Title : Staying Over
Author : Katiyana
Disclaimer : All recognizable references are clearly not mine!
Summary : The team find out very interesting things from Jack about his father.
"Hey, Hotch. Hey, buddy!" grinned Derek Morgan as he caught the excited little boy with the backpack who had rushed out of the car as soon as the lock clicked off.
"Hello, Derek," answered Hotch, exiting his car with less exuberance compared to his young son.
"Hi, Uncle Derek. Where's Auntie Emily? Can we have popcorn and watch a movie? I brought 'Cars'. It's my favourite! It's got lots of really cool and funny cars that talk in it and they race really fast. Can we please?" chattered Jack at top speed as he was lifted by his father's team member.
Derek laughed as he swung the boy around.
"Whoa, kiddo! Slow down. We've got plenty of time. Your Auntie Emily is in the kitchen, making dinner. I think we have some popcorn in the house and 'Cars' sounds like a great movie. We'll watch it after we finish dinner okay?" said Derek, putting Jack back on the ground facing the direction of his open front door.
Jack started to race into the house when he skidded to a stop and looked back at his father.
"Bye, Dad!" he waved cheerfully and was gone through the doorway. He really enjoyed coming to stay with his Uncle Derek and Auntie Emily because it was a rare occasion and it was always a big treat for him. He had a lot of fun when he stayed over and had been over the moon when he had been told where he was to spend the night.
"Bye, Jack. I'll see you in the morning," said Hotch to his son's rapidly disappearing backpack.
"Thanks again for doing this on such short notice, Derek. Please thank Emily as well," said Hotch politely with a small smile. He felt just a tad bit jealous that Jack was so eager to spend time with Derek and Emily. Hotch mentally chastised himself and banished the ridiculous feeling. He should be incredibly grateful to the couple for babysitting. He knew without a doubt that Jack would be safe and happy with them.
"It's no problem, Hotch. We both enjoy having Jack around and could probably use the practice. Besides, Emily's getting too big to go out or do much so it's a win-win situation. She gets bored but she can't do a lot of the things she used to do so entertaining Jack is a good way to keep her busy," said Derek fondly.
"Right. Well, everything should be in his backpack and you've got my number. So I'll come by and pick him up at about nine tomorrow?" said Hotch, starting to get back into his car.
"Hotch, man! Seriously, it's the weekend! Live a little. You should sleep in, take some time for yourself. Jack will be fine. I'm going to make pancakes for breakfast tomorrow. Come and get him about eleven, okay?" countered Derek.
Hotch grinned sheepishly.
"I wouldn't want to impose," he began but was cut off by Morgan.
"Don't worry, boss. When the baby is bigger, I'm sure we'll be calling on anyone and everyone to help with the babysitting duties," laughed Morgan good naturedly.
"Well, thank you for tonight. I really appreciate it. I guess I'll be going then," said Hotch, closing the car door.
"Hey, Hotch," said Derek, leaning lightly against the car.
"I'm curious. What are you up to tonight?" he asked nonchalantly.
"I'm," started Hotch.
"Going out," he finished lamely.
Derek grinned slyly.
"I knew it. You've got a date, don't you? That's my man! Enjoy yourself and don't worry about rushing to pick up Jack until you can. I'm sure we can amuse him till you get here," said Derek with a smirk.
"I'll pick him up at eleven," replied Hotch, drily.
"Good night, Morgan," he said firmly and drove off, leaving a smugly grinning Derek.
X * X * X * X * X * X *
"Can we ask Auntie Penny to bring Henry to come and watch 'Cars' with us?" asked Jack after dinner.
The three were in the kitchen as Emily and Morgan cleaned up after the meal. The couple traded looks and then faced the little boy. They knew from previous team gatherings that he was fond of little Henry but they hadn't realized that the boys were close enough that Jack would think about Henry when he wanted to watch a movie. They must have been spending time together apart from those gatherings. And how did he know that Henry was with Garcia tonight? JJ was working at the Pentagon now and they kept in touch with her but due to circumstances they didn't manage to see her quite as often.
"Jack, honey, I'm sorry but I think it's a bit late for Henry to come over, he's only very little and his bedtime's earlier. But we can give them a call and you can speak to Auntie Penny and maybe say goodnight to Henry if you like?" offered Emily as a compromise.
Jack thought about it and nodded.
"Okay. Maybe next time I come and stay Henry can come too?" he said casually.
"I don't know Jack. We'll have to see what happens when you come over next time, okay? The baby might already be here," said Emily gently with her hands on her swollen belly, smiling affectionately.
"Why don't you go and sit on the sofa with Auntie Emily and you guys can call Auntie Penny while I make us some popcorn?" encouraged Derek, setting Jack on the floor and ushering them into the living room.
Jack obediently trotted into the living room while Emily turned and made a face at her husband. She knew that he wanted her to sit down and stop helping in the kitchen and was blatantly using Jack to achieve his aim. Derek was completely unrepentant and kissed her with a smile as he returned to the kitchen.
