Sorry for the wait.

I did do a twice over, checking for mistakes but I'm really tired, so I'll make sure to go over it again tomorrow in case I find some more mistakes.

Enjoy.

…

Penelope sat in her living room, wringing her hands together and looking at the clock every few minutes. It was Sunday night and she was just waiting for a taxi to come and pick her up to take her to the hypnosis show. She had decided not to drive because she'd never been to the theater the show was being held at, she was horrible with directions and her GPS was broken at the moment.

Penelope bit her lip as her eyes flicked to the blinking numbers on the neon pink, digital clock sitting on the side table. She had been excited all week about the prospect of seeing Aaron again and meeting Jack for the first time but now that the time had actually come to leave, she couldn't stop thinking about Kevin.

She felt like she was cheating on him, even if she did tell herself over and over again that it wasn't like that. She was just going to meet a friend, she reasoned but even that thought felt false to her.

She was deeply attracted to Aaron and she had only met him twice. There was just this undeniable attraction she felt when she was in his presence. Not only did she feel physically but emotionally as well.

There was some connection there.

When she was talking to him she had to make herself hold back from spilling out all her thoughts and feelings. She wasn't sure what it was but being near him, made her unguarded, she felt like she could tell him anything.

Derek had been right the other day when he had said that no man had been able to hold her attention since she met Kevin. But Aaron was different; she couldn't stop herself from wanting to be near him, even if it came with a torrent of guilty feelings about Kevin.

Penelope saw the flash of headlights from the taxi through her window and stood. She smoothed down the wrinkles in her dress; it was one of her favorite, funky dresses that looked like it had been splattered in pastel paints.

She ran a hand through her loosely curled hair and then walked over to a mirror that sat in her front hall. She looked into it, checking to make sure she still had everything in place before giving herself a nervous smile and heading out the door.

…

Penelope stepped out of the cab and thanked the driver before pushing the door closed behind her. She stepped up onto the curve, looking at the theater ahead of her. There were a few people milling around outside, most were children with their parents.

Penelope's eyes searched the people; she didn't see Aaron and wondered if she was early. She pulled her phone out of her purse to check the time. It was 6:20pm, ten minutes until the start of the show. Penelope frowned and placed her phone back into her purse.

When she looked back up she heard her name being called from behind. She turned and saw Aaron hurrying over to her. Beside him, his feet moving twice as fast to keep up with his dad, was his son Jack.

The boy had bright blonde hair and deep brown eyes that matched Aaron's. When he smiled it lit up his whole face and Penelope found herself smiling back automatically.

"Hey," Aaron said when they got to her, he was slightly out of breath "sorry we're late, ran into some traffic."

Penelope shrugged "Don't worry about it, I think you're just in time."

Aaron smiled then turned to his son "Jack this is Penelope, she's the friend I told you about, the one that found Gracie."

Jack's smile seemed to get even wider and then he moved forward to wrap his arms around her lower half, surprising her. She gave Aaron a curious look before leaning down to give Jack a hug back.

"Thank you for saving Gracie," he said when he pulled away.

Aaron ruffled his hair "Okay Buddy, let's go in and take our seats before the show starts."

Jack nodded eagerly and ran ahead.

Penelope turned and smiled at Aaron "He's precious," she said.

He grinned at her "He's a good boy, I don't know how I would have gotten through the past few years without him."

Penelope nodded, she could understand that, if she hadn't of met Derek a year after her parent's had died, who knew where she would have ended up? She most likely would have found herself living on the streets.

"I'm not sure if you'd have any interest," Aaron began as they reached the doors to the theater "but Jack's been asking me to invite you back to our place to see Gracie, ever since I told him you would be coming to the show with us. So…"

Penelope thoughts drifted to Kevin again and a pang of guilt hit her but then she mentally shook herself. Kevin was off having fun with his buddies tonight, he surely wouldn't be contemplating over how she was spending her night, he probably didn't even care and she didn't want to have to go back to a dark, empty apartment before she had to.

She looked at Aaron who was patiently waiting for an answer and nodded "You know, I think I'd have time for that and I'd love to see Gracie again."

"Good," Aaron said as he took Jack's hand and they walked up to the third row where their seats were located.

Jack insisted on sitting in-between them which Penelope decided was a good thing, when she had been walking beside her Aaron, she'd had the urge to reach out and touch him.

