SO WHAT DID EVERYONE THINK OF TONIGHT'S EPISODE?
AN: Here's another chapter for you guys. I hope you like it. PLZ R&R!
Disclaimer: See first chapter.
Chapter 35: Parenting Woes
Derek turned over in bed and glanced at the clock on his nightstand. He sighed when he realized that he still had several hours yet before he needed to get up. He felt movement beside him and saw Penelope turn over and look at him.
"What's the matter?" she asked sleepily.
"I'm not sure," he sighed. "I keep thinking about today-"
"Everything will be fine," she assured him.
"I know-" he started then sat upright in bed. "Did you hear that?"
"What?" she looked at him.
"I could've sworn I heard-" he was cut off when he heard a scratching at the door.
Penelope sat up as Derek climbed out of bed and went to open the door. They both watched as Clooney walked into them and started whining. Ever since Ryan's first overnight with Derek, Clooney always slept with Ryan the whole night through in his bedroom whenever he was there.
"What's the matter boy?" Derek glanced back at Penelope. "I think I'm going to check on Ryan."
"Right behind you," Penelope pulled on her bathrobe before following him out.
Derek slowly opened Ryan's door and spotted the bed empty. An intense odor hit him as he heard a noise in the bathroom. He flipped on the light as he walked in and spotted Ryan sprawled in front of the toilet.
"Hey buddy," Derek went to him as the odor hit him again. "Are you ok?"
"I got sick," he mumbled sleepily. "I was coming to get you."
"It's ok," Derek assured him. "Let's get you cleaned up."
"I ruined the bed,"
"You didn't ruin it," Derek stripped him out of his pajamas and turned on the shower before standing him in it. "Everything is washable."
Penelope came in with another pair of pajamas for Ryan and took the soiled pair from him.
"I'll get this and all the bedding into the washing machine," she told him and he nodded as he started to lightly spray off Ryan with the shower head.
A half hour later, Derek carried Ryan downstairs as he had his head laying on his shoulder and his arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Penelope had pulled the sofa bed out and had set up some pillows and blankets.
"Here we go," Derek lay Ryan down on the bed and got situated beside him.
"Sorry," Ryan mumbled as he clung to Derek.
"For what?" Derek looked down at him.
"For waking you up,"
"Don't worry about it," he smiled at him. "I like taking care of you. Even very early in the morning."
"The laundry is going," Penelope came out to them. "How is he?"
"He threw up a couple more times," he told her. "It's probably the flu. The school sent out an email a couple days ago saying that a lot of the kids were coming down with it."
"He'll be better in a few days," she sat down on the other side of Ryan. "We need to get some sleep."
"Yeah," Derek turned out the light and they all got settled.
A few hours later, Derek had finished getting ready for his court date as he picked up the phone to make a couple calls. He called Ryan's school to let them know that he wouldn't be there that day, then he called JJ, the only one on the team that he knew would be able to help him out today.
"Hello?" a tired voice came over the phone.
"JJ, it's Derek." He greeted tiredly. "Are you ok?"
"I was getting ready to call you. I don't think I'll be able to make it today. Henry woke up around two. We've been up all night."
"Is he sick too?"
"Yeah," she sighed deeply. "What do you mean too? Is Ryan sick?"
"He woke us up last night too," Derek sighed. "I was hoping, if it wasn't too much trouble-if I could-"
"Bring him over," she interrupted him. "Hotch is already on his way with Jack."
"They're all sick?"
"They probably got each other sick," JJ told him. "Emily will be staying behind to help us."
"Thank you so much JJ,"
"No problem," Derek hung up his phone as he saw Penelope coming down the stairs, all ready for court.
"So?" she asked him.
"JJ, Will and Emily will be watching all three sick boys." He told her.
"Jack and Henry are sick too?"
"Yep," he nodded as he glanced at Ryan still sound asleep on the sofa bed.
"They must've gotten each other sick,"
"That's the conclusion that JJ came to as well," he sighed.
"I have everything that you need for court," Penelope set the stack of items down on the counter. "Go get some things to take to JJ's for Ryan."
"Right," Derek went back upstairs again.
A little while later, Derek pulled into JJ's driveway and got Ryan out of the back and carried him to the front door. Emily opened the door and he walked in with Penelope behind him.
"Welcome to the infirmary," Will drawled in his southern accent. "I guess this is what will happen now. One of them gets sick, they'll all get sick."
"Thank you so much for doing this," Derek lay Ryan down on the loveseat and covered him with his blanket. "There's no way that I can reschedule-"
"Hey, you can't miss this court date," JJ came in with ginger ale for all the boys. "It will all be fine here."
"We brought some things for him," Penelope handed them to Emily.
"An inhaler?"
