Chapter 10: Surprise
Its been two days and they are closing up the case. They will be spending the rest of today in Houston and then will fly home tomorrow afternoon. Penelope's phone rings, "Hello?" she answers.
"Is this Penelope Garcia?" the woman on the phone asks.
"Yes this is her. Can I help you?" she replies.
"Yes Ms. Garcia, this is Nurse Nora from Dr. Sheets office and I just wanted to remind you of your appointment this afternoon at 3pm. Will you still be able to make that time?" she asks.
Garcia takes a look at the clock, it's 1 p.m. "Sure I'll be there. See you guys shortly," she finally answers. Crap she thought, I need to call Hotch and let him know that I'll be out of the office briefly. She pulls out her phone and dials is number.
"Hotchner," he answers.
"Hey Boss Man, it's me. I just wanted to let you know I have a checkup today at 3 p.m. that I need to go to. They said they want to do a full work up to make sure I'm 100% healed. Are you okay with me going?" She asks.
"Absolutely Penelope, you need to take care of yourself. Let me know what they say," he says kindly.
"Thank your Sir. And one other thing, can you not tell Derek that I'm going? He told me he doesn't want me going to any appointments alone," She begged.
"Will do," he responds and hangs up.
"Was that Garcia?" Derek asks.
"Yes," Hotch answers brisqely.
"What did she want?" Derek presses.
"She said she wanted to go get something to eat, but didn't want to leave us in the middle of a case if we needed her. I told her to go take care of herself. She is fine Morgan, no need to worry," he assured him. Morgan looked like he wanted to press further, but the look Hotch gave him said to let it go. He decided to let it go for now. He could always call and verify with Garcia later.
"Penelope Garcia," the nurse said calling for the next patient. "Nice to see you Ms. Garcia. How are you?" the nurse chatted with her.
"I'm doing well, just here for a check up, healing nicely," she responded politely. The nurse escorted her into the room where the doctor was waiting for her.
"Hello, Ms. Garcia. Great to see you again. I just want to do a thorough follow up with your ribs to make sure you have healed nicely. Can you lift your shirt for me to take a look?" Dr. Sheets asked nicely. She obliged immediately. "These look great. Not much bruising left and they dont appear to be overly tender," he stated while prodding at them gently. "Any other issues or concerns lately?" he asked her nicely.
"The only thing I've been confused by lately is dizzy spells, but I don't think that has anything to do with my rib issue. It could just be the stress of being on long calls again," she replies.
"Why don't we run some blood work just to make sure nothing else is going on?" he asks her. She nods her head. "I'll just go grab our nurse and have them come back and draw some labs on you. I'll be back as soon as I have the results."
Its been 45 mins since the labs were drawn and Penelope finds herself getting impatient. She has read three magazines and has scrolled Facebook for the fifth time. She's getting impatient because she needs to get back to work before Derek realizes that she is gone. There is a knock at her door and Dr. Sheets walks back into the room. "Sorry for the wait Ms. Garcia. I wanted to make sure we ran full lab panels on you after the trauma that you had been through. Can you tell me when the last time you were assualted was?" the doctor asks her.
"We'll it was the day we got back from Alaska. Obviously you know about the injuries from Alaska since Doctor Lopez referred me to you for a follow up, but my ex hit me a time or two in the same place the day we returned, but that's been six or so weeks ago," she responds confused. "Is something wrong?" she asks him carefully.
"Ms. Garcia, I'm sure this isn't something I want you to relive, but I need you to answer me honestly. Were you sexually assualted when you were attacked?" he asks carefully.
"Doctor I'm not sure why this is relevant, but its been almost 8 weeks since we were intimate," she answers honestly.
"Ms. Garcia, it appears from your bloodwork that you are pregnant. Are you okay with us doing an ultrasound to determine how far along you are?" he asks.
Penelope's heart plummits into her stomach. She can't believe she is pregnant. What if it is his? "I'll do it,"she cries.
The doctor pulls the ultrasound machine into her room and begins the exam. It doesn't take him long to find the baby on the monitor. After taking some measurements he addresses her, "Ms. Garcia it appears that you are six weeks pregnant. Are you sure you haven't been intimate with him since eight weeks ago?" he presses.
"Dr. Sheets, I have been intimate, but it wasn't with Kevin. I've recently started a relationship with Agent Morgan. You're sure its only six weeks and not eight?" she questions again for confirmation.
