own no one.

Prologue

She closed her eyes tightly as she breathed through the intense pain. She heard the familiar voices encouraging her as she tightly gripped the side rail of the hospital bed she was lying on. She felt something soft dab at her forehead as she faintly heard a door open.

"I'm here, how's it going?" Derek asked as he saw JJ gripping one of Penelope's hands as Emily was dabbing at her forehead.

"She's in a lot of pain," JJ told him. "But the doctor won't give her the epidural until she's further dilated."

"How far is she dilated?"

"She's only at two centimeters,"

"So she'll be like this for awhile then."

"Oh yes,"

Derek moved closer to the bed as he saw Penelope with a dazed look on her face, almost as if she was in a trance, as she lay her head back on the pillow. He gently took the hand closest to him and her eyes blinked fully open and she gave him a tired smile.

"You came," she said softly.

"I told you I would be here for everything, Baby Girl."

"When it all starts-if you can't handle it-I won't be mad if you don't want to..."

"I told you I would be here for you," he assured her. "That means that I'm staying for everything."

"We're all here for you in this Garcia," Emily told her.

"Thank you," she mumbled.

"Is everyone here?" JJ looked at Derek. "Did you call them?"

"They're all in the waiting room," he assured them. "They've been ordered by the nursing staff not to come anywhere near here."

"That's on Garcia's orders," Emily told him.

"Only you three are allowed back here," Penelope mumbled as her whole body seemed to twist in pain.

"It's your turn," Emily looked at Derek.

"I'm on it," he rubbed Penelope's back as she shot up on the bed and screamed out. "Just remember those classes, Baby Girl."

"They don't work," she gritted her teeth as she clutched his and JJ's hands tightly.

"Just breathe," he told her.

"I just want this part to be over," Penelope lay back on the bed again once the contraction subsided.

"You will be meeting your angel before you know it," Derek wiped her sweat-soaked forehead with a soft cloth. "And then we're all going to spoil him or her so much."

"I just wish this was happening so differently," Penelope sighed.

"It's happening how it's supposed to," Emily told her. "You both are much better off."

"Everything happens for a reason," Derek repeated her mantra back to her and she smiled at him.

"I know you're right," Penelope took Derek's offering of ice chips as she readied herself for the next contraction.

Derek stayed by Penelope's side as she struggled through each contraction; each one more intense than the one before it. When she drifted off in between the contractions, he thought back on the long and difficult road that led her to this point...

AN: So what'd you all think? I will try to get the next chapter out within the week. I hope you like this. PLZ R&R!