Chapter 41

The entire family celebrated for days upon their return from the cabin. That also included Sarah and Desiree who moved to Virginia two weeks before the engagement. They originally stayed at the mansion but very quickly they both found a three-bedroom house that they rented together. Emily even gave them some furniture to start with from her storage unit. She knew she wasn't going to need it anymore. So, she started them off with a nice living room set, dining table with six chairs and a bedroom set. The girls were thankful and appreciative of Emily's gift and generosity.

The next month was spent making all the plans and preparations for the upcoming nuptials of everyone's favorite couple.

In the meantime, Derek was putting on the finishing touches of a house he'd been restoring for him and his future wife. He'd secretly purchased it long ago and had been working on it whenever he could. He'd purchased it when he was still with Savannah and never told anyone about it because he hoped deep down that someday he could present it to Penelope. It was an old beautiful Victorian house. It was huge. It possessed eight bedrooms and four bathrooms which didn't include the master bath suite. Derek completely made over the master bath to include a hot tub and a large old-fashioned claw tub and a walk-in shower as well.

Derek restored the whole house to its original grandeur with some new additions. It had a large living room with a fireplace, a dining room, a new Chef's kitchen with all new appliances, a home office for his lady completely set up with a myriad of computers, a family room in the basement to be used when they had children. That room also held a fireplace. There was a large laundry room with built-in laundry shoots throughout the house, a sunroom and the master bedroom also held a fireplace along with a window seat. The attic was large enough for two more good-sized bedrooms if need be.

The backyard was gorgeous in which there was a built-in pool and room for a future sandbox and swing set. There was a huge deck off the back of the house where they could hold many a barbecue and party. There was also a cute little pond beyond the edge of the grass which already housed some fish and was home to a couple of ducks. And of course, he purchased his girl a beautiful wicker swing seat for the front porch. The porch went from one end of the house to the other. And lastly, there was a three-car garage at the end of their long driveway. He poured all his love and attention into every detail to give Penelope her dream home.

After he'd shown her the house, she instantly fell in love with it. They slowly but surely started to decorate it. It was decided they would move in there right after they returned from their honeymoon.

Emily and Hotch finally settled down in their own home. After which, they'd decided that since Derek and Penelope were going away following their wedding, that they would use the same time to go on their long-overdue honeymoon as well. The whole team put in for three weeks of annual leave and decided to enjoy themselves.

Penelope asked JJ to be her matron of honor while Derek asked Spencer to be his best man. Penelope asked Emily to be her bridesmaid and Derek asked Hotch, to be his groomsman. Jack and Henry would be their ring bearers. The couple requested that Fran make them their wedding cake. Dave was quite honored when Penelope called upon him to give her away which he accepted with a tear in his eye.

They wanted the whole family to be part of their special day. Both Derek and Dave wanted to make sure that Penelope got the wedding of her dreams. She deserved it ten-fold, especially with everything Penelope went through over the many years, starting with the fact that she'd lost her parents at the age of eighteen.

Penelope and Derek decided they wanted to have their wedding and reception at Casa Rossi, just like the Hotchners and LaMontagnes did previously. After all, Dave and Fran had a gorgeous yard that was made for a perfect wedding backdrop.

Derek took charge of the honeymoon and got it all set up. Thanks to Dave and Fran they would spending two glorious weeks at their private island villa located in Hawaii. Penelope couldn't wait as she'd never been to Hawaii before and was chomping at the bit to be all alone with her future hubby again. She knew how she wanted their time there to be filled with. Naturally, Derek was in complete sync with her thoughts. Hotch and Emily decided to spend their honeymoon on a tour of Italy, while Jack would be with his cousin Henry for the ten days while they were gone.

Penelope decided on a fairy-tale type of dress. It was a gorgeous sleeveless long white ball gown wedding dress. It sported a low neckline and a ten-foot-long sweeping train. It was covered with small pearls and sequin lace appliques throughout the dress in the shape of small rosebuds. She felt and looked like a princess in it. She decided on a long veil with the same design throughout it. There was also small delicate pink and lavender rosebuds with baby's breath sprinkled amongst the buds for the top of the ringlet hairpiece.

The color scheme was pink and lavender. Penelope was going to carry a spray of white roses with just a couple pink and lavender roses scattered into it. JJ and Emily would each carry a bouquet of pink and lavender roses. JJ was going to wear a pink long gown while Emily's dress was lavender all with matching shoes.

Derek decided that all the men would be dressed in black tuxedos, white shirts, lavender bowties, black shoes, and lavender boutonnieres. They wanted to match the girl's colors to a tee. Even Jack and Henry would be dressed to match as well.

It was the week before the wedding of the century and Penelope was now able to ambulate very well without her cane. She still held a little bit of limp but was much steadier on her feet. She let everyone know in no uncertain terms that she wouldn't be caught dead walking down the aisle at her wedding with a cane. So, to ensure safety and Penelope's flair for individuality she opted to wear sparkly purple sneakers. Much to her surprise, everyone thought it was a fantastic idea even her Hot Stuff.

The bride and groom-to-be were each thrown a bachelorette and bachelor party on the same evening. They both made it known from the beginning there were to be no strippers. The family grumbled, did as they were told and everyone had a blast.

The night before the nuptials was upon them and they were all getting ready for the rehearsal and dinner. Everyone was nervous, but it went off without a hitch.

Penelope was extremely superstitious and insisted that they sleep in separate places. She didn't want to tempt fate at all. Derek was not happy at all but, of course, he bowed down to his Goddess's wishes. So, the girls, as well as, Jack and Henry spent the night at Casa Rossi while the men stayed at Casa Hotchner like they did the night before Emily and Hotch's wedding.

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