Emily rode the elevator up to the BAU alone. She was coming in late after having been at a doctor's appointment. Her and Dr. Warner had come to an agreement that she could have one more week of working before she needed to go on maternity leave. If Emily hadn't started to feel the toll of the pregnancy and working forty or more hour weeks, she would have fought harder to work until she delivered. But now she was looking forward to having a little time to prepare before the baby was born.

"Woah there mama. You look like you could have that baby today." Derek watched Emily walk into the bullpen.

Emily turned to give him a dirty look. "Thanks, Morgan. I didn't already think that I needed a wide load sign attached to my back, but now I think I should invest in one."

Spencer tried to hold back a laugh and Rossi just shook his head. Penelope slapped Derek on the shoulder.

"Did you even think about what you were saying before you opened your mouth?" JJ asked him.

"Obviously not." Tara answered for him.

Morgan pleaded his innocence. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Of course you didn't." Emily walked away, headed toward her office.

She was now completely aware of how huge she looked in the tight shirt that she had put on that morning. She didn't have anything else that fit this late in her pregnancy; Derek's comment made her want to turn around and go home to change. Usually a comment like that wouldn't bother her, but she was more self-conscious of her size than ever being less than a month away from her due date.

"What's her problem?" Derek watched as Emily marched off.

"It's not her problem, it's yours. She's hormonal and tired and she already feels ginormous without you telling her so." No one could emphasize with Emily more than JJ.

"I'll go apologize then." Derek got up.

But Penelope stepped in front of him. "The last person she wants to see is you. You can stay right where you are."

"I'll go check on her." JJ left the group, hearing Garcia start to scold Morgan even more.

She knocked quietly on Emily's closed office door before she opened it. Emily looked up to see who it was and her face softened when she saw that it was her friend.

"I'm sorry for how I acted." Emily told JJ.

"Do not apologize. Morgan was being an ass."

"But he's right. I look gigantic."

"Stop. Do not do that to yourself." JJ warned her. "What did the doctor say?"

"We decided that I can work for another week, to finish up what I need to. But I have to take it easy because she said that I could basically have this baby any day now."

"And she really agreed to you working another week?" JJ questioned.

"Well it took some convincing, but I need the time. I wasn't expecting it to come so soon and I have a lot to get done."

"You do know that we can handle whatever you can't finish. You don't have to kill yourself to get it all done in the next week."

"I know, but I kind of need something to distract me." Emily admitted.

"You'll be ready, Em."

"I hope so because I'm not right now."

JJ opened her mouth to comfort her friend, but she was interrupted by Tara. "I'm sorry to barge in, but we have a case. We're meeting in five."

"Okay, thanks Tara." Emily told her.

"How about you let Rossi head this case so that's it one less thing on your plate." JJ suggested after Tara left.

Emily considered it for a minute, before she agreed. "That's probably a good idea. I'll come hear the briefing, but Dave can take this one."

An hour later, Emily sat back in her office. The team had taken off on the jet to San Antonio, Texas where their latest case was. It had been over a month since Emily flew with the team; after her baby shower, her doctor had put a stop to it. She missed it, not while she was so pregnant, but back when it was still comfortable.

Speaking of comfortable, that was the last thing Emily was by early afternoon. Her back and hips ached from sitting for so long. She stood up from her seat, placing her hands in the small of her lower back. She tried to apply some pressure, but it didn't help to relive any of the pain. Emily walked out of the office, her hands still on her back, as she tried to walk off some of her discomfort.

However, she didn't make it very far before she found herself hunched over one of the desks in the bullpen, one hand gripping the desk and another on stomach. The pain become worse by the second.

She knew that this wasn't normal.

When the pain finally subsided, Emily looked up, trying to find someone. But the bullpen was empty except for one rookie who stood with his back to her.

"Hey, agent Powell." The young man swirled around to see who was calling his name. He could tell something was off and hurried over to her.

"What's the matter, ma'am?"

"Do not call me ma'am." Emily said. "I need you to go get technical analyst Garcia. She is in her office."

He nodded, accepting the task.

"And agent Powell?"

"Yes?"

"Please, tell her it's urgent."

A few minutes later, Penelope came rushing into the bull pen as fast her heels would allow her to. She found Emily standing up, her hands rubbing circles across her stomach, taking a few deep breaths as she did so.

"Okay, what can I do? Is it the case? Because I just talked to a certain tall, dark, and jerky handsome man who usually calls me when you guys need something. But if you need something, I can get that for you."

"Penelope." Emily cut her off.

"Sorry, rambling."

Emily opened her mouth to tell Garcia the real reason that she needed her, but she was stopped by another strong pain that took the breath right out of her. She leaned back over the desk, trying to work through it.

