The drive to Derek's hotel was silent, both of them lost in their own thoughts. Derek trying to organize all the questions running around in his head, and Penelope was trying to ready herself for the confrontation that she knew was to come.

As the entered the hotel room Derek called out for Fran. When he received no answer, he shook his head with a laugh and said "She must have gotten tired of waiting and went ahead shopping without me."

"You know if you wanted you could call her and find out where she is, I could drop you off, and then you wouldn't have to miss out on anymore time with your mom. I know these times together are far and few between Derek." Penelope's offer was genuine; she knew how much Derek loved his mom, and she knew they didn't get nearly enough time together.

"Seems that time with my best friend is even harder to come by,"Derek mumbled. "Momma will understand."

Natalie let out a howl, announcing her presence and letting Penelope know that she was ready for lunch to be served. Derek walked into his room and put the diaper bag and the moses basket down on his bed.

"You can feed her in here if you like. You'll have some privacy that way. Do you need anything?"he asked nervously, wanting to help but being unsure of what to do.

"Could you pass me one of the pillows off the bed. I'll just put it behind my back on the arm chair, and I will be all set."

Derek took the pillow and set it in the armchair. "Will that work okay?"

"It's perfect. Thank you, Derek."

"You're welcome, Penelope. I'll just wait for you in the living room."He didn't want to leave her, but he knew there was nothing he could do to help.

Natalie started to holler even louder, letting it be known that she was not happy about being kept waiting. "Wow, you weren't kidding about that vocal range,"Derek said with a chuckle.

"You ain't seen nothing yet,"Penelope said with a laugh.

"I'll be on my way then,"Derek said, pulling the bedroom door closed behind him.

Penelope quickly got Natalie out of her car seat."Okay, Peach. It's coming, it's coming! Sorry for the hold up." Penelope got settled and Natalie wasted no time getting down to business and was soon settled into a rhythm of suck, suck, pause. Penelope stroked Natalie's cheek and made her daughter a promise. "He's here now, Peach, and he is going to be more angry at your momma than he ever has been before. I swear to you I will do everything that I can to make this okay, and if he wants to be a part of your life than I will do whatever I have to to make that happen."

All too soon for Penelope, Natalie was fed, burped, changed and fast asleep in the moses basket. Penelope stepped out of the room and left the door slightly ajar. She prepared herself for what may very well be the fight of her life.

As she looked over at Derek, her heart soared and felt like it was crashing all at the same time. He was close enough for her to reach out and touch. He took her breath away and made her heart skip a beat. He was the love of her life, the one man who had shown her how to truly make love and showed her how it felt to be loved.

He was also the man who had broken her heart. He was the man who made her feel like her heart had been ripped out of her chest when he chose another woman to share his love and life with. As she remembered the hurt, embarrassment, shame and anger that he had delivered unto her a year ago, she felt what was left over of her heart harden.

Preparing herself for the conflict that she knew was to come, she stood tall, squared her shoulders and faced him. "Okay Derek, let's talk."

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Derek had watched Penelope emerge from the bedroom he had stared at the door so hard for what felt like so long he was surprised he didn't burn a hole through it. The Penelope who faced him now was not the same Penelope who had exited the bedroom.

When she first turned to face him, he saw the emotion in her eyes; it was a mixture of guilt, shame, and —dare he hope —a look that he thought was love. But then he watched the transformation happen. Her face became blank and unreadable, her eyes cleared of anything she felt. And her demeanor changed to that of someone going on the defensive and going to war . She was defiant, and she was going to stand her ground. He knew something big was about to happen.

He cleared his throat. "I called Mom. She'll be about an hour, so that should give us time to talk."

"Does she know I'm here?" Penelope asked. She was not prepared for what was about to go on with Derek and to have to go threw it with Fran too it almost seemed like too much.

"No, I didn't tell her. I thought we would surprise her,"Derek said with a grin.

"Oh, she'll be surprised alright," Penelope muttered under her breath.

Penelope putting as much distance as she could between them chose to sit in the chair across from the sofa that Derek sat on. "Well then, we better get started." Penelope took a deep breath and began.

"After the…after.. that night…we shared and then the next morning, I knew that things had changed and I had lost you." Trying to distract herself from the dull ache in her chest, she began to bounce her right leg.

Derek interrupted her."Pen-"

Penelope stopped him. "Derek, please just let me say this. If I don't do this now, I may never be able to get it all out. So please…just listen." Penelope got up from where she had been sitting and began pacing the room, just trying to stay upright to prevent herself from curling up into a ball and begging him not to make her do this. But she knew that she wouldn't and couldn't do that, so she wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to hold herself together.

"The truth is that night was like nothing I had ever experienced before. Being with you…Derek, I had never felt so loved or complete in my whole life. Suddenly I knew what real true love felt like, and I never ever wanted to let that feeling go. For me that night was life changing."

Derek interrupted her again "It was for me, too, Angel."

Penelope couldn't stop the venom that dripped from her lips "You apologized, Derek! That night I finally truly gave myself to someone."Penelope stopped pacing and shook her head. "No, not just someone! Derek, I gave my heart to you." She spat out and jabbed a finger at him. "And you gave it back to me telling me that it had all been a mistake."

He could see in her face that she was trying to remember she was searching for the words and said, "That never should have happened Penelope. I'm so sorry, Baby Girl."

She looked into his eyes meeting his gaze. He could see the devastation on her face "Isn't that how you put it that morning? So don't you dare sit there and tell me that that night meant as much to you as it meant to me when we both know that that's a damn lie!"

Derek's heart plummeted. She had it wrong…she had it so wrong. "Penelope, that wasn't what I meant! Everything that morning came out wrong! You left so damn fast I didn't get a chance to try and explain myself to you,"Derek pleaded for understanding.

But Penelope would hear none of it. "Damn straight, I left as fast as I could! I couldn't handle the look of regret on your face. 'I'm sorry this never should have happened'can only mean so many things, Derek. So I left, and when I got back you were gone. No note, no phone calls. Just…nothing. But I got the message loud and clear that night was the end of us."

When he opened his mouth again to speak Penelope raised a hand to silence him and began speaking again. "Everything changed. We couldn't look at each other, we couldn't speak to one another. Hell, we could barely stand to be in the same room! We were over. I felt like I was drowning, I was broken hearted and I had no one to turn to. I couldn't tell JJ or Emily. I didn't want to share us with them, especially when it ended in my heartache. They would have been so angry with you no matter how hard they would have tried to see both sides. As my best friends they would have resented you for hurting me. So I pulled back, I retreated to my lair, and I stopped going out with the team. I tried to make this as easy on us and on them as I could."

Derek shook his head. "I'm sorry, Penelope. I never meant for you to become so isolated. In all honesty, I hadn't even noticed how much you had pulled away from us all until you were already gone."Derek hung his head in shame. He had never ever meant to hurt her like that he broke her heart and was so busy trying to bury everything that he had been feeling, he never even noticed her slipping away from all of them.

"Derek, it was my choice; I didn't want anyone to notice. I just wanted to retreat and lick my wounds and be left alone. Luckily for me, the cases came in fast and furious, so it was easy to distance myself when no one was hardly ever around."

She started to pace faster. This was it she was about to come clean and she was terrified but she turned to look Derek in the eye and continued on." Just before Valentine's day I got sick ." Derek's head shot up the concern written all over his face. "I was tired, nauseous and just didn't feel…right. I went to the doctor, and he confirmed my suspicion: I was pregnant."