Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds, just Jemma and my plot.

Future shock is the shattering stress and disorientation that we induce in individuals by subjecting them to too much change in too short a time. -Alvin Toffler

Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one. -Hans Selye

Jemma awoke, slightly dazed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She looked to the chair where Emily had been sitting through the night (or possibly day, Jemma was confused as to how long she had spent in the hospital), but was surprised to see Reid in her place.

"Hey, you're awake." he said excitedly, standing up from the chair and making his way to Jemma's bed.

"Hi." she said timidly, shying away when Reid took a seat on the edge of her bed.

A dejected look came across his face and he hung his head for a moment before saying, "So Emily told me everything."

Jemma looked at Reid and noticed his eyes were red as if he had been crying. She was both shocked and touched that he cared this much. "Yeah, they said it was just because of stress, but I could have... I could have l-lost..."

Spencer reached out to wipe a tear from Jemma's cheek, but she backed away.

"I don't... I don't know what I'd do." Jemma continued. "I've l-lost everything, everyone."

"Jem, I'm here." Reid assured her, stretching his hand out for hers.

Jemma shook her head and buried her face in her knees.

"Jemma, please don't do this." Reid begged her. "You've been doing so well, and you said it yourself, stress caused this. Please just... just trust me."

Jemma looked up at Reid, her big brown eyes wet with tears. "Why?" she choked.

"Because I care about you, Jem." he replied. "And I care about our... our baby. Please Jemma, we need to work together on this. If you just trust me I can help you."

Jemma nodded then threw herself into Reid's arms, letting her tears flow freely. Spencer pulled Jemma into his lap and rubbed her back while she sobbed into his shoulder.

"Will you go to therapy, Jem?" Reid asked when her sobs began to ease.

Jemma stared blankly at him.

"I know you don't want to, but please, for the baby?"

Jemma bit her lip and nodded tearfully.

"We can do this, Jem." Spencer said, reassuring himself as well. "After everything you've conquered, I know you can handle this. I'll be here for you through it all too."

"Thank you." Jemma whimpered. She hugged Spencer, but she was so exhausted from all the stress that she soon fell asleep.

Spencer remained by Jemma's bedside for the rest of the night with her hand in his. Occasionally he would brush a piece of fiery red hair out of Jemma's face or place his hand on her belly and whisper in her ear when she looked to be having a night terror.

Reid was reminded of the days spent in the hospital with Jemma after Colwyn had tried to kill her. They had come so far since those days, but at the same time they had made such little progress. Jemma had survived, she had moved in with Reid, they were having a baby. Reid never would have thought even when he met Jemma that this would happen, that he would have a beautiful, intelligent woman sleeping in his bed every night. At the same time Jemma was in no better state of mind since the murders, she had lost so much and it seemed to only get worse, not to mention the BAU had not yet caught Colwyn and was farther from catching him than the night he killed Jemma's family.

"Hey, Reid," Emily said, poking her head in the door. "How is she?"

Reid shook his head. "She's had these night terrors since the night he raped her." he said, not taking his eyes off of Jemma. "I just don't want her to lose the baby to this when so many mothers do so much worse."

Emily handed Reid a cup of coffee and pulled up a chair beside him. "You see her at her worst, Reid, you really do. You see the night terrors and the breakdowns. You've had to talk her out of killing herself." Emily took a deep breath and paused to see if Reid was actually taking any of this in. When she saw that he was listening intently, sneaking the occasional glance at Jemma, she continued, "I've seen some of her best moments since I've met her though. I know you've seen it too, but they're overshadowed by all the bad you see. Reid, she survived one of the most vicious attacks we've ever seen, she's fought for her life, she's fought for you, she's fought for your baby. She can do this."

Reid nodded. "I know she can. I'm ready to take this on if she can't."

"Good morning, Miss Cavanaugh." a doctor awoke Jemma. "How are you feeling?"

"Ugh..." Jemma groaned, unhappy about being woken. "Better I guess. Still tired though..."

Feeling Jemma remove her hand from his, Reid awoke. He had only fallen asleep a few hours prior and it was no help to his jet lag. He stretched, rubbed the sleep from his eyes then looked intently at the doctor.

"Well, we've been over your charts and we're going to put you on bed rest for awhile." The doctor said, flipping through some papers on a clip board. "The baby seems to be doing fine, but it's best to play it safe. We were able to change your ultrasound to today, so you can get that done before you leave and save yourself a trip back in. I'm also going to give you a prescription for an additional prenatal vitamin."

The doctor left and Reid helped Jemma pack her stuff to leave. In the washroom Jemma changed out of the hospital gown and into a pair of sweats and a tank top that Emily had brought her.

In the ultrasound room Jemma's muscles tensed as the ultrasound tech approached her with the blue goo that she would have to apply to her abdomen. It was not as cold as she had expected and Jemma began to relax. She watched silently and nervously as an image of her baby formed on the screen in front of her.

Jemma allowed a few silent tears to stream down her cheeks as she looked at the tiny feet and hands. She couldn't believe there was actually a human life growing inside of her. She felt stronger now than she had felt since the Beast had torn her apart. There was a tiny little life inside of her and it was up to her to be strong for it, it was up to her to beat the PTSD and the grief and take care of her baby.

Reid was beside her, fixated on the screen. Jemma was too fascinated with the image of the baby to notice the tear that slipped from Reid's eye. Before this moment their baby had only been an abstract thought for Reid. He had never actually imagined holding his child. He wondered who it would look like; himself or Jemma. He wondered what its first word would be, if it would be a genius like him or just a normal kid. He thought about which books he would to it first and how they would spend the time he had off between cases.

Jemma and Reid's thoughts were both interrupted when the technician spoke up, "Would you like to know the sex?"

"Oh, I already know it's a-"

"SPENCER!" Jemma yelled. "Don't you dare!"

"What?"

Jemma was now turned slightly so she could see Reid. "I wanted it to be a surprise."

Reid gave her a puzzled look. "Why? We'll need to paint the nursery an appropriate colour and pick a name. Plus Garcia won't be very happy with us if she doesn't know what to shop for."

Jemma rolled her eyes. "Spencer, you know that gender identity is socially constructed through stereotypical things like colour. We could go with a sexually ambiguous name, Spencer. You also know that Garcia will be even happier if she gets to shop for a boy and a girl and can return what we don't need. You just know you can't keep a secret and want me to agree to letting you tell me so you don't feel guilty after it slips out."

Reid looked at his baby on the screen in blue and black and sighed. He was used to people sharing secrets with him because they knew he had no one to tell. It was a lonely life. Now that he had his own secret and no one to tell it to he felt even lonelier. He would suffer in silence though, anything to make Jemma happy.

"Fine, you win." he admitted defeat.

Jemma smiled and looked back at the screen. She watched at the baby moved and realized that it had just heard that entire fight. She remembered when she heard her parents fight when she was young and how sad it made her to hear them yell. She remembered that babies can actually cry inside the womb, a fact Reid had told her and felt guilty.

She sighed. "OK, tell me."

"Really" Reid asked, shocked that Jemma would change her mind of this.

Jemma nodded.

"We're going to have a daughter." Reid smiled.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Sorry it was so late and so short. The gears are already turning for the next chapter though and the next chapter of The Truly Natural Things is already in progress.

Thank you all for the support you've shown for this story since I began. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to all my readers. The greatest present of all (next to baby Jesus, life, a cure for cancer, the end of poverty and hunger, ect.) is reviews, so please leave some under my tree! Please? I've been so good all year!

-ceegeeayy