AN: Trying to hurry up and post this before the new episode of Criminal Minds starts. I hope you guys like this update. PLZ R&R!
If any of you is interested in checking out The OC tv series, I found out where you can stream it. If anyone has a Smart Tv or has a Roku, there's a free app you can get called CW Seed. You can stream all the episodes there for free. As an added bonus on the same app, I also found the entire series of Birds Of Prey. For those of you that don't know, that's a very short-lived TV show that Shemar Moore was on before Criminal Minds. There are only 13 episodes, but it's totally worth the watch.
Disclaimer: See first chapter.
Chapter 28: The Garcia's Three
Ryan sat eating the fries off the appetizer plate as he watched Penelope's brothers wearily from across the table. He wasn't sure if he trusted them just yet even though they seemed nice enough. Dave hadn't even gotten to talking about Penelope to them yet.
"I have to ask," Joe looked across the table at Ryan. "Are you Penelope's son? Are you our nephew? You kind of look like her."
"No," Ryan smiled as he shook his head at them. "I hope she's my mom soon, though."
"What?"
"Let me explain," Dave chuckled. "I'm David Rossi, and this is my wife Fran. Her son, my step-son Derek, works at the BAU in FBI headquarters with me. Derek is fostering Ryan right now and is in the process of officially adopting him. Derek just started dating your sister several months ago. She also works for the FBI."
"Penny is an agent?" Michael asked.
"Not a field agent. She's our technical analyst. She helps us behind the scenes."
"She says she makes you guys look good," Ryan added.
"That she does." Dave nodded as all their food arrived and they all dug in.
"Do you have any recent pictures of Penny?" Tim asked.
"Of course," Dave took out his phone and started swiping. "Ok, this is your sister with Derek….and this is them with Ryan…."
"Did you bring any pictures?" Ryan eyed the giant gift bag that Tim had brought with him.
"We brought these to give to Penelope," Tim pulled out a thick album. "We made copies of all these, but these are the originals. Her mom was crafty so she was into scrapbooking for awhile."
"That must be where Penelope gets her crafty side," Dave commented.
"Can I look at this?" Ryan asked.
"Of course," Tim smiled at him as Fran opened the cover and they started looking through the pages of images from Penelope's childhood.
"So does Penelope know that we're here?" Joe asked.
"Not yet," Dave told them. "We wanted to see how well this went, and if you were really sincere about meeting her again."
"So you've heard stories."
"She's very vocal and we're like a family," Dave stated. "She hasn't hidden the hurt she felt when your parents died. She blames herself for their deaths."
"We kind of blamed her back then too," Michael said. "But we were all young. We didn't mean it. When we tried to find her to apologize was when we realized that she was missing."
"Do you think we can see her now?" Tim asked.
"What do you think kid?" Dave looked over at Ryan. "Are they worthy enough?"
"They seem like it," Ryan commented. "I guess we can give you a trial visit."
"So it was your idea to find us?" Joe looked at him.
"Everyone needs their family," Ryan told him. "Even though she says that her team is her family now."
"So how serious are her and your son?" Michael looked at Fran.
"They've liked each other for years, they both were just too stubborn and hard-headed to admit it." She told them.
"I helped get them together," Ryan spoke up. "Me and Dave locked them in a wine cellar."
"What?" Tim looked at Dave.
"It was a long time coming," Dave told them. "I thought they were together when I first met them and saw the way they talked and acted around each other. They had this flirty banter with each other ever since they met."
"Is this her Sweet 16?" Fran pointed to a picture in the photo album. "Her dress is gorgeous; and flashy of course."
"Just like she is now." Ryan stated.
"That's not her Sweet 16," Joe told them. "She did have one of those, but that's a picture of her at her Quinceanera."
"After our dad adopted her and she officially became a Garcia," Michael said. "She was raised with both American and Spanish customs-"
"Even though she can't speak the language," Ryan cut in.
