Dark Academia- Spencer Reid

Chapter 36

A.N - Guess who is back :) 

The stress of Cyrus trying to kill Zena took a toll on her both mentally and physically.  Most mornings she would wake up and vomit intensely from the anxiety plaguing her dreams, Spencer sitting beside her reassuring her that she was safe, and he would never let anything happen to her.

"I don't know what more I can do, Morgan. Every day she is in a state of panic, I cannot calm her down. She doesn't have any family left. There is no one that can bring her comfort the way her brother used to, I am so lost on how to help," Reid confessed putting his head on the cold surface of his desk. The team had been receiving mostly local cases for the time being, it seemed that the universe was pushing them to remain close to Zena, who truly needed all the support she could get at the moment.

"Have you reached out to Dahlia?" Morgan asked his closest friend.

"Who the fuck is Dahlia," Spencer said in a confused tone, lifting his head to stare at Derek.

"Don't tell me you forgot her best friend. That's fucked up, man. Zena could really use her right now."

For the first time in three weeks, Spencer let out a genuine laugh. In fact, he began to laugh so hard that tears were rolling down his face. "Not Dahlia, her name is Delilah. You're a genius. Let me step outside to call her now," he said, pushing away from the desk and stepping out into the hallway to get a fraction of privacy from the team.  He anxiously waited while the phone was ringing, hoping she would answer.

"Hey Spence, long time no chat. How are you doing?" Delilah answered, chipper as always.

"Um, hey. Hi.  So sorry to bother you-" he was cut off by his wife's best friend.

"Never, ever a bother, Spencer. What's going on? You sound stressed." 

"I don't know if you have heard from Zena, but she's having a really hard time right now. I don't even know how to phrase this kindly so I am going to be very blunt," he started.

"Um okay.." Delilah responded, anxiety lacing through her voice.

"Um, yeah. So Cyrus, her brother, tried to murder her recently and is now in jail and one of her family members who she hasn't told me how they are related is defending him in court and this is really scary and I think she needs you," Spencer told her, in one very deep breathe.

"CYRUS DID WHAT?" Delilah shouted over the phone, followed by a slew of intense profanity, and then a lot of banging, from what Spencer thought he heard.  "I'm packing a bag right now, I can be there in hopefully 5 hours assuming I can hop on a plane the moment I get to the airport. Thank you for reaching out to me, Spencer. You're a great husband and we will make sure that we support her in any way she needs.  See you soon, love you. Bye," Delilah said, hanging up the phone before Spencer could think of a response.

Zena had been home alone the entire day, and she absolutely hated it.  Every noise made her paranoid that someone had snuck into their home. Pavlov had needed to go outside and rang the bell she set up for him, and she screamed in horror because she thought that someone was trying to break in. When she realized it was her beloved dog, she began to cry, wondering how her life could have turned out so upside down.

So, to occupy her time, the young woman sat on her couch, grading papers from one of the many lectures she was giving this semester. She couldn't help but smile as she graded the work of her students, noticing how much they were learning, how wonderful the research they were conducting was, and how well written they all were.  She was interrupted from grading by the shrill sound of the doorbell reverberating throughout the house.  Zena cautiously stood up from the couch, fear coursing through her body.  She made her way over to the gun safe before going to the door, in order to protect herself incase she needed to protect herself. However, before she could enter the code she heard a familiar voice outside.

"Z, open the door please, it's me," Delilah's muffled voice said.  Without hesitation Zena ran to the door, swinging it open haphazardly and jumping into her best friends arm. Without realizing it, she began to hysterically cry into the shoulder of the woman who had always been there for her.   "I'm here, Z.  You're safe," Delilah told her, rubbing soothing circles on her back.    

After their greeting, Zena and Delilah made their way into the home, sitting on the couch and catching up, not talking about the awful things that were going on in the young professor's life. Her best friend knew better than to push her to talk about it. If Delilah had to hear the news from Spencer, she most certainly knew her friend would not be ready to discuss the trauma that her brother inflicted upon her. 

 Delilah couldn't help but look at her friend and notice how different she looked, her face had become fuller, her skin as clear as ever. She recalled Zena telling her a week ago that she had been throwing up from stress. Suddenly, everything began to make sense.  Delilah quickly cut Zena off in the middle of her sentence.  

"Zena, when the fuck were you going to tell me that you're pregnant?"

Zena looked at her best friend, slack jawed and wide eyed.  "I... I haven't told anyone. How the fuck do you know that?" 

"You're throwing up non stop, you've finally gained healthy weight, you're wearing insanely baggy clothing for a girl who loves her tight, matching pajama sets. Did you think I wouldn't figure it out?"

Zena began to cry again, harder than she had in the last few days.  "I was going to tell Spencer, and then all of this bullshit happened with Cyrus, and I have been so stressed and scared that I thought I would miscarry. I didn't want to tell Spencer if it ended up not working out, I couldn't get his hopes up," she said between sobs.

Delilah grabbed her best friend's face in her hands.  "Z, this is the best news I have heard from you in a very long time.  Do you want to be pregnant?"

Zena nodded her head.  "I've never wanted anything more in my life," Zena told her, smiling.  "Delilah, where are you going?" Zena asked, watching her friend get up from the couch and put her shoes on.

"We are going to the store. It seems that there is a very happy surprise waiting for Dr.Spencer Reid, and we need to make it special!"

Spencer came home four hours later to Zena reading one of her many novels on the couch.  "So you called Delilah," she said smiling, placing her book face down on the couch.

"I figured after the last couple of weeks you needed some support from someone that wasn't me.  Who better than your favorite person.  Speaking of, where is she?" 

Zena got off the couch and wrapped her arms around her husband.  "She's taking a nap. I think the adrenaline and impromptu travel wore her down pretty hard today." Unwrapping her arms from his lean torso, she then intertwined their fingers together and lead him to the kitchen.  "I have a surprise for you," she told him as he sat down at the table.

"I hope it is dinner, because I am so hungry," he said smiling.

She smiled back at him.  "Okay, then I have two surprises," she said taking the lasagna she made out of the oven and placing it in front of the agent so he could serve himself.  She then took out the gift bag from under the counter and placed it in front of him.  Without hesitation he took it and opened it up, a onesie had the words "future SSA and PhD candidate" written on the front. He began to laugh. "Is Pavlov going to fit into this?" He asked smiling, causing Zena to laugh.  "I'm not sure, but you're missing part of the gift," she told him, encouraging him to grab the last part of the surprise.  Spencer reached his hand into the bottom of the bag, fishing for the mystery his wife looked so eager for him to see. He finally grabbed it and looked at it quizzically.  "It's a positive pregnancy test? Who would give you their.. OH MY GOD YOU'RE PREGNANT?" He flew around the table picking her up and swinging her around.  "For a genius, that took you an awful long time," Zena said laughing while Spencer peppered kisses around her face.

After he settled down he sat back down at the table, staring at the positive pregnancy test in his hands.  "We're going to be parents ," he whispered, tears gleaming in his eyes.  Seeing Spencer cry caused Zena to cry.  "You're going to be a dad," she told him softly, holding his face in her hands.  

"We're going to be parents," he whispered again, pulling her in for a gentle kiss.