Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

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A Year Later

'Come here wife.' Yelled Derek's voice, he had been away on a case with the others for nearly 3 weeks and had missed Penelope too much. He hated the time away from her and that was the longest he had been away from her since her brother had taken her.

'I'm coming!' Penelope said as she followed her husband's train of voice, she smiled to see love hearts made out of rose petals on more than eight table surfaces in the front room. 'Oh what do I owe this offer then?' She asked as her heart beat faster at the sight of her husband n front of her on the sofa.

'Well, my mom is coming tomorrow, so is Louisa and the team so this is my last chance to have you, my wife all to myself.' She face twisted with mischief and his smile was seductive and even killer, his eye winked at her.

She dug around in her thoughts for a millisecond and smiled back with equal emotions. 'You want to fumble with me again?' She teased mockingly.

'Call it what you want but we've been married 4 months now and I can't get enough of you.' It would have been a lie to spout off that Derek and Penelope's marriage ruined what they had, if anything it elevated it to the next level, to the point that they were near enough inseparable, Derek's part of course coming from the past.

'I'll take that as a good sign then hot stuff.' She mocked back and couldn't help but giggle as he put his hands out for her to get closer, she just stood in front of him and ignored the slight pout and puppy dog eyes he was putting on in order to get what he wanted.

'Baby girl... that is a feeling I never want to lose.' He couldn't lie to her, it was the truth and nothing more or less, he loved the feelings he got when he saw her, when her heard her, when he thought about her and even when he heard about her from others. His heart soared to know that she was his wife and no one else's.

'Well you might need to hold off for a bit.' She replied and felt the mood die ever so slightly. She could have kicked herself for saying it like she did but she needed to tell him.

'Why?' Derek shot up a little disappointed at the lack of eagerness his wife had just portrayed, in all voice, expression and body language.

'Your fumbling means I have to gain weight.'

'What?' Derek's face twisted with confusion and then loosened into a wide teeth bearing smile. 'Really?' She nodded and bit her lip. 'Oh goddess that's amazing!' He near enough jumped up with excitement and he smiled more as her smile grew and she sat down finally.

'I know! We have a baby!' She almost shouted having said it for the first time to a person and not her reflection in the mirror as she had done so many times between the doctor's appointment and the time Derek had gotten home.

'Aw you are one woman that makes me happy... wait the only woman... get here!' He said playfully, she obeyed and sat down and he instantly pulled her close in an embrace. He then felt he needed to know everything, everything fine tuned detail so he could keep on top of it all. 'When did you find out?'

She looked up at him. 'This morning... before you got back from the case.'

'How far gone are you?'

She laughed as his mind seem to have caught up and now he had a list of things in his mind waiting to ask but she needed if you calm down and just let things go, to her, all he needed to know was that she was pregnant and that everything had been arranged. For now all he needed to know was what exactly what she knew, the rest he could find out as she did. Kind of like it would become a learning curve for them both to achieve together. 'We don't know exactly, I've got a scan for tomorrow at 9.' She smiled. 'So it works out perfectly with everyone getting here. If you want we can tell them?'

Derek nodded with copious amounts of emotions. 'I love you so much P.' Derek said as he pulled her into his embrace. She was still thin from what happened but she had curves, she no longer had the protruding ribs, or the ridges of her spine. She was no longer cover in varying sized, shaped, coloured bruises, she no long worn the bruise of the hand print on her throat. She had minimal scars over her body, she knew where they were, she knew what they looked like, she knew what they felt like and occasionally when she was alone due to a case she remembered and felt how she had gotten them but she had learned to live with them and love them when Derek had proven they didn't change a thing with how he loved her and wanted her. To Derek, Penelope was Penelope with whatever, all he wanted was her, scars or no scars. He made her feel like the most cherished thing alive all the time and that was the thing that made her feel she had everything.

In the last year she had developed new relationships with her brothers, she had stood trial and testified against her brother to validate the claim of his acts, she had gotten married, she had gone back to work even if it took nearly 3 months for her to get exact mobility and energy back. To everyone around her, she had climbed mountains and fought battles and had came out the other side, a better person, a stronger person who was surrounded by proper love, by pure love, by enduring love not by supposed love.

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The End!

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A/N: So it finished! Hope it didn't destroy the story entirely but I could go on for ages talking about her recovery but here it is... everything rolled into one or at least I hope so!

Thanks for all that reviewed and those who read... I hope you enjoyed!