The house had gone strangely quiet, and Penelope turned to look at her siblings, seeing that they had all gathered behind her as the argument had raged on. It was sweet, in a way, that they had all expected her to protect them, but she hated that it had been a vicious screaming match that had started the bonding between them all.

Penelope held her breath as the silence lingered on, and she turned her focus onto the rest of the house rather than her siblings, trying to figure out what was going on. Heavy footsteps resounded in the hallway, and she instinctively reached back to protect them, hoping beyond hope that he would avoid the kitchen. Moments later, she released that breath when the door slammed, and she turned to face her siblings, a tremulous smile on her lips.

"Well, that's over and done with," she said lowly, vaguely hearing a car peel out of the driveway. "What happens now?"

"Usually, we give Mom a few minutes to compose herself. She doesn't like it when we see her cry, and she always cries after an argument," Tabitha answered, returning her shaky smile. "I suppose that we could sit at the kitchen table and talk for a moment?"

"Okay. What do you want to talk about?"

"You. How pregnant are you?" Trust Karen to ask the most pointed question there, and as they took a seat, Penelope caressed her small bump before answering.

"Not very far along, actually. Still in the first trimester, I think, but we'll confirm that at my first appointment. Kevin, my fiancé, he was supposed to take me to the first one, and we would have seen the first sonogram together." She pursed her lips, trying to keep from crying. Tabitha patted her arm softly, and she gave her half-sister a grateful look as she took a deep breath. "He was in a really bad car accident a few days ago, and didn't make it. So, I'm going to be a single mother, and it really sucks."

"Hey, you have Mom now, so you won't be truly alone! And we can pitch in with the nugget."

"Bruce Strauss, you are not allowed to call my baby a nugget!" she burst out, and he shrugged a little. "No, that will not be their nickname!"

"It's already decided. You have a nugget in you," Tabitha piped up, and even Karen smiled and nodded as she groaned and covered her face with her hands. "But it will be a cute nugget, since we're all cute, and you're one of us."

"If you say so," she replied as she stood up from the table. "I'm going to pour two glasses of water, and then go check on Mother."

"Okay," Karen said as she tracked her with her eyes. Penelope gave her a small smile before opening the freezer and pulling out the ice cube tray. Dumping a few into two glasses, she handed it to Tabitha to replace, and then filled the glasses with water.

Knowing that Erin was probably still in the dining room, she made her way there, glancing over her shoulder to see that the others had followed her. Shaking her head a little, she peeked her head in the doorway of the dining room, finding it empty. Turning, she looked at Bruce, and he shrugged a little. "Maybe she went to the living room? She might have known that we would come looking for her."

"All right, let's try there," she said as she started for the other room. The door to the living room was closed, which told Penelope that Erin wanted to be alone, and she bit her lip a little as she considered what she was going to do next. "Give me a second, okay?"

They all nodded and she arranged the glasses so that they were in one hand before opening the living room door. Peeking her head inside, she saw that Erin was seated on the sofa, cradling her cheek as she shoulders shook. In that moment, she knew that her siblings shouldn't see Erin like that, so she turned to them and shook her head a little. "Is she okay?"

"She will be. But I think it would be better if we talked alone for a few minutes, okay?"

Karen stared at her as the others nodded a little. "What has he done now?"

"I don't know, but I don't think that she'll be comfortable discussing it with you all. I hate to pull age rank, but please, let us adults talk for a little bit." Before they could answer her, she turned back to the living room and slipped inside, shutting the door behind her softly. As she walked over to the sofa, she transferred one of the glasses back to her other hand and then took a seat next to Erin, holding out a glass to her.

Erin looked up at her, tears still pouring down her face as she took the water, sipping from it slowly before setting it on the table. As she did so, Penelope was able to see a livid red mark on her cheek, and she gasped a little as she reached out to touch her shoulder. Erin jumped at the touch, and she felt her heart sink a little, realizing in that moment that this wasn't the first time Alan had struck her. "Everything will be better in the morning, Penny. This just needs a little time to heal."

"But…"

"No buts. I know what he's like when he's upset, and supper didn't help his mood at all. Once we were alone, I couldn't help needling him about you. I knew what would happen, but he was just making me so angry that I couldn't stop the words falling from my mouth." Erin broke off and closed her eyes, the tears still falling. Penelope couldn't help but cluck her tongue in sympathy as she leaned forward and kissed the angry mark.

It was hot beneath her lips, and somehow she knew it would form a hideous bruise by morning. "Oh, Mother," she murmured, and Erin's eyes hurriedly opened to look at Penelope. "Or do you like Mére, better?"

"Whichever you prefer, Penny. It just sounds a little odd to be called Mother by you. I expect Erin, and perhaps we should just go with that at work for a little bit? That would allow most of your team to become accustomed to our relationship, without forcing it on them every time they hear you call me Mother."

"I don't care if they are uncomfortable, honestly. But if you would rather I refrain from it, I will be more than happy to follow your lead. As long as you let me completely and utterly destroy his online presence. You know who I am, and what I'm capable of. And a jackass like that deserves to be brought down a peg or two! He hurt you!"

Penelope knew that her grief was most likely clouding her judgment, but she didn't care in that moment. All she wanted to do was lash out at the person who had hurt her mother, to cause some iota of pain on him that had been dealt to her in the last few days. Erin's face softened a little as she shook her head, reaching out to place her hands on Penelope's shoulders. "Under no circumstances are you to do anything that would get you into trouble with my superiors. I just found you, I'm not about to let you be hauled off to some secret base or go to jail. Okay?"

"I suppose, for you, I can stay on the straight and narrow. But it would be really nice to drag him to hell and back?"

"I know that it would, but we're better than that, right? No daughter of mine is going to be an online troll?" Erin ran her thumb back and forth along Penelope's shoulder as she looked into her eyes, and Penelope felt her resolve to avenge Erin's honor slowly bleed out of her as she nodded. "Now, where are my other children?"

"I had them wait outside, since I thought that you would need a moment to regain your composure. I remember, from Milwaukee, that you don't particularly relish having others see you cry."

Erin nodded a little. "You have a good memory." Then, to her surprise, Erin pulled her into a tight hug. "I truly hate him now. I don't know what I saw in him, especially when I compare him to David. And if you tell anyone that, I'll never forget."

"I won't breathe a word to anyone, especially not our resident Italian Stallion. Though I have the feeling that if I did tell him what happened tonight, he'd allow me to destroy Alan."

"I know he would, too. He's very defensive of me." Erin pulled away to look at her. "It's part of why I love him so. He's picked up all these shattered pieces of my heart and turned them into a beautiful mosaic."

"You are thoroughly amazing, Mére. I am going to love getting to know you better." Erin just smiled and nodded, her hands once more tightening on Penelope's shoulders, her tears seeming to have finally stopped.