Derek fell back into the plush pillows on the mattress in his hotel room. It had been six days—the longest Derek had ever gone without seeing his girls (including Penelope) and they'd just solved a big one. The team was exhausted, so Hotch made the decision to spend one more night and leave in the morning. If it had been Derek's choice, he'd be walking into his bedroom around the time the sun was coming up and buried inside of Penelope shortly after that.

He groaned at the thought—Penelope all tight and hot around him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. But it hadn't been up to him, and so here he was…alone in his hotel room. He didn't want to call her in case she was sleeping, but if she was awake, he damn well wanted her to know he was thinking about her.

So he grabbed his phone off the night stand and sent her a text message instead.

Are you keeping my side of the bed warm?

It was a few minutes before she replied.

I am now. Millie just went to bed.

It's 9:30 there.

Yeah. She had a rough day. I think she misses you.

Derek sighed. He felt bad for his older daughter. Chessie was so unruly and commanding, that he spent a large portion of his time with the girls trying to get her on an even keel. Millie was overlooked sometimes, and apparently it was taking a toll on her. I'll have to spend some time alone with her when I get home.

I think she'd like that. When do I get my alone time?

Derek would have liked to have played it cool and waited for a minute to reply, but his fingers flew across the keys instead. The first chance I get.

LOL I like that.

Yeah? What else do you like?

I think my screams and moans are pretty good indicators of that.

I can just hear you now…

Stop.

He lifted an eyebrow, a slow grin spreading across his face. Or what?

I can feel myself getting wet.

Yeah?

Yeah.

If it makes you feel any better, I'm hard a fuckin' rock.

LOL That does make me feel a little better. But you know what would make me feel a lot better?

Derek sat up. He liked this conversation. What's that?

You. Deep inside of me.

I can feel you right now—wet and tight.

Only for you.

Sweet Lord. She was gonna make him come from six states away. He jumped at the knock on his door.

"Morgan!"

Someone's at the door. I gotta go.

Sexy dreams.

Derek snapped his phone shut. As if that wasn't a given. He got up off his bed—he would have jumped had Penelope not gotten him so damn hot—and threw the door open. Prentiss, Reid and JJ were standing there. "Come on, Morgan," she said.

He gave her a confused look. "What?"

"We're going to get our groove thang on and you're coming with us," she informed him.

Derek shook his head. "I don't want to—"

"I don't remember asking him what he wanted." She turned to JJ, her eyebrows drawn together. "Did I ask him what he wanted?"

"I don't remember you asking him what he wanted, "JJ agreed.

"It's gonna be fun," Reid said.

Derek rolled his eyes. "I don't have a groove thang," he informed them.

"Yeah?" Prentiss grabbed him by the arm and pulled him from his room. "Prove it."

___

OK, so Prentiss had been right. He was having a pretty good time. His girls were home safe and sound with Penelope, and he was out at a bar. With absolutely no interest in picking up chicks. He'd never been out in a bar before without trying to get laid. He was surprised by how much fun he was having.

Until Prentiss got a little too close to him—grinding her body against his. Derek stumbled backwards in surprise, but quickly recovered his balance. She shimmied up to him once again and he looked helplessly at Reid—doing some awkward dance moves while JJ was showing off her moves across from him.

Reid nodded knowingly. Nice, he mouthed.

Derek's eyes widened as Prentiss brought her arms up around his neck, her mouth moving to his ear. "Take me upstairs," she said in his ear. She had to say it loud because the music was booming and he was certain he'd heard her wrong. But when she pulled back, her eyes heavy lidded, Derek swallowed past the sudden lump of fear in his throat. What in the hell was going on?

___

JJ pulled a bottle of vodka from the mini bar in her room then plopped down onto her bed next to Reid, opening it for a sip, then passing it on to Reid. Prentiss was sitting in the chair beside the bed.

"Well that was fun," she said with a giggle.

"I've never seen Morgan move so fast," Reid said.

Prentiss rolled her eyes. "You didn't even want to come."

"But I did. And I'm glad," he said with a grin.

Prentiss laughed. "If you could have seen his face…I swear to God, you guys, he looked like his eyes were gonna pop out of his head."

Reid shrugged. "Could have been your revealing top," he told her.

"What?" Prentiss asked. "My top is just fine, thank you very much!"

"I didn't even know you had boobs," he said.

JJ erupted into a fit of giggles and Prentiss shot her a dirty look.