"Guaranteed the baby is only six weeks. It's not his Ms. Garcia... you don't need to worry. Here is a prescription for prenatal vitamins, a list of foods and items to avoid, and a copy of an ultrasound photo. Make an appointment with your OBGYN in the next few weeks please," he says nochalantly. She is in shock and is unable to respond so instead she nods, grabs the information he is holding her, and grabs her purse to leave.
She drives back to the office and sends Hotch a text:
Just made it back to work. Thanks for giving me the time to go.
Can we meet up when you get back?
It seems like forever when the text comes back in even though it's only been five minutes:
Sure. Everything okay?
He has to know she's pregnant. Derek will flip out when he finds out. He will worry so much more about here then.
Yes. Just need to talk to you soon.
Before she knows it, her phone is lit up with Hotch's face on it. "Penelope, are you okay?" he asks concerned.
"Yes Sir, I didn't want to do this by phone, but I know that I'm mandated to turn in my medical reports to you and I didn't want you to just read them. Sir, I just found out I'm pregnant," she rushes to get the words out of her mouth.
"Garcia forgive me for being direct, but can you confirm if this is a good thing or a bad thing?" he questions carefully.
"Sir, it isn't Kevin's. It's Morgan's. I need to tell him when he's back, but I didn't want you to read it before I had the chance to tell you. I apologize it isn't in person," she says.
"In that case Garcia, I am so excited for you. Sorry to cut this conversation short, but I'm no longer alone. We are boarding the plane and we will be home shortly," he responds before he hangs up.
She wants to go home, but then she doesn't want to have to face Morgan with this tonight. She decides instead to curl up on the couch in her office and take a nap. This will prevent her mind from going crazy while she waits for them to make it home.
"Hotch are you gonna tell me what's going on?" Morgan demands.
"Morgan, all I'm going to tell you is that one you need to talk to Garcia, and two that she isn't in any harm. Anything other than that I can't help you with," Hotch says dismissively.
Luckily the flight is only fifteen minutes longer. He has only 30 mins until he gets to see her, hold her, touch her. She wouldn't answer his calls today and that has him even more concerned. What could she have gotten into in the last few days? Hotch swears that she isn't in any danger so it can't be anything to do with Kevin. Not knowing has to be worse than knowing. His mind can't do nothing but wander about what could possibly be wrong.
He feels a thud and realizes the plane is landing on the runway. All that's left between him and Garcia is the fifteen minute ride back to the office. He climbs down the stairs of the jet and jumps into the driver's seat of one of the SUVs. Once JJ and Reid are inside, Morgan throws the car in drive and takes off. "What's wrong Morgan? Why are we going so fast?" JJ starts questioning.
"Garcia called Hotch earlier. He wouldn't tell me why she called. She actually called him twice and wouldn't answer any of my calls today. She's avoiding me and I want to know why," he responds agitated.
The SUV pulls into a spot in the office parking lot. He jumps out and runs for the stairs deciding to skip the elevator. He heads straight to Penelope's office where he finds her asleep on her couch. He kneels down beside her and gives her a gentle kiss on her lips. She begins to stir and with just a moment her eyes open and stare right into his. "Hey Baby Girl. We made it home. I just wanted to let you know that we are home safe. How was today?" he says to her while he strokes her arm gently.
She bites her lip for a second, but decides she needs to just get it off of her chest. She pulls herself into a sitting position. "Derek, we need to talk. Have a seat," she says while patting the seat next to her. Derek grabs her hand and then sits down beside her. He turns so that they are looking directly at each other. "I don't know how to say this so I'm going to just come right out and tell you. Please don't freak out on me. Everything will be fine," she says nervously. "Derek... I'm pregnant," she says finally.
He sits there and stares at her trying to figure out what to say next. "Penelope, how far along are you?" he asks carefully. "Is it his Penelope?" A tear slides down his face as he prepares to hear the worst.
"Oh Derek, no. Don't cry honey. I'm six weeks. We're pregnant sweetie. It's ours," she cries to him. Without another word he wraps her in his arms. He holds her close to his chest and slides one hand down to her stomach and leaves it there.
"I'm so happy. I can't believe you're going to be a mother and I'm going to be a father. I can't wait to share it with all our friends and family," he exclaimed.
"Hot Stuff that's the thing. I think we should keep it quiet for a while. If Kevin finds out it might motivate him to come back after me sooner. I think it would be safer to wait as long as we can," she explains to him.
"That's true baby. Let's keep this as quiet as we can. I'll keep you safe. I'll keep you both safe I promise," he says the fear leaving his body. He will do anything he can to keep them both safe no matter what that means.