Penelope smiled up at Erin as she took the mug from her hands. "Thank you, but I could have gotten the coffee myself."

"I know, but I wanted to get a refill, anyway. It's going to be so hard away from home for the next four weeks, unable to see my children."

"I wish that I could see them for you." Erin gave her a small smile as she reached out and patted her knee. "I do. You deserve to get little updates on them throughout the month. And if I could make that happen for you, I would. I'm assuming that Dawn won't be seeing them in the next four weeks, since she doesn't have to play babysitter with you." Erin nodded. "Dammit, I was hoping that I could twist her arm to get Alan to let me see them a few times."

"I will get by, somehow, and come out on the other side as a stronger woman. Would you mind if I called you a few times while I'm there?"

She shook her head as her smile widened. "I would love hearing from you, whenever you want to give me a call. Now, we can't be lazy all day, especially since these are your last few hours of freedom. Is there anything that you would love to do, but haven't because you think it's too childish or ridiculous?"

There were a few long moments of silence, and Penelope wondered if she had somehow offended Erin in some way. "It's not childish, but I would love to visit Colonial Williamsburg. Alan always said that the drive was too long, and that the children wouldn't enjoy it, so we never went."

"How long is the drive?" Penelope asked even as she picked up her phone to start routing the journey. "Two hours? That's nothing! And if I hit everything just right, we would be there around ten. Let's go!"

"Really?"

"Yes! I wouldn't agree if I didn't want to do something like this. Come on, you look cute, there's no need for us to slap on more makeup. Let's do it!" Erin smiled widely as they got to their feet, and Penelope took hold of Erin's hand as she led her out into the kitchen so that they could grab their purses. Penelope felt a little guilty about not wanting to let Aaron know where they were heading, but since he had had the audacity to try and pump her for information on Erin, that lessened the guilt a bit. "I just might need to stop and get gas at some point."

"That will be fine, I appreciate even this small effort." She shrugged as they climbed into her car as the garage door opened, and Erin shook her head. "Seriously, the last time I had a friend just drop everything to make certain I was all right, it was Alex, and that did not end well for me."

That was another little piece of Erin's past that she hadn't known about, and Penelope filed it away to make a better overall picture of who the woman was. "Well, hopefully I have better lasting power, then." She gave Erin a wink before backing out of the drive, listening as Siri navigated her along the way. The two hours passed much more quickly than Penelope thought they would, and that was even with stopping to get gas and snacks. "We're here! Now to see about getting tickets."

"And about a carriage ride?"

There was a shyness to that question, as if Erin was already expecting Penelope to reject her request, and she nodded enthusiastically. "If that's what you want to do, we'll do it." Penelope slung her purse over her shoulder as they entered the visitor's center, and she watched Erin's face light up with pleasure as her entire body just seemed to relax. If Penelope had known that this was all it would take to get this result, she would have suggested it ages ago. Shaking her head a little, she stepped away from the woman to go over to the ticket window, hurriedly purchasing their day passes along with a carriage ride for four that afternoon.

"If you're going to be here so late in the afternoon, you might also like to go on one of our haunted Williamsburg tours."

Penelope glanced over at Erin before nodding excitedly. "I don't know if my friend will be up for that, but add it to the tickets anyway. I want to make this a memorable day for us."

The woman nodded as she did just that, slipping the tickets over to Penelope after the payment went through. "Enjoy your day. And if it gets too late to return home, there are numerous hotels in the area."

"Thanks," she replied with a small handwave before hurrying over to Erin's side. "So, our carriage ride is not until four, and it's just now quarter after ten. Do you want to grab lunch around one?"

"That sounds good. What else did you plan for us to do?"

She blushed a little as she handed over the tickets for their haunted tour that evening, and carefully watched Erin's face for her reaction. "I thought it would be something different, something to get your mind off Monday. We don't have to…"

"You just wanted to get me in your arms." Penelope blushed as she shook her head. Even though she knew that Erin was teasing her, there was still a little bit of truth in that look, and she knew that she couldn't encourage it, no matter how much she might want Erin to feel better.

"Maybe I'll end up in your arms," she teased back as they began to walk down the path to the center of the site. There were a number of other people headed in the same direction, and Penelope didn't know if she was bothered by that or not. A part of her had wanted to have some bit of alone time with her friend while they were there, and that was unlikely to happen with so many milling about. "What would you like Helen and me to do while you're gone? I know that Aaron is taking over a lot of your work, and that it's going to be rather difficult for her to work with him, since, well, he's Aaron."

Erin chuckled a little as she nodded, stepping closer to Penelope as they continued the mile walk. "There is the fact that they don't really get along, yes. If you would run files back and forth between them, I would truly appreciate that. I know that Helen likes you."

"I like her, too! She's a very kind young woman, and fiercely protective of you."

"She is." Penelope tried not to react when Erin slipped her arm into hers, but it was a nice feeling, nonetheless.

"We're going to have to take pictures of us here, so that we can remember this time. And before you protest, just know that I make Jayje and Emily take pictures with me all the time."

The mention of Emily's name only caught up with her moments later, and her step faltered a little as she swallowed back a small sob. "It will get easier, Penny, I promise. There will come a day when you say her name and it won't hurt your heart so much."

"I should know that, since that's one of the central tenets of the group that I run. I don't know why this grief just seems to be hitting me harder than normal."

"Because you love Emily, and you didn't expect her to be taken out of this world like she was. So the pain is different than someone passing away of natural causes, or from an accident. Violence is always so shocking, no matter what form it comes in."

There was a great wisdom in Erin's words, and Penelope nodded as she took another step closer to Erin's side, finding comfort in her presence. "I think that's why I like being friends with you. Once I was able to get behind that mask you wear at work, I can see the loving mom that you are, and how that love extends to your friends. And I will continue to try and work on my team, to get them to treat you with more respect, especially when you get back. Because you deserve that."

"I appreciate that, Penelope." They shared a quick look before Erin changed how they were walking, taking hold of Penelope's hand as they went along. It really was quite comforting to have that gentle touch, and she sighed a little as they finally reached the site proper. Though there was going to be a lot of people there, somehow she had the feeling that they were going to be alone with each other, and that made things better.