A/N: I just wanted to write something sweet and innocent. Hotch and his son takes a much needed vacation. Jack is 9. No Beth, just Hotch and Jack fluff!
Hotch smiled down at Jack as he pulled the blankets over his son. Hotch had cashed in a few days of vacation time so that he and Jack could take a much needed vacation. He had planned for them to go up to Washington D.C. and explore some of the many tourist attractions. Hotch hadn't been up to D.C. for a pleasure trip since before Haley had been killed. Jack had been very young and Hotch figured that Jack would enjoy the museums and attractions much more now that he was a little older. Jack was a huge fan of airplanes and space so Hotch figured a lot of time would be spent in the National Air and Space Museum.
"I can't wait for our vacation Daddy!" Jack grinned up at his father. Hotch beamed back as he handed Jack his stuffed bear, Mr. Joe. The bear was something that Haley had given Jack while they were in WITSEC and Jack refused to sleep without him. Hotch knew that it was one of the final things that Jack had that reminded him of his mother and knew Jack would stop sleeping with Mr. Joe whenever Jack was ready. "Why can't we leave right now?" Jack gave his father his biggest smile, knowing that they couldn't leave until the morning.
"You have to go to sleep though, buddy!" Hotch laughed, half at his son's attempt to get them on the road and half because of how excited he was to get to spend some quality time with his son. Work had been grueling lately and Jack had been spending a significant portion of time with Jessica. As much as he appreciated Jessica, he was ready to have one-on-one time with Jack. Hotch felt like every time he blinked, Jack had gotten taller, bigger, or had just grown up in one way or another.
"Okay." Jack said with a firm nod. He squeezed his eyes shut, determined to make himself go to sleep as fast as possible. "Goodnight!" He peeked at his father through one eye, squeezing it back shut when he saw his father was looking. He couldn't wait for tomorrow morning to come. Spending time with his dad was his favorite thing to do.
"Goodnight. Love you." Hotch laughed again as he kissed Jack's forehead and flipped off the light switch. Hotch just could not believe how much his son had grown up. After his mother died, Jack had matured quickly. He was excelling in school and had a natural athletic ability. He was playing soccer with a recreational league and had recently expressed interest in trying a running club his school offered. Jack never questioned his dad and had impeccable manners for a child of his age. Hotch knew he was blessed to have such an amazing son and was extremely ready for this trip.
"Daddy, look at this plane!" Hotch was pretty sure that if Jack's eyes got any bigger, they were going to pop out of his head. It had taken Jack until almost midnight to finally fall asleep and he had woken Hotch up at 3:18 AM, ready to get into the car. Hotch had been able to coax Jack into bed with him for a few more hours of sleep but by 6:30 AM, they were on the road. Hotch had to chuckle to himself as he watched his son snooze in the backseat almost the entire trip up. "It's huge!" They were currently touring an exhibit that showed them what the insides of planes looked like. Hotch was quite fascinated himself. He flew around the country every week for work, but he didn't know much about how the plane worked that enabled them to be able to work cases nationwide.
"I know buddy!" Hotch looked down at his watch. He had gotten them tickets to a flight simulator ride and he didn't want to miss their time. "It's time to go to the flight simulator!" Jack nodded as he followed his father out of the exit of the exhibit. Jack's head kept turning to the left and right as he took in all of the displays that littered the hallways.
"Let's go!" Jack was having so much fun. He knew that no other daddy was as cool as his daddy. Hotch walked them down the long corridor to the flight simulator. There were several other families waiting in line. They were quickly shown to their seats and strapped in. "Daddy, I'm scared!" Hotch looked up, alarm in his eyes. He could hear the fear in Jack's voice.
"It's okay buddy." Hotch reached his arm out from behind his restraint and grabbed Jack's hand. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to." Hotch looked around and while the attendant had moved down the rows of machines, strapping other people in but they still had time to get off it Jack wanted.
"I want to stay." Jack said, his voice wavering slightly. Hotch took a deep breath, trying to gauge his son's fear level. He didn't want to rush them off because he thought that Jack would really enjoy the ride, but he also didn't want to force his son to do something that scared him.
"Are you sure buddy?" Hotch felt conflicted. He didn't want to ruin the day by scaring Jack. He took another deep breath. The attendant would be done doing her 'pre-flight' work soon and the ride would begin. "Jack, there is nothing wrong if you don't want to ride. We can get off and it's no big deal. I won't be mad or disappointed." He didn't want Jack to push on because of him either. "Are you positive you want to ride?"
"Yes daddy. I just am a little scared." Jack wanted to be brave and while his daddy said he wasn't disappointed, he didn't want to let him down. "I want to stay." Jack repeated, a little more firmly, as the attendant left the room. He squeezed his father's hand tightly when the lights went out and the simulation started.
"Daddy, I had so much fun!" Jack was bouncing up and down with joy. He was so happy that he had decided to not get off the ride. He held his arms out like he was still flying as they walked down the exit from the simulation machines.
"I'm so glad you liked it buddy!" Hotch gave Jack a huge hug. He was immensely proud of his son for being brave enough to persist through his fear. "I am so proud of you buddy." Hotch knelt down in front of Jack. "You were so strong and brave! I know you were a little bit scared but you pushed through and you enjoyed the ride." He gave his son another hug as they started walking again.
"Can we go again?" Jack asked hopefully as he looked back wistfully towards the ride. Hotch thought about it for a minute. He wanted to be able to give his son the best trip and the ride was only $8. He also knew that Jack had been scared at the beginning of the ride, so he might not have enjoyed it quite as much as he would the second time.
