Part 16
"Can I talk to you?" Daphne asked Penelope who was sitting in the den sipping a cup of tea, as coffee had been forbidden her until after she gave birth, as it was bad for the babies.
"I suppose," Penelope said not sounding or looking very enthusiastic.
"I can't blame you for at least resenting the hell out of me," Daphne admitted. "I'm hoping we can at least repair our relationship to a certain extent anyway."
"That depends," Penelope said. "Are you going to try your best to control my life? Or are you going to let me live my life the way I want to?"
"I know I treated you shabbily after mom and dad died. I just thought you were an omega and that you were helpless and I knew deep inside that wasn't true, as mom was an Omega after all and father treated her as an equal. He gave her plenty of freedom to pursue her own interests. I can now admit that I drove you away and it was Morgan that made me see that. He told me that just because you were an Omega like himself didn't mean you couldn't defend yourself as you weren't helpless. He refused to let me protect him and told me that if I didn't stop being so protective he would ask me to break the bond. He said he loved me, but he couldn't live as if he couldn't do things for himself and that made me see I was going to lose him if I didn't change. I didn't even punish him for it, because I knew he was right, even if I didn't like hearing it."
"Well, that's certainly would have given you incentive, as you wouldn't want to lose someone you loved," Penelope said.
"I suppose, in a way, I was still grieving for mom and dad and that caused me to be so overprotective of you and then of Morgan," Daphne said.
"Alright, I can understand that you feared losing me and Morgan, but you definitely didn't go about it in the right way. I guessed it was at least partly your grief talking, once Aaron made me see that I should try to repair my relationship with you, as he got me thinking. You about drove me crazy when you called me every day just to check up on me as if I was some teenager that couldn't be left to their own devices for very long. I was considering moving away anyway, but when Emily moved because her aunt had left her and her sister a great big house that it. I saw that as an opportunity, so decided I had better finalize my own plans," said Penelope.
"You should have told me the way you were acting was because you were grieving for mom and dad and we could have talked about it. I understood that you feared for my safety, because of what happened to them, but life is inherently dangerous, whether or not you're an Omega. People die everyday for stupid reasons and if that happened to me then so be it. I understand that you would grieve, but so do a lot of families that lose someone they love. You made me almost hate you, though that faded after I moved to Baltimore, so we had some distance. Now, I just resent the hell out of you. I'm not saying I'm not willing to make amends, but if we do we're going to have to set some ground rules."
"I think I know what ground rules you're going to set," Daphne said. "Absolutely no interfering in your life, no treating you like a child, no making your decisions for you, no calling you every day as that only annoyed the crap out of you."
"Exactly," Penelope said.
"Well, technically, that's Aaron's responsibility now," Daphne offered.
"Yes, and he treats me like an equal, not like I'm mentally retarded child that doesn't know how to take care of herself," Penelope said with some vehemence in her voice.
Daphne winced at that, because it was true to a certain extent. She had treated Penny like she couldn't take care of herself and no one liked to be babied. No wonder her sister had moved away.
"I have already admitted that I didn't treat you like I should have and that was hard enough for me," Daphne said.
"I should make you suffer," Penelope said looking just a little vindictive, "but Aaron would be pretty displeased with me if I did. He might forgive me because I'm pregnant and my emotions aren't exactly settled right now, but then again he might not and I'm not going to risk being seriously punished just because I want to drag this out."
"So he's good to you?" Daphne asked a little tentatively which was unlike her, but she didn't want to risk her now budding relationship with her sister
"He's very good to me," Penelope said, smiling sappily. "I couldn't be happier with Aaron Hotchner and am looking forward to our children's birth. Look at what he gave me."
Penelope displayed her wrist where she always wore the bracelet of interlinking hearts.
"Really nice," Daphne said, already knowing that Aaron Hotchner was well-off because having a house built of this size wasn't cheap.
"He's everything I could possibly want in an Alpha and a mate, he's generous, kind and patient with my moods lately, because he knows it's the pregnancy that's causing them. At any other time, my attitude and moods would've gotten me seriously punished, but since my emotions are out-of-kilter right now he's being very forgiving. Of course, once these five are born I had better not have anymore moods or I will be punished I'm sure. I'm so glad that Emily introduced us. She was determined to introduce me to Aaron, knowing that I would likely fall for him straight away."
"And you didn't tell her to mind own business?" Daphne asked with a little smile.
"I tried, but Emily is a lot like you stubborn, but then, I suppose all alphas are to some extent, you being a case in point. On the other hand, she isn't overprotective and let's me live my life, so I can occasionally put up with her stubbornness and her former attempts at matchmaking. Besides, she introduced me to the love of my life, so it's not like I'm going to hold a grudge."
"I suppose not," Daphne agreed, smiling a little.
