"All right, we're here," Derek said as he put the truck into park, idling outside Rossi's cabin. He wasn't surprised to see that Penelope was already there, since she had offered to run to the grocery store in order to get the food and supplies they'd need for their week there.

"We are." Erin turned to look at him, biting her lower lip a little as she took a few deep breaths. "Are you certain that you can't stay?"

He nodded as he reached out and cupped her cheek with his hand. "I would love to spend time here with you, alone. Imagine, we could go the whole week wearing nothing but our skin, and not have to worry about being walked in on." Erin giggled as she blushed. "But I wasn't able to get the Director to budge. Maybe next year, we can get a week away together?"

"I hope so, darling." She leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. "At least I'll be able to spend time with Penelope. She's been so kind since we were rescued."

"She loves large and deep," he said as he unfastened his belt and slipped out of the truck. It only took a few moments for him to reach the other side and help Erin out, his hands lingering on her hips as he stared down at her. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she whispered before leaning up to kiss him again. "All right, I'll head inside and see what Penelope's up to, if you want to bring my bags in."

He nodded and watched her head inside. It was so easy to let himself be distracted by the gentle sway of her hips, the way that their baby had changed her gait a little. He remembered that from when Jayje had been pregnant with Henry, and now he was able to experience it with his Erin. Shaking his head a little, Derek reached into the bed of his truck and picked up the two bags that Erin had packed for the week away from home.

"I think you brought enough to last a month!" he teased as he entered the cabin. It was hard to call it a cabin when it was the size of their house, but he supposed that was what Rossi was accustomed to. "Where am I putting these?"

"Upstairs, sugar! First door on the left," Penelope called out and he nodded, even though he knew neither of the women could see him. Heading upstairs, he followed instructions and turned into the first door on the left. There were two beds there, and he could see that Penelope had claimed the one closest to the door, her belongings strewn all over it. Chuckling a little, he dropped Erin's bags onto her bed before heading back down to find the women in the kitchen.

In the short time it had taken him to reach them, Erin had somehow ended up with a mug of tea in her hands, and she was listening intently to whatever story Penelope was telling. An easy grin spread across his face as he walked up to Erin and slung his arm low around her hips. In a heartbeat, she melted against him, and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head before grabbing her mug of tea and taking a sip. "Derek!"

"Yes, Pretty Lady?"

"If you want something to drink, you can get your own," she said as she shook her head a little, letting her head come to rest on his chest as she grabbed her mug back and pressed it to her chest. "Penelope said that she made pudding for us, along with a large salad. Will that be enough to tide you over until you get home?"

"It will be fine," he replied as he pulled her closer to his side. "When were you planning on eating?"

"Well, you should head for home around eight, since you'll need a good night's sleep for work, so maybe in two hours or so?" Erin said, looking at Penelope. The other woman nodded in agreement, and he smiled. "Why?"

"That's just enough time to take you out on the lake in the boat."

Erin shook her head before setting the mug on the counter. "We can head out to the lake, but I'd rather not get in a boat right now. I don't think that my center of gravity is good enough to clamber in and out of what David has here."

He nodded, watching Erin pat Penelope's hand before turning and leading him outside. "I take it that you've been here before?"

"Yes, we had a weekend here shortly after Emily left for England. Even then, I didn't really want to get in the boat. I have a stupid fear of drowning, and I think that David thought he could get me to get over it in time. I don't know if I will, but I do love sitting on the dock and dragging my feet through the water."

This was another secret he hadn't known about his wife, and Derek tightened his grip on her hand as they reached the dock. She smiled up into his face as she hung onto him and toed off her flats before padding to the end of the dock. Derek was quick to follow, the wood warm against the soles of his feet. Unconsciously, he held his hand out to steady her as she took a seat, and then he plopped down next to her, his feet skimming the water to test out the temperature before he took the plunge and allowed them to sink beneath the surface.

Erin sighed happily before she was laying back to stare up at the sky. "What are you looking at?" he asked as he gazed down at her.

"The clouds. Join me?"

He nodded before falling backwards, pillowing his head with one arm as he stared into the sky. Derek's smile grew when she scooted closer to him, her head coming to rest on his chest as she continued to look upwards. "This is a very pleasant way to pass time," he whispered after a few minutes had passed, and she nodded.

