Picking up her phone once more, Penelope dialed Kevin's number from memory, hoping that it wasn't too late for him. Still, panic coursed through her veins as she drummed her fingers anxiously against her stomach, hoping that she wasn't disturbing their baby too much with the rhythm. If their baby even knew what was happening outside it's little home in the womb. She let out a watery laugh, knowing that she was coming close to hysteria, and she desperately hoped that he would pick up soon, and tell her that she was making false logical leaps, that she had made a mistake somewhere in her research, and there was no way that Erin Strauss could actually be her mother.

Finally, she heard the call connect, and then he was speaking. "Plum Sauce?" He sounded exhausted, like she had woken him up from sleep already, and she winced before taking a deep breath. "Penelope? Is something wrong with the baby?"

She hated the anxiety that filled his voice at her inability to answer him, and she took another deep breath before bursting into tears. "I, I think I found my mother, Kevin. But I need you to go over this data, and tell me if I'm correct in my thinking."

"It's almost eleven, I need to get up in three hours to head to work. Are you certain this can't wait until tomorrow?"

She started to hyperventilate at the idea of not being able to get this out of her system right away, and a small part of her wondered if she would have been better off calling Derek, at least he would have listened, even he would be exhausted the next day. "I wish that it could, but I really think that my life could fall apart in the next few days if what I think is true, really is true."

"All right, give me fifteen minutes to get back to your place. And I'll have to crash there for the rest of the night."

"That's fine. I'll probably need you by my side, anyway. I, I love you?"

"I love you, too, Penelope."

He hung up and she clutched the phone to her chest, rocking back and forth as she waited for him to arrive. Just as he promised, within fifteen minutes, his key was turning in the lock, and she looked up to see his bleary face giving her a small smile.

"I'm so sorry, Kevin, but there's just so much that I can't unpack. Um, please, take a look at what my research uncovered."

He nodded and joined her on the couch, picking up her laptop and spending a few minutes scrolling through what she'd left up. Every so often, he'd look over at her, giving her a sympathetic smile, and she knew that things were not going to turn out any differently. Letting out a deep sigh, she got up and made her way over to the shower, stripping off her clothing before stepping into the shower and turning the water on, letting it wash over her as she gave into her desire to cry.

A soft knock came on the door before Kevin joined her inside the bathroom, taking a seat on the toilet as he watched her. "Well, I suppose you know what I'm going to say to you, Penny."

"You're going to tell me that I made a horrible mistake along the way, and that the conclusion I reached was erroneous, and I need to start over from square one. That even though the two Erins in my life have the same birth date, there is no other connection between them. Right?"

He gave her a look that told her she was telling herself a story, and she finished washing her hair before turning the water off and opening the door. Kevin handed her a towel, and she wrapped it around her body before taking hold of another towel and quickly rubbing it over her head in order to dry her hair a little.

Once she was completely dry, she pulled on a nightgown before leading him to the bedroom. They crawled in and she turned to face Kevin, reading on his face that she was not going to like what was ahead of her. "So, we need to decide where we go from here."

"I know, Kevin. Are you certain I'm right?"

"One hundred and fifty percent so. You are a better researcher than me in many ways, and it shows in the trail that you laid out for yourself with this. And so now, you have to face the reality that our boss is also your mother."

It felt weird to hear that juxtaposition fall from his lips, and she gave a small nod as she once more let the face of Erin Strauss meld into the face of the scared teenager who had been holding her all those years ago. "All right, so, Erin Strauss is my mother. Where do we go from here?"

"It's all up to you, Plum Sauce. However, if you drop this, Rossi and Strauss are going to know that something is up. You've been talking about it with them for a little bit now, and if you just suddenly drop it, questions will be asked."

"That's true. Maybe I should just treat it like a plaster and confront her with what I know tomorrow."

He nodded before leaning in and kissing her softly. "That is a good plan, too, Penelope."

"Just, what if she rejects me, right off the bat? What if she laughs in my face and tells me that I am wrong, denying the fact that she ever had a fourth child? And she has other children, I have more siblings! What are we going to tell them?"

Kevin let out a gentle laugh as he cupped her face and stroked his thumb back and forth along her cheekbone. "You are worrying about things that haven't even come to pass yet. The first step, in the morning, is to eat a good breakfast and make certain that our little bean is well taken care of. From there, it will be heading to work and getting your systems ready for the day. And then, while you're waiting for everything to boot up, you can head to Strauss's office and wait for her to talk with you. You've developed a sort of friendship with her over the last few weeks, so it shouldn't be too scary to deal with this issue."

"But…"

"No buts, Plum Sauce. Everything will work itself out right in the end, and if it's not okay, it's not the end." He leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss before dragging a finger down her nose, causing her to yawn deeply. "There, see? You're exhausted, and need to sleep. Close your eyes and think positive thoughts. Yes?"

She nodded a little and did close her eyes, focusing in on the sound of his breaths and waiting until they had completely evened out before letting her eyelids pop open once more. Turning onto her back, she stared up at the ceiling, trying to find some answers there. Nothing was forthcoming, however, and she let a few silent tears roll down her cheeks. There was a heavy feeling of foreboding settling into the pit of her stomach, and she slid her hands down to her stomach to cradle the bump there tenderly. "I can't stop my brain from thinking about what if she doesn't want me, little one. And I don't know why it means so much to me that she might reject me. I didn't know about her existence in my life until I found out about you. So, she shouldn't mean this much to me already. But, she does, and I don't know what I'll do if she pushes me away."

Her whispered words hung in the air like gloomy clouds, and she let out another sigh as she pursed her lips together and tried to rein in her emotions. That was one thing that Kevin was completely correct about. Getting worked up would not be good for the baby, so she tried to focus her breaths and calm her rapidly beating heart. Finally, she turned to counting sheep in a bid to fall into the desired arms of sleep, and it worked for a little while, until she thought about what Rossi might say when he found out this new information about her and his partner.

"Sleep, Penelope," Kevin mumbled as he turned and threw an arm around her waist and pulled her tighter to his side. Groaning a little, she nodded and closed her eyes once more, forcing herself to relax and fall back into the waiting abyss of slumber.