AN: Today is a BIG BIG day for me. I take a huge step in furthering my career… more specifically, my dream career. Any good thoughts you can put out there for me will really be appreciated. I will definitely need them.

Because I have been busy I have not replied to reviews. I will soon, but know I appreciate and love them so much!

Present Day

It had been a long, long week for Derek. The cases were piling up, and no matter how hard he tried to get through them, more always appeared. Thankfully, Hotch had authorized for the team to have the weekend off. Otherwise he thought he was going to lose it.

He sat in a small table, meant for two, in a little mom & pop coffee shop he used to frequent when…

Shaking his head, he felt the pain in his heart. Three years and he still hadn't been able to move on. Three long, grueling years without her.

He hadn't even seen her since that night she left his house. The following Monday morning, Hotch had informed the team, Penelope had resigned effective immediately. And that was the last he had ever seen of her. Sure, over the years, she would come up in conversation. She never lost touch with the rest of the team.

Only him.

If it wasn't for Rossi, he wouldn't have even known she had taken a job in the Private Sector, which had relocated her outside of town. Apparently, they had been head hunting her for years, but she had always turned them down. No matter how much money that had offered her.

He never knew.

He looked down at his coffee. He smiled as he remembered sitting at this exact table, laughing and joking with Penelope. He couldn't help but wonder what she was doing at this exact moment.

When he closed his eyes, he could swear he still could hear her laugh.

Wait a second…

That was her laugh! He looked to the counter and spotted her right away. Even though it was only her back, he could tell it was her from anywhere. Before he knew what he was doing, his feet were dragging him towards her. He was nervous and excited at the same time. This was his baby girl. The love of his life.

"Penelope?" he asked hopeful.

She turned to face him and the sight of her knocked the wind out of him. Standing before him, was a very, very pregnant Penelope Garcia. No!

"Derek?" she said before jumping into his arms. "Derek! It's so good to see you!"

"Penelope," he whispered, as he felt her pregnant belly against his stomach. She pulled away and his eyes went instantly to her hand. No ring.

"How have you been?" she asked.

"I've been good," he lied. Now he felt more foolish than ever. He hadn't even looked at another woman since she walked out of his life. Clearly, she had tossed what they had away and been with other men. He choked back his hurt. "Where is your husband?" he asked.

"Don't have one," she said as she placed her hand on her belly.

He watched as her hand moved up and down comforting her child, or her. He wasn't quite sure. He looked around to see if anyone was waiting around. "Okay," he said. "Where is the father?"

She shrugged. "How should I know?" She smiled as she took a small bite of the cookie she had just bought and placed it in her mouth.

How could she act so calm about this? She had no idea where the father of her baby was? The anger started to coarse through him. Did someone knock her up and then leave? Why was she so okay with that? "The father left you?"

Penelope's eyes widened. "He doesn't even know…Well, I am sure he does know somehow," she explained. "He knew what he was signing up for."

"Excuse me?" he asked, confusion and hurt running through him. Penelope would never trap a man. She wasn't like that, no matter how many years distanced them. He knew she would never do that.

She laughed as she hugged her stomach. "Relax, Derek, it was a donor. I was tired of waiting around for my dream to come true. So, I did it on my own."

He didn't know what to say, he was so taken aback.

"It was good to see you again, handsome. You haven't changed much." She looked at her watch. "I've got to run."

No!

As he watched her walk out of the coffee shop, pictures of him playing in their back yard with their children ran through his head. Pushing them on the swing set, playing catch, having water balloon fights.

He wasn't over her.

Not by a long shot.

He ran after her. As she opened the door to her car he grabbed onto her hand, stopping her. "Baby girl," he said.

She looked into his eyes and he saw her tear stricken face. "Penelope," he whispered, his heart breaking for all the pain he had ever caused her.

"No," she said as she moved out of his grasp. "No!"

"Don't leave," he pleaded.

She turned away as she wiped her cheeks. "I never thought I would see you again," she said. "I never wanted to see you again."

"But you have," he said.

She looked at him, her broken heart, clear in her eyes. "I need to-"

"Don't leave," he said again.

She stared at him for a few seconds before saying, "That's what you should have said that night. You should have said, don't leave, but you didn't. You didn't even give me the chance to mention we could have adopted. Raised a child that was already brought into this world as our own. You dismissed all my dreams and me in two words."

"I'm sorry," he pleaded. "I have never been more wrong in my life than when I let you walk out that door." He moved closer to her, placing his hand on her belly.

She shivered at his touch. "I tried to adopt," she admitted. "But they wouldn't let me adopt someone into a single mother home. It would have been too unstable for the child. So, I saved up all of my money, and was able to be inseminated."

"We can adopt," he said, shocking himself along with her. "We can adopt together, and have some of our own, once this little guy is born."

"What?" she asked.

He moved closer to her, pulling her into his embrace. "I was an idiot. A selfish idiot. I loved you and I let you walk away without even trying to compromise. You are the love of my life, Penelope Garcia. And when you walked out that door, you took my world with you. I never wanted children, but seeing you in front of me, a baby in your belly, all I want is to drop to my knees and thank god for giving us this miracle. I want it all. I want the 2am wakeup calls, I want the t-ball practice, the helping with math homework. I want it all, and I want it all with you. I want to be a family."

She stared at him, her eyes wide, as her mouth opened and closed. "I'm in love with you," he said. "I never stopped loving you. Not once have I even looked at another woman since you walked out of my life."

"Derek, the things you said…" she whispered.

"I will spend the rest of my life making up for them," he replied getting onto his knees in front of her stomach. "I never wanted children until you," he whispered into her belly. "I promise you, I will protect you and your mother, and anyone else that comes along until the day I die."

"Derek," Penelope spoke softly, tears running down her face.

He looked up at her. How could he ever let her walk away from him? He couldn't imagine his life without her or their children. This was it for him. "I thought about you every day. I never got over you. Not for one second."

She nodded, and he knew. He knew she had felt the same way.

"Marry me?" he asked, still on his knees. "Marry me and we can finally make both of our dreams come true."

"But," she said placing her hand on her belly. "This is my dream. Not yours."

"You are my dream," he replied. "You've always been my dream, and now… and now this is too." He rested his head on top of her hand. "Marry me," he said again.

When he didn't hear her reply he looked to her face. The tears were spilling over her eyes, but she was nodding. "Yes! Yes, hot stuff. This is exactly my dream."

AN: Aww. Well another story has come to an end. Thank you for your support. I'm taking some big steps today and Tuesday, and I am crossing my fingers it goes exactly as I need it to. Maybe I'll get another update out this weekend.

How did you like this little gem I found?