Disclaimer: Nope. I don't own the show.
I know, I know, I know! Nearly two weeks without an update, I'm so very sorry! I've had a really bad case of writer's block for this story.
"...So she'll arrive in a few minutes? Okay...thanks Kate, see you soon," Haley hung up on Kate and faced her family who was either anxious or eager, she couldn't tell. Perhaps it was both. "Okay, so her name is Penelope, and she'll arrive soon."
"I'm excited, actually," said Emily, smiling slightly. "I can't remember the last time you told us another kid was coming. God... that was Derek."
"So is it fun to meet a new foster kid on your end?" asked Derek, chuckling at the end. "I mean, you guys to meet me when you had mom and dad."
"Oh I see what you're saying," noted Emily, her smile turning into a grin. "You like that you're no longer the new kid."
"And how," added Derek, making his parents laugh.
"Oh gosh I just remembered!" Haley exclaimed. "Rooming." She pondered about it for a bit, and once she saw the eager face of Emily she knew that she couldn't say no. "Emily, take the room that we've had empty for a while now." Everyone covered their ears and the squeal Emily had finally let out. Haley smiled and said sarcastically, "I'm sure you're very disappointed that you are in your own room by yourself—"
"It's about time!" Exclaimed Emily, rushing upstairs quickly to pack up her things as fast as she could to move into her own space.
"Wait, so, Penelope is my roommate?" JJ inquired, her small brows furrowing in confusion.
Hotch did not know if she looked either upset or happy. "Yes. Just temporarily, though."
"Are you kidding?" JJ said, as a wide smile broke across her face. "She's my new roommate! And Emily leaves her socks around sometimes, and this girl is around my age!"
"I heard that!" Emily shouted from upstairs, who was pacing back and forth still to move things in.
"Will she be able to recite poems from Moliere?" Inquired Spencer.
"Kid, none of us know what that is," Derek said.
"Who it is," corrected Spencer. "And maybe she could, maybe she's like me."
"No one is like you," said Derek, with a lot of doubt. "You're...your own person."
Suddenly, they heard three car honks outside, which anyone could only assume was their new arrival.
Haley felt queasy inside, not in the way where she felt endangered, but in a way where she felt nervous if Penelope would feel welcome or not. Haley just couldn't find it in her heart to turn this child away, and the thought of a wide-eyed petrified nine year old broke Haley's heart. "Well... here she is," she muttered to her family.
"Honey are you alright?" asked Hotch, feeling concerned.
"Yes, I'm just a little jittery, that's all," reassured Haley. "It's exciting and making me nervous at the same time."
"That's called adrenaline," provided Spencer, making Haley laugh good naturedly.
"Thank you Spencer," said Haley, who heard the car honk once more. "We should all go outside to meet her."
"Emily!" Derek called out from the bottom of the stairs, knowing his voice will reach her ears. "The new girl is outside now!"
It was beautiful, Penelope realized. The house... oh it was everything she dreamed of. Throughout the entire car ride, Penelope was fearful, since she had no idea where she was going, but seeing this beautiful house, it made her feel the warmth of family. She was safe here, she was sure of it. Her dreams of family had begun to come true, even if it was temporary. Kate mentioned the term 'foster home' to her, but Penelope had blocked out after the word 'home.' Because it was a home, with shelter, food, and water, and the physical and emotional feeling of warmth.
Something about this home was... familiar. She couldn't quite put her finger on it.
"Kate, what is this? Is this where I'm going to live?" Penelope asks with hope in her voice.
"It is," Kate said, smiling at the way Penelope got a bit more cheery. "They're really nice, I trust them with my life. They have a nice family, all of their kids are adopted from the being in their foster care."
"How many kids are there?" Penelope wondered aloud.
"Four."
"Four?" Penelope said, completely astounded. "You're telling me... there's six people in that house?" Well it wasn't so surprisingly, really. Their house looked like they could fit twenty kids if they wanted to, like that TLC show that Stephen used to watch with his brother.
Penelope's heart ached with she thought of Stephen.
Stephen, who hopefully met his brother in heaven.
