Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Many apologies on this being released so late! I graduated over the weekend and was busy with all of the little things that go with it. That and I took a couple of Me-Days to play some Lara Croft. I find those good to refuel :) So without further ado, here's chapter 10! Thanks again for the reviews lovely people!
Hope you all don't mind my skips of time! It's how this story is gonna work.
2 Months Later
"Hotch, we are no closer to finding the jackass who did this to Penelope than we were right after it happened," Derek grunted as he stomped into Hotch's office. "We've received threatening calls on the phone, letters in the mail. Hell, someone even made a death threat against Penelope by sending flowers with a note attached! We need to do something."
Sighing, Hotch said, "Listen, Morgan, there are no leads whatsoever to these. They've been using disposable cells to call you, they paid with cash for the flowers, no fingerprints on the envelopes or paper. There's nothing. Strauss and the Director want us off this case. If anything new should arise, they'll let us look into it, but not until then." Looking at him sympathetically, he added, "I know this is hard for you and I'm worried for you and Penelope as well, but there's nothing we can do."
Derek got to his feet and shook his head. "It's not good enough," he growled, storming out of his unit chief's office. On the way out he almost ran smack into Reid.
"Whoa there, Morgan," he said. "You okay there? You seem a little on edge."
Rubbing his forehead, Derek said tiredly, "Strauss and the Director are cutting us off from the case of Penelope's stalker. I just…the only time she's safe is when she's here or when we're at home together. I feel like I'm not doing enough to protect her. And we still don't know who the hell this is tormenting her. All the time, I feel like punching a wall. I just want her to be safe…I want the baby to be safe. I feel like she's stressed out enough as it and it's not good for her or the baby and –"
Reid shook his head and halted Derek mid-speech. "You're speaking too fast Morgan and that's causing your anxiety to go through the roof," he said. "Now, I think I can do a little research on my own time and I'll find a way to catch them."
Derek studied Reid for a moment. "You would do that for us?" he asked.
Nodding, he answered with confidence, "Absolutely."
"Well then, what do you want me to do?" Derek asked swiftly. With Reid by his side, he could protect Penelope while finding the stalker.
"You need to protect Penelope," he said. "Help her get through this because she needs you. And you need her. You need each other. And your child needs you. So my one and only job for you right now is to spend every moment you can with the woman you love."
Derek smiled at him after a few moments. "You know kid, you are one special dude," he said.
A smile covered Reid's face and he nodded. "Of this I am aware," he said smugly.
XXXXX
"Good morning, sleepyhead!"
Penelope was roused from her dreaming by Derek's overly cheery morning voice and she groaned, pulling a pillow over her head to block out the light disrupting her sleep. "Lemme 'lone," she mumbled through the fabric.
"No can do, Baby Girl!" he sang chirpily. "Work's a callin' us. People to save, bad guys to catch, Reid to listen to spout off utterly useless facts."
Suddenly light forced her eyes open as the pillow was yanked from her face. Squinting, the reached for her glasses on the bedside table and glared up at Derek's grinning face. He was standing in his boxers as he buttoned up his navy blue shirt. "I was having a good dream," she whined, pouting her lower lip.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he pushed some of her rumpled hair back from her face and tweaked her nose. "Oh, poor baby," he cooed, sticking out his lower lip in the process to imitate her face. "What were you dreaming about?"
Shyly, she said, "Well, I was dreaming about us…us and this little girl." She pointed down at the small bump that was growing every single day. "It was just the three of us. We were just sitting. She looks a lot like you…at least in my funky dream head. It was perfect" She touched his eyebrow and giggled. "She could do this with her itty bitty eyebrows." To prove her point, she pushed his left eyebrow up in a sloppy version of his classic facial expression.
He laughed and took her hand, kissing her palm in the process. Rising to his feet, he took both her hands and hoisted her to her feet. "Up you go, silly girl," he purred against her neck. "We have to get to work. And if you hurry up, we can go get coffee for me and tea for you and the little lady in there."
Stepping up on her tiptoes, Penelope placed a kiss on Derek's lips and blew her bangs out of her eyes. "Oh, alright," she huffed teasingly. "But you have to drive."
Kissing her back, he smiled and murmured, "I can do that."
XXXXX
"Usual tea for you, Penelope?" Ashley, the barista at Penelope and Derek's local coffee shop, asked.
Penelope smiled sweetly and said, "Yeah. And a large black coffee for Derek."
As she was waiting for the two drinks, Ashley said, "So, how's the baby doing? Have you found out the sex yet?"
Penelope looked down at her small, but steadily growing baby bump and rubbed it. "The little girl is doing well," she said happily.
"Oh, that's so wonderful!" Ashley cooed. Putting the coffee and tea on the counter, she added, "When you get sonogram pictures, would you bring them for me to see? I can't believe you're having a little girl! That's so exciting! I'm so happy for you and Derek both."
Penelope tilted her head to the side and smiled again. "Thanks Ashley," she said. "You're so sweet." Checking her watch, she blew out a sigh. "I gotta get going. I'll see you later." She waved and started for the door. Derek was sitting in the car on his cell phone when she arrived at the curb and she motioned for him to pop open the door for her. Nodding, he leaned across the seats with ease and released the handle so she could get in. Quickly he dropped a kiss on her cheek and mouthed a "thank you" before she put his coffee in the cup holder next to him.
"Uh-huh," he said as he started to drive off. "Yep, alright. Thank you very much. We'll be there at eight o'clock."
Penelope raised an eyebrow at him as she took a sip of her tea. "Who is seeing who at eight?" she questioned lightly. There was a hint of a sparkle in her eyes along with her curiosity.
Grinning crookedly at her, Derek winked. "Well, mama," he began, "seeing as we haven't been out in a really long time, I wanted to take you to dinner. There's a jazz club right across the street too."
She blinked several times. This would be the most coupley thing they'd done outside of their home in months. She felt her heart warm up inside at his gesture. He really was serious about resuming their relationship. He didn't hold any resentment toward her about her stupid mistake that led to the miscarriage. He'd just been waiting for the right moment.
"Well," she started dramatically. "I'm just going to have to find something nice to wear aren't I?"
Chuckling, he took her hand and brought it up to his lips to kiss it. "Honey, you could wear sweatpants and I'd still think you're the most beautiful woman on the planet," he told her honestly. They ended up at a red light, so he leaned over and nibbled on her earlobe. Dropping his voice to a whisper, he added, "Although you wouldn't have to be wearing anything for me to think that…au natural works just fine for me."
Giggling, she said, "I think the restaurant and jazz club would frown upon that."
He shrugged. "Then we'll just have to find time afterwards for that," he said mischievously. He leaned over to kiss her and she cupped his cheek in her hand, relishing the feel of his lips against hers. Behind them, however, a few honking cars sounded, breaking their moment; the light had turned green.
"Damn traffic lights," Derek grumbled, pecking her lips on last time before putting his foot on the gas pedal.
"They are so necessary though," Penelope giggled.
"Not more necessary than me kissing you," he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows and a grin on his face.