A/N: If I'm not mistaken this is my 50th story and I thought it would be fun to make it a sequel (sort of) to my biggest story ever – Coming Back Home. It will be a collection of oneshots set in the CBH Universe… The stories won't be in chronological order and I have no idea how many there will be. Feel free to let me know if there's anything in particular that you'd like to see…

This is dedicated to hotchityhotchhotch my lovely bestie who was the one to turn me onto this idea in the first place and who gave me a few prompts a while back that I'll be using.

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

There's No Place Like Home

Part one – Little Pitchers

November 2016

He hadn't heard the front door opening and closing, too engrossed in the notes he was organizing for the lecture he was supposed to give the next day, but the soft footsteps against the staircase caught his attention and prompted a smile to curve his lips. Saving the document he'd been working on with a few clicks on the keyboard and shutting the computer off, Hotch turned to greet his wife as she walked through the door. "Hi Em," he said as he got up off of the chair to press his lips against hers in a soft kiss.

"Hi, sweetie," Emily mumbled, her lips still lingering on his, as she wrapped her hand around the back of his head to pull him in for one more kiss laced with a little bit more want than the previous one. "How was your day?" she said as they broke apart, silently reminding herself that they were in his study, not their bedroom, and neither Grace nor Jack would be in bed for another couple of hours.

"It was good," he said, snaking an arm around her waist and giving her a squeeze and placing one more peck against her cheek.

"And where are the kiddies? It's pretty quiet here, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Jack's having dinner at Brandon's, he's staying till seven then Brandon's dad will drive him home," Hotch said, keeping his arms around Emily who snuggled closer to his chest, "and Gracie's playing in her room."

"That's nice," Emily said, "Sounds like you've had a pretty relaxing day, Agent Hotchner."

"I wouldn't call it relaxing exactly," Hotch chuckled, "I had some errands to run so Gracie and I went to the mall and all the big, flashy Christmas decorations overstimulated her completely." He sighed. "It is early November for crying out loud. I just don't understand why everyone insists on starting Christmas as soon as Halloween is over. I don't know about anyone else, but I certainly need a few weeks to recuperate. Grace, however, loved it. When she saw the huge teddy bear with the Santa hat in the toy store's window she wouldn't leave, so I – "

"Like the big, soft push-over dad that you are," Emily cut in, smirking at the thought of just how tightly wrapped her husband was around their five year-old's little finger, "took her to the toy store."

"Yes," Hotch sighed, "we went inside, I figured we'd only be in and out in a few minutes but then she caught sight of this bright pink garish plastic mirror that apparently talks and now I've been listening to her chatter on and on about that mirror all afternoon. I think she's told me five times now that she's going to ask Santa to bring her one for Christmas."

"Well, then Dad," Emily smiled, rubbing her hands down Hotch's arms, "I guess you have to get some of the Christmas shopping done early this year then so that Santa can put a pink, talking mirror in Gracie's stocking."

"Daddy?"

Hotch turned around, surprised at the sound of Grace's voice, and met her big brown eyes peering up at him from just above the purple covers. "Gracie?" he said, walking back to her bed and sitting down on the edge. "You really should be sleeping now, Little." He pushed a lock of dark hair resting on her forehead behind her ear.

"I'm gonna, I just have one little bitty question," Grace said.

"What's that?" Hotch said, knowing that he shouldn't be humoring his daughter though equally aware of the fact that was indeed, as Emily put it, a big, soft push-over.

Grace wiggled a little until she was sitting propped against the headboard and turned to look her father directly in the eyes. Taking a deep breath, her thin voice as serious as it could get, she said; "Do you and Mommy really know Santa?"

Hotch's lips tilted in a small, crooked smile as he looked into Grace's grave eyes. "Why do you think Mommy and I know Santa?" he asked, forcing his mouth to form a thin line of seriousness.

Again Grace drew a deep breath, crossing her arms across her chest, before answering. "Because," she said, matter-of-factly, "I heard you and Mommy talking before and she said that you had to go shopping for Santa so I could get the pretty pink mirror in my stocking." Her gaze grew even more intense and her eyebrows descended into a scowl as her eyes bored into Hotch. "How come you go shopping for Santa? Do you really know him?"

"Well Gracie," Hotch said, using the voice he used during his lectures at the Academy, "Mommy and I don't know Santa in person. He only ever comes here in the middle of the night when we are all sleeping so no one ever really gets to meet him. Well, except for the elfs, Mrs. Clause and the reindeers of course." He gave her another smile and gently brushed his fingers against her hair. "But you see, Santa, he is a super busy person, the busiest in the world. There are so many children all around the whole wide world that want to get their presents on Christmas morning because they have been really good all year and that takes a lot of time. So sometimes, mommies and daddies, they have to help Santa out so he can get all the presents ready on time. Then one of the elfs comes to pick it up during the night and takes it back to the North Pole so Santa can wrap it in pretty paper and put it with all of the other gifts in the back of his sleigh."

"Really?" Grace said, her eyes growing wide as they sparkled in the faint light from the princess night light.

"Yup," Hotch said, getting up, "But Gracie, only mommies and daddies are supposed to know this, so let's keep this a secret between just you and me, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy!" Grace beamed, sinking back under the covers, and hugging the teddy bear he had given her the first time they met close to her chest.

"Go to sleep now, sweetie," he said softly, smiling down at his little girl. "Goodnight Gracie."

"Night Daddy," Grace mumbled already half-asleep.

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Let me know what you thought!

Profiler's Choice Awards:

Thanks to you I have been nominated for Best Angst (Coming Back Home), Best Het Romance (The Train Ride), Best Hotch/Emily (The Winding Road), Best Characterization of Aaron Hotchner (Coming Back Home) and Best Characterization of Emily Prentiss (Coming Back Home). Final ballot is up at the Chit Chat on Author's Corner now!