Chapter 139
AN: Thank you for the support. I really hope you like this chapter.
A couple of hours after Penelope and Emily are granted full, permanent custody of the kids they have had an early lunch with the family who came to support them, and have put in for leave until the twenty third of April so they can help the kids get settled in.
As they need a lot more things for the kids now that they have been granted permanent custody Penelope, Emily and the kids are in the car on the way to the mall.
"Are we going back to the house?" Maddie asks curious.
"Not yet, Sweetie," Penelope tells her. "We're going go shopping so that you all can pick out what you want for your room, and other things you need," Penelope explains.
"What we want?" Kenzie asks surprised.
"Yeah Honey, what you want," Emily tells her. "Later this week we're also going to paint, and decorate your rooms however you want," Emily explains.
"A pink room?" Maddie asks, sounding uncertain.
"If you want a pink room I think we can arrange that," Emily tells her and Maddie smiles.
"What about you, Kenz? How do you want you room decorated?" Penelope asks curious.
"Um, maybe purple, or blue, I'm not sure," Kenzie admits, sounding uncertain as she has never gotten to choose what her room looks like before.
"That's okay, you can think about it. We were planning on getting plaint tomorrow so you have plenty of time to decide," Penelope assures.
"Noah, what do you want your room to look like, Bud?" Emily asks curious.
"Superhero!" Noah exclaims, to Penelope and Emily's amusement.
"We'll see what we can do," Penelope says. "What about you, Connor? What do you like?" Penelope asks, trying to get Connor to open up more as he has been very shy, very introverted.
"Animals!" Connor says.
"He likes green too," Kenzie says as she has realized that.
"That's good to know," Emily says as she pulls into the mall. "Maddie, Kenzie, it is really important that why we're here you don't run off on your own, and you don't go with anyone other than me and Pen," Emily tells the kids.
"Yes Emily," Maddie and Kenzie both say.
"Noah, we need you to always be holding either mine or Emily's hand," Penelope says, as Connor is going to be in the stroller with Casey so he cannot run off.
A few hours later Penelope and Emily have gone shopping with the kids, and with some slight encouragement, they got Maddie, Kenzie, Noah, and Connor to pick out things they wanted, while getting all five kids the things they need; including clothes that actually fit them. Once they returned home, as the kids were putting the stuff in their rooms, Penelope and Emily put together Connor's new crib that will convert into a toddler bed when needed. While they put some of Casey's stuff in their room, including the new bassinet they brought, they put the rest of the stuff they brought for her in the room across from theirs as that will be her room when she is a little older.
It's a little while before they have to get started on dinner and Penelope and Emily are in the living area with all the kids as they have to have two conversations, one with all four of the older kids, and one with just Kenzie and Maddie. While the kids, with the exception of Casey who is in the portable bassinet which is now in the living room, are sitting together on the couch Penelope and Emily are sitting on the coffee table in front of them.
"Kenz, Maddie, Noah, Connor, this is just as much your home as it is ours, we want you to feel that way," Emily tells the children. "I know it might take it a while for you to believe it, but you are safe her, it's your home, there is no where you're not welcome," Emily explains.
"But there is one rule," Penelope says. "The little room next to the upstairs stairs, do you all know what I'm talking about?" Penelope asks, and all four of the kids nod. "That's the room where Em and I might work from home sometimes, and if the door is closed, and one, or both, of us are inside, then we need you to knock and not come in until we say you can," Penelope explains.
"It's not because we don't want you to be with us, because we do," Emily assures the kids. "And it doesn't mean you're not welcome," Emily explains. "It's just that sometimes the work Pen and I do is scary and we want to protect you from that," Emily says. "Do you understand?" Emily asks.
"Yes," Kenzie says, and both Maddie and Connor nod.
"Noah, do you understand, Bud?" Penelope asks.
"I think so," Noah says.
"Boys, do you want to go play? Pen and I need to talk to your sisters," Emily explains, and the boys, both nods, climb off the couch, and go over to the toys near the TV. "On Tuesday you will both be starting at your new school. You'll have school for the rest of the week, and then spring break for a week, then the new term," Emily explains.
"For school you need laptops," Penelope says. "We brought them for you today," Penelope says, knowing specifically she picked out the best ones for the girls needs.
