"Where am I?"
Those three words rocketed Penelope out of her sleep and she sat up with a start, looking at Erin's face. Her blue eyes were trying to focus on Penelope and she smiled as she started to cry. "Dave, Dave, wake up!"
He did so more slowly, stretching and cracking his back. "What is…Erin!" He enveloped her in a tight hug and she looked at Penelope in bewilderment.
"Would one of you kindly let me in on what is happening here? The last thing I remember is being in the car with Alison and her family, headed up to the cabin. Am I in the hospital?"
Penelope nodded. "There was a really bad car accident," she began when Jill bustled into the room. "Jill! Look who's awake, and on Christmas morning!"
"It's Christmas already?" Erin asked as Jill began to take her vitals. She nodded and Erin frowned, tears dimming her eyes. "But it was Friday just a little while ago."
"And you've been in a coma since then. We weren't sure if you were going to wake up or not, cara."
As she watched, Erin's hands fluttered down to her stomach. "And the baby?"
"Our baby didn't make it." She nodded, the first tears slipping down her face. Penelope took hold of her hand once more, squeezing tightly. "We'll try again, now that we know you can get pregnant…"
Erin pulled away from David, carefully turning on her side to face Penelope. "Maybe I don't want to try again. Maybe I wanted that baby."
This was not how Penelope had imagined things happening, once Erin had woken up. Sighing, she opened her arms to the woman, letting her burrow into her. Penelope rubbed her back slowly as Jill made her way out of the room. "Honey, I know this is a shock to you, but we have other news to tell you. Are you up to listening?"
Erin nodded slightly against her. "Yes, please, tell me."
"Your son in law didn't survive the accident, either. Alison is three floors above you, recovering from major surgery, but she's going to be fine in time. And Iris made it through without a scratch on her. We've been taking care of her while Alison got a little stronger. They'll be down to see you later today."
Erin sighed and shuddered a little as she tightened her arms around Penelope. "I lost the baby. I couldn't protect it, and I never told David we were going to be parents. How is he going to love me after this?" she whispered in her ear and Penelope shook her head, locking eyes with David. Motioning to Erin with her head, she gently pushed the woman away so that she could look in her eyes.
"Erin, we have stayed by your side since the accident. If he didn't love you before this, he certainly does now. I have watched him sing to you, stroke your hair, call you back to us, without ever complaining about anything."
Slowly, she nodded, finally accepting Dave's arms around her. He got them sitting up, and then she was crawling up in his lap, nuzzling her face into his chest. "I was going to tell you about the baby today. It was going to be my last gift to you. And I destroyed that."
"The accident wasn't your fault, cara. It was the drunk driver that blew through the red light who caused this devastation. I'm just sorry he also died on impact." Penelope watched him kiss Erin's temple before fishing the ring box out of his pocket. "And this is more true than ever, my beloved. I want you by my side, forever and always. Move in with me, be my partner, my equal in all things, and accept this small token of my love."
Erin cautiously opened the box, her eyes focusing on what was inside. Gasping lightly, she looked up into his face, a wobbly smile on her lips. "Yes. Put this on me, now."
He laughed, a wonderful sound to Penelope's ears, and took the ring out, slipping it on her hand. While they kissed, she took out her phone, taking a quick photo of them before sending it to his phone, giving him another picture of them together.
A soft knock on the door had her looking up at Alison and Iris. She beckoned them in and took Iris from her arms so that she could carefully move herself from the wheelchair she was in to the bed next to her mother. "Mama!"
"Allie!" Erin disentangled herself from Dave's arms to hug her daughter close. "I heard about Lee. I'm so sorry, baby." She ran her fingers through her daughters hair as they cried together. Iris started fussing and Penelope bounced her lightly up and down, trying to comfort her. "Here, let me see my granddaughter."
Erin took Iris from Penelope, peppering her face with kisses. "Mommy!" Again, Penelope looked up at the doorway and saw Erin's other children there. "You're awake!" They rushed in and swarmed around them, chattering away happily. Penelope continued taking pictures, knowing that this was a day that should be memorialized, when Erin had returned to them.
Dave was all smiles as he watched his family interact, and Penelope hoped that she accurately captured that look in one of the pictures she took. Figuring she had gotten enough, she began to upload them to Facebook, wanting to share the joy with everyone else. Within moments, she was getting notifications of people liking the photo album and the encouraging comments they were leaving.
"So, making sure the outside world knows she's alive?" Dave asked teasingly and she nodded. "Thanks, Kitten."
"Not a problem, Dave." Sitting back in the chair, she watched them still interact. The feeling of love that was filling the room made her shiver and she couldn't stop the tears that were falling down her face. Her phone rang and she quickly answered. "Hello?"
"She's awake?"
"Yeah, Sugar. She actually woke me up this morning. I guess Christmas miracles still happen."
"Of course they do, Baby Girl. But what happens now?"
"Now, we get her strong enough to go home with Dave and they begin their lives together."
"She said yes, then?" she heard Hotch ask in the background, and she realized that they were together that morning. "Well, I know a good Christmas gift we can give them, then."
Penelope looked up at Dave and Erin, smiling impishly. "I think they would really appreciate the heavy lifting you would do. There's an extra key to his place in my office, along with all of yours. I think you know where they are, Hotch."
"Yes, I remember, Garcia. I'm glad this turned out to be such a happy Christmas for all of you. We'll see you soon."
"Of course!" She hung up and grinned happily at the scene before her. Dave got up and knelt on the floor next to her and she hugged him tightly. "Why is this seriously the best Christmas ever?"
"Because we got something that means more than things, we got a second chance. Erin woke up."
