Disclaimer: I own nothing but the dvds. I don't own (nor have I seen) "The Vow," either.

Author's Note: This was written from KricketWilliams' birthday because she's amazing and awesome and completely rocks. Happy Birthday, Kricket! I hope you have an amazing day!

THE KISS

"JJ?" Hotch said, walking into the kitchen where his wife was cooking dinner. He gave her a quick kiss, careful of the hot stove. "Why is there a depressed technical analyst in our living room warning our sons about the perils of love?"

JJ chuckled. "She's going through something with Derek."

Hotch frowned, loosening his tie. "What kind of thing?"

"I'm not sure exactly. She couldn't explain it without talking really fast and her voice getting all high so I invited her for dinner so we could talk afterward," she explained.

"Do you want me to take the boys and clear out of here?" Hotch offered.

JJ shook her head, emphatically. "No. When Penelope gets in these moods, she wants to drink."

"Okay?" He looked at her clueless.

"She wants me to drink with her. I can't exactly drink with her right now, can I?" JJ asked, pointedly, gesturing to her stomach. "And since we decided to wait until I was fourteen weeks along to tell anyone, you're going to have to help me pretend to drink."

Hotch guffawed. "How exactly am I suppose to do that?"

JJ shrugged. "There's a reason they made you the boss, right? Figure it out."

"Jayje-"

"JJ, is dinner ready yet?" Jack asked, walking into the room. His eyes pleaded with her. "Aunt Penny is telling us about all the crushes she had, going back to when she was my age."

JJ's eyes widened. "Go take your brother to get washed up. Dinner will be ready soon. Tell Aunt Penny she can come in here."

Jack scurried away, calling for Henry in hopes that he wouldn't have to go back into the living room. JJ waited until Jack was gone before pointing the knife in her hand at Hotch. "Not a word. She is my best friend and the one that pushed us together in the first place."

"I wasn't going to say anything," Hotch protested, throwing his hands up in innocence. "I'm just wondering how much therapy our boys are going to need after tonight."

"What about tonight?" Garcia asked, walking into the kitchen. She looked from Hotch to JJ.

JJ cleared her throat. "Hotch was just saying that he wants to be included in the girl talk that we're going to have tonight." Garcia turned to Hotch and studied him. "I told him that it would have to be up to you since you were the one going to be doing most of the talking tonight."

Garcia whipped her head back towards JJ. "That's not necessarily tr- Okay, boss man, if you want to be one of the girls tonight, that would be okay with me. It might help to get a male perspective anyway." Garcia walked over to the counter. "Can I help with anything?"

"I think I have everything under control," JJ told her. Garcia's face fell a bit. "But if you want to set the table that would help out a lot."

"You owe me so big," Hotch growled, pulling JJ into his arms. He nuzzled her ear causing her to giggle. "And I am going to collect. Tonight."

JJ laughed harder when he released her. She playfully smacked his behind. "I like that you think you're even going to be able to see by the end of the night."

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"The boys are down for the count," JJ announced, walking down the stairs into the living room. She bit her lip to stop from chuckling at the pained look on Hotch's face. His ears were already red from the glass of wine he had consumed will she bathed and put the boys to bed.

"Oh, good," Garcia sighed, finishing off what JJ suspected was her second glass of wine. "I was trying to get Hotch here to explain to me why guys can't just be upfront. Sure, they claim they are, claim we're the ones that play around, but they play games way worse than we do."

JJ said nothing as she sat down on the couch beside Hotch and faced the chair that Garcia was sitting in. She took the glass of wine that Garcia offered, bringing it to her lips before setting it down on the coffee table, untouched. "So, are you going to tell me the real reason that you're here?"

Garcia cast a nervous glance at Hotch. "Well, um, I-"

"Don't worry about him. Tonight, he's just Aaron. Anything you say won't affect work," JJ assured her. She elbowed Hotch so that he would nod in agreement. "So, what did Derek do now?"

"Oh God," Hotch whispered, grabbing JJ's glass and drinking it all in one gulp.

