AN: Timeline is before the finale, Will is out of the picture, no Beth either. Hotch and JJ are dating but are taking things slow. Honestly I took a small portion of this off the "Independence" cutting room floor and put it in a different setting as a one-shot so as to not totally lose something I had written and then didn't fit as the other story had progressed.
"Jack's here!" Henry practically screamed at the sound of the doorbell as he ran through the apartment where he and his mother lived. He had been excited ever since he had learned that Jack and his father would be having a sleepover. He hadn't understood what his mother was saying about the Hotchner's building being fumigated due to a resident on the floor above them complaining of a roach infestation but didn't care as he had nodded agreeably when she told him they were coming and had rushed to pull out all his toys to be sure they were ready when the time came.
JJ smiled warmly as she opened the door in front of her excited toddler to let Jack in. She and Hotch had already agreed that he could drop Jack off after school before he returned to work to finish up a report. She had prepared the guestroom though as she gave him a chaste kiss goodbye she felt butterflies in her stomach as she closed the door behind him because unbeknownst to him she had also made sure her room was ready for a guest just in case he was ready for an alternative to the guest room.
They had been dating for a little over four months and were enjoying a more intimate relationship, catching a dinner or stolen moment where they could. However between the children and whirlwind of ongoing investigations, time alone had continued to be a rare commodity. JJ had been glad for a while that their fledging relationship had not been rushed and they had enough time to start getting to know each other on a more personal level without rushing into the more physical elements of the relationship, both having decided they wanted to wait for the right time instead of trying to grab a stolen hour in the middle of a case and Hotch wasn't yet ready to ask Jessica to take Jack and Henry overnight but as the time passed she had started to think more about what might be beyond the increasingly passionate kisses they were able to steal.
She wasn't sure yet if he shared those thoughts but had noticed a smile from the stoic unit chief in his office when they had discussed having some time together that evening as he had made it clear he looked forward to it but had not indicated how far he expected things to progress. As she considered the trauma he had experienced with Foyet and Haley's murder she had no intent to rush him, but she was certainly not going to do anything to dissuade him she thought as she smiled to herself thinking of the fresh sheets she had put on the bed as she gave him a chaste kiss goodbye.
As the evening passed the boys enjoyed themselves as Henry watched and mimicked almost everything the older boy did, clearly idolizing him as they played together. JJ could appreciate that Jack was gentle with the younger boy and included him in his play despite their age difference, though she was disappointed as Hotch had still not arrived as they sat down to dinner, she had hoped that they would be able to enjoy some of the rare time together before a phone call would send them back to the jet with the rest of the team. Trying to have a relationship around a group of profilers and keep it discreet had been enough of a challenge in itself and they had been careful not to let it affect their work thus far.
"So how is school going?" She asked Jack as he spooned forkfuls of macaroni into his mouth, stopping to pause and consider his answer to her question. "Good, we're having a party tomorrow, daddy said we had to make cookies tonight." He said thoughtfully, "I think he's planning to ask you to help him." Jack said innocently, not noticing the shock on JJ's face at his words as she glanced at the clock to see it was already eight as she started calculating how much time it would take to get the ingredients together and start baking after the boy's bedtime at nine. Combining that with how early she would have to get up in the morning she could already see she was in for very little sleep that night. She felt a slow anger start to burn that her boyfriend had not told her sooner about this plan to at least allow her to get an earlier start, instead of letting his son do the dirty work of basically asking for her help.
By the time Jack ran to greet his weary father who arrived just after 8:30, JJ had already reached a slow simmer and was on the verge of more as she tried to force herself to remain to make sure he hadn't gotten anything confused since she found it unlikely that Hotch would have forgotten to mention something like that.
"There's a plate for you on the counter," she said with a forced smile after Jack and Henry had spent a few minutes playing and filling the unit chief in on their day before they retreated to their homemade fort she had helped them set up earlier, their goodnights said and teeth brushed.
"Thanks," Hotch said with a weary smile, obviously hungry as he didn't even bother heating it up before taking a fork and digging in. JJ watched for a moment as he ate before finally giving in and deciding to bring up the topic that had been weighing on her mind. "Jack said something about me helping with cookies he needs for school tomorrow," she said trying to sound nonchalant, hoping his profiler instincts wouldn't detect anger that she was trying to hold back.
"Oh, yes, I'm glad you mentioned that. I forgot to ask, I need to send about six dozen cookies to school tomorrow, not only for his room but for his whole grade… I was just going to see if you…" Hotch said with a smile, though halted quickly as he saw the glare now being cast in his direction. He couldn't hide the look of confusion on his face but didn't try to argue as she let the slow anger that had been building up for almost the last hour erupt.
"So here we are after nine p.m and you're just now telling me you want me to cook a huge batch of cookies? You didn't think that might take a little time to do? Or didn't think I needed the sleep?" JJ said sharply, all thoughts of romance now far from her mind as she felt the hurt at his apparent lack of consideration. She had gone through enough of this with Will and she hated feeling again like her needs weren't being taken into consideration. As she lashed out abruptly she stopped herself as she saw him looking at her as if he had just been slapped. A look of hurt now going along with the confusion still evident in his expression at her outburst.
"I'm sorry, it's just been a long day," she quickly tried to amend as she tried to stop sounding like a shrew. "I'm really tired, didn't sleep much last night, I'll get them done first thing in the morning." She offered with a deep sigh, her mood rapidly changing now that she had gotten the anger out and as she saw from his tired eyes that she wasn't the only one who had endured a long day.
