Beep. Beep.
The green light of the stove timer blinked in front of Garcia's unseeing eyes. It took a few moments for the shrill ringing of the timer to register in her foggy mind.
With a shaky hand she reached out and pressed the button to silence the clock. Then taking a deep breath, Penelope braved a peek at the white stick resting on the edge of the countertop. It was pink.
She quietly swore, and then placed the stick back on the counter.
Slowly surveying the four tests in front of her, she decided to face facts. She was pregnant. Whether she was ready or not, she was going to be a mother. Not only that, but she was going to have to do it alone.
Tears jumped to her eyes, just at the thought of what lay ahead. Trying to suppress the fear, she quickly poured a glass of tequila. The glass made it as far as her as her lips before she remembered.
Suppressing a frustrated sigh, she began to pour the alcohol out in the sink. As it slowly swirled down the drain, the full extent of everything Penelope would be giving up fully set in.
Finally, she allowed herself to break down and cry. With her face pressed against the cool linoleum of the kitchen tiles, Penelope was finally able to find the solace of sleep.
Penelope woke to the sun in her eyes, and a sore back. Slowly rising, she stumbled back to her bedroom, and thanked her lucky stars for the heavy drapes which kept her room blessedly dark, for those days where the sunlight just isn't welcomed.
She was roused a few hours later to the insistent ringing of her phone, from her bedside table. Keeping her eyes tightly clenched shut, her hand blindly patted the edge of the table, trying to reach the phone. As she fumbled for the phone, the ringing ended just as suddenly as it had begun.
A few seconds later, there was a beep, and the answering machine played,
'Hey Baby Girl, it's me. I know it's our day off and everything, but I was thinking maybe we could have a movie marathon today. I feel really bad about the way things all went down, so coffee's on me today. I'm headed to your house now. See yah in a few.'
Groaning to herself, Penelope buried her head under her pillow trying to return to her previously uninterrupted sleep. She soon realized that the attempt was futile, and sat up abruptly huffing to herself.
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she heard the telltale sound of her front door creaking open,
"Baby Girl?" He called from the living room.
"I'm back here Derek." Penelope replied.
Penelope untangled herself from her comforter, and was slowly standing up when she felt her stomach flip.
Oh no! This is not going to end well. Penelope thought to herself before she launched into a full sprint for the bathroom.
As she dispelled dinner from the previous night into the porcelain god, Derek came into the bathroom and knelt beside her.
He didn't say anything, just held her hair out of her face, as she vomited. When the heaves had fully subsided, he slowly retreated from the bathroom.
He returned a second later with a cup of water, which he solemnly handed to her.
"You okay, Baby Girl," He quietly asked, his brow's knitted together in concern.
Smiling weakly, Penelope glanced up at him from her seat on the floor,
"This Goddess has seen better days."
"Let's get you back to bed," Derek suggested firmly, leading her to her feet.
Slowly they made their way back to her bedroom, and he helped her back under the covers.
"I'm going to go and—," Derek began.
"Derek, can you just lay down with me? Just until I fall back asleep?" Penelope pleaded with him, shutting her eyes, out of fear of rejection.
Feeling his heart stutter, he gently conceded,
"Anything for you, Baby Girl," He murmured, sliding into the covers, pulling her up against his body.
As she lay up against him, Penelope decided to just play pretend for a little while. She closed her eyes, and snuggled closer, inhaling the scent of the father of her future child. Feeling reassured by the patterns he was slowly tracing on her arms, she let herself fall back to sleep.