AN: Here is the long-awaited update for all of you. Thank you for being so patient with me. I hope you like this. PLZ R&R!

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

Chapter 36: Reunion

Derek pulled into JJ's driveway and he and Penelope climbed out of the car and started towards the door. Emily opened the door to let them in and they walked in to see Ryan fast asleep again.

"How is he?" Penelope asked as Derek knelt down before him.

"He fell asleep right after your phone call," JJ came into them. "Hotch just picked up Jack and Will took Henry upstairs."

"Maybe we shouldn't have that gathering," Penelope commented.

"What gathering?" Emily asked.

"All of my brothers are in town," she told them. "Along with their wives. We told them to meet us at the house, but…."

"I want to meet them," a soft voice mumbled.

"Are you sure?" Derek saw Ryan's eyes flutter open.

"I want to," he mumbled again.

"All right," Derek lifted him into his arms. "But they won't be staying long. Thanks again, JJ. I owe you."

"I was glad to do it," she told him as she patted Ryan's back as he rested his head on Derek's shoulder. "Feel better soon, buddy."

Penelope gathered Ryan's things and followed them out of the house. Derek got Ryan settled in the back seat before he climbed back into the car and they pulled away from JJ's house.

When they pulled up to their house, they saw the driveway packed with cars. Derek sighed as he glanced over at her and glanced at Ryan passed out in the back seat again.

"Hopefully he won't be overwhelmed,"

"Let's get him inside," she told him as they started to climb out of the car.

Everyone else climbed out of their cars and started towards them as Derek opened the back door.

"Don't crowd him too much," Derek called. "He's really not feeling well."

"If you give me your keys, I'll start to make up some warm broth for him," Tim's wife, Shelley, told him.

"Here you go," Derek handed her his keys. "Just watch out for the pooch that will greet you. He's harmless though."

Penelope opened the back door and started to gather all of Ryan's things. She saw his eyes starting to slowly open and smiled at him.

"Mom," he moaned.

"Derek, get him out!" Penelope called as she quickly unfastened his seatbelt.

"What-"

"Unless you want him to decorate your back seat, I would get him out right this second!"

Derek wasted no time reaching in and pulling Ryan from the car just moments before he started to empty his stomach again. Penelope rushed over as she heard Ryan gagging as Derek held him at the back of the car. They both tried to soothe him as he started crying.

"It's ok," Penelope rubbed his back. "You'll be fine."

"Don't crowd him," they heard Joe tell all the kids. "All of you head inside."

"S-Sorry," Ryan mumbled.

"Don't apologize for being sick," Derek told him. "Do you think you're done now?"

Ryan nodded as Derek lifted him up in his arms again. Penelope finished gathering his things from the back seat and they started inside.

"Do you have a hose?" Michael asked. "I can clean this up for you."

"Thanks," Derek looked at him. "It's on the side of the house."

"I've been on the receiving end of that before. At least he didn't get any on you this time."

"I'm going to take him to get cleaned up and change his pajamas again."

"We'll be fine down here," Penelope assured him as they headed upstairs.

"So it looks like you're pretty much moved in sis," Tim looked around. "What made you finally come to your senses?"

"All of your wives," she smiled at him. "And Emily and JJ, and of course Fran."

"We all love you," Michael came in after cleaning the driveway. "We can't help but try to make you see the right decision. Especially if it's been standing right in front of you for years."

"Yeah I get it," Penelope rolled her eyes. "So where's the missing Garcia's? Where's Mitchell and his family?"

"They're on their way," Joe told her. "For the record, I think he's being very genuine. He's fought his demons and he wants to make things right."

"I really want to believe it," Penelope sighed. "But I can't just forget everything-"

"Just get through this night," Tim told her.

"Someone is ready for the introductions," Derek came back downstairs with Ryan in his arms as he carried his blanket and his alligator from the zoo.

"He should be in bed so that he can rest," Penelope told him as he started to get Ryan settled in the living room.

"He refused when I tried to get him to sleep in his room," Derek told her. "I think he wants to protect his mom when her other brother shows up."

"If he's even coherent for that long,"

"The broth is almost done," Shelley told them as she brought in a plastic bowl that she had found in the kitchen. "Throw up bowl. Every parent needs one. Penelope told me that you hardly use it so it'll only come out when someone is sick."

"Thanks," Derek placed it on the floor below Ryan as he finished getting him settled on the couch. "So I know you all from the video chats we've had, but should we do the introductions?"

