Erin tried to stay as quiet as possible when she left the bathroom stall. She had heard Agent Jareau rush in moments after she had finished her own business in the bathroom, and she didn't want to call attention to the fact that she was now listening to the young woman throw up. This was the fourth time that week alone that Erin had crossed paths with the young woman in the restroom, and she remembered that feeling quite well. And since Aaron hadn't informed her that anyone on his team was currently pregnant, that could only mean that Agent Jareau had not told him about her pregnancy yet.
A part of her understood that reticence, she knew that Aaron and Agent Morgan would treat Agent Jareau differently once it became common knowledge. And while David might try to pull that same behaviour, she would make certain that he didn't treat her with kid gloves. After all, Agent Jareau was quite young and healthy, so the pregnancy wouldn't affect her job performance until she was much further along. Still, a soft smile crossed her lips as she touched her own stomach in longing. Though she hadn't told anyone this, her heart's desire was to give David a child of his own, even though he treated Elise like she was his biological child. But as she approached her fiftieth birthday, she knew that that was almost an entirely ridiculous pipedream. It was still a nice one to have, though.
Washing her hands, she gave her reflection another soft smile before leaving the restroom and heading back to her office, unsurprised to see David there, waiting for her. "Is everything all right, stellina?" he asked as she closed the door and went over to her couch, taking a seat.
Nodding a little, she patted the space next to her and gave him a pained look. "I am perfectly all right, just a little worried about you heading out Boston for some reason. Also…"
Her voice trailed off as she rested her head on his shoulder, staring at the coffee table in front of her as she tried to put her thoughts into words. "What is it?"
"It might turn out to be nothing, as I don't know how far along she is, but I believe that Agent Jareau is going to have a baby in the near future. Obviously, she's not far enough into the pregnancy for her to tell Aaron, or maybe she doesn't want to tell him yet, but it's something that I need you to do two things about."
"And that would be?" he asked as he dropped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her body close to his chest before dropping a quick kiss to the crown of her head.
"Do not treat her with kid gloves. There was a reason that I waited to let the Director know when I was pregnant with Bruce, as I felt like everyone was hovering over me, certain that I was going to just go into premature labor at the drop of a pin. I didn't need that treatment with my oldest two children. It was only Tabitha and Elise where I needed to take extra precautions. Given that Agent Jareau is a good decade younger than I was when I went through my first pregnancy."
He nodded before tightening his hand around her shoulder, squeezing it gently. "And your second thing?"
Erin chuckled as she turned towards him, letting her right hand splay out on his chest. "I want you to not tell Aaron about my supposition. We have to let Jennifer tell the team when she's ready, otherwise she'll never trust anyone on the team again. Even if it becomes obvious that she's pregnant, if she hasn't told anyone, don't say a word."
"And if I slip up?"
"I think that you can keep it quiet. After all, we've kept a far larger secret quiet from our families for three years now." A rough silence fell over the room, and she let out a deep sigh as she tried to get control of her emotions. "I really think like we're getting to the point where we have to just come clean with everyone. Penelope already knows the truth, even though I didn't come right out and say the truth, just intimated that her thoughts were true. I don't like holding on to this secret any longer."
"I don't like it either, but I don't think that right now is the best time to tell Hotch. Haley served him with divorce papers recently, and while he pretends that he's fine, I can tell that it's bothering him more than he's letting on. I just don't want to pile on more changes to the status quo with him right now."
"Oh, you didn't tell me that. Of course we'll wait, then." Erin pushed away from his chest so that she could look into his eyes. "Just let me know when you think it would be a good time to talk to him and start revealing the truth to all of our friends and family will be. This guilt that I'm carrying around is threatening to swallow me whole."
He nodded before glancing over at the door, a tender smile on his lips as he leaned in and kissed her sweetly. "I will do that."
"Thank you. And please, both of you, stay safe in Boston. Elise needs both of her daddies." David nodded before giving her another quick kiss. "Now go, I'm certain that Aaron wants to be underway, since it will take a while to drive to the airfield."
"Forty minutes if Hotch drives, but if I can snag the keys, then we should make it in thirty or less."
"I did not need to hear that, darling. Go, before I really have the chance to think about your little admission, and make certain that Aaron drives to the airfield."
David chuckled as he nodded, rising to his feet before giving her a small wave and leaving her office. Letting out a soft sigh, she got to her feet and went over to her desk, taking a seat in her chair before spinning it around to her computer and booting it up. While she waited for it to start, Erin looked over at the picture of her children, smiling at their faces as she listened to the sounds of her computer waking up for the day. Soon, she was starting to go through her emails, replying to everything as she went through them one by one. Though she knew that David preferred to let them build up before he responded, she could never be like that. Once that was taken care of, she began to pull together the data for the meeting with all the other section chiefs, knowing that she was still under scrutiny for all the rogue things that Alpha team had done lately. Even though she had tried to get David to help her rein the rest of the team in, there were still a few questionable happenings that she knew would be brought up in the meeting in an effort for the other departments to try and get better funding.
"I hate being good at politics," she muttered as she continued to compile the necessary data that would make the meeting go quicker. She didn't want to be in it any longer than she had to, not when she had to worry about so many other little fires at work and at home. She just hoped that the time her fiancé and Aaron spent in Boston would pass quickly, so that she could be with him once more.
