It was a warm Virginia Saturday afternoon, one of those days where children cool off by running through sprinklers and diving into swimming pools, while adults run for the air conditioning. Aaron Hotchner looked longingly back at the house, knowing that it had to be at least 25 degrees cooler inside, then turned his attention back to where three children were enjoying the in ground pool.

They were laughing and splashing and clearly having a great time. He debated jumping in and joining them, but decided that they more needed the time together, without his interference. His job was to sit near, just in case his life guard skills were needed.

"Daddy!" shrieked the youngest, a dark haired little girl with big chocolate brown eyes, as she climbed onto the ledge. "Daddy!"

"What is it, Olivia?" he called back.

"Watch me!" she said, and then with an excited grin, the four year old jumped off the edge and into the waiting arms of her older half brother, Jack.

Hotch smiled, as 14 year old Jack Hotchner spun her around in the water, and then set her back up on the edge to jump again. He marveled at how Jack had grown into a tall, muscular boy. Like his father at that age, he played just about every sport that he had time to play. The constant activity kept him out of trouble, Haley rationalized, when Hotch suggested that maybe, Jack was involved in too much.

"I can do it better'n her!" 7 year old Aaron Jr boasted, as he climbed up onto the ledge. "I don't need Jack to catch me."

"Be careful, AJ," Jack cautioned, using the name he'd dubbed his younger half brother with at birth.

"I'm careful, Jack," AJ sighed, as if bothered by the suggestion that he was anything but. "You watchin', Dad?"

"I'm watching, AJ," Hotch called back, watching as he assumed a diving pose, then jumped, head first into the water. He popped up a few moments later wearing a gap toothed grin. "Good job!"

"Jack," AJ said, pushing himself back onto the ledge and sitting down. "C'n you dive off the board?"

"Splash us!" Olivia excitedly said, as Jack sat her next to AJ on the ledge.

"Okay, but you need to go sit by Dad first," Jack told her, watching as her smile turned into a frown. "No pouting, Livvie. You know your mom is strict about that."

"Daddy!" Olivia whined, standing up and stamping over to him. "I won't get wet!"

Hotch looked at his daughter, knowing that he should insist that she sit next to him on the lounge chair. Instead, he smiled at her, "Come on, I'll sit on the edge with you."

"YAY!" she giggled, clapping and jumping up and down. "C'mon!" Wrapping her little hand around his index finger, she tugged his hand and led him to the edge of the pool.

"I won't get you too wet, Dad," Jack promised, walking to the diving board.

"Give it your best shot, Bud," Hotch laughed, sitting on the ledge of the pool and dangling his legs in the water. "Come on, Liv," he said, sitting Olivia on his lap. "You ready to get wet?"

"Yup," she grinned.

"What about you, AJ?" he asked.

"Ready, Daddy!" AJ cheered.

"Okay, Jack, go for it."

With an evil grin, Jack ran across the diving board and jumped up as high as he could while aiming for the side of the pool. He grabbed his knees to his chin and yelled, "Cannon ball!" just as he hit the water.

He displaced enough water to soak his father and younger siblings. As he popped back up, wiping water from his face, he said, "How was that guys?"

"Cool, Jack!" AJ grinned, clearly in awe of him.

"I all wet!" Olivia giggled, then looking up at Hotch, "So's Daddy!"

Jack swam to the side of the pool and looked up at his soaked father. "Sorry, Dad," he winced.

"Jack," Hotch said, eyeing his oldest son with a raised brow, "That was the best you could do?"

"What?" Jack asked, surprised that his father was challenging his skills.

"You heard me," Hotch replied, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Is that the best you've got?"

"Well, yeah," Jack said, not quite catching on.

"Get up here and hold your sister," he said, "And let a master show you how to do it."

Jack caught on and placing his hands on the ledge of the pool, he hoisted himself up and onto the ledge, "Come on, Livvie," he said, taking Olivia from Hotch, "Dad's gonna splash us."

"Yay!!" Olivia clapped.

