Clyde gets a little jealous/suspicious of the fun times they're having.

They tortured poor Emily until finally there came a truce; the threat of Emily's bladder surrendering to their wiggling fingers was enough to have Hotch sit back on his haunches, grinning triumphantly down at the woman whose legs he was straddling.

She stared up at the man, eyes wide and doe-like as Hotch grinned down at her wolfishly. There was a thrilling rush spreading over her; a heat that burned low in her stomach - a flame stoked not by tickling fingers and giggling children. Her eyes flashed up at him, her cheeks ruddy and her chest heaving as she struggled to breathe; the sight of her had the man pulling back for a stunned moment - if only to keep his own libido in check.

Holding his hand out to her, Hotch offered her a crooked smile. "I'd say that's enough excitement for today," he said, as Emily accepted his hand with a petulant glare. He spared her a wink as he lifted her to her feet, steadying the woman with a hand to her back as she swayed precariously on her feet at the sudden rush of blood to her head.

"I probably shouldn't have drank that juice box with the water for lunch," she groaned, draping a hand over her stomach protectively. Her bladder was bursting, and she was almost certain she would lose control of it if they decided to ambush her again.

Hotch raised an eyebrow at her, smirking at the woman's pallid face. "Careful there, Prentiss - first you threaten to ruin my couch, now my floor?" he teased her, chuckling openly when Emily cast an accusing glare his way and shoved at him. He crouched down at the wriggling pair of kids, giving them a high five each as they crowed and giggled their triumph over Emily.

"We got Mama real good, didn't we, Hotch?" Chloe exclaimed, as Emily excused herself to the bathroom. "We almost got Mama to go potty in her pants!"

"I heard that!" Emily called back, and Chloe and Jack shared a conspiring giggle when Emily's head popped up around the corner of the bathroom. The woman narrowed her eyes at them briefly before disappearing once more, and the kids turned up to Hotch before they all burst into a raucous laughter.

Hotch swallowed his laughter into an affectionate chuckle, shaking his head at the pair doubled over each other gasping for breath. "Alright, you two," he said, as he scooped Jack into his arms and took Chloe's good arm in his hand. "We'd better get you two cleaned up before either of you make an accident too."

Chloe wrinkled her nose indignantly. "I don't go potty in my pants no more!" she told the man, puffing her chest out proudly as Hotch glanced down at her wryly. "I'm a big girl now, Hotch. I go potty just like Mama does." The girl shook her head at the man - silly Hotch, couldn't he see that she was a big girl just like Mama?

The man's mouth quivered as he nodded somberly at the girl. "My apologies then." He lifted Jack onto the kitchen counter and then Chloe, and brandished a damp face towel. "Now sit still," he told them, as he began to wipe at their faces.

Of course, no child sat through a clean-up patiently. They squirmed and fussed and whined, but Hotch was adamant in his quest of removing all possible food crumbs and dirt leftover from their romp at the park. As much as the man would much rather put them both into a tub and scrub them clean, he wasn't exactly sure how Emily would take him manhandling her daughter into a bathtub.

…that sounded wrong.

"Chloe, sit still," he chided the girl, but the five year old was insistent in her escape from the deathly wet face towel. He clucked his tongue at her, frowning purposefully as he meticulously cleaned the dirt away from her cast; all the while with Chloe fussing and whining. Hotch shook his head at the girl in exasperation. "I've had less trouble getting full grown men into handcuffs."

"That's 'cause you ain't giving them a bath like a mama cat!" Chloe replied fussily, and wriggled in his hold for another moment longer before the girl gave a dramatic sigh and flopped backwards onto the kitchen counter, much to the man's chagrin and his son's delight.

Hotch raised an eyebrow at her flatly. "I'm not licking you, Chloe, I'm cleaning you up." He lowered his son onto the ground, and then the girl, who continued to lie limp in his arms. The man rolled his eyes, the corner of his mouth quivering as he prodded the girl in the side.

"Oh good," he drawled when she squeaked. "I thought I'd cleaned you to death, Tiger-cub."

Chuckling when the girl made a face at him, he lowered her to the ground, straightening to his feet just as Emily reappeared from the hallway. He smiled at her as she scooped Jack into her arms; the boy hadn't really given her a chance to deny him - he was already midway when Emily bent to catch him.

