Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
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A/N: This is just the beginning of a new series. I'm coding it as 'Mature' since I'm not sure where all this will go. Each individual chapter will not be mature but since I'm just at the start, I don't know how much or how far I'm going to go with each chapter so I'll adjust the rating as necessary upon the end of the story. Hope you enjoy! KK
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Everyone was at the house. For once, the whole BAU team, their significant others, and their children were able to eat and relax without a case lurking in the background or the oppressing knowledge that they were on call for that weekend. These times were rare and everyone seemed to want to make the most of it.
The adults were spread between the kitchen, the living room and the yard. After an argument arose over bragging rights to the latest Rockband tournament that had been held among the oldest kids, all the children had been regulated to the yard till it was time to eat.
John snuck back inside, planning on sneaking up to his room. He paused on the edge of the kitchen. He could hear his mom and dad in the kitchen talking. Sliding down the wall he crouched against it as he waited for them to leave so he could make it up the stairs unseen. With a chuckle, his dad pulled his mom close for a kiss before taking a tray of snacks outside.
Sighing a little at all the PDA's (public displays of affection) his parents were prone to showing, he looked around the corner. His eyes widened when he saw Jack Hotchner coming inside. Geez, he might be able to sneak past his mom but not his mom and Jack both. As Jack had gotten older, he had picked up his dad's ability to notice everything in the room. As Jack began to talk to his mom, John moved to sit on the floor, settling for a wait.
"Aunt Penelope?" Jack's voice drifted into the hallway where John sat. He turned his head and craned a little around the corner to glance at Jack. Jack always sounded so sure of himself; except for now.
His mom stopped and went to wrap Jack into a tight hug, "Jack! You're so quiet sometimes." Pulling back she looked at him a brief moment before pulling him to the table and making him sit. "What's wrong, Jack?"
Jack looked around to be sure no one was close before looking back into Penelope's caring eyes. "I - I –" Jack stuttered to a pause. Feeling Penelope reach out to grasp his hand in both of hers, he tried again. "Let's say, I've been thinking about asking someone to marry me." He stopped at the tightening of Penelope's hands around his as they both glanced out the window to the woman that had accompanied Jack to the party. Swallowing hard, he looked back at his Aunt, "If I ask her, I want it to be romantic. Aunt Penelope, you are the most romantic person I know. You never stop to worry about it when you love someone. You hug them; you kiss them, you-" Waving his free hand in the air in a swirling unknown pattern in front of her, Jack continued, "What made it so special for you?"
In the hallway, John's eyebrows furrowed in thought. He had never wondered how his parents had gotten together. They-well, they just were. You could look at them together and just know that they were together. He had never had a moment to think of how it had happened. Thinking about his father's personality and his mother's, he leaned back, a speculative look on his face.
"Jack, oh, Jack, that's wonderful." Penelope went to stand and hug him, only to have Jack increase his grip on their joined hands, pulling her back to her seat.
"Aunt Penelope, I'm not ready to talk to anyone about her yet. Or, about me." Jack's gaze flickered to the window for a short second before meeting Penelope's look. "I just need to know, how it happened for you. I need to make sure this is perfect."
Penelope gazed at the young, nervous man before her. Sometimes, with all Jack's quiet manners and knowledgeable approach to life, she forgot that he was still just a young man in love for the first time. "Have you talked to your father, Jack?"
"Of course. Dad's never avoided any questions about him and mom. I've heard the whole story of how he and mom met in high school. The play he tried out for just to talk to her." Jack got quiet for a moment as they listened to someone move from the living room to the yard. When it became quiet again, Jack continued, "I just –"
Dropped eyes rose to hers as he went on, "Aunt Penelope, I try to remember how my mom was. I watch our home movies; I know her laugh and her smile. I can see her playing with me and Dad. But, there's nothing showing me how she was when Dad first asked her to marry him. I want to hear about it from a woman. Sometimes, when you laugh or I see you smile at us, at me, you remind me of the way my mom looked on camera. And, I don't want to make mom feel weird by asking her about it."
John felt his eyes widen. Jack and his dad and step-mom always looked just as close as the rest of his mom and dad's friends did. He knew Jack's mom had died when Jack was young, but he had never thought about how it would be to not remember hugging her or talking to her. John wrapped his arms around himself as he shivered at the momentary feeling the thought of not having his mother brought to him.
Tears rose in Penelope's eyes with emotion but she only closed them tight to keep them from falling. "Oh, sugar. I'm so honored. Your mother was such a strong person. And she loved you and your father so much."
Jack wiped his fingers over his eyes, pressing against them for a moment, pressing the emotions and the probable tears back. "I just want to hear about it from a woman's point of view. I already talked to Dad. We had a whole day of talking and watching home movies about mom. But it was still all from Dad's side. Will you tell me what it's like? What it was like when Uncle David asked you to marry him? What made it so special?"
Penelope took a deep breath. "Yes, Honey. Like I said, I'd be honored."
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A/N: I think this is going to be a long drabble. I hope everyone will bear with me. Even though the idea is calling to me of how I want to do this, I'm back at work again and it's going to cause me to take some time posting in between chapters.
Let me know what you think, as always! Knowledgeable reviews are always appreciated. KK