Stephen, who looked out for her on the street.
Stephen...
Penelope's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Kate's laugh.
"Yes, six people live in that house," answered Kate, laughing good naturedly at her amazement. Kate went on to explain even further. "And they have a recent neighbor, who the dad has been friends with for years. Trust me, you'll love it here." Kate got out of the car, opening the car door for Penelope, as they walked to the front of the house, which featured a lovely couple, but where were the children?
"Are you Penelope?" Haley said with a welcoming smile that Penelope was strangely comforted with. "My name is Haley, it's very nice to meet you."
"My name is Aaron, but—"
"You can call him Hotch!" a small blonde girl, who looked not much younger than Penelope, ran up to her with an eager handshake. "I'm JJ, and we're going to be roommates!" Penelope couldn't help but smile, JJ reminded her of her younger self, back when she was cheerful and had a positive outlook on life. Penelope still tried to live that way, but it has gotten increasingly harder. Penelope realized that JJ could pass as Haley's biological daughter, even if these kids were all adopted.
A teenage girl with straight black hair and a pale face comes up to her, and gives her a giant hug that she did not see coming. "You have no idea how much I love you right now."
"She's just happy that she gets a room to herself," JJ muttered under her breath.
Emily let go, smiling at the new arrival. "I'm Emily, it's really nice to meet you. Stay out of my room."
"Emily..." Hotch groaned, burying his face in his hands.
Then, something caught Penelope's attention... not in the good way.
She heard two voices, voices not from the people she just met, but voices that she heard a while ago, it sounded like the two brothers.
"Derek, I'm nervous, do you think she'll love Moliere?" asked the younger voice timidly.
A sigh from the older brother. "Spencer, she's nine, I don't think she even knows what that is."
"Maeve is seven and she knows what that is," argued Spencer from inside the house.
"That's because..." He sighed again, Penelope thought immediately that this brother did this a lot. "You know what? I don't even know, you just found your other half."
"But I'm a whole person, there's no—"
Yet another sigh. "It's an expression, kid, let's go outside." Their bickering voices were drawing closer and closer, to the point where their conversation was audible one hundred percent clearer than before.
"Spencer, I know it's a poet, you explained it a thousand times—" Derek stopped mid-sentence as he stood outside in front of the girl from the cafeteria, the girl whom he let get away, and now, she was right here, right in front of him. There was no mistake, this was her. He didn't know what to say, do, or think. He could turn her in right now, tell on her, but... he didn't realize this girl was homeless.
Where was the doctor who scarf? He wondered.
Penelope's eyes widened as the realization dawned on her.
Penelope could not keep the fear out of her eyes.
This was... oh god. This was the family that she stole from. That... little boy that had the Doctor Who scarf who was completely clueless about how the world was awful. She remembered that she made him feel that way when she was just trying to survive. And there was the boy that she met in the cafeteria, the boy who she was pretty sure saw through her lie. And now, she was expected to live with them? That boy at the cafeteria that knew something fishy was going on was going to rat her out, or either blackmail her cruelly, or maybe just give her an earful.
Keeping the panic at bay was going to be hard, so she had to tiptoe around this family. All of her dreams that she had in the past of wanting to find a family that would love her was completely replace with wanting to run away and live on the streets again. And the harsh winter was getting colder and colder, but at least she wouldn't be consumed with overwhelming guilt.
The little boy, the little boy she stole from spoke. "Hi, I'm Spencer, do you read Moliere? His works are fascinating, I have you know."
Oh god, he was too sweet, he was also incredibly bright, like a walking encyclopedia.
"Nice to meet you," Penelope said, warming up to the boy. She might as well be nice, she wasn't exactly nice to him the first time they met. And, from the looks of it, he didn't seem to have a clue.
"Derek?" Haley inquired worriedly as her son continued to stare at Penelope, studying her every move, which he was sure was complete terror, since he knew who she really was.
"Yeah, I'm sorry," Derek said, shaking out of his intense trance. He held his hand out, and was surprised to see her flinch, until she realized she was supposed to take it. Once she did, he introduced himself, his tone even and calm. "My name is Derek."
