Second Chances – chapter nineteen

December 2014

The sound of scrapping chairs signalled the end of their debriefing. As everyone made their way towards the door, Derek called out. "Is everyone available on Sunday? Emily and I want to have everyone over for dinner before she goes back on Monday. Especially as we're all working over Christmas."

Everyone nodded, accepting the invitation before making their way to their respective desks and offices. Penelope was clearing up from her presentation, while Reid hung around near the door. Morgan picked up his files and his friend caught his attention.

"Do you need help setting up on Sunday?" Spencer asked him.

Morgan thought for a moment. "We should be fine, but come over whenever you want. Just be warned that Emily wants to do all the cooking." Penelope gave a short laugh from the back of the room, listening in on their conversation.

"Are we sure we shouldn't order in?" Spencer asked with a smile on his face.

"I'll let you mention that to Emily," Morgan said patting him on the back with mock support. Becoming serious, he said, "Come over whenever, you're always welcome."

Spencer nodded. "I'm going to play chess in the morning, I'll come after that."

"Uh Genius, it's like a foot of snow out there, where are you playing chess?" Penelope asked.

"They set up tables in the recreational hall," Spencer replied as if it was obvious.

Hotch suddenly appeared in the door way. "Reid do you have your report from the Carter case?" He asked.

"Yeah it's on my desk; I'll go get it now."

Both men left Morgan and Penelope in the conference room. After a few minutes of uncharacteristic silence coming from Morgan, Penelope started to worry. "Hey Stud, cat got your tongue?"

"Huh?" Morgan's head shot up from where he was looking at one of his files, both eyebrows raised towards Penelope, his expression softened as he saw the worry in her eyes. "Sorry Baby Girl, what did you say?"

"I was wondering why you were so quiet. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's great, Emily home for the week," he smiled as he thought of her.

Penelope smiled at him, her friends were so happy together. Together. Then it clicked in her head what was really going on with him. Emily was going back to London on Monday and it would be weeks if not months before they saw each other. They had been in a long distance relationship for eighteen months and even to outsiders it was excruciatingly obvious how much it hurt them when they were apart.

"Give her a reason to stay," Penelope told him quietly, as she came to stand beside him.

"It's not that simple Baby Girl," he told her, with his shoulders sagging a little. "Emily knows how I feel, and I know she loves her job, I don't want to be the guy who asks her give up something she loves doing."

"She loves you too," Penelope paused for a second. "Now this isn't an option that I want you to entertain that much, but have you considered looking for a job in London?"

"I have," Morgan admitted quietly, instantly regretting it as he saw the shock on her face. That was part of the problem, if he moved to London he would be with Emily, but their family would be here.

"You need to talk to Emily," Penelope said quietly, clearly uncomfortable with the possible outcome of their conversation.

"I know," he said gathering the rest of his things as she collected her notepad and pink fluffy pen. "Don't worry Baby Girl; I'm not going anywhere, at least for now." He gave her a small smile, she smiled back.

"I hate change." Penelope thought for a moment, before the twinkle returned to her eyes. "Although wherever you and Emily end up, it would mean you could start work on creating more fairy god children for me to spoil." Morgan smile got bigger as he put his arm around her shoulders, guiding them out of the room. "Not that I don't love Henry and Jack, but a little girl would be amazing." She told him, getting excited.

"I'll see what I can do, Baby Girl."

"You two would make beautiful babies," she said as they passed Rossi's door.

"Morgan, do you and Emily need to make an announcement?" The older man's head popped out with a questioning look on his face.

"We're not making you a grandpa yet Rossi," Morgan said over his shoulder, jokingly. The older man gave a small frown at the term.

"When you do, I would prefer to be called uncle," he said returning to his office.

A few hours later he returned home to find Emily in the kitchen, engrossed in whatever she was reading that she had laid out on the counter. She jumped slightly as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. Emily relaxed into him as she realised it was him, reaching an arm behind her to caress the back of his neck, as his chin rested on her shoulder, craning to read the book.

"What are you reading?"

