Part Nine

She woke up in the middle of the night, sick as a dog. She pushed out of bed and ran for the bathroom, but didn't make it in time. Derek caught up with her in the living room, just outside the bathroom, heaving onto the carpet.

He helped her up. "Here, let me clean that." he pulled her to her feet, "You need anything?"

"I'll be better in the morning. Why do they call this morning sickness exactly?"

"I... have no idea," he admitted. "Do you want some help?"

"Just let me sit in the bathroom," she mumbled. She opened the cabinet and gestured to a 2 liter bottle of generic lemon-lime soda and a box of crackers. "I'll be okay."

"I'll sit with you - it's the least I can do."

"Not necessary."

"Yes it is. I'm not taking no for an answer."

She acquiesced to his demand and let him hold her as she roiled from the nausea. "This baby better damn well be worth this hassle," she mumbled at one point. He just chuckled and held her tighter.

Once she fell asleep, he carried her back to bed and held her till the alarm went off.

XXXX

"Greetings, superheroes," Penelope said cheerfully down the video feed. "I hear that there's a nasty baddie down in Texas, so you'd better keep your guns close and your tacos closer."

"Very funny," Hotch said. "Do you have anything useful?"

"Only what I've sent to your tablets."

Derek glanced up from his. "Mama, I think you sent me the wrong file," he said mildly.

"Oh, no, you've got the right file," she said with twinkling eyes. "But I'll send it again to make sure."

He stared down at the picture of his baby, growing away inside his favorite girl, and he smiled at her shakily. "Yeah, got the right one this time," he said, covering as the correct case file arrived. "Thanks, Garcia."

"You are more than welcome, handsome."

"Any new news on it?" he asked, speaking in code.

"They figure maybe next time."

"I will talk to you later, Baby."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Seriously, you two should just stop trying to cover things up," she said. "We know you aren't talking about the case."

"Planning a surprise party for Derek's mom," Penelope said cheerfully. "And I'm waiting for a batch of cupcakes to get just perfect in the rum to coconut ratio before I buy the bakery out."

"Oooh, coconut rum cupcakes?" JJ squealed. "Am I invited to this party?"

"Not exactly," Derek interjected. "Mom is not a fan of strangers."

"Can you at least make me some of those cupcakes."

"I will see what I can do." Penelope added.

"Isn't your mom coming into town tomorrow?" Reid inquired.

"Yeah, so we better wrap this case up in a hurry," Derek commented wryly. "Momma and Penelope might kill each other in a cage match."

Penelope giggled. "Yeah, I don't think so, Handsome - but you never know."

"Well, you can finish packing that stuff you wanted to store at my place and bring it over when you pick Momma up," Derek said pointedly.

She smiled. "Farewell, my superheroes - till we meet again."

"What is she storing at your place?" Reid asked.

"Extra stuff she doesn't use, her place is being painted."

"Oh," Reid said ending the conversation.

They went back to work, developing an early profile, but JJ caught him studying his tablet and smiling. "What's got you in such a good mood?" she asked, snatching the tablet out of his hands. "OH! Someone's having a baby?"

"My sister," he lied smoothly. "That's the first picture of my new niece or nephew."

"Can we see?"

"No, Sarah wouldn't like me to show everyone; she is a private person."

"Well congrats anyway," they said.

XXXX

The next day, he got a picture message from Penelope with a photo of her and his mom posing in front of Penelope's favorite food truck, a veggie sandwich in Penelope's hands and a gyro in his mother's - and a caption of, "Don't worry about us, Hot Stuff. We get along like meat & potatoes."

He text back, xI thought you were a vegetarian?x

xApparently Jr here is rather fond of meat, but I am still resisting the urge.x

xHow is my momma?x

xWonderful. Hurry home.x

He sighed and pocketed his phone. "Okay, we've got to be missing something -"

"We're missing a lot of things," Rossi commented dryly. "But we aren't missing the fact that you check your phone more times than I do - and I have a girlfriend."

Derek cleared his throat. "I meant work."

"I know," Rossi said pointedly. "And you haven't heard from Garcia all day today."

"Because she's picking up my Momma at the airport and -" He paused and glanced around the conference room. "What are you looking at me like that for?"

"Derek, I have been a profiler for quite some time."

"So."

"You are hiding something; now spill."

"Garcia is pregnant," Reid spoke up from the whiteboard, where he was looking at the progression map. "It's the only conclusion that fits the parameters of the equation at hand. And with the way you worry, it has to be yours. Thus -"

"Okay, fine," Derek ground out through clenched teeth. "Penelope and I have been seeing each other. She's moving in with me while we're on this case."

"And she's pregnant?" JJ said.

"Reid is just running his mouth," Derek muttered. "I've told you all there is to tell."

"Derek, you can't lie to a room of profilers. You should know that by now."

"There is nothing to tell, now back off."

"Derek - "

"I said back off, okay?"

"Okay," Emily said, raising her hands in surrender. "You'll tell us eventually, right? And we'll pretend to be surprised."

Derek just glared at them.

End Part Nine