It seemed like it had taken a thousand years for lunch to finally arrive, and Penelope sighed with obvious relief when she was able to push away from her desk and head out to the commissary. Rossi was just stepping out of the office as well, and she gave him a small wave before joining him on the stairs.
"I'm a little surprised that we didn't get called out on a case today," he said as they headed out into the hall.
"Well, there wasn't really a case that needed our attention today. That could all change tomorrow, you realize, but this also give me a chance to do a little more digging into the picture that I was sent."
"Oh, it finally arrived?"
She nodded and touched her stomach as she felt nervous butterflies start to dance again. "It has, and I'm left with more questions than answers. But my mom is so beautiful!" A large smile spread across her lips. "As soon as I'm finished eating, I'm going to start digging into the adoption records to see what I can find out about her."
She almost mentioned the fact that she was supposed to have a different name, as well, but something held her back, and she watched his face carefully for a reaction. "Well, you'll have to show me that picture soon, Kitten. Maybe I know her," he teased.
"Why? Because you know all the beautiful women of the world?" she teased back, and he nodded. "You are such a Casanova, I swear."
"But I've been tamed by love," he replied as he glanced over at the door. She followed his line of sight and saw that Erin was just walking through, seemingly on a mission as she talked on her phone. In that moment, she knew why the man could fall in love with her, since there was something so lovely about her. There was also something hauntingly familiar about her, moreso now that she had seen the picture of her birth mother. Again, she knew that her mind was trying to make connections where there probably were none, and she shook her head a little. "It looks like our lunch date has been cancelled. Do you want to grab something to eat with me?"
"I think that I'd like that." Dave smiled as he tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow, guiding her out to the elevators. Erin reached her doorway, turning to look for him, Penelope supposed, giving them a warm smile and a wave before pointing to her phone. Dave nodded, and then they stepped onto the elevator, heading down. "So, where are we headed?"
"Well, I was thinking about this café just around the corner, they have some amazing crepes."
"That sounds amazing, actually." They smiled at each other and then he took out his phone to text someone, most likely his Erin. It was a quiet ride down to the ground floor, and then she was following him down the block. The moment they reached the café, she smiled. She had been meaning to try this place for ages, and was glad to finally get the chance to do so.
After they'd placed their order, Penelope rested her head in her hands, staring wistfully out the window, thinking about what she was going to do next. "Penny for your thoughts, Kitten?"
"I'm just wondering what I'm going to do next, Rossi. I have her picture, I know that she was super young when she had me, so she'd be about Erin's age now. Which means that she could be a highly successful business woman by now, or the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or a respected professor, or anything."
"And you want to go digging into the adoption records to find out exactly who she is."
She gave him a sheepish grin before nodding. "It wouldn't be that hard to do, either. That's like, the most basic level of hacking, and then I could find out every single detail of her life before I contacted her. Just in case she didn't fit with the picture I'm building of her in my mind. Because this picture is really optimistic."
Dave reached out and took hold of her hand, squeezing lightly. "That optimism is one of the things that I love about you, Kitten. You've always managed to find the good in everything, even when it seems like the world is falling apart. But do you really want to find out all that from the computer and not from her lips? I mean, there are some things that should only come from a mother's hand."
A soft sigh escaped her lips as she shrugged. "Kind of. It might be easier to digest things if I can see it in black and white first. I could always pretend that the stories were fresh."
He laughed as he shook his head. "You have to do what you think is best."
Their food came then, and she tucked into the crepes that he had suggested. They were delicious, and she found that the food helped to settle her nerves. "Thank you for this, Dave. Seriously, I needed a break before I started the task of digging into the past. If I find something that isn't the greatest, can I come cry on your shoulder?"
"My door is always open to you, Penelope. Just make certain that you knock first, though, just in case Erin is with me. I wouldn't want to embarrass you."
Penelope felt her cheeks turn warm and knew that she was blushing. "Really, there are some images that I do not want in my brain."
"That's what I'm good for, Kitten," he teased before they finished their meal. Once Rossi had settled the bill, they got up and made their way back to the office. Penelope welcomed his arm around her waist, since again it helped to settle her rapidly beating heart. "Now, if there's one thing that I want you to do this afternoon, it's to not worry. God has His hand in whatever happens next, and I know that I'll be here to help support you, if you need it. And I'm certain that Erin feels the same way."
"Thanks, I really do appreciate that." She gave him a small smile as they stepped onto the elevator. Once more, she was quiet as the elevator rose, thinking about where to start digging the moment she was safely ensconced in her office.
Parting ways, she hurried up the steps and slipped behind her door, locking it behind her. There was no way that she wanted to be interrupted as she started to look into her past. With a soft sigh, she sank down into her chair and rolled over to her personal computer, calling up her search engines and starting to hunt down her birth certificate. Once that was done, she knew where to look for the adoption records and suddenly her fingers turned cold as ice. Nerves were getting the better of her, she knew that full well, but she didn't want to stop when she had just begun.
Taking a deep breath, she leaned back in her chair and stared up at the ceiling. "What would David Rossi do?" she pondered aloud. "He would tell me that I'm worrying too much, that I shouldn't overthink things and should just dive right in. I won't know anything until I get more information."
With renewed resolve, Penelope sat up and began to run a search of the adoption records in her home state for the day of her birth. From there, she weeded out the obviously incorrect ones, finally coming up with one sealed record. Her stomach clenched as her cursor hovered over the button that would unseal those records to her. A part of her wanted to just make it quick, to rip it off like a bandage, but another part was still holding her back.
"Just do it, Penny Lane. You'll know nothing until you do." Taking a deep breath, she clicked on the records and watched as they filled in before her gaze. It was a comfort to see her parents' names on the document, and her eyes filled with tears as she looked for the names of her birth mother and father. To her disappointment, the father space was blank, but there, on the screen in front of her, was her mother's name. "Erin Shaw," she murmured, reaching out and touching the letters of her name, marrying name and face as she thought about the picture she had been sent.
Glancing down, she saw the birthdate for her mother listed as February nineteenth. The year startled her, though, and some quick subtraction told her that this Erin Shaw had only been fifteen when she'd given birth to her. "You were so young," she said as she picked up the photo and stroked her thumb over her mother's face. "So young and so brave to have me and then give me to people you thought could give me a better life." She let the tears she had been holding in started to slip down her cheeks, and she swiped them away, suddenly needing to tell someone else her news.