Before Long

Finally Free

The next morning, JJ began fretting over her eye: the bruise was in its prime now, and it would be at least a week before it would go back to normal, but Emily rectified the situation by putting concealer on it.

They got to work in an orderly and timely fashion, reaching the building lobby at the same time as Derek and Penelope, boarding the elevator with them and riding up to the BAU floor with them.

"How..."

Derek had meant to ask how the girls' night had been because Penelope wouldn't give him a single detail, but he didn't get a chance to finish the sentence because their phones all rang with the same group text, a summons from Hotch for them to meet him in his office before they went to their desks.

"You guys okay?"

This question was from Spencer because they had to pass by his desk on the way to Hotch's office, and in response, they all dumped their bags and coats on top of his files.

When they entered Hotch's office ws at his desk, but what they weren't banking on was Rossi standing beside him, almost looking expectant.

"Sir, you wanted to see us?" Derek asked Hotch.

"Anything happen over the vacation we should know about?"

Penelope's answer came out in a blurt before she could stop herself. "Derek and I got engaged on Thanksgiving, sir, and I'm pregnant!"

"Baby Girl," Derek groaned as Emily and JJ snickered. "What happened to telling everyone together?"

Unfortunately, Penelope had a one-track mind. "Emily and JJ are living together, and both of them are pregnant!"

"Penelope!" Emily and JJ cried in unison.

"I'm sorry, you guys!" Penelope apologized quickly. "You all know how fast I cave when I'm in this room!"

Derek just sighed and looked over at Hotch and Rossi. "Well, there it is."

Rossi looked to Hotch and handed him a ten dollar bill. "You're good, and then you're good. Garcia really does cave quickly."

Both couples looked at their superiors in surprise.

"You knew?" Penelope squawked in astonishment.

"We guessed." Hotch confessed, pocketing the money. "I already knew about Emily because she told me just before we went to New York, but with the rest of you, it was mostly predictability. I also knew that Garcia would crumble quickly if Rossi was here."

Derek, Emily, and JJ looked at Penelope with raised eyebrows, and she immediately looked down and started brushing imaginary dust off her bright rainbow-themed outfit.

"Rossi reminds me a lot of my stepdad, and he could always catch my brothers and me in a lie, or suss out any of the secrets we kept."

JJ held her hand in the time-out position, turning to the other blond woman. "You're not an only child? How many brothers do you have?"

"There's four of them: Alonso, Griffith, Lysander, and Sebastian; all Shakespeare n..."

"Hello!" Emily cried. "Not important right now!"

Hotch merely laughed. "All of you can go ahead and go; we can talk about reducing time in the field later."

The communications liaison, the tech analyst, and their profiler significant others left the office quickly, shutting the door behind them.

"Did we all just get lucky?" Penelope asked her friends.

"Yes." Emily answered quickly.

"Super, super lucky." JJ added and then turned to Emily. "I'm gonna go make myself some tea. Come with me."