A/N: BUT THIS IS THE LAST ONE!
I'm sure you all clearly remember this was attached to the AN's for The Innocence of The Child.
Fortunately for all of you and unfortunately for me (farewell free time; I'll miss you), I was talked out of leaving it where I did so here it is, the announcement that this little series will continue on. Just be aware though, that if you are also following along with NPH, this will slow down any new posts along that timeline.
My poll wasn't as successful as I would have liked, but you reviewers definitely made up for that. Many, many thanks for all your support to Wtiger5, greengirl82, HGRHfan35, sarahb2007, missyme48, Cyd the Squid, x-MJ-x (for reviewing all 3 at once), HPforever-after and Hazmatt (again for reviewing all 3 at once). I was blown away to get so much love and encouragement from you all; I do this not for myself but for all of you.
So this piece is the rest of the day of the tobogganing adventure. It will of course have Jack in it, but will focus a little more on Aaron and Emily and their developing relationship. There will also be some moments in the end that will touch on Adult Themes but I'm not intending to go into specifics here.
And the title of the series, inspired by (and dedicated to) the gorgeous x-MJ-x (love you sweetie) is...Life's Wishes. So when a new piece comes out, look for LW# in the summary to know which series you will be reading about.
So for all of you, this is Life's Wishes 4.
Snowballs, Angels & A Very Naughty Man
Aaron stood at the top of the popular tobogganing hill and called encouragements to Jack as he dragged his toboggan behind him dejectedly after he'd lost a race to Emily. At the same time he also watched what Emily was doing. She'd stopped following his son and was gathering up some snow into her cupped hands, shaping it slowly as she watched Jack trudge away from her. She was obviously waiting for him to get far enough away before she threw it and when she did let it loose, she threw it so lightly it barely impacted.
But that was enough to break Jack out of his glum mood and make him turn around as he tried to brush snow from his back. He spotted Emily making another snowball and let out a shriek as he abandoned his toboggan to scoop up some snow and give chase.
There shouldn't have been any way for Jack to even get in a hit, as trained and fast as she was, but Emily appeared to be very good at playing with children and snow at the same time because he not only wore a lot of snow, but he was scoring in a few good hits he wouldn't have gotten at all had Emily not slowed down at key moments.
He kept an eye on their abandoned toboggans and the people near them as he sipped at the coffee in his hand with a slight grimace. It was only lukewarm now and rapidly becoming undrinkable and that wasn't a good thing when he needed fortification so much. For in his delight at getting Emily to join him and Jack when she'd been so reluctant to intrude on another of their family traditions, there was one incredibly important oversight he'd made in the information he passed on to her.
Maybe I should get down there and practice my running skills while she remains none-the-wiser.
New Section
Emily flopped down in the snow with a happy sigh. She was utterly exhausted from a day spent tobogganing and chasing after the Hotchner men but she also couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun so she ignored her exhaustion knowing the day was nearly over.
Sadness was beginning to descend over her at the thought of this day ending and having to leave the company she was keeping when two faces suddenly popped into view; one curious and the other worried.
She grinned up at them both as Aaron's worried look melted away into a heart-stopping smile and Jack asked, "What are you doing Emily?"
Once it had been decided that morning that they were all dating, she had informed Jack that he had to stop calling her Miss Emily or she wasn't going to talk to him. It took him about an hour, but he got there in the end.
"I was watching the clouds in the sky while I contemplated making a snow angel."
Jack frowned slightly. "How do you do that?"
She looked at him in silence for a moment before sending Aaron a shocked look. "Shame on you Mr Hotchner for not teaching your son about the specialness of snow angels. For that you can help me up."
He offered her a hand with a wry smile and pulled her up just a little too hard; when she overbalanced, he caught her to him and with a killer smile, took a few seconds to kiss her senseless. When he pulled back from her mouth, she clung to his arms a few more seconds as her world rocked back onto its proper access. Shooting him a dirty look, she stepped away from him and turned to face Jack, who was once again watching them closely.
Here it comes.
"Are you sure kissing doesn't make babies?"
Bullseye.
Emily smiled and held out her hand to the child in front of her and as always, she was warmed inside and out as he shot her his happiest smile and took her hand without hesitation. She led him away from his father and to a patch of snow clean of any footprints and stopped.
"I am going to give you a little more information on making babies later, but for now we are concentrating on snow angels. Alright?"
"Because they're special right?"
Hook, line and sinker.
"Absolutely. And the reason they're so special has to do with the fact that they watch over young children and snowball fights. They tend to help people win those fights, particularly if that person is smaller than all the others they are fighting against."
Jack's eyes lit up. "So that's why I beat you when we threw the snowballs around!"
Emily grinned. You are so adorable. "That is absolutely right, little man."