"OK," Prentiss said. "Enough! One breast man on the team is more than enough!"

"I didn't say I liked them," he pointed out.

Prentiss' eyes were suddenly replaced with daggers. "My boobs are fantastic, thank you very much," she said adamantly.

___

The plane landed and the team walked into Quantico a little before eleven the next morning. Apparently Penelope was helping out in another department, so after clearing it with Hotch, Derek left to take the rest of the day off. He headed for the girls daycare, and when he walked in, Millie came running up to him. "Daddy," she said in relief.

He lifted her up into his arms and gave her a kiss on the lips. "Hey, Princess," he said. "How ya doin'?"

She shrugged. "I'm OK," she said. But his little girl wasn't looking him in the eye.

"Hi, Daddy!" Chessie said, running into the room.

"Hey, Darlin'," Derek said scooping her up with his other arm. "How are ya?"

She grinned at him as she gave him a loud kiss on the cheek. "Good! But I missed you!" she told him.

He laughed. "I missed you both, too."

"Are we going home?" Chessie asked.

He put Millie down. "Go get your coat, sweetie," he told her.

Millie disappeared into the entryway and Derek put Chessie down, and then bent at the knees so they were eye level.

"I need to talk to Millie, OK?"

"About what?" she asked.

Derek laughed as he hugged Chessie to him. "That is none of your business, little girl," he informed her.

Chessie laughed. "Will you tell me later?" she asked.

"Maybe," he told her.

She nodded. "OK. I'm gonna go find Bella," she said, running off. She turned around just before she disappeared into the next room. "I'm glad you're back, Daddy," she said.

He grinned at her. "Me, too."

___

Derek lifted Millie into his arms and carried her to his vehicle, then buckled her into her seat. "Have you had lunch yet?" he asked, looking at her in the rearview mirror. Penelope had been right, something was wrong with Millie. He could tell from the moment he'd seen her. Her eyes were downcast, and she was even more quiet than usual. She shook her head no.

"Do you want to go to McDonalds?"

"You're gonna bring me to McDonalds?" she asked in surprise.

"What? Penelope can take you to McDonalds but your daddy can't?" he teased.

Millie giggled. "You can take me to McDonalds," she said almost shyly.

They went inside for lunch and Derek tried to make conversation with his daughter, but she wasn't interested in talking. After they finished their lunch, Derek brought her home. They walked into the kitchen and Millie took off her jacket and hung it on the back of the nearest chair. She started to walk away, but Derek grabbed her from behind and pulled her into his arms. "Not so fast, Munchkin," he said. "You OK?"

She didn't say anything, just reached down to the V of his t-shirt and played with the sunglasses hanging there.

He shook his arms, her little body shaking along with them. "Amelia Penelope," he said in a teasing tone. "Don't make me tickle you," he warned.

She looked up at him and smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Why don't I have a mommy?" she asked quietly.

Derek stood there for a moment, speechless. He'd known this would eventually come up, but he didn't think it would happen so soon.

She lifted her arms to his shoulders, her sad brown eyes—so much like his own—looking up into his face. "Bella has a mommy. And Jamie has a mommy. Even Tristan has a mommy, and he's not even a good boy, daddy. He's naughty a lot."

Derek's heart broke at his little girls' logic—that you somehow had to deserve a mother. And that she thought she didn't.

He tightened an arm around and with his other hand pulled her head gently to his shoulder. "I don't…" Derek sighed. He didn't have a clue how to explain this, so he was going to go for honesty. "I can't answer that, Mil, because I just don't know. I only know that it's not because of any thing you did or didn't do," he whispered fiercely. He knew his answer was lacking, but he didn't know what else to say.

"Will I ever have a mommy?" she asked.

"I…I hope so," he told her.

He could feel her nodding her little head on his shoulder before lifting her eyes to his. "I have to pee, Daddy," she said quietly.

Derek let her down, and stared after her as she scampered off. This wasn't a good sign.

He sighed as he rubbed his tired eyes. He needed more consistency for the girls—it had been on his mind a lot lately. But since he and Penelope had fallen into bed and their chemistry had been out of this world—it had been on his mind even more. It had only taken him a little over a week of being with her to realize that he never wanted her to leave. Not just because of the sex, but because she fit him in every way…her laugh…her smile…the way she looked at him, but most of all, he loved watching her with his girls. It was obvious that she was as crazy about them as they were about her.

He was craving stability. And dammitt, he wanted it with Penelope.