Jude, Davis, Penny and Lydia were happily playing together in kindergarten, when they heard their teacher arguing with a man. They couldn't understand everything and looked up in confusion when their teacher told Penny to come to her. Penny stood up and shyly looked up at the huge man that smiled down at her.

"Hello Penny. My name is Tom and I'm a social worker," he told her in a soft voice. "You're going to have to come with me. I have to take you to a new home."

"I… live with Jude and Davis!" Penny told him as she turned round and pointed at the boys who watched them curiously.

"That was only for a little while. We've found a home for you that has everything you need." The social worker told her. He moved to take her hand, but Penny pulled back and looked up afraid.

"I don't want to go with you!" she whispered and ran back to Jude and Davis.

"You can't just take her with you. You have to inform the Bakers and I don't think that it's…" the teacher said as she tried to intervene.

"Actually that's none of your business, madam. We're doing our work and kids always protest at first. But it's for her own good," The social worker answered the teacher firmly, yet quietly. He walked over to Penny who looked up at him scared. "Penny, you'll like your new home."

"New home?" Davis asked as he jumped up. He moved his confused gaze between Penny and the social worker. "Why does she have a new home? And where? She lives with us until her mom gets better."

"You must be Jude." Tom said.

"Davis," Davis answered as he moved protectively in front of Penny. Her eyes had begun to fill with tears. "Our parents didn't tell us that she has a new home. Why?"

"It's too hard to understand for someone as young as you. Now come on!" he said in an annoyed tone. He then grabbed Penny's hand and pulled her towards the door. Penny started to scream and cry loudly.

"I don't want to go with you!" she cried hysterically. The idea of leaving the Bakers was scaring her a lot. She wished that she had Bruno with her to protect her.

"Leave her alone!" Jude screamed at the social worker and tried to get his hand off Penny.

"Kids! Let me do my job!" he yelled angrily at them. He sighed and rolled his eyes when Davis stood in front of him.

"No! Leave her alone. She lives with us!" Davis screamed and the first tears fell from his eyes.

Lydia then stood up and wrapped her arms around Penny's shoulders. Penny was already crying heavily and tried desperately to get out of his grip. But he was stronger and pulled her to the hallway with ease. By then Lydia, Jude and Davis were crying too and didn't know what to do. Their teacher knew that he had the right to just take her with him and tried to calm the other three children down, but nothing was working. Then suddenly, everything happened so fast. Davis punched the social worker between his legs with his fist. The social worker moaned in pain but didn't let go of Penny.

"Nooooooo!" Jude, Davis and Lydia cried when a teacher held them back and the social worker disappeared with a screaming Penny.

~X~

"This is not happening! This is not happening!" Brooke whispered in a panic as she drove to the kindergarten as fast as possible. She had tried to call Julian what seemed like a million times but obviously he was still in a meeting as she kept getting his voicemail. She threw her cell phone onto the passenger seat. "Fuck!"

She then finally reached the kindergarten and she parked the car. She jumped out and ran inside the kindergarten as fast as she could. Haley was already there and had calmed down the three children, who now looked totally exhausted. Brooke ran to them with a worried expression and eagerly hugged her two boys.

"He just pulled her away, mommy!" Jude and Davis sobbed.

"Shh… it's okay. We'll get her back." Brooke told them. She then had a talk with the teacher and tried to find out where Penny was now. The teacher was just as clueless as Brooke. Brooke sighed at the lack of information. She could only imagine how scared the little girl must be.

~X~

Julian ran into his house like a man possessed. His face was creased with concern as he looked for Brooke.

"I just got your message!" he said as he ran to Brooke. He could see that she looked totally furious. "Is she back?"

"No! And what's even worse is they won't let me talk to her, visit her or anything else. They think that it's better that she has no contact with us. I can't believe it. Their arguments don't even make sense! Those assholes! And don't even get me started about the one who actually took Penny away! From what I've heard, he was completely unprofessional!" Brooke screamed angrily as she threw the phone onto the couch. She then ran a hand through her hair, before Julian hugged her tightly.

