The big day
Title: The big day
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairing: Morgan/Garcia
Prompt for 30_sweets: #22 Dentist
Rating: K
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: Part 25/? of the “No more sweets”-series. I really didn’t know what to do with this prompt - and then it suddenly hit me. Hope you’ll like it.
Warnings: none
AN: I’m sorry it took me forever again to post this. This time, it wasn’t entirely the lack of time that kept me from doing so. I just couldn’t come up with a title. I’m still not entirely happy, but I decided to post it anyway. ;)
Hope you enjoy reading it!
When they arrived at the church, Penelope squeezed Derek’s hand for the thousandth time. “Relax,” she whispered. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
“I know,” Derek replied. “But it’s the first time one of my sisters is getting married.”
“Not to mention that it’s the first time you’re going to hand one of them over,” Penelope added with a soft giggle. Somehow, it was cute to see Derek Morgan - well-trained martial arts expert and bad-ass profiler - so nervous.
He smiled at her. “Yeah, that too.”
“What’s the worst that can happen?” Penelope asked. “Since she’s wearing a rather short dress, she’s certainly not going to stumble. And her fiancée is certainly not going to say no. And as far as I can judge, Sarah’s not going to say no, either.”
“What if I stumble?” he mumbled.
Penelope giggled once more. “Yeah, and what if it’s the end of the world today? Nothing’s going to go wrong, trust me.”
He took a deep breath and then followed Penelope into the church.
Of course, she was right. Nothing went wrong. Derek walked his sister down the aisle, handed her over, and then took his seat next to Penelope - and her hand in his.
She tried her best not to cry. This was a happy occasion, after all. But when the priest made Sarah and her fiancée repeat the wedding vows, she couldn’t stop the tear from escaping the corner of her eye. They looked so happy.
Derek squeezed Penelope’s hand when Sarah said “I do,” making her turn her head toward him. When he didn’t look at her, she realized that he’d done it subconsciously, and she couldn’t help but wonder what that was supposed to mean.
Maybe it didn’t mean anything. Maybe she’d just imagined it.
Everyone stood up and applauded when Sarah and her husband Pete sealed their marriage with a kiss.
They watched Sarah and Pete get into the white carriage that was going to bring them to the restaurant they had chosen for the celebration. Even the horses were white.
“She’s a beautiful bride, isn’t she?” Des said, grinning at her brother.
He couldn’t resist. “You would be, too,” he replied with a chuckle, dodging the slap Des gave him.
“Come on. We have to hurry so that we’re at the restaurant before the carriage arrives,” Des told them, already dragging her brother toward the car.
This gave Penelope the opportunity to take care of Reid. She grinned when she linked arms with him. “So, tell me, is my sweet boy enjoying his date?”
He cleared his throat. “I would feel better if Derek didn’t give me a death glare every ten seconds.”
She giggled. “Don’t worry. Just ignore him. I won’t let him hurt you, I promise.”
“You know, my biggest problem is if Des wants to dance with me at the party.”
“Sweetie, it’s a wedding party,” Penelope told him, giggling once more. “Of course you’re supposed to dance there.”
“I can’t dance,” he mumbled.
“What? You haven’t read a book about it?” Penelope asked, nudging his side.
“There are books about that?”
“I’m pretty sure there are,” she said, dragging him toward the car. “Or you could ask Derek if he would give you some lessons. You know, he’s quite a dancer.”
“Yeah, unlike me, he’s quite an everything,” Reid replied with a grumble.
“Aw, don’t belittle yourself, genius,” Penelope scolded. “Des wouldn’t have wanted you to ask her out if she didn’t like you.”
He smirked at that, even though he wasn’t sure that, by the end of the evening, Des wouldn’t have changed her opinion about him.
They managed to arrive at the restaurant before the carriage so that they could prepare what Des called a “proper greeting” for the newlyweds. They all lined the way to the restaurant and blew bubbles while Sarah and Pete walked inside. But they weren’t allowed to enter when they got there. First, they had to manage a little obstacle course Des had prepared for them - for example, cutting up a log.
After that, Pete had to get Sarah’s garter and throw it for the groomsmen.
Everyone seemed to have a whole lot of fun, and Derek had to admit that Des had surpassed herself. She’d thought about everything, and Derek couldn’t help but wonder what she’d planned for dinner.
At last, Sarah had to throw her bridal bouquet - and much to Derek’s surprise and glee, it was Penelope who caught it.
She blushed a deep shade of red, but tried to smile nonetheless, when she looked at the bouquet of white roses in her hands.
“Nice catch,” Derek murmured when he stepped next to her.
“You know, when I was little, I always dreamed of a white carriage for my wedding,” Penelope whispered. “And a white dress, of course.”
“And now you don’t dream of that anymore?” Derek asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
Penelope blushed slightly. “Well, when I became older, I realized that I certainly never would get into this situation.”
He frowned at her, but decided not to question her any more about that. So all he said was, “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”
She didn’t get a chance to say anything in return, because Derek grabbed her hand and led her inside, where Sarah and Pete were being instructed by Des about how to properly cut the wedding cake.
They were seated at the family table, right next to the bridal couple and opposite of Reid and Des. While Penelope thought it was cute how Des tried to flirt with a very uncomfortable Reid and how Sarah and Pete were kissing almost all the time, Derek didn’t seem to see the scenes the same way.
“Come on,” Penelope whispered, nudging Derek gently. “Grant them some happiness.”
He just grumbled.
“Just like we have it,” Penelope added.
This, however, made him turn his head to smile at her. She was right about that and he knew it. “They’re my sisters.” Derek told her. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Forget about the fact that your sisters have a boyfriend or husband and dance with me,” she commanded, dragging him toward the dance floor.
“Hey, Reid is not Des’ boyfriend,” Derek protested.
“Maybe not yet,” Penelope replied with a smirk. “But I’m pretty sure your sister is working on it.” Again, he just grumbled.
“Oh, come on,” she scolded, slapping his chest. “Try to be happy for your sisters. One of them married a doctor, after all.”
“He’s a dentist,” Derek said with a snort.
“So what? He even got a Ph.D.,” Penelope answered with a shrug. “And Reid even has two Ph.Ds. Isn’t that what every girl wants, to marry a doctor?”
“Yeah, great. No one wants to marry the profiler,” he said, pouting.
Penelope giggled, tilting her head to grin at him. “I’m not every girl.”
Leaning down, he whispered into her ear, “So you don’t want to marry a doctor?”
“Maybe I did dream of a doctor at some point,” she admitted. “But that was a long time ago.”
“How long ago?” he pressed, while gently swaying her across the dance floor and making her shiver the closer he pulled her.
Penelope sighed happily. “Until I realized I could have a super-hot profiler instead.”
“So, now you’re dreaming about marrying a profiler?”
Her head shot up, and she stared at him almost in shock. “No…I…I mean…I…I didn’t mean…” She looked down again, blushing slightly. “Maybe.”
He leaned down, whispering so quietly that only she could hear, “Would you marry this profiler?”
Penelope drew in a shaky breath. This couldn’t be true. This wasn’t happening. He couldn’t be serious…could he? No, this was certainly just his usual banter. They’d talked about marrying and having children long before one of them ever thought they would be more than just friends. He wasn’t serious. He couldn’t be.
Gently placing a finger under her chin, Derek made her look at him.
Or could he?
“Penelope Garcia,” he whispered, reaching into his pocket and handing her a small velvet box. “Will you marry me?”