"Exactly," Tim smiled. "But she was exposed to all our cultural aspects. She loved the annual Day of The Dead parties that we held every year."
"I'm not sure if she celebrates it anymore," Fran told them. "But she loves all the holidays. She goes all out for them."
"She won't stop talking about Halloween," Ryan added.
"Which reminds me," Dave looked at him. "Have you thought about what you want to go as?"
"No," he shook his head. "I didn't really do anything on Halloween when I was little. Dawn didn't try to make it fun. She never tried to make anything fun."
"Who's Dawn?" Joe asked.
"My real mom," Ryan mumbled. "I think she's still in jail. So is my real dad."
"Later," Fran mouthed to them and they nodded in understanding.
"Like you said, Penelope loves all the holidays." Dave looked at Ryan again. "If you don't pick a costume out soon, she will take the decision out of your hands."
"So where is Penny?" Joe asked.
"She's at my son's place," Fran told them. "She's trying to come to terms with something that she just found out."
"Come to terms with what?" Tim asked. "Is she ok?"
"It's about her childhood. Before she and her mom showed up in California…." Fran started to explain the story again.
Derek walked back into the living room where Penelope was curled up on the couch and looking through the old photo album yet again. They had finally gotten done talking to Sarah and Desiree about everything.
"Tea?" he silently sat down next to her.
"Thank you," she gladly accepted it from him.
"What are you thinking about right now?"
"Just….everything." she said softly. "I just can't believe it."
"I know," Derek held her.
"I mean, we could've grown up together. I would've been friends with you and your sisters my whole life."
"If it wasn't for Kenneth," Derek said softly. "Try not to think about it."
"It's just-"
"Put it out of your mind for now," he pulled her closer to him and kissed her softly.
"I know I should-"
"Things happened the way they were supposed to," he told her and she nodded.
There was a sudden knock on the door and they both looked up abruptly as the front door opened and Dave walked into them.
"How are we doing?" he asked them.
"Still in shock," Penelope told him.
"We're still processing," Derek told him. "Where's Ryan?"
"Ok, I have something that you both should know." Dave moved to sit beside them. "It was never my idea, it was the kid's."
"What are you talking about?"
"You should read these first," Dave handed Penelope a set of papers and she and Derek skimmed through them.
"My brothers?" Penelope looked up at him. "You've been looking for my brothers? For how long?"
"Just a few weeks," Dave told her. "It was after you convinced Ryan to see his therapist. He asked me if I could track them down to surprise you."
"He was asking about your family when he was in the hospital," Derek told her.
"What?" she looked at him.
"He said that everyone needs a family,"
"They're here aren't they?" Penelope looked at Dave. "They're here in Virginia."
"Three of the four are in town," he told her. "They're waiting at the hotel they're staying at with Fran and Ryan if you're up to meeting them."
"Which one didn't show up?" Derek asked.
"Mitchell,"
"Not surprising," Penelope mumbled. "They really want to see me?"
"They're anxiously anticipating your arrival," Dave told her. "But you're in control here. What do you want to do?"
"I'll be there with you," Derek assured her.
"We all will," Dave added.
"One meeting," Penelope finally said. "Then I'll decide whether or not I want them in my life again."
"Agreed,"
"I'll need some time to get ready."
"I'll call and tell them that you'll be there in about an hour," Dave took out his phone. "Maybe a little bit longer."
"All right," Penelope got up and started upstairs.
"If this backfires," Derek looked at Dave. "If these guys hurt her-"
"I will let you take the first five punches," Dave told him. "But you have to let me get some shots in too."
A couple hours later, Derek parked his car at the curb in front of the hotel. He turned the car off and turned to look at Penelope, who hadn't said a word since they left the house.
"What's going on in that beautiful head of yours?" he asked her.
"I'm not sure-"
"It's not too late to back out of this."
"They came all this way," she argued.
"You don't owe them anything."
"Ryan went to all this trouble to surprise me. And Dave called in favors to find them."
