Round of thanks for the reviews on last chapter - truly wonderful to read.

We're jumping in with the always entertaining Ms. Penelope Garcia for this one.

Happy reading =)

"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person." – Mignon McLaughlin

"You are the sweetest little thing, aren't you?" I coo at the baby held in my arms. "You could model, you know that? That Gerber baby's got nothing on you or your brother," I say as I tickle Tegan lightly under the chin and am rewarded with a giggle and a smile. "But I would never subject you to that life, no, Auntie Pen would never!"

Tegan clumsily flails her arms in delight at my tone and I feel a stupid grin spread across my face. I can't help it – babies are just so freaking adorable. Especially these ones. But honestly, who would've expected anything less from the offspring of my Chocolate Adonis and my raven-haired beauty?!

"Would never what?" JJ asks as she comes around the corner, holding Matthew in her arms.

"Put these little ones onto a path straight to a starring role on Toddlers and Tiaras," I explain as she settles onto the couch across from me.

"Oh, I'd hope not. Those kids are crazy."

"Tell me about it. But enough about them, aren't these little ones just absolutely darling?!"

JJ lets out a laugh as Em joins us. "God, that shower was amazing," Em says. "Thank you so much for watching the little demons."

"Demons? How dare you insinuate such things about my favourite twins!"

Emily chuckles at the expression of mock horror on my face before dropping onto the couch next to me. "Trust me, there's a whole level of evil underneath that adorable exterior."

"Nonsense," I declare. "Isn't that right?" I say, turning my attention back to Tegan who's looking straight at me with a toothless smile on her face. "You're not evil, not one little bit! No, you're not."

Emily just shakes her head before leaning it back and closing her eyes. I take a moment to take in her appearance. She's every bit as stunning and impressive as she's always been, but there is a decidedly tired look about her. Though, I suppose that's to be expected with two kids just a few months old in the household and Derek having come back to work a while back. Frankly, I'm not entirely sure how she has the energy to do anything.

I share a sympathetic look with JJ when I catch the blonde also studying our raven-haired friend. "Hey, Em?" JJ says softly.

"Mm?" Emily responds without opening her eyes.

"Why don't you go lie down for a bit? Garcia and I can keep the munchkins amused."

"I'm okay," she says, opening up her eyes and leaning her head forward. "Besides, I haven't seen you guys in forever."

"Twenty minutes," JJ persists. "I know from experience how exhausting a baby can be…and you have two."

"I'm good, honestly. So what's going on with you guys?"

I narrow my gaze at her, letting her know I am far from okay with her decision. She looks like the twenty minutes of rest would do her a world of good.

"Guys, come on. Don't look at me like that. I'm fine," she protests.

"Upstairs, missy. No arguing with me," I say firmly. "And I don't want to see your pretty face for at least twenty minutes, comprende?"

She opens her mouth to no doubt launch another protest, but it dies before it leaves her lips when she meets my gaze. "Okay," she agrees reluctantly as she rises slowly and heads toward the stairs.

She gets halfway up the stairs before Tegan apparently realizes the impending absence of her mother and decides to voice her displeasure in the form of a loud wail. I start to rock her and rub her back soothingly, hoping to quell her little crying bout, but it's to no avail. I look toward Em apologetically and watch as she turns around and walks back over to the couch before she holds out her arms to take Tegan from me. I hand her over and watch as Emily holds her close and whispers to her. It takes a few moments, but she finally settles down and settles her head on Emily's chest.

I hold out my arms to take her back, but as soon as Emily begins to move her, the whimpering starts up again. Em lets out a sigh and sits back down on the couch. "Don't take it personally, Pen. She's been really fussy lately with everyone. I think she might be coming down with something."

My expression falls. "Oh, the poor kiddo. I guess she just wants a little Mommy time," I say with a knowing smile.

"Pssshhh. She's such a Daddy's girl, it's not even funny."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah," Em says with a nod. "Some nights she'll scream at me 'til she's blue in the face, no matter what I do to try and soothe her, but within seconds of Derek holding her she quiets down."

"What about Matthew?" JJ asks, peeking down at the little boy's content expression.

She shrugs lightly, careful not to jostle Tegan. "He's half and half. Sometimes he wants me, sometimes he wants Derek."

"Well, she seems to be quite happy with you right now," I point out.

"I'm the lesser of two evils," Em quips.

"Nonsense," I say with a dismissive wave of my hand. "You're so good with her – with both of them. You're a natural, E."