"Hmm, all right buddy, one more time. After that, we have to keep moving." Jack nodded, smiling big as they turned back for the entrance. Since they didn't have tickets, they had to stand in line for a few minutes. Hotch showed Jack a few pictures of different places they could go after they got done at the Air and Space Museum. Jack picked the International Spy Museum almost immediately. He almost asked his dad if they could just go now, but his dad had already told him they could do this ride. After they got off the flight simulator, Jack started tugging at Hotch's arm to get him to move faster. "Hold on a second!" Hotch had to laugh at his son's excitement. "What about some lunch?"
"Oh yea, I'm starving!" Jack exclaimed as he rubbed his stomach. He looked around to see if he saw a restaurant, now that they had emerged from the front of the museum, but all he saw was a bunch of other museums. He wondered if all of the museums had planes inside of them but decided he'd ask his daddy later.
"I've got an idea." Hotch started walking down the stairs. Jack followed him, knowing his daddy had a plan. Hotch walked them over to another museum and opened the door for Jack. Jack was slightly puzzled, but trusted that his daddy knew where he was going. Hotch was very fortunate that Jack was not a picky eater and normally would try anything that Hotch asked him to try. "We're going to eat Native American food for lunch!" Jack's eyes grew big again as he took in the huge restaurant. It looked a little bit like his school cafeteria but was bigger.
"What type of food is it?" Jack looked a few of the options closest to him but didn't recognize anything. He saw some hamburgers in the next section but he had never had Native American food before. "Will you help me?"
"Of course!" Hotch grabbed a tray and started to walk around. He knew that Jack wouldn't like the spicy options but would probably try almost anything Hotch picked for him. After a few minutes, Hotch had loaded up several plates full of different foods that he thought both of them would like. "Let's go pay." Hotch grabbed them two waters and headed towards the cash registers. They found a table quickly and sat down. Jack tried all of the different foods but his favorite was a meat called bison. They talked about their favorite parts of the National Air and Space Museum. Hotch loved listening to Jack go on and on about the things he had learned and how much fun he was having.
Hotch chuckled as he let Jack lead the way through the International Spy Museum. He tried to read as much as he could before Jack lost interest and headed onto the next thing. Hotch made a mental note that he was going to have to come back one day with Reid, since he would be able to recite some article about everything inside the museum. Hotch was still sure that Jack's eyes might pop out of his skull. Jack turned the next corner and froze. It was another exhibit full of the different disguised weapons that spies had used through the years.
"What is this?" Jack whispered, looking at his dad. It looked like something his mom had used to put on her lips, but his mommy wasn't a spy.
"This is the lipstick pistol, Jack." Even without reading the card that accompanied it, Hotch knew what it was. "It is a gun, like the one that I carry, but it's inside lipstick! Spies used it so in case the bad guys searched them. That way, no one would know it was a gun!" Hotch wanted to phrase his words carefully so he didn't scare Jack. "Only spies are allowed to have something like this." He reassured Jack as he saw the wheels turning inside his son's head.
"That's really cool daddy." Jack moved down to the next item, an umbrella that had a knife disguised inside. Over the next two hours, Jack let his father explain almost every last item in the room. Hotch found himself enjoying being able to teach his son something new and gave himself a mental pat on the back for paying attention to a mandatory class he had been forced to take a few years ago. The museum announced that they would be closing in a few minutes and they slowly made their way to the exit. Hotch realized that they hadn't taken a single photo during the entire trip, so he asked a lady to snap a photo of them in front of the entrance. He wanted to add a few new photos to his desk. Hotch looked down at his watch, and while it was only 6:30, Jack was already starting to yawn.
"Let's head back to the hotel. Do you want a piggyback ride?" Hotch could tell that Jack was tired and fading fast. Jack nodded his head vigorously up and down. Hotch knew the hotel was only two blocks away, but that was a long way when your legs were tired. It would replace the workout he normally did. "We're not too far from the hotel buddy." Jack climbed onto his dad's back and watched the various people swarming around them as they walked back towards the hotel.
Hotch chuckled to himself as he crossed the threshold into the Holiday Inn that they were staying in. Jack was quietly snoring, his arms still clutched tightly around his father's neck. Hotch almost decided to wake him up for some dinner, but decided that sleep was more important. Jack hadn't slept much last night and with as an exciting of a day that they had had, the sleep would help him be prepared for another big day tomorrow.
"Had a good day?" The front desk receptionist whispered as she smiled lovingly on the pair walking in front of her. When they had checked in earlier, the child had been smiling and babbling about how happy he was to be on vacation with his daddy. Hotch nodded as he carefully shifted Jack further up on his back. Jack didn't even stir. Good wasn't even the word to describe their day. "Can I help you?"
"You have room service, right?" Hotch had divided on two hotels and only had room service. He hoped he had picked the one with room service, but he couldn't remember right now. The receptionist, Nicole, her name tag read, nodded and handed him a menu. "Thank you." Hotch went to walk away but paused. "Do you think you could take our photo?"
"Of course!" She snapped a few photos for Hotch and handed him back his phone. Hotch thanked her and headed for the elevator. Without waking Jack, Hotch carefully turned down the sheets on one of the beds and dipped down so that Jack slid carefully into the bed. He removed his shoes and socks and covered him up, giving him a quick kiss on the forehead as he tucked Mr. Joe under his arm. Hotch smiled down at his peacefully sleeping son. He couldn't remember the last time the two of them had so much fun together. Hotch ordered a quick dinner and found himself heading to bed early. As he drifted off, he told himself that these trips were going to happen much more frequently.
A/N: I thought about making it the full, two-day trip, but this seemed like a good stopping point!