"Ah, yes." The kids stayed for another hour, until Erin yawns were too much to ignore, and they took Alison and Iris back up to her room. Penelope giggled a little as Erin tried to pull Dave up on the bed with her. "She hasn't been in your arms for five days, Dave. I would call it a lost cause and just get in bed with her. It's not like you can do anything here, you know."
"Oh, you'd be surprised, Kitten."
She blushed as Erin laughed richly before snuggling back into her lover. "Now Dave, leave the poor girl alone. I'm certain that she doesn't want to know about our vigorous love life."
"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that, cara. She knows about the garlic…"
Erin reached back to tiredly smack at his shoulder. "You told her that?"
"It just sort of slipped out, and she made the inference. No wonder you make such a good pair of friends, you both have gutter minds." Penelope pursed her lips, glaring at him. "That look doesn't work on me, Kitten. Erin wore it out."
"What else has she worn out?" she smartly replied, and Erin giggled once more, winking at her.
"Oh, that is it, I am so not approving of your friendship once we are out of this room. You're the one that's been giving her all these ideas!"
"Maybe." They giggled together and Dave just rolled his eyes, wrapping his arms around Erin's waist. They fell into an easy conversation until Jill came back in with Doctor Winchester.
"I waited until your children were gone to come in and check on you. Merry Christmas, Erin." He smiled warmly at her and began to proceed with an examination, going through a number of different exercises. "Everything looks perfect here, just as I hoped it would. Is there any lingering headaches or blurriness of vision?"
"Not that I've noticed, Doctor. Though it has only been a few hours since I woke up."
He nodded and made a few notes on the computer before leading Jill out with him. "So, how long do you think I'll be stuck in here?"
"I assume Doctor Winchester will tell us later today. I would plan on another day or two, at least, since they probably want to observe your recovery." Dave kissed her cheek lightly as she nodded, sighing.
"I just want to be home with you, in your arms…" Erin trailed off as she blushed deeply, looking at Penelope. "Though I would like it if you visited me, too, Penelope. I'm going to need your help recovering from this, I feel."
"Anything you need, I'll try and do. I'm just so glad that you're awake." She reached out for Erin's hand and the woman clasped it tightly.
"Thank you." She yawned once more, a smile spreading across her lips. "You would think that I wouldn't be tired after sleeping for so long. Yet here I am, ready to drop off again. Would you mind if I did?"
"No, honey, you need to get better, and if that makes you better, I'm all for it." Penelope squeezed her hand tightly as Erin closed her eyes, her face relaxing as she drifted off to sleep. "So, by the time we get out of here, Hotch and Morgan will have her things moved into your place. I may have arranged a Christmas surprise all my own."
Dave looked at her over Erin's shoulder. "That is so nice, Kitten. I know that she'll really appreciate this." He stretched and yawned. "I think I'm ready to join her, too. What a way to spend our Christmas, huh?"
"Well, it could be worse. Erin's awake, we got our Christmas miracle. Now, you go to sleep, and I'm going to crawl into the rollaway and take a short nap as well. And soon, we'll take her home and begin the recovery process."
He nodded and as Penelope watched, his eyes closed as he snuggled closer to Erin, his breathing evening out as he let himself sleep. Reluctantly, Penelope let go of Erin's hand and went over to her bed, crawling in. As she stretched out, she found that she couldn't sleep, so she pulled out her iPad and updated her Facebook before playing a few games.
Jill came in again to check on them, and Penelope smiled at her. "I'm so glad that you were able to get your miracle. From the sounds of things, Doctor Winchester is looking to release Erin on Thursday morning. We just have to see what tomorrow brings."
Penelope nodded eagerly before wrapping her arms around her leg, hugging it close to her chest. "That is really good news to hear, Jill. I just hate that you have to work on Christmas. Doesn't your family miss you?"
* She shook her head. "We went to Mass at midnight, and we'll open presents as soon as I'm off, in about three hours or so. You know, this really is one of the best parts of my job, getting to see the happy endings." The woman held out her hand, and Penelope shook it heartily, feeling an overwhelming joy fill her heart.
After making a few notes, Jill left the room and they were alone once more. Penelope hummed under her breath, finally starting to feel a bit tired. Rather than fall asleep, though, she powered through the heavy feeling, turning to watch Dave and Erin sleep. There was something so lovely about the picture that they presented, and she took another set of pictures of them, setting one as the background to her phone. She wanted to be reminded constantly of what love, true, abiding, love looked like, and that was the best way to do so.
Taking out her iPad, Penelope called up her new book, determined to get through a few more pages, only to see Erin stir. "Hey, I thought you wanted to sleep."
"I did, a little. But Davie needed to get some sleep, so I forced my eyes to close. I didn't say thank you, earlier, for taking care of Iris."
"It was nothing, Erin. She's an adorable little girl. How old is she?"
"One year, four months. I would have loved to add another baby to the family. I guess God's plan was something different for us."
Penelope nodded. "I could surrogate for you guys, if you wanted," she blurted out, before clapping her hand over her mouth, watching Erin's eyes widen.
"Really, you'd do that for us?" she asked lowly, gripping Dave's hand.
"Yes. I almost lost you, so this would be just a tiny, infinitesimal, fraction of a way to show how much I care for you and Dave."
"We'll have to talk about it, of course, and maybe wait a month or two…" Her voice trailed off as a dreamy smile curved across her lips. "You are an utterly amazing friend."
"I learned it from you," she teased lightly and Erin blushed. "So, would you tell me a little more about your family?"
"Of course, what would you like to know?"
"How about the story of your favorite vacation?"
Erin nodded and launched into a story of their first trip to the Grand Canyon and how Mark had begged and pleaded until she broke down and took the two of them on a helicopter ride over it. Penelope was enthralled by the stories spilling from her friend, and she settled in to listen to more, never wanting to hear her voice be silenced again.