Hard to Get Back
Chapter 1
Before New York
AN: I don't own anything. Okay so I saw this episode few days back and I really didn't like when Hotch told Morgan to take a walk, because I'm sorry, but he was doing exactly what Morgan said he was. Hotch was too concerned about Kate to even consider that his team member was right. Enjoy.
Jessica Raven Morgan was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, she was two years old and a twin, her brother Tyler Dilion Morgan was in the kitchen with their mother. However Jess as most everybody called her was waiting on her dad to come down stairs, she'd watched him go up there half hour ago, which was too long in her time book, even though she didn't understand how long he'd been up there, but she knew it was too long.
"DADDY," she finally screamed out before she started crying. She had curly blond hair and both her parents' eye color. She was was a daddy's little girl no doubt about it. Her skin was just like Derek's was, her brother had gotten more of Penelope's skin tone, but he had brown hair and brown eyes that matched his hair.
Penelope came from the kitchen finding her daughter sitting at the bottom of the stairs sitting beside the steps looking up the stairs, "What's the matter?" she asked, it had scared her when Jess had screamed out for Derek.
"I want daddy," she sobbed.
"Sweetheart he's asleep, he just got in an half hour ago," Penelope said.
"I want daddy," she said again.
Penelope sighed, she knew that if Jess didn't see Derek soon she'd litterly start screaming for him till she thought he could hear her, but since the kids usually ran around screaming and yelling he slept with the radio on low when Penelope was home. He refused to tell their kids they needed to be quiet, most the time he was making as much noise as they were.
Morgan had been about to go back to sleep again, he'd decided he'd wanted a shower after he laid down, but soon as he got on the bed he heard Jess screaming as loud as she could for him. He couldn't help but smile, she knew he was home, but he'd tried to slip by them since they'd been eating breakfast, and Penelope had gotten them to settle down since he'd called telling her he'd be home soon.
Most mornings it was a battle zone trying to get them to sit for five minutes let alone long enough to eat. Since they'd been happily eating, thank god he'd taught Penelope how to cook without things going boom, he could get at least hour nap in before he got back up to go down stairs with them.
Derek loved their kids, he wouldn't trade it for the world the only thing he wished that would happen though was that Penelope would agree to marry him, or rather set the date, three years engaged and she still said it wasn't the right time, however he was going to get a yes I'm marrying you on this date out of her yet.
It wasn't that she didn't want to marry him, it was nothing like that, just so far every time they set a date they got a case, it happened for six months, after the last one she said until she absolutely knew they wouldn't be working she'd pick a date, that was three years ago before Elle or Gideon had left the BAU.
"DADDY," he heard Jessica screaming again, and this time he went downstairs knowing she wouldn't stop.
Penelope was trying to convince her to stop crying, but it wasn't working, his daughter wasn't taking no for an answer, Derek stepped over the baby gate, and scooped the little girl up. "I gotcha," Derek said holding her to his chest as she tried to stop crying.
"I knew you wouldn't get away with sneaking past her, she's a blood hound," Pen said with smile, "She finished her breakfast, if you want to take her up with you," she said.
"I got some sleep on the plane, I'll get some sleep when she does," Derek said, "You want to go outside for while?" he asked her.
"Yes," Jess said.
"Me too," Tyler asked coming into the room once he heard his dad.
"Did you finish your breakfast?" Penelope asked him.
Tyler didn't say anything for a second, "no," he finally answered.
"You go finish eating and I'll wait on you," Derek said.
"Derek he's not going to sit down at the table unless you go in there," Penelope said, both of their kids loved their dad and they wanted to be with him all the time, with work it wasn't possible, which was why when Derek was home with the three them the kids didn't want to miss anything he did.
"Come on Tyler, you finish breakfast and we can go outside," Derek said.
"You too," Penelope said, "When was the last time you had real food?" She asked.
"Monday," Derek said.
"Yesterday Monday or last week Monday?" Pen asked.
"I will just leave it at Monday and eat breakfast now," Derek said as they went to the kitchen.
By noon all four of them were outside, under one of the shade trees down at their pond, but on the other side of the fence. Clooney was sleeping beside Penelope, these days he got sleep when he could since the twins loved playing with him just as much as they loved their dad around.
Before the twins had been born Derek had built a fence that went around the pond with a gate on it. He didn't want to risk them getting down there and falling over in it. Hotch, Gideon and his brother in-law Eric had helped him out, it had taken three weekends and thankfully they'd gotten lucky and hadn't had any cases and worked on it until they had it up. Reid had helped them out with keeping Penelope distracted making sure she didn't come down there since she'd been eight month pregnant back then.
"So what we got planned for this weekend?" Pen asked Derek. They usually did something when they got few days off, take the kids to the park, zoo, if it was more than three days they'd take off to Chicago visit his mom and sisters. Besides Fran and Desiree's birthdays they hadn't gotten to go there much in the last couple years, they'd worked straight through Christmas only getting that day off itself, and that had only been eight hours because they'd caught another case and had to leave.
"I was thinking that we could just hang around here, every time we make solid plans we end up back at work," Derek said.
"Daddy, Jack come play?" Tyler asked.
"He's coming over tonight, Haley is bringing him by for the night," Pen said.
"I thought Hotch had him this weekend?" Derek asked.
"He does, handsome, but remember today is Thursday, Hotch is picking him up first thing in the morning because Haley is going with her sister to a work thing and Jack is staying with us until Hotch can get him in the morning after he's had some sleep," Pen said, "I already told him he even thinks about office work he's dead," she added.
"Somebody has to keep him straight," Morgan joked.
"Just wish that Haley and him could have survived him coming back to the BAU, strange not going over there and seeing Hotch, I'm just glad we've made this work," Pen said.
