Author's Note: Just as a warning, this is hot off the press and unedited. Any spelling/grammatical errors are apologized for in advance. I was just very eager to share this. It's rough around the edges, I know, but the main point gets across.
I do not own Beauty and the Beast (except for a tooooooon of merchandise) or Criminal Minds. Would I really be sitting at my computer at three in the morning writing this if I did? Oh yeah, and all that other disclaimer stuff too.
I also do not own the song that is mentioned at the end.
All the way home, Hotch could think of nothing but crawling into bed, next to his beautiful wife, and sleeping for at least a solid ten hours. Ten hours where there were no fighting kids or a screaming baby. Don't get him wrong, Aaron Hotchner's life mainly revolved around his wife and kids, outside of his career. Over the years he had slowed down his pace and learned to enjoy his life. If anything his line of work had taught him that things could drastically turn around in a heartbeat.
He just wanted a long, uninterrupted sleep; just enough to rejuvenate himself, then he'd be okay again. Then again he wanted the same for his wife, who had spent the last week home on her maternity leave with their newborn baby. The chance of either of them getting more than a few hours of sleep at a time was highly unlikely.
On his way home though, he was allowed to fantasize, right? To try and at least remember what it was like to get a decent night's sleep, to take his wife out to dinner? If you asked him honestly though, he wouldn't trade a second of his life for anything else in the world, except maybe for some sleep.
When he finally arrived home, his first instinct as always, was to check on Emily and the kids. When he saw Emily passed out lying diagonally on the bed with her arms and legs spread out, he smiled. Looking over to next to the bed, he peeked in to see his week old daughter fast asleep.
Next he checked on Jack and Parker, who thank God, weren't antagonizing their sister for once. Jack was playing a videogame and Parker watched him with an intense interest. Jack, being the eldest, fought between being the protective, loving older brother, and the older brother who now had three bratty siblings to try and keep away from his stuff. Thankfully, it was usually the former.
"Hi daddy," Parker said, getting up long enough to give his father a hug before plopping back down right next to Jack.
"Hey dad," Jack said, looking over for the barest of seconds.
"Half an hour, then I want Parker in bed, okay Jack?"
"Yeah, dad," Jack answered without tearing his eyes away from the screen. "Then you should be in bed not too long after him," Aaron reminded him.
"But dad-" Jack started to protest. "No buts, it's a school night."
"Fine," Jack huffed. Aaron didn't read too much into Jack's distant behavior. He was getting older and wanted to more independent. From what Aaron could remember, Jack's behavior was nothing compared to the way he acted with his parents at that age.
Last but not least, he went to go check on Ella, who was supposed to be sound asleep, but instead appeared to be playing dress-up.
"Hey princess," Hotch greeted from the doorway. Ella, in her yellow ball gown costume dress and matching shoes, immediately ran and jumped to her father's waiting arms and snuggled into his chest.
"As I recall, you're supposed to be asleep, little one," He said, glancing down at the raven head of curls set underneath his chin.
"Will you dance with me daddy? I wanna play Beauty and the Beast," she lifted her head and looked into her father's eyes, somehow knowing that there would be no way that he could deny her.
Aaron thought of how much older Jack was getting- close to becoming a teenager by now, and how fast the years had gone by. The thought that the same would happen to his little girl was enough to make his heart stop.
Before he knew it, she would be replacing her dress-up clothes and dolls for iPods and boys. Since this was not the first time these thoughts came to him, he wasted no time in answering.
"Of course I'll dance with you."
"Yay!" She squealed. "'But you gots to be the beast and I'm gonna be Belle, okay daddy?" The excitement shone in her brown eyes; the same as her mother's.
"Well, you're certainly prettier than Belle, but I don't have any fur or fangs, how am I going to be the Beast?" He asked his daughter quite seriously, curious to see what her answer would be.
"You have to make pretend, daddy. It's not for real, and 'sides, the Beast turned human at the end, remember?" Oh how he remembered. He'd venture to guess that he'd seen it so many times he could recite it by heart. Of course, there were worse movies that his little girl could have chosen to be stuck on.
"Oh, okay. What about music though?"
"You can hum the song. No 'fense daddy, but you don't sing very good." Hotch let out a roar of laughter. "No, I know I don't sing too well, as mommy has told me several times. I'll hum then."
