Adopted by Penelope Garcia

Chapter 3

Being escorted to our safe house isn't how I wanted to spend my second day as a family, but I don't have any say in it. I get it Derek and Penelope are worried about me, hell their whole team is worried about me. Sitting in my new room, staring at the emptiness off it my thoughts run wild. How long do we have to stay here? Why are Derek and Penelope going though all this trouble for me? When can we go home?

I don't even realize I'm crying until Penelope is sitting on the bed wiping my tears away.

"Vivian things will work out for us okay. We aren't going to be trapped here for long." She brushes my blonde hair out of my face.

"Derek says you have been hunting him since last year. What if you can't capture him?" Tears continue to spill out of my eyes. I don't even have a friend, or anyone around my age to talk too, to find comfort in.

"We will capture him baby girl. Our team won't stop searching until we do. I know this sucks, but we will get to be a family in our home soon. We still can be a family here in this house. Plus with Derek and I being out of work right now we will be able to bond together. I promise you we will do everything in our power to comfort you and keep you safe okay?" Penelope's soft tender voice comforts me some.

I nod my head, wiping the tears off my face. Penelope gets up from my bed to leave.

"Mom." I blurt out before she leaves the room.

She turns around abruptly, tears streaming down her cheeks and a shocked expression on her face. I quickly apologize.

"I'm so sorry Penelope I shouldn't have called you that." I quickly apologize as Penelope rushes over to me sitting on the bed again.

"No no no Vivian you don't need to apologize ever for calling me that. You can call me whatever makes you comfortable." She smiles more and hugs me tightly.

"Can I ask you a question?" I look down at my hands nervous for her reaction to this question.

"Of course anything honey." She looks down at me, with worry filled eyes. I can tell she is nervous about more then just this whole Scratch situation.

"Are you pregnant?" I blurt out.

She looks stunned "Umm- are y-you serious? Of course I'm not p-pregnant." She stutters over her words and quickly gets up from my bed.

"Wait mom! Please, are you pregnant?" I ask the question again. Her emotions have been all over the place today. Part of me wants to know if she is, or if it is really just because of the situation we are in.

Penelope sighs and sits back down on my bed.

"Okay Vivian. Yes I am pregnant. You can't tell anyone yet. I haven't told Derek I was going to wait until I was a little further along before telling him. I don't need to get his hopes up for nothing again." She has tears spilling out of her eyes.

"What's going to happen to me when the baby comes?" I start to wonder if they will send me back.

"Honey, if I have this baby successful, you will still be part of our family. Your aren't going anywhere, and I know you will be an amazing big sister. Okay an addition to our family Vivian is not a replacement." She smiles at me as she pulls me into a hug.

We come out of my room and into the living room, Derek gets up and hugs Penelope. He whispers something into her ear which makes Penelope laugh. I feel slightly grateful for not hearing what was said.

I sit on the couch and look up at my parents, they both take a seat on the couch.

Derek clears his throat, "We were just talking about a case." He put his arm on the back of the couch acting innocent.

"That must be a pretty funny case then dad, I didn't realize you guys worked on funny cases." I laugh at him. His face changes slightly as he looks back to Penelope.

"Did she just call me?" Derek looks at Penelope with a surprised look on his face.

"Yes she did, but I beat you. She called me mom upstairs!" She slaps his arm jokingly.

I get up from the couch and stand in front of my parents. "Were you two seriously betting on who I would call mom or dad first?" I stare at them with a smile on my face as I try not to laugh at loud.

"Maybe." Penelope avoids eye contact for a split second.

I laugh out loud. "Well then yes sorry dad but mom beat you." I sit in between my parents feeling the happiest I have felt since being adopted. The thought of Scratch at the back of my mind. The thought of my family, my family's team, and even the thought of being stuck in this safe house doesn't feel too bad anymore. I feel like I'm home. I feel free from anything, like everything is lining up in my life. Yes we still have our ups and downs, especially until Scratch is caught again. But nothing will tear us down. Nothing can break my happiness of being in a family. This family!

Chapter 3 is finished! I'm working on chapter 4!!