Title: Cruel and Unusual Punishments

Author: AnnieVH

Summary: Hotch is grounded

Rating: K, one shot

Genre: humour, family

Characters or Pairing: Hotch, Sean, Jack

Warning: none

Spoilers: takes place somewhere between season three and four.

Disclaimer: don't own, just burrow.

The only reason Hotch didn't stomp him foot and whined, "This is not fair!" was because he didn't want Sean to take the opportunity to treat him like a child again. Maybe he'd extent his timeout or take away his toys - whether that'd mean his gun, his pens or the cushions on the couch, Hotch didn't wanna find out.

He didn't curse, never ever ever, and he didn't like Jack to curse as well, so he was very strict about that. Anything from the S-word to the F-word would grant him three minutes on the naughty stool, no exceptions.

Damn it.

It had been an accident, for God's sake! He didn't expect the frying pan to catch fire! He had said so to Sean, but his brother had just laughed, "I did. And you should've too, the way you cook."

Meanwhile, Jack was staring at his father, mouth hanging open. "Daddy, you said a bad word."

Sean smirked. "Yeah, daddy, you did."

Jack went on, "And you said the worst word, daddy!"

"Yeah, daddy" Sean said, smiling even wider. "Naughty, daddy."

Hotch had turned to his son, "I know, buddy, and I'm sorry. I was scared."

"You say there's no excuse for bad words, daddy."

"Well..." Hotch searched his mind for an explanation and came up with the worst. "Grown ups can say certain words now and then, Jack. Words that are not for kids."

"That's not fair!" Jack had exclaimed from his chair.

"Yeah, that's not fair!" Sean jumped along, making Hotch glare at him.

"I know." Hotch said, between teeth. "I'm sorry."

Jack recited, trying hard to sound as grown up as his dad did when he was the one saying those words. "Saying you're sorry doesn't take the bad thing you say back."

Sean chocke down a laughter and Hotch started to realize he was losing the battle. Sean said, with a serious face, "You know what happens when you curse in this house, don't you, young man?"

Hotch stared back at him. "You gotta be kidding me."

And in a minute, he was sitting on the very tiny stool on the corner of his living room. He had given up on being comfortable about seven minutes ago and settled for resting his elbows on his knees, feeling his ass go numb. Sean raised his eyes from the newspaper he was pretending to read for just a second and chuckled to himself when he saw his brother's angry eyes and bored expression.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Can't you tell?"

"How much longer do I have to sit here?"

"Well" Sean looked at his watch. "Supernanny says you gotta count one minute for every year of the child. So, you still have 34 minutes ahead of you."

"Oh, c'mon, Sean!"

"Hey! You have a child to set a good example for."

Hotch growled, but said nothing more.

Sean started laughing again. "I can't wait to tell Haley about this..."

**Fim**