"Oh my gosh," Penelope Garcia fans her damp eyes, her bracelets clinking softly. "Oh gosh, she is so perfect. Look at her little button nose," She squeals as quietly as she can manage before she looks up at Derek Morgan. "Do we have to leave her?"
"Baby girl, I'm sure that Hotch can more than handle it," Derek laughs, placing his arm around her shoulders heavily. "Come on now, we need to leave and let them get some rest. It's late, and they've had a long day."
"Thank you for coming," Lara speaks up from her bed, smiling tiredly as she watches Penelope drink in all of the precious pink bundle in her bassinet. "We really appreciate it—the flowers and the balloons and everything."
"Yes," Aaron clears his throat. "Thank you for dinner; it was delicious."
Penelope tears herself away from the bassinet and envelopes Hotch in a bone-crushing hug. "Think nothing of it. Now you, Mama, get some sleep," She hugs Lara as well before she drops a kiss onto her cheek, leaving a smear of hot pink lipstick. "You did good today. And you, Daddy, get some rest, too. Call me if you need anything. I can be up here in 15 minutes!"
"Penelope, you live half-hour away," Derek reminds her exasperatedly. "It wouldn't do them any good if you killed yourself trying to get up here."
"No," Penelope shakes her head as Derek gently herds her towards the door. "I suppose it wouldn't. You take care of her," She says over Derek's shoulder to Aaron, who nods with a small smile tugging at his lips. "Good night, Hotchner family!"
And then with a quick wave from Derek and the soft click of the heavy room door, the last two visitors of the day are gone. It's quiet for a few seconds before Lara sighs heavily from her bed. Aaron glances over at her, his dark eyebrows raised questioningly.
"It's nothing," She smiles sleepily up at him. "She's crazy, and sweet, and amazing. How did you get so lucky with all of your co-workers?" And then she yawns so widely that it seems to take over her whole body.
Aaron smiles and shrugs his thin shoulders as he makes his way over to the bassinet. "They're family. You should get some rest," His eyes are soft and relaxed as he views her from her perch in the hospital bed. "You've barely had any sleep in the last 48 hours."
"I don't want to," Lara admits softly, waving him over shyly. Aaron obliges, taking a moment to scoop up the warm soft bundle of blankets from the cradle and settling her against his chest before he crosses the room towards his girlfriend.
"I've missed you today," Lara whispers as he tips the baby into her waiting arms. Her eyes mist over, and she frowns at her tears. "I know that sounds crazy, because you've been by my side the entire time, but…" She trails off, her cheeks flushing lightly. "I just do," She finishes lamely and then cuddles the baby close, as if that would be enough to hide the tears spilling over from her eyes.
But Aaron sees them, because Aaron sees a lot of things that would normally go unseen. And so with a quick glance up at the firmly shut door (and without a second thought spared to Nurse Linda who seemed to have some sort of vendetta against men in general), he climbs into the hospital bed and wraps Lara up in a tight hug.
She's glad for the contact and she falls into his embrace easily, mindful, however, of the bundle that's starting to stir in her arms. "I'm sorry I'm so weepy, I don't know what my problem is. But I can't stop crying," Lara laughs here, though it sounds more like a strangled cry.
At this noise, the baby does wake up. She cracks one sleepy eye open and then the other before she screws up her tiny face and starts to cry. Lara starts to cry even harder at the noise.
"Oh my god, I'm a mess. You should have gone home to Jack so you didn't have to witness this," She moves easily though, slipping her cardigan off of her right shoulder and then unbuttoning the nursing tanktop.
The baby latches on greedily, her cries stifled by the sudden appearance of food. She sucks earnestly, her swallowing noises the only sound in the room, aside from her mother's sniffles.
Aaron starts forward and runs a light finger across the baby's round cheek before he leans his chin on Lara's shoulder and observes his daughter feeding hungrily. "I wouldn't have missed any of this for the world."
"A weepy girlfriend, and a feeding baby?" Lara wrinkles her nose, though her turned position does hide the soft smile that appears from Aaron.
He shakes his head, and then drops a sweet kiss onto her neck. "No, my daughter and her mother—one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my entire life. You have to cut yourself some slack, Lara. You've just birthed a seven-pound baby, and your hormones are all over the place. You gave birth today, that's more than most people do in their entire lifetimes." He kisses her shoulder this time, still watching the baby suckle greedily. "And I missed you, too. I've been looking forward to just the three of us being alone all day."
"That Nurse Linda seems to have a sixth sense when it comes to us being alone, doesn't she?" Lara muses with a soft laugh as she moves the baby over to her other breast.
Aaron scowls into his girlfriend's skin, though he does allow a small grin. "It's almost like she knows whenever I come near you! I'm pretty sure she stayed past her shift time just to annoy me."
Lara does laugh loudly at this, and she leans into her boyfriend before they both fall silent and watch their baby eat. "How do you think Jack did today?"
