A/N: Hey again! I was so happy with the response to this little story that I decided to update today. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

Chapter 1:

Eight year old Jack Hotchner climbed into the back seat of his Aunt JJ's SUV. She smiled brightly at him from her quick glance in the rear-view mirror.

"Buckle up," she told him cheerfully.

He did as told, smiling back at her.

"Is Henry at Aunt Gail's house?" he asked as his Aunt started the car.

Aunt Gail was JJ's neighbour who sometimes watched him and Henry. She was a real nice lady. She always gave them snacks and watched cartoons with them.

"Yeah," JJ answered. "He can't wait to see you and your dad."

Jack smiled. He liked Henry. He was fun to play with even though he was younger than him. The two of them always shared each other's toys. Jack, at the moment, had Henry's Pokemon game. He was going to trade it back for his Harry Potter game.

Sometimes, he wished that he didn't have to trade back and that they all just lived together. It would be a lot of fun. He and Henry could share a room together like brothers. And his dad and Aunt JJ could share a room too, like mommy and daddies were supposed to.

Sometimes, he wished JJ was his mom. But then he'd feel bad for wishing that because he already had a mom, even though she died. And then sometimes he'd think maybe it was ok to have two moms, one in heaven and one here with him. He really wished it could be that way.

"You ok, Jack?" JJ asked concernedly from the front seat.

"Aunt JJ… you're not really my aunt, are you?" he asked slowly.

"Oh," she said in surprise. "Well… no… not officially. I'm not your mom's sister like your Aunt Jessica is. And I'm not your dad's sister either…"

Jack made a face at that. "That's good…"

She gave him a funny look. "But, I am your dad's friend. And I love you just like I was your real aunt."

Jack frowned.

"What is it?" JJ asked, correctly perceiving there was something more on his mind.

"Aunt JJ," he started again. "Do you love me like… like if you were my mom?"

JJ let out a sharp gasp in surprise. Luckily, they were parked in front of JJ's house by now. She turned in her seat to shoot him a look. It was a look he knew well. One people gave him whenever they learned that his mom had died. A sad look. A sorry look.

She gave him a sad smile. "Yes Jack," she surprised him. "I love you as much as if you were my own son."

Jack smiled happily at that. He unbuckled his seatbelt and stood up to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"I love you too, Aunt JJ," he let her know.

Quickly, he opened up the door and ran over to his Aunt Gail's house. "Let's get Henry. I want to play some games!"

Jack turned around to see his aunt was slow to get out of the car.

"Wait up, Jack," she called.

He laughed and hurried to the door, eager to get the rest of his day started.

Hotch laughed to himself when he heard the excited chatter coming from inside the home at the sound of the doorbell ringing.

"Hotch!" he heard Henry exclaim. "Hotch is here!"

The door opened to reveal a slightly breathless JJ trying to wrangle her son away from the door. Jack stood on her other side, slightly calmer but still happy to see his father.

"Hotch!" Henry exclaimed. "Want to see what I did in school today?"

Hotch smiled down at the eager boy. He knew the little boy was on the hyper side and needed some extra attention ever since his own father had left him. He also knew he was probably treading on some dangerous grounds with the kid because he knew that Henry saw him as a dad. And he had known that Dave had been trying to warn him of this fact earlier that day. But he really couldn't see what was so bad about him spending time with the little boy. He loved him, and it was clear that Henry loved him back.

"Yeah sure, but give me a hug first," Hotch requested, kneeling down.

The little boy wrapped his five year old arms around his neck and squeezed tightly. Hotch hugged him back and then said, "Why don't you bring it to the living room, and I'll meet you there."

"Ok!"

He watched Henry run off and then hugged his own son. "You have a good day, Jack?"

"Uh huh," Jack said quickly. He took his dad's hand and started to lead him to the living room all the while telling him of his day.

Hotch caught JJ's amused look and mouthed a 'Hi' her way and she returned it with a silently mouthed, 'Hey.'

