Yep, it's some more of Hotch, Beth and Jack in a positive light so if it's not your thing your probably don't want to continue past this point.
The phone vibrating in his pocket startled him awake from the 10 minute cat nap he'd been enjoying as the plane made its final decent. He pulled the device from his pocket and read the text message.
"Where are you?" She wrote.
"About 20 minutes out. What are you doing up?" He wrote back.
"Couldn't sleep, very stressful day." She wrote back.
"I hear that. I'll be up for hours." He wrote back.
"Are you picking up Jack tonight?" She asked.
"No, it's too late to drag him out of bed." He answered.
"Come by, I can help you de-stress." She wrote, making him grin.
"Are you sure? It'll be pretty late." He wrote.
"It's been 12 days. I'm positive!" She wrote forcing a light chuckle to escape his lips, causing Rossi to raise an eyebrow, smile, and pretend to go back to sleep.
"You've been counting?" He asked.
"You haven't?" She wrote back.
"Well yeah, but I'm a guy. Girls don't count." He wrote.
"Trust me Aaron they do. So are you coming?" She asked.
"Boy, that's a loaded question." He wrote back.
"It was meant to be. See you soon?" She wrote.
"About an hour?" He asked.
"Sounds good. Want something to eat?" She asked.
"Only if it's you covered in whip cream. Gotta go, pilot wants the cell phones off. Love you, Bye!" He wrote back and shoved the phone into his pocket, no longer sleepy and eagerly anticipating his midnight rendezvous.
An hour later he knocked lightly on her door. She greeted him wearing nothing but a t-shirt and panties and with a kiss worthy of the eight days they'd gone without seeing one another before leading him into the living room where she had a cold beer and a sandwich waiting for him.
"Don't argue with me Aaron. You've been gone for a long time which means it was a bad one, which means you didn't eat enough over the past six days to keep a bird alive, much less a grown man so sit down and eat. I need you to have all of your energy." She teased and then kissed him once more.
He grabbed hold of her and pulled her close, placing his hand over her panty clad bottom and squeezing in a manner that told her food was the last thing on his mind.
"How am I supposed to care about eating when you're standing here half naked?" He mumbled in-between kisses.
"Because if you don't make yourself care about eating, half naked is as good as it's going to get." She warned and wriggled away from his pawing hands.
"Just so you know; I'm an old man that hasn't slept much in the last six days so a beer and a sandwich could possibly put me into a coma and that's not going to bode well for you." He warned right back.
"Well, that would mean you need sleep much more than you need sex." She told him.
"Why would any woman want to be with a man like that?" He asked with a slight grin.
"Mmm…because any truly mature woman prefers quality over quantity." She said seductively and kissed him softly.
"I really do appreciate the thought Beth, but I'm not hungry. I just want to snuggle up with my favorite girlfriend and enjoy something nice." He told her, pulling her back into his arms and nibbling on her neck.
"Your favorite girlfriend, you have more than one?" She asked, giggling lightly when he hit a sensitive spot.
"Yeah right, I can't even make time for one." He mumbled into her neck.
"You're making time right now." She reminded him as she pulled him away from her neck so she could look at him, the all too familiar tortured look of a man who always carried around entirely too much guilt slowly replacing the sparkle he had in his eyes when he arrived.
"No, I'm not. I don't even have the decency to sit down and enjoy the sandwich you took the time to prepare. Come on, let's sit." He said, taking her by the hand and leading her over to the couch.
"Aaron, don't do this to yourself because I know where you're going with this and trust me, I don't feel like all you want from me is sex. We have so much fun together. How does your brain even go there?" She asked.
"I've had exactly one long-term relationship in my life and I screwed it up so badly. Why don't you want more than I have to offer?" He asked.
"I think you're confusing want with expectations. What I want and what I expect are two very different things. Would I love it if you and I could see each other every day and night? Of course I would, but why on earth would I have expectations like that when the man I've always known just isn't capable of that kind of attention, not because he doesn't want to be that attentive, but because he has this really important job that won't allow him to be that attentive." She said.
"That's kind of pathetic Beth….not that you accept my reality, but that I allow it to be my reality." He said.
"Would it make you feel better if I became clingy and whiney and more demanding of your time? Do you really have any room in your life for a woman that needs so much from you, especially when you have a six year old son who is and should be the only person in your life that needs you that much?" She asked.
"Yeah, I had to tell him today that I won't be able to go with him and his class on their field trip on Friday after I'd already told I would. His aunt was counting on me going and already made other plans. He was trying really hard to be brave and not let me know how disappointed he was." He said softly, sadly.
