“I know it hurts sweetie, just hang in there a little longer. You’re almost there,” Jennifer Jareau spoke gently to Penelope Garcia as she stroked her dampened hair.
“Where’s Luke, he can’t miss this,” Penelope panted out as her eyes rolled closed and her head slowly rolled back and forth against the pillows that were propped behind her.
“He’s on his way, Prentiss called and said they touched back down 30 minutes ago, and I sent Will to the airstrip to pick Luke up. Trust me Will is going to have his sirens blaring and breaking every speed limit to get Luke here.”
“He’s probably not going to make it,” Penelope sobbed out as her face crumbled with her tears. “Nothing has gone right with this. He was supposed to be back home a week ago, and we’re supposed to be home right now doing this with my Doula.”
“I know, sweetie, I’m sorry this is not the birth you envisioned and planned for, but your Doula made the right call when she checked you and determined that the baby’s heart didn’t sound right and she brought you to the hospital,” JJ said and then the door to the hospital room burst open and a wild-eyed, unshaven, disheveled Luke Alvez rushed in and hurried to the bedside. JJ quickly stepped aside before he could plow her over. She moved to stand in a far corner with her husband Will.
“Luke,” Penelope pushed out with an exhausted voice and a tired smile as he grasped her hand and lifted it to his lips, and placed several kisses across it. “You made it.”
“Of course, I made it, Baby,” He replied with wet eyes which darted from her face to the beeping monitors she was connected to. “How are my girls?” He questioned as he held a firm grip on Penelope’s left hand while he stroked at the wet hair that was plastered to her forehead.
“I think your daughter hates me, and she’s trying to kill me,” Penelope cried out as fresh tears spilled down her face.
“No, baby, she doesn't hate you,” Luke tried to console her as he shot pleading and desperate eyes back over his shoulder to where JJ and Will stood. JJ gave a nod and stepped to the foot of the bed.
“Hey, Penelope,” She spoke softly and coaxed her friend to look at her. “I know you’re in a lot of pain right now but this is all completely normal. And I also know you’re doubting yourself and thinking you can’t do this, but you’re built for this.”
“I just can’t believe you chose to do this twice. Oh my God, what is wrong with you?” Penelope panted out to JJ as she felt the tingles of another contraction. JJ simply smiled back at her, as she knew well that birth pains will make you delirious.
“Trust me, when you finally hold your baby girl in your arms, you’ll realize that this was all worth it and you’d go through it a million times if you had to, just for that moment.”
“Owww, shit, shit, shit, shit!” Penelope groaned and then screamed as a milder but still quite painful contraction hit her womb and she tightened her grip on Luke’s hand.
“C’mon, baby, you’ve got this,” Luke encouraged her. “Remember your breathing techniques,” He said this and then began huffing his breath in the way they had learned to in their Lamaze classes.
“Oh, please that's a crock of horse shit,” She growled out. “How the hell am I supposed to push out puffs of air when I’m laying here struggling to breathe? What idiot came up with that? I bet it was a man,” She spat out as her face contorted from her disgust at the idea of it as well as the lingering pangs from the contraction. Then another stronger contraction hit her and caused her to grab her knee with her right hand and surge forward in the bed. “OOOOOWWWW! FUCK! GET HER OUT OF ME RIGHT NOW!” She screamed at the top of her lungs and everyone in the room jumped and covered their ears. At that moment another younger nurse, who appeared to be in her early 30s, entered the room.
“It sounds like someone is about ready to push,” The nurse spoke as she moved to the foot of the bed and lifted the covers. JJ and Will moved further to the side out of view as the nurse checked Penelope’s cervix.
“Yes, I really, really need to push now, please, please,” A winded Penelope pleaded as she now leaned to the side and rested her head against Luke’s abdomen as he stood right at her bedside offering her his full support.
“Is there anything you can give her for the pain?” Luke asked the younger nurse who was examining Penelope.
“Oh, yes, that would be nice,” Penelope lifted her head and cast her hope-filled eyes to the nurse at the foot of the bet. But it was the older nurse on the right side of the bed still checking the monitors who spoke.