They all sat down in JJ's living room. And it wasn't long until Henry was rushing back with something held behind his back. He came to stand directly in front of him, a big, eager smile plastered on his face.

"I made something for you, Hotch," Henry said, giggling.

"Can I see?"

He nodded emphatically and pulled out a yellow piece of construction paper. On it was his name, 'Hotch,' spelled out in blue marker. The paper was covered in glitter.

"Ah Henry, this is great!" Hotch exclaimed, taking the paper from his hand.

"See, it's your name, H-O-T-C-H," he spelled out, pointing to each letter in turn.

"Yes, it is," Hotch agreed.

"Can I see?" Jack quickly asked. Hotch held out the sheet to his eight year old and Jack added, "Nice job, Henry."

Henry beamed back at his friend. "My teacher, Ms. Parker, she saids to make something for someone you loves, so I made this for you Hotch."

Hotch's heart melted at the five year olds words. He glanced at JJ to see tears in her eyes. He looked back at the little boy and said, "Thank you, Henry. I love this."

He hugged the little boy again.

"Umm…" JJ choked out. "I'm going to uh… get the popcorn started."

He nodded, watching her retreat to the privacy of her kitchen.

"All right, boys, why don't we pick a movie to watch?" Hotch changed the subject. "Ok?"

"Ok!"

JJ let out a sigh that was muffled by the loud sounds of the movie Hoodwinked. She stared at the two boys who had fallen asleep at their feet about twenty minutes ago. She loved them both dearly, Henry, of course, being her adorable son, and Jack was just the sweetest, most polite eight year old you could ever meet.

But she was worried for both of them. Both boys had given her something to think about today. And it was strangely the same thing.

Will had left her two months ago with little more than a note explaining his whereabouts should Henry ever need him. She'd come to terms with the fact that Will did not want much to do with them and that was all right. Part of the reason it was all right, though, was because of Hotch.

He'd been the one to find her late one night in her office crying over the note. She hadn't known what to do. But Hotch had just held her close until the tears were spent and said he'd help her through this and he had. He'd become her best friend. They'd become close. And now her dilemma was: had they become too close?

She was startled out of her warring thoughts by a touch to her shoulder. JJ looked up to see Hotch watching her concernedly.

"Come on," he whispered.

She looked at him quizzically but followed him nonetheless. Hotch led them to the kitchen. They each took a seat at the kitchen table facing each other. When JJ looked up from her folded hands it was to see that Hotch's gaze was riveted on her. She had the strong urge to blush but forced it down.

"What's wrong?" he asked her gently.

"Nothing," she said, surprised that he'd caught her pensiveness.

"JJ," he said warningly.

She let out a huff. She thought she'd been careful, hiding her feelings tonight. She hadn't wanted to burden him with this after all he'd done for her.

"It's just, I had a conversation with Jack today," she said truthfully. "I can't get it out of my mind."

"He didn't say anything… horrible, did he? Because—" Hotch started worriedly.

JJ put her hands up for him to stop. "No, no, it was actually really sweet…"

"Ok…" Hotch said unsurely.

She realized she was worrying him unnecessarily. So, she spent the next five minutes recounting her conversation with the fair-headed Hotchner. When she was finished they both went silent. JJ tried her hardest to read Hotch's face, but it was a complete blank.

"Hotch…" she started tentatively; when he still didn't say anything it worried her. "I hope I didn't say the wrong thing. I'm really um… I'm not trying to um… replace Hailey…"

His eyes widened at that. And she inwardly winced.

"I mean, how can I? I… we're not even together in that way," she said quickly, letting out a nervous chuckle. "But I do love Jack, dearly… and I do want to be there for him."

She closed her mouth. Was she making any sense whatsoever? She realized she'd been doing a fair share of the talking and she really wanted to give him a chance to say something.

