A/N: I know you guys don't care about the excuses, so I'll let you get to it. Just know that I truly am sorry to leave you hanging for so long, and it was out of my control. Enjoy the final chapter, and be sure to let me know what you think!

Derek understood that there were things about her past that she couldn't share with him. It wasn't out of a lack of trust, but because she had sworn an oath. He understood that particular duty more than most. Emily had told him what she could, but she'd also told him that it wasn't everything. She'd said that some aspects of missions she had worked while with the C.I.A. held a certain amount of sensitivity. She couldn't divulge all of it. Not even to him.

She had just finished telling him about an operation she had been involved in early on in her career. She'd been tasked with infiltrating a distributing branch of the cartel located just on the Mexican side of the border. She'd relapsed out of necessity, and he could rationalize that. He couldn't blame her for any of the things that she was so ashamed of. He knew that she'd ultimately been capable of making the decisions in her life but, with everything that she had just shared with him, he was in awe that she had turned out to be the woman sitting in front of him.

He sat motionlessly, blankly staring at her, at a complete loss for words. She'd just told him everything: everything in her life that she believed to be a wrong, every reason she hated herself and every mistake that she'd ever made. The flaws that he was now privy to only made him more adamant. "Listen, Emily. I know that was hard for you. You're a private person, and I understand why now."

She looked away, and he could see that she was overcome with shame.

"No." He wanted to stop that train of thought before it could pick up any traction. "You don't share things about yourself, your past because you're afraid that people will judge you. You're judging yourself, baby."

She seemed genuinely perplexed now.

He continued. "The things that you're so embarrassed of, they crafted you into the amazing person that you are." Derek took a moment to move closer to her. "No one could fault you for the things that you've been through."

"Please," the disagreement in her tone was palpable. "No one made me use, Derek." She choked back a sob. "No one made me give up my child."

"You were a child yourself." He instantly challenged. "Abortion is a choice that's yours to make. You justified it back then, so what's changed?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "Maybe it's just my biological clock?"

"Well." He couldn't stop the smile that completely took over his face. "We've got plenty of time to work that out."

The flirtatious wink sent her over the edge. A ringing cell phone interrupted the lighthearted moment of laughter. "Hello," Derek answered. He groaned when J.J. began to speak. "I'm so sorry, I completely forgot. Text me the address, and I'll be there as A.S.A.P. Tell Henry that ice-cream is on me." He said his goodbyes, but then thought better of it. "Hey, J.J.? Can I bring a date?" He looked Emily over from head to toe. "Oh, I'm pretty sure you'll like her."

Emily hated only being able to hear part of a conversation. At the moment though, she was more concerned with what Derek had just said to her coworker. "Um?"

It wasn't exactly a sophisticated question, but it got the point across. "She knows," he said, not needing to add a name. Emily knew that her horrified expression served as a pretty good indicator that he did need to supply an explanation. "She asked me about us at the bar last night."

"How does she know?" Emily was sure that she hadn't been the one to give it away. She was more than confident in her ability to keep a secret.

"I don't know," Derek laughed out. She cocked her head to the side, and he laughed harder. "I didn't say a thing, I swear. Besides, it's not like we were dating at the time."

That made her realize what had really grabbed her attention during his phone conversation. He had asked if he could bring a date. It had been quite awhile since she had been in an honest to God relationship. Then she realized what else he had said. This man was offering her everything that she had secretly longed for over the years. He was practically begging her to be in a committed relationship with him, and he had even suggested having children.

"Right, but we are now…" She couldn't decide for herself if that was a statement or a question.

"Well, that's what I was hoping." He spoke softly, and it was strange for a man that usually had all the confidence in the world.

"Well, it's definitely what you're going to get." She leaned toward him to seal the decision with a kiss, but was shocked when he stopped her with a hand to her lips.

"We gotta get going," he said. Without a second of hesitation, he got up and walked toward the door.

Emily was left to contemplate just exactly where they were going to.

He popped back in. "Come on, Henry's game has already started."

