A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for the delayed update! Will anyone take any cyber cookies or brownies? What about a local favorite? Dan's donuts? (Dan's is a local favorite donut shop, they're the best ever) I had a bit of a writer's block and couldn't figure out how to start the next chapter. I would like to give thanks to CmGleek for her help with getting this chapter back on track! I would like to thank the reviews that reviewed the last chapter, they're greatly appreciated!
I will say, this is a two parter chapter! So this will be part one, and the next part will be posted shortly! I wanted to make this chapter up for you guys, for taking forever in updating, so let me know what you guys think at the end of this part 1 chapter!
Thanks for reading
CriminalMindsFan88
Chapter 7, Part 1
The next day, at school, the last class of the day, Derek and Aaron were sitting next to each other, aimlessly talking, waiting for the last bell to ring to signal the end of the day. Just as the last bell rang for the day, Derek looked over at Aaron, "Hey my mom is going to be picking us up, so we can meet her outside the office."
"Okay. I do have to pick my sisters up; will she mind if we waited till they got out of school? It's not for another twenty to thirty minutes." Aaron asked as the boys walked to their lockers. He knows he's asked this question a few times, but the 13-year-old boy has to be sure. He knows he can't just leave his sisters.
Getting his locker open Derek grabbed the books he needed and shut his locker, "No she won't mind." He said, swinging his bag onto his back. "She's picking my siblings up today anyways. I believe they're in the same building, it'll be fine."
"All right," Aaron tells him as he made sure he had everything from his locker, duffel bag included which has all their things for the night. This morning he had gotten up early to pack it while the girls were asleep, something they wouldn't have to worry about.
The boys double checked they had all their things and headed towards the offices, where Derek's mom would be parked out front. Seeing the vehicle, Derek walks over, Aaron following close behind, opens the front passenger door, "Hi mom." Derek said, dumping his bag in the footwell before climbing in.
"Hey sweetheart, how was school today?" Derek's mom, Erin, asked him, as he climbed in the car. Leaving the door open, Aaron stood beside him awkwardly not wanting to just get in the car without being invited in. The last time Aaron had been in a car was years ago, they wouldn't dare go near their father's car, or even get in without permission.
"It wasn't too bad," Derek answers quickly, "Mom, this is my friend Aaron, that's coming over tonight. Social studies project." He reminds her. Derek had told his mom earlier in the week, and the woman had been excited to meet one of Derek's new friends, agreeing almost immediately.
"It's nice to meet you Aaron," Derek's mom tells the young teen, reaching across Derek holding out her hand.
Aaron reaches over, taking his friend's mom's hand in his own to shake it. "It's nice to meet you too ma'am," He replied. He looked over Derek's mom trying to judge what kind of person she was. She looked in her late 30's early 40's, her blonde hair pulled back into a clip exposing her soft features, making her seem like she would be easy to trust. Her grip was soft around Aaron's hand, which signalled to him she was typically a gentle woman. As he looked at her blue eyes it jolted a little pang through his heart as he saw how this woman reminded him of his own mom. He smiled and hoped his judgement was correct about the woman in the driver's seat.
"Please, call me Erin," Erin tells the kid. "Go ahead, hop on in you too." A soft smile spread across her cheeks.
With that Aaron climbs in the seat behind Derek. Just as Erin started pulling out of the parking lot, Aaron asked, "Do you mind if we picked my sisters up? I normally pick them up after school." He was asking again, having to triple check it was still okay. He had been a little on edge worried all day that suddenly he wouldn't be allowed to bring his sisters and they would be made to go home alone.
"Of course," The blonde woman chuckled lightly. "I have to get the young ones anyways, that'll work out." Erin answers.
Erin drove up into the carpool lane at the elementary school, they sat in silence for a bit till Aaron saw the school doors open. "Do you mind if I went to look out for my sisters? They won't know what vehicle to look for."
"That's quite alright with me," Erin tells the thirteen-year-old.
Aaron thanks her, and hops out of the backseat, and walks up to the front doors. He stands off to the side letting the other kids out, so they could find their ride. He spots Emily. Once he spotted her, before he could react, he saw his youngest sister running towards him. "Aaron!" She squeaked.