She lets out a laugh. "Far from it, but thank you."

"Quit being such a Debbie Downer," I scold. "You're doing fantastic, Em. They're happy, they're healthy, and they're loved. Can't ask for much more."

"She's right, you know. You're doing great, Em," JJ adds.

I swear I see the slightest hint of a blush appear on her face. "You guys are too much sometimes. Thank you. It means a lot."

"You are most welcome, Mama Emily," I reply with a wink.

"Well, since I'm apparently not going to get in that nap, what's new with you guys?"

"Not a whole lot," JJ says with a shrug.

"Yeah, me neither. You're what's interesting since you've got the little bambinos," I add, looking longingly at Matthew who is content in JJ's arms and grinning in that oh-so-adorable way.

Emily unsuccessfully tries to stifle a chuckle.

"What?" I say, swinging my gaze over to Emily.

"Oh, nothing."

My gaze narrows at her blasé response, and I hold out my arms for young Matthew this time. JJ laughs lightly, but gets up and passes him over willingly, knowing I need my fix.

"Oh, you're a handsome little devil, aren't you?" I say happily, smiling widely when Matthew offers another toothless grin, this time directed toward me. "You get that from your Daddy. Yes you do. But I think you have your Mommy's eyes. Actually," I say, pausing to sneak a quick peek at Tegan, "both of you do."

Suddenly I remember Emily and JJ are in the room with me, and that I'd been rather lost in my own little world with the baby. "What?" I say when I meet their amused stares. "It's all true."

They don't respond, and instead just continue smirking.

"Don't think I've let you off the hook, missy," I say, shooting Emily a look. "I have not forgotten your poorly disguised laughter. There's no way it was "nothing" so spill," I say, hoping to get the attention of me and onto Emily. She's the far more interesting topic of the day.

"Just wondering when the world is going to be graced with a young Oracle of Quantico is all," she says slyly, enjoying every single moment of my sudden discomfort.

Well that backfired rather quickly. "I'm quite busy enough lending my babysitting services to you two, thank you very much," I say, hoping to dodge the topic.

"Nice dodge," JJ notes with a smirk. Damn. I hate profilers. "But I too would like to know the answer to that question," she adds.

"You two can be quite mean sometimes, you know that?"

"You don't get to use that. Not with the interrogations I got when Derek and I got together, and then again when I told you about these two munchkins. Not to mention your constant interest in my love life over the years. No, after all these years of being peppered with questions, you have to give me this one," Emily says pointedly.

I hate to admit it, but she has a wee little bit of a point. I do have a tendency to jump on her when juicy bits come up. But that's probably because I've become accustomed to her penchant for privacy, and seize the moment when she shares.

"So," she prompts when I don't offer any answer. "You and Kevin going to add to the BAU's growing family?"

The question has caught me off-guard. I'm not sure about marrying Kevin, let alone having babies with him. That's a whole other level of commitment.

"Oh, I think you spooked her, Em," JJ says with a laugh.

I look down at Matthew and find him staring at Emily with one of those expressions on his face. The ones that are just too damn cute for words, and the ones that make you believe there really is innocence and love in the world. He's looking at her like she's got the power to make everything okay, no matter what it is. I begin to wonder if anyone will ever look at me that way…and if I even want someone to look at me that way.

"PG?" Em says softly, a touch of worry in her tone.

"Hmm?" I reply, my brain coming back into the real world.

"Where'd you disappear to?"

"I was just thinking."

"About…"

"About how adorable this little guy's gaze on you is. I mean just look at those eyes!"

"PG, stop avoiding the question. Not only are you trying to fool a profiler and a former profiler, but you're failing miserably at it. So, out with it already."

"I don't know," I say quickly. "I honest to whoever or whatever is up there – wherever "up there" may be – don't know. I mean, things are good with me and Kevin, sure, but things were good before too, and look where they ended up. We don't have the most stable of relationships, and introducing a baby into that just isn't even conceivable because babies need commitment – like, "I've decided to give away my savings and leave all my worldly possessions behind as I go on a walkabout" kind of commitment. There's no half-way, you know? What am I saying? Of course you know. You both have kids. Well, JJ has a kid, and Em, you have kids, plural. But how am I supposed to commit to raising a human being with someone else, if I don't even know if I can be committed to that person?!"

"Whoa," Emily says, holding up a hand to silence me when I finally pause to take a breath. The words had tumbled out of my mouth quicker than I could process. "Take a breath, in fact, take a few."

"Yeah, you need to relax, Pen. How long have you been anxious about this?"

