Jus a quick little one-shot drabble of how Aaron Hotchner looks at love and how the same emotion he ignored brought the greatest joy to his life in ways he could never imagine.

I don't own Criminal Minds…after the season premiere ep last night, thank God for miracles.

Song prompt: "Feels Like Love" by Vince Gill

Feels Like Love

When it came to love, Aaron Hotchner wasn't bitter, he was realistic. He knew the game and the rules that went with it. No thank you. He didn't have to take a line drive twice to the gut to know that it hurt like hell. Once was enough. It wasn't as though he didn't believe in happily ever after but he no longer got lost in fantasy and imagination. Okay, he had given up. He was set on living his life for himself and his son.

Because of that, he never imagined falling in love again. But it had happened. In his opinion, love was for fools. Love was for people lucky enough to be blessed by cupid. In a nutshell, love was for other people. He had had his chance and he let it go. Or rather it had been torn from him…although he had helped push it in that direction. He didn't deserve a second chance. In his opinion he was too jaded to try love again.

Until that day she walked thru his door.

What had she wanted? He couldn't remember- maybe it was a file to be signed or an answer to a question but what ever it had been, it had been the right moment, the right look to make his heart jump. Jump? His heart had soared.

He had gone from tossing and turning to being lost in daydreams about her. He loved her eyes, her voice, her laugh…hell, he loved the whole package. The touch of her hand on his coat, his shoulder, and the way her perfume lingered long after she had left. Every time she glanced out of the corner of her eye at him made him realize that this was the real deal.

Okay, so it was against regs to ask her out, but it wasn't wrong to ask a co-worker/friend out for an after working hours drink. How could it be wrong that they had been discussing work when the talk turned personal? And how was he to know that four hours later they would finally be leaving the bar with the promise to meet again? Things happen.

One drink after work led to another and then a couple of dinners. And with every meeting his heart was falling farther and deeper than ever before. He was alive. And that night when he dropped her off at her house, she had leaned up and kissed him. Her lips were so sweet and full of life and promises for a brighter tomorrow that it was all he could do not to grab her up and make love to her on the porch. But he fought that urge and just let himself get lost in her kiss.

He was a patient man. He could bide his time. He was a lawyer and knew when to stand down and when to go in for the kill. This was his time to stand down. Besides, he had nothing but time on his hands. If good things come to those who wait, then the best of what life had to offer was his for the taking.

Then came the day when she confided that she loved him. If there was ever a moment he wanted to dance for joy, that was it.

Life had finally decided to give him a break and blessed him with a second chance. She loved him. Him! Of all the men in the world she had chosen him to give her heart to. He couldn't believe it! With everything he felt, he kissed her and held her so she could never leave him.

But she wasn't going to leave him. Not now. Not ever. When he looked into her eyes, he saw the truth, the love, the answers to all the questions life threw at him. She was his sunshine, his rain, his reason for jumping off the high board without looking down because she would always be there to catch him. She would never hold his sins against him. She would never turn around and walk away because he missed the bar.

She had released him from his self-imposed prison and and for the first time in his life he felt free. Free to love. Free to achieve. Free to win and lose. Free to fall flat on his face. Free to be himself.

His heart was ready to receive her and the love she was going to give to him for a life time. So when he knelt before her with that little black box which held the symbol of his love and the promise of forever, he meant it. He never got the question out before she was flinging herself in his arms and telling yes, yes, yes!

As he held her hand at the church altar and promised forever, he never meant it more in his life. And when he kissed her to seal their vow, he knew he had come home. His soul had found its perch, his heart had found its home. He had gotten his soul mate, and his son had gotten a mother and a brother. Life was good. It couldn't possibly get and better

Now here he sat cradling the miracle blessing of their love. He never thought life would bless him with love and a second chance until the day she came along. Then the skies opened up and called his name. His life had gone from rain to rainbows. Darkness to light. From being lost to pulling into port for good. She was his shelter in the storm. His shade on a hot summer's day. His fire when it was cold outside.

If he ever had a doubt it went out the window when she presented him with a child in their image. A little girl who had the best of both her parents. She was the blessing of their love to bond them as a family forever. And everyday she grew, so would their love.

As he watched the love of his life sleeping off the rigors of childbirth, he never thought he had seen a more beautiful and strong woman in his entire life. How had he almost missed her? How had he almost let her get away? How had he almost missed the signs?

He used to slam the door on second chances and turning his back on life. It had hurt him too many times to count and made him a fool. Something he wasn't. Something he despised. If he had turned around and walked away, no one would have blamed him and his brain would have been none the wiser to leaving all of this behind.

But his heart knew. His heart had known better than he the change that had been waiting around the corner even when he had wanted to give up. He would never doubt his heart again.