Don't leave me this way - part 20
Title: Don’t leave me this way - part 20
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairing: Morgan/Garcia
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.
Summary: Penelope and Derek are making plans. ;)
warnings: none
When Penelope woke up, she couldn’t help but smile. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so great. “Good morning, sweetness,” she heard the familiar deep voice mumble beside her.
“I’ll show you a good morning, Hot Stuff,” she replied, happily snuggling closer into his embrace.
“God, I missed you so much,” he mumbled into her hair as he pulled her as close as humanly possible.
“I still can’t believe this is real,” Penelope whispered against his chest. “I mean…you and me…getting married and having a baby.”
“I know what you mean,” Derek assured her, gently kissing her forehead. “Especially after almost losing all this, after almost losing you.”
“What I still don’t get is why Kevin infected me in the first place,” she mumbled, a shiver running down her spine.
“I don’t know if he really did it on purpose,” Derek admitted. “We never found out if he knew how ill he really was. After he slipped into the coma, we couldn’t ask him anymore. And since he wasn’t as lucky as you were…”
“That’s another thing I don’t get,” she whispered. “Why did I survive and he didn’t?”
“You were lucky,” Derek guessed. “Besides, he had lost a lot of blood due to the gunshot wound. I guess his body just couldn’t handle both.”
She just nodded.
“None of this was your fault,” Derek softly said, sensing what was going on in her mind. “On the contrary, you tried to save his life. Had you not tried, you wouldn’t have gotten sick as well.”
“I know,” Penelope assured him. “I just…tried to recall what led to…this.”
“He was pretty twisted. That’s what led to it,” Derek told her with a grumble.
“At any rate, I’m glad everything turned out as it did,” she mumbled.
Derek pushed her away a little to frown at her.
“Well, I mean, think about it,” she said with a shrug. “He tried everything to tear us apart. He even kidnapped me, and I almost died because of the CCHF he infected me with. I lost my memory due to the coma, yet…here we are. I guess there’s no better proof that we’re really meant to be.”
Smiling, Derek pulled her closer again. “I haven’t looked at it from that perspective.”
“Like I once told you, I have to believe that everything happens for a reason,” she replied in a whisper.
“What was the reason for that to spoil our wedding?” he asked quietly.
Penelope shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe so we cherish our marriage more and don’t take the fact that we have each other for granted.”
He mumbled something not understandable.
“Or maybe it was God’s chance for you to question your decision,” she added almost inaudible.
Once more, Derek pushed her away to look at her. “Hey, I never questioned anything,” he told her in all seriousness.
“Yeah, I know,” she assured him. “I know that now. I mean, you could have told me pretty much anything about the baby’s father, hoping I would never remember the truth. But you stood by me.”
“Always, Baby Girl,” he promised, leaning down to softly peck her lips.
Smiling contentedly, Penelope snuggled up close against him again.
Derek cleared his throat before saying, “You know, now that we decided to…get re-engage, we should maybe think about a possible date, too, because that will certainly be the first thing the others are going to grill us about.”
“Well, to be honest, I kind of like the idea of getting married while I still fit into the dress,” she mumbled.
Derek couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, I also thought we would stick to the book and get married before we started thinking about children.”
This time, Penelope didn’t answer.
“That doesn’t mean I’m not happy about us having a baby,” he told her. “But I don’t like the thought of our baby being born out of wedlock. So if you want to get married as soon as possible, I’m totally with you on this one.”
“Tomorrow would be kind of unrealistic, right?”
He chuckled again. “I don’t know. We can try. I mean, my family is still here, the team is still here, and…actually, everything was booked and just delayed until further notice. It could work.”
“Okay, then. I really think we should try tomorrow,” she mumbled.
Grinning, Derek reached to the bedside table for his cell phone. Only a few calls later, they had a new appointment at ten the next morning.
Penelope couldn’t stop herself from beaming with joy. There only was one snag about it. They had to inform Derek’s family and their friends, order the catering, and prepare the house for the party if they couldn’t find another location. That meant they weren’t allowed to stay in bed for the rest of the day.
