Part 10

"I think it was a better idea just to let Penny wander around by herself, as they're bound to run into each other before the cookout's over," JJ told Dave quietly. She had come out of the house a few minutes ago and come to stand beside Dave as he cooked hamburgers, steaks and hotdogs on the big grill that had been bought, soon at the house. That grill had been bought specifically to cook steaks on, since all their kind loved them and they used it fairly often, though they certainly hadn't used up all the space with only the four of them being able to eat steak since the triplets weren't old enough yet. Henry and Michael always shared one, since they were so young and Michael's portions were cut up into pieces, as he was too young to use a knife.

"Yes, I think so too, because escorting her around would've been rather suspicious no matter how casually it was done," Dave said. "It would've seemed like she was an important guest instead of just a friend like everyone here."

"Well, at least she is having a good time," JJ said, as she watched Penelope talk to several of the Alphas, seeing her blush occasionally.

"She is," Dave said, as he watched Penny talk to Andrew Foster another longtime friend of his. "It looks like Andy is interested."

"You can tell that from way over here?" JJ asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I can, because I know Andy well," Dave said. "If you can tell Penny's having a good time I can certainly tell that Andy's interested in her."

"I think it would only be polite if after you're done grilling if you introduce me to some of your friends," JJ said.

"I was already planning to actually," Dave said, as he continued to turn the burgers, steaks and hotdogs, so they didn't burn on one side. "It's going to be at least an hour though, because I've already served a lot of the people here, but some of them are having to wait until the next batch of food is done."

"They knew that there would only be so much food you could fit on one grill so they're being patient," JJ said. "Besides, we set up that food table with a lot snack foods and side dishes on purpose, because we knew you could only do so many pieces of meat at one time and this way nobody gets uncomfortably hungry."

"You're the one that thought of the snack table and you were right," Dave said. "Next time we throw one of these things we'll do the same, since there's only one grill and only one person doing the grilling."

"Well, I'll leave you to it," JJ said kissing his cheek. "I'm going to go talk to some of those ladies and maybe check on the triplets."

There three girls were considered to young to participate this year in their summer cookout, so they were in the house being watched over by Ruth the nanny. Ruth knew to call one of them if there was any problems, not that they expected any.

"The girls are just fine with Ruth," Dave said. "You know she'll contact you if there are any problems, so you need to stop worrying. This is as much a chance for you to relax and mingle as it is to try to matchmake Penny with one of the Alphas here."

"I'll try to relax," JJ said. "I just want everything to go perfectly."

"If it doesn't it's not going to be your fault," Dave said. "Things sometimes happen that no one can prevent."

"I know," JJ said. "I suppose it's just my need for perfectionism."

"Do you believe I'll be mad at you if something happens that no one expects?" Dave asked quietly.

JJ lowering her head in obvious shame was answer enough.

"That would be a stupid reason to get mad at you, because you can't control everything and anybody who believes they can is an idiot and yes, I'm well aware there are people like that out there," Dave said. "If something happens like one of the children get injured I'm not going to blame you unless you're actually the one that broke their arm a leg or conked them on the head. I don't expect miracles. Besides, I doubt anything bad will happen anyway. It's possible certainly, just not likely."

"I know," JJ said finally raising her head. "I'll try to stop imagining everything that can go wrong. I think it probably also to has to do with the fact that this is the first party we have ever tried to throw so I want everything to be perfect."

"You need to go relax, because you were under a lot of stress when you had all those broken bones so you couldn't resume your normal routine, which is probably part of your belief that I'll punish you if something unexpected happens. You couldn't hold the children, we couldn't resume our sex life," Dave said quietly, since their race had very good hearing and he didn't want anybody to hear what he said. "I know we corrected that now, but still it was a stressful time and you haven't had much time to relax since, not with all the children in the house. You go mingle and I'll come find you when I'm finally done with the cooking."

JJ kissed Dave's cheek and obeyed, because even though it was phrased nicely she knew it was really a command.