"We have to get an attorney. It's not okay what they are doing with her and us." Julian said as Brooke nodded sadly.

"I just hope she's okay. I can't stand that I have no clue what's happening to her right now!" Brooke said as Julian stroked her hair. "She has gone through enough!"

~X~

The next week was extremely hard on the Bakers. They hadn't heard anything about Penny and weren't allowed to visit her. She had even been removed from kindergarten. Their attorney tried his best but it wasn't easy as Penny's custody was still in the hands of the state and not the Bakers. Jude and Davis couldn't understand what was happening and asked so many questions which their parents couldn't answer. The social workers had also wanted to put Bruno in an animal shelter. Brooke and Julian had firmly told them that they were doing no such thing. It was clear that Bruno was also missing Penny, as he whined and fretted when he was lying on Penny's bed.

"Why can't she come to our birthday tomorrow?" Jude whined, "I want her to come!"

"I know you do but they still won't let us talk to her and…" Brooke began but he cut her off.

"Why?" Jude screamed loudly. Brooke held him tightly as she realized how attached her boys had become to Penny too. "We're not bad people. She's my friend and all my friends should be at our birthday party! It's not fair!"

~X~

"I can't believe that our babies are six already! Soon they'll hit puberty and fall in love with girls and then they'll leave us," Brooke whined a little as she set out the table.

She then checked repeatedly to make sure that everything was perfect. Although Brooke and Julian weren't exactly in the best mood to celebrate, they had prepared a huge birthday party like their boys had wished for. They had two big cakes, lots of presents, balloons hanging on the wall and many more things they had requested while Penny had been with them.

"They turn six, not sixteen!" Julian replied as he laughed and hugged her from behind.

"I know but I don't want them to grow up. I want them to always be our little boys who think that we're the coolest. They'll start school soon too. They must slow down a little bit." Brooke whined.

"You're so cute!" Julian told her as he smiled and gave her a glass of wine.

"We're getting old. I'm not prepared to have kids that are about to be school kids. Soon we'll be sixty with lots of wrinkles and in a wheelchair." Brooke said as she slumped down the couch. Brooke would always act the same the night before their birthday. She would whine that Davis and Jude would grow up too fast but in the end she loved every new step in their lives.

"I had a surprise for you but I don't know if it's a good idea any more!" Julian said as he gave her a sad look. She looked at him with a curious expression as he gave her an envelope.

"What is this?" Brooke asked and was stunned when she opened it.

"I thought that we needed this but… now that Penny's gone… I'm not sure any more. The last time was hard on all of us. Especially on you. I… I can't stop thinking about what I would do if you weren't with us any more or if Xavier had succeeded in… hurting you even more than he did." Julian said. He took a deep breath and took Brooke's hand in his. "I love you so much. I wouldn't be happy without you and… I thought we could do that, as a family but with Penny."

Brooke nodded sadly and looked at the flight tickets. There were five tickets for the Bahamas that was dated for two weeks time.

"Maybe… maybe we'll get her back then and we can all go." Brooke replied as a tear slipped down her face. Julian reached out and wiped it away, before he snuggled closer to her.

"Yes, maybe." he whispered.

Suddenly the phone rang and Brooke answered it. She jumped up in shock when she heard Penny screaming in the background. A female voice that she didn't recognize told her to come to a location immediately. Brooke then scribbled down an address as the woman told her. She then ran to her car in a second and drove speedily to the home where Penny was now. She parked haphazardly and ran inside as her heart pounded with worry. Once she got inside, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. It broke her heart and she felt guilty that she had not protected Penny from this situation.

Penny was standing in front of three adults who were trying to calm her down. Penny had a knife in her hand and cried hysterically. Penny was shaking and screaming loudly.