"Emmy, Daddy cleaned Chloe up like a mama cat!" Jack informed her, as he snuggled happily into her arms and rested his head on her shoulder. Settling comfortably in Emily's arms, the boy smiled; he loved his Emmy dearly - she always smelt good and she was warm and cuddly, and she made Daddy smile a lot!

And now she gave him Chloe to play with too!

Emily blinked, processing the boy's words as she raised an eyebrow at the man, where Chloe and Hotch approached her. She cast a wry smile at the man as he heaved a sigh, shaking his head at the girl as she clung to her mother's legs. "According to your son, I just missed you giving my daughter a tongue bath."

The man flushed, clearing his throat awkwardly as he held up the face towel. "I'd implore you never to say that in front of company, ever," he mumbled, and Emily laughed in delight at the pink color of his cheeks. He gestured to the girl hiding between her mother's legs, shaking his head with a benevolent frown at Chloe as she wrinkled her nose at him. "Someone wouldn't sit still for me to clean her up."

"So you…licked her?" Emily grinned when the man began to sputtered, stepping up to Hotch and patting him gently on the chest before his face burned red. "Alright, alright, I know you didn't." Her eyes were bright as she stared up at him amusedly. "Although that paints a hilarious picture in my head."

An image of Hotch complete with cat ears and tail licking at a struggling Chloe had her laughing practically in his face, as Emily curled around Jack and hid her giggles into the boy's neck to keep from his glowering father. She snorted and snickered, glancing at Hotch over Jack's hair and breaking into more giggles at the perplexed frown on his face. It amused her to think of never being able to take him seriously again beyond this.

Lord help her if she broke out in laughter at a case briefing.

"Sorry." She giggled as he glared at her, and Emily shook her head fondly at the sulking man. "Aw, don't be such a grumpy-puss, Hotch."

The man's eyes couldn't possibly get narrower without actually being shut. "You take too much pleasure in embarrassing me, Prentiss," he grumbled, using the face towel to clean off his hands. "I should only hope you still listen to me in the office at this point." While he huffed and puffed and sulked about the little misunderstanding, Hotch couldn't help but feel gratified in his own way at amusing Emily so.

Even if it was at his own expense - it was worth it, if he could get Emily's eyes to light up like that for him.

Her eyes met his, and she offered him a smile - gone was the teasing gleam, and in it's place was the familiar, affectionate gaze the woman would regard him with whenever they were alone. He felt a strange warmth in his chest then, unfamiliar for many years, and recognizing it now both surprised and frightened the man.

It was broken, however, by the insistent tugging at Emily's jeans.

Chloe bounced on her feet, fussing impatiently at where Jack had all but settled into her favorite spot - Mama's arms. "Mama, I want up too!" she requested, holding out her arms for the woman expectantly. As much as she enjoyed Jack as a playmate, Chloe was still a young girl and unfamiliar with the idea of sharing her mother with other children.

Mama was hers, first and foremost.

Emily smiled down soothingly at the girl, and stroked her hair apologetically. "Mama can't carry both of you right now, baby. I'm sorry." Her heart clenched when Chloe pouted, but the woman couldn't linger on the feeling for long as Hotch swept the girl into his arms, and promptly settled her onto his shoulders.

Her heart leapt into her throat instead.

"Please don't break her other arm."

Hotch rolled his eyes at her, grinning up at where Chloe was giggling rather contentedly on his shoulders, resting her cast on the top of his head as he held her legs. "You're perfectly safe and comfy up there, aren't you, Tiger-cub?"

"Yup," Chloe nodded happily, grinning at her mother as Emily eyed her dubiously. "I'm a big girl, Mama! Tiger-cubs ain't scared of no tall things!"

Hotch smiled wryly. "Although you might want to start - Mama's not going to be happy if you break something else on your body," he told the girl drolly, looking up as she bent down to stare at his upside down face.

She shrugged. "It always fixes itself."

Emily stared at them for a moment, unsure if she wanted to smile or not, but it tickled her ridiculously to see the way they shared a lopsided grin, and the sudden new nickname her Unit Chief had already given her daughter. If anything, Tiger-cub defined Chloe perfectly; she could already see the girl asking for a tiger costume for Halloween. She rolled her eyes at them, shifting Jack higher on her hip. "That's because Mama has an amazing insurance policy," she quipped, and tapped Chloe's leg then. "Come on, baby. We need to get going or we'll never get you to bed in time, and you have class tomorrow," she reminded the girl firmly as she lowered Jack to the ground to take Chloe off Hotch's shoulders.

