A/N: Here is chapter two, my dear readers! I want to thank everyone who left me a review or read this story so far. I hope you'll enjoy this next chapter as much as the first one! As always: let me know what you thought about it. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, alas. And I don't think I ever will, either.

Chapter Two

There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million. Walt Streightiff

Erin entered the hospital feeling very nervous. She really hoped she was making the right decision. This entire thing could blow up in her face. She hadn't told her children what she was planning on doing. The only one who knew was David. He'd been very supportive, had told her it was the right thing to do.

When she reached Arthur's room she found Aaron by his side. Apparently, they were having fun with a deck of cards. It seemed Aaron wasn't very good at building card houses, while Arthur was. Or maybe Aaron's houses kept tumbling down because Arthur was more interested in blowing them down.

"Hey there," she said with a smile, drawing Aaron's attention to her. Arthur followed quickly, waving hello at her straight away.

She walked over to the bed, settling herself next to Arthur. He was immediately on her lap. She made him turn around so she could sign at him, though. And all the while she hoped things would turn out for the best.

"Are you ready to go home?" Erin asked him. The corners of Aaron's mouth twitched a little. Erin didn't pay much attention to that, though. She was focused on Arthur's sad face. It really pained her heart.

Where is home? I don't have a home anymore. Never really did, either, he told her. His bottom lip trembled and tears sprung into his eyes. Erin brushed them away with her thumb as soon as they started to fall.

"Home is where I live," she said and signed, knowing she shouldn't exclude Aaron from the conversation. It would be far easier to let his team know she was taking this boy home through him and David than to tell them herself. They'd all been in to visit Arthur, but she'd always found an excuse not to be around them. She didn't want to make things awkward around Arthur.

Arthur's face lit up as he threw himself into her arms. The soft "oof!" she let out at the unexpectedly hard contact made Aaron chuckle. It was very difficult to keep herself from blushing when she realized just how much she liked hearing Aaron make that sound.

"Come on, let's get you packed and ready to go," she said.

With Aaron's help it took her all of five minutes to pick up the bear the team had brought from his house, a few books they'd found and sign the discharge papers. When they were on the sunny street, she felt Arthur relax.

"You should let your team know we'll be traveling with one more," Erin said to Aaron. They'd solved the case the day before. The paperwork could be done at home, so they'd decided to head home today.

"They already know. Dave told us about your intentions. The team is expecting all three of us. Oh, and he called your children as well. He thought they should have a heads up. He says they said they will be visiting in two weeks," Aaron told her, smiling fully.

So now she knew why he'd nearly smiled in that hospital room. She shook her head, smiling herself. She should have known David would do something like that. And he'd been right to do it, too. Irene, Maya and Travis would need some time to wrap their heads around this. The girls were in their twenties and Travis was nineteen, and all of a sudden she was adding another child to the family.

She let Aaron guide her over to the car. Not that she had much of a choice with Arthur holding Aaron's hand from his position on her hip. Arthur used his other hand to toy with a stray strand of her hair. As he wasn't pulling it, she let him get away with it.

Erin sat Arthur down on the booster seat, nodding her head gratefully at Aaron as she did that. She'd feared they'd have to get one before they could head home. After all, Arthur wasn't tall or old enough yet not to use a booster seat. When she was certain the boy was buckled in perfectly, she closed the door and slid in herself.

Aaron turned on the car. He didn't bother to change the radio station, and Erin was okay with that; she liked all kinds of music. And it was a great distraction from her fear as to how the team would react.

It seemed her companion noticed her unease, because he squeezed her knee for a second before returning both his hands to the steering wheel. Without really caring for the consequences she returned the gesture, letting a smile spread across her face. Aaron smiled too and didn't seem unhappy with her actions.

Maybe we can be friends after all, Erin allowed herself to think. Who knows? It would be more than she'd ever dared to hope for. Aaron would never be interested in her in a romantic way. She had nothing in common with Haley, or with Beth, the first woman he'd dated after his wife's death.

Too soon for her liking they were at the airport. Aaron let her get out slowly, helping Arthur out of the car. Seeing the boy tug at Aaron, Erin realized Arthur was asking for something. As soon as the boy noticed she was looking, he signed at her quickly.

"He wants you to carry him on your back," she told Aaron. "He's never done that before. He also wants me to walk next to you so he has me close too," she added after another set of gestured.

Aaron was quick to sink down so Arthur could clamber onto his back. There was a smile on the man's face when he stood up again. Erin mirrored it; it was a beautiful sight. She'd known the man looked good with a child on his arm from the moment he'd brought Jack to the office for the first time. But it had been a while since she'd seen him interacting with a child now; since she'd visited after Haley's funeral, to be exact.

When they stepped onto the jet, they were greeted by a pile of presents. It warmed her heart to see the entire team had thought about what Arthur needed. The boy himself beamed with happiness when she signed that the presents were for him. Thank you! He signed back with such joy that no one could keep from smiling.

