It was a beautiful day, and the team was enjoying it by picnicking in Rossi's backyard. Everyone was there laughing and soaking up the sunshine, even Derek and Savannah had joined with their young son. Hotch sat on the patio leaning back in a chair with a glass of David's finest scotch in his hand.
Closing his eyes and turning his face to the sun he smiled as he heard the shrieks of laughter coming from the Jack and Henry as they ran from Will, JJ, and Spencer in the grassy section of the yard.
As he sat there, surrounded by his family, he thought back on the past few months. Between the ring of assassins after Penelope, Reid's mother's health issues, and everything with Derek, it had been a long year. However, things had finally calmed down a bit, and the team was on leave for the next week. Finally, for the first time in a long time, Aaron felt like he could breath.
It was Jack's Spring Break, and he and Spencer had made plans to take him to London for the week. They had been planning it for months, and Jack and Spencer had even plotted a Doctor Who themed tour through London.
Spencer. Aaron felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth just thinking about his lover. They had been getting closer for years, but after the Mr. Scratch incident Aaron had finally had the courage to act on his feelings. Spencer had come over to check on him when they finally got home. Jack had been with Jessica, and the doorbell had rung. Opening up the door, Aaron had come face-to-face with the now familiar sight of Reid outside his door with take-out.
Spencer had looked at him with complete understanding in his eyes and had simply said "Hi."
After that, Hotch had let him in, and they had started to settle down into their normal dinner and movie routine; however, this time Hotch was on edge. After being forced to watch what he had thought was Spencer's death, he was done being scared. As they finished dinner and settled down to watch Galaxy Quest, Spencer had reached over to grab and handful of popcorn. Without thinking, Aaron had grabbed his hand. Startled, Spencer had looked over at him with a questioning look, and Aaron had pulled him closer and finally into a kiss while setting the popcorn aside with his other hand. After a moment of surprise, Spencer had wrapped his arms around Hotch's neck with a softly murmured "finally" against his lips before sinking whole-heartedly into the kiss – popcorn and movies completely forgotten.
That had been the beginning, and in the weeks and months that had followed Spencer had become an essential part of his and Jack's lives. He was Aaron's partner in everyway, and Aaron couldn't think of anyone better to share his life with. However, while they had talked about telling the team, they hadn't found the right moment with everything that had been going on, and Spencer still seemed nervous about the team's reactions.
At that moment, almost as if him thinking it has brought everything to a head, he heard Jack's excited voice telling everyone about their upcoming trip to London.
"Dad and I are going to go to an Arsenal game, and Papa has helped me plan a Doctor Who tour around London!"
Aaron's eyes popped open as he sat up quickly, and he felt as though time slowed down. He saw Jack's eyes widen slightly as he realized that he had just referred to Reid as Papa in front of the team, he saw the question forming on Morgan's lips, and he saw the confused looks of everyone else. Everyone, except Rossi, who just sat back smirking at Hotch with a knowing expression on his face. Hotch's mind raced. He wasn't sure what to do, this hadn't been how he had expected to tell everyone, and he knew that it was not what Spencer had been expecting either. But he couldn't correct Jack for calling Reid Papa.
When Reid had gone to see his mother Jack had missed him almost more that Hotch had, and when he had returned Jack had run into his arms shouting "Papa! You're home!" From that moment on, Spencer had simply been Papa. However, this was the first time that the team was hearing it.
Hotch blinked and time sped back up. Taking a breath his mind raced to find something to say; however, before he could make sound Spencer let out a laugh while grabbing Jack into hug.
"That we did! I know that your dad is secretly looking forward to in to. Right, Aaron?"
As he said this, he looked up and made eye contact with the members of the team one at a time, as though daring them to question any of this in front of Jack. Finally, his eyes rested on Aaron. Taking his cue, Aaron rolled his eyes with an exaggerated sigh and a then smiling he replied, "I guess! I know you two won't let me out of it either way!"
"Of course we won't!" Spencer scoffed.
Relaxing, Jack laughed as he caught on and said "Dad! We know you secretly like Doctor Who. Besides, Papa included lots of history stuff on the tour that he knew you would like too!"