"Really?" Kenzie asks shocked.
"Really," Emily says. "You'll get them after dinner, but we need to have a serious conversation," Emily admits. "The main use for the laptops will be school work, but we also know you'll use them for fun and that's okay," Emily tells the girls, as she and Penelope have had serious conversations about how they would handle this.
"I'm going to put programs on the laptops that will stop you from to sites that are not safe, or not appropriate," Penelope explains. "And I'm also going to be putting in place systems that will alert me if you are contacted by anyone who shouldn't be contacting you," Penelope explains.
"Maddie, Kenz, we want you to know we're not doing this because we don't trust you, because we do, we know you're responsible, but from our jobs we know there are people who use the internet to hurt kids, and we don't want that for you," Emily explains. "The systems Pen is putting into place won't tell us what you do, you have privacy, they are your laptops," Emily explains. "What they will do is put in place things to protect you and keep you safe while using them," Emily explains.
"Do you understand what we're saying?" Penelope asks.
"Yes," Kenzie says.
"You want to keep us safe," Maddie realizes.
"Exactly, which is why we need you both to tell us if you are every contacted by someone you don't know," Emily tells the girls. "Or if anyone, online or offline, ever makes you feel uncomfortable, or tries to hurt you," Emily tells them. "We know you've been hurt before, and we don't want that to happen ever again. Pen and I are always going to do whatever we can to protect you, keep you safe, and we're never going to let anyone get away with hurting you, okay?" Emily asks, knowing that this conversation has veered from what she and Penelope intended it to be, and so they're going to have to have another conversation with the boys.
"Okay," Maddie says, and Kenzie nods. While neither are sure they completely believe Emily's words they want to.
Hours later the kids are all in bed, and Casey is asleep in her new basinet, while Penelope and Emily are lying in bed together.
"Em, are you awake?" Penelope asks her wife.
"Yeah Babe," Emily says. "You okay?" Emily asks concerned.
"Em I never want our kids to go through what Stephen and Jack went through," Penelope admits, and once she does Emily move so that she is facing Penelope.
"What do you mean?" Emily asks in a gentle voice as that could mean a lot of things.
"I want us to make a deal, that if something happens to one of us then the other will quit the BAU," Penelope says. "I don't want our kids to grow up like Stephen and Jack, constantly wondering if their only parent will come home; it's not fair, and I don't want that for them," Penelope explains.
"I don't either," Emily says as she has heard enough stories from Stephen, and seen what's happened with Jack, to know that. "It's a deal," Emily says, even though she really doesn't want to think about that, as she leans over and kisses Penelope's cheek. "Pen, they're our kids, we're their Moms," Emily says, sounding amazed, and feeling overwhelming joy.
"Yeah, we are," Penelope confirms. "I'm going to need a new car, aren't I?" Penelope asks her wife.
"I know you love Esther, but yeah, Pen, she's not practicable for five kids," Emily admits, as while her car is big enough there might be times where they need two cars and right now Penelope's car can't drive the kids.
"I'll start looking, and maybe ask Dad if I can store Esther at his place," Penelope says, knowing her father has the big garage that has room
"Sounds good to me," Emily says, kissing Penelope's cheek and the two of them drift into silence as they cuddle up together.
Two days have passed since Penelope and Emily were granted custody of the kids and in that time, they have been helping the kids get adjusted to their new home. It's early morning on a Friday and the entire family is in the kitchen having breakfast.
"When are the others getting here?" Penelope asks Emily.
"In about twenty minutes," Emily answers.
"I can't believe they all took days of work to help us," Penelope says, sounding surprised.
"Pen, our teams our family, of course they were more than willing to help today," Emily tells her wife.
"Are we decorating our rooms today?" Maddie asks.
"Yep," Penelope confirms.
"There is going to be a lot of painting, and so while that's happening you guys are going to stay down here with Spencer; do you remember him?" Emily asks and all four of the older kids nods.
"Can't we help?" Kenzie asks, as she wants to help, causing both Penelope and Emily to exchange looks.
"You know what, I think you can help a little," Penelope says, and Kenzie smiles. "Eat up, we've got a lot of work to do today," Penelope tells the kids.
Half an hour later the team, Stephen, Kristy and Will have arrived. While Spencer is downstairs with the kids, everyone else is standing on the upstairs landing.
