Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, Criminal Minds.

Full Circle
Part 3

By N. J. Borba

Morgan got to his feet when he spotted Emily pushing a stroller down the sidewalk toward him. A quick glance at his watch revealed that it was exactly 2:30pm, the time she'd promised to be there. He hadn't realized until just then that he'd been worried about her taking off and never seeing his daughter again. But that wasn't the case as Derek watched the little girl smile from ear to ear, turning her head to look up at Emily. And Emily leaning down to whisper something that made Beth laugh. He thought they both looked beautiful, especially with how the afternoon sunshine highlighted their dark hair and smiles.

Beth bounced up and down in her seat as they approached. For a moment Derek foolishly thought it was because of him, but then he saw her eyes dart toward the water and plainly heard her excited squeals. "Ducky! Duckies!"

The two of them stopped beside the park bench and Emily turned the stroller away from the water. "She had a good nap and is full of energy," Emily explained, aiming a friendly smile his way. She glanced over and noticed that he looked a lot less pissed-off than he had during their coffee meeting. As he gazed at their daughter, Emily couldn't help thinking that he looked just the same as she remembered the last time she'd seen him three years ago, greeting her at his door that night.

Emily lowered her head and closed her eyes for a moment to dissolve those wandering thoughts. Then she squatted down in front of her daughter. "Bethy, do you remember what I told you earlier about going to meet someone at the park today?"

"Ducky?" Beth asked as she tried to turn around and see the lake.

"No," Emily replied with a small grin. "Not the ducks, we'll see them real soon." She pointed at Derek and invited him closer with the curl of one finger. "Remember, I said we were going to meet your daddy."

"Da-dee," the girl giggled, thinking it was a funny new word. "Da-dee... ducky," she alternated between the two similar words in a sing-song tone, making up a random pattern. "Ducky... da-dee... duck, duck... da!"

Morgan laughed at her goofiness as he got down to eye level with the child. "Hello, Beth. It's so nice to finally meet you," he told her. It felt rather ridiculous talking to his baby girl as if he'd just greeted a casual new acquaintance.

Beth watched him with intent, cautious eyes. She held one hand over her mouth for a moment, suddenly looking rather shy. When she dropped it, a single word floated out toward him in a silky-soft voice. "Hi."

He thought his heart might burst in that second as he returned the word to her. "Hi, sweetheart." Derek watched Emily, a little nervous that she was judging his every move. But he noticed that she was smiling, seeming pleased to watch their interaction. He was immensely grateful as he reached out and gently ran his fingers along Beth's soft cheek. Growing braver by the second, Derek leaned in and kissed her forehead. When Beth giggled, he felt laughter bubble up from a deeply buried corner of his heart. "You're a silly girl, aren't you?" he asked, tickling her under one arm.

She laughed again; a big belly laugh. Her mouth opened wider to reveal a pristine white smile; baby teeth clenched in a cheesy grin. Beth reached out and grabbed his left thumb, squeezing his meaty digit with her much smaller hand. "Duckies?"

"Do you want to go feed the ducks?" he asked.

A resounding, "Yes!" slipped past her lips.

Derek grinned, thinking he hadn't really smiled properly in a long time. "Well, you've been very patient so I think we should go see them now," he nodded and turned toward Emily. "Could I take her by myself?" It felt odd, having to ask permission. He also saw the instant reluctance that shimmered behind her dark eyes. "We'll be in your line of sight the whole time. I swear to you, I'm not going to try and run away with her."

His words felt like a punch in the stomach to Emily, but she could understand where he was coming from. "Alright," she reached in to unfasten Beth from the stroller. "But, when I let her out of here she is going to run straight toward the lake," Emily inclined her head toward the large body of water. "And you need to stop her before she gets there, because she will try to jump in. She loves the water, no matter how cold it is outside."

"Right, chase and stop the two year old," he replied in understanding. "That won't be hard."

Emily made a small derisive noise low in her throat. "Oh, you'd be surprised," she told him, plopping a bag of stale bread into his right hand.

A few moments later, Derek realized what she meant as Beth was free and running headlong toward the water. He'd chased countless numbers of suspects through forests, up and down hilly terrain and even across rooftops. But he actually had to sprint in order to chase after his two year old daughter. Morgan caught her about one foot away from the water's edge and scooped her up into his arms. "Gotcha!"

Beth laughed for a moment, but immediately looked around. "Mama?" She starred past his shoulder, tears welling in the corners or her eyes.

"Hey, it's okay," his voice took on a softer tone than he'd ever imagined possible. It was as if his daddy comforting-tone had just kicked in out of the blue. "Mama is right there," he turned Beth so she could see Emily sitting on the park bench. Derek swore he could see Emily chewing her lip and wringing her hands. For a moment he felt like a mean old ogre. But the feeling passed when he remembered all the things he'd missed in Beth's life because of what Emily had done. It was time he had a chance to start making some memories of his own.

"Duckies?" Beth asked.

Derek was grateful that Beth's desire to see the ducks outweighed the one to return to her mother's side. He put her down on her feet and squatted behind her. Morgan kept her aimed toward the water and nestled between his thighs so she wouldn't be likely to run off. He opened the bread bag and fished out a slice then began to break off pieces. Morgan placed a few in Beth's little hand and watched as the ducks swam toward her. "Look, that one's a daddy duck," he pointed out the colorful one that reached them first. He didn't have to coax her into tossing the bread in, she seemed to be an old pro at that.

