Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Sorry about the delay! Fluffy/happy really isn't my thing, as anyone who has already read my stories knows, so this as been a bit harder to get done. Thanks for your patience and please enjoy :)

Penelope sat in her office, awaiting the arrival of the team. They had been on a case in Tennessee for the past week, not leaving her any chance to really talk with Derek about his proposal he'd brought her.

But where she hadn't had any time to talk with him, she'd had plenty of time to think over what he asked of her.

Looking down at her nails, she noticed the spots where she had been picking at the manicure she'd just gotten. She couldn't think about anything other than Derek and what he had said to her, that he still loved her. Glancing over at her desk, her eyes caught sight of a photo of her and Derek, taken before they were ever together. They looked remarkably happy.

Tears filled her eyes. What was going on with her emotions? She wiped her eyes, frustrated. She didn't want this to happen to her, this inability to understand what she was feeling, but it was striking her without warning.

"Why me?" she muttered aloud to herself.

Penelope leaned back in her chair to stare at the ceiling. Derek had been perfectly willing to give her his sperm. He hadn't even flinched. She wanted a baby desperately, and here was a man right in front of her who was ready to hand her a small cup of semen. And this was right after insisting he was in love with her.

She turned in her chair, moving her thoughts from Derek to her conversation with JJ. It wasn't that much of a jump away from him, but it gave her something else to focus on. JJ spoke with an earnest belief that Penelope and Derek's relationship was something that could be salvaged. Did JJ really think that if she asked for his sperm that the relationship would rekindle, simply from that question?

This decision was more difficult than anything Penelope ever could have imagined. She knew Derek wouldn't back out on her, but did she have it in her to give a tumultuous, failed relationship another go?

Jumping to her feet, Penelope smoothed her skirt. She knew the team would be returning shortly, and she needed to get a breath of fresh air before figuring out her next steps. In truth, she had no idea what she was going to do. But she needed to figure something out. She wanted to know who the father of her baby was going to be, and she wanted to search inside herself for if she thought Derek Morgan was the right man for the job.

XXXXX

Penelope sat in Derek's desk chair an hour later, her legs crossed in front of her as she waited expectantly for the team to enter the building. She knew they were on their way back and would arrive soon. What JJ had told her rang through her head, leading her to come to a decision.

She was going to accept Derek's offer for a date.

JJ was right: Derek and her had a good relationship, one where they were able to maintain their friendship afterward. There were certainly some things they had to iron out before they could be what they once were when they were in full swing, but she was going to start now. His admission of love to her was enough to break down the barriers separating her from how she had always felt about him, even if she tried to deny it.

So here she sat, waiting.

Soon enough, she saw members of her team stream by Derek's office through the windows. They gave her probing looks as they saw her, but none of them stopped to ask what she was doing. JJ's look, though, told Penelope she knew what she was doing there.

As she sat waiting for Derek, her palms tingled with anxiety. She could do this. Within moments of thinking her positive thought, Derek appeared in the doorway. His eyebrows leapt upward when he saw her in his desk chair.

"Garcia?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

Penelope rose to her feet. "I decided what I was going to do," she said. He was silent. "About your proposal you gave me." She went to stand in front of him, grinning brightly at him. She couldn't wait to tell him what she was thinking.

Derek's eyes went wide. Before he said anything, he shut the door behind him and set his go-bag down on the chair beside the door. "Listen, Garcia," he said, rubbing his temples. "I really shouldn't have asked you what I did."

She frowned, confused. "But, I was – "

"It wasn't fair, even if I did say I would still be your donor if I said no," he interrupted, seemingly ashamed of himself. "I had no right to ask you that." He looked into her eyes and gave her a wry smile. "I hope me asking wasn't off-putting. I still want to be the dad, and I – "

Unable to stand it any longer, Penelope leaned forward and cut him off by grasping his face in her hands to pull him toward her. She kissed him with a fierce desire, loving the taste of him after being so long deprived of it. His lips tensed beneath hers at first, surprised at the kiss, but after that initial hesitation he responded eagerly. Apparently both of them had been starved of one another because he kissed her back just as fiercely as when she launched herself into his arms.

When they broke free of one another's lips, their foreheads rested against the other in a state of tranquility that Penelope never wanted to dissolve. She sighed, her fingers going up to touch the tip of his chin. Smiling slightly, she said, "You really should have let me talk first."

Derek chuckled. "Damn right I should've!"

Penelope looked up at him, cupping his whole cheek in her hand. "I'm glad you asked," she said. "Because if you hadn't asked, I never would've gotten the chance to tell you how I feel. How I really feel."

"How's that?" he asked, even though she knew he already knew the answer.

Smiling up at him, she debated whether or not to respond sarcastically. But looking into his eyes, she knew this wasn't the time. She was talking to the man who was going to be the father of her baby. The least she could do was be sincere. "I love you," she murmured, pecking his lips. "We've got some stuff to work out – we don't want a repeat of last time – but I love you."

Derek grinned down at her, holding her flush against him. "I'll do whatever it takes this time," he promised.

"Me, too," Penelope said. "We can't have a genetically perfect offspring and then leave them hanging."

"I wouldn't dream of it, Baby Girl," Derek said.