"I assume you have a plan for how this is going to work?" Luke asks.
"Of course, newbie," Penelope says.
"Upstairs is Kenzie's room," Emily says. "Tara, you and I are going to handle that. She's picked out indigo and sky-blue paint, so we're going to use those and I also got music and softball decals because she likes those things. She also picked out a few things she wanted for her room, which was big for her," Emily explains, and Tara nods, knowing that a large part of what they are doing is going to be making sure the room isn't too dark. "That room there is Noah's," Emily says, pointing to the room closest to the upstairs stairs. "He picked out turquoise for the paint and a lot of superhero posters and decals," Emily explains. "JJ, Matt, is it okay if you handle that?" Emily asks, looking at them, knowing that they both know a lot about superheroes, so they'll probably be able to come up with a good design.
"Of course," JJ says.
"Sure," Matt says.
"Next to Noah's room is Connor's," Emily says. "We're going to paint that soft green, to match the brown wood furniture, and have animals all around because that's what he loves; he even picked out some things," Emily says, sounding proud. "Luke, Will, that sound okay to you?" Emily asks the pair.
"Yep," Will says, and Luke nods.
"Dad, behind you is Maddie's room, you and I are going to handle that," Penelope says. "She's picked out bubblegum and rose pink for the walls. Like Kenz Maddie picked out some things she wanted so we'll put them up," Penelope says. "The last room is the room that will be Casey's when she's a little older. We've gotten the white wood furniture for her, and we got yellow paint, and some other things. Gideon, Kristy we thought you'd be able to figure out how to set that up," Penelope suggests.
"Definitely," Kristy says, and Stephen nods.
A few hours after the team begin to get the kids rooms ready for them Reid is downstairs with the kids. While Casey is sleeping, Maddie is playing dolls, Kenzie is playing a game on the kids tablet, and both Noah and Connor are sitting with Reid as he has a whole lot of different sized two dimensional shape toys in front of them.
"Each of these shapes are different sizes, which means they have different areas," Reid explains to the boys. "Now, we're going to sort them by area, which means we need to…" Reid starts to say, but then to his surprise Connor, without saying a word or even really looking at him, organizes the shapes so that they go from biggest to smallest. "That's exactly right," Reid says to Connor. "That's really good," Reid says, feeling impressed, and as he speaks Penelope walks into the room.
"How are things going down here?" Penelope asks, looking between Reid and the kids.
"Good," Reid says.
"Penelope, can we help?" Maddie asks, clearly referring to her and Kenzie.
"If you'd like," Penelope says.
"Yes!" Maddie says.
"Yes please!" Kenzie says.
"Okay, come on," Penelope says, and she heads upstairs with the girls. Once they are upstairs Kenzie heads up to her room while Maddie, and Penelope go into hers.
Hours later, the kids rooms have all been finished, and the kids love them, and the team have joined the Prentiss's for dinner. While the rest of the team have been gone for a while Penelope and Emily are saying goodbye to Reid who stayed later than the others as he was showing the kids magic tricks.
"Thanks Spence, for everything you've done today," Emily says, feeling incredibly grateful for him.
"You don't have to thank me, I had a great time," Reid admits, really meaning that. "I think Connor is highly intelligence," Reid reveals.
"What do you mean?" Penelope asks, interested.
"He's still introverted, so it's hard to tell for sure, but he was able to do logic exercises, and follow instructions that I wouldn't expect a child his age to be able to do," Reid admits, as after what happened with the shapes her tried a couple of other things, and continued to be impressed by Connor. "You should keep an eye on that, see what happens when he comes out of his shell a bit more," Reid explains.
"We will," Penelope says.
"Thanks Spence," Emily says, and both she and Penelope hug Reid before he leaves, once read leaves they head back to where the kids are.
Hours later Emily is doing a check on the kids, and making sure the house is secure, before heading to bed herself and as she peers into Noah's room she realizes that he is still awake in his new bad.
"Hey Bud, you okay?" Emily asks, walking over to Noah and sitting on the edge of his bed.
"I really like it here," Noah reveals.
"I'm really glad to hear that," Emily says to the little boy. "Noah, this is your home now, you're safe, Pen and I are always going to look after you, and your siblings, we'll keep you safe," Emily explains to him. "And Sweetheart, if you ever want something all you have to do is ask," Emily explains, knowing that one of the siblings are used to asking for what they want and so it's a habit she and Penelope want them to get out off.