Garcia sighed, filling up all three glasses. "Probably nothing. I'm sure it's just me." She sighed again when JJ just stared at her. "We've been spending a lot of time together lately, even more so than we had been."

JJ nodded, once again bringing the wine glass to her lips without taking a sip. "You two have seemed joined at the hip lately."

"Up until a week ago, we have spent every evening that you guys have been in town together for the past few months. It's nothing special most nights. We eat dinner and watch television or play video games. Sometimes, he'd crash on my couch. Sometimes, I'd crash on his. Sometimes, we crashed together."

Beside JJ, Hotch groaned. He took a big sip of wine. Feeling his wife's eyes upon him, he cleared his throat. "What happened a week ago?"

"He kissed me!" Garcia sobbed, her emotions swinging wildly as the alcohol kicked in. "We were sitting on the couch, watching 'The Vow' when-"

"Wait. You got Derek Morgan to watch 'The Vow'?" JJ asked in disbelief.

Garcia nodded, slightly affronted. "I'll have you know that my Darling Derek is quite sensitive."

"Of course," JJ apologized, raising an eyebrow in Hotch's direction. His eyes were closed in a pained expression. JJ grabbed the bottle of wine only to discover it empty. She grabbed the second bottle and opened it, pouring Garcia and Hotch each a glass. They both quickly made their way through half of each. "Okay, so you were sitting on the couch..."

"We were sitting on the couch and he had his arm wrapped around my shoulders, almost but not quite touching my boob," Garcia continued, ignoring the noise of protest from Hotch. "The movie ended and he turned to me, smelling so delicious. You know how he always smells so yummy."

JJ nodded, earning a quick jab in the side from Hotch. "Go on."

Garcia licked her lips. "He leaned down and the second our lips touched, I felt my entire soul was on fire. I was so shocked that I just sat there. All of a sudden, he pulled away. He jumped up and ran out of my apartment. He's been avoiding me ever since."

"Oh, Penny," JJ breathed out. "Have you tried talking to him?"

"Several times," she replied. She finished her glass and poured another one. "He just makes some excuse to walk away or avoid me. He's even had Reid call to ask for my help. What am I going to do?"

JJ rubbed her arm, lovingly. "Ssh. It's going to be okay. Maybe it just scared him and he doesn't know how to act around you."

Garcia's tears started all over again. "Maybe, he realized I'm just not the type of girl that he wants, but he doesn't know how to tell me!"

"I'm sure that's not-" JJ cut off when the doorbell rang. She stood up, looking between Hotch and Garcia. JJ hissed to Hotch, "Keep talking to her."

JJ opened the front door to find Rossi and Reid standing there, holding up Morgan between the two of them. "What's going on, guys?"

Rossi smirked. "We've had enough fun. He's your problem now."

"My problem?" JJ squealed. "How is he my problem?"

"He's been crying about Garcia all night," Rossi explained. " You have Garcia. That makes him your problem."

JJ shook her head, emphatically. "I have a broken hearted drunk friend and a very uncomfortable drunk husband as well as two sleeping little boys upstairs." She waved her hands in front of her. "I can't take him and the drama that he'll bring if he steps into this house."

Rossi huffed, knowing there wasn't a chance in hell he was taking Morgan back with him, not after listening to how Morgan screwed up with the perfect woman. "Tell you what. You take Morgan and we'll take the boys." She glared at him. "I'll even keep them until after dinner tomorrow so that you and that husband of yours can have some alone time." JJ continued to glower. "And I'll take them for a night next weekend."

"Deal," she said, at last. "I'll take him to the kitchen and sober him up a bit. You two go upstairs and grab the boys."

"Hi, JJ," Morgan said, blearily, when Rossi passed him to her. "What are you doing here?"

JJ grunted as she took on Morgan's weight, leading him to the kitchen. "I live here."

Morgan nodded as he glanced around. "What am I doing here?"

"You are here to make up with my best friend," she told him, sitting him at the kitchen table.

"Penelope's here?" He tried to stand, but JJ pushed on his shoulders to keep him in the chair. "I have to talk to her. I have to apologize."

