A/N
Thank you, Hannah .grahamlecter, for your hard work and dedication. You've done a great job as Beta-reader on this and I am extremely grateful.
If you care to leave comments, reviews, or constructive critiques, I'd appreciate it. I'm thankful for all those who have given me ideas, and constructive reviews. And to those who have given me praise, I'm working hard, trying to be worthy of it.
To all, as always, please enjoy the story.
G-Girl
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Chapter 66 - Surprise Baby Shower
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On the flight home from the case in Raleigh, North Carolina, Spencer searched through his bookbag for the second time, dumping everything out on the couch next to him. He checked his pockets for the third time, to make sure he didn't miss it. His cell phone was also gone, like his tablet earlier. He turned to Emily as he put everything back in his bag.
"Can you do me a favor and call Susan to let her know we're on our way back?"
"Sure, no problem. Where is your phone?" She scooped up a piece of paper from the carpet that had fallen out of Spencer's bag and glanced at it. It was a mathematical equation written at the top on grid paper.
"I remember it was on the table at the police station while I was working up the geographic profile and when I turned around to pick it up, it was gone. My tablet disappeared too. Both can be replaced; I'm not worried about that but if Susan goes into labor, she won't be able to reach me."
"I'll send her a message to let her know, and to call me if she has an emergency." Emily sent a text, but it wasn't to Susan.
He doesn't know. On our way back. w/b at the office in 40. Are you at the house yet?
Emily studied the paper in her hand, as her cell pinged with a reply from Garcia and she read it, glancing at Matt and JJ, who were watching her.
Yes. I'll let you know when we get there.
She looked up at him, smiling sweetly. "Reid, everything is fine. Now, to keep him from catching on. She handed the paper to Spencer. "By the way, you dropped this."
"Thanks, Boss." Relieved, he sighed and leaned back in his seat. He closed his eyes for several seconds. It was a minor inconvenience. Tomorrow he'd work on replacing both.
She pointed at the paper to keep him distracted. "What is that? Something you're working on?"
"This? It's a… Math… love note… from Susan."
"Uh… what?" It didn't surprise her. She thought it was adorable, something she would expect between those two.
As Spencer pulled a red marker out of his bag, Emily turned and flashed Matt and JJ a quick thumbs-up and a grin.
Earlier, Matt had slipped Spencer's tablet into his backpack, and later that afternoon, JJ snuck his phone off the table while he was looking for his tablet. She put it in Matt's backpack after she left the room for a few minutes to turn it off.
Spencer worked the equation out loud, marking on the grid, ending up with an outline of a heart. "Susan and I do that. You know… nerds in love." He shrugged, smiling.
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Penelope rang the doorbell again. "Betty, let Susan know I'm here?"
After another minute, the door opened. Susan, slightly winded, had her hand on her abdomen. "Hi, Penelope… what's up? I was… in the basement… ooh… ran up the stairs… is everything okay?"
"Everything… is well… not really well, but it's not that bad. I'm supposed to pick you up and bring crutches. The team is on their way back from Raleigh and the doctor there said Spencer could fly back but shouldn't drive for a few days. I didn't get everything that happened, but Emily said he'll be fine and for you not to worry." She wasn't good at lying and hoped Susan didn't see through her ruse, but she talked fast when she was nervous.
"You're scaring me. What aren't you telling me? I tried calling him, but it went straight to voicemail… I figured… he was busy."
"I do know he's going to be okay. What can I help with, to get you ready to go?" Diverting Susan's attention might help.
"The crutches are in the closet, there." She pointed to the door across the foyer as she picked up her purse and keys.
As Susan signed for her visitor's badge at the security desk in the lobby and clipped it on her top, Penelope sent a text:
We're here.
While waiting for the elevator, she got a reply from Emily:
Heading to the office… will be there in about 5.
"Oh, okay. Emily says they're on the way back to the office."
"I've got to waddle to the bathroom again. The baby's using my bladder as a trampoline and she's getting good at it. Ugh."
"Well, you look great, and you certainly aren't waddling. Three weeks to go, right? Is the nursery all set up and ready? Spencer says it's all been repainted?"
