Author's Note: This oneshot is really a mixture of inspiration from three lovely ladies, Kiss The Cook's 299th reviewer, bbaileys, Kiss The Cook's 300th reviewer, sarahb2007, and xoxoalex14 from twitter, whose prompts were 'family', 'Hotch/Emily', and 'bed', respectively. Combine them all together and this fluffy little gem is what you get. I can only hope that you all will have as good a time reading it as I did writing it! Some fluff is just what we need nowadays, wouldn't you agree?
Text is from Guess How Much I Love You, written by Sam McBratney.
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.
"Daddy?"
Hotch let a smile curve his lips as he felt a sweet little tug on his sleeve. "Yes, Jack?"
The young boy looked around the kitchen, then pouted. "Why can't Mommy play with me?" he asked sadly, frowning tinily. "I like it when we play with Legos, and Aunt Jessie got me some new ones, 'member? I want to show them to Mommy so we can build stuff."
Hotch's smile turned sympathetic. "She's been really tired lately, buddy. You know that. Your little sister has been keeping Mommy on bed rest for a while. Between you and me..." he dropped his voice to a dramatic whisper to indulge Jack, "little Avery is already pretty demanding. That's something you need to keep in mind as you become a young man; all women are demanding."
But the end result is oh so worth it, his conscience chimed in - and he had to agree.
Jack giggled obliviously. "But Daddy, when do I get to see my little sister? She's been in Mommy's tummy for a really long time."
"You were in your mommy's tummy for that long, too, you know," Hotch informed, ruffling the boy's golden-blonde hair, which still remained so much like Haley's.
"Was I really?"
Hotch nodded. "And as for your sister..." he glanced back at the calendar on the wall, "we have about one more month to go until we can see her."
Jack's eyes went wide. "Does that mean...does that mean I can't play with Mommy for one more month?" he asked - and it was obvious that he was fearing his father's answer.
Hotch touched his finger to Jack's quivering bottom lip. "Not necessarily," he said softly, kneeling to the boy's height. "Mommy still needs lots of rest, but that doesn't mean she's solely confined to bed. I'm sure there are hundreds of games we could play together, all three of us. And not only that; we could even go to the park, you two could watch a movie...the possibilities are endless."
Jack thought that over for a while. Then: "Daddy? Do you think Mommy would like it if I read her a story?"
"You know what?" Hotch tickled Jack's sides. "I think that sounds like a wonderful idea, buddy. I bet Mommy would love that."
His small face lit up. "Can I go get a book now?" he immediately asked, eager as can be.
It wasn't humanly possible for Hotch to say no, not when Jack gave him a heart-melting, wide-eyed glance. "Of course. Let me go wake her up, okay? I'll call you in a bit when she's up and ready."
"Okay." And at that, Jack dashed off to his room.
Shaking his head amusedly, Hotch chuckled to himself all the way to his and Emily's bedroom. And then, he was climbing into bed beside her, his arms curving around her waist so that he could lovingly stroke her swollen belly. "Emily," he whispered into her ear. "Emily, darling, wake up." He smiled into her hair as she shifted in his embrace. "Paging Mrs. Hotchner," he crooned.
Groaning a little, Emily maneuvered onto her back, then shot him a groggy - yet gorgeous - smile. "Yes, Mr. Hotchner?" she murmured, her voice husky with disuse.
He grinned dizzily, then closed the distance between them to leave an ardent kiss to her lips. "Good morning, beautiful. How are you feeling?" Hotch caressed her stomach. "And how is our little one?"
"Not so little anymore," Emily cracked, her eyes crinkling at the corners at Hotch's resulting quiet laugh. "No, baby and I are absolutely perfect at the moment; though I think little Avery was missing you and Jack earlier this morning. When you got out of bed, she moved a whole lot..."
Hotch's heart swelled with love. "Well, I know for a fact that Jack and I cannot wait to meet her. Speaking of which..." he twined their fingers together atop Emily's belly, "your son told me he would like to read you a story. If you're interested, of course."
"Are you kidding me?" Emily's smile was luminescent. "I would love that."
"That's exactly what I told him." Calling out for his son then, neither Hotch nor Emily was surprised when he came running into the room barely a second later.
Jack was all grins when he hopped into bed beside his parents, a large picture book in his hands. "Hi, Mommy," he greeted sweetly, curling up against her side.
Emily pressed a kiss to his nose. "Hi, Jack Jack," she practically cooed. She nodded over at the book in his hands. "What are you going to read for me today?"
"It's called Guess How Much I Love You. Daddy got it for me a long, long time ago. I like it a lot."
"Then I'm sure I'll like it, too."
Jack grinned, opening the book to the very first page. "I hope so." Clearing his throat theatrically in a fashion that made both his parents laugh, Jack began to read the story that he practically knew by heart; it was his favorite, after all. "Little Nutbrown Hare, who was going to bed, held on tight to Big Nutbrown Hare's very long ears. He wanted to be sure that Big Nutbrown Hare was listening. 'Guess how much I love you,' he said," and Jack paused, flipping the page and taking a minute to observe the colorful pictures with a small smile on his lips. "'Oh, I don't think I could guess that,' said Big Nutbrown Hare."
