I'm very pleased that everyone has been enjoying this series. I've had an extremely busy week and thought I'd work on this today. I hope everyone enjoys the latest installment to the 'Acceptance' series.

Nine

Teresa Lisbon was late. She was supposed to arrive at Dr. Denny's office twenty minutes ago. Patrick Jane continued to pace around the waiting room, eyes occasionally wandering around the room. A room full of heavily pregnant to women who hardly showed at all. They were going to lose their place soon if she didn't hurry up and get herself to this appointment.

It was her tenth week.

Dr. Denny appeared once more, "Mr. Jane, where is Agent Lisbon?" working.

He pleasantly smiled at the older woman, "She'll be here in a few moments," he paused, "Traffic," Dr. Denny was agitated. She knew Lisbon was most likely not coming to her appointment because like the last time, she was nervous.

"If she's not here in five minutes I'm going to have to take in another patient."

Patrick found himself once more smiling at the woman, "Go ahead and take another patient, we'll be okay," Dr. Denny hesitated then nodded.

Where was that woman?

In the parking lot. She sat in her department issued dark blue Chevy Suburban, hands gripping the steering wheel, eyes not leaving a certain brick on the building in front of her. She breathed in then out, she didn't feel as if she could do this. It was going to be hard.

Sighing to herself, she stepped out of her vehicle, staring at the building once more, she set off towards it. She headed towards the door, pulling it open, she found herself in the familiar lobby that she remembered being in a few weeks before. She paused before heading towards the elevators, her hand shook the whole time she reached to press the button.

She wasn't the only one in the elevator. An elderly man most likely going onto the floor above her held a cup of coffee in his hand. The same exact liquid that made her want to lose whatever she had previously eaten that day. She moved towards the farthest part of the elevator, hand clasped over her nose in the most discreet manor that she possibly could.

"Are you all right miss?" apparently he noticed.

She smiled at the man and nodded, "I'm fine," her face was certainly pale; the look of pure sickness was definitely playing out on her features.

She was grateful when the ride was over. She moved out a little faster than was probably necessary, but before she thought she could make it to the nearest bathroom, she found herself hunched over a wastebasket next to the elevator; losing the half a bagel she'd eaten an hour earlier.

Stepping back, she used a tissue that she kept in her jacket pocket to wipe away any possible traces of the vile thing that came out of her mouth. Tossing it into the wastebasket, she was on her way towards Dr. Denny's office. She fiddled with her fingers along the way nervously, thoughts not once straying from Patrick and their baby.

She carefully opened the door, the room was fairly crowded. She guessed today was 'see Dr. Denny day'. She stepped into the room and saw Patrick standing towards the farther side of the room, he turned and his gaze met hers, his face was full of worry. She didn't like the fact that he was nervous about her not being there.

She moved towards him, as soon as she got in front of him, the door opened and Nurse Parker called her into the nearest examination room. Her next guess was that the entire practice had been waiting for her. That was awkward.

Teresa laid back on the table in the middle of the room. Nurse Parker carefully drew the blood from her arm; Teresa couldn't help but wrinkle her nose in disgust as the blood came from her arm and into the syringe.

"Dr. Denny will be in a few moments," all Teresa could do was nod.

Her gaze shifted from the cotton ball she was pressing into her arm, then towards Jane, who was just walking into the room, shutting the door behind him, "Why were you late?"

She didn't know what to say; ordinarily he would have known the answer to that. By his body language she could tell right off that she wasn't the only nervous person in this room.

"You were nervous," he stated flatly. Of course he was right. He had gotten it before she would have admitted it to him. All she did was nod.

The next thing she expected from him was a little speech that she shouldn't be nervous. Personally she didn't know how he could say that, but then again, he too was obviously nervous about this.

"You are too."

He smiled at her, hands shifting towards his pockets, "Me? Nah," he continued to give her his 100-watt grin, "I'm never nervous about this."

She was about to open her mouth and say something else, but Dr. Denny opened the door and moved into the room. She didn't look entirely too happy, "Agent Lisbon," she addressed, "I do not appreciate you being late," truth to be told, it wasn't like her to be late to an appointment. This one was just so life changing that she couldn't compare it to the other major points that have come up in her life.

"I'm sorry," she paused, "It won't happen again."

Dr. Denny nodded, "All right, let's see how we're doing," she brought a stool up, slowly dragging the machine closer to them, "Pull up your shirt," Teresa did so, nervously, especially with Jane in the room.

"This might be a little cold," she squirted the jelly onto her abdomen, Teresa automatically flinched. She then noticed, like before, Jane was by her side, squeezing her shoulder.

Dr. Denny placed the wand onto Teresa's belly, moving it around in an attempt to get a clearer picture of the life growing inside of her. She stopped and smiled at the two, "There's your ten week old baby."

Teresa couldn't help but smile, she felt Jane squeeze her shoulder again. The next thing she knew, she had subconsciously reached up and grasped his hand in hers. Their baby was growing. Their baby was real.

There will be more to this. I plan for this to be multi-chapter.