"Did you hit every red light on the way over, Penelope?" Dave asked as he opened the door to let her in a few minutes later.
She shook her head as she stepped inside and stepped out of her shoes, placing them next to Blake's before straightening up and looking at the older man. "No, I was having a nice conversation with Anderson and actually drove the speed limit. Where is everyone?"
"In the living room."
She nodded and gave him a sad smile. The lopsided grin that he gave her in return told her that he had some small inkling of what all was going on. "Congratulations?" she said softly and he nodded as she stepped forward, resting her forehead on his shoulder as he closed his arms around her waist, holding her close.
"I take it they're not in order for you?" She shook her head, finding herself close to tears once again. "Oh, Kitten."
"I didn't think that it would hurt this much to see all my sweet friends get something that I can't," she whispered, burrowing closer to him as he stroked her back in soft circles. "I didn't think that everyone would end up pregnant, and I would feel so left out. I just thought that one of them would have a baby, and then I could be content. This? This is God laughing at me for dreaming."
She burst into tears, and he held her close as he crooned in her ear. "God never laughs at our dreams, Kitten. He just doesn't answer them on our timetable. Please, hold on to the faith that you will be a mother one day." Penelope nodded against his shoulder, and then felt another set of hands on her back. Lifting her head, she saw Erin standing next to them, a tender smile on her lips. "My bella is here to take care of you, Penelope, and I'll head into the kitchen and whip up a few snacks for you all."
Penelope nodded as she stepped away from him and into Erin's open arms. "Hey, we're not mad at you, I hope you know. Well, at least, I'm not. I just never expected a little tagalong at this point in my life. You're going to be such a large part of their life." Erin cupped her face with her hands, looking deeply into her eyes until Penelope gave her a wavering smile. "And Davie's right, it will happen for you when the time is right. I have complete faith in that."
Before she could say anything else, Erin had tenderly pulled her head down so that she could press her lips to the middle of her forehead. The sweet gesture caused tears to prickle her eyes once more, and she rubbed her lips together as Erin led her into the living room. JJ looked up from her conversation with Blake to smile at her, patting the free spot on the loveseat.
"So, our miracle worker finally makes her appearance," her friend said as she sank down next to her. "Really, I have to ask this, Garcia. How did you manage to get all four of us knocked up around the same time? Because that was seriously inspired."
She shrugged sheepishly before taking a deep breath. "Well, the yoga class was the first step in getting one of you pregnant. My doctor did tell me that one way to boost my fertility was to slow down, to relax, and I thought that yoga would be perfect for that. I specifically chose Moira, because she could cater the class to us, should any of us need that. And Anderson and I did research natural methods to add even more of an oomph to things, landing on foods that would be good in smoothies, and then adding the folic acid to said smoothies. Like I said, I never expected all of you to so easily get pregnant, I was thinking that it might only have been Jayje, since she's the youngest of us. You, you don't hate me, do you?"
Blake was the first to shake her head, a warm smile on her lips. Penelope noticed the woman look over at Erin before grabbing her hand and squeezing tightly. "I think that we should really thank you, Penelope. Erin and I always wanted to raise our kids together, but it never worked out, and then we fell out. Now that we've come back together, we have that second chance. And we get to share it with new friends. I'm also calling it right now. You're going to find out that your pregnant in the next three weeks. So you need to make certain that you're practicing as much as possible for that pregnancy test."
She snorted a little at that statement, a happy smile spreading across her lips as she nodded. "Well, these unsubs need to be a little less active, then, so that Derek can be home to practice with!"
They all burst into giggles as Rossi bustled into the room, carrying a tray that held glasses of lemonade. "What did I miss, ladies?"
"We were just talking about being prepared for the tests in our life, David. And we only get lemonade?"
"Woman, I can only balance so much on this tray at a time without spilling. After you take your glasses, and I set the pitcher on the coffee table, I'll go back for the snacks. After that, you're on your own tonight. I'm heading over to Hotch's for some guy time."
Erin nodded as she took her glass off the tray. When he reached Penelope, she smiled up into his face, not failing to catch the cheeky wink he gave her. "So, once he's gone, we can settle in and watch a movie or two before we fall asleep? There's enough bedrooms for everyone, so whenever you want to head up to sleep, just claim a room."
"That sounds good, Erin. Who's going to choose the movies tonight?" Jessica asked, cuddling a pillow to her chest as she sighed happily.
"I thought that we'd draw straws for that?" Erin replied. "Unless you had something that you really wanted to watch, Jess?"
"I just want to watch something funny? It was a rough week with Daddy."
Penelope nodded sympathetically as she looked to Erin. "I vote for funny, too, but I can't think of anything to watch. Jayje?"
"Young Frankenstein!" she exclaimed, and Erin nodded slowly as she began to search for it on the television. "What about you two? Anything you want to see?"
"It's not a comedy, per se, but I've had Emma on the mind lately," Blake replied, giving them a smile. "So, what are we going to do when we all need maternity leave at the same time? I think that Cruz's head is going to explode a little when he finds out that two of his team will be out for a few months."
"He'll have to deal, and maybe join in on a few cases. It is nice to get to do something different, when all you normally do is paperwork and go to meetings. I wish that my team would let me go out with them more."
The look on Erin's face told Penelope just how much she wanted that, and she giggled a little as Rossi returned with the tray filled with all sorts of snacks. "All right, this is it, I'm about to head out. Have a good night, ladies," he said as he set the tray on the coffee table before going over to Erin and kissing her lightly. "And don't do anything I wouldn't do! I want pictures of anything naughty."
"David, really," Erin said as she pushed him away slightly. "If anything, we'll fall asleep during the movies and slowly make our way to bed to finish the night. But enjoy your time with Aaron!" She waggled her fingers at him, and as Penelope watched, Rossi nodded before caressing her stomach, a look of awe and wonder on his face. And a part of her heart broke as she imagined what it might be like for Derek to look at her in the same way. She could only hope and pray that that time came soon.
