Derek had been sitting on the couch doing paperwork, anticipating Penelope's imminent arrival. It took all he had to not leap off the living room couch when he heard a car pull up in his driveway. He had made those first steps, but she had to make the critical few back to him. The one thing he couldn't contain was the grin on his face when he heard her fumbling with her keys in the front door, so excited that she kept dropping them.

As soon as the door was opened he stood up to greet her and found his arms full of Penelope. She almost had him in a chokehold and was talking so fast he had to pry her arms from around his neck. "Mama, you have to slow down or else I'm not going to be able to understand what you're saying. There's this thing called diction. It would really help right now," he said with a cocky smile.

Penelope couldn't help but smack him on the arm at his sarcastic comment. It was something she had so missed in the past few days. "Hey my chocolate Adonis, you made me so happy with the flowers I couldn't wait to come thank you for them. I would cook you dinner as a thank you, but I think you might like your kitchen a bit too much to allow that." She couldn't help herself and had to wrap her arms around his neck for another enthusiastic hug before detaching herself completely.

He pulled her to the couch to sit down and moved his papers so he could sit on the coffee table in front of her. "Baby Girl," her smile grew a little bit brighter at his term of endearment, " I'm so sorry I wasn't being your best friend and helping you through this. I know that you forgive me now, but I just have to say I'm sorry that I wouldn't even listen. You deserved that much from me."

She leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Yes handsome, I do forgive you. I can kind of understand why you freaked a bit. I mean out of the blue I announce that I'm going to have a baby. You've asked me before if I want children and when we had that conversation last year about what my kids would look like and it got me thinking. Now my thoughts are a reality." Her excitement was so contagious that the smile Derek beamed back at her gave her the feeling that this baby was both of theirs instead of just hers.

A month later when Penelope came bouncing into the bullpen, Derek knew exactly what she was excited about. Today had been her appointment and guessing by the smile on her face things had gone well. Penelope hopped onto his desk and smacked a kiss on his cheek. "Hey sugar, guess who's got a bun in the oven?"

If he could have blushed, he would have. "Pen, do you really want the whole world knowing that you're pregnant? I mean you just found out yourself and that book said that you're supposed to wait until after the first trimester to start telling people." He stood up to hug her and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Just knowing that she was creating a life, even if it wasn't with him, awed him.

She raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. "You read those books? Why would you do that honey?" He inclined his head. "I don't intend to let you do this alone. What kind of best friend would I be if I didn't know what to expect when his best friend is expecting?" At this she couldn't contain her giggles.


The next month passed in much the same manner. She got more and more excited about showing and wondering what her cravings were going to be. Derek was excited for her, knowing that she was going to be a great mother and hoping that he would be able to give her the help she needed.

Derek was on his way to her house one night for dinner when he realized that she had never said who her donor was. He had no idea who the father of the baby was. When he pulled up in front of her apartment he sat in his car a moment, pondering how to go about asking her. Finally, he came to the conclusion that he wasn't going to ask her, but when she opened the door to let him into the apartment the first thing out of his mouth was "Who was the donor?"

Penelope had to resist the urge to slam the door back in his face. "Wow handsome what a way to say hi to your best friend. Why don't you come in?" She walked toward the kitchen leaving the door open behind her for Derek. He followed behind her, just managing not to slam the door at his stupid question.

"Baby Girl, I'm sorry I asked that. I do really want to know and I should have been a little bit more tactful going about it." He gave her his best apologetic look across the breakfast bar. His look managed to soften her a bit and she came around the bar to squeeze him around the middle. "It's okay hotness. Go ahead, pick a movie out and get comfortable. I'll bring dinner in a minute."

Following her directions Derek picked out her favorite movie and toed his shoes off, collapsing on the couch. While the previews were playing he noticed a folder on her coffee table and it looked suspiciously like medical charts. He knew that he shouldn't be snooping through her things, but he couldn't stop his hand from flipping the folder open. What he saw shocked him beyond belief. Penelope walked in carrying two plates of lasagna in her hands. "Penelope, would you mind explaining this?"