"The recipe to make chicken broth," she said pointing at the pot she had simmering away. Emily had been working on her cooking, finding she enjoyed some of the simple recipes. Fran had been a great help, emailing her tips and ideas on what she could try next, even sending her a recipe for cookies that Derek loved as a child.

"Smells great," Morgan said placing a kiss on her collarbone. Emily frowned at his tone and turned in his arms, wrapping hers around him.

"What's wrong?" she asked making eye contact. He brought up a hand to stroke her cheek. "Derek? What's happened?" Emily began to worry at his continued silence.

Seeing the fear in her eyes, Morgan shook his head to reassure her. "Nothing, I just," he took a deep breath. "I just don't want you to leave on Monday."

The look on his face made her want to confess all to him about her move home. Or the fact that she had been at the Interpol offices in DC for a few hours today to sort everything out with Easter, who had agreed to her moving mid-February instead of March. She would be home in eleven weeks. Emily gulped, trying to figure out something to say. Unable to verbalise her thoughts, she pulled him fully into her arms, one of her hands cradling the back of his head.

"I'm sorry, but I should be able to come home again soon," she told him after a minute.

"Really?" He questioned, sounding hopeful, but Emily could hear the slight weariness in his voice, obviously unsure at the prospect of her having so much time off. Emily thought fast so he would stop this line of questioning that if allowed to continue, it would no doubt lead to confessing everything. She still didn't want to get his hopes up before she received her official change of assignment papers.

"Easter has asked me to work with the DC office for a bit," she smiled as she pulled back from him. "He thinks I could be here for about a month from mid-February."

Morgan pulled her back to him, kissing her deeply. "I have no idea how I'm going to let you after a month of waking up next to you." Emily smiled into him as she kissed him again, keeping her silence, thinking that his reaction to her surprise will be worth the wait.

"I love you," she whispered against his lips.

…

It was Sunday evening, and Morgan found himself in the kitchen preparing cocoa for everyone as he looked out at his snow covered garden. He watched as Emily, JJ, Hotch, Reid, showed Henry and Jack how to throw snowballs for Clooney. The balls exploding back into powder between his jaws as he caught them. Rossi, Alex and Penelope had opted to stay in the warm living room.

His gaze shifted to Emily, as JJ whispered something in her ear. The women turned towards Reid, mischievous smile on their faces. The Kid never saw the attack coming, as they pelted him with snowballs. Henry instantly came to the defence of his god father, throwing snowballs at his mother. Reid helped him by returning fire on Emily. Jack started to take aim at Hotch.

'Give her a reason to stay.' Penelope's words had been going through his head all weekend. Retrieving his phone from his pocket, he typed in the search box what he wanted to find, the results displaying a few minutes later.

As he browsed through the options, Morgan thought back over the day as he waited for the milk to boil. He and Emily had taken Clooney for a walk this morning before they got to work on preparing for their family. Reid had arrived early with the information of meeting someone while playing chess had shocked him, even though it was the first time they had met Morgan could tell the younger man was intrigued by the woman who had beat him at chess today. He was happy his friend was starting to move past the torment and pain he had been through since Maeve's death. But Reid had been shocked by his own reaction to the woman, and Morgan hoped he wouldn't shut himself off.

Putting his phone on the counter, he poured the milk into the waiting cups. As he put them onto a tray Penelope came through the door.

"Hey Hot Stuff, need any help?" She asked cheerily.

"You can take these into the living room," Morgan said picking up the bowl of marshmallows and the plate of cookies Emily had made. As he turned to her he saw his phone in her hand, her eyebrows raised. "Uh, Baby Girl, can I have that back?"

Penelope handed him the phone, her mouth opened and closed a few times as she tried to figure out what to say. He held up a finger to keep her quiet. "You can't tell anyone."

Her eyes widened at the thought, her mouth opened and closed again before she started to talk. "But, you're looking at…"

"I know, but don't tell anyone."

"But…" Penelope started again. Taking a deep breath, she tried to keep her heart beat under control as her excitement grew. After a moment, she smiled at him. "That's a great reason for her to stay."