AN: This is a little on the short side and more of a filler, but still cute.

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Friday

"So, what did you sign up for?" Penelope asked in a whisper as all the parents stood in the back of the kindergarten classroom.

Most of the parents were paying just about as much attention as the children, which was very little, while the teacher went over the schedule and rules for field day.

"Tug of war from 10:30 to 11:00," Rossi replied. "It was either that or the egg toss. I thought my shoes' chance of survival was higher with the tug of war."

"You should have worn tennis shoes or something," Penelope advised, as she had traded in her usual dresses and heels for shorts and flats.

Rossi, however, was in his usual work get up minus the suit jacket. "I don't own tennis shoes."

Penelope shook her head but didn't get a chance to reply as the teacher finished her speech, and Nora was tugging at their hands to go outside.

It didn't take long for Rossi to realize they were a little out of their element. Most of the lower school was running around in the field as parents and teachers tried to wrangle them. And there they were, walking much slower than everyone else, with Nora holding their hands in the middle.

"Your class is starting at station 3: the ring toss," Penelope informed them.

They spent the morning going to the different stations. At ten, Penelope left to help with the bake sale. At ten-thirty, she and Rossi switched out so he could supervise tug of war. After that, they met back up for lunch: hot dogs, chips, and cookies.

"How are your shoes?" Penelope asked as she opened Nora's chip bag.

"Egg-free," Rossi replied cheekily. "Are you having fun, Nora?"

Nora nodded. "I won a race," She said, pointing to the blue ribbon pinned to her shirt.

"They had to spin around and then run through cones," Penelope added. "And someone has been working on their spotting, so it was no problem."

"That's my girl," Rossi praised.

"After lunch, we have three stations left, and then it'll be time to change for the waterslide," Penelope informed them.

"What stations are left?" Rossi asked.

"Egg toss, jump rope, and corn hole."

"Egg toss?" Rossi asked, glancing down at his shoes.

"Your shoes will be fine," Penelope replied with a playful shake of her head.

They were not fine. The two boys next to Nora and her partner quickly got bored with tossing the egg and made a short game of throwing it as hard as they could. Before he knew what was happening, Rossi's shoes were splattered with egg yolks. Penelope barely stopped laughing long enough to snap a picture of the look of disgust on his face. In good news, though, Nora and her partner Cassie managed to add a new blue ribbon to their shirts.

Rossi was happy to see Nora and Cassie having small conversations between the rest of the stations.

When it was time for the waterslide, a new face for the day joined them. "Dr. Lewis," Rossi greeted.

"Agent Rossi."

Nora ran to hug her. "Dr. Tara. Deal?"

"Yes, I'm here to fulfill my end of the deal."

"Deal?" Penelope asked as Rossi raised a brow.

"Nora and I had an agreement that if we could spend some time in the classroom versus my office for two weeks, I would join her on the waterslide," Tara explained.

Nora nodded. "Yep."

"You didn't have to do that," Rossi said, but he was smiling.

"I don't mind." She took Nora's hand. "Now I think we have a waterslide calling our names."

"Thank you," Rossi said before they were off.

By the end of the day, Nora had dragged Tara up the waterslide at least twenty times, and never once did she seem to be having less fun than Nora. Rossi once again saw it as a confirmation he had chosen the right school.

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Spending all day out in the sun had worn Nora out. So much so, she put herself down for a nap as soon as they got home. She slept till about ten minutes before Erin and the kids got there. Due to Mother's Day, Erin had the kids three weeks in a row, which meant they had gotten their Friday dinners down to a tee. That night was no exception. At exactly five-thirty, Rossi heard the key turn in the front door. There were only four people in the world Rossi had trusted with copies of keys to his home: Penelope, Erin, Hotch, and his housekeeper. The last of which he had run an extensive background check on.

"We're here!" Erin called.

"I'm in the kitchen," Rossi replied. "Nora's in her room."

Rossi heard one set of footsteps head upstairs: Erin to get Nora so they could check on the garden.

"Mudgie!" was followed by paws hitting the floor before the back door slammed shut.