"Okay, so how do I make one?"
She explained the process and then had him stand back and watch how she fell backwards with her arms and legs spread out wide. When she was done, Aaron helped her to stand and pulled her back into him after brushing the snow from the back of her body. He wrapped his arms around her waist and cuddled her close and she was glad of that as the wind picked up and sent a light dusting of snow swirling briefly around them.
They watched as Jack made his first attempt at a snow angel and if he got a little too enthusiastic with his arms, they explained when he frowned to notice the difference between their angels that he must have made a general with extra big wings.
But it was obvious that the day had been a long one because Jack was not appeased by their explanation. Aaron noticed this and after gently squeezing Emily's waist briefly, he stepped out from behind her and lifted Jack up. The boy immediately buried his head in his fathers' shoulder and sighed heavily.
Aaron offered his spare arm and when Emily had taken it, he led them all back to the car. Jack mumbled that he was hungry and Aaron assured him they were going to eat but he had to stay awake. The child glared at his father and crossed his arms over his chest as a pout came over his mouth. Aaron simply shook his head slightly and closed the door. Turning, he saw the query on Emily's face.
"If I let him sleep, even for the ten minutes it'll take us to drive to where we always have dinner and then wake him to eat, it always takes forever to get him back to sleep because he gets a second wind. I'm eliminating that possibility because I'm just too tired to spend half the night arguing with him."
She nodded understanding, patted his arm and climbed into the car for the drive. Jack was awake, but barely when they pulled up out front of a large country-style bed and breakfast. Opening the car door and smelling the rich aroma of a beef stew and fresh baked bread gave them all additional energy and made Jack smile as he hopped out of the back seat.
They hurried inside to the warmth put out by a roaring open fire and were immediately ushered to a table Aaron had booked for them. Once food was placed before him, Jack turned engagingly entertaining again, talking excitedly about the day and its activities. But he was clearly still tired and as soon as he'd finished eating, he climbed into his father's lap without asking and promptly fell asleep.
Where's a camera when I need one.
"We should go soon. We still have to drive back before you can put him to bed."
She watched Aaron shift Jack tenderly and brush a loving kiss over the boys' head.
"I always love cuddling Jack, particularly when he's still like this; his falling asleep in my arms is the clearest assurance I have that he trusts me to be what he needs the most and in this moment, that is his protector as he rests. But right now having him in my arms is two-fold because it wasn't until I was watching you take the first run down the hill, with your gorgeously long hair streaming out from under your hat that I remembered there was something incredibly important I had forgotten to mention about this outing."
Why am I starting to feel worried.
"Is it two-fold because you are worried about how I will take what you have to say?"
When he nodded and looked away, she crossed her arms over her chest and settled back in the seat with a narrow look at him.
Yep; definitely worried.
"Spit it out."
He cleared his throat as a rush of red crept into his face.
Oh crap; he's blushing. It's worse than I thought.
"We uh, that is Jack and I, uh, we..." the rest of what he said was mumbled against the top of his son's head.
Why do I think he's a dead man all of a sudden?
"You and Jack..." she prompted when he stayed silent.
He sighed and lifted his head. He was clearly uncomfortable and the look in his eyes was filled with anxiety. "I'm so sorry Emily."
It was her turn to sigh as she said, "Just say it Aaron. Whatever it is can't be that bad and if we work it together perhaps we can get you through the night in one piece."
He smiled wryly. "I'll hold you to that last bit. Okay; the thing is, Jack and I pack a bag each and spend the night here in one of the cabins. We stay through breakfast and then drive back later in the morning."
Okay, maybe two pieces instead of one.
"I see. So the incredibly important piece of information you forgot to pass on was that I needed to pack a bag in order to stay the night with the two of you in a semblance of comfort or else if that didn't sit well with me at this early stage in our relationship I could bring my own car so I could leave at the end of the day while the two of you stayed. Do I have that about right?"
He nodded, his misery obviously deepening as he picked up on the tone of her voice.
Emily stood up and walked over to stare into the fire through the screen guarding the unwary from the open flames. She wasn't sure how she felt about such a large omission. She could tell he hadn't done it deliberately; he was far too anxious about her response. But it still left her here in the same position and that was what she kept tripping over.
Am I comfortable with sharing a cabin with this man, who is my boss as well as my boyfriend, so early in our relationship? And would the cabin end up being all that they shared?
She had enough in the way of supplies for the night. Ever since getting lost in the bush in Italy when she was younger, she always ensured she had a change of clothes appropriate for the weather, additional water and snacks and necessary essentials like repellent and a toothbrush and other items that she carried around in a backpack, particularly when she was going somewhere she'd never been before, like today.
But unfortunately the backpack doesn't carry a spare room. Do I want to sleep under the same roof as him, knowing he likes me as much as he does and knowing the chemistry is as powerful as it is? Or do I want to play it safe and demand a separate room?