"Probably," Penelope nodded.

"Well this is my wife Shelley," Tim started. "And our daughters. Jazlynn is nine and Skylar is fifteen."

"I'm Sarah," she came forward. "I'm Michael's wife. And this is our ten-year-old daughter Hannah."

"I'm Allison, Joe's wife." Another woman came forward. "And this is thirteen-year-old Tanner."

"It's nice to meet you all," Derek smiled as the doorbell rang and he glanced at Penelope. "I'm thinking that's him, Baby Girl."

"Yeah," she said softly.

"I'll get it," Joe went to open the door and let in a group of four people. "We were just doing the introductions."

"Well I'm Mitchell," the newest member started as he turned to his family. "This is my wife Olivia and our kids. Elizabeth is twenty-one and Daniel is fourteen."

"Nice to meet you," Derek went to stand in front of Mitchell. "I'm supportive of this little meeting because it's important to your sister. But if this ends badly, you'll have me to answer to."

"And they both work for the FBI bro," Tim smirked. "They might just know how to get rid of a body without anyone knowing about it."

"Good to know," Mitchell told him. "I'm making a fresh start. So I'm here to make amends with all of you."

"Just be glad the kid is sick," "Michael pointed to the couch. "When we met him for the first time, he kept giving us the evil eye while we were trying to eat."

"That's his apprehensive look," Derek told them. "He's very cautious of new people. He was feeling you out. Seeing if he could trust you or not."

"Well hopefully he thinks he can now,"

"I have the broth ready," Shelley announced. "If Ryan is up for it."

"He hasn't had anything to eat since last night, so he should probably eat." Derek went to the couch as Shelley followed with the tray of soup and saltine crackers.

"Has he started calling you mom and dad yet?" Tim looked at Penelope.

"The night you guys left," she looked at him. "That was pretty sneaky telling him what you always told me."

"I had to get his attention," he shrugged. "So it's been going well for you then?"

"All uphill," she smiled. "I'll show you some pictures later."

"Pen," Derek called. "He's asking for you."

"Coming," she went to the couch as Derek joined everyone else in the kitchen.

"Don't take offense to it," Tim told him. "I think it's a universal sick kid thing. They always want their mom when they're sick. Dad just isn't good enough."

"I don't mind," Derek smiled. "They've always been close. From the day that they met each other for the first time."

Penelope went to the couch where Ryan was propped up against the back of the couch as he was covered with his blanket and grasping his alligator.

"Are you up for eating little one?" she sat beside him and he shrugged. "Well let's just try a little bit, ok?"

"Ok," he said softly as the tray was placed over his lap.

Ryan watched as two girls came in and sat on the love seat across from the couch. The younger one kept staring at them as the older one looked bored.

"Jazzy, stop staring." Skylar jabbed her younger sister. "He's sick."

"Who are they?" Ryan asked softly.

"These are Tim's girls," Penelope told him. "Jazlynn and Skylar. So they're your cousins."

"Hi," Jazlynn smiled at him.

"Hi," Ryan said softly.

"I'm Tanner," Joe's son came into them. "I play soccer too. I saw your team photo hanging up."

Derek watched as each of the kids went in to introduce themselves to Ryan. He was a little overwhelmed, clinging to Penelope for most of it, but after awhile he relaxed and started interacting with each of them.

"Derek, get the bag of things we got at the store." Penelope called and he grabbed it off the counter and took it to her.

Ryan was a lot more alert and listening as Skylar and Elizabeth kept telling them stories about the things they liked to do.

"We got you the sketchbook you asked for," Penelope pulled it out of the bag. "It's a spiral notebook one so the pages won't fall out unless you want to pull out a page to give it to someone."

"Thank you,"

"And sketching pencils," Penelope handed them to him. "And one more thing. You didn't ask for it, but I saw it and thought that you might like to try it."

"What is it?" he saw her take a box out.

"It's a kit. You can make keychain animals out of beads. There's patterns to make a frog, lizard, snake, puppy…."

"Cool," Ryan smiled at her.

"We'll attempt it when you're not feeling so sick, all right?" he nodded as all the adults joined them.

Ryan was able to keep the broth that Shelley made for him down. Everyone crowded around in the living room as Derek got out board games and turned on Netflix. After awhile, Derek realized that Penelope wasn't in the room and started to go look for her.

"She's with Mitchell out back," Tim stopped him. "He wanted to talk to her in private. He did the same thing with the rest of us."

