Summary: Charlotte is ready for her first date. How will Hotch and Emily handle it?
Age Guide: Hotch: 59; Emily: 54; Jack: 19; Henry: 16; Charlotte: 14; Ryan and Benjamin: 12.
A/N: This is the first of many tie-in oneshots for All This Time. I won't write them in chronological order. I'll just write them as they come to me. Enjoy!
April 2025
"Mom?" Charlotte asked timidly, knocking on her parents' bedroom door frame. Hotch was off grocery shopping and Emily was tackling the never-ending pile of clean laundry that needed folding. She smiled and looked up at her only daughter. "Yeah, sweetie?"
"Umm…" Charlotte was normally very well-spoken. Emily and Hotch often joked she should become a politician or public speaker. So her faltering voice got Emily's attention.
"What's wrong, honey?"
"Well, it's nothing bad. I just don't know how to say it."
"Well, then, just spit it out. And help me match socks while you're at it."
Charlotte perched herself at the foot of the bed and did as she was told. "There's this boy at school—"
Emily's gasp cut Charlotte off midsentence. "Ooh, a boy?" Emily asked, thrilled that Charlotte had come to her about this, and hoping that Charlotte finally growing an outward interest in the opposite sex would mean a closer relationship for the two of them. Charlotte's closeness to Hotch as a small child had grown along with her. She often had deeper conversations with him than with Emily and came to him first with many of her questions, save for when she had started her period two years ago. "Sorry, I interrupted. Tell me about him. What's his name? Have I met him?"
"Mom. One question at a time." Charlotte swept her long golden hair over her shoulders and gave Emily a mildly annoyed look.
Emily laughed at herself. "Sorry, sorry. Go ahead."
"His name's Aiden. No, you haven't met him."
"Is he cute?" Emily asked, trying her hardest not to talk down to Charlotte. She tried to treat it like a conversation with Garcia; despite being happily married for thirteen years, Emily still enjoyed casually objectifying male strangers with her also happily married best friend, even if they hadn't used the word "cute" in that context in quite some time.
A blush crept into Charlotte's ivory cheeks as she nodded. "Yeah, I think so. And so does every other girl in school, basically."
"Oh, really? So he's popular, too?"
"Very."
"Well, what's up? Did you just want to talk about him?" Emily inquired, fishing around for one of Ryan's missing soccer socks.
"Actually, he kind of…asked me out."
Emily completely forgot what she was looking for and stared in shock at her daughter. "He asked you out?" She and Hotch had joked about the day when boys would become a threat to the peace they felt regarding Charlotte and her normally mature decisions.
"This is stupid," Charlotte moaned, throwing down a few socks and swinging her body off the bed. Emily caught her by the hand, though.
"No, no, honey. I was just surprised, that's all. You've never really shown an interest in boys until now. Well, ones you know, anyway." Emily couldn't fault Charlotte for her obsession with music and movie icons; Emily, along with most other women, had gone through a similar phase as a young teen. "I'm excited for you, I promise. Tell me all about it." She cleared some laundry out of the way next to her and patted the empty spot, putting an arm around Charlotte when she sat down next to her.
"Well, after English, I was putting my stuff away in my locker, and he came up to me and asked if I would go see this new movie with him Friday night."
"What new movie?" was all Emily could think to ask. The fact that Charlotte had been asked out on a date, when Emily could clearly remember what she looked like as a newborn, when she could remember a time where the only word she knew was "mama," was still sinking in.
"You haven't heard of it."
"Try me."
"Terrors of the Night."
"Okay, you're right. Never heard of it. What's it rated?"
Charlotte rolled her eyes, though Emily couldn't see. "PG-13. And I'm fourteen."
"Thank you, my mathematical genius of a daughter. I'm aware. What did you tell him?"
"I told him I'd have to ask. Please say yes," Charlotte said desperately, clinging to Emily's side. "Mom, you can't say no. You don't even understand how important this is."
"Oh, I understand. Eighth grade's a big year. Next year'll be even bigger."
"Then can I?"
Emily laughed, squeezed Charlotte's shoulder, and pulled her in for a hug. "You know we have to run this by your dad first. And I wouldn't get your hopes up. You're his only baby girl and he'd be happiest if you didn't date until after you were married."