"I wasn't asking you to make them, I was only going to ask if I could use your kitchen while we're here, thought I might make them in the morning." Hotch said simply in response, trying not to sound defensive though she could hear the slight edge in his voice and could see the wheels turning in his mind and wanted to groan as she realized she had overreacted and misread everything, completely ruining any chance of romance for the evening she was sure.
Realizing that saying more would only result in jamming her foot further down her mouth she fought back the disappointment at realizing her romantic dreams for the evening were now in a shambles as she tried to give a simple apology for overreacting before accepting a chaste kiss and excusing herself to her room for the night. Feeling resigned to another night alone in her bed she excused herself as she secretly planned to get up early and help with cookies in the morning with the hopes that would smooth things over after her behavior of the evening.
Hotch prepared for bed and finished reading a report he had brought home with him as he listened to things become quiet and all the bedroom lights go off before he slipped out to get the bags from the trunk of his car. He couldn't hold back the grin on his face as he pulled out the shopping bags and headed quietly to the kitchen, quietly pulling out pans and turning the oven on to preheat as he worked to complete his task without waking anyone. He had first thought of waiting until morning but after the confrontation in the kitchen he now knew it would take a little time and change of focus before he could find a restful night's sleep.
JJ had only just started slipping into a restless sleep before the odors suddenly assaulting her nose begged for attention as she sat up sleepily, looking at the clock to realize it hadn't been very long at all since she had retired for the evening. Curiosity got the best of her as she slipped quietly towards the kitchen, not sure why she was being secretive but instinctively wanting to see what was going on before she made her presence known. She watched the man laboring over the stove for a few moments with a bemused grin, taking in the sight of him in his boxer shorts and a t-shirt as he busily withdrew one cookie sheet and replaced it with another before turning to scoop the fresh baked cookies off the sheet and onto a cooling rack before placing more squares of cookie dough on the sheet. He seemed to have developed a pretty efficient routine she realized as she took in how quickly the bags seemed to be making their way into the trash as cookies began to emerge from the oven.
She gently cleared her throat as she finally approached, enjoying seeing Hotch slightly startled as he became aware of her presence, looking up with an almost guilty expression on his face as he realized he had been caught.
"Another forty-five minutes and I would have been finished," he announced as she approached, trying to keep his tone light as she took a seat at the counter, hoping that their misunderstanding from earlier could be forgotten now that the cookie task seemed well underway.
"I didn't realize you were thinking of using premade cookie dough?" She said surprised, realizing that had been another assumption she had made as in her childhood the cookie making process had always involved being made from scratch.
"Yes, they're almost as good as homemade and it's not like children Jack's age have the most discerning palates." Hotch said lightly trying to put his move into perspective.
I could have done that if you had just left me the dough." JJ offered, still feeling guilty for snapping at him earlier instead of finding out what he had planned before she reacted. Having realized soon after retiring that she had been unfair in her comparison of his behaviors to Will's.
"Just remember, I've been married before, I'm at least partly trained," he said with a trace of humor as he put a mitt back on his hand when the timer went off to indicate another pan was ready to be removed from the oven. "I do know better than to spring school projects of any type on a mother at the last minute." He added, clearly able to see the humor in the situation.
JJ smiled as she went to the refrigerator and pulled out the milk, grabbing two glasses on her way back. "You're right, these are almost like homemade," JJ agreed as she took a bite of a warm chocolate chip cookie that had just recently emerged from the oven. She felt content to sip the cold milk and watch him continue to work as he clearly had his routine down.
"And done," Hotch finally announced as he turned off the oven as he pulled the last pan from it and started putting the cookies on the cooling rack. "I'll leave them out to cool tonight and we can bag them in the morning," he said with a smile, obviously proud of his accomplishment. He could see by the clock that he had managed to complete the task in just under an hour thanks to the large baking pans and the capacity of JJ's oven.
JJ felt their easy camaraderie back as he put a few more warm cookies on the napkin and joined her at the counter. "I am sorry I overreacted earlier," she finally said sincerely as she looked into the warm brown eyes that made her think of the taste of chocolate still lingering on her tongue. "I didn't mean to bite your head off," she said knowing from the expression on his face he wasn't holding a grudge, but feeling better at finally being able to verbalize her feelings outside the heat of the initial moment.
"I appreciate you letting Jack and I stay here, I had hoped we would be able to spend more time together but it didn't work out quite the way I had planned thanks to Strauss demanding that report before eight." Hotch returned as he reached across the bar to hold her hand, enjoying the rare moment of intimacy they could share. "It was nice of you to make up the guest room for me," he added, the tone in his voice hard for JJ to read as she detected something more than gratitude lingering in his statement. She blushed as she remembered her earlier plans for the evening and didn't know whether it was the late hour or the comfort she felt with the man who had already stolen her heart that caused her to admit her other plans.
"I didn't want you to feel pressured, but that wasn't your only option," she admitted, feeling her pulse quicken as she saw his eyes widen at the awareness of what she was subtly offering.
"Wasn't, as in past tense," he said with a hopeful smile as he took the last bite of his cookie and drained the rest of the milk in his glass.
"Isn't," she amended with a smile, glad that her earlier snappiness had apparently already been forgiven and forgotten.
A sudden gleam in the dark brown eyes said it all as he slowly arose from the chair, cookies and milk forgotten as their lips gently met for a kiss. No further words were needed as she took his hand and they walked calmly past the guestroom door to her room at the end of the hall.
THE END
AN: I'll leave it up to the readers imagination whether they did the deed or simply enjoyed sharing sleeping space.