Hotch was waiting when they finished the tree house, a Hotch that could rival Eeyore for gloominess. His whole body seemed droopy. Spencer sighed. He hated seeing Hotch look so stressed. Jack saw his dad and looked at Spencer, who nodded, before running to him.
"Daddy!" Jack shouted.
Hotch lifted his head and beamed as he saw Jack, kneeling down and opening his arms for Jack to run into. Spencer caught it on film. Patrick nudged Spencer with his shoulder.
"Later." Spencer said. "Let's go introduce you to my boss. Beware, I said I dated you in college and he nearly flipped out. Probably would have if I hadn't been yelling at him at the time."
"You did explain you were seventeen at the time, right?"
"I did. It might have helped a little."
The two men walked over to where the Hotchners were sitting. Jack was talking a mile a minute telling his dad all about his morning so far, what they'd seen and done; meeting the Mad Hatter and Alice while walking into the park, going to Toontown and seeing Pluto and riding the Roger Rabbit ride and the go coaster and spending time in the other buildings; riding the train once all the way around and seeing the dinosaurs and the getting off at Main Street and walking through Main Street again and seeing Peter Pan and seeing Minnie and Mickey and Goofy in Halloween wear and Spencer getting pictures of the pumpkins and the Mickey Pumpkin and then sitting and sitting and Jimmy, Al and Lils; and then Indiana Jones which had to be gone on again with Daddy, and Patrick and the Jungle Cruise and the tree house and Hotch was looking sad again, even though he was smiling for Jack. Spencer bet he knew why.
"Hotch," Spencer said as Jack panted for breathe after giving his run down of the morning. "You all right?"
"Have time to eat lunch with us before we get Jack and Daddy day underway?" Hotch asked. "You and your friend?"
Spencer looked to Patrick who nodded. "Sure. Hotch, this is Patrick O'Brian. Patrick, this is my boss, Aaron Hotchner. There are Kabobs not far from here."
"Kabobs are fine." Hotch said.
Lunch was good. Hotch was focused on Jack, and drilling Patrick about his time spent with Spencer, until Spencer , annoyed with the way the questioning had been going (Hotch trying to figure out how far the two went while dating) looked around where they were sitting, covered Jack's ears with his hands and hissed very quietly "We kissed, we engaged in mutual masturbation, we rubbed against each other and we sucked each other off, naked. He did not penetrate me and I did not penetrate him. I was a virgin till I was twenty! Enough already! At one point we did do that, but not until I'd been rendered not a virgin by someone else, several times. Are we all good now?"
Watching Patrick and Hotch look each other in the eyes and start laughing uncontrollably made the embarrassment worth it, even after Jack asked why they were laughing and the two men laughed even harder leaving Spencer to tell Jack to ask again after puberty.
That Hotch didn't go back to looking sad for the rest of lunch made Spencer even more willing to face teasing and embarrassment for life. As everyone finished eating and Spencer cleaned up and stood to take the trash off to the garbage can Hotch stood and followed him.
"I just wanted to tell you thank you again," Hotch said quietly. "How he was when he saw me when I got here today, that is what I'd been expecting. That's what I wanted to know last night about yesterday. I still want to hear about yesterday like that, but I'm almost afraid to ask. I have a feeling that when he tells me about yesterday Beth won't be mentioned much. We'll look at his and your photos from yesterday tonight when we get back to the hotel, all right?"
"We will. Hotch, he might not talk about yesterday with you yet. He had a great time at the park, but before and after were a bit scary for him and he doesn't know what to do about it. I don't know what to do about it. We'll talk about that later. The park closes at 8pm tonight. We can stay here till then and then go out to eat and talk as well. I'll call you when I'm ready to meet up this evening."
Jack and Patrick were waiting as Spencer and Hotch reached the table. Spencer leaned down and hugged Jack. "Be good and talk to your daddy. I'll see you later. And enjoy Jack and Hotch day!"
Spencer handed Jack's ticket to Hotch and waved as they went off together, Jack's map out and directions being pointed. Spencer was very thankful for his camera being out still.