"Then again, she also met her mate through Aaron, as he happens to be his twin brother Sean, so we both got the best of the deal. I've never seen Emily so happy and she and Sean already have triplets."
"So she had children before you," Daphne said, "and you actually met Aaron first."
"Well, she already had that nice big place that her aunt left her and her sister while we were having one built, so it's not surprising that she had children first," Penelope shrugged. "Still, our children are going to be close together in age and I'm sure they'll be best friends. If Aaron and I hadn't had to have a place built then we would've been the first. It doesn't really matter though, that Sean and Emily were first. I might have wanted children with Aaron right away, but that wouldn't have been wise, because there wasn't that much room in his apartment."
Suddenly there was a meow and Shadow jumped onto Daphne's lap.
"And who is this cutie pie," Daphne asked really drawn to the pure gray cat, who was no longer a cute little kitten.
"This is Shadow," Penelope said smiling. "Aaron gave her to me as a kitten, but she's all grown up now."
"She's still adorable," Daphne said.
"That she is," Penelope agreed, smiling.
The two continued talking repairing their strained relationship over the last few years and Aaron, who was standing in the doorway, silently listened to the conversation smiled a little.
~~~Aaron and Penelope~~~
"Gabe and I were surprised to be asked to come for visit," Grant said.
"I know," Penelope replied. "You have every right to be, but as Aaron pointed out all of us are grownups now and we should've done more to keep in contact then just over e-mail and phone calls. That might be partly my fault, but it's a two-way street and you also could've made an effect."
"We didn't think you wanted anything to do with us," Gabe said.
"Whatever gave you that idea?" Penelope sputtered.
"Well, you gave the impression that you were determined that your own way," Grant said, "even as a little girl and neither Gabe or I wanted to get in the way of that."
"Still, we could've done more to keep in contact visiting her at least a few times a year," Gabriel said. "But also we didn't want to smother you like Daffy tried to do."
"But that didn't happen until after mom and dad died a few years ago," Penelope said.
"Well, we were busy establishing our careers," Grant defended himself.
"That's no excuse though," Gabriel admitted. "We'll try not to do that anymore and come up for a visit a few times a year and you and Aaron are of course, welcome to visit us. We would really like to get to know our sister better."
"I think that could be arranged," Penelope said smiling. "I know that Aaron really wants us to forge a closer relationship, since he's the one that convinced me to invite you up here, so that you could be here for the birth of your nieces and nephews and that's what I want to."
"What about Daphne?" Grant asked.
"We are trying to rebuild our relationship, but it's going to take time," Penelope said. "She nearly did the unforgivable and tried her best to keep me prisoner. I know very well she didn't see it like that, but that's basically, what happened. She understands now that she was smothering me, which is one reason I left California completely."
"No one likes to be babied," Gabriel suggested.
"No, they don't," Penelope agreed. "Daphne now understands that's what she was doing and why I resented the hell out of her for it. I'm willing to rebuild our relationship, but it's going to take time and effort on both our parts. Yes, I understand, that sometimes alphas have trouble controlling their instincts, particularly with those they love, but Daphne went about our relationship in the wrong way and she now realizes her error. What she did caused a lot of emotional damage though, so it's going to take awhile for us to get back to our former relationship, especially since we're not going to see each other very often."
"Well, at least you're working on repairing your sibling bond and that's something anyway," said Grant.
"I probably wouldn't have done so, if Aaron hadn't urged me to," Penelope admitted. "I know very well that my emotions are out-of-kilter at the moment because I'm pregnant, but even if I wasn't I don't think I would've forced myself to. I might not be an Alpha, but Omegas have their pride. I know deep down that Aaron's right, that I should at least try to mend our relationship. I had to make the first move, because Daffy knew that if she did I never would've been receptive, not after she tried to be so overprotective that I just wanted to punch her. I thought it was better just to move away and since Emily was moving to Baltimore anyway, to me it was the perfect opportunity to have someone I knew close by. Even if Emily hadn't been moving though, I still would have moved to a different city far away from my family, just because I was so tired of Daffy checking up on me like I was some kind of criminal."
"Neither one of us can really blame you," Gabriel said glancing at his twin. "We hadn't realized that it had gotten so bad, but then we were so busy, though I know that's no excuse."
"We could've ordered her to lay off because we are also very strong Alphas," Grant added.
"And also older," Gabriel added.
"I doubt it would've done any good at the time," Penelope said. "I now know she was still grieving for mom and dad and while that might be true, she went about it in the wrong way. I know very well that everyone grieves in different ways, but trying to put me in a bubble where I would be protected from the outside world was not the way to go and she now realizes that."
"And that's a major achievement, because Daphne can be very stubborn," Grant joked.