"I haven't done this in ages. I'd forgotten the simple pleasures can be the best. Derek?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you ask Penelope to watch over me here for a week so that she would get me to talk about what happened in New York?"

He stiffened a little before nodding. "I don't have the tools necessary to truly help you, and we haven't been working to find you a good therapist. I want to do things on your time, but I also want you to start to heal. So, I thought that maybe Baby Girl would be able to start to draw some of the darkness out of you. I'm scared of your nightmares, Erin. But how did you figure me out?"

"I'm a profiler, too, Derek, but it doesn't take someone with our training to know that you've been concerned these last few weeks. My physical health, and our baby's physical health are great, but…"

"But your heart is aching, and I can't do anything but love on you."

Erin lifted her face and pressed her lips to his jaw. "That has been doing wonders on the invisible wounds, darling. But you're right, I do need to talk about this. She's trained to listen, right? I seem to remember that she runs a grief counseling group."

"That's right, Erin."

They both looked over to see that Penelope had joined them, a tray in her hands. Erin struggled to sit up, and then he was boosting her gently before sitting up himself. "What did you bring us, Baby Girl?"

"Lemonade and sugar cookies. And before you give me that look, Derek, this is lavender honey lemonade, so the sugar won't make it taste super sour," she said as she handed him the tray and then took a seat next to him, crossing her legs as she looked at them both. "And I hope that you're not angry with us, Erin. I agree with Derek, you do need to talk to someone, and it might be easier to start with me. That way we can get your thoughts a little more organized before you see a professional."

Erin picked up one of the cookies and nibbled at it before nodding. "That is another good point, since I don't really know where to begin. And these are delicious, Penny."

"Thanks," she replied as she picked up her own cookie, looking pointedly at Derek. He took the hint and grabbed his own cookie. Erin was right, it was delicious, and he gobbled it down before picking up another and then washing it down with some lemonade. "So, one thing that I think you both have to think about, since the little bambino is getting closer to being here, is what are you going to do about Rossi?"

Erin reached for a glass and sipped from it before answering. "What do you mean?"

Penelope glanced at him before barreling on ahead. "We all know that the baby is his, and even though you're married and Derek's name is going to be on the birth certificate, he could still press for a DNA test and then try to get some sort of custody. I know that he hasn't been too awful lately, but there's still time for him to be an asshole. Plus, you need to take into consideration the health history of the baby. He'll know yours, Erin, because you're his mother, but Derek's family medical history will have no bearing on him. I was thinking about that while you were missing and then recovering in NYC. I don't want you to lose time with your child, if things go south again."

Derek let out a long breath of air as he stared out at the lake. "I haven't thought about that. Derek, she's right, that is something we need to think about. But I think that we'll put a pin in this particular conversation, as there's not time to discuss it at length. And that will be a private discussion, Penelope. I may like you as a friend, but this is something that we'll need to do as a couple. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry! I just knew that it probably was something neither of you had thought about yet, and needed to have brought up. Where you go from here is up to you." Penelope gave them a sunny smile as she pulled off her heels and then stuck her feet in the water. "Holy fuck, that's cold! I don't blame you for not wanting to get into a boat and maybe getting your whole body wet!"

Erin laughed as she nodded. "The lake always stays a bit cooler than usual, but it makes for good fishing, or so I've been told. Oh, I am so glad that you did talk me into coming up here, since I can feel that this will be good for my heart, even if I know that we're going to be discussing heavy things." She leaned in and kissed Derek's cheek before snagging another cookie. "Though if I could be kept in these cookies, I think that I would be a happy little clam for ages."

"I'll show you how to make them later on in the week, then," Penelope answered. "Now, I want to hear more about your famous sister, Erin! I looked her up on YouTube, and she has done a lot of cool things! Why would you keep her hidden from us?"

Erin laughed as she shrugged. "Elisabeth was always just so out of my orbit, after she rose to fame. It hurt a little when she left on tours and rarely came home, and then I became so embroiled in the FBI. I, well, we left each other in the dust, and it became easier not to think about her in order to not feel that dull ache of missing her. I'm rather too good at compartmentalizing, until I can no longer do so. You've all seen the aftermath of that." Derek nodded and held up his arm, unsurprised when Erin curled in close to him as she continued to regale Penelope of stories of her and Elisabeth's childhood.