Hotch felt the smile split his face as he looked at his two favorite people. "I cannot wait."
Just like that, the tense moment passed. While he knows that he and Spencer will have to catch the team up soon, for now he can see they have decided to trust them and continue on with the picnic. Though he did overhear Morgan turn to Reid during dinner and softly ask "Papa, eh? That's a new one, are you happy?"
At this, Spencer regarded Morgan for a moment before responding "Incandescently so."
Eventually, it was time to leave. They were flying to London in the morning, and Spencer wanted to double-check everything one more time. So, after giving goodbye hugs they loaded a sleepy Jack into the car and set off home.
As they drove with Jack dozing in the backseat, Aaron reached over and grabbed Spencer's had squeezing it gently and holding on as they drove home enjoying the peaceful silence.
Upon reaching their place, Spencer grabbed their things and unlocked the door while Hotch carried the barley conscious Jack inside to his room. After coaxing him into PJs and getting him to reluctantly brush his teeth, Aaron started to tuck him in for the night. But as he went to turn out the light the little boy protested, saying, "wait, I need to talk to Papa!"
At this, Spencer, who had come to lean in the doorframe after he finished putting the house to bed, stepped up to Jack's bed and sat down.
Retreating to the doorway, Hotch quietly listened to their hushed conversation.
"I'm sorry that I called you Papa in front of the team." Jack said in a hushed whisper.
"Jack, I have never told you not to call me Papa in front of the team or anywhere for that matter. Why are you so worried?"
"Because, I know that you and Dad hadn't told them yet, and I didn't mean to tell your secret!"
"Jack, the team is like our family, we hadn't told them yet because we hadn't found the right moment yet, but I think that you found the perfect way to tell them. More importantly, I never want you to worry about calling me Papa. Because being your Papa makes me prouder than anything else. I love you and your father, and I love being your family."
Jack looked at Spencer and then flung his arms around the older man's neck. "I love you, Papa."
Hugging Jack to him tightly, Spencer kissed the top of the boy's head and whispered, "I love you too Jack," sitting up he gently pried Jack off of him and tucked him into bed once more before continuing "now get some sleep. We have an early flight tomorrow! Goodnight, I love you – always."
At this, Aaron quietly slipped into the hall and continued towards the master bedroom, leaving Spencer to finish up with Jack.
Later that night, as they lay in bed with Spencer's head comfortably pillowed against Aaron's chest drifting off to sleep, Aaron quietly said "Thank you, Spencer. I didn't know what to do when Jack called you Papa today, and you were perfect."
Sitting up Aaron could see Spencer squinting at him through the darkness. Then he leaned over, turned on the lamp, grabbed his glasses, and after placing them on nose pinned Aaron down with a glare.
"Seriously? Did you just thank me for not freaking out when Jack called me Papa in front of our pseudo family? Weren't you listening to what I said to Jack? You and he are the most important things in my life, and the fact that he has decided to call me Papa is… well, it means the world to me! I would never have let him down by rejecting that title in any way. Was it how I expected to tell the team? No, but when does anything ever happen the way we thought it would? In hindsight, I think this was the best way that it could have come out, but regardless I do not want you to ever thank me for doing what anyone who has been gifted with a child's love should do. I love you both too much to ever betray that trust, and no matter what happens, I will never leave or hurt Jack the way my father did to me."
With that Spencer removed his glasses, turned out the light, and returned his head to Aaron's chest with a slight huff.
Aaron stayed silent for a few minutes, knowing that there was no good reply to that. Spencer was right, he should have known better than to think that he needed to thank Spencer. It was just that he was still adjusting to the idea that he and Jack were lucky enough to have someone as wonderful as Spencer in their lives, and that he was deserving of the amount of unconditional love. In the end, he reached down and lifted Spencer up into a kiss.
When they finally broke apart, Aaron said "I love you with everything I have, Spencer. You and Jack are my world, and I know that no matter what happens next, it will be okay because I have you two to come home to every night. No one could ask for a more wonderful family."