A/N...I'm not real sure where this came from...I've had the opening hidden in a notebook for years... but I must have been subconsiously channeling one of my favorite song (i.e the lyrics I included) because that's how it turned out...
I own nothing:)
"Baby I'm just missing you
And all the little things
The little things that you do
I never knew I could love
The way I love you...
Baby, I'm just missing you"
~Rockie Lynne
"Aaron?" Emily's voice was groggy. She was trying to figure out who had become the third occupant on the staircase landing, the she had apparently slept on all night.
"Yeah, Em," Aaron answered softly. Emily rolled to face him. His warm brown eyes were still somewhat fogged over with sleep. Emily smiled.
"I missed you," she whispered.
"I missed you too," he began, stopping to kiss his wife. "and I see while I was gone, you've taken a liking to sleeping on the stairs?" he finished in a question. He was very confused. Emily let out a small laugh.
"No, not really," she said as she sat up and stretched. "Luke was excited about you coming home and since you were going to be relatively early, we were sitting on the stairs waiting. What time did you get here?" Emily explained.
"I guess it was about nine," Aaron remembered.
"We must have just missed you. Bath time ended at eight, then we put on our jammies and began to wait. Luke fell asleep and I guess I did too. Why didn't you wake me up when you got home?" Emily replied.
"I tried sweetheart, but you wouldn't budge." Aaron laughed. "Why don't I go start breakfast while you get him up?" he suggested.
"If he doesn't wake up to you, he's going to freak out. He knows you're coming home," she objected.
"alright, I'll get him up, THEN I'll start breakfast," Aaron corrected his plan. Aaron stood and lifted the sleeping toddler off the landing. The little boy let out a deep sigh as he began to stir. He buried his hair in his dad's shoulder. Aaron kissed Luke's hair. "Buddy, wake up, I'm home," he whispered in his son's ear. Emily watched as the boy slowly opened his eyes.
"Dada?" Luke said in a muffled voice. His talking was still very new. Aaron got lucky and was home the night the little boy spoke for the first times just a few short weeks earlier.
"Yeah buddy," Aaron responded. Luke didn't say anything else, he only tightened his grip on his father's shirt. Emily smiled. Aaron gently stroked his son's back. After another minute, Luke sat back in his dad's arms, still not quite ready to meet the day. "Hey Luke, I missed you," Aaron greeted him. Luke nodded. Emily stood up next to her family.
"Luke, sweetie, do you want to go get ready?" she asked him slowly. He shook his head no. "ok, do you want to help Daddy make breakfast?" she offered. Luke nodded.
"Ok Aaron, he's all yours," she chuckled. "I'll be right back," she promised, giving her husband a quick kiss. She turned to start up the stairs.
"Hey Em," Aaron called after her. She turned back to look at him.
"Where's Jack?" he wondered, having not seen his eldest child.
"He's spending the night at Andy's, he'll be home to greet you this afternoon," Emily provided. Aaron nodded slowly. Emily sped up the stairs.
When she returned to the kitchen, she found her husband flipping pancakes with Luke resting against his shoulder, dead to the world. Emily looked over Aaron's shoulder, checking the time. It was almost nine.
"He never sleeps this late," she mused.
"Well, he was up late, waiting on Daddy," Aaron laughed.
"Do want me to take him, while you finish?" she offered.
"No, he's not bothering me at all," he objected. Emily made a face. "What? I haven't seen him in four days," he added.
"Yeah well, I haven't seen you in four days either and I would like you to hold me like that," she grumbled. Aaron set the spatula down and reached out to grab her arm as she walked away.
"I have every intention of doing that, later," he promised. She batted her eyelashes at him. He smiled. "I'm almost done here," Aaron mentioned.
"Then let me go put him in his playpen so you can eat properly," Emily urged. Aaron obliged, turning slightly so she could easily take Luke without disturbing him. Aaron watched as Emily cradled their son to her chest and carried him into the living room. After fourteen months, he still loved watching her with that little boy. She had slipped seamlessly into the mother role shortly after Haley's death, but she only excelled when Luke was born.