"Ah, I see, so you were already feeling guilty before you got here. That makes me feel better." She said, making him look at her with a puzzled look.
"Why's that?" He asked unable to hide the slightly amused tone.
"Because Aaron, I pride myself on being a strong independent woman who doesn't need the man in her life to smother her with time and attention in order to feel happy and whole. I love you and I love whatever time we have together, but if I was putting off signals that I somehow needed more from you I was going to be upset with myself." She told him, making him smile.
He leaned in and kissed her lightly, before reaching for the sandwich on the plate and handing her half.
"I don't like to eat alone and no, you're not putting out signals like that, which is both refreshing and confusing. I don't know whether to appreciate how understanding you are, be very afraid of how understanding you seem to be, or take it as a sign that you're not as into me as I am into you." He admitted.
"If it'll make you feel less unsettled, instead of being a good little trooper, I'll let my disappointment show the next time you have to cancel on me." She offered, making him smile.
"You can you know. You can even yell at me and threaten to withhold sex." He teased.
"Why on earth would I punish myself? How about I just threaten to make you pull double duty instead?" She asked, making him chuckle, remove the half-eaten sandwich from her hand and gently lay her back onto the couch.
"Let me update my Will first. I want to make sure the woman who killed me in such a wonderful manner gets mentioned." He said sweetly and closed his mouth over hers in a deep passionate kiss that would end the conversation that had almost derailed their first sexual encounter in nearly 2 weeks.
She wasn't sure if it was the familiar smell of the freshly showered man, the wonderful aroma of the hot fresh coffee, or if it was the soft, gentle kisses on her upper chest that woke her, but having her senses overwhelmed with three of her favorite things caused her to awaken with a happy smile on her face. She supposed the smile could've been leftover contentment from being satisfied in ways that only he could satisfy her a few hours earlier, but because she was so happy at the moment she didn't care to analyze any of it, but instead just enjoy it.
"Hey." He said softly.
"You're leaving?" She asked, too sleepy to mask the disappointment the she normally would have and even though it stung a little for him to pick up on it, he realized a very, ridiculous territorial alpha male part of him needed to know that she was feeling a little disappointed and he wondered if she was doing it for his benefit.
"You know you don't have to stroke my pathetic ego by pretending to be disappointed that I'm leaving." He teased to test the waters.
"I'm too sleepy to stroke anything of yours at the moment." She teased back, letting him know that she wasn't pretending.
It was the way they communicated, their way of letting one another know that whatever was happening at the moment was real, but that they could deal with it and the sarcasm and wit they continuously bounced off of one another was one of his most favorite things about their relationship.
"You know I'd love to have been able to stay in bed long enough for us to wake up together, but I want to surprise Jack and pick him up from his aunt's and take him out for breakfast before he goes to school" He explained.
"I know and it's okay and I mean that, it really is okay. Tell Jack I said hey and if he'd like some company on his field trip Friday, I happen to love children's theater and would really love to spend a day off hanging with my favorite six year old." She said.
"You don't have to….." He started to protest, but was stopped by her placing her fingers over his lips.
"I want to." She told him.
"You do realize they're going to the place with all the inflatable bouncy things after a quick lunch?" He asked.
"Good, I love inflatable bouncy things and the odds of me returning him to you undamaged just became much better." She told him, the guilt and trauma over the accident a month earlier still there.
"Okay, but you have to promise me something." He said.
"What's that?" She asked.
"If Jack breaks a leg or an arm bouncing around on those toys with a bunch of other kids, you don't get to blame yourself or spoil him rotten with gifts for weeks afterward." He teased, knowing how shaken she'd been over the bloody incident with Jack and knowing there was nothing he could ever say or do to make her stop blaming herself for it.
"If Jack gets hurt again while in my care we're breaking up. That's got to be a sign." She teased back.
"Let's not even joke about that. Okay?" He asked, his eyes and his tone very serious.
"Of course, I'm sorry." She said.
He leaned in and kissed her fully, moaning lightly when they finally separated.
"Anymore of that and I won't be seeing Jack before dinner." He said with a smile and kissed her once more.
"I'm glad you came over last night." She said and pulled him in for one more kiss.
"Mmm…me too. Would you like to join Jack and me for dinner tonight?" He asked.
"I would like that very much, but I think Jack should have you to himself tonight, at least until he goes to bed and then maybe he can share." She said and winked at him.
"That's very thoughtful of you, but Jack likes you. How does six-thirty sound?" He asked, obviously not going to take no for an answer.
"I'm working till six. How about I come for dessert?" She asked.
"How about Jack and I put a plate in the microwave for you and you can have a full meal whenever you get there." He offered.