"Da-dee duck," Beth repeated after him.

"And there's a mama duck," Morgan pointed out the drabber, brown colored mallard. "Do you know what sound a duck makes?"

"Cak-cak!" she replied.

He chuckled. "Aren't you a smart one?" Derek really didn't know what level of things two year olds knew, but it seemed to him she was advanced. Or maybe every parent felt that way; wanted to believe their child was more perfect than any other. As he continued to play with and watch her, Derek certainly felt that Beth was about the most perfect child he'd ever laid eyes on.

Beth was pretty well content to stand there and watch the ducks with him, even after all their bread was gone. She would turn and sneak a peek under his arm every few minutes, making sure Emily was still sitting on the bench. Then she'd cock her head and stare up at him, flash a toothy grin his way and return her eyes toward the water and make more duck quaking sounds. Occasionally she'd make a bold move and try to stomp one or both sneaker-clad feet in the water. But Derek was too quick for her, making sure she stayed dry.

Dirt, however, was another story. Beth's hands were covered in the sandy earth that lined the lake shore. His were rather messy too as they drew geometric shapes and pictures with their fingers. He even attempted to make up stories to go along with their creations, but soon realized he was not much of a storyteller. It was something he suddenly wanted to be better at, for his daughter's sake. Derek wasn't sure how long they'd been there, over an hour at least, when Beth finally decided she'd had enough. "Da-dee... miss mama," she looked toward the bench again.

"Okay, kiddo, let's go see mama," Derek agreed. He couldn't help being immensely proud that she already knew who he was. Or at least, she knew to call him daddy. It would undoubtedly take a lot longer for her to realize his importance in her life, but he was glad for their first efforts in cementing that new bond. He got to his feet and looked down at her. "I'll race you." Those were obviously words she already knew, because Beth took off toward Emily just as fast as she'd ran down there.

Emily greeted her daughter with a kiss and wet wipes at the ready. She plucked a few from the package before handing them over to Derek. He washed his hands as he watched Emily clean Beth up. The girl was practically climbing her mother like a jungle gym the whole time, not caring if her hands got clean. Morgan couldn't help notice how calm Emily seemed, taking it all in stride. "It's only a quarter to four," Emily said as she plunked Beth down into the stroller and handed the girl two crackers, one for each hand. She turned her head toward Derek. "We could go play on the s-w-i-n-g-s," she suggested.

Derek nodded his agreement, happy to draw out the meeting as long as possible. He smiled to hear her spell out the word. It seemed like such a mom thing to do. He was surprised that he'd never really thought of her as the mommy type. Sure, she'd always been good with the kids they worked with. Emily had sort of just fallen into being the team's child victim expert. But she'd also been really dedicated to the job, jumping into the thick of things with both feet first. Morgan didn't think there was much room for a family in that kind of mind-set, at least that had always been his mantra. Now he realized he'd projected that view onto Emily as well.

When they arrived at the play area, Beth once again clamored to be set free. Emily did so this time with less reserve. She let Beth take off and flashed Derek a look that told him he was on again. Derek gladly accepted the opportunity to play with his daughter some more. He chased after her for a while, making sure she didn't get kicked or knocked down by the older kids. She went down the slide on his lap a few times and then Derek spent over an hour pushing her in one of the toddler swings. As he stood in front of her and pushed each time the swing neared him, Derek watched her smile and giggle. He found himself wearing a silly grin the whole time.

At five-thirty, Emily let him know they needed to get going. Derek felt a little sick to his stomach, not wanting to say good-bye so soon. "I want to see her again. My flight doesn't leave until 10:30 tomorrow night, so I'll have the whole day free," he let her know. He stood there waiting, knowing he was at her mercy. Derek almost felt like a prisoner hoping to have some more supervised visitation time with his child.

"Well, tomorrow is kind of a messed-up day for me," Emily replied. "I don't usually meet with clients on Sundays, but this one guy couldn't meet me any other day this week and Silvia said she'd watch Beth for me, so..."

"I could watch Beth for you," Derek suggested.

She looked a little apprehensive, but tried not to dismiss the idea completely. "Seriously? It would probably be for a few hours and you'd have to feed her lunch and put her down for a nap."

"I can handle all of that," he instantly assured her. On the inside Derek didn't have a clue how he'd do any of it, but he was willing to try. He thought that had to count for something. "I really want to spend as much time with her as I can, because once I go back to Virginia..." he sighed. "Who knows when I'll see her next."

Emily knew he was trying hard to stay in her good graces for their daughter's sake. And for three years she'd wanted him to know about Beth. It seemed it was time for father and daughter to have some real time together. "My meeting is in West Seattle, so I have to leave at about eleven. Can you be at the house by 10:30? That way I can go over some things with you before I leave," she suggested.

He nodded. "I'll be there at 10:30." Derek looked down at Beth who was seated in the stroller again. He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "I love you, sweetheart. And I'll see you tomorrow, okay. Bye, baby girl," Derek waved as he stood up to full height.

"Bye-bye," Beth waved back.

"See you tomorrow," Emily said to him as she took off, pushing the stroller in front of her.

Derek watched them go, feeling heavy-hearted, wishing he was going home with them. He watched as Beth turned around and looked back at him. She waved again and he could hear her sweet voice say, "Bye," one more time.

To Be Continued...