Chloe groaned, fussing in her mother's arms petulantly as she wrapped her legs around Emily's waist and hugged her neck. "Aw, Mama, do I have to go tomorrow?" she whined, pouting at the woman. "I don't wanna go yet, I wanna play with Jack!"

"Don't go yet, Emmy, please?" Jack begged her, tugging at her jeans now as he stared up at her pleadingly. His wide hazel eyes peered up at her sweetly, his lower lip quivering for effect.

Hotch chuckled quietly as he swept his son away into his arms, patting the boy gently on his behind as they regarded Emily and Chloe. His brow creased curiously, smiling out of the corner of his mouth as Emily smiled at him apologetically. "Tomorrow's a Sunday, Emily," he told her, and Emily nodded. "Schools don't open on Sundays - none that I know of, at least."

Vaguely in his mind, he considered the idea of Sunday school, but Hotch had never taken Emily for quite the religious type. He knew she was a Catholic, though by her own admission rather lapsed in her practice. He recalled once Emily having mentioned the last time she'd set foot into a church was when she was fifteen in Rome.

Emily gave him a wan smile and shifted Chloe onto her hip. "Actually, she goes to gymnastics on Sundays, and for once Clyde's in town. He offered to take her in the morning," she explained, rolling her eyes when Chloe groaned at the mention of the dreaded class. "It's pretty early in the morning, and this little miss hates anything that gets in the way of her sleep."

"Don't we all," Hotch drawled, and they shared a smile. Reluctantly though, he obliged the woman, and began to walk them to the door. As much as he longed to have them stay longer, insist that they stay for dinner, he knew that their encounter was a chance one at best; he couldn't take their weekend from them at such short notice.

Logically, he knew that. But still in his chest there simmered a pot of jealousy at the thought of Emily spending all of Sunday with Chloe and her father.

Clyde.

"How long will she be at class tomorrow?" he asked, as Emily wrestled Chloe into her coat, and he lowered Jack to hold open her own coat for her. Calmly he slid the coat over her shoulders, brushing off the material for her as she turned back to him with a grateful, if shy smile.

Emily huffed, glancing down at where Chloe and Jack were rather miserably bidding each other goodbye. It amused her to think of how fast they'd taken to each other; and at the same time she was relieved and perhaps a touch hopeful of seeing the adorable little boy and his Daddy again. "We should be done before noon," she told him, and tilted her head at him with a smile she hoped wasn't as hopeful as it was casual. "Why, sir? Was one day with us not enough for you?" she teased him.

Not nearly, he thought, but smiled at her rakishly. Shrugging his shoulders, he leaned back against the wall, tucking his hands into his pockets as he regarded her lazily. "Well, Jack and I were hoping on going to the Smithsonian's dinosaur exhibit tomorrow a little after lunch, as a matter of fact. I'm sure we don't mind company," he told her, and smiled down at where Jack and Chloe perked up at the sound of their favorite animal.

"Dinosaurs?" Chloe echoed, glancing between the adults hopefully. "We're gonna see dinosaurs?" She grabbed her mother's hand, tugging eagerly as she stared up at Emily with wide, expectant eyes. "Mama, we go see the dinosaurs?"

Jack joined in, grasping Emily's other hand and tugging pleadingly. "Come with, Emmy! Please, please come with!" He turned to his father demandingly, staring up at the man hopefully. "Daddy, Emmy 'nd Chloe come with too?" If Emmy and Chloe came with, it would be the BEST day ever!

Emily turned to Hotch with a flustered, mock-accusing smile. "You just ambushed me with my own kid, sir."

"Fair game," he shrugged, and flashed her a stunning grin. "So what do you say, Emily? Do you want to come spend another afternoon with us?" His casual, suggestive tone belied the nervous pounding of his heart in his chest. "I'll even take you out to lunch before to sweeten the deal."

Slowly, he watched as Emily seemed to consider his offer, gnawing at her lower lip in the adorable way she did. He saw the hesitance in her eyes, the nervous uncertainty that melded together with a certain longing in her dark eyes that thrilled him. He offered her an encouraging smile, and to his delight, Emily began to return it.