"I want mommy Brooke. Go away! Go awaaaaaaay!" The little girl screamed repeatedly. Brooke's heart jumped at hearing Penny calling her mommy Brooke.

"Penny, let go of the knife. Now!" one of them demanded as they moved closer to her. But Penny immediately held the knife in front of her. Within a second Brooke could tell that Penny hadn't been eating well; she looked thinner.

"Penny!" Brooke whispered sadly.

Penny immediately turned around and when she heard Brooke and ran straight into her arms. However, she didn't let go of the knife. Brooke felt how much the little girl shook and tried to calm her down. Penny held her tightly and cried hysterically as if she was afraid that she would leave her again. She rocked her back and forth but nothing was working, Eventually, Brooke took her into another room so they could be alone. She kissed her tear stained cheeks and told her that everything would be alright. She then told her that they had all missed her and that Bruno was at home waiting for her. Finally Penny began to calm down but she still held onto the knife.

"Honey, can you give me the knife?" Brooke asked her gently. Penny hesitated for a second but then gave it to Brooke and snuggled against her chest.

"Mrs Baker, I think it would be better if you take Penny with you." The female social worker said as she came into the room.

"Oh really?" Brooke asked angrily as she tightened her embrace on Penny. She wanted to scream at her or even hit her but she knew that Penny should never witness such aggression any more, so she tried to stay calm. "How could you do that to her? To us? I… you'll hear from us!"

Brooke managed to stop her verbal outburst before she said something that she might regret. She then went outside with the shaken little girl safe in her arms. Penny didn't let go of her, not even when she wanted to place her into her seat. So Brooke decided to take a cab home. She would get Julian to bring her over to collect her car in the morning. Or get her parents to bring it with them.

"Why don't you close your eyes, honey?" Brooke asked softly as the cab drove them home. Brooke then gently stroked Penny's long brown hair. Penny didn't answer as she looked up with the sad and tired eyes. When they arrived home, she had finally fallen asleep. Brooke laid her in their bed and climbed into it herself. Julian was already fast asleep, exhausted from his work.

~X~

The next day Jude and Davis were impatiently waiting for Brooke and Julian to do their normal birthday routine. They would walk into their room with the cake and candles to sing for them.

"What is taking them so long?" Davis asked annoyed. As if on cue, the door finally opened.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you!" Julian and Brooke sang loudly as they came into the room, followed by Bruno. The twins jumped out of their beds with a huge smile. They went to blow out their candles but stopped when they realized who was in their mother's arms.

"Peeeennny!" the boys said happily as they jumped up in joy.

"You're back. That's what I wanted to wish for. Now I can wish for something else!" Davis said as he laughed loudly. Penny laid her head on Brooke's shoulder and sucked her thumb without answering or looking at Davis.

"Boys! First a hug!" Brooke told them and they ran into her embrace even though she still held Penny. She gave each one a kiss. "Happy birthday to you, my sweethearts. You know that I love you so much that I cannot describe it in words. You're my little miracles and I'm so proud of you two. You have grown into amazing little boys and…"

"Big boys." Davis interrupted his mom. Brooke smiled and nodded.

"Right, big boys and…" Brooke continued. However, she was cut off again.

"Thank you mom, can we open our presents now. Pleeeeease!" Jude asked as he kissed her cheek. Brooke laughed and looked into the camera. Of course, Julian was filming. She made a grimace.

"When they were younger they always listened to my words." She told him.

"I guess you need to grow-up too, honey!" Julian smirked and Brooke rolled her eyes.

"Fine, open your presents. But one at a time." Brooke replied.

They left the boys' bedroom and headed into the living area. They all sat down at the table and Bruno sat on the floor beside Penny and Brooke. As usual, Davis and Jude weren't patient. In the end they opened all the presents at the same time while they both smiled widely. As the two boys were engrossed in their gifts, Brooke and Julian worried about Penny. She wasn't smiling or talking. She just clung to Brooke.

