Elle Greenaway had been with Alpha team for five weeks, and while it appeared that she was a good fit for the team, things hadn't gotten easier between Erin and Jason. Instead, the situation seemed even more fraught, and she knew that the stress and worry on her body was not good for her little girl. But she couldn't think of a way to make things better between them, short of a total personality transplant for one of them. Letting out a deep sigh, she signed off on the report in front of her before tugging off her reading glasses and dropping them on top of it as she pushed herself away from her desk and stretched out on her sofa.
"I had forgotten how tired pregnancy makes me, little one," she cooed softly as she rubbed her stomach absently. "Thank goodness I have an understanding boss who doesn't mind my taking naps while I'm here, so long as all my work gets done. I don't know what I'd do otherwise." A long yawn split her lips as she pulled the blanket off the back of her couch, spreading it over her body as she turned onto her side and let her eyelids flutter closed as she slid into a quick, deep, sleep.
"Sir, I can't let you go in there without either an appointment or finding out if she's free!"
Erin frowned as she burrowed down further into the couch, trying to ignore the raised voice of her assistant, still feeling a bone deep weariness, even as wakefulness began to eat at the fuzzy corners of her brain. "She'll see me."
Her frown deepened as she recognized Jason's voice, and before she could sit up and make herself look more presentable, he was bursting into her office. "I told you, Agent Gideon, I need to announce you before you just barge in there!" Turning her head a little, she watched Helen try to keep Jason out of her office, but he brushed past her to see where Erin was, a quick glare passing across his features when he saw that she was curled up on the sofa. "Do you want me to get security, ma'am?"
"No, I think that we'll be fine. Let David know that I might be late in calling him, though, please."
"Of course," Helen murmured, giving her a small nod before leaving the office, not closing the door behind her like she normally would. She was beginning to admire her assistant's protective nature more and more as her pregnancy continued.
Turning her face to focus back on Jason, she gestured for him to take a seat next to her on the sofa as she sat up and wrapped the blanket around her legs, finding herself cold, like she normally was after waking up. "What can I do for you, Jason?"
"Well, first of all, you can tell me why you think it's appropriate to sleep on the job. Does Director Shepperd know about this?"
She straightened her shoulders and looked imperiously down her nose at him. "When my obstetrician labelled my pregnancy extremely high risk, I went right to the Director and informed him that I would have to take a few rests during the work day. Not that that's any of your business, though. I don't report to you, and your thinly veiled attempts to threaten and bully me will not go unnoticed. While I might not want to make a fuss, I can't say the same for my partner. Remember David, one of your closest friends?"
Jason blanched a little as he nodded. "I do. Is he doing well?"
"Why don't you talk to him yourself, Agent Gideon."
They both turned to see Helen standing in the doorway of the office, and Erin gave her a relieved smile. "Is he on the phone?"
"Yes, ma'am, line two. And he specifically requested to speak with Agent Gideon before he spoke with you. I hope you don't mind the interruption, sir." Helen fixed a cool smile on her face as she stared Jason down, and Erin felt herself relax a little as she absently rubbed her stomach. "Feel free to use the phone in here, or in my office, Agent Gideon, but know that Mister Rossi would like to speak with you sooner rather than later."
Jason gave her another small glare as he rose to his feet and ambled over to her desk, sitting on the corner of it as he picked up the receiver and pressed the correct line. As they listened to his side of the conversation, Helen came over to her side and sank down onto the arm of the couch, her eyes never really leaving Jason's face as he spoke. At some point, her hand came to rest on Erin's shoulder, and she glanced up at her assistant, giving her a small smile as she sighed. "Thank you for calling him. I don't know what Jason's motives were for coming here this morning, but I was not in the mood to deal with any of this today. I am just so tired."
"You looked tired when you came in today. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No, I just got behind on my paperwork, I'll probably have David help me when I get home tonight. This was what happened last time, too, it's just started earlier in this pregnancy. Which makes sense." Letting out a long breath, she pressed her hands against her baby bump and turned her attention back to Jason, listening to him wrap up the conversation, his expression a deep glower as he stared at her.
"He wants to talk to you, Erin."
She nodded as she awkwardly got to her feet, doing her best to walk as elegantly as possible, knowing that her expanding girth made that not as possible as she'd like. Taking the receiver from his hand, she brought it up to her ear as she shooed him from the office, giving him a tight smile at the small nod he gave her before he stalked from the room, Helen close at his heels, closing the door behind her. "Darling."
"Erin. He's mad."
"I rather gathered that. Did he tell you why?"
"Just that he doesn't think I'm the father of your baby based on a few things that Aaron has said offhandedly while out on cases. I told him that there was no way that was true, but he didn't seem to buy it."
"Great. That's exactly what I need at this point in my pregnancy. Oh god, David, I have so much left to do today, and I'm bringing work home, and I just want to sleep the rest of the day away. I don't think that anything is wrong with the pregnancy, I just think I'm coming down with a summer cold."
"Take another nap, have Helen wake you in forty minutes, and get back to it. I'll run lunch by for all three of us, and should be there just after you get back to work. We'll have a working lunch, and I'll help you get through as much of the backlog as we can until it's time for me to pick up the kids."
"Have I told you that I love you, David Rossi?"
"Not in the last hour, no. But I love you, too, stellina. Rest, and we'll work together when I get there." She nodded, and they wrapped up their call before she hung up the phone and padded back over to the sofa, carefully sinking down on it and wrapping herself back up in her blanket before quickly falling back asleep, glad that David would be there soon to help her.