“You put a note in the chart, Mrs. Alvez, stating that you did not want any drugs during your birth. Drugs of any kind are never good for your baby, anyway, and neither is all this screaming and yelling you’re doing. It just tightens you up down there. Back in my day, we had to just let nature take its course. Absolutely no drugs we’d just bite down on a piece of wood and bear it,” The elderly nurse finished her little speech with a satisfied nod of her head as everyone in the room looked at her silently, that was until Penelope replied directly to her.
“You shut the fuck up!” Penelope practically growled out as she pointed at her and the others in the room smirked and chuckled a little. None more so than the younger nurse who was glad that someone had finally told this ratchety nurse what many of the other nurses on the floor wish they could say to her, but she had the seniority. “Shut all the way the fuck up! Until you have no more fucks to shut!” The older nurse was clearly offended as she stood clutching the chart to her chest. She then recovered, lifted her nose a little, walked to the end of the bed, and held out the chart to the younger nurse, who took it, and then the older nurse walked out of the room without saying another word.
“So, how about an epidural?” The younger nurse asked with a bright smile on her face as she looked down at the woman who in her mind, she had just made her best friend. Penelope nodded her head eagerly to the offering of the pain meds.
“Look at what you did, Chica,” Luke whispered to Penelope as he sat on the side of the bed watching his wife as she nursed their newborn daughter. Tears of joy and appreciation still seeped from his eyes and he had long since stopped wiping them away. His right arm rested at the back of Penelope’s head while his left hand carefully brushed across the dark curly mass of hair on the back of his daughter’s head.
“Well, you played a big part in it too, honey,” Penelope replied as her eyes remained locked down onto the face of her child who was latched to her right breast suckling. “She’s so beautiful and absolute perfection.”
“Yeah, she is, just like her momma,” He concurred as he leaned in and kissed Penelope’s temple.
“I think she’s had her fill, here, you burp her,” She said as she pulled the sleeping baby from her bosom and covered her breast. Luke carefully but excitedly got up from the bed to reach for his daughter. First, he grabbed one of the swaddling blankets from the nearby stand, put it over his left shoulder, and then he gently grasped his daughter and rested her securely against his chest, and began to softly smack her back with his right hand. He slowly paced by the bedside while swaying as he continued to burp the baby. That’s when a knock came on the door a millisecond before the door opened.
“Hey, are you up for visitors?” Derek Morgan questioned as he stuck his head inside the slightly opened door. Penelope’s face lit up in happiness at seeing him.
“For you anytime,” She replied with a big smile, while Luke stood grinning as well. Derek opened the door more and before he could enter his rambunctious 7-year-old son, Hank, came running in.
“Auntie Penny, Auntie Penny!” The boy exclaimed in glee as he ran to the right side of her bed and immediately tried to climb up.
“Whoa, little man,” His father hurried to him and grasped him up into his arms. “Careful, Auntie Penny is still recovering and she’s probably still very sore, so you have to be gentle. Here,” He then leaned the child closer so he could get the kisses he knew his son truly wanted. And Penelope obliged as she gave him a kiss on his waiting lips. Then Derek leaned in and placed a kiss on her cheek. “I’m so proud of you babygirl, you’re a mommy now,” He said and she beamed in pride. Derek then righted himself and looked directly at Luke. “And congratulations to you too Daddy,” He greeted with a grin. He would have given Luke a hearty handshake but he could see he already had his hands full.
“Thanks,” Luke spoke with a toothy grin as he now rubbed at his daughter’s back having already heard her belch. He then kissed her head full of curls.
“Are you hurt, Auntie Penny?” Hank asked as his face looked as if he might cry in concern for his favorite aunt. Though he would kindly ask that you not tell his Auntie Sarah or Auntie Desiree.
“Oh, just a little bit my sweet boy, but I’m getting better,” She answered and at that moment she really wished she could hold him, but she knew her body was still too sore.
“Were you in a car accident like Auntie Sarah?” Hank continued his interrogation making mention of the car accident that had nearly killed Derek’s youngest sister nearly a year prior.
“No sweetheart, I just had a baby, your baby cousin, see?” She then pointed over to where Luke was now walking around the bed to where Derek and Hank stood so he could show them the baby. He readjusted her until she was nestled on her back in the nook of his left arm.
