With a tired sigh, Morgan leaned back in his desk chair, stretching out his muscles, all cramped up from sitting hunched over his desk as he finished off the paperwork from the case. Exiting his office, he leaned over the rail surrounding the bullpen, smiling down at his wife, watching her prodding her belly, all thoughts of her reports seemingly forgotten.
"Ready to go home, baby?"
Emily whirled around in her chair, not having realized he was watching her. "Yeah, sure," she replied rather frostily without elaborating or even smiling.
He crossed the floor to help her up under the awkward weight of her burgeoning belly, not bothering to comment on her sour mood. "Are you hungry?" he asked, having taken to carrying small snacks around in his pockets for her to sate her ravenous appetite which, unattended to, often left her a little grumpy.
"They're asleep right now, but I'm starving – the smell of the coffee at that ranger station made me lose my lunch."
He made a soothing noise as he kissed her forehead softly, unable to help smiling to himself. "Should we grab a bite before we go home? We can stop by that little café with the waffles you love."
"I guess," she shrugged, "Hopefully that'll stay down."
"I love you and I'm sorry you're having a hard time," he murmured as he helped her into the car, "Thank you for doing this." She made a small noise of agreement, but said nothing, her forehead coming to rest against the window. Finally, after the extended silence, he couldn't resist asking, "Are you okay, Em?"
"Fine," she replied shortly, watching as his hand reached over to hold hers, bringing it up to his lips and softly kissing her fingers. Her hand remained slack, not returning the pressure.
He frowned, shifting to gently stroke her cheek. "What is it, baby? You can talk to me..."
"Like how she talks to you?" she couldn't stop herself from snapping.
"Who?" he frowned, a little taken aback by her sudden outburst.
"Garcia!" she huffed as if it should be obvious. "Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about."
"You're...upset that I talk to Garcia?" he asked, a little confused. This had never been an issue in their relationship before. "Baby, you know there's nothing between her and me – she was having some troubles and I helped her. Is that a problem?"
"It's the way you talk to her," Emily insisted, "It means something..."
"I always talk to her that way, but it doesn't mean anything. She's a good friend who needed my help – that's it."
She let out an aggravated breath. "But why does it always have to be you? There's other people she can talk to, but she always comes to you. There are other people who need you more."
Morgan pulled over to the side of the road, then turned to face her, cupping her cheeks. Whispering softly, he asked, "Do you not like it when Garcia and I spend time together? You know it doesn't mean anything, she's just a really good friend. She has Kevin and I have you. I love you and I swear, Garcia and I are just friends. Nothing more."
"I know," she mumbled looking down, feeling guilty. "I still don't like it...I don't know why, I just...don't."
He kissed her forehead. "Have you always hated it when I talk to Garcia?"
"All the time lately," she shrugged. "The way you talk to her and call her all those nicknames... It's not fair."
"Okay..." he said slowly, frowning, "Why isn't it fair? You didn't think that way when we were dating..."
"Because you can talk to her that way. Maybe...I don't know...I guess I've just been feeling neglected. Everyone can tell how much you care about her, but it seems like I'm just any other co-worker."
Morgan pulled her in to kiss her reassuringly. "Baby, you are not just any other co-worker. I let everyone know that you're my wife and I love you. I guess, maybe Garcia and I spend a lot of time with each other and we talk a lot because that's what we did for years. I knew her for years before I met you, but that doesn't mean you're less important to me. She's like a little sister to me and you're the love of my life – it's not the same."
"I know it's not and I know I'm being totally unreasonable, but I just see you with her and it upsets me."
"It just upsets you – for no reason whatsoever?" he asked, confused, "Do you want me to stay away from her?"
"I can't ask you to do that..." she whispered, looking away from him. "She's your best friend and you work together – I can't ask you to pretend she doesn't exist just because I'm hormonal."
He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Then what can I do to make you feel better? Is it just a phase? Will it go away?"
"I don't know..." Emily shook her head, sighing sadly. "I just don't want to be an unreasonable controlling wife."
He leaned in to kiss her softly, gently stroking her arm. "I can't avoid Garcia because she's my friend and we work together, but I need you to know that you're the most important person in my life. When I spend time with her it doesn't mean I like her any more than you because I don't. I love you."
She still couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze, but she echoed, "I love you too."
"What is it, baby?" he asked, tilting her head up to look in her eyes.
"I don't want to be such a burden...you have enough to worry about without me."
"You are not a burden," he insisted. "You're my wife. I love you and it's my job to worry about you."
Shaking her head, she sighed, "It just shouldn't be this hard – for either of us."
"I knew from the beginning that it wasn't going to be easy, but I know it's worth it. We waited so long for the little ones and there is nothing I wouldn't do for them, nothing that isn't worth all the rough patches."
"Let's go home," Emily murmured, visibly more content.
Smiling with relief that he'd managed to calm her fears, he kissed her gently. "No waffles for you?"
She laughed. "I completely forgot...let's get them to-go and eat them in bed. I'm ready to be back home."
"I want a cheeseburger..." he grinned, starting the car again, "And a milkshake."
She pulled a face. "You'd better not be getting onions on that burger..." she threatened, causing him to laugh.