Chapter 6: Always Be My Baby

A/N: Wow - uh it's been 2 years since I logged into this site. But I've felt inspired again after watching all of Criminal Minds again from start to finish recently. And I'm so beyond unbelievably humbled by all of you who commented and favorited and kept up on this story to the point where some of you even PM'd me. So - thank you thank you thank you all.

And enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Penelope couldn't get Maddie to calm down enough this morning after she told her Derek was back in town. The team had been called away in a particularly brutal case in Tennessee involving child trafficking and had been away for almost three weeks after the party at JJ and Reid's.

They finally caught the team of individuals who were behind it, but it involved a higher up in Child Protective Services chain of command which made the whole situation even more depressing to think about. Derek had been tight lipped about the whole case, more so than usual probably because the whole thing just reminded them of the newest member of their little family. Maddie had been through hell, just like these kids - and they were all more than glad to put those scumbags behind bars for life.

She told him he didn't have to stop by this morning, he needed the day off and their flight hadn't gotten in until 2 a.m. so no one was expecting them to be in the office today. She could hold her little one off until later tonight. But he was just as demanding as Maddie was that he see her as soon as possible. Something in her gut told her he was probably a little more upset about the case and just needed to physically see that Maddie was okay. And she wasn't going to deny either one of them that.

Whatever the case was - this would be the first time she was seeing him after their declarations and delicious kisses. Of course, they had talked on the phone through work and he had Face-timed Maddie several times a day but it wasn't the same. She wasn't sure where their footing was at right now as far as their romantic relationship went.

He could have changed his mind. Realized that maybe he didn't want to jump those friendship boundaries with her, and she wouldn't fault him for that.

But she had already missed his kisses, and his touch - and she wasn't sure she could go back to a world where those things weren't a continuous part of her life.

"Mommy, mommy… mommyy!"

A tornado of blonde hair ran out of the bathroom stall and out to the sink area where she had been adjusting her top again. She didn't know why she had took so much time to get ready this morning, but her nerves had gotten the best of her and she couldn't sleep well. Now she was second guessing whether she should have gotten so prettied up - it would definitely be obvious the only reason she did was because of Derek. She hadn't dressed up like this at work the whole 3 weeks he had been gone.

'Too late now.' She thought to herself as she walked away from the mirror and picked up Maddie heading out to her office to grab her purse.

She had been at work and getting stared at all morning. It took her a while to see they were mostly stares of admiration and curiosity. Her black pencil skirt hugged her bottom and while it was more modest by hitting below her knee, the slit on the side was visible as she walked giving a peek at the top of the side of her thigh highs. Her signature four inch heels were discarded for a more practical shorter heel so she could carry Maddie around. But it was still a bright flower print that she loved so much. She chose translucent blue rimmed frames to match her cashmere sweater that Maddie loved and helped her pick out this morning since it made her 'soft and fluffy and good to snuggle with'.

Anyone else who had said that might have gotten smacked, but her daughter meant it in the best way and it just made her love her even more for how quickly she had let her boundaries down around her new family.

It was almost lunch time and Derek was taking them out to eat. She picked up Maddie downstairs at the Bureau daycare where she stayed during the day to be close to Pen. It helped that Henry was down there too, Maddie had acclimated relatively well as long as she had a familiar face around to hold on to. She didn't talk at all to the adults but she figured that would come with time and with some comfort on her daughter's part.

Her phone dinged with a message and she pulled it out noticing a text from Derek.

'Downstairs, parked out front. Do you need help getting Maddie down here?'

She responded quickly knowing they had a 5 minute parking window down there before they would force him to move.

'No. On our way, be there in 2 min.'

"Come on baby, let's go Derek's downstairs," Pen said grabbing Maddie's hand and leading her towards the elevators out of the office. The team was mostly gone today, Hotch was the only one that had come in and he was barricaded in his office doing paperwork so she knew she could walk down relatively fast and not get stopped or interrupted by a slew of interrogators.

Maddie was bouncing up and down in excitement at seeing her Dewek. She had been talking to Henwy at daycare and he told her that his Unca Pence used to be just his Unca Pencer, but then his mommy and him started kissy time and fell in wove with each other and now he was his other Daddy. His weal daddy lived in Louisiana and he didn't see him very often. She knew her mommy and her Unca Dewek were kissy at Henwy's party so that means he's her daddy now. And she loved her Daddy Dewek way more than just her Unca Dewek.

Derek saw Pen and Maddie coming out of the revolving doors so he stepped out of the car and walked to the passenger's side to open the door and greet them. He installed a new car seat this morning that he had purchased for Maddie in his SUV, even had the local fire department check it out and make sure it was put in properly. He was totally 100% prepared to open up his life to his girls. They were his girls, and he was going to make damn sure they never questioned their roles in his life ever again - especially his babygirl. She was his and he was ready to do whatever it took to make her see that they belonged together for life.

He saw Maddie's eyes light up as she realized he was standing on the other side of the revolving door she stepped out of - she let go of Penelope's hand and squealed "Daaaaddyyyyyy!" as she ran right into his open arms.

Penelope's jaw dropped and a bright red blush took over her whole body as she replayed what had just happened in front of her eyes. Her daughter… called Derek— daddy …and jumped into his arms like she hadn't seen him in years. If Derek was at all put off by what had just happened, he didn't show it. He hadn't even flinched — he just picked Maddie up and hugged her letting her little arms envelope his whole neck and a smile of joy take over his face. She stopped in front of the two of them, her eyes watering and her heart thumping so hard she felt like it would fly out of her chest at any minute.

"How are my favorite girls doing today?" Derek asks as Maddie pulls out of the embrace and looks over at him.

"Mommy made me mickey mouse pancakes for bweakfast today!" Maddie announced excitedly.

"Oh did she now? Well aren't you a lucky girl!"

Derek responded with an equal gust of enthusiasm causing Maddie to giggle as he walked her to the back seat and buckled her into the chair. Pen was still in shock watching as this whole event happened in front of her. Now that she also realized Derek had a chair installed in his car for Maddie, and the tears she had been holding in just poured out of her eyes now.

She knew it now.

She knew he was in this. He was in.

Even with Maddie and everything that had changed between the last few months - he was still in.

He shut the door and turned around, ready to face his unusually quiet quasi-girlfriend when he noticed her wet cheeks causing him to furrow his brow in concern.

Before he had a chance to ask her what was wrong, she walked into his arms and kissed him. She kissed him quickly but still passionately enough for him to remember the submission her lips could coax him into. As she stepped back and opened her eyes, the bright smile that overtook her face was enough to settle his soul and make him forget the last three weeks away from his babygirl and their little princess.

"Welcome home handsome."

He laughed and picked her up causing her to squeal as he hugged her tightly.

He had never felt more at home in his whole life.

Round and around and around and around we go
Oh now, tell me now, tell me now, tell me now you know.

Not really sure how to feel about it.
Something in the way you move
Makes me feel like I can't live without you.
It takes me all the way.
I want you to stay

A/N: I've got the next chapter written and the next 3 outlined out. I definitely hit another gust of wind on this story. Thanks for staying with me on this. Love you all. Next chapter we've got our lunch date between our trio, some more family loving stuff and we're going to start home visits with CPS for Maddie to stay with Pen which is going to cause some bumps in the road. Maddie is going to regress a little bit but nothing a little loving form her new family can't handle.