"Hey munchkin, you seem to be in a good mood. How was school?" Aaron asks, laughing a little, just as the young blonde came to a halt in front of her brother.
JJ excitedly bounced on her heels as he replied. "It was good! Guess what?"
"What's that?" Aaron asks, keeping up with the excitement, crouching to her level.
JJ opens her book bag, and pulls out her homework from the other night, "Look! I got a one hundred percent on my math!" She pushed the papers close to her brother's face to make sure he really could see the 100% she had gotten.
"That is awesome, squirt!" Aaron praised her, giving her a hug and a kiss to the top of the head standing up.
"Thanks." JJ replies, grabbing his hand as he stands.
Aaron faces his other sister, "How was school Em?"
"It was okay. Just glad it's over," Emily shrugs as she answers him, adjusting her book bag.
"Good. We better get moving, Derek's mom is waiting for us," Aaron tells the girls, as he guides them over to the vehicle. He can see Derek's younger siblings getting in the car as he walks over, they left the door open so he walks a little slowly so he can have a quick chat with his sisters before they reach their new friends.
"We don't have to go home first?" JJ asks, as they make their way to the car.
"Nope, I got our stuff together, remember?" Aaron tells the young girl. He did tell them this morning, but JJ was a tad bit forgetful, so he was happy to remind her again.
"Oh, right. Are they nice?" The little blonde curiously asks. Looking up to her big brother nervously.
Aaron stops, faces the two girls. "So far they are. His mom seems nice anyway. But no matter what, we have to mind our p's and q's," Aaron reminds them, eyebrows raised showing his seriousness.
"Okay, what's p's and q's?" JJ asked, confused. She had never heard that before.
Emily looks down at her sister, "It just means that we have to say please and thank you, using your manners."
"Oh," JJ replies.
"Come on, let's go, we don't want to keep them waiting," Aaron told his sisters, guiding them to the car a little quicker than before.
The girls followed their brother's lead and when he reached the door, he told Erin, "These are my two sisters, Emily and JJ." He indicated to each of them respectively so Erin knew who was who.
"It's nice to meet you girls. Hop on in," Erin tells the kids with a smile.
The kids climbed in, Emily and JJ going to sit by their newfound friends, Penelope and Spencer, and sat next to them. Aaron waited till his sisters were seated before he got in and sat down. Erin made sure all the kids were buckled up and pulled out of the parking lot. Not even twenty minutes later, she pulled into the gated driveway, and all three Hotchner kids had shocked looks on their faces, looking at the mansion type house, it had a big blooming flower garden out front, a 2-door garage, there were loads of windows some of them having small balconies. Emily and JJ looked at one another then, they looked at their older brother, who just looked back at them and shrugged his shoulders. They had no idea their friends lived in such an amazing house. Or in JJ's mind a castle.
"All right kiddos, Derek, Aaron, I want you two to get started on your social studies project, rest of you kids, if you have any homework, I'd get started on that too," Erin told everyone, then she got out, waited till all the kids got out of the vehicle with their bags, and locked the car doors. The kids followed Erin up to the house and she unlocked the door and made sure to instruct them to take their shoes off.
"I don't have any homework, I'm going to go watch tv," Penelope had told her mother as she ran into the living room and turned the tv on, falling back on their sectional suite, melting into the cushions.
The Hotchner kids looked at one another, each holding their breath as they watched the young blonde turning the tv on. JJ looked up at her siblings, "Is she going to get in trouble? We're not allowed to watch TV like that." JJ whispered, gripping tightly to her brother's pants leg.
Emily shrugged her shoulders as she too, looked expectantly at her brother. "What if they hurt us too for watching their tv? What do we do?" She joined in on the whispering, not entirely sure what was going to happen and what she should be doing.
While the three kids were talking amongst themselves, they didn't notice an older male, with salt and pepper hair, and a black moustache; walking into the foyer to greet his family and the kids' new friends. "Hey guys, what's going on?" He asked as he came to meet Erin who was walking toward him.
"Hey dear, just walked in the door with the kids," Erin told her husband as she leaned towards him to kiss him. She then pointed to the Hotchner children, "This here is Aaron, Emily and the little one is JJ." She pointed to each one as she called their names.