Dave watched her go smiling hoping that Jennifer would actually relax and enjoy herself.

~~~Healed Hearts~~~

Penelope sat down at one of the tables that had been set up for those that wanted to sit and started on her plate of food. She had a nice juicy steak, rare just as she liked it, baked beans, garlic bread, macaroni and cheese that she knew she was going to have to get the recipe for as it was delicious, and was likely JJ's mother's contribution.

She had met so many Alphas, as well as quite a few Omegas, some that she thought she could become friends with. She had blushed so much in the last few hours that she was still reeling from all the attention. She must've talked to at least a dozen Alphas and all of them had showed various levels of interest, which was pretty unusual for her she admitted. She was really enjoying herself talking to various people, learning a little of their history, watching as all the adorable children played.

Watching all the children play hurt, because she didn't have any of her own, but hopefully she hid it well.

"Can I sit here?" Came a strong male voice and Penelope looked up.

"Sure, that's what they're here for," Penelope said.

The tall man, undoubtably an Alpha had short dark hair and was wearing casual clothes, a shirt with an open collar and a pair of jeans. He was tall, a little taller than Dave actually as he was at least 61' or 62 and had brown eyes like her own. He was also fairly broad at the shoulders with a slim waist and Penelope tried not to think about all the things she would like to do with the body she was sure was under the clothes. Why would such a big, strong handsome Alpha be interested in somebody like her? Besides with her luck he was already taken.

"So are you going to tell me your name are we just going to sit here and eat in silence?" asked the man.

"Sure all you had to do was ask," Penelope said politely. "Penelope Garcia at your service."

"Penelope, what a beautiful name for a beautiful woman," Aaron said smiling. "I'm Aaron Hotchner by the way."

"It's nice to meet you," Penelope said trying not to blush at the casual, but sincere compliment.

"It's really nice to meet you," Aaron said, becoming more and more interested in this beautiful Omega. He was already aware she was unattached as the unbroken mating gland on her neck told him as much and since Dave had just urged him to get back to dating, since he hadn't dated in three years, well, he considered this the perfect opportunity to flirt a little, see how Penelope responded.

"You can call me, Penny," Penelope said, flirting a little. "Most people do."

"You can call me, Aaron, though some people call me Hotch as a nickname."

"So what do you do, Aaron?" Penelope asked casually.

"If you mean for work I'm an attorney," Aaron answered.

"So any children?" Penelope asked.

"Four of them and no I'm not mated any longer," Aaron said seeing the disappointment flash across Penelope's beautiful face. "Let's just say we went our separate ways and perhaps, I'll tell you the whole story sometime if we get close enough."

"I'll look forward to hearing it," Penelope responded automatically.

"So same question, any children?" Aaron asked smiling.

"No, I've never been mated," Penelope shook her head. "I would love some children, but I'm not one of those that is just going to have them by some random male. I've dated, but I've just never found anyone that I would be happy to be mated to, to have children with."

What she didn't say was that most Alphas didn't look twice at her, because she wasn't like JJ, who was slim and attractive and was beautiful inside and out, while she took after her father and was much bigger boned and therefore, her body was bustier. She had been called hefty or fat more than once and it had been said as an insult and she was one to take things to heart.

"Well then, if you're not dating anyone right now, would you like to give a relationship a try?" Aaron offered.

Penelope stared at him in shock her expression astonished.

"Why are you so shocked?" Aaron asked in surprise.

"Because it kind of came out of the blue and because gorgeous guys like you don't ask out women like me," Penelope said honestly.

"Whoever told you that is an idiot," Aaron snorted.

"It's not what anyone told me precisely. Let's just call it personal experience," Penelope admitted.

"Well, just because a lot of Alphas or humans for that matter are idiots, doesn't include me," Aaron told Penelope, smiling a little. "I know very well that most males go for someone like...well, that woman over there with the dark brown hair, whose name I think is Trisha, but she doesn't matter. What I'm trying to say is that's not me. Besides, I was mated to someone very similar to her, at least when it comes to looks and lets just say it didn't end well."

Penelope could guess what had happened since it had just happened to Dave and JJ very recently. Of course, she was aware it might be something totally different, but from the way Aaron had phrased it she kind of doubted that.

"In any case, I haven't dated any in the last three years, so I thought it was time I tried again," said Aaron.

"I suppose we could give it a try," Penelope finally agreed.

"Good," Aaron said in a pleased tone causing Penelope to blush prettily.

The two of them exchanged phone numbers and address and Penelope couldn't help but blush as Aaron's hand deliberately brushed against hers.