"But dessert is my favorite part." She pretended to pout.
"Are we still talking about food?" He chuckled.
"I don't think I ever was." She teased and then closed her eyes as he leaned in and kissed her once more.
"I love you. Come over when you can." He said and finally pulled away from her.
That was Wednesday morning and Beth never made it over for dinner or anything else that night. After a very long day at work and not much sleep the night before she found she was too tired to do much more than go home and collapse into bed. Thursday was a late night for him, but they did meet for a late lunch that day to make sure the plans for Jack's field trip were firmed up. She would be meeting him at school at 10 AM on Friday morning and much to her amusement Jack had called her just before his bedtime to make sure she was still coming. He had sounded very excited and that made her happy. She wanted Jack to be as happy to spend time with her and she was to spend time with him.
When Beth arrived at the school, Jack was nowhere to be found. When she questioned Jack's teacher she was led out into the hallway for a private conversation.
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but Jack won't be allowed to go with us today." She told her.
"What? Why not?" Beth asked.
"I feel awful because it is partially my fault for giving the children something fun to do instead of expecting them to try to concentrate for two hours while they were so excited." She said.
"I don't understand. What happened?" Beth asked.
"Jack is in the principal's office and we've put a call in to his father, but he hasn't gotten back with us yet." She told her.
"His father is in a meeting until 2 PM and unless it's an emergency they won't disturb him. I'm responsible for Jack today. He said he signed all of the appropriate forms." Beth told her.
"Yes, he did, but we understand their situation and we thought Mr. Hotchner would want to know what happened with Jack today." She explained.
"He'd be more concerned that his son is sitting all alone in the scary principal's office with nobody in his corner so are you going to tell me what happened or am I just going to have to start beating on doors until somebody produces Jack?" Beth asked, becoming extremely irritated with the woman.
"I had the children make Mother's Day cards for their moms this morning." The teacher confessed, obviously very upset with what she had done.
"Oh, I see." Beth said.
"Jack wouldn't participate. He just folded the papers up and shoved them into his backpack and when I saw that I immediately gave him a picture to color while the other children worked on their cards. I felt so awful and just wanted to take him out into the hallway and cuddle him and have a good cry." She said.
"Why didn't you?" Beth asked, eyes watering and throat aching as the thought of Jack sitting in a classroom watching all of his classmates make Mother's Days cards had her on the verge of tears.
"Because his father has asked that we be sensitive to the situation, but that we don't allow it to become an excuse for bad behavior or treat him any differently than the other children." The woman explained.
"So what happened?" Beth asked.
"One of the boys teased him about not having a mom to make a card for and Jack went a little crazy. He grabbed several of the other children's cards and shredded them before I could stop him. He just completely melted down and when I tried to pull him away from the desks to try to calm him down he spit at me and bit me. Jack has never done anything like that and if it were up to me he wouldn't be missing out on the field trip. I think it was just too much for his young mind to deal with. Please tell his father how sorry I am." The teacher pleaded with her, unable to hold her own tears back any longer.
"I will and don't beat yourself up. I'm sure Aaron would say that Jack has to learn that exceptions can't be made for him at the expense of the other children's enjoyment and I think young children probably enjoy making those cards for their moms. He'll be okay. Can I go get him?" Beth asked.
"Oh yes, of course. It's the same office where you signed in when you got here. Just ask and they'll take you back to the principal's office." The teacher told her.
"What about the boy who was teasing him? Will he be punished?" Beth asked.
"Yes, his mother has already picked him up. He won't be enjoying the field trip today either." The teacher told her.
Beth slowly walked toward the office, composing herself along the way. The last thing Jack needed was to see her upset. He was probably already feeling scared and isolated and while Jack didn't fear his father, he also didn't like to disappoint him and he was probably feeling like his dad wasn't going to be very happy with what he'd done and for Jack, the idea of his father being unhappy with him was more crushing to him than missing field trips or whatever punishment might be in store.
She knocked lightly on the outside of the open door to the principal's office. Jack was sitting on the small couch beside the obviously kind woman as she tried to comfort him. He spotted her and ran to her. She kneeled down just in time for him to wrap his arms around her neck and lay his head on her shoulder.
"Where's daddy? I want my daddy." He cried.
"I know you do sweetheart and we'll go find him. Okay?" Beth tried to soothe him as she stood with him, his six year old frame just about too much for her to carry.
"Tell his father we can meet at his convenience if he feels the need. I don't think any further punishment is necessary, but we're happy to discuss anything he wants or needs to discuss concerning this matter." The principal said.