Jack chatted amicably beside her. He went on excitably about Gracie and how they were training her, how she liked to sleep at the end of his bed, and how she would sometimes chase her tail in circles before getting dizzy.

Penelope listened happily to everything. He made a good storyteller the way he used gestures, funny facial expressions and interesting sound effects. Penelope was sure should could have sat listening to him for hours. She'd always liked children and Jack seemed like and exceptional boy; somehow she knew it right away just as she had known that Aaron was a good man.

Her eyes trailed away from Jack for a moment as she looked up at Aaron. He was watching her intently with an unreadable expression on his face. Penelope only had a moment to wonder what he could be thinking about before the lights went dark and she could no longer see him as well.

Jack made an excited noise and leaned forward in his seat as the hypnotist walked onto the stage. "Welcome Ladies and Gentleman," the man said, he was wearing a black suit and he had a crooked grin "I'm Davos Macintosh and I will be your entertainment this evening."

He continued on in the same jargon that all hypnotists use at the start of the show warning about safety and giving a small look into the art of hypnosis.

Penelope had heard it all before but was happy to see that Jack looked like he was enjoying it.

Though when Davos explained that only people who were sixteen years and older were allowed to volunteer, his face fell "I wanted to go up," he pouted.

Aaron leaned towards him "Someday Buddy, but it would be dangerous to be hypnotized at only eight, that's why they have those rules."

Jack seemed to understand but he still looked upset, he sat back with his arms crossed; Aaron sighed.

Penelope turned to Jack "Do you know what my favorite part about a hypnosis show is Jack?"

He looked at her for a moment, even in the dark she could see that despite his disappointment her was curious of her answer, so she continued.

"I love watching the show. I think it's the best part. You get to see everyone acting funny, if you were the one to be hypnotized you wouldn't remember what had happened. It would be like you were asleep for the whole show. It's definitely more fun to be in the audience."

"Really?" Jack asked, his arms slowly uncrossing.

"Yes Sir," Penelope said giving him a little nudge "You wouldn't want to miss all that would you?"

Jack shook his head eagerly "No way," he said and he looked back to the stage where people from the audience were starting to gather.

Penelope followed his gaze and watched as the hypnotist seated the people that had been chosen. She could feel Aaron's eyes on her but didn't take her attention away from the stage.

…

Jack was laughing, tears running down his cheeks as they drove to the Hotchner household after the show.

"I liked when the girl with the ponytail started clucking like a chicken!" he almost shouted making Penelope and Aaron laugh too.

Penelope chuckled "She looked like she was going to fall of the stage for a minute there, I'm glad she didn't!"

"What was your favorite animal Dad?" Jack asked.

"I think the guy that thought he was a dog was pretty funny," Aaron said smiling at his son from the rearview mirror.

Jack broke out into more giggles "He reminded me of Gracie when he tried to chase his tail, even though he didn't have one."

"He did look a bit like Gracie, didn't he?" Aaron said.

Jack nodded his head happily.

Then Aaron pulled the vehicle onto a one-way street and pulled up in front of a cream colored, two story house.

They all got out of the RAV-4 and started up the walkway, Penelope following the other two.

Jack was bouncing about on the balls of his feet, waiting for his dad to open the door. "I can't wait for you to see how big Gracie has gotten! She wouldn't even fit through the hole in the fence where she escaped from when you found her."

When Aaron did finally opened the door Jack all but sprinted into the house "I'll got get Gracie out of her cage, it's in the basement!"

Aaron shook his head but didn't say anything; instead he turned towards Penelope and gestured for her to step inside first.

When he stepped in after her, he smiled and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She felt a tingle run up her spine at the touch and she found herself starting to blush. "Thanks for coming tonight."

All of the sudden Penelope felt flustered and glittery; it probably had something to do with the fact that Aaron hadn't yet moved his hand.

"Oh…I should be thanking you," Penelope said "I had a wonderful time."

Aaron's hand fell away from her shoulder, she felt relieved and yet disappointed all at once. He stepped farther into the hall "Well Jack certainly enjoyed having you there; you're very good with him."

Penelope felt herself shrugging as she moved to follow him "He's a very nice boy, I'm sure he gets along with most of the people he meets."

Aaron shook his head, a wry smile on his lips when he turned to look at her "You'd be surprised," he said. "Would you like a drink, oh…don't worry about your shoes."

"A drink sounds good," Penelope said walking with him to the kitchen.