"I'm free tomorrow, so it's a good time for first date, that is if you don't have anything planned," Aaron said.

"Not really," Penelope said blushing again because of the look that Aaron shot her. "Nothing that can't wait anyway. I was just going to do a few household chores, washing clothes, dusting and stuff like that, nothing special or spectacular."

"On Sunday?" Aaron asked with a raised eyebrow to show he was skeptical.

"On Sunday, as I'm kind of behind," Penelope admitted. "I hate doing laundry especially, so I put it off this time."

"I don't know anyone who really likes doing laundry, though it's better to get it done so you don't spend all day washing clothes," Aaron said amused.

"That's true and normally I do I just procrastinated a little this time," Penelope said wondering why she was telling Aaron all this. "There always seemed to be better things to do then boring chores."

Aaron snorted at that, but it was true nonetheless. He had to admit when he sat down he hadn't expected to be attracted to this Penelope Garcia. The attraction had been a immediate and fairly strong. Since it had been he had decided to ask her out on a date. He had already known that she wasn't with another Alpha, because not only did she not smell like another Alpha her mating gland was unbroken and looked like it had never been broken at all and then healed, which was something Penelope had just confirmed. He now knew that Penelope, he could never think of her as Penny, had been searching for love, probably for years, but unlike some women had not found it. He could also tell that she had very little confidence in herself when it came to dating and probably went for males who weren't exactly handsome, not ugly just average, because she believed subconsciously that's what she deserved.

Aaron could guess very well she had probably been teased quite severely until she believed whatever she was told and that had probably happened as a child. He was determined suddenly to boost her confidence and he wasn't exactly sure why he felt that way. Could he be more than attracted to her? Aaron tried to sort out his feelings and realized that he was. He wouldn't precisely call it love just yet, as they'd only been talking for about half an hour, but it could certainly turn into that if he allowed it to. He found her amusing and pleasant and he could tell that she was very intelligent. He would see how she got along with his children before he took it farther than a few casual dates, as his sons and daughters were the most important part of his life and anyone he took as a mate would have to show them love and couldn't treat them as if they were unwanted. No, he wouldn't make that kind of mistake. Haley's betrayal had cut him deep, but not as deep as it could have, mostly because he had lost a lot of the affection he'd had once due to her constant arguments causing tension and discord in their home and upset their four children, not to mention him.

One of the subjects that had caused so many arguments was the fact that she wanted him to go into politics, which was something he had absolutely no interest in doing and he wasn't about to make himself miserable just to make her happy. He was an attorney and he was good at it. He made good money, certainly enough to support his four children and himself. He could even afford quite a few more children if he ever mated again and he could tell that Penelope would be a perfect candidate for that, because he knew that she wanted children badly. There was a certain wistfulness in her tone whenever she talked about children and it was clear that she really wanted some of our own, but would rather be mated before she had any, which Aaron thought was sensible. It might be sensible, but it sure did limit options, because some of their race never found anybody to settle down with for different reasons.

"Normally, I just get it done, so it's out-of-the-way, but this time for some reason I didn't," Penelope shrugged.

The two continued chatting casually until they had finished their steaks and sides, learning more about each other.

"Well, I never knew Dave was such a good cook," Aaron said.

"I've had dinner with him sometimes as JJ and I have become good friends and Dave helps out with the cooking fairly often. I've seen him do it," Penelope said. "They told me once back when JJ was injured by Dave's ex that they share cooking duties and sometimes they cook together."

"So how did you meet Dave and JJ?" Aaron asked and Penelope told him.

Once Penelope was done Aaron thought that yes, she would be a very good mate for him, as she was honest and brave. Not many would've called out like she had although they might've called 911, but if Penelope had done that JJ would probably be dead.

"Well, I'm glad you were there and that you weren't hurt," Aaron said.

"So am I and while I'm sorry JJ was injured I've gotten a couple of good friends out of it and you can never have too many of those," Penelope said blushing at the sincere compliment.

"Well, beautiful, I'll look forward to our date tomorrow. I'll pick you up at your apartment around five," Aaron said, as he kissed cheek. "Dress is semicasual."

Penelope blushed again as Aaron kissed the back of her knuckles before he started to gather up his four children, calling them by name, so that they could head home.

Penelope watched, as Aaron and his four children headed for their car, after Aaron had said goodbye to Dave and JJ and probably thanked them for inviting him.