"That's hilarious," Charlotte said flatly, sighing and flopping back against the pillows.
"Well, I hate to break it to you, but once your dad finds out you're into boys and dating and all that, you're going to be hearing it quite a bit, I'm sure."
"Jack went on his first date when he was fourteen," Charlotte pointed out.
"I'm aware, but his first date was to his homecoming dance his freshman year. You're still in eighth grade. Plus, going to a movie alone with a boy is a lot different than going to a dance. He meant just the two of you, right?"
Charlotte nodded, crossing her arms. "But still. I'm way more mature than Jack."
"Girls do mature a little faster than boys, yes. But a big factor here is that you're your dad's only daughter. I know it's not fair, but it's going to play into things, and there's nothing you can do to change that."
"This sucks."
"I really like you more when you talk like a sophisticated young woman," Emily said. They both heard the front door open downstairs. The rustle of plastic grocery bags told them Hotch was home. "Do you want to talk to him or do you want me to?" Emily offered.
Charlotte hardly knew the extent to which her father cherished her, but she did have an inkling, in part thanks to her mother, that this would be a trying conversation to have with him. "Can you?"
Emily smiled. "Of course. Hey…I'm glad you came to me. Even if it's just because you're scared of what your dad will think, it means a lot to me that you asked me first. I love you."
"Love you, too."
—
"Is something up with Charlie?" Hotch asked when he and Emily turned in for the night, both with a worn paperback in hand. He was strangely attuned to Charlotte, at least more so than he was with the boys most times. The fact that she'd acted strangely around him all evening, but said that nothing was wrong when he'd questioned her, had been driving him crazy.
"Actually, yes. Promise me you'll stay calm."
Hotch set down the reading glasses he had been about to put on. "How am I supposed to stay calm when you say something like that?"
"Let me rephrase that, then: you won't like this, but that's tough, because she's growing up. A boy asked her out at school today."
Hotch's heart dropped into his gut. "No."
"No? Come on, Aaron."
"She's fourteen," Hotch said simply, shaking his head.
"Exactly. She's fourteen." Emily stopped talking and stared at Hotch until he paid her some visual attention instead of staring sadly at the wall across from him. When he did, she continued. "I was fifteen when I lost my virginity," she said quietly but still very pointedly.
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Hotch asked testily.
"Okay, poor choice of words. All I'm saying is that she's at that age where she's going to be interested. And I'm sure she's been into boys like that for longer. It probably started a couple of years ago. This is just the first time she's come to one of us about it."
"To you specifically," Hotch pointed out sullenly, opening up his book to find his page.
"Really? Are you going to make this a competition? All her life, she's preferred you, and I've never really let it get to me much, because I think that a girl having a close relationship with her father is important, and while she and I haven't been as close as some moms and daughters out there, I've never felt any animosity either. So I've let it be. But today, she finally came to me for a heart-to-heart. And I'm one hundred percent sure that it was partly due to the fact that she knew you wouldn't want to hear it and I could talk to you for her, but it still means the world to me that she came to me first for a change. Do you feel guilty yet?" Emily asked smugly.
Hotch shut his book around his thumb. "Perhaps," he mumbled.
"All right, then. Let's set aside our feelings about who's the favorite parent and try to think about this objectively. Is she ready to go on a date?"
"No."
Emily grinned, having expected no other answer. "Okay, if that's how you feel, then back it up. You'd better practice with me now, because if and when you tell her no, she's going to demand to know why."
"Fine. She's not ready because she's still in middle school and all boys are pigs the second they figure out what their penis is for."
"So if fourteen isn't old enough, then what is?"
"Emily, she's my only little girl. I don't want to think about her giving her time and attention to any boy who isn't ready to marry her. And even then…" He shook his head.
"The protectiveness thing is sweet and completely understandable. Every good dad feels that way to some extent. But you need to get past that. Even if she doesn't start dating now, she will eventually, and it's probably never going to be easier. In fact, maybe it's easier now. I mean, a date at fourteen years old is going to be pretty innocent. It's basically hanging out with a friend, but the friend is a boy who thinks she's cute. Dating at sixteen, seventeen, on the other hand…do you need me to outline what'll be on their minds at that age?"