Aaron's oldest child, a young boy named Jack, had been over earlier with his Aunt Jessica. They had brought Lara a bouquet of flowers, and Jack had been wearing a blue and green shirt that said 'big brother' in capital block letters. He had held his little sister diligently, studying her small wrinkled face closely in that serious manner he inherited from his father. He had patiently sat through the rounds of pictures that every adult in the room seemed to take, and he had gravely listened and watched as his father changed the baby's diaper. Aaron caught him pressing a sweet kiss to the baby's brow before he handed the bundle back and went off to play with his Uncle Spencer.
Upon announcing Lara's pregnancy, Jack had not taken it well. After all, he had had a family with Aaron, prior to Lara being in the picture. But then Haley and Aaron divorced, and Jack rarely saw his father, if at all. They both hated the arrangement, and that had been the hardest adjustment for both to swallow. And then when Haley died, it had just been the two of them. They bonded over their grief, and formed a close relationship. For years, it was just the two Hotchner men, as Aaron was wont to say.
And then Lara showed up in the picture. Jack was delighted with his father's new girlfriend, and they spent many hours together, which did wonders for the small motherless boy. Lara's pregnancy had been unexpected, to say the least. Initially Jack had been excited, though privately Aaron thought that that had more to do with the fact that Jack didn't quite understand what exactly a pregnancy entailed. As time went on and Lara grew bigger and bigger, Jack seemed to realize that that also meant that he would have to share his father with someone else. And he hadn't accepted that news as well as Aaron and Lara would have liked.
There were many tears and tantrums and proclamations of hate before Jack admitted to his father that he just didn't want to share him with a baby. That had broken Aaron's heart, and so he resolved that his son wouldn't feel forgotten or neglected with the latest addition to the family. They had spent as much as time as they could manage together, and he had listened to all of little Jack's concerns and worries. In the end, Jack hesitantly agreed that maybe a sibling wouldn't be so bad after all.
"I think he did great today," Aaron admits freely as the baby finishes feeding. Lara hands her off before she begins to clean herself up. Aaron cradles the baby close and rubs her tiny warm back as she snuggles in under his chin. "He was a lot more excited than he wanted to let on, I think. Did you see the way he hovered over Dave holding her?"
"Yes," Lara laughs as she wraps her arms around Aaron's bicep. "He was cute." There's a brief stretch of silence. "Do you think he likes her? I-I would hate for him to just write her off because she's not what he was expecting, or whatever."
"I think Jack is going to be a great big brother," Aaron replies seriously, his eyes dark and intense. "Just like I think you're going to be an amazing mother. We're overthinking this—we have a healthy, beautiful daughter, an awesome, crazy son, and each other. That's all we need, and we're going to be more than fine."
"We're a family," Lara breathes, her eyes shining again. "I love you, Aaron."
"I love you, too," He replies, kissing her firmly on the mouth. "Now go to sleep. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."
"Taking her home," She smiles so widely that the corners of her eyes crinkle up. "I'm so excited to bring her home, and just be a family. Do you think we can convince everyone that we're not home?"
Aaron briefly considers one Penelope Garcia and one Jennifer Jareau before he shakes his head firmly. "No, not a chance in hell. Now go to sleep."
"Is that an order, Supervisory Special Agent Hotchner?" Lara grins wickedly up at him, though, to her credit, she does settle back down against her pillows. She winces at the movement, and Aaron concernedly notes the time, knowing that her pain medication is slowly starting to wear off.
"Yes," He growls, leaning down and kissing her thoroughly before he breaks away from her lips. "Now, hush and go to sleep."
This time there is no protest. Aaron climbs from the bed, the baby still held protectively against his chest. The two of them settle down on the sofa, Aaron reluctant to part from his daughter quite yet, and wait for Lara to doze off. She falls asleep quickly, and Aaron is left alone with his baby.
She's fast asleep, as well, her little eyes buttoned up tightly. Her nose, which turns up slightly at the end, moves the tiniest bit as she sucks on her tongue in her sleep. This is a picture of complete and utter bliss, of someone who is completely comfortable and at ease with the rest of the world. She knows that she is loved and safe and warm and well fed here in her father's arms.
Aaron presses a soft kiss to her temple before he allows her to continue sleeping on his chest. A quick glance up at the bed lets him know that Lara is still comfortably sleeping. His gaze then wanders towards his go bag, which is in the corner next to Lara's own overnight bag. And his mind flickers to the small red velvet box that's buried deep inside.
He'll ask her later. Besides, Aaron reflects with a tiny grin as he looks back down at his daughter, now he has an adorable prop to help convince Lara that they should become a proper family.
It's just a short blurp that I've been carrying around for a few days now. There is an entire back story for Lara and Aaron, and if anyone is interested, I'd like to post it. I adore Aaron, and I wish that he could just be happy for once. Let me know if you'd like to read it, yeah?
xo.