"They would understand if you changed your mind," he took her hand.
"Let's go in," she sighed.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," she smiled. "If nothing else comes from it, at least Dave is paying for our supper tonight."
"Right," he smiled at her as they both climbed out of the car.
Tim saw the car that Dave described to them pull up to the hotel. He was watching out his hotel room window and smiled when he saw his sister being helped out of the passenger side of the car by a guy that reminded him of Fran.
"They're on their way up," Dave announced after hanging up his phone. "Just so you know, she was very reluctant to come here. Derek's not completely on board with this; especially if it's going to end up hurting her."
"We don't plan on hurting her," Joe told him.
"I'm glad," Dave nodded as there was a knock at the door.
Fran and Ryan got up from the table where they were sitting and went to open the door. Penelope was standing nervously beside Derek as he held her.
"Hey," Fran smiled at them. "They're just as nervous as you are."
"Not possible," Penelope mumbled.
"I hear this was all your idea, Super Sneak." Derek picked up Ryan.
"Are you mad?" he asked softly as he looked over at Penelope.
"I'm not mad," she smiled at him. "I'm just surprised that they showed up."
"They said they've been looking for you since you ran off,"
"Are you ready Kitten?" Dave approached them.
"As I'll ever be," she said softly as Ryan climbed down from Derek's arms.
"Just remember, they want this." She nodded as Derek took her hand and Dave led them farther into the room.
"Let me introduce-or reintroduce-all of you," Dave told them. "Kitten, these are your brothers Tim, Joe and Michael. They claim that they have your best interest at heart. And they better know by now that it would not be beneficial to their physical well-being to lie to a profiler."
"If we didn't before, we do now," Joe quipped.
"And this is your sister Penelope," Dave started again. "Our team are all protective of each other, but the rest of us are especially protective of Kitten here who always puts everyone else first. So if she is hurt, you can bet that you will have six people rushing to break down your doors in retaliation."
"Make that ten," Fran spoke up. "Me and Ryan and the girls are included in that."
"Three more," Ryan spoke up. "Jack, Henry, and especially Will would come after them too."
"I'd be the first in line." Derek stated as he came forward to face down the three Garcia brothers.
"Understood," Tim smiled at his sister. "You haven't changed much. Although I do prefer this look over the Goth look you used to sport."
"That was a long time ago," Penelope said softly.
"We know," Michael came forward. "We missed you. We have not stopped looking for you from the moment that we realized that you were gone."
"And Mitchell?" she looked at each of them.
"You know how he was. He never admitted it when he was at fault. He hasn't changed one bit."
"So are you ever planning on telling him?"
"We'll tell him after we get back to town,"
"How long are you here for?"
"A couple of days at least," Tim told her. "So I think we should make the most of this time that we can spend together."
"Give her your gift," Ryan spoke up. "We saw it earlier."
"You brought me something?" Penelope asked softly.
"We thought you might like to have these," Tim brought the big gift bag over and she opened it up in surprise. "We already made copies of everything, so these are all yours to keep."
"What is it?" Derek followed her to the table as she pulled out the contents.
"Memories," she told him as she pulled out the photo albums and some DVDs.
"Let me see," Derek took the one from the top of the pile. "I want to see what you got up to back then."
"I'll order us some room service," Dave spoke up. "I was going to call the others. Unless you think it's too soon."
"Don't call them yet," Penelope told him. "We'll invite them over tomorrow."
"You got it," Dave smiled as he and Fran went to go get the room service menu.
"So far, so good." He commented.
"Let's just hope it lasts," she told him as they watched Derek and Ryan look through all the albums as Penelope talked with her brothers.
AN: So what'd you all think? I hope you liked this. PLZ R&R!
I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again. My family and I got some bad news this week. My step-sister was just two weeks away from giving birth to her second child when she was told that there was no heartbeat. It's a devastating loss and I hope you all will keep us all in your thoughts as we struggle to make sense of why this happened.