JJ rolled her eyes. "You will. But you need to sober up a bit first."

Morgan sighed, but nodded in agreement. He watched her as she made a pot of coffee. "Penelope's pretty mad at me, isn't she?"

"A little mad; mostly hurt," JJ replied. She opened her mouth to say more, but was stopped by Reid and Rossi entering the kitchen carrying the two boys. Henry was still fast asleep, but Jack looked her in confusion. She kissed his forehead. "You and Henry are going to spend the night with Uncle Dave. He's going to let you do whatever you want tomorrow."

"Okay," Jack agreed, laying his head on Rossi's shoulder. "Good night, JJ. I love you."

"Thanks for that," Rossi growled, but silenced any further protest by the look on JJ's face. He quickly led Reid out of the house.

JJ sat at the table, handing Morgan the mug of coffee. She studied him carefully as he drank quietly. He looked worn out, more tired than she had seen him in a long time. She couldn't contribute all of that to his drinking.

"Ready to face the music?" JJ asked him when he finished the coffee. Morgan nodded. "Let's go."

She grabbed his arm to lead him into the living room. The chattering that had been heard from living room ceased as soon they entered. JJ sat Morgan on the couch and pulled Hotch up. "Come on, boss man. Let's leave these two to their discussion."

"You taking me to bed, boss woman?" Hotch asked her, giggling at his nickname.

"Yes, I am." She faced Morgan and Garcia from the doorway, trying to ignore Hotch as he grabbed her waist from behind, his hands beginning to wander over her body. "If you need me, I'll be awake. The guest room is all set up if you make up. If not, there are blankets in the hallway closet for Morgan to sleep on the couch. Good night."

Morgan watched her as her eyes darted across the room, looking everywhere but at him. "I don't know where to start."

Garcia bit her bottom lip. "You don't have to start anywhere. I just want to go back to being your friend. I get that you were just caught up in the moment; that it didn't mean anything to you. I-"

"You think I kissed you because I got caught up in a moment?" Morgan repeated.

"Didn't you?"

Morgan rubbed his face with his hand. "No! I kissed you because I love you; because I couldn't imagine another day not kissing you."

Garcia flinched at the conviction in his voice. "Then why have you ignored me for the last week?"

"Because you didn't kiss me back! You just sat there and I thought- I thought that meant that I had misread the signals, that you wanted to stay just friends. I've been avoiding you this week so I could figure out how to do that."

"Oh," Garcia said, simply. She moved from the chair to the couch, taking his hand between her two. "I sat there because you surprised me. I didn't think you felt that way about me. I didn't think you would ever look at me like that."

Morgan lay his free hand against her cheek. "Are you kidding me? You are the most amazing woman I've ever known in my life and I have been in love with you for years. I've just been waiting for you to be ready."

Garcia squeezed his hand, leaning towards him. "I'm ready. I love you, Derek Morgan."

"I love you, Penelope Garcia," he muttered just before capturing her lips. Just as with their first kiss, Garcia felt her every molecule come alive. He tasted even more savory than she remembered and Garcia soon found herself pressed against the couch as passion overtook them both.

"Wait! Wait!" Garcia ordered, pulling her lips away from his. Morgan looked down at her with fear in his eyes. "We can't do this on the couch. My nephews play video games on this couch."

Morgan let out an audible sigh of relief. "Okay. What do you want to do then?"

She pushed him up, rising from couch. He grabbed her waist to steady her when she began to stumble. Garcia giggled. "Come on. There's a whole bed waiting for us in the guest room."

"Are you sure that's okay?" Morgan whispered to her as they went up the stairs, fingers stroking over revealed skin. "I don't want to disturb Hotch and JJ."

She stopped at the top step, cocking her ear towards the banging noise coming from Hotch and JJ's room. They both burst out laughing when they heard Hotch's grunts and JJ's moans. Garcia turned to him. "I think it'll be okay."

"Excellent," Morgan replied, pulling her flush against him. He leaned down and kissed her. "Let's go show them how this is done."

THE END

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