"I will and thank you." Beth said as she carried the crying child out of the school and to her car.
She got Jack situated in the car and calmed down and then sent a simple text message.
"Call me right now. No need to panic, but Jack needs to talk to you IMMEDIATELY."
Her phone was ringing less than a minute later. She explained what had happened and put Jack on the phone.
"Daddy, I'm sorry." Jack said trying hard not to cry again.
"I know you are buddy. It's going to be okay. I'm not upset with you." Hotch spoke in his kindest, most comforting tone.
"I don't feel good dad. Can you come home now?" Jack asked.
"Buddy, I really need to finish my meeting. Do you think you'll be okay with Beth for a little while if I promise to come home just as soon as I'm done?" Hotch asked.
"What time?" Jack asked.
"I can be there by four. Will you be okay until four because if you really don't think you will be okay, Beth can bring you to me right now." Hotch told him.
"He said if I'm not okay you can take me to him right now." Jack said, looking to her with hopeful eyes.
"I can do that Jack or we can go to my house and play with the paints and clay and have a nice lunch and maybe watch a movie until your dad is done with his meeting." Beth offered.
"That sounds like a pretty good offer buddy. What do you think? Sit in dad's boring office for hours or hang out with Beth?" Hotch asked, hopeful that the boy would choose the latter because this really wasn't a meeting he should try to get out of if it could be helped.
"Am I in too much trouble to get ice cream at the ice cream store by your house Beth?" Jack asked.
"I think if you eat all your lunch it should be okay, but you should ask your dad." Beth said and nodded to the phone.
"Can I daddy?" Jack asked.
"You're not in trouble buddy and yes, if Beth wants to take you for ice cream you can have some, but only on one condition." He told him.
"What?" Jack asked, recognizing his father's fun teasing tone and starting to feel better.
"That you get me two scoops of my favorite. Do you remember what that is?" Hotch asked him.
"Yep! The green kind with the chocolate chips!" Jack exclaimed proudly.
"That's right. Now enjoy your time with Beth and I'll see you soon. I love you." Hotch told him.
"Love you too dad!" Jack said happily and handed the phone back to Beth.
"Wow, good job dad. He's okay and I'm not just saying that to make you feel better." She told him.
"Good and thank you. I'll be there as soon as we're finished here." He said.
"No hurries. Jack and I are going to chill out and have some fun and we might even remember your two scoops of mint chocolate chip." She teased.
"I'll be looking forward to it." He told her, obviously not in a place where he could be playful.
"Talk to you soon hot stuff." She said laughing lightly, knowing he was probably squirming uncomfortably.
"Yes we will. Goodbye." He said and shoved the phone into his pocket, looking up from the corner of the room he had excused himself to at all of the questioning eyes.
"Is everything okay Agent Hotchner?" The director asked.
"Yes sir, um…sorry for the interruption." Hotch answered and found his seat at the table once again.
A couple of hours later, Beth and Jack sat at the table with markers and paints. Jack had painted a picture of him holding hands with Beth for his dad and was questioning what he could make next. Beth reached into his backpack and pulled out the paper that had been stenciled with a Mother's Day greeting and placed it in front of the boy.
"What's that for?" Jack asked.
"Jack, would you like to make something for your mom for Mother's Day?" Beth asked.
"I don't have a mom no more, I can't." He said.
"You are always going to have a mom Jack, yours just happens to live with the angels instead of here with you, but she's always going to be your mom and if you want to make a card for her you can." Beth told him.
"But how can I give it to her?" Jack asked.
"We'll take it to the cemetery. Your dad has taken you before right?" Beth asked.
"Yes, but it will blow away." Jack reasoned.
"I can fix it so it won't blow away and maybe we can take her a little present too." Beth suggested.
"What kind of present?" Jack asked.
"Oh just a little something I like to take out to my dad when I go visit him. It's happy and fun and you're mom seemed like a happy, fun person." Beth said.
"I think we had fun. We did in the videos I watch. It's hard to remember." Jack said.
"I know it is sweetheart and that's okay. I'm not making you sad am I?" She asked.
"No, but if I ever get a new mom do you think I should stop making cards for the one with the angels?" Jack asked.
"I think you should make cards for your mom for as long as you want to Jack. Now, how about we go get that ice cream and I'll pick up the present for your mom and what we need to make sure the card doesn't blow away." Beth said.
"Okay and we have to remember dad's green ice cream.
Hotch arrived at Beth's at precisely 4 PM. Jack was busy putting the finishing touches on the card for his mother and had little more to offer his father than a smile and a quick wave.
"Well, he seems to be okay. How about you?" He asked and gave her a quick peck on the lips.