"What kind of date is it?" Hotch muttered, ignoring Emily's baiting.
"A movie with just the two of them."
"The 'just the two of them' part is absolutely a no-go," Hotch said, shrugging and giving Emily an apologetic look. "Sorry, but no. Maybe I would consider a group sort of thing."
Emily laughed. "Ha. Myass."
"Would you please stop making light of the situation?" Hotch pleaded.
"I need to. You're turning it into the apocalypse. She likes boys. She's growing up. Yes. But guess what. The most she'll probably be thinking about doing about is holding hands or something. It's not like she'll be thinking about going down—"
"Please, don't finish that sentence."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I really am." Emily grasped Hotch's arm, scooting closer to him and resting her cheek on his shoulder. "I'm not saying you have to say yes. But I am saying you have to have a good reason to say no. And you have to be able to help her understand."
"I'm the father and she's the child. When I say no, she doesn't need a detailed explanation why," Hotch said.
"Okay, I guess that's true to some extent. But this is Charlotte we're talking about. We've always treated her a little bit differently when it comes to this kind of stuff. She always wants to know why, ever since she learned the word. And we've encouraged her to think about things instead of just accepting them at face value. That's part of the reason she's as mature as she is now." She ran a hand slowly through Hotch's salt and pepper hair. "If you're absolutely not ready for this, then I'll stand behind you one hundred percent. But you can't just tell her no and leave it at that. Even if she doesn't agree with your reasoning—which I'm pretty sure would be the case—she at least needs to see you as rational. Otherwise she won't keep trusting you like she does."
Hotch's chest rose and fell with a deep breath. "What's your take on this?"
"Wow, I thought you'd never ask."
"Sorry," Hotch said under his breath, giving Emily's knee a squeeze through the covers.
"It's okay, I understand. This is hard for you. My first instinct is to let her go. I like to think she's got a lot more common sense than I did at that age. Plus, you know, she's a lot more…emotionally stable than I was. She's got a lot of friends, she's got loving parents, protective big brothers, little brothers who adore her. I don't think she has any reason to go doing anything she's not ready for. And I think she's smart enough to know that she's not ready for any of the stuff you're dreading. But maybe letting her go out with him alone is too much. Maybe you're right. A group outing might be a better idea."
"Okay," Hotch said with a sigh.
"She'll just have to figure out how to tell him that it can't be just the two of them."
"If he has a problem with it, then he's not worth her time. Simple as that," Hotch said bluntly. "What's his name, anyway?"
"Aiden."
"Aren't half the boys in her class named Aiden?"
Emily laughed. "Yeah, I think so."
"What's his last name?"
"No idea. Don't know his social security number either, sorry."
"We need to meet him before she goes anywhere with him," Hotch said decisively.
"Oh, of course. I agree. So you're in?"
"I suppose…"
"I think you should go tell her, then. She probably hasn't fallen asleep yet."
"I can't," Hotch said, kneading his forehead with his fingers. "I can't talk to her about this. Not yet."
It wasn't until now that Emily sensed how truly heartbroken Hotch was that his precious little girl was growing up and moving into dangerous territory, no matter how much he overstated that danger. "You are such an amazing father, you know that?" she said gently, nudging his cheek until he looked at her again. "So many girls grow up without a dad, and most of them who are blessed enough to have their dads around don't have dads half as loving as you. No matter how crazy it might make you, never stop loving her like that. That's something she'll take with her anywhere she goes, and it'll keep her standards high. My dad and I were never nearly as close as you two are, but I always knew I was his little girl and he loved me more than anything, and that was important to me. Yeah, I made some shitty choices, but there were other factors involved that aren't factors at all for Charlotte."
Throughout Emily's pep talk, Hotch nodded a few times, gradually letting his gaze turn to the wall again. "I still…I'm not ready for a conversation about this. Not with her. I'm not ready to let go. I'd like to be in denial for a little while, as silly as that sounds."
"It doesn't sound silly. How many periods did I miss before I admitted that I was going through menopause?"
Hotch chuckled. "Ten, maybe?"
"That was a rhetorical question. I'll go talk to Charlotte."
"Thank you." Hotch watched with a still sinking heart as Emily walked out of the room.
