Penelope woke up to the sweet feeling of Erin's lips against hers, kissing her awake, and she slowly opened her eyes to see the woman looking at her, such tenderness in her gaze that Penelope felt indescribably gorgeous. "Good morning, darling," Erin murmured. "I'm sorry for the morning breath, but I couldn't resist kissing you as soon as I woke up."

"After the night that we just shared, I think that I can live with a little morning breath, Erin," she said before kissing her once more. "All right, you said never shy away from speaking the truth, so I'm going to be open and vulnerable with you here. I've never felt so right the first time with someone. Anyone. There was something about how focused you were on me and my pleasure that I just…wow?"

Erin let out a nervous little laugh as she nodded, sitting up and resting against the headboard of the bed as she allowed the sheets to pool around her waist. Penelope licked her lips a little at the sight of her breasts in the morning light, only for Erin's laugh to turn a little more carnal as she shook her head. "One track mind, much?" she teased, and Penelope shrugged as she sat up and copied Erin's pose. "I'm glad that what I did was pleasing to you. I tried to share with you everything that I wished Alan would have done with me. I shied away from what David and I shared, because that's still a sore spot. I, my body was pretty?"

"Oh, my love, your body is magnificent. You're shapely, and soft, and everything that I love in a lover. My lover." She blinked back a few tears before reaching out to cup her face, running her thumb along Erin's cheekbone. "You're mine, I hope you don't mind me claiming you like that."

Erin shook her head a little as she leaned forward, resting her forehead against Penelope's. "I think I always knew that if we took this next step, that this would be a little more permanent than just a quick roll in the hay. And I am perfectly okay with that, with you." She let out a deep sigh as she turned more fully towards Penelope, wrapping her arm around her waist as she snuggled in close to her once more.

"Oh, lover, you're going to make me thoroughly domesticated before too long." Erin nodded as she ran her hand up and down Penelope's side, as if memorizing the shape and curves of her body. "I hate to even think about asking you to move away from me, but I really need to pee, and I should probably wash the makeup off my face."

"All right. I'll go down and start breakfast. After you take care of your needs, grab one of the robes out of the bathroom closet and join me in the kitchen?"

"Of course," she instantly replied before kissing Erin. Shimmying off the bed, she padded over to the door that she assumed was for the master bathroom, smiling to herself when she found herself correct. It didn't take long for her to pee, and then she was washing her hands before grabbing a washcloth out of the shower and wetting it, carefully washing her face free from the remains of last night's makeup. Once she was satisfied with how she looked, she opened the closet door and found the robes Erin had spoken of, grabbing the fluffiest one and wrapping it around her body before making her way down to the kitchen.

"That didn't take too long, darling," Erin said without turning away from the stove.

"It was just a wee and a wash," she replied as she went over to her side, leaning against the counter as she watched the woman prepare them pancakes. "Your bathroom is so neat compared to mine. I wish I could be that organized, but it just seems to get away from me. You're definitely going to have to teach me some of your tricks."

"If that's what you want," Erin replied before flipping the pancakes on the griddle. With that done, she turned her head and stole a quick kiss. "And my children will be here at four. It seems that Tabitha would like to cook with us, though Bruce and Karen should stay in the living room, watching tv or reading. They've never really cared to help out in the kitchen, though they were always quick to clean."

"I was always a cook with my mum and grandfather, too. Cleaning was never in my wheelhouse. I do it, because it needs to be done, but there is so much else I'd rather do."

Erin nodded before taking a deep breath. "All right, so, emotional honesty this morning?" Penelope dipped her head twice, and then Erin's back was stiffening, which told Penelope that she was about to reveal something very personal about herself, which maybe no one else knew. "So, you remember how I told you that I had one large regret about my job?"

"Yes."

"I'm not proud of this, my darling. If I could go back in time and make one little change, it would probably be this decision. I had a lover in the BAU, well, it was still the BSU then. She and I had a mutual attraction and that led to us making a rash decision to become a friends with benefits situation, even though we were both married at the time." Erin's words were measured, controlled, and Penelope could tell by how tightly she held the spatula handle that she was struggling to keep telling her truth. "Well, there was a rather difficult case that we were working on, and Alex made a tiny mistake that led to the wrong person being arrested. It was a PR nightmare, and I had to set aside my personal feelings for her, and do what was necessary. I fired her. It destroyed my heart, but there was no way that I could pull punches and potentially expose what we had been doing. Then I would have been fired, too, and that couldn't happen. Not when I had just found out I was pregnant with Karen. I fucked her over, Penelope, and I have never been able to tell her how sorry I was. Every letter I sent after that decision was sent back return to sender. All my calls were unanswered. I deserved it, but it still hurt. And I can understand if you look at me differently, if you don't want to go forward with our relationship, but I would rather be honest with you now, when losing you won't hurt as badly as if I had waited a year or two and fallen into the deep end of love and had you leave me."

Erin had managed to make four more pancakes in the time it took her to speak those words, and Penelope felt her heart shatter a little at the notion that Erin had probably expected her to end things in that moment. Slowly, gently, she reached out and took hold of Erin's hand before turning off the burner with her other. "Erin, you're human. We all do things that we regret, and this one is probably larger than most other people's regret. Somehow, I have the feeling that you've changed since then, and become someone who would make a different decision if that was the case today. You can't scare my love away so easily, I promise."

The older woman's eyes teared up and as the spatula clattered down onto the counter, she was being drawn into a tight embrace. "I am so glad that you are my better place, Penelope," she whispered fiercely, and Penelope nodded as she returned the hug, knowing that there was no other place she would rather be in that moment.