"Nice to meet you three," Dave tells them, as he shakes their hands.
JJ watched her siblings shake his hand, while she hid behind her sister, not sure if she should be doing that or not. She had never been to a friend's house before, so she was peeking out to eye him, carefully unsure if she'd done something wrong or not and if she was going to be punished. Before anyone could say anything, they heard Derek, "Aaron, are you coming?" He called from the bottom of the double staircase.
The teen looks over at Derek, then faces his sisters, getting on his knees and tells them quietly, "I'm going to work on my project now. Make sure you behave; and listen to them. I will try to be there if you need me. We don't want to make them mad and not be able to visit anymore." This was an odd situation for them all. It had been a long time since either of the older two had visited a friend and for JJ, well he knew this was completely new.
Emily nods her head, "We will." She puts her arm around JJ, indicating to her brother she would look after their youngest sibling, and would keep her close.
The girls watched their brother walk away towards Derek, then they turned to see Penelope and Spencer laughing at something on the television. "Emmy, do you think it's a trick?" JJ asked her sister.
Before Emily could respond, they heard Erin say, "Come on girls. It's alright, you can go watch tv with the other two. As long as you don't have homework."
"I don't have any, neither does JJ," Emily answers for the both of them, as they both followed Erin into the living room, with Dave closely following behind them. Observing how they acted.
Erin and Dave step aside, and watch the girls, "I think there's something fishy about these kids Dave. They seem scared for some reason. Like they're waiting for a shoe to drop." Erin tells him quietly.
Dave nods in agreement, "I know what you mean." They had been around the children for only a few minutes, and they could tell these children weren't like normal children. They would be keeping a close eye on them.
After half an hour of standing and watching in the background observing the two younger Hotchner girls who sat quietly on the sofa JJ sat curled into Emily, and Emily who had both arms tightly around JJ, Erin excused herself. She was about to check on Derek and Aaron to see if they were getting on okay with their project and to check for allergies before she started preparing to make dinner. She headed up to her eldest's room and knocked on the door.
"Come in." Her son called out.
She opened the door and saw Derek sitting on his bed and Aaron on his desk chair. "How are you getting on boys?" Both seemingly doing their work papers and books out next to each other, and there was some music on in the background.
"Alright. Just a lot of boring research and writing." Derek shrugged as he picked up a thick textbook.
Erin nodded. "Just checking. I was a teen once, and instead of doing my homework I messed around and left it until the last minute." She said, reminiscing on when she was a teen and was going through a bit of a rebellious stage where she mucked around 99% of the time.
"Well don't worry," Derek said, rolling his eyes slightly. His mom was often checking he was doing homework and often reminded him of the bad or less than studious choices she had made back when she was 13. "We want to get it done so we can go play some football for a bit after dinner." The darker skinned teen loved his football, most evenings he could be found in the back with a football.
"That reminds me, Aaron do you or the girls have any allergies or any dislikes?" The mom asked.
"Just JJ, she's allergic to all tree nuts, but that's it." Aaron tried not to bite his lip nervously as he thought of JJ's allergy. She could be carrying around an Epi pen because of the severity of her allergy, but their dad had taken it off them and locked it away. In his words he had told them that if JJ had an allergic reaction, it was because she deserved it, because she shouldn't be helping herself to food, when she wasn't allowed to just take. It was so easy to not think nuts are in something when they are. He just hoped Erin would carefully check each ingredient, because Aaron didn't fancy a trip to the emergency room with his little sister.
"Okay, so is everyone okay with a pasta bolognese?"
"Yeah." Both boys replied.
"Perfect." The blonde mom smiled happily, please she could cook something everyone would like.
"Thank you. We really appreciate you cooking for us, you don't have to." Aaron told her, showing his appreciation for having him and his sisters over.
"Oh don't worry about it Aaron. I'll leave you boys to it." With that Erin left the room, leaving the two boys alone again.
Once the door was closed and they were sure Erin had started walking away from the door Aaron turned to his school friend. "Your mom seems really nice." It was his honest opinion so far all he was getting from Erin was good vibes. It was currently the husband Dave he was a little unsure about.
