Ariel's P.O.V.

Something felt… different. Like pins and needles covering every inch of my skin, bordering right on the edge of pain.

"What's going on?" I asked Amelia as she walked over to me. Her eyes were rimmed in red, like she had just finished crying, or was about to begin.

"You're waking up." she said. "That's good. You'll see that husband of yours again, and your baby."

"But I won't see you." I realized, and Amy nodded.

"Do me a favor, kiddo." she requested. "If your baby is a girl - don't name her after me. I wasn't exactly the best model to live up to, y'know?" then she smirked. "Besides, I think I'll be fine with you just telling the kid bedtime stories about their Aunt Amy."

I laughed at that, but my mood quickly darkened. If this was the last chance that I would get to see my sister, I was going to make it count. "I just want you to know…" my vision was starting to fade, and everything was going white. "I love you, Amelia…" I whispered.

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Spencer's P.O.V.

I waited, my heart in my throat as the doctors worked to bring Ariel out of the drug-induced coma that they had put her in. I didn't even realize that I was pacing up and down the hallway until Finn came over and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Hey g-man, just relax." he told me softly. "It isn't gonna help the mermaid if you're hyperventilating."

I didn't like it, but I had to admit he had a point. "I'm just scared, Finn." I admitted. "This has made me realize just what a horrible place this world is."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "This is what made you realize that?" he asked. "Not your job?"

I shot him a dirty look. "You know what I mean." I said, and he laughed - although I had a feeling that the laughter was meant for the look I gave him, instead of what I was saying. "I just never realized… we see so much crap every day, you know? And I guess I just never realized that people with no intent can do just as much damage as those who intend to do damage. A drunk driver who doesn't stop after hitting someone with their car can do just as much damage as some psycho with a knife."

Finn nodded, and as I saw the pain in his eyes, I knew that he understood what I meant.

That was when a doctor came over to us. "Ariel Reid?" she asked, and I hurried over, with the rest of the gang following along behind me.

"Yes?" I asked. "How is she?

There was a tense moment when she didn't say anything, but then she smiled. "She's fine. Should be waking up any moment now." she said, and I didn't hear what she said next due to the pure relief that washed over me like a wave.

Luckily Finn and Lee were standing there, listening to her for me. The team wasn't there, because they had all been called out on a case, so it was just family there.

"Can I see her?" I asked.

The doctor smiled and nodded. "I don't see why not. Just don't get her too excited - she's going to get tired very easily at first."

Kat and Gabe walked over just in time to hear the last bit of what the doctor said. "Yeah, doc." Gabe said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "So no wild monkey sex for at least a week or two." He grunted in pain as Kat punched his side in response to his comment.

The doctor tried to hide her blush as she led us to the room where my wife was waiting.

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I was sitting right next to her when she started to move in the hospital bed.

"Amelia…" she whispered, and I would have been confused if I gave myself time to think about it. Instead, I pushed it to the back of my mind to think about later on, choosing to concentrate on my wife.

"Ariel?" I asked softly, grabbing ahold of her hand. "Can you hear me?"

She groaned and turned her head away from me, making me laugh even as tears of relief ran down my face. "Oh yeah, she's fine." Gabe said dryly. It was a well-known fact that my wife was even less of a morning person than I was, and it usually took several cups of industrial-strength coffee just to get her out of bed and into the shower.

She turned her head again - in my direction this time - as her eyes fluttered open.

"Hey there handsome." she said, her voice barely more than a hoarse whisper. "Miss me?"

I smiled before pulling her into a hug - or at least, as close as I could get to a hug with all of the IV lines and monitors in the way. "More than you could imagine." I said softly.

8888

Ariel's P.O.V.

"Hey guys." I said weakly, smiling at the rest of our family. Spencer had been quick to reassure me that his team would be there as soon as they could, but that it might be a while since they were out on a case.

I was about to ask how long I had been out, when I saw something that basically answered my question for me.

"Holy shit." I breathed, looking at my stomach - more specifically, the large baby bump that I was now sporting. It had practically doubled in size.

"You've been out for around a month, mei-mei." Kat said softly from where she sat next to the bed. Gabe sat next to her, with Finn and Lee on the other side of the bed. Spence had reluctantly joined me on the bed - only after I threatened to get out of the bed if he didn't.

"So everyone knows about the baby now?" I asked, somewhat unnecessarily.

My husband nodded as he smoothed a hand over my belly. "They found out when they came to visit you." he told me.

I smiled, although I was slightly disappointed. I had planned an entertaining way of them all finding out, but maybe I could still figure out a way to use it… but my plotting and planning was put aside when I saw the look in my husband's eye. He had felt the need at every stage of my pregnancy so far to let me know exactly how the baby was doing, along with how far it had developed so far.

You're twenty weeks along." he informed me. "The baby's about ten and a half ounces, and six and a half inches long."

I cooed softly, just as Spencer gasped, stopping his hand on my belly. "What's wrong, killer?" I asked him.

"I just felt a kick." he said softly, and then laughed a second later as we both felt it.

"Doesn't that bother you?" he asked. "I mean… doesn't it feel weird?"

I laughed. "No, of course it doesn't." I told him. "Why, does it freak you out?"

He nodded. "Very much so."

I tried to just laugh it off - I knew that he didn't mean anything by it, it was just another one of my husband's quirks, but it still hurt. He must've noticed, though, because he smiled softly before kissing my forehead. "Don't worry." he said softly. "I'll get used to it, just give me time."

I smiled back, drawing in the scent of him that I had missed like crazy - coffee, old books, and his vanilla shampoo… only that wasn't what he smelled like. I pulled back and smirked up at him.

"Spence," I drawled out slowly. "Have you been using my shampoo?"

He blushed slightly. "I missed you." was his only response, and I couldn't help but pull him in for a kiss after that.

8888

The guys had left to go get food, leaving Kat and I behind. We were just sitting there in awkward silence, which never really happened before.

"I like the new color." I offered, motioning to her hair. "It looks good on you."

Kat gave me a small smile. "Three years is a long time for one hair color."

She pushed a lock of green hair behind her ear and just studied the ground. I was starting to get worried - Kat was never this quiet.

"I'm so sorry." she blurted out suddenly.

I looked at her, confused. "Sorry for what?"

"You had asked me to go with you, remember?" she said quickly, like she was afraid that if she talked any slower, the words wouldn't come out. "But I said no. If I had come with you -"

I cut her off, realizing where she was going with this. "Kat, do you really believe that you could've stopped this from happening?" I asked, and actually managed a slight laugh when she nodded. "Well, I'm pretty sure that you couldn't have. But just in case, your punishment is this: you must fill me in on everything that happened while I was out. And I do mean everything."

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"So when can I leave?" I asked after a few hours of catching up with everyone. Penelope had joined us about an hour after I woke up, and thirty minutes after that I was sitting up in the bed under my own power.

For some reason, that had everyone looking nervously at each other, before Lee answered. "The doctors said you have to stay for at least a week, maybe two."

I just sat there in stunned silence for a minute before I reacted. "Oh hell no."

A/N~ Alright! We've reached the halfway point in Ariel's pregnancy, and to be honest, I never really expected to get this far. So thank you to all of you who have read, followed, favourited, or reviewed. You are the ones that keep me writing.

Thank you to ahowell1993, Momochan77, tannerose5, tlcroft, and ripon for their reviews!