Chapter Nine:

My dearest girl,

I don't want you to ever feel guilty for my imprisonment. My entire life has been full of bad choices. You are full of so much light and good. I don't know how you came from me. Penelope, you deserve the whole world and more. I hope that Derek gives you that. He's a good man. I know how he feels about me, and I don't blame him. If circumstances were different, though, I think we'd get along.

When I heard about your mother's accident, I tried to find you. I was worried about you being alone, and I thought for a while that it would be best for you to be with your father. You were underground then, and while I did find you, it was clear you wanted to be away from everyone. Looking back, it was better that way. You weren't in a good place, and getting involved with my people would have made things even worse. You made a good life for yourself, and that wouldn't have happened with me around.

While I know that I don't deserve it, I am glad you want to keep in touch. Your light makes me feel better, despite the circumstances. As the Temptations would say, you give me sunshine on a cloudy day.

I hope to hear from you soon.

All my love, your father

Penelope smiled down at the letter from Liam. He wasn't what she had imagined for her biological father, and he'd never take the place of the step dad who raised her, but still, she was glad he was in her life now. She'd thought a lot about her mom in the past few months. She missed her, and at first, she'd been upset with her. But she knew that her mother had done what she felt was best to keep Penelope safe, and Penelope could never be upset with her for that.

Derek had left during their lunch break to pick up his mother and sisters. Penelope had wanted to go with him, but in order to have the entire weekend free, she needed to finish up some paperwork. She was excited to spend some time with Fran and the girls. Derek's family had always been extremely kind to her. One year, Fran had sent her a bunch of Christmas presents when she found out she was alone for Christmas. The following year she'd given strict orders to bring his baby girl home for the holidays. It was nice to have a family to belong to again.

"So, your first weekend with Derek's family." The voice of Emily Prentiss said from the doorway of Penelope's office. "Need a bottle of wine?"

"Nah, it's Derek you should worry about. All that estrogen." Penelope smiled at her friend. "If it was anyone else, I think I'd be anxious. Boyfriends' families usually look at me, and well, you know how judgy mothers can be. They don't see me as the "wifey" material. But Derek's mom and sisters are great."

"I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend." Emily smiled. "And we'll see you all for dinner on Saturday?"

"Absolutely!" Penelope confirmed in excitement.

Fran had insisted on having a big family dinner with Derek and Penelope's team. It made Penelope happy to know that Derek's family loved his team members so much. They knew the BAU was like a family.

Emily and Penelope chatted a bit longer before they went back to work. After finishing up the rest of her work for the weekend, Penelope was ready to get home. She packed up her things, cleaned up her desk area, and shut her babies down. She bid them farewell before hurrying to her car. It was family time now.

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She was met with the sounds of laughter and the scent of peaches and cinnamon when she came into their house. She smiled. Momma Morgan had remembered her deep love for peach cobbler. She always made Derek bring some home for the tech whenever he visited home.

"Is that my Penelope?" Fran called out.

"It's little old me." Penelope said, coming into the living room. Fran and the girls were seated together on the sofa. Derek was in the love seat across from them. "Oh, it's so lovely to see your faces in person and not over skype!"

Fran was the first to hug her future daughter in law. She gave a long, loving, squeeze. Derek's sisters were next. They took turns, happily greeting the woman they already saw as a sister. After hugs were exchanged, Penelope sat beside Derek. He pulled her close to his side and kissed her cheek.

"Ew, get a room!" Desi teased, throwing a pillow at her brother.

"Leave them be, Desiree!" Fran warned. "It took them long enough to get her. Let them be happy."

"Yeah, leave us be." Derek mocked with a grin.

Penelope laughed. The Morgan family loved to pick on one another. Especially Derek and Desi. They were always teasing each other about something. But it was all fun and games. She knew how much Derek loved both his sisters, and vice versa. She was lucky to be accepted into such a loving family.

"So, tell us. Where did Derek take you on your first date?" Sarah asked.

"Like a real date? As a couple?" Penelope asked. Sarah nodded. "Well after all the mob stuff was over, we had some time off together. Which as you know, is when we made our relationship official. One of the nights we were off, Derek surprised me with a date night. He told me he was taking me out. He even left and then came home and knocked on the door. He got me a bouquet of tulips, which are my favorite flower. Then he took me to this drive-in movie where they were playing The Sound of Music. We ate popcorn, licorice whips, and skittles. Then we picked up chinese takeout on the way home."

"That's very sweet, Derek." Desi said, clearly impressed.

"Only the best for my best girl." Derek smiled, kissing the top of Penelope's head.