"Yeah, she's pretty sweet. She's better than most moms I reckon. My dad's pretty cool too, he might come play football with us later. He's always coaching me to help me get better, when I get to high school I wanna be on the football team."
"That's cool. You're already a good player. I'm sure with all your dads help you'll make the team."
"So, what's your mom and dad like? They must be pretty cool." Derek wanted to get to know more about his friend who he realised had never mentioned either of his parents much.
Aaron's eyes flickered down for a second before looking at his textbook flicking a couple pages as he spoke. "Oh, my mom passed away when she gave birth to JJ." He said flatly.
"I'm sorry man, that sucks."
"My dad's still around through." Aaron said, perking up slightly trying to ignore the sadness he felt about his mom and seeming happy to talk about his supposed father. "He's pretty good, he works a lot, you know without my mom he wants to make sure we get everything we need." He lied easily.
"That's good of him."
"Yeah." Aaron sighed pausing for a second. "We should probably get back to this homework, I don't want to be doing it all night."
Derek groaned "Me either." They both got back to work on their project wanting to get it done as soon as possible the less time spent on this crappy homework project the better and the soon they could get out back playing ball.
Erin made her way downstairs and saw her husband now joining the kids around the TV and sat in his chair with a book, watching over the top. He wasn't as discreet as he was trying to be. She chuckled a little and made her way to the kitchen. She had been in there a couple minutes when the two Hotchner girls walked in. "Hi girls, are you okay?"
Emily looked at her sister to see if she was going to answer, but the tiny blonde shook her head, so Emily turned to Erin. "JJ needed the bathroom. Mr Dave said it was back here somewhere. Sorry I'm a little lost." JJ had always been the shyer child of the lot of them, often becoming silent, meaning the older siblings, though nervous or a little shy, were more used to answering for the 8-year-old, trying hard to ignore her own nerves to do so.
"It's okay, it's just through that door over there." The blonde mother wiped her hands on her apron and walked over to one of the archways off the kitchen, pointing to where they needed to go.
"Thank you, Ma'am." The brunette Hotchner girl led her younger sister to the door Erin had pointed to, rushing to get out the room so she could lock the door and breathe a little in a space where she felt safe from prying eyes.
Once they were both in the bathroom Emily closed and locked the door while JJ went over to the toilet to use it. Once the blonde was seated Emily asked her sister. "You, okay?"
"Yeah, my bruises are hurting again." JJ said with a slight whine to her voice.
"Let me look." JJ finished her business and flushed the toilet and washed her hands before lifting her top so Emily could see the bruising all round her abdomen and back. "They still look the same. They should go away in a few days."
"Kay." JJ mumbled pulling down her shirt. "Is daddy going to hurt us when we go home because we watched TV?" The smallest asked curiously looking up to Emily.
"If we don't tell him he won't know."
"What about Mr Dave?"
"I don't think so, he seems nice, but he keeps watching us, so we have to be careful okay."
"Okay."
"Come on, let's go back to the others."
"Everything okay girls?" Erin called out seeing the two girls come out of the bathroom still hand in hand. She wondered if they ever moved apart from one another or if they always moved in a pair.
"Yes ma'am." Emily said coming back into the kitchen watching Erin as she pottered about the kitchen grabbing ingredients, pots and pans. "Thank you for letting us use your bathroom."
The mother chuckled, "Please call me Erin, and you don't have to thank me. Any time you need it feel free to go and use it. Would you like something to drink?" She watched as the two girls looked at each other confused looks crossing over their features.
They were so unsure whether all this was a trick or a game. JJ didn't know any different than the home life she had now, it had always been this way, so the niceness that she was receiving was something she didn't know what to do with. Emily remembered little bits of normal life, she was only 2 when their mom died and for while their father was only resentful toward her little sister, so this was equally as difficult. She had witnessed the change, she had witnessed a caring parent become a toxic and violent one, meaning she had no idea who to trust. Without their brother both girls were sceptical. "We have water, apple juice, hot chocolate, milk, lemonade, orange juice, we have some sparkling water too." Erin told them hoping that showing them their options would prompt an answer. All this was just adding to her curiousness of what was going on with these children.
