Erin couldn't help but hear the commotion in the hallway as she was wrapping up her conversation with Helen. Giving her assistant a small frown, she turned and peeked her head outside the doorway in time to see Penelope guide Agent Jareau over to the elevators, Aaron following closely behind. "Ladies and gentlemen, we need you all to move, the newest little agent is about to be born!"

Erin rolled her eyes a little at the hyperbole, and she caught the fact that Aaron noticed the look, as he was giving her a small smirk. She dipped her chin a little as she blushed, turning on her heel and disappearing back into the outer office. "Just what is going on out there, Erin?"

She took a deep breath before gesturing towards her door. Helen nodded and followed her inside. As Erin took a seat behind her desk, she watched her assistant pull the chair closer to her, watching her with quizzical anticipation. "It appears that I was right, and Agent Jareau is going to be having her child. Today. They were barely home twenty four hours before she went into labor! Can you imagine the uproar there would be if she had been in the field when that happened? My head would be on a platter."

Helen nodded solemnly as she leaned forward, looking into her eyes. "They don't listen to you because they know you're usually correct. But because you've had to be the heavy to keep them in line over the years, they just assume that you're out to separate their team and throw them to the wind. I was hoping that Dave would help dispel some of those feelings, but it seems like old prejudices are hard to retire."

"Yes, that is a very good point." She was going to say something else about what was going on when her cellphone rang. "I'm sorry, that's David's ringtone."

"Not a problem." Helen gave her a small smile as she exited the room while Erin answered her fiancé's call.

"Hello, darling. I take it that you heard about Agent Jareau going into labor?"

"Yeah, Emily called Derek when she heard the news, and we're headed home now. Though I don't know what time we'll land, since we still have to back our things and get to the airfield. But it's her first, so it could take a while, right? I seem to remember that's what we were told when Carolyn went into labor with James."

"That can be the case, yes." The image of Aaron smirking at her in an almost gentle way rose to the forefront of her mind and Erin drew in a long breath. "Are you somewhere where we could talk and the others wouldn't know what we're talking about?"

"I can answer so that that happens. What's up?"

"You know that I've been wrestling with my guilt over keeping the truth from Aaron for these last three years. And now, with the new baby almost here, I just have this pressing feeling on my heart that we have to let him know now that Elise truly is his child. I can't tell you why I feel this way, but it seems like everything in our lives has been leading to this moment, and I don't think that I can keep the truth from him any longer. Even if it means that we have to share custody with him, he deserves to be a larger part of his daughter's life."

"Aren't you worried that he's still feeling bitter about the role he thinks you played in Haley's pressing for a divorce?"

"No, especially since we all know that I had no hand in that. Haley is a grown woman who can make her own decisions, which is exactly what happened. If Aaron had chosen to take the lateral shift to White Collar Crimes, he would still be with Haley and Jack, and I don't think that my guilt would prick at my conscience like it is doing right now." Erin paused to take a sip of water before carrying on. "Just, tell me that I am making the right decision. I know that I've trapped you in a lie, too, because you're not Elise's biological father, and I just feel like I'm carrying around enough guilt to break my back."

"Oh, Erin. I hate that you feel that way, and I wish that you had told me more about these feelings you were carrying around before it got so bad."

She sighed as she leaned back in her chair and stared up at the ceiling, sharp tears stinging her eyes. "It's not your fault, David, I've always been one to carry around too much guilt. I think that I should have been Catholic from the start."

David laughed at that, and she shook her head as she waited for him to respond. "Well, we'll work on that, then, when I get home and after you inform Aaron about this. And I hope to God that you know I will be by your side throughout whatever happens next, even if it involves a change in living arrangements."

"Thank you, darling. Now, make certain that you stop by and pass on our best wishes to Jennifer and William. And, if you think that he's in the right frame of mind, ask him to come home with you, and we'll hash things out tonight."

"All right, I'll do that. Stay safe until I get home."

"The same to you, darling. I love you."

"Love you, too, stellina." He ended the call and she slipped the phone back into her purse before letting out a long breath as she stood and went over to her window, staring down at the ground as people walked by. She knew that she was making the right choice, in the end, because her guilt was fast becoming a millstone around her neck. If she didn't have David, if things had turned out differently between her and Alan regarding their children, she knew that she would have most likely started to drink a lot more heavily than the occasional glass of wine with supper.

"I think that tonight will call for a rather large glass of cabernet," she murmured as she continued to watch the people, finding something soothing about their movements. They were so focused on where they were going, as if that was the only concern that they had in their minds, and Erin yearned for that sense of freedom. Even if it would just be the removal of the newest weight. There was still the lingering guilt that came with the way things had ended between her and Alex, which was her greatest failure, or so she felt. Maybe her life really was just one big cockup after the other. David would tell her that she was wrong, that she was being overdramatic, but it was how she felt in her heart, truly.

"Erin? Director Shepperd just called for you, and wants to talk about Agent Jareau's maternity leave. He's currently on line two."

Tearing her eyes from the window, she turned and gave Helen a small nod of acknowledgment as she made her way back to her desk and took a seat there. "Hello, Sir. News certainly travels quickly here."

"Yes, well, your Ms. Garcia certainly acted like a klaxon when she announced what was happening earlier. Is Agent Jareau's replacement ready to roll?"

"She is as ready as she can be. I know that Agent Jareau was working with her for the last two days to prepare her even more, but it's not something you're ever truly prepared for." They fell into an easy conversation about other things that were happening in her department, and soon Erin had pushed the guilt to the back of her mind as she focused on her work and all that she had to do before heading home.