"Oh my God!" Grace Van Pelt shrieked, drawing the attention of everyone in the cafe and making Teresa Lisbon decidedly uncomfortable, "You're pregnant!"
"What?" her former boss squeaked, "No I'm not!"
Lisbon cringed as the words came out. Jane would have called her on her lie on the spot, with his trademark 'High voice!' statement.
"Come on, boss. I've known you long enough to know that breakfast is when you like your strongest coffee of the day - and you never have your bagel without cream cheese. A plain bagel and peppermint tea can only mean one thing."
Glancing around, hoping none of her FBI colleagues had ventured out to this part of Austin for breakfast, Lisbon decided honesty was the best policy, since Van Pelt was virtually hyperventilating with excitement.
"I don't know.. not for sure…"
"What?"
"I haven't taken a test.."
Van Pelt leaned across the table, suddenly aware of the spectacle she'd caused. "You have to take a test…" she insisted.
"I know… I just haven't had time. We've been planning the wedding, we're still working on catching a serial killer, Jane barely lets me out of his sight for more than five minutes."
"But Lisbon," Van Pelt responded, "Five minutes is all it takes…"
Lisbon raised an eyebrow, "Have you ever tried to get some privacy in an airstream?" she asked.
"Point taken…. How long have you suspected."
"A few weeks - around when we lost Vega. But then Jane went and did his disappearing act and I wondered if it was just stress…."
"You're tired, right? You have nausea, hence the peppermint tea? And you're off the coffee completely because even the smell of decaf makes you sick to your stomach?"
Lisbon nodded, giving her a defeated look.
"You have to take a test," Van Pelt repeated.
"But what if it's negative?" she asked, frustrated at how emotional she felt, "Worse still, what if it's positive and he's not ready. Or he doesn't want children. What then?"
Van Pelt frowned at her. "You haven't talked about kids?"
Lisbon shook her head.
"You've seen him with kids," the redhead reminded her, "You've seen him with our kids. He loves kids. He would be thrilled."
"I know… I guess I'm just scared. It's overwhelming. So much change all at once… You can't tell Wayne any of this."
"Of course not," Van Pelt promised. "This is our secret until you're ready to tell Jane."
Half an hour later, Van Pelt had dragged Lisbon back to her hotel room, five different pregnancy tests in hand.
"Have you ever done this before?" she asked the brunette.
Lisbon raised an eyebrow.
"Right. I guess they don't teach that in Catholic school... Well, it's easy. You just pee on the stick. Or on the five sticks as the case may be…"
She laughed at Lisbon's stunned look, shoved the boxes into her hands and pushed her towards the bathroom. "Go, get it over with."
"Grace…. Can you come in here?"
Van Pelt abruptly stopped her pacing, rushing to the bathroom where she she was met by a pale, shellshocked Lisbon who had five positive tests sitting in front of her.
"Oh my god! You're going to be a mom!" she screamed, enveloping her stunned friend in a hug.
The last thing she expected when she released her was to find her former boss in tears.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
Lisbon nodded, "I'm so relieved. I was so scared it would be negative."
"Where's your phone?" Van Pelt asked.
Lisbon fished it out of her jacket pocket, holding it up, "Why?"
"We're calling your doctor, getting you an appointment for a blood test and to get you prepared… it's okay," she insisted as Lisbon grew visibly pale. "I'll come with you."
With a quick nod, Lisbon hugged her friend, "Thank you Grace…"
She stood back as she let Grace take charge - imagining how and where she would tell Jane that he would soon be a father again.
Resting her hand where baby was growing, she knew their spot by the pond - right where he proposed so beautifully just days before - was the place to give him what she hoped would be the best gift of his life.