That left Vivian and Alysa. If he strained his ears, Rossi could hear the quiet squeak of the downstairs office as Alysa hid away to do homework and Vivian softly walking towards the kitchen.

"Do you need any help?"

"Of course, grab an apron and wash your hands."

"What are we making tonight?" Vivian asked, slipping the apron on.

"Chicken Parmesan," Rossi replied. "Think you can remember how to do the sauce?"

"Yes, sir," She replied, drying her hands followed by gathering the pots she needed.

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"How was field day?" Erin asked as she filled up the water can for Nora.

"I won two ribbons."

Erin handed the watering can to Nora before bending down to start pulling weeds. "What did you win them in?"

"A race and egg toss."

Erin chuckled. "I saw Dave's shoes from the egg toss."

Nora giggled. "It was funny."

"I bet."

"Do you want to practice piano tonight or dance with Vivian?" Erin asked.

"Piano," Nora replied without hesitation. "I have practiced."

"That's good. Are you enjoying it so far?"

"Yes."

"Is it the instrument you want to stick with right now?"

"Yes."

Erin smiled. "Than we need to see about getting you some proper books."

Nora smiled at the prospect. A tennis ball landed in between them just before Mudgie barreled into Erin's lap.

"Noah," She warned with a frown.

Noah rushed over, grabbing the tennis ball and getting Mudgie's attention. "Sorry, Mom."

"Just try to keep it on the other side of the yard."

"Yes, ma'am," Noah replied before running off.

Erin stood up, trying to dust mud off her jeans. At least she had changed before going over. "I think that's enough water. Why don't we get cleaned up and get some piano in before dinner."

"Okay," Nora said, taking Erin's hand.

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"You're cheating!" Noah exclaimed.

Erin shook her head. One day they would have a normal game night that didn't end up in yelling.

"How do you cheat at UNO?" Rossi asked a little too innocently.

'And one day Dave wouldn't egg the kids on during game night,' Erin added in her head.

"I don't know. Count cards are something," Noah said.

Vivian laughed. "You're just mad you had to draw eight cards."

Noah shrugged his shoulders. "You know stacking cards is not officially allowed. It's a house rule, and I think it's very unfair."

Alysa placed down her last card in the middle of the commotion. "You're just mad you lost."

The room erupted into various shouts mixed with laughter. Rossi sat back with a grin. In his line of work, it was nice to see kids just being kids. The smile gracing Erin's face told him she felt the same way.

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Tuesday

Tuesday marked Noah's last baseball game for the season. Rossi and Nora had become regular faces at games. If Rossi wasn't on a case, they went, and sometimes even if he was, Erin would still take Nora.

Rossi had taken Noah to the batting cages on the promised Saturday and continued to give him tips that he'd learned in his own days on the field. There was something nice about being able to pass on knowledge, that wasn't work-related, to someone else. He'd found the same comfort in teaching Nora and Vivian cooking and Italian. Those two things seemed to always go together in his mind, so Vivian had started to pick up a few words amongst cooking lessons.

Noah had started to act embarrassed around all his buddies from all their cheering. They were definitely one of the loudest groups. Despite this Rossi could tell Noah was happy to have them all at his games.

The cheering was exceptionally loud as the team brought home a final win for the season. Because it was their last game, the coaches treated the kids and their families to pizza in the adjoining park.

Rossi had gotten up to grab the girls more water when he accidentally overheard Noah and some of his friends.

"Your parents are so cool," One of the boys told Noah. "They come to like every game."

Another player nodded. "Yeah, like my dad only ever comes to my first and last game."

"After our last game, your dad gave me some advice on my stance. I used it tonight and got us that triple," A third boy chimed in.

Noah tilted his head down. "Uhm," he stumbled out. "Thanks. He is pretty great, isn't he?"

Rossi missed the rest of the conversation as he assumed the boys changed topics. He was still trying to process the whole thing when Erin walked up to him. "What's wrong?"

"Uhm, nothing." He handed the water to Erin. "Can you take this? I'm going to go for a little walk."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Erin asked, concerned.

"Yeah, just need to do some thinking."

"Okay," Erin replied, watching as he walked away.