"All alphas can be stubborn," Penelope corrected, "but I have to admit, at least you listen to me, something that Daphne needed some practice at."
"She was still young when our parents died," Gabriel said.
"And so were you, sis," Grant added.
"Yes, I know," Penelope agreed. "In any case, even if she was young she was old enough to know better and to control her instincts as mom and dad didn't die until we were in our early 20s. So are the two of you planning to get mated anytime soon?"
"Why would you ask a something like that?" Grant asked blushing a little.
"Because I'm your sister and you know our species doesn't do too well without a mate and you're over 10 years older than I am. It's way past time both of you settled down, had a few children," Penelope told them smiling. "I never thought I would settle down, but I found the alpha that was right for me and he treats me like a queen. Aaron's been very patient with my moods lately and we all know that a lot of Alphas wouldn't be whether their mate was pregnant or not."
Grant and Gabriel had to acknowledge that fact, because it was true. Apparently, Aaron understood that their sister's moods were because of hormones, because she was pregnant and so hadn't seriously punished her. He understood that there were extenuating circumstances. That told the brothers that Aaron was patient and kind, which pleased them, because it meant that he would never turn abusive on their sister. So many alphas didn't know how to really act like one, as they were just bullies and were really rough on their mate or their girlfriend or boyfriend.
Penny was happy and that was all that mattered to either of the Garcia brothers, so they would accept Aaron into the family for that reason alone. That they genuinely liked him and he was a nice guy was just great added bonus.
"I am kind of dating someone," Gabriel admitted blushing. "I really like her a lot, though I'm not sure where our relationship will lead. Of course, I'm hoping it will go well and will lead to us mating but we've only been dating a few weeks."
"Well, that's good," Penelope said smiling. "All I want is to see both my brothers happy, just as happy as I am with Aaron. So what about you Grant?"
"I'm not dating anyone right now," Grant said. "I just broke up with someone when I realized that they just wanted me for my money. My company's doing really well, so I am worth a considerable amount and some people, just love to try to get some for themselves. I really have to watch out for that kind thing."
"Well, at least you're trying," Penelope said. "I do understand though. The same thing actually happened to a good friend of Aaron's and now mine. His name is David Rossi. He's the manager for one of the theaters that Aaron owns and his first mate died in childbirth, although his triplets survived."
"Poor guy," Gabriel said sympathetically.
"In any case, he was nearly taken advantage of by two different omegas, but caught onto them just in time. He finally met my friend Alex Blake though and they fell for each other immediately and mated not too long ago. She's already heavily pregnant, because she wasn't too far from her heat when they did mate."
"Well, at least your friend is happy and that's something anyway," Grant said.
"Yes, Dave is very happy with Alex and Alex is certainly happier than I've ever seen her. Actually, she's already pregnant, and our children will be very close in age. Much closer then Emily's and Sean's will be," Penelope said smiling. "Alex didn't meet Dave until I was already three months along so they only dated and then courted for a short time, but sometimes you just know who's right for you."
The three siblings continued to talk and chip down the barrier between them realizing that they had allowed themselves to not be as close as they could be by not wanting to interfere in each others lives. Being busy with no excuse, to not take time to see each other since they were brothers and sisters, even if the age difference was enormous.
~~~Aaron and Penelope~~~
"I'm glad things are going so well with your sister in particular," Aaron told Penny.
"Yes, things are going pretty well considering," Penelope agreed. "I'm glad you kind of forced the issue."
"I knew things might not work out, but I'm so glad I was wrong in this case. Alpha tend to be very prideful, as your very well of and Daphne is no different from me or Dave or any other Alpha."
"I know it was hard for her to apologize for the way she treated me, the way she allowed her strong Alpha instincts to overcome her," Penelope admitted. "I really wanted to make her suffer for what she put me through, but since I knew that was probably at least partly, because of hormones I didn't."
"And I'm very proud of you for not doing so," Aaron said as he kissed the top of her head. This caused Penelope to blush, because she knew Aaron's compliment was sincere. Unlike so many alphas Aaron never complimented anyone unless he truly meant them.
"Well, I might have forgiven her, since she did sincerely apologize, but that doesn't mean that our relationship is going to go back to what it was before our parents died right away," Penelope said.
"Of course not," Aaron agreed. "It's going to take time and effort on both your parts, because both of you said things that hurt each other deeply. While I can understand that your sister was just trying to protect you, I do agree that she went about it in the wrong way. You have every right to live your life the way you choose so long as you're not hurting yourself or anybody else. I also understand that her calling you several times a day just to check up on you like you were some kind of criminal would have annoyed the crap out of anybody, much less you. Everybody has different thresholds of what they find annoying and some people have more patience than others do."
"I agree with that statement," Penelope said. "You've been very patient with my moods lately and I'm grateful."