Emily joined Jack on the sofa and shifted to place herself more comfortably. She asked Jack to retrieve her mobile as it was a bit difficult for her to get off the sofa nowadays even though she would never admit it to her already suffocating husband.
She dialled Garcia's number, placing the call on speakerphone. Jack bounced eagerly beside her, hanging onto her arm but he was very careful not to jostle her too much. Both Hotch and Derek had spoken to him about being careful to not be too rough around Auntie Emily because of the pregnancy.
"Hello, big mama! How's my other favourite god child doing in mummy's tummy tonight?" chirped Garcia cheerily as she picked up the call.
"We're doing just fine, Pen," answered Emily with a smile.
At the same time, Jack started to speak.
"Hello, Auntie Penny!" he called out happily.
"Hello, big mini boss-man! How are you tonight? Are you keeping Auntie Emily company tonight?" said Garcia, instantly recognizing Jack's childish voice.
"I'm staying over here cause Daddy was going out and Aunt Jess is away," explained Jack.
"Ah, I see. Well, guess what? I've got baby Henry over here at my place and I know he's just dying to talk to you guys, hang on," said Garcia, switching to speakerphone on her end.
Immediately the sounds of Henry babbling and cooing came over the line.
"I know Henry's there. That's why we called you. Hi Henry, it's JackJack," called Jack.
Henry crowed and responded with a loud "JackJack!"
"That's why Daddy didn't ask if I could stay with you tonight, he said that you were already taking care of Henry for Auntie JJ," said Jack, in the middle of making funny noises for Henry's benefit.
"Is that right, pumpkin?" drawled Garcia with an evident smirk in her voice that was not unnoticed by Emily whose eyebrows had risen at Jack's information.
"PG, where is JJ tonight?" asked Emily, the beginnings of a smile on her lips. Oh, this was just too good!
"Now that you mention it, Em, I'm not incredibly sure. She just said that she needed a babysitter tonight about a week ago. She didn't actually say where she was headed or what she was doing," said Garcia with a laugh.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" speculated Emily with gleaming eyes as they both pondered over the information they had.
"Daddy's going for dinner with Auntie JJ," put in Jack, innocently.
There was a surprised silence at the confirmation. Emily clamped her hand over her mouth to prevent the yelp of glee from escaping and frightening the little boy next to her. However she could hear muted squeaks from the phone that was definitely Garcia, trying hard to contain her rapturous excitement at the revelation.
"Honey? What's going on?" said a puzzled Derek, who had wandered into the living room with some drinks.
Emily just giggled at him but didn't trust herself to say a word yet. She wanted to squeal for joy but couldn't right now. Hotch and JJ were just perfect for each other.
Jack and Henry were still communicating with their own form of language through the phone and Derek also heard squeaks that were not from Henry. He looked at his wife as if she had gone crazy.
"Jack?" he asked.
"What did you just say to Auntie Emily and Auntie Penny?" inquired Derek curiously.
"I said that Daddy was going for dinner with Auntie JJ," supplied Jack easily.
"Ah," said Derek, finally understanding his wife and Garcia's behaviour. He grinned.
X * X * X * X * X * X *
"So who wins the betting pool?" asked Emily as she curled up in her husband's arms in their bed.
"I have no idea. Garcia's the one to ask about that. But we need to figure out how long this has been going on first. The bet was for when they actually got together," said Derek with a yawn, wrapping his arms around her.
"Derek, isn't it a bit sneaky that we found out through Jack? I mean, he's just a little kid," asked Emily guiltily.
"Princess, it's fine. We would have found out sometime anyway. It's not like we pressured him or anything. Jack told us himself," he grinned.
"Never thought this is what we'd find out when I volunteered to babysit today though," said Derek.
Both Derek and Hotch had stayed back to do paperwork, which was now a common occurrence. Derek had been true to his word after stepping down as unit chief and started helping Hotch regularly in completing more of the paperwork. With the both of them working together, Hotch was now usually only an hour late instead of several hours late in leaving work. He was grateful to have the extra time with Jack.
When he had gone to pass over some files, Derek had overheard part of Hotch's phone conversation about being unable to find a babysitter for Jack tonight as Garcia was busy. He had unhesitatingly offered to watch Jack for the night. Derek knew that things were still rough at times for his boss and he did everything he could to try to make things easier.
"How do we find out?" murmured Emily sleepily.
"I'm sure Garcia will find a way. Will left them, what? Six months ago right? I'm sure she wasn't cheating on him so it has to be pretty recent," surmised Derek.
"Of course she wasn't cheating," defended Emily loyally, elbowing her husband for even thinking such a thing about JJ.
"Hey, hey. I know she didn't okay. I'm just saying," protested Derek, hugging her closer to trap her arms and prevent any more blows.
Emily gave in quickly and sighed.
"Do you think Jack had a nice time tonight?" she asked.
"Babe, he had a blast. He was out like a light at the end," laughed Derek confidently, pressing kisses to his wife's head.
"I'm glad. I guess we'll make good parents huh?" continued Emily.
"You'll be the best Mommy ever," he told her lovingly, rubbing her stomach and burying his face in her neck.