"Yummy!" Davis said as he held up his favorite candy. He then showed them to Penny "You can have some if you want."

Penny didn't answer him. Davis then placed his candy down and got out of his seat. He went over to Penny and wrapped his arms around her. Julian filmed him as he did.

"I missed you!" Davis told her. Julian smiled and was glad that he had filmed this sweet moment.

"Do you like your presents?" Brooke asked but could already tell that her boys were happy.

"Yeeeah!" they said in unison as they high fived as usual.

Brooke and Julian were glad that today was their birthdays. It was obvious that Penny would need some time to calm down from the shock she had been through. They were glad that the boys would be occupied the whole day with playing with the others. That way they wouldn't need Brooke and Julian at every second, so that jealousy wouldn't play such a big role.

"This one is for you!" Brooke said as she gave Penny a package. Penny looked up at her in confusion.

"Well, we already told you that you would get something small. And Jude and Davis will get something on your birthday as well." Julian told her softly. Penny didn't open the package but snuggled closer against Brooke's chest. Bruno nuzzled her hand with his nose as if he could sense her sadness.

"Maybe later!" Brooke whispered to Julian who nodded.

"Okay boys, you can watch the new movie. In two hours your guests will arrive!" Julian told the. Jude and Davis cheered happily and ran to put the movie on. Brooke continued to comfort Penny and Bruno remained by their side as Julian went to check on the boys.

~X~

Three hours later, ten kids were playing outside happily. The adults were sitting at a huge table and had had a barbecue, while the kids had eaten the party food. Everybody had lots of fun and ran around in the garden.

"Dad! Can we go swimming?" Jude asked excited.

"Of course you can!" Julian answered.

"Sweet. We'll go get changed." a minute later the kids were in their swimsuits and were running towards the pool.

"Don't you want to swim as well?" Brooke asked Penny who was still on her lap. She hadn't left her for a second. She hadn't spoken either. Penny shook her head and just stayed with the adults who looked at her sadly.

"How about we all go swimming?" Clay suggested.

"Good idea, man! I'm too hot right now!" Nathan said as he smiled. He then headed inside to change.

When everyone, including Bruno, was in the swimming pool, Brooke went inside the house with Penny. She then helped her into a bathing suit, before changing into her own. She even put on water wings on Penny, in case she needed them. They then headed outside to join the others once more.

"Come inside mom, it's so cool!" Davis screamed happily when Jamie threw him into the water again.

Brooke stepped into the pool with Penny, who clung to her and laughed loudly when Nathan dunked Clay under the water. In the end all three men were acting like kids.

"Hey Penny, how about we dunk Brooke?" Nathan asked her as he grinned.

"Nathan!" Brooke exclaimed as she looked at him in shock. She hated getting dunked under the water. Her hair would look like a mess in the end. "I don't think that's a good idea today!"

"Hey princess!" Julian said as he swam up to Brooke and Penny. He smirked and opened his arms. Penny understood what was happening and jumped into his arms.

"What?" Brooke could only say this word, before she felt Nathan pushing her shoulders down. Clay then picked up her legs. Within a second Brooke was under the water and surfaced with a shocked expression.

"You!" she said as she pointed at Nathan. He grinned at her as she tried to dunk him in response. But in the end it was always her that ended up under the water.

"Haley! Kids! Help me!" Brooke shrieked.

Finally, with the help of everyone, Nathan pretended that they had managed to get him under the water. Julian looked down at Penny who was in his arms and saw that she was laughing loudly. Jude and Davis then swam to them and wrapped their arms around his shoulders from behind.

"Hey boys, are you having fun?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Both of them said exhausted. They then laughed when Logan jumped right onto his dad.

Haley, Brooke, Quinn and Millicent were topping up their tans while everyone else was still playing in the pool.

"That feels so great!" Quinn said with closed eyes.

"Definitely! I could tan for the rest of my life!" Brooke exaggerated.