JJ tugged on Emily's hand wanting her sister to come down to her level so she could whisper in her ear. So, the brunette bent down a little while JJ came up on her tiptoes whispering in her sister's ear. Emily chuckled a little and shook her head. "JJ wants to know if the sparkling water had glitter in it."
"Unfortunately, it doesn't, how about you both have some apple juice? It's Penelope's favourite. Then before bed tonight you can have a hot chocolate and I'll put something super special in it."
"Thank you, Erin. JJ says thank you too." Emily said for her younger sister who was staying silent and hiding slightly.
"You're welcome." A thought crossed Erin's mind, she turned to the window seeing the weather still looked good. "Do you girls want to do anything? You can play outside if you like. We have a play set, or Penny and Spence have some old toys in their rooms, or maybe a book?" She hoped if she could get them doing something they would come out of their shells a little more. She felt awful, them coming over and then just sitting around watching TV uncomfortably. She wanted the girls to feel like they could enjoy themselves here.
The two took a moment to think about it, whispering in each other's ears again before Emily piped up. "Can we all go outside?"
"Of course. If you tell those two lazy bones to get their shoes on, you can all go and play out back."
"Thank you." JJ and Emily walked out the room leaving Erin alone, where she sighed, hoping by the end of the night she could figure out what had her so worried about the three children, and what she could do to help.
"Thank you." JJ and Emily walked out the room leaving Erin alone, where she sighed, hoping by the end of the night she could figure out what had her so worried about the three children, and what she could do to help.
A few minutes later, both girls came walking back in, with JJ close to Emily's heels, hiding. "I'm sorry, we forgot to finish our juice." The 10-year-old reached to grab her cup and JJ before they could be thrown away. They knew at home if they didn't finish their drinks in one go then it wouldn't be there to go back too and they wouldn't be able to get another one.
"That's okay, you don't have to, you can leave it right there, if you get thirsty again, it'll still be there," Erin tells them, almost baffled at the thought that the girls thought they needed to finish their juice immediately. She watches Emily and JJ carefully.
"Okay," Emily tells her, as they place their cups back down on the counter. "Penelope and Spencer are getting their shoes on." She said wrapping one arm around JJ's shoulder so JJ would be stood beside her instead of behind her.
"Good, it's supposed to rain sometime this early evening. Best to go out and play before it does." Erin tells them. Just then, both her two youngest came running into the kitchen. She faces them, and sternly tells them, "You two know better than to run in the house."
All Emily and JJ could do was watch, afraid that their newfound friends would get the beating they knew they would get if they had run in the house. They watched on as Penelope and Spencer both apologized and walked to the door. Both feeling confused as to why they weren't being punished. "Emmy…?" JJ whispered to her sister.
Emily looked down at her sister, shrugged her shoulders, not sure why they weren't being punished. "I dunno Jayje." She whispered back.
The girls followed the other two kids out the back door to go play on the play set. Erin had seen the reaction of the two girls', and when Dave walked in the kitchen, she told him, "Hun, I think those girls expect some kind of punishment. Penelope and Spencer just ran through the kitchen, of course I scolded them. They were expecting a different outcome, I believe."
"All we can do is just keep an eye on them, for now," Dave tells her, hoping his wife would pick up on the fact that meant he believed her and would be here to do anything she needed him to do. There wasn't much they could do right now apart from observe everything and figure out if they needed to take action. "It's smelling good in here." He smiled, lightening the mood, about to dip one of his fingers into the sauce his wife was making.
"Get your hands out of there," Erin scolds, as she takes the spoon she had in her hand and smacks her husband's hand with it.
"Okay, okay," Dave tells her, as he backs up, hands surrendered in the air.
Erin chuckles at him, as she sees the two older boys walking into the kitchen.
"Hey mom, we're about finished with our project, just have to put it all together. We came down here for something to drink." Derek tells his mom, as himself and Aaron walk to the fridge and grab two of the water bottles. Derek hands one to his friends, before opening his own taking a sip. Aaron spinning his hand.