Aaron caught Emily around the waist as she stepped into the kitchen. She yelped in surprise.
"Shh, Luke is sleeping," Aaron reminded jokingly as he bent down to kiss her.
"I'm glad you're home," she murmured as she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face against his neck.
"I'm glad to be back," he agreed. Since Emily started her sabbatical while she was pregnant with Luke, work had been somewhat of a catch 22 for Aaron. He felt he could focus more without his severely protective side kicking in and worrying about her in the field. However, he missed her like crazy, not only because she was his wife, but also because she has a brilliant mind and was great at her job. He supported her one hundred percent though. She wanted to be there for Luke and Jack, at least while they were still little. She didn't like the idea of a nanny at all. Her job would always be there though, when and if she was ready to go back.
The couple enjoyed their breakfast. Aaron caught her up on the gossip going around the team and how their last case went. Nobody really knew Aaron was in on the gossip, but it's the quiet ones that are always listening and observing. Emily in turn kept Aaron up to date about his boys. She filled him in on what Jack was doing in school and what cute things Luke had been up to.
As Emily set her coffee mug in the sink, she heard Luke summoning her to the living room.
"Mama?" she could tell just by his tone, there were tears not far behind his words. She jogged towards the playpen.
"Baby, what's wrong?" she cooed, lifting him into her arms. "Are you hungry?" she asked. He nodded. "Well Daddy made breakfast, let's see if we can't snag you a few leftovers," Emily replied. Aaron smiled as Emily returned to the kitchen with Luke on her hip. He waved at his son and continued with the dishes.
"Aaron, those can wait," she mentioned as she gathered the things to pour Luke a glass of milk.
"It's ok, I'll be done in a sec and while you're feeding Luke, I'll go get dressed and then we can spend the rest of the day together," he planned.
Aaron walked into the kitchen, fully expecting his wife to still be feeding their son, so he was more than a little surprised when the room was empty. After searching the remainder of the downstairs and still finding nothing, he figured the only other place they could be was the nursery. He had assumed correctly. She was standing over the changing table, talking animatedly with the little boy.
"What do you think Lukey, are you glad Daddy's home?" she cooed, Aarons smiled to himself as he watched his son kick happily in response to the question. "I'm glad he's home too, and with any luck, we'll get him to ourselves all weekend and tomorrow I think I can convince him to take you, me, and bubby to the park," she added excitedly.
"Bubby!" Luke squealed. Jack was hard for Luke to say so somehow the nickname bubby developed.
"I would love to take you all to the park," Aaron admitted from the doorway. He smiled yet again when he watched a tinge of pink fill her cheeks when she realized Aaron heard her conversation.
"Dada," Luke interrupted, reaching for his father. Emily caught him as he nearly rolled off the changing table.
"Take it easy there little man," she chuckled, handing Luke to her husband.
"Mama's right you know, there's no need to hurt yourself to get to me," Aaron spoke to his son with a firm nod. Luke just giggled and shoved his hand in his mouth. Aaron turned his attention back to his wife. "Well sweetheart, like you said I'm all yours for the weekend, now what do you want to do with me?" he grinned.
"What I want to do with you is irreverent at this moment Agent Hotchner, but why don't we go put a movie in and lay around in the living room until Jack gets home," Emily suggested. Aaron nodded and carried Luke out of the room. When he got to the living room he sat down on the floor and put the little boy in front of him. Luke wrapped his small fingers tightly around his father's larger ones and pulled himself into a standing position. The child giggled and bounced.
"This kid is going to walk any day now, Em," he announced as Emily entered the room
"Oh I know, he's pulling up on everything now, and he can walk with help, he's just not ready to do it on his own yet," Emily smiled.
"He's taking forever though," Aaron groaned.
"Aaron, be patient, just because Jack was walking at this age, doesn't mean Luke has to. He's just taking his time. Aren't you Luke?" she finished gently tickling her little boy. Luke released his father's hands and reached for his mother. He toppled forward and crawled in Emily's direction. "You'll walk when you're ready. Say Daddy, the doctor says I have four more months before you even have to start worrying about my walking," she laughed.
