"You are the absolute best, Penelope Garcia."
She grinned at Karen as she shrugged, opening up the fresh back of popcorn and dumping it into the waiting bowl before adding some more melted butter and then sprinkling salt on top. "I merely suggested that your mother try to get another visit with you all this week, and it wasn't entirely altruistic. I miss my friends, and Aaron, when they're out on a case, and you all are the closest thing that I have to an extended family at the moment, so this way I get to spend time with people I like. I know, it's selfish, but aren't we all inherently selfish?"
Karen shook her head, as if she knew that Penelope was lying about the reason why she had suggested this gathering. A part of her wondered if she was truly that transparent to everyone around her, but she found that it didn't truly matter, since she did enjoy spending time with the Strauss children. Before either of them could say another word, Erin bustled into the kitchen, a wobbly smile on her lips. "Karen, could you take the popcorn into the living room? Penelope and I will be in shortly."
She nodded, giving Penelope a quick smile before picking up the bowl and scurrying from the kitchen. Once she was gone, Penelope went over to Erin's side and reached out, rubbing her arm lightly before she truly thought about what she was doing, as it appeared that Erin was close to breaking down. "What happened? You were so overjoyed to have Dawn agree to bring them here."
"We get one movie. I was hoping, since it was a Friday, that we'd at least have them until eleven. I keep getting my hopes up, because I want them near to me so badly, and then my heart ends up shattering each time. I, I need you to talk me out of digging into my liquor cabinet and taking a slug of something to ease away this pain."
"I think that I can very easily do that, Erin. Your babysitter is here, watching you like a hawk, since we're in your home. And while we are in your home, you still have to keep up all appearances. If you were to slip, even if it were a sip of whiskey, that would torpedo your chances to have any more visits with your children, and that is not what we're here for. We are here to get you more time with them, and unsupervised at that. Right?"
Erin nodded gratefully as she stepped closer to Penelope, pressing her cheek against hers quickly before stepping back and taking a deep breath. "Thank you."
"You, my dear one, are most welcome. And now, since we have limited time with the munchkins, let's go join them in the living room." Another small nod from Erin before she turned on her heel and left the kitchen, Penelope following closely behind. As they entered the living room, she could hear the excited chatter of Erin's kids, which made her smile a little wider. Erin took a seat in the chair close to the sofa, as if she couldn't allow herself to have the children surround her, and Penelope wondered if that was one of the conditions of this extra time. Her heart cracked a little as she took a seat in the middle of the sofa, surrounded by Karen and Tabitha, while Bruce was sprawled out on the floor. Dawn was quietly reading a book, though she did look up and give Penelope a small smile. Returning the expression, she knocked shoulders with the girls before speaking once more. "So, what are we watching tonight?"
"Well, since we only get one movie with Mom tonight, even though it's Friday, Bruce and I decided that we'd watch The Sound of Music. Tabby doesn't like musicals, but we both love this movie."
There was something almost defiant about the way Karen said that, and Penelope tried to think of why the girl would be so defensive about this choice. "I like musicals, just not…this musical," Tabitha piped up as she slipped the case to Penelope while Bruce picked up the remote and pressed play. As the movie started, Penelope looked at the back, knowing that there was a reason Tabitha had given it to her. Then, she clocked the run time of the movie, and glanced over at Karen, giving her a knowing smirk.
"This is a great choice, Karen, Bruce. I haven't seen it in ages." Karen grinned back as she nodded, tugging a blanket from behind her and spreading it over her legs as she made herself comfortable against Penelope, Tabitha quickly following suit as the movie continued to play. Nearly three hours later, as the credits began to roll, Penelope let out a happy sigh as she met Dawn's gaze. There wasn't an angry look on her face, and that lifted her heart a little as they all got to their feet. "Hey, Dawn, why don't we bring the dishes into the kitchen so that Erin can say goodbye to her children in privacy? I know, you're supposed to keep tabs on every movement, but surely we can overlook five minutes?"
"I need to call Alan anyway, and let him know that the movie is over now, so yes." Penelope nodded as they picked up the bowl and cups before heading out of the room. "Did you know they were going to pick such a long movie?"
"No, and neither did Erin. She thought she was just going to get ninety minutes with them tonight, not double that time. But if Alan needs a scapegoat, throw me under the bus and say that I wanted to watch a musical, and this was the only one that Erin had in her collection that the kids wanted to watch. She doesn't need more of his baloney tonight."
Dawn nodded, letting out a long breath. "It is going to be difficult to convince him of that, but I will try to make certain that he doesn't pin this on Erin. She's doing really well with the rules that the court has put into place, and I don't want to restrict her any further."
"Thank you for being so understanding." Penelope watched as Dawn drifted off to a corner of the kitchen before making her call, trying not to listen as she spoke quietly with Alan. Still, she could hear his voice loud and clear as he tried to denigrate Erin, even as Dawn let him know that the movie had entirely been the children's choice, as Erin had been in the kitchen while the movie was selected, and Dawn had never left their sides. Finally, the conversation ended, just as the kids trooped into the kitchen, looking a bit forlorn as Erin brought up the rear.
"All right, your dad wants you home as soon as possible. Have you said goodbye to your mom?"
"Yes," they chorused in unison, before Tabitha turned and hugged Erin tightly once more and then following Dawn outside. Penelope was the one to step onto the porch and wave them off into the night before she turned back to see Erin quietly crying into her hands. Stepping back inside, she closed the door behind her and locked it before wrapping her arms around the shaking woman and holding her close as she guided her back into the living room.
It didn't take much effort from her to get them seated on the sofa, and to her shock, Erin curled up tight against her as she continued to cry. It was so easy to stroke her hair in an effort to soothe the woman, even though she knew that this was a precarious situation to place herself in. "All right, if I were to leave right now, what would you do?"
"Get out the alcohol and drink myself to sleep?"
"Well, that is not going to happen. Let me give Aaron a quick call, since we usually speak for a few minutes at the end of the night, and then we're going to talk until you feel sleepy enough to not want to drink."
"Okay."
Erin's voice was so soft that Penelope had to strain to hear it, but she still clucked her tongue a little as she continued to stroke her hair while she pulled out her phone and hurriedly dialed Aaron. "Good evening, darling."
"You're calling late tonight."
She nodded before resting her cheek against the top of Erin's head. "I got caught up in watching The Sound of Music and lost track of time. I'd forgotten just how long that movie is."
"It's like three hours, isn't it?"
"Yeah, hence why I'm calling you so late. And it's going to be a short call, since I am exhausted from this case and trying to stay awake to pay attention to the movie. I hope that you don't mind me just calling to say I love you and hoping I hear those words back before we end the call and I drag myself up to bed."
"I suppose that I could deal with this for one evening, yes." Though she could tell that he was teasing her, there was still a bite to the words, as if he was upset that she could have overlooked him in favor of a movie, not even knowing that she had spent the evening with Erin and her children. Frowning a little, she tried not to let out the sigh fluttering against her lips as she waited for him to speak again. "I think that we'll be home from this case tomorrow, so we could go out on a date tomorrow night and then spend the day with Jack on Sunday?"
"I think that would be lovely. Just give me a call when you're home, and we'll head out."
"I will. Love you, Penny."
"Love you, too," she replied before kissing into the phone and then hanging up. By the time she had slipped the phone back into her skirt pocket, Erin's weight had become heavy against her chest, and she knew that the woman had fallen asleep against her, and it was so easy for Penelope to just close her eyes and fall asleep as well, feeling safe in the older woman's presence.