Laughing, Hotch stood up and walked down to the end of the pool. Taking off his soaked t-shirt, he stepped up onto the diving board. "Get ready to get soaked," he announced, then did a perfect cannon ball off the dive, displacing twice the amount of water that Jack did. He swam under water to the ledge and popped up in front of the children. "How was that?"

"Great Daddy!" Olivia and AJ chorused.

"Jack?" he asked, studying his oldest son, who was scowling at him.

"I guess you've got skills," he allowed, then laughed, "For an old guy."

"Oh, Jack, that hurt," Hotch laughed.

"Dad," AJ said, standing up, "I'm hungry. When's dinner?"

"I can fire up the grille if you guys are hungry,"

"C'n I light it, Dad?" Jack asked.

Hotch nodded, "While I'm there, yeah. Come on, let's go get dried off and we'll make some burgers."

XXXXX

He watched her, as she got out of the car, sliding her legs out first, her denim shorts giving him a good view of the tan skin of her calves and thighs. As she stood, he felt a smile forming on his lips. The shorts were topped with a slim white tshirt and her dark hair was still in the pony tail she favored when she was working in the ER.

From that distance she looked more like a college co-ed than a trauma surgeon. As she approached, he could see the day's effects on her face. By the tired expression she wore, he could tell her last shift had not been kind.

Pulling open the door, he was hit by a blast of warm, humid air. "I was wondering when you'd get home," he said, leaning against the door frame.

Gabriela Girardi Hotchner looked up at her husband and smiled, "Four car pile up on 495. Six critical. One coded…but we brought her back…twice."

"Just another day at the job, aye?" he asked, as she made her way up the walkway.

"Just about. Guess AJ and Liv are sleeping huh?" She said, slipping her arms around him.

He nodded, kissing her. "We spent the whole afternoon in the pool."

"Jack's still up, right?"

"In his room, on the laptop, said to let him know when you got home." He led her into the cool air of the foyer and shut and locked the door behind them. "We went out to Cold Stone and he made sure I got you something."

"That's my Jack," she laughed, "Always looking out for his evil stepmom."

"He was great with AJ and Livvie. Spent the whole day playing with them and never once showed how much they'd gotten on his nerves," Hotch laughed, kissing her again, "Why don't you go up and get a shower. I'll fire the grille up again and make you a burger?"

"I'll take you up on the shower, but save the burger. We had pizza around 7." She slipped out of his embrace. "Let me go up and say goodnight to Jack and get a shower…"

He watched as she ran up the curved stairway to the second floor, finding himself fascinated by the sway of her hips. Dave Rossi constantly teased him about his reaction to his wife. Despite the fact that it had been ten years since Emily Prentiss introduced him to her friend "GiGi", he had to admit he was still hung up on her. She still had the ability to make him act like a teenage boy at times, usually at the most random times.

"Aaron?" she said, pulling him from his thoughts. "Why don't you come up and help me?"

XXXXX

Hotch watched as Gabriela sat on the bed, gloriously naked, eating the ice cream that they'd brought her from their earlier trip to Cold Stone.

After she chatted with Jack a bit, she said good night to him, then stopped in to kiss AJ and Olivia who both slept soundly. He watched as she stepped into the bedroom and closed the door, leaving "Mom" out in the hallway. With a sexy smile, she stripped off her clothes and invited him to join her in the shower.

Despite her long day, or maybe because of it, she took charge of their actions, directing their movements and finally, after they'd lathered each other with her softly scented bath gel, she pulled him close and kissed him deeply. He hadn't intended to make love to her in the shower. He thought they'd use the shower as foreplay and then dry off and return to the bedroom. Instead, he gave into her insistence, braced her against the wall and took her as the water pounded on his back.

Afterwards, they toweled off and while he stretched out on the bed, she padded down stairs in her robe to get the ice cream.

"This is perfect," she smiled, a look of bliss on her features, "I come home to a nice quiet house, a horny husband, and chocolate chip cheesecake ice cream."