"We're not even married baby girl, they were, and I'm never leaving, the only place I belong is here with you and our kids, now if you'll just say yes to July we can get married this year before they turn three," Morgan said.
"I told you, every time we set a date life happens, I want our family and friends there," Penelope said, "If we want a wedding this year then you're going to have to make damn sure we got the fourth off some how, because if this one blows then I got no hope of ever being your wife."
"The hell that will happen," Derek said, "If I have to get Haley to watch these two we're getting married even if it's at the courthouse, you're going to be my wife before their birthday, no ifs ands or buts about it," he said, "That includes me carrying you in there kicking and screaming woman," he added, "The fates are not against us."
"You are begging for a spanking, no cussing in front of them," Pen said giving him a look.
"Hey, you are the one that said the fates were against us when I know they aren't," Morgan said, "You two want to go play on the swing?" he asked.
"Yes," they both said with happy smile.
"Let's go then," Derek said giving Pen a quick kiss before he followed their twins up to the swing set.
Penelope was sitting in the living room that evening while Derek was upstairs sleeping with the twins; he'd worn them out along with himself playing that afternoon. They hadn't talked about the wedding since then, but she knew he was hurt, she just wished every time they set the date they didn't catch a bad case and have to go to work; she wanted to be his wife more than anything.
The knock on the door pulled her out of her thoughts, she knew who it would be since it was almost four-thirty. She opened the door with a smile being met by Jack and Haley.
"Hey come on in, they're upstairs, Derek wore them out and first time in week they'd taken a nap," Penelope said giving Jack a hug.
"I can't stay long," Haley said giving her friend a hug, "Thanks for watching him till the morning, Aaron called me earlier said you'd already told him if he thought about the office you were going to let Derek kick his butt," she said with smile.
"Derek would do it too, gotta make sure Hotch doesn't get too stuck in the paper work that he forgets about the real world out here" Pen said.
"Uncle Derek," Jack said when he saw Derek coming from the kitchen.
"Hey buddy," he said picking him up, "What you got planned this weekend?" he asked.
"Daddy gets to hang out with me," Jack said, "Thank you," he added.
Haley smiled, she was glad that Derek and Hotch were close friends because Derek always made sure that Jack got to see his dad, Penelope did the same, they were trying to make it work so that Jack got to spend as much time with Aaron as possible, even if that meant Derek dragging him away from the office and helping him out with the paper work in the process.
She had never stopped loving Aaron, she loved him with all her heart, but she knew what the job did to him, and it broke her heart again and again. He had to choice between work and Jack sometimes and she knew that both were important to him, but she wished he would stayed home more, Derek was more than happy to help him out, Gideon had been too before he'd left, but now was now and she couldn't go back, but maybe down the road they could find their way back to each other.
"Thank you for this," Haley said, "You two are life savers," she replied.
"Happy to help our best friends out," Penelope said.
"I'm going to go, but I'll see you Monday," Haley said.
"Of course, I'll walk you out," Pen said before Jack gave his mom a hug and kiss bye. Derek took him upstairs with the twins, into the play room since they'd woken up.
"What's up?" Haley asked.
"Are you going to be in town on July 4th, I know you usually take off with your sis, but I sorta wanna try and get married this year, and I know for ninety nine point nine percent we're supposed to have that day off," Penelope said.
"Pen, I thought you were going to set the date for next month, not July?" Haley asked.
"I was, but the place I wanted was booked, and if one more thing goes wrong then it just simple won't be a wedding," she said.
"Look at me, if I have to personally ask the director of the FBI to make damn sure that day is a go for the team not working I will, you two should have been married already, Pen, and the wedding problems aren't the only thing holding you back," Haley said.
"Most of it is, but I'm terrified that soon as we get married it's going to change, I know it is impossible, but Haley look at what happen when I first met Derek," Penelope said, "Chicago back in 2001, his birthday, we were together for six months, and then he just disappeared, I went to the station to talk to him and his Captain told me that he'd been sent undercover, and that he had no way of communicating with me," she said, "His mom gave me the letter he'd wrote me, he'd never wanted to go under, but he didn't have a choice," she said.
"If Derek had another choice back then he would never have gone under and you know that, he wanted to marry you then, Pen, but you disappeared too, you went back under ground and until the FBI caught you hacking you didn't come out, he was under for eighteen months, you were gone for almost four years," Haley said, "You are lucky, you found each other again, sure it took you joining the FBI to find him again, but you found your man again, now just trust that he's never going to leave like that again," she said.
"I know, I still got that letter, he apologized so many times in it, I never would have thought I would find him again, now we have twins and the only thing I can think of is what if it doesn't work out, if you're going by years and include the time we were apart it's been over six years," Penelope said.
"Exactly, Derek Morgan loved you the first time he met you and you stole his heart all over again," Haley said.
"I guess I should finally give him that hundred percent yes then," Penelope said, "Thanks Haley, I really needed a friend to talk to, Emily and JJ are on his side, but they don't know everything like you do," she said with a smile.
"Well you are my best friend after all, and you have to have a girl best friend too, because having this conversation with Derek might be little strange," Haley said giving her a hug.
"I'll see you Monday," Pen said before she went back inside finding all three kids in the living room with Derek. They were in a tickle fight and so far it looked like Derek was loosing, "You three want some help?" She asked going over to them and she helped them until one the toughest men she knew was laughing and begging for mercy from the tickling monsters.
TBC
AN: Hope you liked the first chapter; the second chapter will be more like this but at the end they'll get the case in NY most will be the same there, but I'm adding my own twists and touches to it, more back story for Pen and Derek in the next chapter as well.