“This is your little cousin,” He spoke to Hank who stared at the baby in awe. “And your niece,” He then looked at Derek, who lifted his eyes from what he thought to be a gorgeous baby, up to Luke as he gave his shoulder a brotherly smack. “And her name is Charlotte Louisa Bárbara Manuela Alvez,” Derek arched his brows at the rich name, and both Luke and Penelope laughed a little as they already expected that people might have that same reaction to the long name.
“Charlotte is after my favorite childhood story, Charlotte’s Web,” Penelope began to explain.
“Louisa is my mother’s name,” Luke stated.
“And Barbara is my mother’s name,” Penelope went on.
“And Manuela covers a few people in both of our families,” Luke said with a chuckle. “It’s my Abuela’s name. Do you remember what that word means, Hank?” He asked the little boy he had grown to love dearly after having spent so much time with him.
“Grandma!” Hank responded excitedly.
“That’s right. And my Abuelo…”
“Grandpa!” Hank exclaimed again quietly and proudly.
“Right again, and his name was Manuel.”
“And Manuel is also one of my brother’s names, but we call him Manny for short,” Penelope tacked on.
“She is gorgeous, brother, and I can already see you and I will be taking shifts protecting her from knuckleheads when she hits puberty,” Derek said as he sent Luke a knowing smile, and Luke smiled back as he nodded in agreement. Once upon a time, he had been cautious and even a little jealous of Derek and Penelope’s relationship. But then Derek had become his wingman. The ally and peacemaker between him and Penelope, and the main reason that they had ended up married and now with a child.
“She’s too tiny, she can’t even play with me,” Hank spoke this with a scowl on his face and the adults chuckled a little at him.
“Yes, she is tiny right now, but she will get bigger and when she does, she will play with you, I promise,” Penelope assured him.
“And you know, you were smaller than her when you were a baby,” Derek stated and his son shot wide shocked eyes to his father’s.
“I was?” Hank’s question morph into a big yawn and garnered a smile from the others.
“Yes, you were and I think it’s past someone’s bedtime,” Derek said and Hank instantly pouted as he dropped his head to his father’s shoulders.
“But I’m not tired and I want to stay here with Auntie Penny,” The little boy whined out.
“Okay, none of that,” His father chastised him having never been a fan of his whining, and Hank instantly stopped. “We’ll come back tomorrow to visitor Auntie Penny.”
“Come to the house, because she is going to be released, first thing in the morning the doctor says,” Luke replied.
“All right, and Savannah has the day off tomorrow and she’s dying right now that she can’t be here to see this precious princess in person,” Derek said as he locked his eyes onto the baby and admired all the hair that covered her head. “Is noon a good time for you?” Derek asked as he looked over at Penelope and she nodded.
“Yes, I’m going to apologize now because I probably won’t be the most gracious of hostesses but you know you’re always welcomed.”
“Oh, shush, you just birth a human being into the world, woman,” Derek spoke this as he moved closer to the bedside, and he leaned down and kissed her cheek again. “You’re fucking amazing,” He spoke low to her so Hank wouldn’t hear the bad word. She blushed and smiled. Then Derek allowed Hank to hug her neck and also kiss her cheek, they said their goodnights and left back out.
“I cannot believe she’s really here,” Luke spoke in a hushed tone as he gazed lovingly at his daughter and when his fresh tears struck her face and caused her to let out a silent cry and poke her bottom lip out for a second before she settled back into her sleep, he smiled and quickly wiped at his eyes. “Sorry, I know you thought you married a very tough Latino man, but I can’t stop crying I’m just so fucking happy. Thank you for giving me this. Giving me your hand in marriage, our wonderful home, this amazingly blessed and happy life I have, and now her,” He choked out the last words as he swallowed down more tears that wanted out.
“It goes both ways, honey,” She said as she herself felt the overwhelming joy as she thought about their life together and this new edition into it. “But I am really going to need you to stop with the crying, because contrary to what you might think, I find it to be very, very sexy as fuck,” She admitted and Luke arched a brow and smirked as he noticed the heated gaze she was sending him. “And right now, my body cannot handle all the nasty things it wants to do to you. So, don’t tempt me,” She said as she yawned and closed her eyes.
“Yeah, I think you might be getting a little hermano o hermana soon, mija,” He whispered teasingly and then placed a sweet kiss against his sleeping daughter’s head.