It had been nearly three weeks since she'd been sick. And in true Derek Morgan style, the virus had passed right over him. Maybe there was something to be said for working out and eating healthy. But she'd have to take his word for it. She'd take her ice cream and potato chips, thank you very much. She was on her way into the office when he caught up with her.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she returned.

"So…guess what I dreamed last night?" he asked with a grin.

"What did you dream last night?"

"That we were married," he said.

Penelope stumbled at his admission. He grabbed her by the arm to steady her.

"You OK?" he asked.

"Fine," she said shrilly. She cleared her throat. "That's a…weird dream."

"Well, it's not so weird if you think about it," he argued. "You take great care of my kids, you do my grocery shopping sometimes, and you clean my house. The only thing we're not doing is sleeping together."

Sweet Lord she hoped he couldn't see her face. She was pretty sure that her jaw was dropped to the ground and her cheeks were the color of maraschino cherries. She laughed nervously.

"And hey, we could certainly work something out in that area if you wanted to," he said in a teasing tone.

Penelope quickened her pace.

"Hey, Garcia," he said. "I was kidding."

"Oh, I know you were," she said with false casualness.

"Then why did you speed up?" he asked.

She pretended to look for something ahead of her. "I thought I saw JJ," she said. "Guess not."

"So, you have the entire week off from my monsters," he informed her.

"Really? Why is that?" she asked.

"My mom is flying in tonight. She's gonna be here until next Sunday, so if I get called away, everything is all set. I thought maybe you needed a break."

"Oh. Thanks," she said.

"No problem," he returned.

"And for the record, I happen to like your monsters," she admitted.

"Is that so?" he asked with a wicked grin.

She nodded.

"Then you should see my one eyed monster," he said, his eyes dancing.

Penelope's jaw dropped and she socked him on the arm. "You need to get laid," she told him.

"You're telling me," he muttered.

___

The next day Derek practically flew into her office in a panic.

"What's goin' on?" she asked.

"I need you to go to my house tonight," he said quickly.

She nodded. "OK. What's with the anxiety?"

"I'm afraid that the girls don't know my mother well enough, and that they might be scared when it's time to go to bed or something."

"I can do that," Penelope said.

Derek breathed a sigh of relief.

"You really are my God-given solace, Garcia. You know that, don't you?"

She grinned. "So you keep saying."

"So, you'll stop by around seven o'clock tonight to help with baths and bedtime if my mom needs it?"

"You're mom raised you, Derek. I'm sure she'll be fine. But yes, I'll stop by around seven o'clock to help with bedtime stuff."

"Then I'll…see you in a few days," he said.

___

Penelope could hear the girls shrieking through the front door when she rang the bell. A few seconds later, the door flew open. "Penelope?" the woman said.

Penelope nodded. "Everything OK?" she asked carefully. She didn't want the girls causing trouble, but she certainly didn't want to step on Derek's mothers' toes, either.

"In a word…no," she said.

Penelope grinned sheepishly at her. "Would you like a hand?" she asked.

Derek's mother sighed. "I would love one," she said.

When she stepped into the living room, Penelope's eyes widened. The room was turned upside down. The first thing she did was march over and turn off the television. Both girls dropped the doll they tug-of-warring over.

"We were watching that!" Chessie said snidely, her eyes going to her grandmother. When they found Penelope, they widened. "Hi, Penelly-p," she said quietly; her entire demeanor changed.

"Hi, yourself," Penelope returned sternly.

Millie was standing there, her little hands clasped in front of her. "Hi, Penelope," she said.

Penelope grinned at her. "What's going on?" she asked, her gaze moving from one little girl to the other.

"We were just playing," Chessie said.

"Yes, well, play time is over," Penelope informed them. "And you have fifteen minutes to clean this wreck up."

Millie ran to the kitchen and reappeared with the egg timer. She handed it to Penelope. "Thank-you," Penelope said, hitting the buttons to set it for fifteen minutes. When the little girls heard the ding indicating start time, they took off, gathering toys up in their arms.

Fran's eyes widened. "I have been trying to get them into the bathtub for an hour. You are amazing."

Penelope laughed. "I don't know about that," she said. She held out a hand. "Penelope Garcia," she said.

"Fran Morgan," she said, taking the young woman's hand and giving it a shake.

"Chessie, you're supposed to be cleaning," Penelope said when the little girl sank to her knees and started playing with her toys.

"Well I want to play," she said stubbornly.

"If you're not going to listen, then you don't get your half hour of television tonight," Penelope informed her.

"My Grammie already said I could watch it," she shot back.

"And did you trick her into saying that?" Penelope asked.

Chessie didn't say anything, just nodded half-heartedly.

"When you trick someone into agreeing on something, Chessie, it doesn't count. Do you want your TV tonight?"

Chessie nodded. "Yes," she said.

"Then you need to get cleaning."

The little girl jumped to her feet and helped her sister finish the job. Penelope stayed and gave Fran a hand until the girls had been bathed and were in bed fast asleep.

___

"Penelope would make a great mother," Fran said to her son. It was the next night, and he'd gotten home less than half an hour ago. They were sitting on the couch having conversation. Apparently it was about to get deep.

Derek groaned. "You know I'm never getting married again," he told her.

Fran lifted an eyebrow at him. "I wasn't insinuating that you should marry her," she said with a grin. "I was just saying she should have kids of her own someday." There was a pause. "But I see it's been on your mind."

Derek didn't say anything.

"Derek?"

"I'm not gonna date Penelope," he said firmly.

"But not because you don't want to," she said carefully.

He sighed. "If we dated…and it didn't work out…the girls would be devastated. They adore her."

"What if it did work out?" she asked.

Her son shook his head. "I'm not good at marriage, remember?" he asked.

"Maybe you just weren't good at being married to Heather," she said.

"Mom—"

"Derek, she left her children. And not only did she leave them behind, but she left signed documents giving up her parental rights. Do you have any idea what that says about her?"

Derek's jaw began to tick. "I chose to marry her," he said quietly. "I chose her to be the mother of my children. What does that say about me?" he asked.

She smiled softly at her son. "Maybe it says that you fell in love for all of the wrong reasons," she told him.

"I don't…think I ever loved her at all. I think I only thought I did."

His mother nodded. "That's a possibility, too, Derek. But no matter which way you look at it, she left her children."

"I know," he said quietly.

"The best thing you can do for those girls, Derek, is to fall in love. And give them the mother that they deserve. A woman who you do love. And who loves you back. And your girls. Especially if you're gonna stay in this line of work. You need stability for them."

"I know," he said resentfully. It was something that had been on his mind a lot lately.

"I just…want you to think about it, Derek. I don't want your marriage to Heather be the only experience with marriage that you get to have. There are good women out there. You just need to find one." She refrained from telling him that he already had.