"He had asthma when he was younger," Derek told them. "It went away, but sometimes it comes back when he's sick."
"Got it,"
"And I also brought an extra pair of pajamas, just in case, and there's a fever reducer-"
"We got it covered," JJ told him. "He'll be fine here. We'll call you when he wakes up so he can talk to you."
"Thank you," Derek placed Ryan's bear under his arm as he continued to sleep and Penelope started to pull him away.
"We can't be late," she told him.
"All right," they both finally walked out of the house and got back into the car.
A little while later, they walked into the courthouse and found Hotch, Reid, Rossi and Fran waiting for them with Gloria.
"Sorry we're late," Derek looked at Gloria. "Ryan-"
"Agent Hotchner already explained," she smiled at him. "How is he?"
"I think it's the flu,"
"He's in good hands," Fran assured him. "Just get him something on your way home."
"I had already planned to," he smiled as he saw a guy in a suit coming down the hall. "Uh, Baby Girl?"
She looked down the hall where he was pointing and saw a familiar face coming towards them.
"Tim?" she looked at him. "What are you doing here?"
"Surprise," he smiled at them. "I'm your legal counsel."
"What?"
"But don't you have to have a license to practice here?" Derek asked him.
"I took the Bar exam to practice in the DC area," he informed them.
"I thought you only practiced criminal law," Derek said.
"I dabble in family law, if it's worth it." He told them. "And this case is definitely worth it if I can keep Caleb Nichol's daughter from getting Ryan."
"You've had run-ins with the Nichol's back in California?"
"As soon as I heard the last name, I knew. So if I can help you out, I will." Tim stated. "I've been in contact with both Agent Hotchner and Gloria the past several weeks. They sent me all the files and I think this will be over rather quickly."
"This is only the preliminary," Derek reminded him. "We won't be able to get a final decision until after the holidays."
"That's just a technicality," Tim told them. "Whatever decision the judge makes today, is usually the decision in the final hearing."
"Let's head in," Gloria told them and the group started to file in.
Penelope squeezed Derek's hand tightly as they followed Tim and Gloria to one of the small tables. The team filled the seats behind them as they all glanced over to the other side of the room. A stern-looking Mrs. Cohen sat with her lawyer and who they assumed was Ryan's old social worker. They spotted Sandy Cohen sitting behind them looking none too pleased to be there.
Tim and Gloria went through everything that Derek and Penelope had brought along and had a whispered conversation before the door to the back chambers opened and the judge came out and sat before them.
"I am Judge Routh, let's get this started." He looked at the crowd of people.
"Your Honor, before we begin," Tim stood up. "Mr. Morgan would like to make an appeal to Mrs. Cohen."
"Go ahead,"
"Mrs. Cohen's father, Caleb Nichol, is still in the custody of the Quantico police department after his little visit to the Morgan residence where he proceeded to frighten young Ryan."
"I've been briefed of the situation," Judge Routh looked at Mrs. Cohen. "And I am still less than thrilled about it."
"Mr. Morgan will agree to drop the charges that he filed against Mr. Nichol, on the guideline that he never sets foot in the DC area again, if Mrs. Cohen will agree to drop all this and let Ryan stay in his current place of residence where he belongs."
"That seems very reasonable," Judge Routh glanced at Mrs. Cohen's lawyer, who had a whispered conversation with his client.
"My client will not agree to that,"
"Let's proceed then," the judge stated.
"My clients were asked to bring anything that they thought would show how Ryan is adjusting to his life here in Quantico," Tim approached the judge's bench. "I have here pictures-"
"Mr. Atwood has been in their care for a lot longer than he was with the Cohen's-"
"You're right," Tim separated everything into two piles. "One is two months from the moment that Mr. Morgan met Ryan, and one is two months from the moment Ryan moved in with Mr. Morgan."
"Is this going good or bad?" Fran whispered to Dave.
"I'm not sure yet." He whispered back.
"There are also written statements from Ryan's school principal, all of his teachers, his therapist, and several others stating how he has been these last couple of months…." Tim placed a couple folders down. "Along with Ryan's weekly schedule, pictures of Ryan with his best friends, and here's a series of questions about Ryan that Mr. Morgan knew the answers to within the first few weeks that he knew him. I'll bet Mrs. Cohen doesn't know the answer to any of them."
"I think it's going well," Reid looked at Dave.
"It's going really well," Hotch told them. "Mrs. Cohen looks flustered."
"Ryan didn't even have his own room when he was with the Cohen's," Tim argued. "He slept on the couch in their den or on the floor of their son's room."
"They were in the process-"
"For two months? They were in the process for two months?"
"Enough!" Judge Routh pounded his gavel. "I would like to hear from Ryan's social worker. Gloria, the floor is yours."
