The last three days had gone surprisingly smoothly, and Penelope woke up to the gentle sound of Erin's alarm before she did, sitting up and stretching before looking down to watch Erin come to wakefulness. This was the first night that she hadn't had a nightmare, and Penelope knew that that was amazing progress for her, given all that she had been through.
"I can tell that you're watching me, Penelope." Her brow furrowed as she looked closer at Erin's face, seeing a smile spread across her lips before she opened her eyes, looking up at Penelope as a smirk slipped across her face. "Even your eyes are loud, not that I mind that."
Penelope shrugged as she slipped out of bed and padded over to their shared closet, pulling out a dress for the day. "Do you think that this will look okay for your family? I mean, I met your kids at your faux funeral, but there is a very large difference between something so somber and something so joyous."
"That is adorable, and it is you to a T. I wouldn't want you to present yourself any other way, Penny. I'll dress while you shower?"
"Sounds like a plan." She smiled sunnily at the woman before pulling out the rest of the clothing she'd need for the day, and then heading into the bathroom. By the time she was finished with her shower and fully dressed, including makeup, she could hear others up in the house, and a part of her hoped that she would run into Alex on her way down to the kitchen. Instead, it was James she saw as she came out of the bathroom, and she felt the smile on her lips wobble a little before she caught herself. "Good morning, James."
"Morning for you, I just got off shift."
"Sleep well, then," she replied as she slipped past him to start down the stairs. He waggled his fingers a little at her before disappearing into the bedroom. Letting out a relieved breath, she bounced down the staircase, making her way into the kitchen to find Alex and Erin already standing around the stove as something delicious smelling cooked. "What's for breakfast?"
"Cinnamon French toast," Erin replied as she turned to flip the bread in the pan. "I was just telling Alex that I was so pleased to sleep the entire night through last night. I had thought that that might take longer, since I was gone for so long."
"I did notice that you didn't toss and turn so much, yes." She smiled at Erin before sliding her eyes over to look at Alex, seeing that she was watching her closely. "So, when is Alan bringing the kids over?"
"At nine, so that gives us time to eat and settle in the living room. I don't really know how my ex-husband is going to react to me, so I am so glad that I will have both of you by my side for this. And if this goes well, then I can start to think about talking to David." Penelope nodded and reached out to rub Erin's upper arm before turning her focus to the room. "The plates are in the cupboard to the left of the sink," Erin said softly, and she nodded, not questioning why Erin would know that.
It didn't take long to get the table set, and she made certain to put mugs and glasses out, not knowing if there'd be juice to go with the coffee. As Erin and Alex finished cooking, Penelope raided the fridge, pulling out butter, syrup, and a carafe of juice, pouring them each a glass before taking a seat and watching them closely. "I feel like I have so much to catch up on, and it's only been a few days. Hotch certainly seems to think that I've been slacking, since he already has work for me to do."
"Aaron is driven, yes, but that is what gets the results that made me look like a great Section Chief to others. Though the zealousness also made your team reckless, as the Director was so fond of pointing out to me," Erin said with a wry smile as she set the platter of French toast on the table.
"It feels necessary when you're out in the field," Alex replied as she took a seat next to Penelope. Erin shook her head a little as she sat opposite Penelope at the table, rolling her eyes a little. "I saw that, Erin. And it is true, that feeling. Didn't you feel that when you were at the bank scene? I caught a few glimpses of you both on the television, and I could see that same look of recklessness on you and Hotch's faces."
"That was different!" she protested as she stabbed a piece of the toast with her fork and dropped it onto her plate. "We were dealing with people who needed to be stopped sooner rather than later, so that did lend a certain air of urgency to the entire situation."
Alex burst into giggles as she put some of the food onto her plate before handing it to Penelope. "I love the way that you so neatly try to turn the subject into something that sounds better to you, Erin. Just admit that you were just as reckless that afternoon."
"Perhaps." Erin glanced at Penelope, her smile quivering a little as she reached for the syrup, pouring it onto her toast before passing it to her. "Though it was a bit frantic and scary to be there. Thankfully, there were people available to talk to and work out the difficult feelings."
"Of course." Alex smiled at both of them before tucking into her meal, and Penelope followed suit, knowing that she needed something to do with her hands and mouth before she started crying again that morning. They were quiet the rest of the meal, and Penelope felt a few butterflies start to swarm in her stomach as she handed Alex her plate before getting up from the table and heading into the living room, picking up her laptop and checking the searches that she was running for Hotch, forwarding on the information that he needed before she curled up in the corner of the sofa and began working on updating Erin's social media profiles, working with technical support to get things reactivated.
"How is it going?" Erin asked as she primly took a seat next to Penelope, smoothing her skirt down her thighs as she let out a deep breath.
"I want to knock a few heads together, namely Alan's and whoever is currently stymying my work to get this current account reactivated. I mean, I know why they were deactivated, but still, this is too much rigamarole."
"It's difficult to believe that someone has returned from the dead, honey. I know that you have the report from my doctor, and that you're using that to aid in this, but there were always going to be bumps along this road." She patted Penelope's knee gently. "And if I have to restart some accounts, maybe that will be for the better. Clean slates and all that."
"I suppose. Just, don't give up on me just yet."
"Never." They shared a quick smile before Penelope turned her focus back to her work, needing something to occupy her time until Alan and the children arrived.