"JJ," he started, voice unsure. "Are you worried that we're getting too involved in each other's kids' lives?"

That was kind of what she was getting at. "A little," she confessed. "I mean our situation isn't exactly normal…"

He nodded. "I know… two friends, helping each other with raising their boys…" he said reflectively. "I, for one, am truly grateful for your help."

"You… you are?" she stuttered out.

He gave her a small smile. "Are you kidding? Who else would be willing to take my kid to a 5am practice?"

She beamed back at him. "I'd do anything for Jack," she assured him.

He reached out and enveloped her hands in his. His touch was warm and gentle and it threatened to redden her cheeks.

"Thank you, JJ, for everything," he said simply. "You're a great friend…"

JJ smiled. "You're welcome. I really appreciate everything you've done for Henry, too. You've got patience with him that not even Will had."

Hotch smiled back at her. "Henry is an amazing kid. I just wish Will knew that too."

"Yeah… well…" JJ trailed off, not having much to say about her ex.

They were about to say something more when a tired looking Jack entered the kitchen. His eyes seemed to zero in immediately on their still entwined hands. And when Jack gave them a huge grin the couple awkwardly pulled their hands apart.

"The movie's over," Jack informed them.

Hotch stood up abruptly. "We should go…"

JJ stood up too, suddenly self-conscious. "Ok…"

She followed Jack and Hotch out of the kitchen and back to the living room. Henry was still asleep and the movie credits were still rolling.

"I can take Henry up to his room before I go," Hotch offered.

Before she could protest, he'd scooped him up off the floor and rested him gently on his shoulder. She smiled her thanks before he exited the room.

JJ turned back to see Jack grinning knowingly. She laughed out loud, not quite sure what the little boy thought he knew.

"Come on, Jack," she told him. "Let me help you with your jacket."

The two went to the door and JJ pulled out his jacked from the coat closet.

"Aunt JJ?"

She turned back to him, holding out his jacket for him to slip his arms into. "Yeah?"

"Do you love my dad?" he blurted out.

JJ's mouth dropped open, and she was sure her face had turned as red as a tomato. Kneeling down in front of the boy, she zipped up his jacket as she tried to find the right words. "Jack…"

"Henry's all tucked in," Hotch announced, joining them at the front door.

JJ and Jack stood there silently, not really noticing that Hotch had re-entered.

"Did I miss something?" Hotch questioned knowingly.

"Uh…" JJ said quickly. "Nope, nothing. Jack's all ready to go."

Hotch eyed her suspiciously. She was sure he'd get it out of his son anyways so there was no need to repeat the little guy's question.

"Ok…" Hotch relented. "Jack say good night to your Aunt JJ."

"Night Aunt JJ," Jack said sweetly, giving her a hug.

"Night Jack," JJ said. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Hotch opened the front door and Jack ran out to the front lawn. With one eye on Jack, Hotch turned back to JJ. "We can talk more tomorrow, if you want…"

JJ nodded. "Have a good night, Hotch."

He gave her shoulder a light squeeze and then was off. JJ shut the door, exhaling a deep breath. That was one interesting night, she thought to herself.

That's it for this chapter. Next chapter will have a Jack/Henry/Rossi scene and it's going to be cute. So, look forward to that coming soon.

Thanks to everyone for such a great response to the first chapter. And thanks to all the great reviews: spk; jekkah (thanks so much!); JJandHotch4ever96 (yep!); Andi; angel85qcca; Anonymous; DracoMalfoysSweetGirl92; canny-bairn; breverson; deeda; ChocoboMuffins (thx!); kdzl; SkySydfan24; and Bren Gail (thx! And I hope you caught the little shout out to you! :) ).

I'll be updating in the next few days. See you then.

Oh and just a little note from the moderators at Chit Chat on Author's Corner: The Second Annual Profiler's Choice Awards are gearing up to begin. Keep checking in with the forum to see when Nominations begin. Thanks!