"If you want to get cancer then feel free!" Haley laughed and received a slap from Brooke.

"Tutor Mom. Be quiet. Tanning is good." Brooke smiled and watched her boys having lots of fun.

"It's a great birthday party!" Haley answered and then looked at Penny who played with Lydia on the border of the pool. They pushed their feet into the water as fast as possible. "Lydia and Penny really get along very well!"

"Yeah, they do! All of them do!" Brooke laughed when her boys pushed the girls into the pool. However, Lydia dunked them under in the end. She was still a little taller than them and sometimes even stronger.

"All your bruises are gone, Tigger. Except of this one!" Haley smirked and pointed at Brooke's neck.

"Well, Haley Bob. That means that our friend was intimate with someone we know again!" Quinn said joining in the teasing.

"I guess she liked it, because there's another mark right above her breast!" Millie added as she too joined in.

"What?" Brooke gasped as she jumped up and looked down. She blushed a deep red as she saw the marks. "Oh my god!"

"So, how was it?" Quinn smirked and laughed when Brooke turned her back towards them and held her hands in front of her face.

"Stop it, you two!" she whined when they didn't stop. "Juliiiiian! They're teasing me!"

"You three are teasing my wife? That's not nice!" he joked as he climbed out of the water and looked over at the three beauties.

"Well, we just saw her marks on her body that you left!" Haley laughed and pointed at Brooke's neck.

"Oh, I can leave more!" Julian said as he jumped on top of Brooke and pinned her down playfully.

"Eeeeew… you're totally wet." Brooke complained and tried to push him off her but he stayed on top of her. Jude and Davis jumped on top of him and giggled. "Ow you guys. I'm not a mattress!"

~X~

"Kids! Get out of the pool. Your lips are blue!" Brooke said a while later.

"But mooom!" Davis pouted and didn't even think about leaving the pool. Neither did Jude but they had no chance when Jamie pulled them along with him.

"Thanks Jimmy Jam, you're the best!" Brooke said as she kissed his forehead.

"No problem, Aunt Brooke. I know how kids are!" he laughed. They all then sat down at the table and started to eat.

"When are grandma and grandpa coming?" Jude asked curiously "They always give us huge presents!"

"Yeah, last year we got our bikes!" Davis said as he smiled wildly.

"I'm sure they'll be here soon!" Julian said and as if on cue Victoria and Ted came outside.

"Baker boys!" Victoria yelled and Davis and Jude immediately ran to them and hugged them. "Happy birthday sweethearts!"

Victoria then kissed each one as she smiled. They were then handed their gifts and they smiled wildly when they opened the present. They had been given two little helicopters that could fly with a joystick.

"Oh cool. We wanted these!" They squealed happily. The other kids immediately gathered around them when Jude and Davis started flying the helicopters.

"You spoil them!" Brooke said and rolled her eyes when her mother kissed her cheek and her father hugged her.

"We just want them to be happy!" Victoria said as they sat down and took something to eat as well.

"So, I heard you five fly to the Bahamas?" Haley asked curiously.

"Well, if we are… well… allowed we will!" Julian said as he looked at Penny. Haley understood what he meant.

"Oh! We made sure of that!" Ted said as he and Victoria held hands under the table.

"Hey sweetie!" Victoria said and gave Penny a kiss when she climbed onto Brooke's lap again. "I bought this for you. It just looks perfect!"

Victoria then put a pink hat on Penny's head. The idea of having a female grandchild as well was making her very happy. Brooke could already imagine Victoria spoiling Penny with lots of clothes as well.

"What do you mean with you made sure of it?" Brooke asked curiously. She rested her chin on Penny's head and held her tightly.

"I have this for you two!" Victoria threw some tissues over to Brooke and Julian who looked at them in confusion.

"Tissues?" Julian asked confused and held them up.

"Well, you'll need them in a second." Ted smiled.