"I'd like to help him open his presents if I could," Spencer said as he watched Arthur disappear behind a veritable cloud of paper as he attacked the first gift. Erin was touched by his admission. Spencer was only a few years older than her eldest, Irene, and he was so innocent still.

"You could have asked him whether he'd like the help. Surely you can't think I would have stopped you?" she wondered. It was painful to see the effect her Ice Queen façade was having, even now that it was finally coming off.

"It's just that I usually don't mix well with others and children don't like me. I thought maybe you wouldn't want to take the risk of me setting of a tantrum. I have been known to do that, you know," Spencer explained.

Erin laughed out loud at that, genuinely liking the honesty with which Spencer was treating her. As soon as Spencer realized she wasn't laughing because she thought he was ridiculous, he joined in. Aaron also appeared and settled next to her, wearing a smile. The man never missed anything.

"You mean the Reid-effect? Oh, sweetie, I don't always mix too well with others either. But that doesn't mean we can't try, right? It doesn't make you any less good a person. And about that tantrum: if he throws one, then I'll deal with it. I had to do it with Irene, Maya and Travis as well. I trust you won't set him off, though. I bet he'll like you a lot," she said.

It wasn't until Spencer had disappeared that she realized she'd used a pet name for the young genius. The others were ignoring it, though, so she didn't think she'd made a big mistake. And with that thought, she began to watch the newest addition to her family unwrap more present.

Arthur ended up with a beautiful grey elephant teddy from Garcia. She'd had it delivered to the hotel they were staying in so it would be on time. Arthur immediately announced he'd never be sleeping without it from that day onward. When Garcia called later on, he blew her a kiss. Garcia caught it and planted it on her cheek before turning of the phone.

Morgan gave the boy a ball to play with. Arthur punched his fist in the air and gave Derek a high five. Erin suggested Arthur ask Derek for some fun games to play with the ball. The boy didn't have to be asked twice, so she ended up translating for ten minutes.

JJ had bought the boy a pair of pants and a t-shirt. Erin had Arthur change into them; the clothes he was wearing were a little too large after all. They'd belonged to her youngest, and she'd grabbed them before leaving home because she'd seen the state of the boy's clothes. Arthur blew her a kiss too.

David had bought a superman bedspread and the likes. As soon as she saw it, Erin knew it would be going on Arthur's bed. David was rewarded with a handshake, which made everyone giggle.

Blake had ended up buying a funny set of pyjama's. I'm the king was writing on the front. On the back were the words of my own dream world! Erin didn't doubt Arthur would be wearing those PJ's to bed that evening. When she told Alex that, the woman graced her with the first real smile they'd shared since Alex had joined the team.

Aaron's gift was The Little Prince. It had pictures as well as text. Arthur would be able to read it himself or Erin would be able to sign it out for him. It was obvious the man had spent quite some time searching for this book, a book Arthur hadn't read before. Arthur ran over to Aaron and crawled into his lap, hugging him tightly. The team cheared for Aaron, making the man smile a little.

Spencer had bought a puzzle. An easy one for children, of course. Erin was glad this was the last present to have been opened, because Arthur spend a good while looking at the picture on the box and made plans to start on the puzzle as soon as he was home.

"Well, it seems I'm the last one to hand you your present, sweetheart," Erin said and signed as soon as she managed to get the boy's attention. Arthur walked over to her then, dragging Spencer along.

Rummaging in her bag, she extracted a photograph. She handed it to the boy after signing he couldn't look at it just yet. Then, she told him that she couldn't have the real present here, and that he would understand why when he looked at the picture.

As soon as he turned it over, he flung himself around Erin's neck and hopped up and down on her lap. She couldn't help but giggle very unlike the Erin all the people there knew, but she couldn't have cared less.

JJ was the one to pick up the picture Arthur had dropped. She immediately understood his excitement. It was a photograph of a grey and black kitten of about three months old. It was sleeping curled up on a pillow.

"Henry's been nagging me for a pet as well. Maybe I'll have him share this kitten with Arthur for a while. That way I can see whether it would be a good idea to get him one as well. If you'd like for them to have a play date once in a while, that is," JJ quickly added.

"I'd like that a lot, actually. I'll translate and teach them some sign language so they can play together. Jack's always welcome, too. It would be good for Arthur to have some normal interaction with other children," Erin said.

"I think we'll all have to learn sign language," Spencer suddenly said. "I mean, we're not just going to walk out of his life. We'd like to see more of him. And if we want to be able to talk to him, we'll have to learn to use sign language."

Erin could feel the tears burning in the corners of her eyes. She felt Aaron rest his hand on top of her right hand and another hand came to rest on her knee. She immediately knew it was David's. The others wouldn't feel comfortable enough around her to touch her. It surprised her that Aaron did.