"It's fine," Tim assured Derek and his sister.
"I first came into contact with Ryan when he showed up at the orphanage here in DC," Gloria started explaining. "Back then, he was very guarded. He barely spoke, hardly ate anything, just kept to himself; until he met Agent Morgan, that is. After their first meeting, he slowly opened up and started talking more. Most of what he said was asking when he could spend more time with Agent Morgan, but the important thing in my eyes was that he was talking more."
"And how is he adjusting living with him full-time?" Judge Routh questioned.
"He is a very happy child. He loves his school, he spends time with Agent Morgan's colleagues, he loves the lessons he goes to…."
"What kind of lessons does he take?"
"He takes guitar lessons every Tuesday after school followed by his therapy session. He will also be taking karate and horseback riding starting next week. They were both his idea."
"And how is his therapy going?"
"He fights it as you can imagine," Gloria told him. "But Dr. Yance has assured us that Ryan is doing well. He's been slowly opening up to her."
"And how is school going for him?"
"He was enrolled in the advanced learning program a few weeks ago," Gloria handed over another folder. "His favorite subjects are Art and Language Arts. In fact, they want Ryan to enter their art competition. And they want him to do a spelling bee that the school is sponsoring. Ryan is not sure if he wants to yet."
"Mrs. Cohen's main claim is that Mr. Morgan has a high-profile job that takes him out of town for quite a bit of time," Judge Routh stated. "Do you care to comment, Mr. Morgan?"
"Yes, Your Honor." Derek stood up. "It's true that I have a job that takes me away from my home quite a bit, but I have a wonderfully dedicated support system. My mom doesn't live that far from me and is more than willing to take care of him in those instances. They absolutely adore each other and love spending time together. Or my girlfriend just moved in with us-"
"I see that." Judge Routh glanced at her. "You also work with the FBI, Ms. Garcia?"
"Yes, Your Honor." She stood beside Derek.
"She's our Technical Analyst," Derek said. "Which means that she hardly ever travels with us. So she would be home to take care of him in my absence."
"And they get along with each other?" Judge Routh looked at Derek.
"Most definitely," Derek agreed. "Before he moved in, he always wanted to hang out with just the three of us. He wanted her to help him make his Halloween costume and he was very excited when she announced that she would be moving in with us. They love to do arts and crafts and other projects together."
"Miss Sloane?" Judge Routh turned to Ryan's social worker from Newport. "What is your assessment of Mrs. Cohen's reasoning for trying to take custody of Ryan?"
"I advised her against filing an appeal," Rachel stated. "Ryan had already been a ward of the state of Virginia for several months before they located him. He was already settled in with Mr. Morgan and starting his new school at that point. And Mr. Cohen wanted no part of taking Ryan from his home."
"Mr. Cohen, care to explain?"
"When the private investigator we hired to locate Ryan finally tracked down his whereabouts," Sandy stood up as he started to explain. "He informed us of a website that Mr. Morgan's mother started. It was a family website and it had pictures of Ryan since he showed up in Virginia. He was happy in every single picture that was posted; something that I never saw when he was living with us. I knew that he wasn't ours anymore. That's why I didn't want to co-file the appeal."
"So what is your recommendation at this point?" the judge turned back to Gloria.
"I believe that it would be beneficial to the well-being of Mr. Atwood if he would remain in the care of Mr. Morgan."
"I agree," Judge Routh looked at Derek and Penelope. "I will be making my final decision at the first of the year, but for right now Ryan will stay where he is."
"Thank god," Fran sighed, not realizing that she had been holding her husband's hand tightly, digging her fingernails into his skin in the process.
"I would like to speak to Ryan in person at the next hearing though." Judge Routh looked at Derek and Penelope.
"Not a problem," Derek smiled. "Given what he's already been through in his life so far, we didn't want to put him through all this if we didn't have to."
"Understandable," Judge Routh nodded.
"Plus he did wake up with the flu last night, so he wouldn't have been in any state to be able to come here today anyway."
"I do hope he feels better soon,"
"Thank you, Your Honor."
"At the next hearing, he will talk to me in my chambers. Gloria will be present, but she won't be able to intervene."
"Understood," Derek nodded.
"Everyone enjoy your holidays and I will see you all back here next year." Judge Routh pounded his gavel and stepped down from the bench as Derek breathed a sigh of relief.
"I told you everything would be fine," Penelope hugged him tightly.
"Thank you, Baby Girl." He whispered.
"For what?" she looked at him.
"For staying so positive," he told her. "And making me stay positive."
"Anytime, Handsome." She smiled at him.
"Thank goodness," Fran rushed to her son.
"I knew it would all work out," Dave smiled at his step-son.