This time, his sister couldn't even tease them. She had to admit, they were a beautiful couple. She was so happy for them. But that didn't mean she wouldn't occasionally tease them anyway.

"So, how did the team take the news?" Fran asked.

"They all saw it coming. There were definitely some betting pools." Derek chuckled. "But they've all been very supportive."

"That's really good." Sarah replied.

"So, baby girl, before you got home, momma was talking about dinner. The dessert, as you know I'm sure, is in the oven." Derek said to his girlfriend. "I was going to make chicken marsala for us omnivores, and a mushroom marsala for my herbivore."

"That sounds delicious." Penelope smiled at the thought. "I'll throw a salad together to go with it. I just want to shower first."

"Okay, baby. You take a nice relaxing shower, and I'll start getting dinner stuff around." Derek replied.

Penelope did just that. While she headed to the master bathroom to shower, Derek and his mom headed to start dinner. His sisters put on the TV, and took Derek's orders to stay out of the way. Neither of them were great in the kitchen, and they knew they'd just be in the way. His mother, though, insisted on helping.

He knew she was waiting to talk to him alone. Since they had arrived it had been chaotic. His sisters talked non stop, and they were all excited to catch up. And then Penelope got home, so she couldn't talk to him then either. So as soon as it was just the two of them, she took advantage of the chance.

"So, what's the plan?" Fran asked her son, trying to contain her excitement. "Now that you have the ring."

"Momma, just let it happen." Derek replied, rolling his eyes. He hadn't told his mother he'd be proposing this weekend. That part he wanted to be a surprise. Rossi, Hotch and Reid knew, but know one else did, and he wanted to keep it that way.

"I'm just happy for you, sweet boy." Fran said, cupping his cheek in her hand. "I've wanted you to find love for a long time. And Penelope is the perfect person for you. You two, it's just so obvious how much you love each other."

"I know." Derek smiled. "And don't worry, it'll happen soon. Just, trust me, okay?"

"Fine. You win." Fran sighed. "Just don't wait another five years."

"Five years for what?" Penelope asked, entering the kitchen. Her blonde curls were still damp.

"To get my girl out to Chicago." Fran said, putting an arm around the tech. "It's been far too long since you've been to my neck of the woods."

"Oh, we could plan a trip soon! I could do some shopping with you and the girls while Derek hangs with some of his old buddies."

"Sure, baby. We can do that." Derek said, giving his mother a thankful smile. That was a close call.

They spent the whole rest of the night talking and telling stories. Penelope was enjoying having Derek's family around, and was already feeling sad about them leaving. They still had the whole weekend, but having family here was nice. Especially after everything that had happened with Liam.

"I love your family, D." Penelope told her boyfriend as they cuddled up in bed that night. "It's been so long since I've had a real family to be a part of. Kevin's mother hated me, and she never wanted me around when she was visiting."

"Momma and the girls adore you, princess." Derek reassured her.

"It's nice." She smiled. "Thank you for sharing them with me."

"Baby girl, they're your family too, okay? You stole their hearts as soon as they met you. Momma said she knew that first day that you were the one for me." Derek said. "And the girls love having another sister. Especially when you all team up and pick on me."

"Me?" Penelope faked offense. "I'd never."

"Sure, love, sure." He chuckled. "We should get some sleep. They want to go into DC tomorrow and do some touring."

"Oh yay!" Penelope grew excited. "I need a new Ruth Bader Ginsburg bobblehead to add to my collection!"

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Derek loved seeing how happy Penelope was with his family. He wished his dad was here to meet her. He knew that Hank Morgan would have loved Penelope Garcia. He also found himself wondering if her mother and father would have liked him. Penelope described Barbara and Emilio as hippies. She said they believed as long as you had love, you had it all. He liked to believe her parents and his dad were watching them from wherever they were. He hoped they were smiling down at them.

"Just so you know, Penelope." Fran said, as they walked the streets of DC. "I would love some grandbabies someday."

"Ma!" Derek scolded, mortified.

"I'm just saying." The older woman winked.

"With genes like ours, it would be a crime not to bless the world with at least one love child." Penelope replied with a smile.

"Don't encourage her, baby girl." Derek said, taking Penelope's hand. "Sometimes she's as bad as the girls. If we decide to have cute babies momma, it'll be on our time, okay?"

"Whatever you say." Fran shrugged.

In all reality, Derek was already imagining what they're kids would look like. He'd always wanted at least two. A boy and a girl. But he'd take any number of healthy babies Penelope was willing to give him. He just didn't want his mom to push her. Sometimes, despite her insisting it wouldn't happen, he was worried he'd move too fast. Proposing was one thing. He didn't want her to think he was going to immediately ask for a baby. Even if he would be perfectly happy if she found out she was pregnant tomorrow, he wanted to go at her pace.