They stepped out of the car, and into the warm afternoon sun. It was a small ballpark, and they found their friends with ease. The whole team had made it out to see Henry's first game. As Emily and Derek approached she took the time to appreciate their little family. They were all perched on the metal bleachers that were positioned behind the fence at home plate. Hotch sat at the top with his son, probably discussing the sport in what Emily was sure to be great detail. Dave sat on the other side of Jack, but was completely immersed in the game. Penelope sat on the bench the next level down with what appeared to be handcrafted cheerleading equipment. Spencer was to her left, pointing to something and speaking excitedly. There was no doubt in Emily's mind that Garcia had asked him a question that involved statistics, and he was enthusiastically answering. On the next level was Jason, sitting by himself. J.J. and Will were on the bottom level, and very happily chatting to some of the other parents to their right.

Emily's attention was drawn to Derek as he pointed out the reason for the gathering. Henry was waving energetically with his glove from third base, and she waved back. It was then that the team turned around to see whom the little boy was waving to. Derek took her hand and she didn't object. They trotted the rest of the way to the bleachers and greeted their friends.

They stood awkwardly for a second, as the only free space was on either side of J.J.'s brother. The man broke into a chuckle as he scooted to the side. "I was saving seats for the two of you."

"Awe, thanks," Emily said as she went to step up onto the aluminum bench.

"Yeah, thanks," Derek said when he pulled her back. Emily rolled her eyes. He sat next to Jason instead, and offered the man his hand. As they shook, he spoke with more seriousness. "Really man, thank you."

Jason laughed off the sincere gratitude. "Well, I wouldn't be too thankful. I was kind of hoping that you wouldn't man up, and that I'd get a shot." Derek gave the man a mock glare before laughing as well.

"I wouldn't push it there, buddy." J.J. warned her brother without ever looking away from the field.

"J.J.'s got a point," Emily added.

"J.J., huh?" he replied, lightly pushing his sister in the back. "I'm the original J.J., you know? She always has had to have everything I have."

"Wait a second." Garcia had peeled her attention away from the field when Henry's team went in to bat. "Why are you two holding hands?"

"Because they've been seeing each other for years," Dave answered from behind her without missing a beat.

Garcia turned bulging eyes back to the couple in question. She looked around at the others, seemingly shocked by the lack of response. The only other person that seemed to be even moderately surprised was Reid, but it only lasted for a split second. "Baby girl?" Derek's deep voice brought her gaze back to him. "I thought you were the all-knowing oracle or something?"

"Yeah," Emily joined in on the teasing. "You must be slipping, Pen."

"No." It was funny to see Penelope so caught off-guard. "Years?" she questioned in a high-pitched tone.

Derek and Emily looked at each other and giggled conspiratorially. As J.J., Will and Jason began to cheer, the team's focus was readjusted to Henry. He walked out onto the diamond with a bat in his hands.

The ice-cream parlor was a small place that she knew well. It was Derek's favorite spot in town, and Emily had been many times. She was glad that Garcia had settled down some, and immensely grateful that there were two small children present. Penelope had insisted on riding with Derek and Emily to the ice-cream shop, and Emily was hard-pressed to remember a time she had blushed more. Garcia was quite the interrogator when she wanted to be.

"Alright," it was killing her, "how did you guys know?" She got the look that said 'don't insult me, I'm a trained professional' from each of them, but she wasn't buying it. "Come on," she tried. "I didn't tell anyone, and I know that I didn't give off any vibes. Derek claims that he's not responsible, so how did you all know?"

"Actually," J.J. spoke around her cone, "it was your fault, Emily."

"What?" What could she have possibly done to give herself away? "How?"

J.J. smiled almost smugly. "I called Derek to let him know that we had a case one morning."

"And?" Emily prodded, still not knowing where she had messed up.

"And," J.J. returned in a taunting manner. "You answered the phone. I asked you to let Derek know, and you said that you'd call him."

"So you knew that they were either together and she was lying about it, or they had switched phones by mistake?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah," J.J. conceded, "but I had a hunch that it was the first option. There was only one reason for you to lie about being together so early in the morning, and I just figured that you guys would tell us when you were ready." She snickered, shaking her head. "I didn't think it would take years. Guess I got a little impatient."

"Huh," Emily remembered that morning well.

She had answered the phone in a fluster. It had only been the second time that she and Derek had spent the night together, and she had been terrified that the phone would wake him. If he had woken up before she had been able to slip out, she would have actually had to talk to him about the previous night. After she'd hung up with J.J., she'd gone downstairs and started his coffee machine. She had left a short note highlighting the information that had just been relayed to her.

Derek nudged her with his shoulder, bringing her back to the present. "Told you it wasn't me."

"Oh shut up," she said, pushing him back.