"Aunt Penelope!"
She grinned as Jack ran at her, throwing his arms around her legs in a tight hug. She bent down and lifted him up in her arms, hugging him back before giving him a soft kiss on his cheek. "How are you, my little man?" she asked as she carried him into the living room, smiling at Jessica as she took a seat on the sofa and allowing Jack to slide off and sit next to her.
"Good! Do you know when Daddy's going to be back?"
Penelope reached out and ruffled his hair. "I think that he's going to be back later this evening. There were a few loose ends to tie up in Idaho."
"I added that state to my map, with Aunt Jessica's help, yesterday. We don't think that Daddy will ever get to Hawaii, but that's okay."
She grinned as she nodded. "Yeah, it is. So, I get to have dinner with Mrs Strauss and her daughter tomorrow night, since your dad won't be home yet."
"Mrs Strauss has a daughter?" he asked as Jessica got up to answer the door.
"Uh huh. She has two of them, and a son. But we're only going to see a movie with her youngest daughter. It will probably be the new Shrek one, and if it's good, what do you think about all of us going to see it Saturday?"
His eyes grew large as he nodded, smiling excitedly as he leaned over and hugged her tightly once more. "I would love that, Aunt Penelope!" Jessica came back in with the food, and she gave them both a knowing smile as she set the plates down on the table. "Aunt Jessica! Did you hear? We might be going to see Shrek on Saturday!"
"I did, but I think it's only a date for you three, not me."
Jack frowned deeply as he turned his face to Penelope. "Auntie…"
"Would you like it better if we all went as a family, Jackers?" He nodded. "All right, Jess, if you have nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon, would you mind joining us? You can bring your partner, too, if you want."
"I suppose that I can make time for my favorite nephew!" she replied, giving Penelope a little smile as she took a seat across from them. "And it will just be me, since things ended between Brian and myself. Having a way to distract from the heartbreak will be nice."
Penelope nodded as she reached across the table and rubbed Jessica's hand lightly before they dug into their food, listening to Jack chatter away animatedly about his day, filling Penelope in on all that he had done. By the time he had finished eating, long after she and Jessica had finished, he was nodding in his chair, and Penelope sent him up to get ready for bed before helping clear the table.
"He adores you so much, Penelope."
"And I love him so much, too. It was so easy to fit him into my life, and since he's the closest thing I'll ever have to a son, that makes it all the more dear to me." She had to blink back tears, much to her surprise, and then Jessica was wrapping her arms around her waist as she pulled her in for a tight hug. "Sorry, I'm just a little off kilter when it comes to kids right now. I keep thinking about the fact that Erin can't see her children without a nanny, and how horrible that must feel for her, and my heart keeps breaking itself over and over. I want to hug Jack so tightly and tell him that he never has to worry about this shit that Erin's kids are going through, that no one is going to use him as a pawn in some bitter game that only ends up hurting the kids more than the person you're trying to stick it to."
"Is it that bad?"
She shrugged a little as she boosted herself up on the counter and looked at the floor. "I might be extrapolating between the lines a little with the details that Erin's told me, and what I found out when I did a little snooping. But if your husband is enough of a jackass to serve you divorce papers on your birthday? I don't think that I'm reading too much into the situation. And…"
"Yes?" Jessica asked as she took a seat on the table, looking at her expectantly.
"I'm concerned about her drinking. She came over to my apartment a few weeks ago, after Mark got full custody of the children, and she had already had some to drink, and then we demolished a few bottles of wine between the two of us in the space of three hours. The next morning, she tried to act like she had a hangover, but looking back on it, I don't think that she did. And I would never confront her about this, I'm just using you as a sounding board to work out my feelings. I'm not the only one who's concerned, but Helen can't figure out what's wrong, either, and I just want to hold her close as I dig and dig until I figure out what's going on."