"Derek needs to put a ring on it first." Penelope stated, shocking the SSA. Fran chuckled. "So if you can convince him to do that, I'll work on convincing him to give you a grandbaby."

"You hear that, Derek?" Fran smiled at her son.

"Yeah, yeah." Derek grinned. Hearing Penelope joke about getting engaged reaffirmed to him that she was ready for marriage too. "Baby girl knows. Any day she wants, we'll head to the courthouse."

"You wouldn't do that to your mother!" Fran exclaimed, shoving her son playfully.

"Yeah, we want to be in the wedding!" Desi exclaimed.

"Your my baby brother, and you're only getting married once." Sarah added. "We've waited our whole lives for someone to deal with you, and like you enough to commit to you."

"Don't worry ladies, Derek knows I want an extravagant masquerade wedding." Penelope replied, still teasing.

"Whatever you want, my love." Derek smiled lovingly at her.

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He had no reason to be nervous. He kept telling himself that. Penelope had made it pretty clear that she was ready for the next step. But still. He was offering her his entire heart. She was the only person in the world with the power to crush it. Derek had gone over what he wanted to say over and over, in the moment though, he knew he would just know what to say.

The gang had rented out the room of an Italian restaurant. Rossi knew the owner, and claimed they had the best pasta in the city. That was a big praise from him, so Derek knew it had to be good. Desi was talking to Spencer about some new space theory he was reading a book on. Hotch, Will, and JJ were talking about their kids. Rossi and Prentiss were discussing some of his past cases, and Derek's mom and Sarah were listening.

"You okay, hot stuff?" Penelope asked, placing a hand on Derek's leg. His knee was bouncing along with his anxiety. "You're quiet."

"Lost in thought, but I'm fine, sweetheart." He insisted.

Their food was brought out a moment later. Derek sighed with relief. Saved by the entrees. Rossi had been right, the food was amazing, but Derek was almost too nervous to enjoy it. Once they were done with dinner, dessert was brought out. This was it. Derek knew it was time. He stood up.

"I'd like to make a toast." Derek said, clinking his champagne glass. "It's been so great having my family here, and having them hang out with my other family. I thought it was fitting to do this now. When I asked them to come visit, I gave my momma very important instructions."

Penelope was looking at him with curiosity, but she didn't seem to have figured out exactly what was going on yet. Fran, though, was grinning ear to ear. She had realized what was about to happen, and she was trying very hard to contain herself.

"Penelope, you are everything to me. Before you came along, my life was focused on my job, and that was it. I didn't know I wasn't really living, until a beautiful girl came into my life. Even though I called you Gomez instead of Garcia, you still smiled at me that first day." Derek began. Everyone seemed to have figured it out now. "And since then, that smile has been the thing to keep me going. After hard cases, I knew I'd come home to a movie night prepared by my favorite girl. A few months ago, we went from best friends to something more. I knew I could never go back from that. Falling in love with you is the easiest thing I have ever done. I don't know how I ever lived without it, but I know I can't do it again. I want to spend the rest of my life watching old musicals on Sunday nights, walking around the city holding your hand, playing Monopoly when it's raining, and just enjoying the love we have. It might seem soon to some people, but our love has been years in the making."

Derek got down on one knee beside the chair she was sitting in.

"I have never been more sure of anything than I am of you. So, baby girl, let's not make my mom wait another five years. Penelope Grace Garcia, will you marry me?"

"YES!" She exclaimed before he even had the last word out. She had happy tears rolling down her cheeks. "Of course I'll marry you."

Derek slipped the ring on her finger. She stood and threw her arms around his neck. He held her close for a moment before they pulled back and shared their first kiss as an engaged couple. Everyone began to cheer for them.

"It's about damn time!" Rossi exclaimed, raising his glass.

Penelope and Derek grabbed their flutes, and everyone began to clink glasses in celebration. It had gone perfectly. Derek was beyond happy. He was marrying his best friend, and nothing could top that.

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Penelope was on cloud 9. She was marrying Derek Morgan. This is what she had wanted for so long, and it was finally happening. She had never been so happy in her entire life. She wished her mom was here to celebrate as well. But, there was someone she knew she could tell that would also be excited for her.

Dear Liam,

Derek and I are getting married!

A/N Here is the ninth chapter! I am working on a new story idea, and will have an update for Moments of Solace soon. I am moving in two weeks, though, and will be super busy. I'll do my best to still get some writing done, but I can't promise how soon it will be. I hope you liked this chapter!