"I'm great. We've had so much fun today." She told him, her happiness genuine.
"Daddy come look at what I made for mom." Jack waved his father over excitedly.
Hotch walked over to the table where Jack was working and Jack held up the colorfully painted card with little tissue paper flowers and butterflies glued to it. The front said "To the World's Greatest Mom" and on the inside amidst even more paint and childlike drawings was a picture of him and his son that Beth had taken during one of their many outings to the park. Above the picture it simply read, "Love, Jack and Dad".
"This is great buddy. Did you do this all by yourself?" Hotch asked as he affectionately moved his hand over the back of the boy's head.
"Beth made the flowers and butterflies, but I glued them all. Do you think mom will like it?" Jack asked.
"I think she'll love it." Hotch assured him.
"Can we take it to her?" Jack asked.
"What do you mean?" Hotch asked.
"Beth said we could take it to her at the cemetery and we bought her a present too. Can we go now daddy instead of on Sunday. I can't wait to give it to her." Jack rambled on excitedly.
Hotch looked at Beth and she shot him her patented "trust me" look and he did trust her so he didn't question their plan and happily agreed to take his son to deliver his card and both were pleasantly surprised when Jack insisted that Beth come too.
Once at the cemetery, Beth inserted the long plastic card holder that florists use to stick inside of a plant or flower arrangement into the ground and helped Jack attach his card to it. She placed it close enough to the headstone to protect it from the wind. She then stuck the three colorful pinwheels they had purchased into the ground and the three stood back and watched the wind make the pinwheels spin.
"Do you think she likes it dad?" Jack asked happily.
"I know she does buddy. It's all as happy and colorful and she was." He said as he fought to keep his emotions in check.
Beth could hear it in his voice and felt him hold onto her just a little tighter. She looked up and made contact with his glassy eyes. She turned into him and hugged him, kissing the side of his neck softly and whispering in his ear.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad. I was just trying to help." She said.
"I'm not sad, I'm just a little overwhelmed over my son at the moment. Look how happy he is. Thank you." He said softly and kissed the side of her head.
They stood there quietly holding one another and listened to Jack tell his mother all about how he'd made the card and about the picture inside and how much fun he was having with his dad and when it seemed as though the child was finally out of things to say, Hotch moved away from Beth and kneeled beside him.
"I think this is probably the best Mother's Day present ever. Are you ready to go home now, or do you want to stay a little longer?" Hotch asked his son.
"Should we tell mom about Beth now?" Jack asked.
"What did you want to tell her about Beth?'' Hotch asked.
"I don't know, that she's nice and that she takes good care of us I guess." Jack said.
"You know what? I think you just told her. What do you suppose mom is thinking?" Hotch asked.
"I don't know. What do you think dad?" Jack asked.
"I think she's thinking about how happy she is that the one person she loves more than anything in this world is so happy right now." Hotch told him, wrapping his arm around him and pulling him in for a tight hug.
"Dad, we didn't have ice cream yet. Can we go now?" Jack asked as he squirmed away from his father's tight embrace.
"Ice cream an hour before dinner? Sure, why not." He agreed, taking his son by the hand and placing the other arm around Beth's waist and walking away from headstone and he supposed metaphorically from the life he once had.
Later that evening, after ice cream, pizza, a bath, and one of the Cars movies, Jack reluctantly agreed to follow his father to his bedroom to be tucked in. He stopped about halfway there and ran back into the living room where Beth was sitting on the couch. He leaned in and gave her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Goodnight Beth. I love you." He said sweetly.
"Goodnight Jack. I love you too." She said.
Later that night, Hotch made a point to let her know how much it had meant to him that she had done what she'd done for Jack and even later, as he made love to her, she could feel the love and the heartfelt gratitude oozing from every pore in his body. The love he felt for her seeming to have been amplified way beyond whatever he'd felt for her prior to the events of that Friday and she finally stopped him and looked into his confused and somewhat desperate eyes.
"I didn't do it to make you fall more in love with me Aaron. I did it because I love him and when he hurts I hurt." She told him.
"I know." He replied before covering her mouth with his and continuing on, determined to make her feel as good physically and emotionally as he currently felt.
Afterward, as she lay sleeping beside him, curled up closely with her head resting over his heart, he realized that he wanted more, that he wanted more of them together, that he no longer wanted to leave the comfort of their warm bed so he could drive across town to pick up his son and that he no longer wanted her setting an alarm so she could be up and gone before Jack awoke. What exactly that meant he had no idea, but for now, it simply meant reaching over and turning off her cell phone so they could all wake up when they were ready….together.