Hotch raised a brow, "Come on, Gabi, a horny husband?"

"And you were something different?" she laughed, licking ice cream from the spoon.

"I'd say… a skilled and talented lover?" he smartly said.

"Uh huh, okay. I guess there was a degree of skill involved, after all, one wrong move and we would have cracked our skulls on the tile."

"And the talent part?" he prompted.

"Oh, yeah," she leaned over and kissed him, "I guess it was okay."

"Okay," he laughed, "Okay? I probably still have nail marks in my shoulders…"

Gabriela rolled her eyes, "Spare me." She placed another mouthful into her mouth. After she swallowed, she spoke, "So, Jack told me football camp starts the day after we get back from Virginia Beach."

"He was really excited after Haley called this morning. I'm surprised that he wants to go with us. After all, he's going to spend a week stuck with his family."

"He's gonna spend a week with his amazingly fun and cool step mom and his step grand mother who treats him like he's the king of the world."

"And his little sister and brother who won't let him have a minute's peace," Hotch added.

"And his Dad, who won't be allowed to as much as THINK of work all week," she smartly replied.

He fixed her with a faux glare and opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Who is it?" he asked.

"Livia," began a small voice from behind the wooden door.

Hotch stood up and slipped on a pair of shorts before he walked to the door. Once Gabi had slipped on his old Georgetown t shirt, he opened the door to find Olivia standing there, holding a worn stuffed rabbit.

"I thought you were sleeping, Livvie," he said, crouching down to her level.

"The monsters woke me, Daddy," she said, bottom lip trembling. "They was under the bed."

"Livvie, what did I tell you about the monsters?" he gently reminded.

"That they aren't real," she repeated, then, "But they are."

"Come here, Liv," Gabi called, patting the bed next to her.

"Mommy!!" Olivia excitedly said, running past her father and climbing up onto the bed. She scrambled across the bed and into her mother's arms. "I missed you."

"Me, too," she said, hugging her daughter tightly and giving her a noisy kiss on the cheek. "Are those monsters back?"

She nodded, her expression grave, "Jack doesn't scare 'em like Daddy does."

"Do you want me to go scare them off again, Liv?" Hotch asked, watching as Olivia snuggled into bed next to her mother. He knew that once she did that, she wouldn't be leaving. She didn't try to join them in bed very often, but when she did try, she usually succeeded.

"I can stay here?" she asked, her eyes large and innocent. She'd already learned how to work that look and usually with the desired results. She knew she had her father wrapped around her finger, her mother, on the other hand, wasn't such an easy mark.

"For a little bit," Gabi reasoned, "But you will sleep in your room."

"Wanna sleep here," she protested, her brow furrowing.

"Olivia, what did Mommy tell you about sleeping with us?" Hotch tried.

"That you're grown ups and kids aren't s'posed to sleep with grown ups," Olivia pouted. "But…the monsters is gonna get me."

"Okay, that's it," Hotch said, walking to the closet. He opened the door, reached into his golf bag and took out his driver, "I'm going in…"

"Daddy! Don't! They gonna get mad at you!"

"Aaron," Gabi cautioned, "Be careful where you're swinging that thing…"

"I'll be back," he said, walking out of the bedroom.

"Mommy," Olivia said, eyes wide.

"Its okay, Liv. Daddy's okay…"

A few moments later, Hotch returned to the room, driver resting on his shoulder. "They're gone."

"They are?"

He nodded, slipping the driver into his golf bag, then walking to the bed, "Now, Miss Olivia Marie, it's time to go back to bed." He held out his arms. "Come on."

"Kay," she said, hugging Gabi, "Night Mommy."

"Night Livvie, see ya in the morning," she replied, kissing her daughter.

"Okay, let's go," Hotch said, scooping Olivia into his arms and tossing her over his shoulder, causing her to giggle and squeal as he carried her out of the room.

A/N - Thank you to Susan - who has helped, cajoled, and insired me as I wrote this one!!