"Dada!" Luke squealed. He made a u-turn in front of Emily and crawled back towards Aaron.
"I think that one backfired on you there, Em," Aaron laughed as he grabbed Luke and lifted him above his head. Emily smiled. She loved watching Aaron with his boys.
A movie and a half later, Luke was down for a nap and Jack came bounding through the door.
"Daddy, Emily!" the young boy grinned excitedly.
"Hey Jack, you're brother's sleeping," Emily greeted softly as she moved out of Aaron's arms and off of the couch to wrap the little boy in a hug.
"Oh sorry," Jack lowered his voice at the subtle reminder.
"It's ok bud, did you have fun at Andy's?" Aaron stepped in.
"Daddy!" Jack repeated, quieter but just as excited as the first time. He broke away from Emily and charged at Aaron. "You're home!" Jack continued, hugging his father as tight as he could.
"I am, and I'll be home all day tomorrow too," the father mentioned.
"For reals?" Jack checked.
"For reals," he confirmed.
"No bad guys?" Jack wanted to be sure.
"No bad guys, just our family. Emily even thought we could go to the park," Aaron smiled. Jack pushed away from his father just enough to look at his face.
"Are we going to go?" he wonder.
"Yeah tomorrow, buddy," Aaron confirmed.
"Yes!" Jack cheered.
"Jack, why don't you go put your stuff away," Emily suggested.
"I'll help you," Aaron offered, lifting Jack, book bag and all into his arms.
Emily looked around the now vacant living room. She spotted the remote on the coffee table and reached to turn off the movie. She nibbled on her lip, trying to recall if any chore had been left undone in lieu of movie time with her husband. Before she could come with anything, a cry from the baby monitor caught her attention. Not a moment later did Aaron's voice invade the connection.
"I got him, Em," he mentioned softly, well aware she was listening. Emily relaxed as she heard her husband calm their son. She couldn't help but laugh as Jack's voice interrupted the near silence.
"Is Luke ok, Daddy?" the child wondered. Jack was nothing if not the picture perfect older brother. There was the occasional bout of sibling rivalry that comes with a new baby entering a household, but nothing extreme.
"Yeah, he's fine, bud," Aaron assured his older son. Emily heard their voice fade as, she assumed, they walked out of the room and away from the monitor.
When the three men in her life did not promptly return to the living room, Emily went to find them. They were in the master bedroom. Aaron was sitting against the headboard with Luke more or less in his lap and Jack sitting next to him.
"Bubby!" Luke squealed as Jack reached out to tickle him one more time. Aaron just sat back and watched, with a large uncharacteristic grin hanging from his face. Emily smiled softly from the doorway before taking the final few steps into the room. "Mama!" Luke was instantly distracted and crawled out of his father's lap towards the end of the bed. Aaron stuck a hand out and quickly caught the child before he toppled the two or so feet to the floor. Luke whined when he couldn't get to his mother.
"That is the second time he's almost hit the floor today," Emily noted.
"I know, I suppose his determination is admirable," Aaron joked. Emily rolled her eyes and took her son. She moved onto the bed between Aaron and Jack.
"Hi Emily," Jack stated softly with a dimpled smile. Emily settled Luke in her lap and wrapped an arm around Jack.
"Hey Jack," she replied giving him a quick squeeze and a kiss on the cheek.
"I missed you last night," he admitted. Emily smiled warmly. Since she found out she was pregnant with Luke and started staying home, her and Jack had become quite close. It wasn't that they weren't close before. She loved Jack like he was her own and Jack loved her, but now they stuck together when Aaron was out of town.
"I missed you too," Emily agreed and she meant it. Jack was a huge help and good company.
"And I missed you all," Aaron jumped in.
"Dada!" Luke giggled, feeling somewhat neglected in the middle of it all.
"All includes you," Aaron told the toddler.
"You shouldn't be gone so much," Emily stated decisively as she set her head on her husband's shoulder.
"From your lips of God's ear, sweetheart," Aaron chuckled as he wrapped his arms around his family.