"Good, dinner will be ready in about fifteen to twenty minutes." Erin said, continuing to stir her sauce. Dave leant back against the counter quietly, arms folded over his chest trying to subtly observe the older Hotchner. While he noted the younger girls had some unusual behaviours so for what he had seen of Aaron he seemed like a normal teen.
"Okay," Derek replies.
Just before the boys left the kitchen, Aaron asks, "Do you know where my sisters went?"
"Of course, they're outside, playing with Penelope and Spencer on the play set," Erin answers, pointing to the back yard.
"Thank you," Aaron politely thanked, and the two boys left the kitchen leaving the adults alone again.
Not even a few minutes later, they heard a small child's cry, one that wasn't familiar to their ears so they knew instantly it wasn't their own children, Erin and Dave ran out to the backyard to see what was going on. When they reached the children, they saw JJ in tears, and Emily running over to the girl. "What happened?" Erin asked as she reached the girls, and her own children who weren't standing too far away.
"We… we're playing tag, and I tagged JJ so she was if, and she started crying," The young dark haired boy stuttered as he told his parents, "I didn't mean to make her cry!" Spencer panicked, wondering what he'd done wrong to make her cry like she was.
"It's okay Spencer, it's all right. You didn't do anything," Dave tells his son, ruffling his hair, and walks over to the Hotchner girls. "Everything okay?" He said bending down slightly resting his hands on his knees.
Emily looks up to see the kids' dad, even bent over he was still taller than them, she slowly nods her head, afraid he would hurt them by upsetting their son. "We-we're okay. JJ hurt her back the other day, and it's still a bit sore." She lied easily. It came easily now after a few years of practise covering up many injuries they had received.
"Are you sure? She looks to be in real bad pain." He paused for a second, looking at his wife who was on her knees, Spencer leaning into her side, Penelope stood a little further back. Erin wanted to help the girls but it seemed right now all JJ wanted was her sister. "Erin can take a look at her back, maybe put ice in it?" Dave tells her, hoping to let the young girl let his wife take a look at her sister. With JJ crying so much he worried there was a real injury here that needed to be looked at.
"I-it's okay Mr. Dave," Emily tells him quickly. "We didn't mean to upset your son." She was trying not to cower away from the man in front of her especially while JJ was still upset. She had to be strong and protect her. Especially while Aaron wasn't here. Though she really wished he was here. Seeing her younger sister in pain really upset her.
"It's quite alright, it was an accident, he was just worried he tagged her too hard," Dave promised. Then kneels down to JJ's height, being bent over wasn't doing any good for his back "Are you okay kiddo?"
JJ takes a few steps back, and tries to hide behind her sister, afraid that Mr. Dave would hurt her for upsetting his son. "She's okay," Emily tells him, trying to sound confident.
"Well, if you kids need anything, let either my wife or I know, and we'll see what we can do," Dave tells the girls.
Emily nods her head, keeping a secure arm around her sister. They hear footsteps so they both look over to see their older brother walking towards them quickly, JJ wants to run to her brother but decides to keep her arms tight around her sister till their brother gets closer. "Everything okay?" Aaron asks, once he got into ear shot of the two girls, seeing the crowd and the tears.
JJ let go over her sister and went over to her brother, feeling safer now that he was around. Aaron hugged his sister back, kneeled down to her level, "Are you okay, squirt?"
JJ nodded her head, "Yeah, better now." She mumbled into his chest, her tears subsiding. Emily walked over watching glad her sister was calming down. The rest of the group outside were observing what was going on with the three siblings. Erin and Dave looked at each other with raised eyebrows. These three sure did have a very close bond, very clingy to one another. Another thing they thought was very odd, their own children weren't around each other this much.
"I have to get back inside with Derek, try to finish our project up," Aaron tells them, as he stands up, JJ puts her hand in Emily's needing one of her siblings right now.
"Okay," Emily replied, then all the kids walked back over to the play set, soon getting back into playing happily though a little less excitable as last time and Aaron going back over to Derek and slowly heading back into the house to finish up the last little bits of their project.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed reading this one! Stay tuned for the next one, it'll be posted shortly! Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think in a review please, they're greatly appreciated! Hope you all have a wonderful day, or evening, wherever you may be!
CriminalMindsFan88
