Erin had been consciously avoiding talking to Aaron in his office for the last three weeks, since she still hadn't told Alan about her pregnancy. Now that she was nearly out of the first trimester, though, she knew that it would have to be soon, since she was already starting to show and he would start asking questions about her weight gain and why her breasts were so sore lately. Still, with Ms. Jareau out sick, she had to venture there to take him the new cases.

Glancing at her clock, she saw that it was still early, which meant that she could afford to take time in order to center herself before she had to be in close contact with him. "I brought you your oatmeal and a strawberry smoothie, Erin. I know that you've been struggling this last week with the morning sickness, so I did a little digging on the internet to find some things that would soothe your stomach and maybe allow you to keep some of this down. And I can run those files to Agent Hotchner if you want me to. I know that things are rather fraught between the two of your still, and I don't want you to be placed under further stress, especially since you're not out of the first trimester just yet."

She looked up at Helen, giving her a soft smile as she took the cup and food from her hands. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Helen. You didn't sign on for taking care of me."

"I'm your assistant, it's part of my job. Those files?"

Erin shook her head as she took a sip of the smoothie, finding it soothing on her throat. "No, that's my responsibility, and I have to learn how to face him. After all, it would look odder if I avoided him totally, since we're supposed to have a decent working relationship. I'd rather keep as much heat off us as possible, so that no one gets suspicious. After all, we all know that this is Alan's baby, even if I haven't found a way to tell him the wonderful news yet."

The smile on her lips wobbled a little as Helen nodded, the sympathy on her face almost overwhelming. "Of course, Erin. Just know that I'm here for you, no matter what."

"David told me the same thing, actually. I am so glad to have found people who want to be protective of me, even when I made such a massive mistake."

Helen cocked her head to one side as she frowned. "We all make mistakes in life. If I castigated you for this, you'd have to hold my feet to the fire for every time that I messed up. This world would be a much better place if we could give each other a lot more grace."

"Truer words, Helen." She popped the lid off her oatmeal and began to stir it with the spoon before digging in. This was exactly what she needed in that moment, and she gave her assistant a warm smile before shooing her off. As she consumed her second breakfast that morning, Erin felt her stomach begin to settle a little as the anxiety left her system. This had to go well this morning, since she had to act like everything was normal.

Finally, her food was gone, and she knew that she couldn't avoid interacting with Aaron any longer. Letting out a deep sigh, she picked up the cases that she felt needed the most urgent attention of his team, and squared her shoulders as she sailed her way out of her office, sparing a shaky smile for Helen as she passed her desk. "I just have to keep my cool," she whispered as she made her way down the hall and then into the bullpen. Thankfully, it appeared that everyone was busy at their desks, which made her feel a little less conspicuous as she climbed up the stairs and made her way to Aaron's office.

His door was closed, but the light was on, so she took a deep breath as she raised her hand and knocked firmly, as she usually would. "Enter!"

She opened the door, taking care not to close it, since that would look inappropriate, and crossed over to her desk. "Since Ms. Jareau is still out sick, I took the liberty of looking through the oncoming cases and selecting three that I felt needed our attention the quickest. I put them in order from most pressing to least pressing of these three, and I know that you'll use your discretion to see where you team can be of the most help."

"You didn't need to do that, Erin. I would have been fine selecting the next case for us to assist with."

"Still, as your supervisor, I need to keep on top of what's going on with my team. How, how is Haley doing?" she ventured to ask, wanting to alleviate some of the rising guilt in her chest.

"She's doing well." A guilty look flashed across his face, and she wondered what that expression was about. "Look, you should know something. I, I couldn't keep what happened between us a secret from her any longer, but I also couldn't tell her face to face, so I wrote her a letter this morning, telling her everything."

Erin felt the blood drain from her face as his words seeped into her brain. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I told Haley that we slept together and that you're having my baby, too. She deserved to know. I don't like lying to people, Erin. Ever."

"I, I told you. This is Alan's baby. I'm just waiting until we're out of the first trimester to tell him, since my last pregnancy was so rocky." She knew that she was scrambling around for a way to calm her spirit as she thought about how she would react if she had received such a letter from her husband. She knew that she would be furious with Alan, and also with the woman he had slept with, and her head began to swim as she considered the implications.

Just as he was about to respond to her lie, they both heard a commotion out in the bullpen, and Erin's head turned quickly, too quickly, to look out the doorway, catching sight of a furious blonde woman storming over to the staircase, calling out Aaron's name. "I didn't plan on this."

"On what? Your wife being rightfully furious at us for breaking the vows of your marriage? Or her being furious that you think you got me pregnant? Which of those things did you not plan on?" she hissed out, feeling her stomach start to roil as hot saliva began to fill her mouth, indicating that she was close to throwing up.

"No, I didn't plan on her showing up here."

"I can see that that bitch is in your office, Aaron! Are you laughing about how you fucked over me and our unborn child? Or are you gloating to her about how you managed to get two women pregnant at the same time?"

Haley's voice cut through the air like nothing Erin had ever heard before in the bullpen, and she shuddered a little as she rose to her feet, looking about anxiously for a way to escape the rapidly devolving situation. "There's only one door, Erin."

Aaron's voice sounded so far away, even as she noticed that he had come up to her side, and she slowly turned her head back to the door as Haley appeared in it, looking like a wrathful angel. "Isn't this…precious," she said venomously, and Erin weaved a little on her feet as a growing blackness invaded her eyes. The last thing she knew was the feel of large, warm, hands reaching out to catch her as she fainted.