Sighing, Penelope got up from her very comfortable position and headed for the bathroom. Thinking about it, she turned back to him, smiling mischievously, and held her hand out to him.
He didn’t need to be asked twice. Grinning, he took her hand and followed her inside the bathroom.
When they finally finished their mutual shower, they found breakfast waiting for them in the kitchen.
Fran greeted them both happily. “Penelope, it’s good to have you back again.”
“And it’s good to be back again,” she replied, sitting down at the table.
Derek didn’t even wonder how his mother knew Penelope was back. But he wasn’t surprised that she had set the table for three.
“You know, Derek was right,” Penelope said through a mouthful of her breakfast. “Your pancakes are the best in the world.”
“Thank you,” Fran replied with a chuckle. “I’m glad you still think so.”
“I’ve said that before,” Penelope concluded. “Sorry, I guess this might happen every once in a while until my memory fully returns.”
“There’s one thing you haven’t said before, though,” Derek stated. This just seemed like a good moment to tell his mother about their plans.
Fran looked at him, raising her eyebrow expectantly.
“We decided to get re-engage,” he told her with a proud grin. “And we…set the date for tomorrow at ten.”
“Really?” Fran exclaimed. “Well, then, we mustn’t waste any more time. I’ll call your sisters and you call your friends. We can have the party here, and I’m taking care of the catering.”
“You’re not really surprised, are you?” Derek asked.
Fran shrugged, smiling at her son. “I just had a feeling.”
“Have you ever considered working for our team?” Derek asked her, raising an eyebrow. “It’s spooky how you always know exactly what’s going on in my life.”
“Thanks, but I’m fully stretched trying to keep a hold of my children’s life,” she replied with a smile. “Now call your friends to make sure they can be here tomorrow.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Derek said, grinning at his mother as he fished out his cell phone.
Only half an hour later, everything was set, including Penelope’s bridal shower and Derek’s bachelor party. He couldn’t help but wonder if they’d all known that once Penelope remembered, they would get married as soon as possible.
This almost was too easy, as if the worst was yet to come.
“I guess they just know us too well,” Penelope said when she noticed that Derek still seemed to be asking himself how everyone seemed to be prepared for their spontaneous wedding.
“I just can’t believe that this…actually works,” Derek said with a frown.
“Well, think about it,” she replied, sitting down next to him on the couch. “Our team stayed in town as long as I wasn’t fully recovered. So did your family. It’s no wonder they’re all available. The pastor was just being kind by giving us an appointment first thing in the morning - and it’s not too hard to organize a last-minute catering.”
Derek smiled at her. “Yeah, you’re right. But still it feels like…this is running too smoothly, you know?”
“I think we both learned our lesson, and that’s why this time, nothing can go wrong,” Penelope added with a grin.
Derek’s face became serious as he took Penelope’s hand in his. “I hope you’re right about that,” he whispered.
“Hey, relax,” she told him in a soft voice. “I promise I won’t drink anything, I’ll stay away from trouble, and if I see anyone bleeding, I’ll call an ambulance and let them bleed.”
“As if you could do that,” he mumbled, but he smiled nonetheless. What were the odds that something like the situation they’d been through happened again?
“There’s one problem, though,” Penelope suddenly said. “You’ve already seen me in my dress, so I guess I’m gonna need a new one.”
“Trust me… When I found you, your dress was the last thing I worried about,” Derek mumbled.
Putting both her hands on each side of his face, Penelope made him look at her again. “Relax,” she whispered, leaning down to kiss him softly. “I’m back, and I’m not planning on going anywhere - at least not without you.”
Taking a deep breath, he pulled her into his arms. “I know,” he assured her. “But I can’t help worrying about you. I just came too close to losing you forever.”
“You’re not gonna get rid of me that easy,” she repeated the words he’d told her so often after he’d escaped death by a hair.
Derek sighed. For the first time, he could understand - really understand - what she was going through each time things got dangerous for him. He made a mental note to be more careful in the future. He had so much worth living for, after all.