"I guess we'll be bumping into each other again tomorrow then."

The phone rang shrilly in the living room the next morning; vibrating loud and teetering on the edge of her coffee table as she bounded down the stairs of her two-storey apartment to get to it. Chloe walked in after her, dressed in her deep blue leotard and munching distractedly on her PopTart as she watched Emily press the phone to her ear. She wrinkled her nose crankily; it was too early in the morning to be awake, but the girl was significantly more subdued than she was usually.

Mostly because of what they would be doing after her gymnastics.

"Took you long enough," she heard Emily drawl, and she watched as her mother pulled the apartment door open, smiling a wry greeting at the lanky man standing there and curling her mouth deeper into a smirk at his dramatic eye roll at being told to wait. "It's always a pleasure to see you too, Clyde."

The tall Englishman smiled wryly at her, leaning heavily on the doorframe as he snapped his phone shut and stuffed it back into his pocket, eyeing Emily appraisingly as she turned back to Chloe and bent over to brush her daughter's hair into a neat bun. "Terribly sorry for the delay, darling. Traffic was murder uptown," he told them, grinning at the girl as she beamed up at him around her PopTart.

"Hello, tesoro."

"Papa!" Chloe leapt out of her seat, throwing herself into her father's arms once Emily had released her. She hugged him tight, giggling happily as he swept her into a spin, pressing a kiss to her face. She pulled back, stuffing the leftover of her PopTart into Clyde's grinning mouth. "I miss you, Papa!"

Clyde laughed as he pressed another adoring kiss to his daughter's cheek, chewing the breakfast snack as they shared matching grins. "I've missed you too, blessed precious. More than you know." It was a miracle that he was even in the States; honestly it was a miracle he was alive at the moment, but that was something Emily didn't need to know, and especially not Chloe.

All he wanted to do was spend time with his darling little girl.

"We're going to the museum after lunch, so could you please maybe bring her back before that?" Emily told him as she handed him Chloe's bag, brushing her hair away from her face as she regarded Clyde's confused face.

"We gonna go see dinosaurs, Papa!" Chloe exclaimed happily as Clyde took her hand.

Clyde smiled at her, and raised an intrigued eyebrow at Chloe's mother. "Usually Sundays with Papa around is your day off, Emily," he remarked curiously, smirking teasingly at the woman when she huffingly rolled her eyes at him; the blush was clear though. "Ooh, is this a man?"

"You're late," Emily said instead, pressing a kiss to Chloe's cheek and patting Clyde none too gently on the cheek. "Be nice for Papa, and Clyde don't get her ice-cream before lunch!" She cast a firm glare at them both. The last thing she needed was Chloe hopped up on sugar before their get-together with Hotch.

"Aw, Mama," they whined together, but scurried out before Emily reached for her gun.

Clyde chuckled as he lifted Chloe into his arms, ambling down the street with his giggling daughter. "What's got Mummy's knickers in a bunch, lovely? Hmm?" He jostled her playfully, pressing his forehead to hers with a quirky grin. "Did you put a crayon into the washer again?"

Chloe shook her head. "Uh-uh, Papa. She's happy 'cause we gonna see Hotch and Jack-Jack later and see dinosaurs together!" she told him eagerly, wriggling in her carseat as Clyde leaned over to buckle her in.

The man paused, pulling back to regard the girl as the name churned in his mind and a face came to the forefront. He raised an eyebrow slowly. "What do you know about Agent Hotchner, tesoro?"

And what is he doing spending time with Mama and you?

The girl shrugged. "He can cook, and he smells nice, aaaand he makes Mama smile and laugh lots." She cuddled into her seat, hugging Papa's scarf close to keep the smell of him around her. "Oh, and he's got a little boy too! Jack-Jack!" She beamed at her father.

"I like playing with Jack-Jack," she announced, and Clyde smiled at her distractedly.

"So it is a man," he murmured, shutting the back seat door and pulling the driver's side open. "Well then. Come on, darling - how about we skip the acrobatics today and we sit somewhere for breakfast and you can tell Papa all about what you did with Jack and Agent Hotchner."

We'll see if Clyde doesn't come say 'hello' to Hotch too.