"Well, it sounds like you'll have the opportunity to do just that tomorrow evening. Though if I could give you some advice?" Penelope nodded. "Don't push, don't dig, just be there for her and let her tell you what's wrong on her own. She'll resent you if you poke and prod too much, and I know that you want to keep her friendship."
"That's going to be really difficult, Jess."
"I know, because you're a fixer and want to make everything right. I was so mad at you, you know."
"You were? When?"
"That case in Milwaukee. Aaron had been suspended, and it looked like he was finally going to end up with a white collar crimes job, which might have saved their marriage. I knew that he wasn't happy with the corner that Haley had forced him into, that he wouldn't be happy away from the BAU, but he would have been home for Jack. And then you muffed that up by arranging a ghost in the machine and sucked him right back into this world. It took me months to work past that, but Haley told me that you were a good person, and didn't know about the tensions the BAU created in their marriage."
"Oh," she breathed out as she nodded. "I just didn't want to lose my family. I had fought so long to find a family that wanted me, after everything that I went through with my real family. I guess, in a way, I'm responsible for Haley's murder?"
Jessica's face fell as she shook her head, slipping off the table and hurrying over to her side, grabbing her hands and squeezing them tightly. "No. You did everything in your power to stop Foyet. He was the one that chose to make things personal, and if it hadn't been Aaron, it would have been someone else on the team."
Penelope nodded as she blinked rapidly. A loud sniffle escaped her mouth as she shook her hands free and then hugged Jessica tightly as she struggled to keep from crying. "Thank you," she murmured in her ear as she slid off the counter and hooked her chin over the woman's shoulder. "Would you mind if I spent the night here, too? I just want to be with the people who love me tonight."
"I think that that would be lovely. I'll go check on Jack if you want to find something for us to watch."
"I can do that," she replied as they disentangled themselves from each other and went their separate ways. While Jessica went upstairs, Penelope easily made her way to the living room, quickly calling up something that looked funny on Netflix before pulling out her cellphone and texting Erin. I hope that you're having a good evening, Rin. Jess and I are going to watch a movie before falling asleep tonight. I am really looking forward to seeing you and Tabitha tomorrow, but I forgot to ask something. Since we'll have a nanny keeping tabs on us, should I dress a little more subdued? I don't want my behavior to reflect negatively on you. Especially if we're going to go for shared custody. And before you say that this is a pipe dream, I want you to know that this is my goal to help you achieve. Because no one should be forced to jump through these ridiculous hoops.
She pressed send before she read back her words, looking up to see that Jess had joined her, a wry smile on her lips. "You spend your life in your phone."
"It comes with the job," she replied as she pressed the play button, settling in to watch the movie. They were about halfway through when her phone vibrated against her thigh. Taking a deep breath, she picked it up and saw that she had two messages. Opening the one from her Aaron, she saw that they were going to be coming home early the next morning, and she answered him quickly, letting him know that she was spending the night, and that she'd be occupied the following evening. With that message sent, she opened Erin's, feeling her breath catch in her throat a little.
I'm glad that someone has faith in my children returning to me, since it seems like a pipe dream at this point. I know that I have issues that make it difficult for us to be reunited, but maybe someday. And it might be better if you did tone it done a little. I hate to ask that of you, you shouldn't have to dull your sparkle to make a good impression for me. Though I appreciate the gesture. And I'm appreciative of the fact that you're not going to back out on me. I was worried. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon.
Penelope rubbed her lips together a few times before answering Erin. I couldn't do that to you, sweetling. Or to Tabby. Sleep well, and I'll have my phone by my head if you need to call in the middle of the night for any reason. Love you.
After sending that text, she slipped the phone back into her skirt pocket and turned her attention to the movie once more, not truly taking in the fact that she had very casually told Erin that she loved her. Though the small voice in the back of her mind told her that honesty was always spoken in moments such as this, and a flicker of a smile crossed her face as she settled back into the sofa, finding her mind quickly occupied by what was happening on screen, and any thought of Erin or Aaron relegated to the subconscious as she enjoyed her time with Jessica.