"Can I have a story?" Noah asks.
"Of course," Emily says, and she gets up and walks over to where the books she and Penelope got for Noah are and grabs one. Once she has a book she walks over to Noah's bed. "Can I sit net to you?" Emily asks.
"Yes," Noah says with a nod and he moves over so Emily can sit down next to him.
"Once upon a time," Emily starts to read and as she does Noah snuggles into her side and Emily puts her arm around him.
As Emily reads to Noah Penelope has wondered where her wife is, and so she went searching, as sees Emily reading to Noah as he cuddled up with her, Penelope pulls out her phone and takes a picture, before heading out of the room. After leaving Noah's room Penelope starts to head back to hers and Emily's room, but as she walks past the stairs that lead upstairs Penelope realizes that Kenzie's light is still on, and so she heads up there.
"Kenz, are you okay?" Penelope asks, pushing the open door open slightly, and seeing that Kenzie is sitting up on her bed with a book.
"Yes," Kenzie explains.
"It's getting late, Sweetheart," Penelope tells her, taking a few steps forward.
"I know, I just really wanted to finish this book," Kenzie explains, sounding nervous. "I only have a few pages left, promise, can I finish it?" Kenzie asks terrified of how Penelope is going to react to her asking something like this.
"Sure," Penelope says, with a comforting smile. "But as soon as you finish it's lights out, okay?" Penelope says.
"I will, I promise," Kenzie says.
"Okay, goodnight Sweetheart," Penelope says, before heading out of the room, knowing that in a little while she will come back and check that Kenzie has actually gone to bed.
The next morning Penelope and Emily have gotten all the kids up early as they are going to be having their first therapy appointments. After making sure all the kids had breakfast they all travelled to the office of the therapist that Tara recommended.
"Emily, Penelope," The Doctor says, walking into the meeting room to great them.
"Yes," Emily says as she and Penelope stand up.
"It's nice to meet you both, Tara talks very highly of you, I'm Doctor Jane Welsh," Jane explains. "And this must be Kenzie, Maddie, Noah, Connor, and Casey," Janes says, looking at each of the kids.
"Yes," Penelope confirms.
"The way I would like to work, at least at first, is that every week I will have an initial half an hour session the children," Jane explains. "In the future I may want you to be included in that session, but for now it would be best if it's just them," Jane explains.
"Of course, we understand," Emily says.
"Then I would also like to do half an hour individual session with each of the four older children," Jane explains. "My sessions with them will be confidential. However, if there is something I feel you truly need to know I will disclose," Jane explains.
"We assumed it would be like that," Penelope admits.
"Okay, let's get started," Jane says.
"Kenz, Maddie, Noah, Connor, you're going to go talk to Jane right now, but Pen and I are going to be right outside," Emily says to the children.
"Okay," Maddie says, and while the older kids head into Jane's office Penelope and Emily sit down with Casey in the waiting area.
A while later it's a little before lunch and Penelope, Emily and the kids are back home. While the kids haven't talked about what happened in the therapy appointments Penelope and Emily have to believe it will be a first step to helping them.
As the kids, Penelope and Emily do various things around the main area of the house there is a knock on the door.
"I've got it!" Maddie says, as she is close to the door as she was chasing her sister around.
"Maddie, don't open the door unless you know who is on the other side!" Emily calls back, even though she and Penelope know who it is, she doesn't want the kids to get used to opening the door to people they don't know.
"Hi," Maddie says, opening the door before she heard what Emily said and she finds Morgan on the other side.
"Hi," Morgan says, feeling completely confused, as Penelope walks over.
"Sorry, I didn't know I wasn't supposed to open the door," Maddie says to Penelope.
"It's okay, Sweetie, you didn't know. We'll talk about it later," Penelope explains, knowing that she and Emily plan to have a safety conversation with all the kids before Kenzie and Maddie start their new school. "Maddie, this is super special Derek Morgan, we used to work together," Penelope explains. "Derek, this is Maddie," Penelope introduces.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sweetheart," Derek, who is still feeling incredibly confused, says.
"Do you want to go tell Emily that Derek is here?" Penelope asks Maddie.