They all watched as Mrs. Cohen stormed out of the courtroom and Mr. Cohen reluctantly followed behind his wife.
"Someone doesn't look happy," Hotch smiled as the group made their way out of the courtroom.
"I have a missed call from JJ," Derek took out his phone. "Ryan probably wanted to talk to me."
"Go ahead and call her back," Fran told him and he walked away from the group.
"Thank you, Bro." Penelope smiled at Tim.
"Hey I'm attached to the kid too," he smiled at her.
"So we were supposed to meet up with Mitchell tomorrow," Penelope told him as the rest of the group walked away to give them a moment.
"Yeah, I know." He looked at her.
"So does that mean that you're not the only one in town right now?" she asked.
"They may be waiting for my call so that I can tell them the outcome of the hearing," he smiled at her.
"And your wives and children?"
"They're all at the hotel," he smiled. "They're waiting on my call."
"I'll talk to Derek," she smiled at him. "See if he doesn't mind you all coming over. But Ryan is sick."
"I heard. So you woke up to him throwing up did you?"
"Clooney came to get us. Ryan was lying on the bathroom floor."
"That's nothing," Tim dismissed her story. "Wait until there's a trail of puke leading from his bedroom all the way down to your bedroom. Now that's a fun time."
Derek dialed JJ's number as he spotted Mr. and Mrs. Cohen starting to argue down the hall. He turned away as someone answered the phone on the other end.
"Derek?" JJ's voice came out. "How'd it go?"
"The final decision won't officially be made until next year," he told her. "But he's staying right where he is."
"Thank god,"
"So I saw you called. Did Ryan want to talk to me?"
"Yeah. He's fine, but he was missing you guys when he woke up. I think he just wanted his mom and dad."
"So how is he?"
"He threw up again, but he's fine. He's a little warm, but there's no fever."
"Is he awake?"
"Just a minute," Derek heard muffling.
"Dad?" a quiet voice greeted him.
"Hey buddy, how are you feeling?"
"My stomach feels funny," he mumbled.
"Aunt JJ said you threw up. Do you feel a little better after that?"
"Maybe,"
"Your mom and I just got done in court so we should be there to get you soon."
"Am I staying with you?"
"Yes you are," Derek smiled. "We'll talk more about it when we get there."
"Ok," Derek felt a hand on his shoulder and smiled as he saw that Penelope had joined him.
"We were going to stop at the store and get you some Gatorade and maybe another coloring book. How's that sound?"
"Sketchbook,"
"You want a sketchbook instead?"
"Yeah,"
"Ok, no problem. We'll see you soon. Love you buddy."
"Love you too," Derek hung up and smiled at Penelope.
"How is he?" she asked him.
"He threw up again,"
"We're in for a long weekend with him,"
"Oh yeah," he smiled at her.
"So…" she looked at him. "Tim is not the only brother of mine that's in town."
"That's right, we were supposed to meet Mitchell tomorrow."
"He's not the only one."
"They're all here?"
"Along with all their wives and kids."
"You're serious?"
"I told them they could come by the house, but…."
"As long as they're ok with a sick kid, then I have no problem with it."
"Thank you," she smiled at him.
"Anything for you, Baby Girl." He kissed her.
"Fine, you do that." They turned to look down the hall and saw Sandy and Kirsten Cohen still arguing. "If you want to see Seth, the child that's actually in your custody, let me know."
"Damn," Derek mumbled as Mr. Cohen stormed past them.
"Come on," Penelope led him away. "Let's not worry about them. Let's stop at the store really quick and go get our boy."
"Our boy," Derek smiled at her. "I like the sound of that."
"Well get used to it," she told him as they walked outside. "Because he will be our boy from now on."
AN: So what did you think? I hope you liked this. PLZ R&R!
A couple reviewers have said that they wanted to see Ryan with just Derek and that it seemed like Penelope was always around them. The name of this story is Dreaming Of HOME. Home to me, means family. Derek wants Penelope to be a part of the family that he has with Ryan. The three of them are a family. Plus she's there whenever he needs help with Ryan and doesn't know how to handle a situation. And vice versa. So I'm sorry if you think that Penelope is around too much, but I write Morcia stories. Either you like it or you don't. Thank you.
**SPOILER**
So what did everyone think of tonight's episode? It was definitely action-packed and the ending did throw me for a loop, but honestly I kind of saw it coming. But unlike some other so-called fans, I will not stop watching the show. Yes, he was one of my favorite characters, but he wasn't the only one I liked. It will be interesting to see where the show goes, but I will not stop watching. And besides, Shemar Moore is destined to do great things far beyond just a TV show. Criminal Minds made him a truly great actor, and I know we can expect really great things from him in the near future.