"Penelope," is all she could say, withdrawing her hand as soon as possible.
"Well now let's show you inside," said Haley, as she guided the plump blonde. Haley noticed quickly how the new girl's demeanor changed from a little relaxed to frightened as soon as she saw Derek. She would make sure to ask about that later. "This is the living room, over there is the kitchen and..." She paused, pointing to the top of the stairs. "Those lead to all the bedrooms. Speaking of bedrooms..." She faced JJ, who looked eager. "Would you like to show Penelope to her new room?"
"I'd love to," said JJ, grabbing the other blonde's hand as Haley went back downstairs. JJ frowned for a moment, something felt a little bit off. Before Penelope could go in, JJ blocked the entrance, facing Penelope with seriousness. "Alright, I have to know, this has been bugging me all day about you."
Penelope's heart started to race in anxiety. Did she already find out?!
She watched in fear as JJ paused dramatically, taking a deep breath in before asking: "Do you leave your socks everywhere?"
Penelope's heart slowed down in relief. "No, I didn't have many socks."
JJ suddenly remembered that Penelope was homeless, but did not press the matter. "Okay. So you're not gonna leave your socks everywhere, right? Emily would do that all the time..." JJ sat down on her bed, smiling in content. "You know you can sit, now? This is your home for a while." Penelope sat down on her bed, her own bed, quite timidly. "Hey," JJ said, sensing her fear quickly. "We all used to be foster kids, we were just as nervous as you are right now, just as scared, but... know that I'm always here for you. The others, well...I love my siblings, okay? But for them it takes them a little while to trust someone."
"I'm a little scared," admitted Penelope.
"That's okay, I understand, all of us do," supplied JJ. "I like you already though."
"...I like this bed," Penelope said, cracking a small grin. "I haven't had one in a while." Though this was not meant for the younger girl to hear, JJ felt like her body was struck by a bolt of cruel lightning, her heart sinking to her stomach in agony and sadness. She felt the tears well up in her eyes, but was thankfully saved by Haley knocking on the door.
"Girls," said Haley, looking straight at Penelope. "Would you like anything for dinner? We have some leftover food."
Penelope nodded eagerly as went downstairs to eat. Haley looked at her daughter worriedly. "JJ, are you alright?
JJ rubbed her eyes, trying to make it appear that she was tired and not upset. "Yeah...I'm not really hungry, I think I'm gonna rest for a bit."
Haley didn't look too convinced, but let it slide for now. "We'll talk later, okay? Love you." As soon as Haley shut the door, JJ burst into tears into her pillow, letting out her cries on her bed, because she had one, while Penelope didn't, and it just wasn't fair.
As Penelope eagerly dug into her meal, a meal she has never had this good in her entire life, Hotch and Haley were watching her with sadness. A child should never be this hungry, it broke their hearts. Spencer, however, was playing with his food.
"Spencer, eat your food please," said Haley, not wanting the food to go to waste. Spencer stopped playing with his food and began to eat it.
"Derek," Hotch said, noticing that he hasn't touched his meal, and that he's been acting strange ever since the new girl arrived in his home. "Is something the matter?" Penelope stopped eating, watching Derek, who was calm and reserved. Meanwhile, on the inside, she was freaking the hell out. Oh god... this was bad. She knew she was going to be kicked out, he was going to tell her that it was her who stole the scarf, it was her who did that bad thing to that sweet little boy. Oh god...
Derek cleared his throat, looking at Penelope.
"Nothing," he lied, shocking Penelope as he stared intently at her. "Nothing at all."
A/N: Yep, so that happened. Derek didn't rat her out! I took some reviewers advice and had JJ and Penelope room together, since that was probably what I was going to end up doing, since Emily wanted her own room. Plus, again, I'm sorry for the long wait, and that Dave wasn't in this chapter.
He'll be in the next one, though, so stay tuned!
Ugh, I'm really, really tempted to post my new story, but...(sigh) I promised to end LMHYW first. I'm so conflicted, ugh...