Written for The IKY'dU Blog - Hotch/Reid Writing Challenge: Round #5
Blog Link: http :/www . . com/
Pen name: the-vampire-act
Title: Wishful Thinking
Genre: Hurt/Comfort
Rating: T
Prompt: Set 1: magical - intrigue - supernatural – fantasy

Wishful Thinking

"Daddy, where's mommy?" Jack asked as he wiped a tear from his eye.

"Jack, we've been over this before." Hotch sighed. "She's gone, and she's not coming back."

"I know." Jack whimpered, nodding his head. "I miss her, though."

"I miss Mom, too." Hotch said. He picked Jack up and placed him on his lap. He let the boy cuddle close to him as he stroked his hair. Haley had only been gone a few months, and Jack was still adjusting to the change. Spencer had been helpful in the process, which Hotch was grateful for, but it still wasn't enough.

Hotch's eyes looked away from his son as he saw his younger lover enter the room with a frown on his face. "Is he still having trouble?" Spencer asked as he joined the father and son on the couch.

"Of course he is; his mom just died." Hotch replied, trying his best not to sound bitter and cold, even if he thought he wasn't succeeding.

"Spencer?" Jack mumbled, finally looking away from his father's lap.

"Hey Jack." Spencer smiled. "Do you want to do something today?"

"Like what?" Jack asked. The tone of his voice made it obvious that the boy was now intrigued.

"Do you like magic?" he asked.

"Yes!" Jack cheered. The boy had a few memories of Spencer showing him magic tricks, and they always seemed to make him feel better.

"How about we go to my place and I can show you some new tricks? It'll be magical!"

"Can I Daddy?" Jack nearly squealed at his father. He was now jumping up and down on the floor in front of Hotch, who was also smiling.

"Of course." He nodded. "You've been stuck in the house for a few weeks now; getting out may be a little fun."

"Can we go now?"

"Sure."

"Yeah! Let's go!" With that, Jack dragged Spencer out of the room, and Spencer just barely managed to wave good-bye to Hotch before he disappeared with the boy.

~*H/R*~

A few hours later, an exhausted-looking Jack appeared back in the Hotchner household as Spencer carried him back into his bed. Hotch smirked as he watched his young lover pace his son gently into the bed and pull up the covers.

"Jack's always been a fan of the supernatural ever since his class read an article of Big Foot." Hotch said. Spencer jumped back at the noise; he didn't know that Hotch was watching. "I suppose magic is in that realms for him."

"Yeah, most kids like magic." Spencer smiled. He shut the bedroom door behind him and followed Hotch into the kitchen where a pot of coffee laid in waiting. "It's no surprise Jack likes fantasy and supernatural. Children who live through traumatic experiences have a tendency to attempt to cope with the situation by-" Spencer stopped himself. Hotch didn't need to hear his useless facts today, and to be honest, neither to Spencer. "But you all ready knew that. Sorry."

"It's okay, Spencer." Hotch said. He reached over and kissed Spencer gently before placing a coffee mug in Spencer's hands. "You're good with him- your little magic tricks make him feel better."

"They made me feel better growing up, too. They weren't too challenging that I would get frustrated, but they were hard enough to master to keep me distracted. I figured… I figured that they would help Jack, too."

"I'm glad to say you're right."

Hotch sat down opposite of Spencer with his own cup of coffee. They stayed silent for the rest of the night. They just sat there in a comfortable silence, both of the lost in their own thoughts, even if they were similar.

Both men hoped that Jack would come out of his slump and talk to them again. They wanted him to feel better and to take his emotional pain away. Even though Hotch loved Spencer to death, he wanted Haley to come back and hug her son, because both Spencer and Hotch knew that that would be the only way Jack would fully let go of his pain. What he was feeling would ease with time, but it would never go away. They both prayed that that time would be soon, because they couldn't take seeing Jack so hurt.

But that was wishful thinking, and they both knew that it would never happen.

"…Hoped you guys liked it! R&R…?"