"Sure," Maddie says and she hurries to the main living area.
"Something you forgot to tell me Baby Girl?" Morgan asks once Maddie is out of hearing range.
"I thought it would be better to explain in person," Penelope explains, as she and Morgan hug.
"You have a kid now?" Morgan asks surprised, as they break apart and Penelope closes front door.
"Not just one," Penelope explains. "Last week we worked the case, an Avenging Angel," Penelope explains, knowing Morgan will know what that will mean. "Maddie, and her four siblings were left alive. Em and I have been granted permanent custody and we plan to adopt them in six months," Penelope explains.
"Wow, that's a lot," Morgan admits.
"Do you want to meet our other kids?" Penelope asks Morgan.
"Definitely," Morgan says, and Penelope leads Morgan to the main living area. "Prentiss, Prentiss, Prentiss," Morgan greats, as Emily, who is holding Casey, walks towards him, and once she is close enough he hugs her, being careful of Casey.
"It's good to see you," Emily says, as they break apart.
"And who's this?" Morgan asks, looking down at Casey.
"This is Casey," Emily introduces, as Penelope gets the older kids to walk over.
"Hi there, little girl," Morgan says.
"And this is Kenzie, Noah, and Connor," Penelope introduces as Morgan already met Maddie. "Kids this is Derek Morgan," Penelope says.
"It's really nice to meet you all," Derek says, looking between the kids who, in his opinion, hit the lottery as they are going to have the best, the most incredible, moms any kid could have.
A couple of hours after Morgan arrived at the Prentiss house Penelope, Emily, the kids and Morgan are walking into the backyard of Rossi's mansion where the rest of the team, their kids, and partners including Stephen are. As they are walking Penelope is holding Casey, Emily is holding Connor, and the older kids are walking.
"Penelope can I play with David?" Noah asks, as he sees David kicking a soccer ball with Luke.
"Sure," Penelope says, and Noah runs over to play with David while JJ walks over with Henry and Michael.
"Hey guys," JJ greats. "Kenzie, Maddie, Connor, I would like you to meet my boys Henry and Michael," JJ says. "Boys, this is Kenzie, Maddie, Connor, and that is Casey," JJ introduces, pointing to the baby as she speaks.
"Hi," Henry says.
"Hi," Kenzie responds, as Maddie waves.
"Dave said food should be ready in about an hour," JJ explains, as the group head further into the yard.
About half an hour later Henry, Kenzie, Jake, Noah, and David are playing soccer with Morgan, Matt, JJ, and Luke, while Maddie, Lily and Chloe are drawing pictures with Kristy, Lisa, and Will, Reid is showing Michael and Connor Magic tricks while Stephen watches on in amusement, Rossi is cooking, and Penelope and Emily are sitting together on a couch, holding Casey, as Tara sits nearby. As Penelope and Emily watch their kids, they are both feeling beyond glad that the kids are actually letting themselves have fun as in Kenzie's case especially that is a big deal.
"How are things going?" Tara asks curious.
"Good, they're still adjusting, I think it will take a while, but I can see small moments of them opening up more," Emily admits, being pretty confident that it is going to take Kenzie the longest to open up.
"Considering everything they've been through that isn't surprising," Tara admits. "Have you figured out what you're going to do Monday?" Tara asks interested.
"We asked Jane this morning what she thought, and she recommended telling Kenzie and Maddie all about it and given them the option as to whether they go," Penelope explains. "So, that's what we're going to do, we're going to sit them down tomorrow afternoon and explain," Penelope admits.
"If there is anything I can do to help…" Tara starts to say.
"We know, thanks Tara," Emily says, as Rossi walks over.
"How's dinner going?" Penelope asks her father curious.
"Good, shouldn't be much longer," Rossi says. "How are you both doing?" Rossi asks.
"Good," Penelope and Emily say together.
"And Casey, how is she?" Rossi asks.
"A perfect angle," Penelope says, as she has noticed how well behaved Casey is.
"Do you want to hold her?" Emily asks.
"Yeah, I would," Rossi says, and Emily gently passes Casey over to Rossi.
"Hi Bambi," Rossi says, smiling down at the baby and as he does Penelope and Emily exchange smiles, both feeling glad that not only their kids are having a good time, but so are the rest of their family.