Chapter 7
Not So Super Dooper
Gabi Morgan
Early November
She was starting to panic. Gabi was not the type to panic. She was an easy-going personality, one that went with the flow, but this... there was no way to go with the flow when she was late for her period.
She was trying to breathe, really she was, but it was extremely difficult to keep herself together. On her bed, rested a handful of pregnancy tests, but Gabi was much too afraid to even touch them now that she'd bought them. But she had to know. She very much had to know. And all she wanted was Jack to be there with her, holding her hand, just holding her.
But she couldn't. This was something neither of them had anticipated. She couldn't approach Jack with the idea that she was pregnant. Not to mention her father would probably throttle Jack. Nevertheless, she very much couldn't do it by herself. Shaky fingers pressed three on her speed dial.
"Hey Gabs. Can I call you back?"
"No."
That gave AJ pause. She heard her best friend say something to someone, an apology, then she was back on the line. "What happened?"
Gabi swallowed thickly. This was ridiculously hard to say. "I need you to come to Boston."
"Gabs, I love you, but I can't just-"
"Annie. I need you to come to Boston." She was on the verge of tears and found herself biting her cheek.
"Okay, okay. I just... Give me a few hours okay? I'll call you when I get in."
With that, AJ had hung up and Gabi started to panic again. Pregnant. She could be pregnant. She wasn't ready for children. She hadn't even graduated yet. And she wanted things between her and Jack to be stronger before they even thought about children, preferably permanent. It wasn't as if she hadn't thought about that before, thought about a life with Jack once she'd graduated and started working for the NSA.
She wanted kids, there was no doubt about that, but it was too big of a responsibility for her now. There was still so much to do in her life, and though, if she was pregnant, she'd adjust accordingly, it was a lot to take in. She didn't want to be pregnant. Well, not yet.
She glanced back at the pregnancy tests on her bed.
God, she didn't want to be pregnant.
Her heart started pounding louder and louder and louder as she stepped closer and closer to the door. If it was Jack, one of his surprise visits, she was screwed. But if it was AJ, then she was actually going to have to face the little boxes still in the plastic bag on her bed.
"Gabs? You in there?"
AJ. Part of Gabi let out a sigh of relief. If she wasn't pregnant – which she'd been trying to convince herself of for the last couple of hours – then she didn't have to mention anything to Jack and she really wasn't planning on it. She opened the door, and was immediately enveloped in a deep hug.
"Oh good, you're not hurt or anything," AJ said, stepping inside. "You had me utterly terrified! I thought you were in the hospital or something."
"No," Gabi returned, swallowing thickly.
AJ moved further into the room. "Okay, then what's-"
Gabi's eyes slammed closed. AJ would have moved to the bed out of habit to drop her bag on it. And that was where her bag of pregnancy tests were.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" AJ asked quietly.
"I'm late," Gabi replied quietly. "I don't... I haven't..."
"That's why you wanted me here. You didn't want to do this alone. Have you told Jack?"
"Of course not," Gabi replied. "I don't even know if I'm..."
"Pregnant," AJ provided.
"... So I don't want to tell him without proof."
"Okay." Gabi could tell AJ was slamming down the ambassador's mask that was famous in the Prentiss-Hotchner family. For once, she was glad for it. She was freaking out and it was nice to have someone who was actually calm, even if it was forced calm.
"Gabs, how do you want to do this?" AJ asked. "Because you have to know, either way."
Gabi hadn't stepped away from the door. She'd closed it and locked it out of habit, but she hadn't stepped away from it. Instead, she rested her back against her for support. She didn't know what to say.
"Okay," AJ nodded, understanding that Gabi didn't know any better than she did. "We're going to do this, okay? We're going to do this right now, and see what happens."
"Annie, what if-"
"Now's not the time to think of 'what if's, Gab. You have no idea if they're going to be positive. This could just be stress that you didn't realize, it could be the change in city... There's a number of reasons you could be late, okay?" AJ tried to reassure her. "You're not going to have an idea until you take the test."
"Or three."
A smile crept over her best friend's face. "Or three. I'm here for as long as you need me, okay?"
"God," Gabi said as she released a breath. "You sound just like your brother."
"In this situation, I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing," AJ replied, picking up the bag and then pushing herself off the bed. "Take the tests, we'll go from there."
It was the longest five minutes of Gabi's life, then the longest fifteen as the first test came back positive. When the second and third did too, Gabi dropped her head into her hands. This wasn't supposed to happen to her. As much as her mother went on and on about how much Gabi was loved and adored, she was well aware that her father hadn't known she existed for almost seven months.
She felt AJ's arms wrap around her.
"Hey, it's going to be okay," the raven-haired girl whispered. "It's going to be okay."
Gabi was too busy breaking down to tell AJ she didn't believe her.
Reminiscent of something?
Now, before each one of you freaks out at me, be patient. This is so many forms of deliberate and I know exactly where I'm going with this particular story line. I promise you'll like where it ends up!