"Umm, well…"

"Nevermind," Emily interrupts. "Penelope, do you love Kevin?"

"Of course I do."

"Why?"

"Well, he gets my job, he understands my relationship with Morgan, he loves me, and I love that he loves me, we both appreciate the finer technological things in life…"

"So why not marry him?"

"Because I like what we have."

"AHA!" JJ says loudly, pointing an accusatory finger at me. Emily looks toward the blonde in confusion while trying to calm down Tegan who'd been startled by the noise. "Admit it! My argument for not accepting Will's proposals was valid!"

My mouth opens and shuts a few times, my mind unable to form any sort of words in reply. She was right. I hadn't understood it, because those two were and still are so sickeningly adorable and totally meant for each other. But it makes sense now. I just don't know if I'm supposed to – or even if I want to commit to someone for the rest of my life. Marriages may be doomed to fail half the time according to statistics, but I still believe that they're a representation of true love and the good in the world. Will and JJ, and Em and Derek are living proof of that. Are Kevin and I on that same level?

"I just…like what we have," I say stubbornly, ignoring JJ's accusation. "We're happy, and we don't need a piece of paper for that."

"Are you just saying that because you're scared of taking that next step?" Emily asks, sounding decidedly wise on the matter. Who knew almost two years of marriage made someone an expert?

"Were you scared?"

"Answering a question with a question, very interesting," JJ teases, no doubt trying to keep the mood light.

"JJ," Em says with a roll of her eyes.

"What?"

"Be nice or I'll have to invest in a drum kit for Henry."

"Fine," JJ grumbles, knowing Emily would have no qualms about following through on her threat.

"Why is the idea of marriage so scary to you?" Emily presses.

"I don't know," I answer quickly.

"Yes you do."

"If you know so much then you tell me," I retort. This was quickly becoming rather frustrating.

"Nope. That's not how this works. Think about it."

"Because it changes everything."

"Everything?"

"Yeah. You compromise, and then little parts of you start to morph and change to fit with them, and parts of them do the same to fit with you, and then suddenly you're not the same people anymore and things go downhill from there."

"You know, part of the fun of marriage is figuring out how you fit with the other person," JJ interjects. "You compromise some things, sure, but it's about learning the little quirks and mannerisms that are so uniquely them, and figuring out how they fit with you."

"I get that, I do. But my thing is, what happens when you've changed and learned all those quirks and compromised, and given yourself to this other person, and they suddenly disappear? Because I can tell you, it hurts."

"Yeah," Emily agrees. "It hurts like hell, but what you get when they stick around is amazing."

"How do you know you're going to get that though? Or if it's going to last?"

"You don't," Emily says simply. "You just have to find that person that you trust enough to risk it with."

"He's already hurt me once," I whisper, finally admitting what had been nagging me from the back of my mind for months.

"As much as he hurt you, I think you need to remember that you hurt him too," JJ offers gently, getting up and sitting down beside me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"I didn't say no though. I said I wasn't ready."

"But to him, it was the same thing. You bruised his ego, and broke his heart, Pen."

I feel a few tears slip down my face, and I drop my gaze to Matthew when I feel his hand touch my face. I swear he knows I'm upset, because the look on his face is one of worry. He squirms in my arms and leans his head into my neck, grabbing at my shirt with his hand, and I feel a few tears slip down my cheek.

"But he came back," Em reminds me. "And that man loves you, Penelope Garcia."

"I don't want him to leave again," I sniffle.

"Then don't give him a reason to," JJ says softly. "All he wants is you. He wants a chance to have a happily-ever-after with you."

"Pen, what do you want?" Emily asks as she turns slightly to face me.

"I-" I choke out only a syllable before more tears drop down my face. "I want a life with him," I whisper.

"Then don't let him go," Em says softly, giving my hand a squeeze. "You can figure out the details later, but don't let him go."

I nod solemnly. The two of them are right. I've been silly to think I could be happy for the rest of my life without him. I'd already lived through a period of not having him, and it was painful enough for a lifetime. I'd been fooling myself that I didn't want him.

"Besides," Em continues. "I'm pretty sure a thousand lifetimes wouldn't be enough time for you two to figure out all of each other's quirks."

I can't help but laugh at the suggestion. She might just be right about that. Maybe marriage wasn't so crazy an idea after all.

So...did we enjoy Garcia being on the hot seat this time around? Did you "aw" at the adorable twins? Amused by JJ's "aha!" moment? Do let me know...