"I'm sorry. I'm just not used to people actually being nice to me. The BAU is a man's world still and I've had to put on the Ice Queen façade for so long that people think that's who I am. And my ex-husband wasn't exactly kind either. I know some of it is my fault, but still. Thank you," she murmured, her voice constricting with emotions.

David wrapped his arms around her, and Aaron followed his lead. The others watched them, not yet ready for such a show of affection. She hoped that she would really become a part of the family, though. These people were kind, gentle and strong. And that was the kind of people she wanted to be surrounded with.

"Feeling better now?" Aaron whispered in her ear when he let go. she swayed into him a little, trying to prolong the contact. Arthur, who was still on her lap, latched onto Aaron's hand straight away.

"Yeah, I do feel better," she admitted. Her chest was less tight than it had been before. She felt much more like the free, fun version of herself she had been until her ex-husband began treating her like a bag of useless dirt.

The rest of the flight home passed in silence. Arthur spent it by reading Aaron's book in the man's lap. Erin watched him, glad to be out of the spotlights for a while.

When they landed, Erin and Arthur said goodbye to Aaron. Arthur was sad to see the man go, but he understood when Aaron explained he had to be with his own son. And he calmed even further when Erin reminded him she would be with him.

"Don't forget to call we if there's anything I can do," Aaron said for the twentieth time. The sincerity in his voice was a balm to her soul.

"Actually, I could use some help turning one of the children's teenage bedrooms into one appropriate for Arthur. Would you help me do the painting and decorating? I'd ask my other children, but they won't be here for another two weeks. I don't think it's fair to make Arthur wait that long," she said, biting her bottom lip.

It was entirely possible she was crossing a myriad of lines by asking him this. Aaron might have shown he'd like to be her friend, but that didn't mean he wanted to spend time at her place this soon. It soon turned out she shouldn't have worried.

"Of course I'll help! How about Saturday? That's in three days and it's a weekend day, which means I could bring Jack without having to wonder about leaving on time to get him to bed. How does that sound?" he wanted to know.

"It sounds wonderful. I'll get the paint and other stuff and then we can set about making that room into Arthur's room. Maybe we can even let the boys help us. Or else they can play in the garden," she said.

Aaron and she smiled at each other and said their goodbyes. An hour later, Erin finally pulled into her driveway. It was seven in the evening already by then. She ushered Arthur inside.

"Come on. It's nearly bedtime for you. Let's have a sandwich and then I'll show you where you'll be sleeping. I'll show you the rest of the house tomorrow. And the kitten, because it seems she's playing outside," she promised as she led Arthur to the kitchen.

Without complaining the boy ate his sandwich with cheese and some tomato soup her neighbour had left in her fridge that morning (according to the note stuck to the side). She did the same, glad Marjorie had read the text she'd sent and had been kind enough to provide some food.

After they were done, Erin set the bowls and spoons in the sink with the glasses and the knife she'd used to prepare the sandwiches. She'd do the dishes later; she wanted to get Arthur settled first.

So she took him up the stairs and to the room that was to be his. It was right beside hers so he would be able to get to her quickly if he wasn't feeling well or he was scared. When she pushed open the door, Arthur quickly stepped inside.

The smile on his face made signing unnecessary. She was glad he liked the room already. But there was no time to play. It was eight by now and he needed to be put to bed. So she told him to get out of his clothes. In the mean while she walked back to the car and retrieved the bags filled with the presents he'd been given.

Here are your pyjamas. You should get into them while I get your teddy out. After that, it's into bed and lights out. Else, you'll sleep the day away tomorrow, she signed, not bothering to form the words.

Within minutes, Arthur had changed into his pyjamas and was in bed. Erin tucked the covers in around him, placed his teddy in his waiting arms and pressed a small kiss to his forehead. Arthur kissed her cheek in return.

"Goodnight, Arthur. See you tomorrow," she said and signed. It felt a little odd to be caring for a child this young after so many years, but she was glad her maternal instinct was still as strong as she'd hoped.

Arthur wished her a good night as well. Before she'd closed the door to his room, the boy was already sound asleep. She grinned; children were strange like that. Very resilient and strong on one hand and so fragile on the other.

When she went to bed at ten, she peaked in on Arthur to make sure he was fine. Which of course he was; he was breathing softly and evenly. He was probably dreaming about nice things. There would probably be unpleasant dreams as well, but she would deal with them when they came.

Her own foray into the land of dream was not so easy, though. She found her thoughts occupied by Aaron. She was a little nervous she might show how deep her feelings for the man actually ran, and she wasn't sure what the consequences might be.

When she finally fell asleep, however, her dreams were nothing but peaceful and relaxing. They were filled with sunlight, flowers and a smiling little boy. And Aaron, who was there to watch the smiling boy with her.

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today. Stacia Tauscher.