A/N: Thank you all for the reviews Here's another Chapter to a story that seems to have taken a life of its own. I never intended for it to be this long. It is coming to an end soon though. Please enjoy and review
Derek and Penelope had been playing in the playground with Nicole and Nicolas for over an hour. There wasn't anything on the playground they hadn't done. Fran and her daughters had gone inside the youth center and had started running inventory on the equipment and getting some of the paperwork completed that had to be filed for grants.
"Uncle Derek I'm thirsty." Nicole said.
"Yea me too." Nicolas said.
"Ok let's go inside and get some water and take a little break. Uncle Derek has some work he needs to get done too." Derek said.
"Okay but can we do this again tomorrow?" Nicolas said.
"YEA!!! I wanna do this again." Nicole said.
"We'll see" Derek said as he grabbed their hands and started to walk inside.
Once inside the center, Derek got them some bottled water and they all met up with Fran and the girls.
"How's that coming along?" Derek asked.
"Slow and painful." Des said "but we're almost done."
Penelope had gone over to where Fran and Sarah were counting equipment and joined in. After about 30 minutes of yelling out numbers they were finally done. "How often do you guys do this?" Penelope asked.
"At least once a month sometimes twice." Des said.
"You know this can all be automated." Penelope said looking at Derek. "All we need is program and maybe some barcodes."
"And who do you propose puts all that together?" Derek asked knowing damn well what the answer was going to be.
"I happen to know someone that does this kind of stuff." She said grinning.
"Sweetheart, while I truly appreciate the thought, look around here there are no computers to use it on." Derek said.
"Tsk Tsk mon cheri, such little faith in my abilities." She said as she turned around and started walking towards the door. She took her cell phone out of her purse and made a call.
"Is she serious?" Des asked. "Can she really do that and get a computer for the Center too?"
"Kiddo, I've learned not to question her in any way shape or form. Every time I think I have her figured out, she changes the rules and tosses me for a loop." Derek said smiling.
Just then James had come into the office. He was holding a duffle bag that seemed to be filled with equipment. "Here's some more to go through, it was just donated." He said.
Des sighed. "And here we thought we were done."
"Hey Derek, the boys are getting together a few players for a game of B-Ball, wanna join in?" James asked.
Derek looked over at his Mom and sisters as if asking for permission. "Go ahead baby; we know you want to play. We'll handle this." Fran said.
Penelope walked back inside about 45 minutes later. She apologized for taking so long but explained that she had made several calls. Derek too had finished his game and walked in right behind her.
"You guys will be getting a delivery sometime within the next 2 weeks. They are sending over enough computer equipment to set up a server and put some workstations with barcode readers. I'll work on the program so it's ready just in time. I will need some information from you guys like names and address of people that donate, companies that have granted funds, stuff like that. We'll sort out the details but it will all be ready in time." Penelope said.
Everyone was shocked. Everyone except Derek, he knew that once his baby girl set her mind on something, it was going to happen. "Baby, are you sure you want to take all this on?" he asked as he walked up to her.
"Of course I do, it'll be easy. We can set the workstations in here. The barcode readers are wireless so they can be used anywhere here and they'll transmit into the program. We won't have to cable anything because we'll use some wireless routers and access points. Plus... here's the best part! They'll be sending us some laptops with webcams. Baby we can set up that room over there as a classroom. With the webcams, I can give them classes a couple of nights a week or Saturdays or both!" Penelope said excited.
"Whoa baby slow down. Do you know what'll happen when we put laptops and teenagers together? I'm not sure that's such a good idea." Derek said.
"Eh eh eh! Again I have thought this through. We will have a web filter in the network so they will only be allowed to visit the sites we say they can visit. Besides, these will be used for teaching them Derek. And it's not just kids; we can open up these classes for adults too. Can you imagine how many people might benefit from this? Oh and my friends are willing to donate learning materials if we need them. I told them about the Center and what you guys do here and they were excited about the cause. "Penelope said.
Fran and the girls were jumping up and down and hugging each other. Derek stood there looking at Penelope but hadn't said a word.
"Derek are you mad? Are you upset? Did I jump the gun?" Penelope asked, concerned by his reaction.
Derek shook his head and smiled. "No baby girl I'm not mad I'm amazed." He said. "You never cease to amaze me. Thank you."
"Well don't thank me just yet. You do realize that this means that you and I get to come back in two weeks to set all this up." She said with a grin.
"Oh like spending the week-end with you is such a hard job." He said with a grin.
"Is anybody hungry?" Fran asked.
"Famished." Des said.
They all agreed. After a small discussion about dinner it had been decided that they would have a celebratory meal at Fran's house. "Ok then I'm going to scoot and get all the fixings for tonight." Fran said.
"Would you like some help?" Penelope asked.
"Sweetheart I'd love some." Fran said.
Derek walked over to Penelope to give her a kiss goodbye. "I'm going to spend a little bit of time with James and then I'll head over." He said.
"Take your time baby; this will give me a chance to get to know your Mom." She said smiling.
"You mean for my Mom to interrogate you." He said chuckling.
"You say tomato and I say tomatoe." She said with a wink.
"I love you baby girl." He said and gave her a kiss.
"Hey you two, get a room for god's sake." Des said teasing them for their display.
Penelope and Fran had stopped at the local grocery store and after buying what Penelope thought was half the store they arrived at Fran's house and started getting things ready. As they prepared to cook, Fran served them each a glass of wine. She didn't drink all that often but Fran thought tonight was definitely a night to celebrate. Her son was finally settling down with a girl she absolutely adored. Her daughters were both well and happy and her grandchildren were thriving. The news about the Center was wonderful too. She knew how important that Center was to Derek and with Penelope's help it would finally be more than just a sports hangout.
"Have I told you how happy I am about you two?" Fran said smiling.
Penelope blushed. "I was so nervous about meeting you all." She said.
"And now?" Fran asked.
"I feel like I've known you all for a very long time." Penelope said.
Fran placed her hand over Penelope's and smiled. "Sweetheart I love my son very much but I'm not blind to his faults. We all have them. But I see a different Derek this time. I see a Derek that's happy. He's open with his emotions and he's not guarded. You may not know this but we've known about you for a very long time. Every time we'd talk to Derek he would mention you. You were the amazing tech girl at work and then you became his friend. You went on to being his best friend and Clooney's baby sitter. Whenever he was sick, you were the girl that took care of him and nursed him back to health. Penelope we loved you before we met you. You had nothing to be nervous about." Fran said.
Penelope held back the tears that were threatening to roll down her cheeks. "Fran I have loved Derek for more years than I care to count. I never believed that he would feel the same about me but that didn't matter to me. I was happy just to have him in my life. He's an amazing man. He took care of me when I was shot and he's always protected me and watched out for me. I still feel like I'm living a dream and any minute now I'm going to wake up and that scares me because I've wanted this for so long." Penelope said.
"Penelope this is something you've both wanted but were too afraid to pursue. Trust me when I tell you that my son has been in love with you for a very long time." Fran said.
Penelope smiled. "I can see why Derek loves and admires you so much. He's an amazing man because you're an amazing woman." Penelope said.
Fran raised her glass and said "Here's from one amazing woman to another. May our lives be filled with much joy, love and happiness as our hearts can hold and may we be blessed with many grandbabies!"
Penelope smiled. "I like the sound of that." She said.
"Me too!" Fran said.