"Oh my god. You're in labor." Penelope realized.

Emily shook her head. "I… I might be."

"What do you mean you might be?" Penelope could clearly see that she was in denial about her current state. "Emily your hunched over a desk in an FBI office, barely talk able to tell me that you aren't actually in labor. It's sort of dead giveaway."

Emily took a deep breath. "Okay, okay. I'm probably in labor, Penelope. Does that make you happy?"

"Thank you, it does." The technical analyst grabbed her arm and helped her stand. "Now let's go because I am not helping you deliver this baby right here."

Emily felt like the world around her was a blur as Penelope drove to the hospital. Her head was swimming with thoughts about how little she had done at work, how many things that weren't ready at home for the baby. JJ had said that she would be ready and Emily wanted to believe, her but she just didn't know that she could.

"Em?" She jumped at soft touch of Penelope's hand on her shoulder. "Do you need some help getting out?"

Emily looked around and realized that they were already in the hospital parking lot, the car no longer moving, and Penelope watching her closely.

"I can get it." She told Garcia.

She slowly stepped out of the car. Penelope came around and followed closely behind her as they made their way in. Another, what Emily assumed was a contraction, ran through her in the elevator, but that was the first time since leaving Quantico. She thought maybe it meant that it had all been a false alarm, that she had been over reacting.

However, that didn't seem to be the case. When she explained to the nurse what she had happened, she was immediately taken to a room. All of sudden she was in a hospital gown, monitors being hooked up to watch her and the baby. She was overwhelmed by how fast it all seemed to be happening. Just that morning she had been given the okay to work one more week and now there was a very real chance that she was going to be a mom within hours.

"I know I said that you could have this baby any time, but I didn't expect to see you so soon, Emily." Dr. Warner came walking through the door.

"You and me both." Emily nervously ran her hands up and down her stomach, feeling the monitors underneath her gown.

Dr. Warner gave her a soft smile. "Let's get you checked out and then we'll go from there."

Penelope stood up from the seat a nurse had brought for her. "I can go, if you want me to."

"No, Pen, you can stay." Emily reached her hand out to her.

Penelope knew what that meant coming from Emily Prentiss. She gave her hand a squeeze and sat back down.

"Alright, Emily." Dr. Warner stood. "You're only dilated about one centimeter, which is what you were when I saw you this morning. But I want to keep you here and monitor your contractions for a while."

"So she isn't in labor?" Penelope asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I think it's very possible, though." Dr. Warner explained before she left.

"Can I get you anything?" Penelope asked Emily after the doctor had left.

Emily just shook her head. Her hand still moving nervously across her bump.

"It's going to be okay." Penelope assured her. "I know how scary this must be, but I'll be here for you and my nephew or niece."

"Thanks, Pen." Emily could not express how grateful she was for her.

A few more hours passed by. Emily was uncomfortable, but the contractions she was having weren't horrible and they were rather sporadic still. Penelope continued to sit next to Emily's bed, laptop out in case of calls from the team. She was doing her best to talk to Emily, to keep her mind off all that was going on.

"Okay, Emily." Dr. Warner had returned a few hours after first seeing her patient. "I'm going to go ahead and have you stay, at least for the night. You've dilated a little more and it's looking like your contractions are starting to become a little more consistent."

"So if nothing happens I'll go home tomorrow?" Emily asked, maybe a little hopeful.

"It's possible. If you don't dilate anymore or your contractions stop. I will have you go home until everything starts to pick up. I'd rather have you comfortable at home then here. But I think that more than likely things will be in full swing by tomorrow morning."

"Will someone need to be with her if she goes home?" Penelope would volunteer.

"I don't think anyone needs to stay with her, but just as long as someone is always available if need be." Dr. Warner explained. "But let's not worry too much about that right now. We'll take it a few hours at a time for now and see what happens."

"Okay." The doctor could hear Emily's reservations in her voice.

"Why don't you try to get some rest, Emily? The contractions aren't too strong right now, it's a good time to see if you can get some sleep. You'll need the energy." Dr. Warner excused herself and left again.

"I'm going to go call JJ. Do you want me to get you anything?" Penelope got up, taking her laptop with her.

"I'm good."

"You really should try to get some sleep." Penelope told her as she made her way out the door.

"Penelope how is she?" JJ answered her phone when she saw the caller ID.

"She's okay. She trying to get some sleep right now." Penelope filled her in.

"What did the doctor say?"

"That she's going to keep her overnight for now. She thinks that by tomorrow morning everything will really start."

"But how is Emily, really?" JJ knew her friend must have been struggling with everything happening so quickly.

"She's hanging in there."

* And there it where I leave it. You'll have to wait until the next chapter to see what happens. Leave me your thoughts, criticism, ect.! *