"I understand that in this case it's hormones, because you're pregnant, although you are due to give birth in just a couple of days," Aaron said. "To punish you for something that isn't your fault, well, that's not me. I'm well aware that your body has changed a great deal over the last six months once I got you pregnant with quintuplets and to seriously punish you for something that you have no control over would be going way too far. I'm well aware however, that some alphas wouldn't see it that way. Of course, if your attitude doesn't go back to normal once you give birth then you will be seriously punished as I know you're aware."
"Yes, I am aware," Penelope agreed. "I'm very grateful for the leeway that you've been giving me, because I can't seem to help it sometimes. I'm glad that you know it's the pregnancy that's causing me to have such a sucky attitude on occasion."
"Well, if you carry quintuplets again I know I can expect you to have the same attitude, though not for two or three years anyway," Aaron smiled tenderly. "Don't worry, when you're pregnant again, I'll give you the same leeway. I do this, because I know normally, you're a very bright and bubbly person, very agreeable, but carrying so many little lives within you isn't easy on any woman, whether they're our kind or humans. You've been doing really well actually in not having such a bad attitude, as I've known women with much worse attitudes when they're pregnant, but I'm also aware that every woman is different when it comes to having babies."
"Yes, that's true," Penelope agreed, as she snuggled into her mate's side.
She felt like a beached whale, as she was absolutely enormous, but she knew very well Aaron didn't see her like that, which certainly helped her self-confidence.
"I'm so happy to finally having children of my own that most of the time my being pregnant hasn't bothered me, but I know there have been occasions when my hormones have gotten control of my normally cheerful personality," Penelope said. "You also know that I've dreamed of having some children for years, which is the main reason I've been so happy to finally be pregnant and the fact, that I'm within a couple of days of giving birth just makes it all the better."
"I'm actually surprised you haven't already gone into labor," Aaron said. "I know our species has an easier time carrying multiples then humans, but then our females were obviously meant to carry more than one fetus at a time, because it's almost always at least twins."
"I hadn't thought of it like that, but you're right," Penelope said a little sleepily. "We also must remember that our species gestation period is a whole term shorter than the other species on this planet. Our fetuses simply grow faster a human's and yet we almost never go into labor, except perhaps, a week or two early no matter how many we are carrying. Our bodies seem to be simply designed to carry more than a single fetus. It would be a rather unusual event for a female of our kind to go into labor more than a couple weeks early. I'm not claiming it doesn't happen occasionally, it's just not very common."
"That's a very good point," Aaron said. "You could go into labor anytime in the next 48 hours or you could even be late, as that happens to. It's not like the doctor has to estimate exactly when you get pregnant, like they do with the other species, because the only time the females of our kind can get pregnant is when they are in heat, so we're never more than a day or two off in our estimates."
"I hope I'm not late, because I'm ready for these five to be born," Penelope said patting her stomach.
"I can't really blame you there," Aaron said. "I don't know how females go through it even once, much less multiple times."
"We don't mind getting pregnant several times to get the family we want, so long as we are mated to someone we love, someone who treats us well. I, for one, certainly have no complaints in that direction," Penelope said. "Also I can't see Alex complaining or Emily for that matter, but that's only because we are mated to people who love us. I'm certainly glad that Emily and Alex have found the happiness they deserve. Your brother and Dave too of course."
"Now that's something I agree with," Aaron said approvingly. "I've known Dave for a long time and that he was devastated when Caroline died as you might suspect. I'm certainly glad that he got together with your friend Alex and of course, the same goes for my brother as it was way past time for him to settle down, but then, I really don't have a right to say anything, because it was way past time for me to do the same."
"A lot of people have trouble finding love and it doesn't matter whether they're Alphas, Omegas, humans," Penelope said. "At least for our species we usually know when we have found the one, although I'm not saying mistakes haven't been made in the past. I think Dave is incredibly lucky that he found somebody else he could love after Caroline died, as that doesn't always happen, but then, it doesn't always happen for the other two species either."
"Yes, I thought he was incredibly lucky to I just wish he had met Alex at least five or six years ago," Aaron said.
"There were no guarantees that he'd ever find another mate something both you and I are well aware of, so Dave should consider himself incredibly lucky that he and Alex clicked so well," Penelope said. "I'm really glad they did actually, as I've never seen Alex happier in the years I've known her."
"I've never seen Dave this happy either, but then, I met him several years after Caroline died," Aaron agreed.
"So we can both agree that Dave and Alex are very good for each other," Penelope said smiling.
"That we can," Aaron said, as he turned off the light on his side of the bed while Penelope did the same. "Goodnight, sweetheart."
"Goodnight, handsome," Penelope said kissing Aaron one last time before laying her head on his broad chest and closing her eyes.
~~~Aaron and Penelope~~~