~~~Healed Hearts~~~

Dave and JJ bade the last of their guests goodbye and decided that they would clean up tomorrow, though that would be mostly Dave's responsibility.

"Well, I thought it was a successful first cookout," JJ smiled.

"Yeah, I thought so too," Dave said. "What made it even more successful, was that I saw Aaron and Penny chatting over one at the tables we set up."

JJ's interest immediately sharpened at that. "Really?"

"Yep. They chatted for quite some time before Aaron headed home with his kids," Dave said smiling. "I would say that Aaron's more than interested in our friend."

"Well, it was definitely a successful cookout then, since we basically conceived the idea so that Penny could meet a lot of Alphas, ones that would treat her like the beautiful woman she is, because we wanted to try our hand at matchmaking," JJ said.

"I suspect that Aaron probably asked Penny out on a date and he hasn't dated ever since Haley's betrayal. If I'm right then this is definitely a good sign," Dave grinned smugly.

"Yes, it is," JJ said. "I truly hope something comes out of it."

"So do I," Dave said, as he put an arm around JJ's waist and escorted her into the house. Henry and Michael had already been put to bed about an hour previously for they had been exhausted, from running around and playing with other children that were around their age.

"This was a good idea for Henry and Michael had a blast, made some good friends," JJ said. "The cleanup is going to be a pain though."

"Well, handle it tomorrow," Dave said. "I'm sure your mother will be over to help and if I hadn't told her to go home right after Henry and Michael were put to bed well she would still be here, trying to clean up the mess."

"Thank you for that," JJ said.

"No need to thank me, I love her too," Dave said smiling. "No, today was a day for fun but tomorrow will come the clean up. However, between you, me and Sandy I think we can get it done in a couple of hours."

"Yeah, probably, as its mostly paper plates, napkins plastic silverware. Whenever food was left over has already been put up thanks to mom," JJ agreed

"Not that was much left," Dave snorted his amusement clear.

"No, there really wasn't, but still there are some leftovers," JJ laughed.

"That's what you get when you have a cookout for a bunch of Alphas of both sexes as most of them have big appetites."

"Not to mention the Omegas ate their share," JJ said.

"Which means the food was totally demolished between them," Dave said with a chuckle. "Now I know it's fairly early but I think we need to head to bed, as not only are you pregnant we've had a very busy day."

"That's the truth, but it was fun and I really enjoyed myself. You were right I needed to relax," JJ said.

"I knew it," Dave said gently. "It hasn't been that long since you finally had both casts removed, less then a week and it's going to take awhile for us to forget that you were injured so badly in the first place. Now that you're healthy again though, eventually neither one of us will be so wary, even in our own home."

"It's just going to take awhile for the memory of what happened to fade," JJ said and Dave nodded in confirmation. "You know I'm actually surprised that you were right about Aaron and Penny."

"There's no guarantees it will turn into anything permanent," Date pointed out. "We can both hope it does, but it might not. Aaron's a good man and I firmly believe would be a good mate for Penny. He could make Penelope happy and vice versa and that's only if I was right about Aaron asking her for a date, but I'm nearly positive I was."

"Well, we'll soon know I'm sure, because I'm sure Penny will tell me if she did have a date. I think you're right though, because she was practically bouncing, which means she's really happy. She tends to bounce a lot when she's happy," JJ said.

"Yeah, I have noticed that," Dave said amused. "I'm afraid I interfered a little and gave Aaron a lecture about not letting Haley scare him off dating permanently and reminded him what can happen to our kind when they live alone, as his kids won't be children forever."

"You actually implied that he was the afraid to date?" JJ asked, looking shocked.

"I thought it was the only way to get him to actually start dating again and that was to back him into a corner. He knows I'll hold it over his head forever if he doesn't start dating again, especially when he claimed he wasn't afraid," Dave chuckled very pleased with himself

"Sneaky sneaky," JJ said and Dave simply grinned at her.

