Book Club

Resi Penelope

The Doctor announces, "Delivery complete. Baby girl born at 6:08 pm." Emily squeezes Derek's hand as she sees a small human being brought over to her.

Heather calls out as she walks over, "20 inches, and 7.5 pounds."

Heather lays the baby girl in Derek's arms. Derek starts to cry, "My little girl." Emily holds the crying baby's hand. The baby squeezes Emily's finger tightly and she smiles, thinking about how perfect her life is. Derek lightly says the baby's name, "Resi Penelope, my little girl..." While Emily gets stitched up, Derek jogs out to the waiting room, where everybody has been waiting patiently. He announces, "Everybody, she was born at 20 inches and 7.5 pounds. Emily got through it like a champ."

Everyone jumps up in happiness. He starts to walk backward, "I gotta head back, but I'll keep you posted." Derek is so excited he does a cartwheel in the middle of the hallway. The team makes their way back up to the waiting room in Labor and Delivery while Derek enters the OR where Emily is laying there caressing Resi's dark-brown wisps of hair.

Derek and Emily stare at Resi as she is calmed down now. Quickly after, the new family hears from the doctor, "All stitched up." The curtain comes down and she is then transported back to L&D. Because Emily is an Agent with the FBI, Heather decided to have her put in a single room by herself. By the time she is wheeled back with Resi in her arms, everyone is already in the single room.

The room is severely crowded, but nobody cares. They all stare at the new addition, all swaddled up in a pink and blue blanket. JJ asks quietly, "What's her name?"

Derek answers as he sits next to Emily on the bed, "Resi Penelope Morgan."

"Penelope?" Penelope perks up, "As in moi?"

"Yes, Pen," Emily hands Resi over to Penelope.

Spencer pokes his head out from the back, "Resi, from Mother Night, right?"

Derek answers, "It was the first book we read in our book club. It's special to us."

"It's perfect," Aaron says.

They all pass Resi around delicately until Heather comes in and mentions, "We have to take her back for some more general testing. It's all normal."

Resi is handed off to Heather and she places her in a tray. The tray rolls down the hallway with eyes glued to it. Emily and Derek watch as their baby goes off. Penelope chimes in, "Time to plan a wedding!" Penelope turns around and grabs a giant binder. "I already have the bachelor and bachelorette party. It's in 2 weeks. Be prepared."

"Wha-" Emily adjusts herself on the bed.

Penelope sits at the foot of her bed, "Nothing too big. I signed Rossi up for hosting the bachelor's party, and the bachelorette party will be held at my place. One thing is required, that you bring Resi. My namesake, my baby girl."

"Before we get too far into that, Derek and I have to call the new grandmothers of your baby girl," Emily reaches for her phone.

Derek stands up and looks at Penelope. Penelope looks at Derek, who gives her a glare. She seems to take offense and announces, "Let's give them some privacy."

Everyone starts to head for the door. Penelope closes the door behind everyone else and slips her way to stay in the room. Derek smiles and mentions, "You too, Penelope..."

Disappointed, she walks out and closes the door. Emily smiles and dials up her mother. Elizabeth answers hurriedly, "Is she here?"

"Yes, but-" Emily is cut off.

Elizabeth hangs up, "I'm on my way."

Derek comments, "I'll Skype with my mom."

While he sets up the skype room, Heather comes back with Resi in her tray, "She's perfectly healthy." Emily reaches for Resi and picks her up. Resi squirms at first then settles in. Heather brings up, "Has your milk come in yet?"

Emily pauses for a second, looks down, then looks at Heather, "Either that, or they just doubled in size."

"Perfect, so whenever you are ready, or whenever you think she is hungry you can start feeding her. Just press the button on your remote. I see he is setting up for a Skype call, so I won't help now, but press it when you are all set," Heather shows her the button then briskly walks out.

Derek exclaims, "Aha! I did it? Are you there? Hello?"

Finally, he hears his family say, "Hello... Hello?"

"Mom you gotta turn on the camera- You gotta- Ugh. Sarah, are you there? Can you help Ma?" Derek asks into the black screen.

He can hear Sarah in the distance, "Press the button. No, the other button. Hold on, I'm coming."

Soon, Fran's video pops up and she yells in excitement, "Ah! I did it!"

"No, ma, I did it," Sarah chuckles.

Fran frowns, but then turns her energy towards the Skype call, "So where is my granddaughter?"

Derek sits the laptop in front of Emily who is holding the sleeping Resi. Emily asks quietly to Fran, "Have you decided on a name to call yourself?"

"Nana. I decided on Nana. She is just too cute. So precious," Fran starts to melt.

"Nana, meet Resi. Resi meet your Nana," Emily adjusts Resi in her arms to get a clear view of the camera.

Abruptly, Elizabeth comes crashing in, "Is that my granddaughter?"

Derek nods while Fran asks, "Is that Elizabeth?"

Emily nods softly while trying to calm Elizabeth down, "You want to hold her?"

Elizabeth responds, "Absolutely." Emily gently hands Resi to her mother. Elizabeth asks, "What's her name?"

"Resi. Resi Penelope Morgan," Derek says.

Elizabeth starts to tear up, "It's perfect. She's perfect," She looks at Emily, "You're perfect."

Fran gets the sense that it's time for her to leave the call, "Sweetie, I'll talk to you soon. I have a flight booked for tomorrow."

Derek says goodbye to his mother while Elizabeth starts to full-on whale. Derek slides out the door, "I'll let you two have some time."

Without even hearing what Derek said, Elizabeth groans, "I should've been a better mother."

"What are you talking about?" Emily asks, knowing fully what she is talking about.

Elizabeth looks down at Resi and strokes her cheek, "I should have been home more, and I should have talked about your father after he died. I should have done so much more than I did. And I am so sorry."

Emily smiles and glances at Resi, "You know... You did everything you could, with the facilities you were given. And while I did most things by myself, I knew I had you in my corner if I needed you."

"You're not just saying that?" Elizabeth wipes her tears with her long sleeve.

Emily speaks to Resi, "You hear that Resi? Your Grammy did the very best she could with the facilities she was given at the time."

Elizabeth stands up and sits back down on the side of Emily's bed. She softly says and leans into Emily's embrace, "I love you, pumpkin."

"I love you, too, mom," Emily hugs her tightly, but not too tightly as to squeeze Resi. Three generations sit in the hospital bed, all with different emotions running through their mind.