Jack paused, giggling boistrously as Hotch whispered something into his ears - the suggestion to read each line with different silly character voices. Jack wasn't sure if he would be able to do the voices as well as his daddy did them; but he just had to try.
"'This much,' said Little Nutbrown Hare, stretching out his arms as wide as they could go," and Hotch and Jack high-fived one another as Jack's newfound high-pitched voice made Emily laugh as well.
"Big Nutbrown Hare had even longer arms," Jack continued, reading without any difficulty at all, a fact that made both Hotch and Emily inexplicably proud. "'But I love you this much,' he said. Hmm, that is a lot, thought Little Nutbrown Hare. 'I love you as high as I can reach,' said Little Nutbrown Hare. 'I love you as high as I can reach,' said Big Nutbrown Hare.
"That is quite high, thought Little Nutbrown Hare. I wish I had arms like that." Jack nestled further into Emily's arms as she hugged him closer to her. "Then Little Nutbrown Hare had a good idea. He tumbled upside down and reached up the tree trunk with his feet. 'I love you all the way up to my toes!' he said."
"So do I," Emily whispered to him, reaching around to tickle his small feet.
"Mommy!" Jack protested, frowning playfully. "I'm not done reading!"
"Okay, okay."
Jack flipped the page once more, making sure to show both Hotch and Emily the pictures on the page he was reading. "'And I love you all the way up to your toes," said Big Nutbrown Hare, swinging him up over his head. 'I love you as high as I can hop!' laughed Little Nutbrown Hare, bouncing up and down. 'But I love you as high as I can hop," smiled Big Nutbrown Hare - and he hopped so high that his ears touched the branches above."
"That's good hopping, thought Little Nutbrown Hare. I wish I could hop like that." Jack stopped suddenly, looking off in the distance as if thinking seriously about something.
"What is it, buddy?" Hotch wondered, his heart skipping a beat as Emily stole a quick kiss when the boy's back was turned.
"I bet I could hop really high," Jack said simply; then he shook his head, and returned his attention back to the book. This was his favorite part!
"'I love you all the way down the lane as far as the river,' cried Little Nutbrown Hare. 'I love you across the river and over the hills,' said Big Nutbrown Hare. That's very far, thought Little Nutbrown Hare. He was almost too sleepy to think any more. Then he looked beyond the - the -"
"The thorn bushes," Hotch supplied, soothingly rubbing circles on Jack's back.
Jack smiled gratefully. He knew he was reading too fast, and that was why he was tripping over his words; but he just couldn't help it! The story was just too good. "Then he looked beyond the thorn bushes, out into the big dark night. Nothing could be further than the sky. 'I love you right up to the moon,' he said, and closed his eyes."
"'Oh, that's far,' said Big Nutbrown Hare. 'That is very, very far.' Big Nutbrown Hare settled Little Nutbrown Hare into his bed of leaves. He leaned over and kissed him good night. Then he lay down close by and whispered with a smile," and at this point, Jack looked up from the book and at Emily and Hotch instead, and said, "I love you right up to the moon - and back."
And then, Jack gave his parents a toothy grin. "The end!"
Emily was almost in tears by the time Jack finished the touching story. It took her a while to muster up the right words to say; how could she adequately respond to such an innocent display of affection? Looks like the Little Nutbrown Hare won in our case, she thought to herself, smiling. "Sweetheart..." she finally managed, "thank you so much for reading to me. It was a beautiful story. And not only that; you are a wonderful reader."
Jack smiled his adorable, sheepish smile. "You really think so?"
"Really, really."
"Well..." Jack leaned back against his father's warm, sturdy chest. "I'm glad you liked it, Mommy."
"I did, very much so." Emily paused. "And you know who else liked it? Who else likes you?"
Jack glanced down at Emily's belly curiously. "Avery?" he wagered. Emily nodded. "How do you know?" he asked, his eyes bright.
"C'mere." Taking the young boy's hand in hers, Emily placed it on her stomach, rubbing gently. They were rewarded with a kick. "Did you feel that?"
Once again, Jack's eyes were wide. "What happened?"
"Avery moves a lot when she's happy and excited," Emily explained. "And while you were reading...well, she was kicking up a storm. She loves her big brother already."
Sweet Jack puffed up his chest proudly. "Well, I love her, too," he informed.
"Really?" Emily teased, though she knew it was the truth. "How much, Jack?"
He stretched his arms out as wide as they could go, giggling all the while. "This much! And to the moon and back, a hundred times!"
Hotch laughed, his eyes shining with love for his family as he and Emily shared a glance that spoke volumes.
"We're glad to hear it."
THE END.
Author's Note: Well? :) What do y'all think? I'd sure love to know! Please don't hesitate to leave a review; no matter long or short, signed or anonymous, they mean so very much to me. Thanks in advance!