Emily knocked as softly as she could on Charlotte's door in case she was asleep already, but Charlotte called for her to come in. "Hey," Emily said with a smile, shutting the door behind her.
Charlotte's eyes lit up when she saw her mother's face. "Well? Did you talk to Dad?"
Emily sat at the foot of Charlotte's bed this time. "I did. And we agreed that you can go. If other people are going. You're too young to be out on a date alone. Until further notice, group outings only. And this isn't a right, it's a privilege."
Charlotte tensed up a bit. "You don't trust me?"
"Don't think that for a second. We trust you.What we don't necessarily trust are the boys, the hormones, the environment…we've both been there. And I know it was decades ago," Emily said dramatically, "but we remember the pressures at your age. And things were actually a little more innocent back then. Kids are having to grow up so much faster now than we had to."
"Really?" Charlotte asked.
Emily nodded. "If you ever have any questions, you can always come to me. You know that, right?"
Charlotte nodded, smiling faintly. "Guess I'll have to, now that Dad's mad at me."
"Honey, he is not mad at you."
"Then how come he didn't come to tell me?"
"Because this is difficult for him. He loves you more than life itself and it hurts to see you growing up and becoming a woman. Dads have a special love for their daughters, and it happens to involve overprotection. Add his involvement in law enforcement and you've got a dad who's more than a little scared out of his mind right now. But that's not your fault. Your first date is going to be sometime, and it'll be tough for him no matter when that is. So don't feel bad, okay?"
Charlotte picked up a book that sat in her lap. "You promise he's not mad at me?"
"I promise."
"So I just have to figure out how to tell Aiden it has to be a group date without looking like a total geek."
"Not jumping into things doesn't make you a geek. It makes you responsible."
"Which also makes me a geek."
"Then I'm sorry," Emily said, "but you're the geekiest geek that ever geeked. And I want to hear more about this Aiden. Maybe you and Auntie Pen and I can have a girl's night out tomorrow. She loves talking about boys."
"Even boys my age?" Charlotte asked with a scrunched nose.
"If you're happy about it, she's happy about it. You know, she's a big part of why your dad and I ended up getting together."
"Really?"
"She was," Emily said, nodding. "She was our biggest cheerleader. And I'm sure she would love nothing more than to bring that to the next generation. So does that sound like fun? Just us three, tomorrow night?"
"Yeah," Charlotte replied, sounding much more eager now.
"Oh, and one more thing," Emily said as she got up. "Your dad and I need to meet Aiden before this…date. See if his parents can drop him off here, and one of us will drive you to the movie, and then they can do pickup. And we'll need to know the names of the other people that end up going. Maybe just ask a couple of your girlfriends to go with you. Katie and Megan would probably go."
"Okay."
"And I can't help you at all with this, but prepare for your dad to treat this guy like scum. Aiden is your dad's arch-nemesis right now and he'll continue to be unless and until your dad sees that he's respectful of you and of us. And even after he reaches that point, your dad will still probably only kind of like him, at best."
Charlotte dropped her book. "Oh God, Dad's going to do that thing in the movies where he gets out his gun when—"
Emily giggled. "No guns shall be seen or mentioned. That much I can promise." Hotch was lying on his side, having given up on reading for the night, when Emily returned to their room. "All set," Emily said with a grin, slipping between the sheets and lying down next to Hotch.
"Thank you," Hotch said again.
"Of course. Like I said, I'm thrilled that you love her to the point where this is so difficult for you. I didn't want you to be dismissive about it."
"You wanted me to be miserable?" Hotch cracked.
"Now you're making me seem evil."
Hotch rolled over onto his back and pulled Emily in closer before reaching to turn out his lamp. "Can I have my gun out at the table when he comes over?"
"Don't even think about it."
"Then you are evil. Can I at least go to the movie with them? Just, sit in the back and make sure he doesn't try anything? They wouldn't know I was there."
"If you'd like for her to think you don't trust her at all and if you'd like to give yourself a coronary in the process, then sure."
"I was joking."
"Knowing you, only half joking," Emily quipped.
Hotch chuckled and forgot about his broken heart for just a moment. "Maybe seventy-five percent."
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this. Please leave a review! Don't forget to vote at the Profiler's Choice Awards :)