"I'll give them fifteen minutes, then I'll go make sure that everything is ok." he told him as he turned back to Ryan who was struggling to stay awake so that he could keep talking to Tanner.

Penelope followed behind Mitchell as they walked out the back door and sat on the steps leading down into the yard. She had made sure to make her departure from the group while Derek was distracted by the rest of the group. She knew that if he saw her leave the room with Mitchell that he would've followed them and hovered by the door the whole time they were trying to talk.

"So," Mitchell started as he looked over at her. "You look happy."

"I am," she told him.

"Is Derek-"

"I have not seen you since I was eighteen," she interrupted him. "When you told me to leave and never come back. You have no right to be in protective brother mode right now. You haven't earned the privilege."

"Got it," he sighed. "I'm sorry, Penny."

"For?"

"All of it," he sighed. "For how I treated you all those years. You didn't deserve it. It was just-how I needed to cope with everything. I thought dad was moving too fast in marrying your mom and adopting you."

"You didn't want me to be a part of your family." Penelope stated. "I could see it."

"That's not it exactly," he told her. "Back then, I thought I had to be the man of the house. That the burden of everything fell on me."

"That wasn't your job. You just made it your job."

"You're right," he nodded. "I spent many, many years in a fog. I barely remember my life. When I started rebelling in high school, everything just all went downhill fast. I couldn't stop it and I couldn't fix it."

"You fixing it now," she smiled at him. "I'm proud of you."

"I want to get to know the sister I have now," he looked at her. "You have a family now."

"It's not quite official yet,"

"But you're all a family."

"I love my life," she told him. "Sure I see things at work that often stay with me even though I don't want them too, but I wouldn't trade this life for anything. Well maybe I would trade seeing my family more."

"We'll work on it," Mitchell assured her. "So there's a custody battle going on involving Ryan?"

"Tim assures us that the judge won't change his mind when we have the follow-up at the beginning of the year."

"I hope not. Ryan seems like a good kid."

"You should see him when he's not sick," she smiled at him. "He's more talkative and very smart."

"I'll have to come back and see that for myself,"

"I'd like that," she smiled over at him. "Maybe around the holidays?"

"I'll see what I can do,"

"How's it going out here?" the screen door slid open and Derek walked out.

"Stop worrying so much Handsome," Penelope stood up to face him. "I'm fine. We're just making plans to get together more."

"Ryan is also worrying about you,"

"How's he doing?"

"He said his stomach doesn't hurt as much anymore," he told her as they all walked back inside. "But he keeps asking where you are."

They all walked back inside and Penelope immediately went to Ryan, who instantly snuggled up against her and rested his head in her lap. Derek smiled at the sight as he continued to talk with Joe and Michael in the kitchen as their wives offered to make them all some supper.

A few hours later, everyone started packing up and heading towards their cars. Derek and Ryan said their goodbyes to everyone before Derek took Ryan upstairs to help him get ready for bed. Penelope had a very long goodbye with all of them before they all eventually climbed into their vehicles and they waved to each other as they pulled out of the driveway.

Penelope walked into the master bedroom and smiled as she saw Ryan sleeping in the middle of the bed as Derek took his temperature. She quickly got ready for bed and joined them as Ryan moved closer to her.

"No temperature," Derek told her. "But I still made an appointment with the doctor for tomorrow."

"Probably a good idea," She nodded as she started to rub Ryan's back. "How are you feeling sweetie?"

"I want to stay in here with you," he mumbled.

"Of course you do," she agreed. "Why would you want to stay in a room by yourself when you're not feeling good?"

"Come on boy," Derek spotted Clooney coming into the room and just started to stare at them as he watched Ryan. "Get up here."

Penelope smiled as the pooch jumped onto the bed and got himself situated by Ryan as they all got settled. Derek turned out the light and they all eventually drifted off to sleep.

AN: So what'd you all think? I hope you liked this. The next several chapters will deal with Ryan's first holidays with everyone. PLZ R&R!

Thank you to everyone who gave me feedback on which story I should post next. And based on everyone's feedback the winner is...

STOLEN HEART

Now I am not saying that I won't be posting the other stories eventually. I'll just be posting Stolen Heart as my next story. I might actually be posting the first chapter within the next few hours or so. It depends if I feel that it needs to be tweaked or not. So if I don't post it by tonight, I'll most likely post it within the next couple of days. Keep your eyes open for it. Thank you!