A/N: Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews. Luckily this chapter has come up a little faster than the others. I hope you enjoy.
As the plane circled in the air, the view of the city below kept Penelope busy. She looked out the window and was marveled by the tall buildings of the city and green of the outskirts of the city that she would soon be landing in. All she could think of was seeing the places her handsome profiler had grown up in. She was nervous about meeting his family and no matter how many times he told her to relax because they were going to love her, she couldn't help but wonder how things would go. They were so important to Derek and she was afraid she wouldn't make a good impression.
"Penny for your thoughts." Derek said.
Penelope looked at him and smiled. "I was just thinking that I should call the girls when we land, they have no clue that we took off and I know they'll be upset if I don't let them know." She said.
"Is that all?" He asked.
"Yea that's all." She replied hoping that she sounded convincing.
Derek grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. "We should be landing in a few minutes. When we get the car I'll show you around the city before we head to the house, it'll give you a little more time to settle and relax." He said smiling.
"No interdepartmental profiling!!!" She said laughing.
"I'm not! Technically you're in another department." He said giving her his winning smile.
Penelope glared at him but couldn't keep a straight face. "You don't play fair!!! Giving me that say it all smile is downright cruel!" She said.
Once they had landed they both proceeded to get their luggage and rent a car. As they drove out of the airport, Derek pointed out different highways and where they led, he pointed out landmarks and once downtown, made it a point to drive by famous gangster hangouts and the Sears Tower. An hour and a half after they landed, Derek pulled up to his Mom's house. He offloaded the car and they both went up to his Mom's house. When Fran opened the door she immediately wrapped her son in her arms and hugged him tight.
"Baby it's so good to see you." She said. She took a step back to look him over and placed her hands on his cheeks as she said "you look thin. Have you been eating properly?"
Derek laughed. "Yes Ma, I'm taking care of myself. I weight the same as I weighed the last time I was here." He said. "Ma, I'd like you to meet Penelope Garcia."
"Ohh Penelope it's so wonderful to finally get to meet you. My son talks about you all the time." Fran said.
"MA!" Derek said finding himself a little embarrassed.
Penelope giggled. "It's nice to finally meet you too Mrs. Morgan." She said.
"Oh darling, call me Fran please." Fran said.
Penelope smiled. "Fran."
"Come in you two or are you planning on staying in the hallway the whole time?" Fran said.
Fran ordered Derek to put Penelope's luggage in Des' room while she showed Penelope around. "I hope you don't mind sharing a room with Des." Fran said.
"Not at all Mrs… Fran, thank you for having me I know this was a surprise visit." Penelope said.
"It's a wonderful surprise Penelope." Fran said as she grabbed Penelope's hand and squeezed it. "I've heard so much about you and I'm so excited to finally get to meet my son's baby girl."
Just then Derek walked in on them but Penelope was surprised by Fran's statement. "How did she know what Derek called her?" She thought.
Des came in and ran directly towards Derek, jumping into his arms. Penelope watched as the siblings interchanged hellos and couldn't help but smile. She had 4 brothers, but their relationship was very distant nothing at all like the relationship that Derek had with his sisters. She was envious of that. She had always felt so alone in the world and would have loved to have had a solid relationship with her siblings.
"You must be the famous Penelope." Des said as she walked towards Penelope.
Penelope smiled at Des and found herself put completely at ease as Des wrapped her arms around her and hugged her. "It's about time we got to meet you." Des said.
"Would anyone like something to drink?" Fran asked.
"Ma I'd love some coffee." Derek said.
"Penelope?" Fran asked.
"That would be great." Penelope said.
They all followed Fran into the kitchen and for the next few hours until Sarah arrived, they all chatted and Des was quick to bring up some of Derek's childhood stories. They were laughing so hard that none of them heard the front door open and Sarah come in.
"Hey now, how come the party started before I got here." Sarah said.
"Because we wanted to make sure we had a good time before you arrived and ruined it all." Derek said teasing his sister as he got up and went over to hug her.
"Don't make me embarrass you in front of Penelope." Sarah teased and she hugged him tight.
Penelope stood up to meet Sarah and found herself embraced in another hug similar to the one Des had given her.
"Where are the twins?" Derek asked.
"I didn't bring them today. If they find out you're here I'll never get them to go home and I wasn't sure what you're plans are so I figured I'd play it safe." Sarah said.
"We'll be here all week. I was planning on showing Penelope the sites around Chicago, where we went to school, letting her see the Youth Center and take in a few attractions and maybe take in the Skyline Cruise. But I want to see the twins." Derek said.
"You will, I'll let them know you are here and bring them over one night that you guys are here." Sarah said.
They continued to chat a while and had dinner. After dinner they moved to the living room and continued to laugh about Derek's childhood antics. Penelope found herself laughing so hard at times that tears were rolling down her cheeks. Derek took the teasing in stride and gave back a few good stories of his own. Penelope was surprised at how at ease she felt with everyone. They had made her feel so at home that the nerves she had been feeling earlier were completely gone. She knew they all had a wonderful relationship, but seeing it up close, it amazed her. She looked over to Fran who was sitting back enjoying the fact that all her kids were in one room and she couldn't help but admire her. She had raised them by herself and she had definitely done an amazing job.
The little subtleties between Derek and Penelope hadn't gone unnoticed by Fran or Derek's sisters. They way they sat next to each other at dinner and in the living room. The way that Derek put his hand on her knees as the stories about his childhood dragged out. The way he leaned back and put his arm around her and the way she seemed to sink into him when he did. More importantly the nick names they called each other. Derek hadn't mentioned anything other than she was his best friend, but they could sense something a little stronger than that. They spent most of the night exchanging glances every time one of them noticed another "subtlety" but they weren't about to mention anything to Derek until he was ready to talk about it.
At 11PM, Sarah got up and announced she had to go. They all said their goodbyes and after Sarah had left Penelope followed Fran into the kitchen to help clean up.
"Darling you don't have to do this. I'm sure you're tired why don't you go to bed, I can do this." Fran said.
"It's ok, I don't mind. Thank you so much for dinner tonight everything was wonderful." Penelope said.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it. We love having you here. I know you help my son a lot, he tells me all the time. I'm very grateful he has you back in Virginia." Fran said.
"He helps me a lot too. You really have raised a wonderful man." Penelope said.
"I am very proud of him. I'm proud of all them but Derek had it a little rougher than the girls. I know his childhood was taken away from him and that's a big part of who he is and who he struggles with." Fran said.
"He doesn't blame you for that." Penelope said sensing Fran's guilt.
Fran smiled at Penelope. "Of course he doesn't. That's my son, it's how he is. But I can't help but feel that I should have seen what was going on."
"There was no way to see it. He wasn't about to let anyone know. He's put that all behind him Fran. Carl Buford didn't break him. He's a very strong person and he's very comfortable about who he is and what he's made of himself." Penelope stressed.
"Thank you. You two must be very close, he doesn't share with anyone. He still hasn't talked to us about that time in his life but he seems to have opened up to you. I'm grateful he has someone special in his life." Fran said and proceeded to hug Penelope.
Derek walked into the kitchen just in time to see two of his favorite girls bonding and right there and then he knew that he had to make this week count.