JJ knew very well that Alphas would almost never admit that they were afraid to do something no matter what it was so Dave really had backed Aaron into a metaphorical corner, as his pride was now involved. Aaron would either start dating again or Dave would hold it over his head for the rest of his life.

"I thought it was necessary or Aaron might not have ever have dated again as he was hurt deeply by what Haley did. Now though, I'm sure he and Penny have a date sometime in the next few days, maybe even tomorrow, since it's Sunday."

"He was probably afraid of Haley seeking revenge like Carolyn did," JJ gently suggested. "That might be what was stopping him back from getting involved seriously with any woman."

"That was certainly part of it, as he said as much," Dave said. "I told him that he needed to get back out there and that he couldn't live alone for the rest of his life. I basically pointed out that just because one relationship had gone toxic didn't mean another would. I think the main reason though just as you suspected, was because he is afraid that Haley would seek revenge on him, by going after his Omega. What he did by basically disowning her she might consider a betrayal by Aaron, just like Carolyn did and might not think about the fact that she was the one that cheated in the first place. Aaron has several contacts within the police department and they're keeping an eye on her. At the moment, she's working a low level job and makes barely enough to survive on, but then she deserves it for what she did, just as Carolyn deserved her punishment. Haley, just like Carolyn had a bright future ahead of her if she had made slightly better choices. Aaron's already said that so long as she doesn't cause any trouble he's going to leave her alone. I wish that I had kept a closer eye on Carolyn, but I considered the matter closed and let my guard drop. My mistake got you seriously hurt.

"You can't blame yourself for that as I certainly don't blame you," JJ said. "We need to blame who's really responsible and that's Carolyn. Carolyn made a lot of piss poor choices, that didn't have anything to do with you or with me."

"Well, I've already sworn it will never happen again, but then I haven't made anymore bad enemies, so that's a relief anyway," Dave said. "When you were hurt it absolutely shattered me. I was afraid I was going to lose you. I never want you to be so seriously injured again, as next time you might not be so lucky, or if you're pregnant at the time our children might not survive."

