Title: Surprises

Fandom: Criminal Minds

Pairing: Morgan/Garcia

Prompt for 30 sweets: #23 Juice

Rating: K

Disclaimer: Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

Summary: Part 29/30 of "No more sweets".

warnings: none

AN: Yes, I did it! It's still January and I'm posting the next chapter already. Go me!

Unfortunately, I haven't even started writing the last chapter, yet. It's always hardest to write the last chapter, don't you think? I mean, I have an idea and all, but...it's just sad to see the story end. On the other hand, the story is told so...it's time for the happy ending, right?

Anyway, I'll figure something out, I promise. No I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Hugs,

Caro

Once again Derek was pacing the waiting room. This wasn't happening again. Why was this happening again? Could it be possible that she had stopped eating again? He had kept an eye on her at first, but lately, she had seemed happy and eating hadn't seemed to be a problem anymore. Had he missed it?

When the paramedics had arrived, Penelope had regained conscience again. Nonetheless, they had taken her to the hospital for her to have a full medical exam and hopefully find the cause of her fainting. Derek had followed in his car while Fran had stayed with Des, Sarah, and the rest of the team. They were all still hoping they could continue this evening.

"Penelope Garcia?" the doctor announced.

Derek nodded.

Leading him to the exam room, the doctor started to explain, "Luckily, Miss Garcia is in good condition. She's not ill; she simply hasn't eaten enough to—"

"Not again," Derek mumbled, interrupting the doctor and rushing into the room without waiting for him to finish his sentence.

The latter just shrugged and went to the desk to fill out Penelope's chart.

"Hey," Derek greeted, worry written all over his face when he sat down next to Penelope.

She was sitting on the exam table, obviously ready to leave. "Hey," she whispered. "Sorry I spoiled the evening…again."

"You didn't spoil anything," Derek assured her. "The night is still young, and the others are waiting for us."

For a moment, silence settled between them. Derek wasn't sure how to address the matter, while Penelope was wondering how much the doctor had already told him.

"Are you really back to not eating?" Derek finally asked.

"No," Penelope assured him. "I did eat. Not regularly, though, and obviously not healthy enough. At least not enough for…two."

He turned his head and blinked at her. Two?

Blushing slightly, Penelope whispered, "Apparently, I'm…pregnant. And I fainted because I'm suffering from iron deficiency – which is perfectly normal during a pregnancy. I need to take some food supplements, and that's it."

"You're…pregnant?" Derek stuttered.

She nodded, looking at her hands that were entwined in her lap. They hadn't talked about children yet, so Penelope wasn't sure how Derek thought about having a baby – especially so soon in their relationship.

"Wow," he said, running a hand over his head. "That's…a surprise."

"Yeah, I know," Penelope whispered.

Hearing the sad tone of her voice, Derek quickly assured her, "Oh, but a good one. Really, I…I'm happy to hear that. It's just…really surprising."

"It takes a while to sink in," she agreed.

"Yeah," Derek replied, chuckling. She definitely had an advantage since she'd known for fifteen minutes already. It really needed a moment to sink in. But when it did, Derek grinned from ear to ear.

Reaching out, he took her hand in his, squeezing it gently. "We're gonna have a baby," he whispered.

Penelope's head shot up and she looked at him, searching his eyes. "Are we?"

Derek frowned. "Of course we are. Like you said, it needed a moment to sink in. But now that it did—" he stood up and pulled her to her feet and into a tight embrace, gently swaying her and kissing the top of her head "—I'm the luckiest man on earth."

She smiled against his chest and leaned into the embrace.

"My sisters are gonna go crazy," he said, chuckling again.

Penelope bit her lip. "Are you sure you want to tell them already?"

Derek shrugged. "You drinking juice instead of wine the whole evening long will eventually tip someone off," he said. Eying her, he asked, "You're not planning on drinking any wine, are you?"

"No, of course not," Penelope said, laughing.

"Good." Derek pecked her lips before pulling her toward the door. "Then let's get back to my place and get you a nice glass of pomegranate juice."

"How do you…" she started.

"…know it's your favorite?" Derek finished the sentence for her and smiled. "I'm your fiancée. I'm supposed to know such things."

She smiled at him a little sheepishly. She still couldn't get used to thinking of him as her fiancée. This was a dream. She was carrying Derek Morgan's baby, and she was going to be Mrs. Morgan. Maybe it was a dream coming true, but it still felt like a dream – and she had absolutely no intention of waking up anytime soon.

The drive to Derek's apartment was relatively silent, both of them dwelling on their own thoughts.

When Derek opened the door, they were welcomed by Fran.

She didn't ask what the doctors had said. She just looked at the two of them, Derek's arm protectively around Penelope's shoulders, and smiled widely. "So, I'm going to be a grandma, then?"

Penelope's jaw dropped.

Derek just grimaced. "I really thought we would at least get to the part where you only drink juice and reject the wine."

Fran grinned at him. "I raised three children, remember? And every time I was pregnant, your father had the exact same look on his face you have now – and he used to put his arm around me just like you have."

"And I thought your dad was the police officer," Penelope mumbled, making Fran giggle.

"Don't worry. I'll let the others figure it out on their own."

Penelope took a deep, somewhat shaky breath. This so wasn't how she'd pictured this evening going. Besides, she still had to get used to the feeling that she was Derek's fiancée. Being the mother of his future child simply felt…odd. It felt good, but still odd.

"Hey," JJ greeted, rushing toward her friend. "You had us worried. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Penelope assured her. "I just…had an iron deficiency, which caused anemia, and therefore I fainted."

"Iron deficiency, I see," JJ said, grinning. "Congratulations."

Penelope just sighed. Why did it seem to be an open secret with everyone?

"I suffered the same when I was pregnant with Henry," JJ told her.

"Well, I think we might as well just tell them since everyone suddenly seems to be a pregnancy expert," Derek mumbled.

"Everything's fine," JJ announced when they went back into the living room. "Penelope just fainted due to iron deficiency."

"Iron deficiency?" Reid blurted out. "That's common with pregnancy, right?"

"Oh, yeah, and who told you that?" Derek asked, rolling his eyes.

Reid blushed. "Well, I…read a lot about that when JJ was pregnant. I…just wanted to…you know…"

"Aw, that's really cute," JJ chirped, making Reid blush all the more.

Derek growled slightly. "Yes, okay, it's true. Penelope is pregnant, and before you ask, no, we didn't know before she fainted and the doctors told us."

"Wow," Sarah mumbled. "You really tried to outdo me."

"Not funny, sis," Derek said, grumbling. "The actual plan was that we get married before we have a baby. But if it's sooner rather than later, I'm perfectly happy with that. And now every time you brag about being the first one who got married, I will remind you that we were the first to have children."

"Oh, come on, stop that," Des scolded them, rolling her eyes. "This has to be celebrated. Juice for Penelope, and wine for everyone else."

"This is so amazing," JJ whispered as she handed Penelope a glass of juice.

"I know," Penelope replied. "I still can't believe all this is really happening. I'm afraid once I'm standing in front of the altar, I'm going to faint again."

JJ giggled.

"Speaking of the wedding and all that," Fran spoke up a little to make sure Penelope – and everyone else – could hear her. "Do you already have someone to walk you down the aisle?"

Penelope opened her mouth but shut it again without saying a word. She just blushed and helplessly looked at Derek.