Her conflicting thoughts and desires swirled around in her head until a log shifted in the fire and threw up a flurry of sparks that broke her reverie. She nodded slowly as the thought cemented and the decision was made.
Let tonight go where it wills; I made a wish to not be lonely any longer. Now I'm wishing that my courage would be great in the face of my fears over intimacy with a man I like as much as I do Aaron.
She turned away from the fire and walked back to the table as the waiter returned to the table with his card.
"Did you pay already?"
He looked up at her and nodded slowly. "I did, although we're still here so we can have coffee and dessert if you like."
Courage.
"Dinner was extremely filling so I'm content with what I've had. Perhaps we should grab our bags and you show me this cabin we'll be spending the night in. He needs to be in bed."
She nodded to Jack and watched as Aaron shot her an admiring look.
"Thank you for not tossing me into the fire you were staring at so intently. If I were you, I would have seriously contemplated it."
She shrugged, suddenly feeling uncomfortable as a blush crept up into her face. "I had other things on my mind."
He suddenly looked far too intrigued, but he was above all else a gentleman and so he didn't push for more information. They walked in silence down to the car, grabbed their bags and walked in continued silence towards a nearby path. The path took them through a small copse of trees and then opened out in front of a gorgeous glass and wood structure with a peaked roof. Through the glass facing them, she could see a fire already lit and obviously warming the structure in more ways than one.
"Oh, this is lovely. But are you sure it isn't a chalet in disguise?"
"It is lovely and I did ask once about whether or not it should actually be classed as a chalet; they were very certain it is a cabin. The best thing is the couch is nice and comfy and long, so I'll get some sleep at least while you have the bed with Jack tonight." She tipped her head to the side curiously and he elaborated. "There is a king-sized bed in a half-loft overlooking the main living space but that is it. Jack's still small enough that it works for the night. And when he gets older and it's not doable because of his size, we'll stay in one of the larger cabin's with the multiple rooms. But for now this does the trick beautifully." He added in a mutter, "Normally."
She hid a small smile and preceded him into the structure and while he settled Jack into the bed she walked around the massive open-plan room. Everything lent to a rustic, natural atmosphere that soothed her fears somewhat and walking to the windows she was pleased to note that she couldn't see any other structures from any of the vantage points she took.
So maybe I can take my courage in hand after all and ask for something I've always wanted to do.
"Hey Em; come dance with me."
She turned to see him standing there as soft music filled the room and with a smile she moved into his arms. He'd changed out of his snow gear into a pair of jeans and a sweater that did wonders for his physique.
"You make it very hard for a person to be angry with you Aaron Hotchner. How do you do that?"
He shrugged slightly, pulled her closer and for an answer he took a fistful of her hair and used it to angle her head in just the right way before he kissed her.
As they swayed together, their kisses merged sensuously with the rhythm of the music and time ceased to be important. Their hands danced over each other's bodies as they tugged their now too-warm clothing out of the way, baring skin to hands that couldn't get enough of the other.
They danced their way across the open space and went to their knees together on the rug in front of the fire. Flames flickered over the scene as they continued to kiss and touch and without discussion it became something more, something living and breathing between them as the rest of their clothing disappeared and they came together.
The subtle seduction became something fiery and tangible as they continued with the more private dance they had started while the music, now silent, was still playing. Their eyes locked as their bodies moved and electricity sparked between them as they silently showed the other how they really felt.
And when all movements ceased and they lay there gasping for breath, the emotion was enough to sustain them as they maintained their eye contact.
"Wow."
He smiled and tenderly shifted hair away from her face. "That was everything I'd ever dreamed it would be and more. And I've been dreaming about you an awful lot over the last half of the year."
She smiled sleepily at him as the day began to catch up to her. "You don't want to know about how long I've been dreaming about you."
As a yawn caught her, Aaron got up and went to the couch, catching up the blanket draped there and returned to the rug to drape it over the both of them as he snuggled down behind her. She smiled as sleep pulled her down deep.
"One of us needs to wake early enough to wake the other before Jack gets up and really has an opportunity to ask about making babies."
He froze behind her and said softly, "I didn't use anything. Are you protected?"
When she didn't say anything, he pushed up on his arm and smiled softly as he found her sound asleep. Deciding he could tackle the question of baby potential when she woke, he reached for his watch, set his alarm for the morning and gently pressing a kiss to her shoulder he settled in for the night.
End
A/N: Okay, I hope that was alright considering I wasn't planning to write anything more at all, let alone to write it ending that way. It just kind of happened. But, now that you've got me going and because I can't help myself, stay tuned to see what happens when two exhausted adults sleep through an alarm they really couldn't afford to sleep through.
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