Derek had stayed longer than she had expected him to, but Penelope wasn't upset with that, instead, finding herself growing comfortable with his presence as she listened to Dave and Erin talk lowly. There was an ease to them, and Penelope wondered if Kevin and she would have had that same level of rapport when they had reached that age. That had led to a restless sleep, and she woke up far earlier than normal, feeling like she hadn't even slept at all.
A part of her felt like she had to go back to work, that she couldn't spend another day doing nothing, so she thumbed through the clothes she had on hand and decided on something that closely approximated what she would normally wear. Throwing the clothes over her arm, she trudged into the bathroom and placed her clothes on the sink counter before stripping off her pyjamas and stepping into the shower.
As she let the warm water beat down on her, Penelope let herself think about the day ahead. There would be a lot for her to catch up on, because even though Alpha team hadn't gone out on a case, in deference to her, she still had to check up on her red cell team, and see if there were any other requests for her services. Plus, she had no idea how the backup tech had been working out in her absence, which would add to her workload. Letting out a deep sigh, she washed her hair and then turned off the water, opening the shower door to grab a towel and wrapped it around her body.
After rummaging around in the drawers, Penelope managed to find a hair dryer, and she turned it on low to go through her hair, gently carding her fingers through to remove the excess water. Once she was satisfied with it, Penelope pulled on her clothes before bending and picking up her pyjamas, dropping them off in her bedroom before heading downstairs.
Just as she thought, there was no one up, and she began to look through all the cupboard, trying to find something that she could eat for breakfast, like oatmeal or cereal, not wanting to make omelettes and perhaps disturb her family if she set the smoke alarm off. She had just opened the pantry door when a cool hand on her upper arm caught her attention. Turning to see who else was up at such an ungodly hour, she smiled with relief when she saw her mother. "I hope I didn't wake you."
"I usually get up at this time, it allows me some peace to start my day with." Erin gave her a tired smile, and she wondered just how late she had stayed up with Dave. "What are you thinking of for breakfast?"
"I wanted to make omelettes, but I don't know your kitchen well enough yet to even think about making them. So I was settling for cereal."
"Well, I guess that it's a good thing I came down. Start a kettle of water boiling for tea, and I'll get things together for breakfast. The kids can fend for themselves, they usually do." Penelope nodded as she grabbed the kettle off the stove and filled it with fresh water. Heading back over to the stove, she turned the burner on and then rummaged through the tea caddy to try and find something that piqued her interest. Finally, she settled on Lady Grey, and pulled out two sachets before looking over at Erin, watching her gather things from the fridge.
"What would you like this morning?"
"Grab two bags of Scottish Breakfast Blend for me," she replied absently, and Penelope nodded as she thumbed through the caddy once more, finding what Erin wanted quite quickly and then heading back over to the table, setting them at their places before heading to the sink and opening the first cupboard, vaguely remembering that that was where the mugs were kept. A small smile slipped across her lips as she found a bunch of gaudy, garish, ones on the first shelf, while the more elegant ones were on the second. Knowing that she was pushing her luck, she pulled out a pair of Disney princess mugs, somehow knowing that they belonged to Tabitha, and took them over to the table before taking a seat and waiting to hear the whistle of the kettle.
"Would you mind driving me in today? We haven't brought my car over yet, otherwise I'd head in by myself."
"Do you really think you're ready to go back? You've had two large shocks happen quite quickly together, and I wouldn't want you to feel overwhelmed by being thrown into the deep end of things."
"But I also feel like if I don't go back now, I'm never going to want to go back. I need to be doing something," she said, stressing the last word. The kettle whistled, and she got up, picking it up by the handle and setting it down on a trivet as she watched Erin plate their omelettes.
"All right, if you truly feel like this is what you want to do, I'll support you. Just know, if anything starts to stress you out, you have access to my office, and I will allow you whatever time you need to get yourself together. Helen will know that, as well, so you don't have to worry about her saying something."
"That does make me feel better," Penelope murmured as she dug into her omelette. Erin gave her a quick smile as she started to steep their tea. "I don't think that I'll need to use that, though. I think that I can do my job and keep it together."
She barely caught the quick cock of Erin's eyebrow, but it was enough to cause her to frown a little as she set her fork aside and rested her chin in one hand, staring at Erin. "I believe that you feel that way now, darling, but I think that that might change once you are faced with your workload and all our well-meaning colleagues coming up and giving you their sympathies. That is a hard load to bear, as I'm certain you remember from when Emily was thought to be dead."
Erin did have a point there, and she nodded slowly as she fished the teabag out of her mug and set it on one side of her plate, bringing the mug up to her lips and sipping at the drink as she stared down at the table. "Everyone did seem to come out of the woodwork," she finally said, just as the noise of feet on the tile caught their attention. Penelope looked to see that Tabitha was standing at the table, her arms resting on the back of the chair as she yawned deeply. "Hey, you're up early."
"I smelled food."
Erin chuckled a little as she pushed her plate towards her youngest child. "I made extra, just in case you got up," she replied, and Tabitha smiled happily as she pulled out the chair and sat, digging into the rest of the omelette. "I'm going to go sit in the day room for a while, since we don't have to leave here for another ninety minutes or so."
"May I join you?"
"Of course," Erin said, and Penelope shot a quick smile to Tabitha as she got to her feet and followed after Erin, mug in hand. Tabitha waved to them a little, and she waved back before leaving the kitchen. The day room was filled with a lovely light, and Penelope curled up on one end of the sofa as she stared out the window. "What were your parents like?"
"They were hippies. Believed in free, easy, love and that people were hiding deep wells of emotion behind the mask that they put on for the public. I failed them, when I didn't look at you with the eyes they had tried to give me. And if they had known…"
Erin sighed a little as she reached over and patted Penelope's knee. "There were events in my life that created a bitter heart in me. I will tell you about them, eventually, but I will tell you that I reserved my kindness for my children, and I did anything at work that would ensure my job security, so that I could provide for them."
"We all make choices for one reason or another. I think that doing things for family is probably the noblest decision maker, honestly."
"I'm not certain you'll feel that way when you find out some of the things I did, but you make my heart a little lighter to hear you say it that way." Erin tightened her hand on Penelope's knee as she drew in a deep breath. "Now, I need to get ready for the day, and you'll probably want to put your makeup on. We'll meet back downstairs in thirty?"
"As long as you don't say wheels up, we'll be fine," Penelope joked as she got up from the sofa, holding out her hand to Erin. She clasped it tightly before letting Penelope help her to her feet. Hand in hand, they went upstairs, and Penelope found herself actually somewhat looking forward to the day ahead, since she knew that she would be able to at least take her mind off what was troubling her.