Aaron was just pouring them two glasses of red wine when Jack came running upstairs with Gracie following at his heels. He slid into the kitchen and grinned widely at Penelope.

Penelope got off the stool she had been sitting on and kneeled down so that she was eye level with Jack. She reached out a hand to Gracie and the puppy began to wag her tail, she sniffed Penelope's fist and yipped playfully.

"I think she remembers you." Aaron said to her before turning to Jack "Why don't you give Gracie her supper Jack?"

"Okay," Jack said and hurried to the cupboard beside the fridge and pulled out a bag of dog food that had tape wrapped all around its sides.

Aaron's saw where Penelope was looking and chuckled "We learned a few weeks ago that we couldn't keep the bag on the floor near her dish anymore, she chewed about five holes in it during the night."

Jack laughed too, he was slowly scooping out five half cups of puppy food into her bowl "She was being naughty, so we had to put it in the cupboard."

Then he rolled the bag back up and put it away. He went back to where Gracie was eating and stood there silently watching her.

When Aaron noticed nodded and Jack and said "Why don't you go get ready for bed Buddy, I'll come in and read you a story in a bit."

"Okay…" Jack said after a moment not looking overly thrilled.

"Thank you," Aaron said.

Jack went to turn down the hall but then turned back around and walked over to Penelope, who had gotten up off the floor. "Thanks for coming with us tonight; I had a lot of fun. Do you think you can come over again sometime?"

Penelope couldn't possibly say no when Jack was staring at her with such hopefulness "I'm sure we can work something out."

He grinned widely, his teeth showing and again gave Penelope a quick hug before saying good night to them both and heading to his room.

Penelope was smiling to herself when Jack was gone.

"What?" Aaron asked, when he saw the look on her face.

She turned to face him "He's just so precious, I didn't know that there were any eight year olds that were as considerate and nice as him, out there."

Aaron eyes seemed to brighten and he stepped around the counter, coming to stand next to her "It seems I have been blessed to have a son like him."

"Yes," Penelope said with a chuckle "I'd say you were one of the lucky ones. If I ever have kids, I hope they're like Jack."

Aaron took a sip from his wine glass "Do you want to have kids?"

"Eventually," Penelope said "at least one or two, though that may be a while yet. After we talked last week I decided that I would go back to school."

"That's great," he said and he honestly seemed pleased for her "though I hope you do get to have kids, you're great with kids, Jack certainly loved you."

Penelope blushed "I don't know…"

"I do," Aaron said "you'll make a great mom whenever you decide to take that step."

Penelope took a gulp of her wine, she was getting flustered again by his proximity and compliments, and she probably shouldn't be having the wine either.

"Thanks," Penelope said when she lowered the cup from her lips.

He was looking at her with his unreadable look again. He placed his wine glass down on the counter next to them and then stepped forward.

Penelope didn't realize what he was doing until he leaned in. She didn't resist at first, instead choosing to push all thought from her mind.

Aaron pressed his soft lips against hers and when she didn't react began move them against hers. He grazed her lip with his teeth before nibbling slightly on her lower lip. Penelope opened her mouth and his tongue darted in. Their mouths danced together and Penelope moaned she had never felt so much heat and need from just a kiss.

His hands came up and cupped her face, slowly moving her way up into her hair. His mouth devoured hers and he pushed closer still, until he was standing between Penelope's legs.

She moaned again and pushed herself from the stool, their bodies coming together, leaving no room between them. Her hands came up and slipped around his neck, her own mouth finally moving against his.

Aaron pulled away and started down her neck, biting gently as he went. Penelope bared her neck more to give him access.

"Oh god…" he moaned as his mouth got to her ample chest. He licked at the top of her left breast and Penelope couldn't help the groan that spilled from her lips.

Just as Aaron's hands began to move down her body, towards her backside, Gracie barked loudly beside their feet.

The noise snapped Penelope out of the moment and she pulled back. She looked into Aaron's eyes, and then down at his swollen lips and blushed fiercely. Kevin's face appeared before her in her mind's eye and she looked down at her feet as her sense came rushing back.

"I shouldn't have…this was a mistake…I…need to go." She finally stumbled out, backing away from him.

He frowned and reached out to her "Penelope wait…"

But she pulled away shaking her head "No, I can't…god, I have Kevin…this was wrong."

She practically ran from the house, leaving a saddened Aaron behind.