JJ said nothing just cuddled into Dave's side and gave him as much comfort as she could and a few minutes later both drifted off to sleep content in each others arms.

~~~Healed Hearts~~~

Penelope could hardly sleep she was so excited. She couldn't believe that she, Penelope Garcia had a date with such a handsome, strong Alpha. Having a date with someone like Aaron Hotchner was so out of the realm of her normal reality that Penelope began to fear that it was a setup.

Don't be ridiculous, Penelope told herself. Do you really believe that Dave and JJ would set you up just so they could watch you take a fall?

No she knew them to well by this point to believe that, Penelope admitted. Still, that didn't mean it wasn't some sort of set up where this nice handsome Alpha asked her out for a date and then didn't show up.

Penelope nearly canceled, but then shook off her fears as she really liked this Aaron Hotchner. Not every handsome Alpha was an arrogant, snide, no good maggot, with the honesty and integrity God gave a worm.

She couldn't see Dave inviting anybody like she was imagining to their first cookout so Aaron was probably a good man. She knew Dave well enough to know that he probably wouldn't even be friends with the kind of Alpha she was used to dealing with.

Well, this date with Aaron Hotchner gave her a reason to go shopping as she needed a new outfit, shoes and purse, as she simply couldn't just wear any old thing, even though she had plenty of semicasual clothes. No, having a date was the perfect excuse to get a new outfit, not that she really needed any. Really though, it wasn't a matter of need, but a matter of wanting something new for her first date with such a handsome Alpha.

Penelope would just see how her and Aaron's first date went before she agreed to anymore, Penelope decided before she drifted off to sleep.

The morning seemed to arrive too soon and Penelope was up as soon as the sun rose for she had a lot to get done before her date tonight.

Penelope fixed herself some breakfast, then begin to get dressed, actually feeling cheerful as she was sure that her date tonight was going to go just fine, which would hopefully, lead to another and then another. She was trying her best not to get her hopes up that everything went perfectly, because she had been hurt so many times in the past which was why she was so cautious.

She had been hurt so badly by arrogant Alphas that she had even dated Kevin Lynch a human and while he had been nice enough and knew as much about computers as she did it had never gone anywhere. It had been doomed to failure from the first, Penelope admitted. She had been somewhat shocked when he asked out and she had enjoyed herself for several weeks, but then it had just gotten rather tedious.

Kevin didn't know a thing about the other species that shared the planet with him and didn't really care to learn, which was one of the things that had made her break it off. She didn't think that Kevin could handle having multiple children if they did happen to get married instead of mated since Kevin was human and she wasn't about to do it all herself. She wasn't about to get seriously involved with anyone that couldn't even be bothered to learn about a different species. She knew of relationships between her species and humans and they were very happy, but then those humans took the time to learn at least something about their partner and how they were different from humans, which certainly showed a willingness to try. She didn't believe however, that humans could really fully understand their species or at least certain aspects of their kind.

The way that Alpha's and Omegas played for example, as most humans would consider that weird at the very least if not outright abuse, but then some were adventurous enough to at least play along and many marriages between their kind and humans were very happy. Kevin Lynch definitely hadn't been one of them as he had dismissed what she had tried to tell him, so she had broken it off. She had told him that if he couldn't accept that she was different biologically from humans and couldn't be bothered to learn those differences then she didn't want anything to do with him. She had left Kevin devastated she remembered, but since he had refused to learn, even the basics she'd done what she had to, as she would've been miserable if she had decided to keep the relationship going.

Finally Penelope was ready to leave her apartment and head out to her car so she could do some serious shopping, before her date with the handsome Aaron Hotchner.

Penelope was waiting and anxious by the time 5 o'clock rolled around but Aaron pulled up right on time.

Aaron was ever the gentleman got out of the car and opened her door for her and Penelope climbed in with her purse.

"Ready to go gorgeous?" Aaron asked with a smile.

"Yes," Penelope said blushing because Aaron called her gorgeous something that she didn't believe for a second, but if Aaron wanted to call her something like that she wasn't about to object as it was good for her ego. That didn't mean she believed it though.

"You look absolutely stunning," Aaron complimented.

"Thank you," Penelope said.

The two chatted casually Penelope tried to hide her nervousness the whole time, but finally they arrived at the restaurant Aaron had made a reservation at.

Aaron helped his date out of the car and escorted her inside and soon they were seated at a semiprivate table.

"So why don't you tell me something about your children?" Penelope said.

Aaron began to tell her a several anecdotes about his four children Jack and Madeline or Maddy who were the oldest at 8 and then Susan or Suzy and Jamie were the babies at 6 and a half.

"All four of them are the lights of my life and I try not to spoil them too much, though that's hard. They missed their mother a lot of first, but understood that something was wrong with their relationship with her. Now though, they're just normal happy kids who are growing up too fast for their father."

"Isn't that the way it normally happens?" Penelope asked gently. "Doesn't time always seem to fly even when you don't want it to? Life tends to be busy no matter what your profession and before you know it the time is gone and your children are growing up before your eyes."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it though," Aaron sighed

"No parent does so long as they love their children," Penelope said. "But unfortunately, it's a fact of life."

The two of them chatted until the food arrived and then they concentrated on their individual dinners.

"Well, that was the best meal I've had in awhile, so thank you for dinner," Penelope said.

"You're quite welcome, beautiful," Aaron said and watched as Penelope blushed on cue.

His date didn't object to the description he noticed, but it was clear that she didn't believe she was beautiful. He believed that his theory about how she had been maliciously teased and bullied about her looks was true. He believed that it hadn't helped that she had probably dated Alphas that had just subtly and unsubtly put her down in various ways and those Alphas might not even have realized they were doing it because it was just natural for them to insult people. That didn't make it right however. Such insults meant or not often destroyed a person's self-confidence and it was clear that Penelope was one of these. Someone who took everything to heart.

Aaron paid the bill once the waiter brought it and the two of them exited the restaurant. Aaron escorted Penelope to the passenger side and opened the door for her.

Once Penelope was safely in the car Aaron shut the door and hurried to the driver's side starting the engine.

The two chatted easily as Aaron drove his date back to her apartment building, then once they arrived he waited until she was inside before he drove away

~~~Healed Hearts~~~