And so he hummed. Because his family was the light of his life, and one of his girls had gone from being six weeks old to six years old in the blink of an eye. He didn't care to think about how fast any of his children were growing up. He didn't like to admit it, but it was different with his daughter.
He knew that someday she'd find her own prince charming, instead of playing silly games with her daddy. Aaron had already learned, that even though his daughters were only six years old and a week old, that they were much harder to raise than Parker and Jack.
As he hummed along, swaying his daughter back and forth, she began to sing the words which she had memorized by heart.
Hotch couldn't help but see the similarities between the movie and his own life. He could sympathize with the beast; feel his anguish at being in a situation he had no control over. He felt that way after Hailey and before Emily- like things were hopeless.
He was a work-a-holic, miserable with his life and the mistakes he had made in it-like not being there for Jack as much as he would have liked to.
Then the beautiful, intelligent, worldly Emily Prentiss came along and knocked him clear off of his feet when he most wasn't expecting it. Somehow, she had looked passed the grim line he wore to work, the always-professional attitude, the hard glare and attitude, and she had somehow come to love him. And here they were, years later married with four children; with a life he never could have dreamt even in his wildest dreams.
"Beauty and the beast," Ella finished before Hotch heard the light snoring that came from the little girl that had gone limp in his arms.
After years of practice and two other kids, he was able to get in her bed without her moving even an eyelash. He placed a kiss to her temple and walked back to the door. He stood there, watching her for a few minutes before turning off the light and shutting the door.
"Wasn't it just yesterday we were at our own wedding?" Emily mused from the chair next to him.
"Feels that way sometimes, doesn't it?" Hotch murmured back, bringing their entwined hands up to his lips to kiss the back of her hand. They sat there together, each watching the younger couples out dancing on the floor, simply relishing in the joyous occasion.
"Ladies and gents, can I have your attention? Our bride here has made a song request for a specific someone wants me to play it now." An unfamiliar song came to Hotch's ears as he saw Ella make her way over to him.
"Will you dance with me, daddy?" She said, looking at him with those same brown eyes, and in seconds he was back in her bedroom, playing the beast to her Belle.
He nodded, too choked up to answer for fear of making a blubbering fool out of himself at his daughter's reception. He had decidedly done enough of that at the actual wedding.
But as soon as he paid attention to the lyrics of the song, he was a goner.
"But I loved her first and I held her first
And a place in my heart will always be hers
From the first breath she breathed
When she first smiled at me
I knew the love of a father runs deep
And I prayed that she'd find you someday
But it still hard to give her away
I loved her first"
He realized he was in that exact situation, almost not knowing how he got there. Then, when she started humming another song, that he had become all too familiar with over the years, he really lost it.
"Beauty and the beast," she finished, as she had done all those years ago.
"I love you, daddy," she said, lifting her head from his chest. "I hope you know that."
"I do, of course I do. I love you too, princess," he managed to get out. He thought all of the sentimental stuff was done with for the day, and here he was, dancing with his now adult, newly married daughter in his arms, and crying unashamedly.
After the song ended, they stood there together, swaying to their own little song in their own little world. All too soon though, her prince charming came to whisk her away again, as to be expected.
Aaron made his way back to the table again, sitting back down with his Emily, and said to her, "We did pretty good, didn't we?"
"Yes," she agreed. "They're all amazing kids," Emily said as they panned the room. Jack was in the middle of the dance floor with his own wife, Parker was over with the bridesmaids, perhaps trying to find a wife, and their youngest trying not to be too embarrassed by Parker's antics.
"Thank you," he whispered to Emily, looking back over to her. "For this, for our family."
"Well, as I recall you were a pretty big part of the baby-making process too," she teased.
"Speaking of which…" Aaron started out suggestively.
"Oh Aaron, you can't possibly be thinking of having another kid!" Emily exclaimed.
"No," he said lightly, leaning in to her, but I don't think it'd hurt to try and reminisce."
Author's Note: I hope the idea of an older Hotch and Prentiss getting their groove on didn't gross anyone out. Personally, I thought it was sweet and the right way to end this story. The song mentioned is called "I Loved Her First." You should listen to it, whether you're a mother, a daughter, a father, etc. It's such a beautiful song and usually makes me want to cry, to be honest. Hope you all enjoyed. ;)