A/N: Wow, what a bittersweet moment in time for me! I can't believe I am posting the last chapter of my very first FanFiction story. This has been a bit of an emotional ride for me. It all started a year ago when I began to write this emotional story. Most of you don't know, but some of this story was based on true events in my life a long time ago. I found this journey to be very cathartic and somewhat healing.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this labor of love directly from my heart, as much as I enjoyed writing it. You have all been so supportive with all your great reviews, favoriting and following me and my stories. You will never know how much that all means to me.

I also need to send out two special shout outs and thank you's. First to my friend Polhop, without her prompting and prodding my writing would have never happened. Secondly, to my friend and wonderful beta ddgorgeous without her I never would have finished this beautiful story. I love you and you both inspire me.

Lastly, look for my new three-shot story which I will be posting in the next few days. Its name is "Carnival of Surprises" I hope you all enjoy it. Don't forget to vote in the Profiler Choice Awards if you haven't already done so. God bless all of you and I love you all!

Epilogue-Christmas Day, 2009

What a difference a year makes! So much had changed the past year for our growing BAU family. Over the last year there had been really bad downs, but thankfully there were many more ups especially for Mr. & Mrs. Derek Morgan.

Penelope was sitting in front of the large fireplace at Casa Rossi. Everyone had gathered for Christmas to celebrate with the whole family. She reminisced while she listened to the roar of the fire and the laughter of her family. She rocked back and forth as she held her sleeping son in her loving and safe arms.

Penelope's smile dropped as she remembered how she spent last Christmas. She spent it alone on the bathroom floor of her old apartment in tears. Last year she felt all alone, Kevin Lynch had taken her away from her family of superheroes. He had taken away her dignity, her trust, her sense of security, her freedom, her best friend, but most importantly he had almost taken her life. She had endured months of physical, emotional, psychological, verbal and sexual abuse.

Kevin Lynch had almost destroyed her completely. She was ready to give up on everything and everyone including herself. She just wanted to die and she almost did. When she had woken up from her coma things were completely different. First off, she had survived and was a survivor, Lynch lost and she had won. The second biggest difference was she had the most amazing, special and loving man right by her side. She had her rock, her safe haven, the love of her life, her best friend and now her perfect husband for the rest of her life. She couldn't be any happier now even if she tried. She now had anything she could ever need in her husband and her newest love, her son Hank.

Meanwhile, Derek had been looking for his wife and son. He finally spotted them in the living room. He walked over, sat down next to her, brushed his lips over hers and then stroked Hank on the cheek. Penelope looked over to her handsome husband and sighed.

"Here you are my gorgeous Goddess! I have been looking all over for you. We were all wondering where you went off to. Are you alright?"

He studied her face with total concern etched on his. Penelope shrugged her shoulders and weakly smiled as she gazed down at Hank.

"Yeah my love, I'm alright."

"You don't sound alright, baby! What's on that beautiful mind of yours?" He tenderly placed his arm around her shoulders and began rocking her slowly.

Penelope smirked and laid her head on his shoulder. "I can't fool you. You know me all too well, don't you my Noir Hero?"

He looked down at his lady love as he gently placed his finger under her chin and guided her head up so they could look at each other in the eyes.

"You know it Ms. Thang! Now spill it!" He grinned and softly kissed her forehead.

Penelope snuggled closer to her rock, the one that never ceased to amaze her. "I was just sitting here thinking about how much my life has changed in the past year."

Derek decided to remain silent so she could continue on.

"This time last year I was alone and I almost died. Kevin had done so much damage and I had honestly given up any hope of surviving all of those horrible things. As bad as all that was, there was something else that was just as bad in my eyes it just about had killed me!"

"What was that, Sweetness?"

"That I almost lost my family and you my dear, dear husband and best friend. He had closed me off from all of you! I always knew I loved you all, but I never realized the true extent of how much you all meant to me. It had been forever since I truly had people that I could count on and that loved me so much! After my parents were killed I had no one. My brothers disowned me and I fell in with the wrong people who just used and abused me. Then I had a huge stroke of luck and my miracle. I got arrested! Hotch hired me and I found the best family anyone could ask for. You are all my family now and forever!"

Penelope smiled at him then tilted her head down and stared at the extraordinary precious gift in her arms. Derek wiped a few tears from his face that had escaped while she was talking and leaned in for a very passionate kiss.

"Baby Girl, we never ever left you and we never will! You will always and I mean

always have us no matter what! We couldn't survive without our heart and soul."

"Awww sug, you're just saying that because it's true." They both chuckled as Penelope began to perk up.

"I have to tell you after I woke up from my coma, I didn't think I would ever feel better. My trust and dignity had been stripped away from me. I didn't think I would ever feel normal or safe again! Then I looked into your trusting eyes, your loving heart and your beautiful soul and knew deep down that I would feel better someday. I so desperately wanted to be saved by my Noir Hero and you saved me! You helped bring me back from the brink of the cliff I wanted to jump off of. You never gave up on me or us! I will never forget that with you in my corner, I would not and could not lose. You were so patient, kind, loving and understanding! You didn't rush me and I will always love you for that! You made me whole again, my perfect Prince."

"I would do anything for you, Princess! You and my little dude here are my world!"

"Once I got stronger and stopped blaming myself, my whole life changed. You were there every step of the way for me. I am truly blessed and lucky! I have always been in love with you as far back as I remember, my love! I now have the perfect life! I have the most amazing husband, our precious son, a great mom and dad and the best brothers, sisters and nephews anyone could ask for. I am truly grateful for each and every one of you! This year started out rocky, but ended with many blessings! We will have the best life we could ever ask or wish for. We have each other, NO MATTER WHAT!"

Penelope's heart began to race as the sole owner of her heart leaned in and softly began to kiss her. Their kiss got extremely heated and passionate, but was abruptly cut short when Hank started to fuss a bit. They pulled apart and both beamed lovingly down at their little miracle. Penelope rocked him gently and he calmed right down and fell back to sleep. Derek leaned down and tenderly placed a kiss on his little boy's forehead and smiled.

"Damn straight, woman! You are all mine now and forever! You are stuck with me for the rest of our lives. We have this little man now and hopefully a whole houseful of rugrats to come. We are definitely lucky, we have each other, a gorgeous son, great jobs and the best family anyone could ask for. Speaking of family, we should go and be with them."

"You are so right my handsome, handsome husband!"

He winked and grinned. "That's my girl!"

Derek stood up, leaned down and ever so carefully lifted the sleeping Hank into his strong and loving arms. He then held his hand down for his gorgeous wife to help her up.

The happy couple gazed into each other's eyes and smiled the biggest possible smiles.

Penelope sighed happily. "I love you with all my heart and soul now and forever, my sexy Hot Stuff!"

Derek looked from his son to the love of his life. "I love you too, Baby Girl! You are and will always be the Angel of my Heart!"

They walked out of the living room arm in arm with their son and headed back to finish celebrating Christmas with their crazy and well-loved family.

The End

"The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering." - Ben Okri