"Last month, Teresa, the Art student I hired from GW, restored the murals. She's finishing her master's degree, in Fine Art Conservation. Spencer and I both think she did an amazing job; she even gave us copies of the before and after pictures that she took for her portfolio. Of course, we gave her letters of recommendation, besides paying her well."
"I can't wait to see it." Penelope checked her phone again. "What time is the baby shower tomorrow? I think I lost my invitation." That should keep her from getting suspicious.
"Lizette said 3." Susan shifted from one foot to the other. "Gotta pee. Open… open… open…"
Finally, the elevator doors opened on the 6th floor and Susan hurried to the bathroom. Penelope stood outside the door, holding the crutches. She pretended to be on her cell when Susan came out.
"Ok, I'll make sure we get that. Bye." She turned to Susan. "Emily says there's a packet in a file cabinet in the conference room with the worker's comp info in it. You'll have to take that with you and Spencer, to the doctor tomorrow, since his injuries happened on the job."
"Injuries? crap—uh… sure. No problem. I can still drive, but I'll need someone else to pull the seat up in his SUV. Well, I did want him to spend more time at home before the baby's born. File this under, be careful what you ask for, right?" She laughed nervously. "I hope he's not hurt too badly. Taking care of him and a newborn is gonna be tough. Thankfully, I'll have the night nurse for the baby. Maybe I can pay a few students from the nursing program to help."
They walked into the bullpen and up the back way, near the kitchen area, to the conference room. Garcia had closed blinds when she left earlier. Everything was ready.
Penelope went up the steps, and into the room, turning on the light as Susan followed.
She gasped. "Wha—?" The walls and table, festooned with pink decorations, and a pile of presents on the couch by the window, meant a surprise baby shower. On a pink tablecloth, a white cake, with pastel roses and a plastic stork on top, a pink paper bundle dangling from his beak.
Penelope hugged her. "Surprise!"
"Okay… you got me. Is Spencer in on this too? I take it he's okay?"
"He has no idea… and he's fine. Ooh… I'm so glad that's over. I'm not good at lying." She set the crutches by the couch as Susan sat down. Her cellphone rang once. "They'll be here… in a minute."
The team strolled right through the bullpen while Spencer stopped by his desk, picking up the handset to call Susan.
Emily paused next to him. "I said I need everyone in the conference room, for a quick debriefing."
"Give me a minute?" He started punching in Susan's number.
"It will only take two minutes… then you can go home early."
That did it for him. He set the phone down and followed. As he entered the room, everyone else was waiting for him, including Susan, who had gotten up from the couch. He chuckled as he slid his arm around her, holding her against his side. "Were you in on this?"
Susan shook her head. "No, I'm just as surprised as you are, Love. Penelope and I got here a couple of minutes ago." She leaned against him, sliding her hand over his back.
"This is nice, thank you all," Spencer told Susan that his cellphone and tablet disappeared as Matt opened his backpack, setting both on the table.
Emily stepped up next to Spencer. "We had to figure out a way to get those away from you, without ruining the surprise."
"Thank you." He chuckled. "This was a complete surprise." Picking up his tablet, he put it back in his bookbag and tucked the cell phone into his pocket.
Garcia handed him a container. "This is for both of you."
"Chocolate chip cookies? For me? Thanks!"
"And there's cake…"
Since the nursery already had baby furniture, the team gifted Spencer and Susan with a wide assortment of adorable baby girl clothes, a combination stroller, baby carrier, and car seat, as well as several boxes of diapers. Spencer picked up one, reading the front.
"192 diapers? That should last…"
Matt and JJ both finished his sentence at the same time. "About two weeks." Everyone else chuckled at the look of surprise on Spencer's face.
Emily and Penelope had coordinated with Lizette, to cut down on the number of duplicate gifts, since she was throwing a baby shower the following Saturday, at the rec center. Susan and Spencer knew about that one; this one took them both by surprise...
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A/N
THIS was a fun chapter to write. I hope everyone enjoyed it. 5 chapters and an Epilogue to go (in S&B) and 14 in Side Stories.
Let me ask all of you this: Are you reading Side Stories too? There are 7 chapters in between S&B Chapter 71 and the Epilogue. Do you want to read all the chapters in order? Or read the rest (Side Stories chapters) after I post the Epilogue and read them as flashbacks? Please let me know. This is important.
Coming up, Chapter 67 - No Baby... Yet.
