When Emily opens the door to her office she finds Penelope sitting at her desk waiting on her. In true Garcia style, she offers a bright smile, and motions to a fresh cup of coffee. Emily sets her brief case on the floor, and takes a seat in her office chair.
"I am sorry that I blew you off for lunch," she apologizes. "I thought I would make it up to you by bringing you some coffee, and a muffin."
"That is very thoughtful of you," she eyes Penelope suspiciously.
"That, however, is not why I am ambushing you here in your office first thing in the morning."
"Oh," she scoots back in her seat.
"I wanted to tell you, before I said anything to anyone else."
"You're thinking about leaving, aren't you?"
"Yes, but not immediately."
"It's okay," her tone shifts.
"I want to give you an explanation so that you're not blindsided."
"Garcia, after all of these years, I don't need an explanation. Your happiness is explanation enough."
"Please just let me get this out before I begin blubbering," Penelope implores.
"Get what out?"
Penelope reaches into her bag, and pulls out a square white box. She places it on the desk in front of Emily. Emily tugs the lid off the top, and pulls out a beaded bracelet. She silently reads it to herself. Her brow deeply furrows.
"Auntie Em? Who would call me Auntie Em?"
"Move the tissue paper."
Emily pulls the folded piece of tissue paper out of the box, and casts it aside on her desk. Inside she finds the black and white profile of a tiny face. The clock ticks overhead. Garcia shifts uncomfortably in her seat.
"Are you serious? You're kidding, right?"
"I'm serious."
"What?! I did not expect this. What made you decide… wow… I just don't even know what to say."
"The only way I can really explain it is to say that sometimes you get to a place in your life where you surprise yourself."
"You're going to have an actual baby?" Emily's eyes widen.
"That is what the professionals allege, though I keep dreaming that she's a cactus, so we'll see."
Emily vacates her seat, and moves around the desk. She hugs Penelope. "I'm so happy for you."
J.J. walks past the office as Emily lets out a squeal. The door is ajar.
"What are you squealing about in there?" J.J. questions.
"Good news," Garcia answers.
J.J. pushes the door open. "You're squealing about good news, and I wasn't invited? Rude!"
"Before we start on a ski slope towards horror for the day would you gather the others, and meet me in the conference room?" Penelope requests.
"Absolutely."
Three minutes later the group is gathered around the conference room table. Penelope stands in front of the monitor with the clicker.
"I thought that we were awaiting a case," Rossi groans.
"No case yet," Emily insists.
"I asked J.J. to get all of you in here for a more personal reason," Penelope reveals.
"We're finally getting new Ipads," Tara hopes.
"No, even better," Penelope responds, "I have sent the information to your phones."
Phones buzz all around the table. Rossi opens his with lightening speed, "I knew it!"
"You're having a baby?" Tara's head snaps up.
"Yes."
"You have notoriously never wanted children," J.J. responds, surprised.
"It certainly caught me off guard, when I came to that conclusion, as well."
She walks up the driveway, and veers right down the sidewalk. She watches the rainbow of colors as she passes a neatly manicured flower bed. Up two stairs to a patio with a bistro set, and two chairs on one side, and a porch swing on the other. Her glance shifts up to the coral door in front of her. As she begins to look backwards she feels a hand against her back.
"Did you paint this door just for me?"
"No. My tenants have been here five years. They have free reign to perform whatever cosmetic changes they so please."
From the outside the house looks like most on the street. It's a whitewashed brick with a manicured lawn. Penelope pushes the door open, and steps into the entryway. A bright floral wallpaper greets her on both sides.
"If you don't like the pattern, then it can easily be changed, it's just contact paper," Luke adds.
She turns to her right, and finds a very masculine office lined in a heavy, rich green. On the left is a more feminine office with built-in, and a view of the front yard. Luke leads her from room to room. After the tour of the backyard, she heads toward the front of the house. She takes a seat on the steps outside. He takes a seat next to her.
"What did you think?"
"You didn't mention that it was four bedrooms."
He shrugs, "It didn't look like this when I bought it. It was in really rough shape. The brick was too dark. The entire house was covered in shag carpet. There was paneling absolutely everywhere. The bathroom was mint green with pink tile. It was a mess. Chad, and Mindy really breathed life back into the place. His dad was a mason, and Mindy did professional organizing as a side hustle. I gave them a reasonable price, and I agreed that if they ever wanted to buy it that I would sell it to them at a reasonable price."
"So why aren't they renewing their lease?"
"Her mom recently died of breast cancer. Mindy has a twelve-year-old half-sister in Ohio. Instead of uprooting her entire life they decided to move there to be closer to family. Her mom left them the house. They're handing the keys back over next week."
"Wow, I can't imagine."
"It's a lot to process."
She snakes her arm around his, and scoots a little closer. She looks over at him.
"How did I never see you?"
He smirks slyly, "What are you talking about?"
"You were cute, and fun to torment."
He flashes his dimples, "I was cute?"
She elbows him, "I just didn't see past the dimples."
"A lot of people don't. To be honest, I haven't always been like this. I spent a lot of years being selfish, and relentlessly pursuing what I wanted over anything else."
"What about now?"
"If I'm being honest?"
She nods in confirmation.
"I want something like this. A house on a quiet street with a backyard for a dog, and a kid. A life that isn't filled with all of the heaviness of the entire world. Do you know what I mean?"
"I don't want to carry the heaviness of the world around with me forever," she admits.
"I just want to sit on a little porch just like this next to my best friend until the sun sets on forever."