I've had this idea in my head for so long, but I just haven't been able to figure out how to write it. It kind if turned into a monster chapter. I could have split it into two, but I wasn't sure where a good cut off point would be.
I feel like I've kind of abandoned this story, but trust me I haven't! I have so many ideas for this little fictional family, it's just all about making myself sit down and put those ideas into an actual story. I hope you guys like it! Also I'm going to start putting brief summaries in before each chapter, I didn't realize how strange it had to be going into a chapter and not knowing what to expect until a few days ago, so I'm sorry if that's bothered anyone!
Summary: Mornings in the Hotchner household are always stressful, but when Declan gets sick, Emily and Hotch have to figure out how to handle their hectic schedules.
June 2016
Emily was busy trying to get a very uncooperative Layla to eat her breakfast, while Hotch was trying to make lunches for Jack and Declan. It was the last day of school before summer started, and Emily couldn't wait for mornings to be less stressful for a couple of months.
The brunette looked at Layla, the little girl happily playing with her food, but making absolutely no effort to eat it.
"Layla, sweetheart, please eat something for me? Mommy has to go to work with Daddy, and take your brothers to school and get you to daycare." Emily explained in a sing-song voice.
Overhearing Emily's words, Hotch spoke up. "Why don't we just take two cars today, I'll drop off Jack and Declan and you can drop off Layla." He offered.
That sounded like a good idea to Emily, especially since she was already running late, despite Layla's uncooperativeness.
"Speaking of, where are they?" Emily asked. "They're usually down here by now." She glanced at the clock on the microwave. They were all going to be late today.
"You wanna go see what the holdup is? I'll try and get her to eat." Hotch told her, after he'd finished making lunches and had set them on the counter.
"Could you? That would be great." Emily shot her husband a thankful smile and dashed up the stairs.
She went into Jack's room first, thankful the boy was already up, dressed, and seemingly wide awake.
"What are you still doing up here?" Emily asked as she sat down next to Jack on his bed. Jack, despite the early hour, seemed to already be engrossed in whatever video game he was playing on a handheld device.
Jack shrugged. "Usually Declan comes to get me, but he didn't yet. I thought it was still early and everyone might be sleeping, so I was just waiting."
Emily smiled; Jack was so considerate of other people's emotions. Definitely something he'd gotten from his father. Absentmindedly, she ran her hand over his sandy hair.
"I'm not sure what's keeping Declan, but I'll go check on him. You go on downstairs and eat breakfast," she clanked at her watch. "Quickly." She added as she gently nudged him off the bed, Jack was off like a rocket. She had to laugh a little at his enthusiasm, especially so early in the morning.
Turning her attention to Declan, Emily exited the room and headed right across the hall. She found the curly haired teenager still curled up in bed, apparently having slept straight through his alarm.
That worried Emily, the teen wasn't usually very difficult to wake up in the morning.
She sat down on the bed next to Declan, furrowing her brow in concern.
The first thing she noticed was the warmth radiating from Declan's forehead when she reached out to brush a hand over his hair. Immediately, she feared the worst.
"Declan, honey, wake up." Emily said softly, not wanting to alarm him in case she was just being overly concerned, maybe he wasn't sick.
The teenager opened one eye, groaned in disapproval, and rolled over so he was no longer facing Emily.
Emily tried again, a little more persistently this time.
This time, Declan seemed to wake up.
"What time is it?" He asked tiredly.
"7:30," Emily answered. Normally, they would be leaving by now to make sure everyone got where they needed to be on time, but clearly that wasn't happening today.
"Oh," was Declan's only response.
Emily frowned, something was definitely off. Come to think of it, Declan had been pretty quiet all last night, and he hadn't really eaten much at dinner. She had asked him if he was okay, and he'd said he was just tired from lacrosse practice, which was understandable.
"Do you feel okay? You're really warm, Dec." Emily bit her lip.
"Not really," He admitted. Declan didn't get sick very often. In fact, since he'd come to live with her, Emily couldn't remember a single time Declan had been sick, except for one case of a head cold that Declan brushed off quickly. The worry increased.
"Okay," Emily breathed. Okay. She could handle this. Sure, she'd taken care of Jack and Layla before when they were sick, but she hadn't seen Declan like this before. It scared her, and she knew it was irrational, because she knew that he was okay now, he was safe; and this was probably just some kind of virus, but she just wished she could keep him perfectly happy and healthy all the time. That night on the tarmac, when Ian Doyle had finally died, and Emily saw how terrified and confused Declan had been, Emily felt like she had failed Declan.
Of course, she knew that wasn't true. But she couldn't shake that feeling that told her she had to protect him at all costs, and since she had added a husband and two more children into the mix, that mentality had only increased. They all came before her, no matter what.
"I'm gonna go get a thermometer, you just sit tight." Emily said as she got up and headed into the upstairs bathroom where a thermometer, medicine, and band aids were always kept. She hurried back to Declan and took the boy's temperature, holding back a gasp when she saw how high the number was.
"Honey, you have a fever. You can't go to school today." Emily told him, but Declan didn't protest. Emily frowned; he really had to be feeling terrible if he wasn't even going to protest about going to school. Declan just made a non-committal noise closed his eyes. Emily knew he needed something to try and break the fever, but she also knew he shouldn't take it without food, so she ran a hand over Declan's messy curls and left the room
Emily bounded down the stairs, mentally rearranging her whole day to stay home with Declan. When she got to the kitchen, she stopped before she entered the room, the sight before her incredibly too sweet not to watch.
"Come on Layla, if you don't eat something your Mommy is going to probably murder me and hide my body in a dark, scary, lonely place." Hotch said in a sing-song voice. Emily had to bite back a laugh.
"No, Daddy." Layla protested for probably the millionth time that morning.
Jack laughed as Hotch tried, yet again, to get the toddler to eat with so much enthusiasm. He tried feeding her himself, even though lately Layla insisted on doing it herself as much as she could.
"You love strawberries, Layla. Why aren't you eating any?" Hotch asked.
"You eat it." Layla pointed at him, giving him a look. A look that clearly said duh. A look he'd seen Emily give him so many times.
Hotch laughed and popped a strawberry in his mouth dramatically. Layla giggled and clapped excitedly, as if he had done the most magnificent trick in the world.
Slowly, Layla picked up a strawberry and ate it.
"See? It's not so bad. Keep on eating before Mommy has a heart attack, okay?" Hotch said with a sigh of relief. Crisis averted.
Emily finally made her presence known, clearing her throat and trying really hard not to laugh at how excited Hotch looked over getting an eighteen month old to eat a strawberry.
"Hey, you. How's Declan?" Hotch asked.
"I think he's caught a virus or something. He's got a pretty high fever, not high enough to warrant true panic just yet, but still. He can't go to school. I've been rearranging my whole day, and I'm pretty sure I could take the day- oh!" She remembered mid-sentence. "…crap." She refrained from swearing with two of three children in the room.
"What is it?" Hotch asked.
"I have a meeting this morning. A meeting I already rescheduled once because I didn't want to miss Jack's tournament game a few weeks ago; and then once more because…well, honestly, I just didn't want to do it. It's really boring and really tactical and it's going to suck," Emily emphasized. She bit her lip, she had no idea what to do.
"I could stay here with Declan today, I can work some files from home. It doesn't look like there's going to be a case today, so I won't have to rush off or anything." Hotch told her.
"Really?" Emily asked.
"Of course, I'll take his temperature every so often. I'll give him the medicine. I'll make sure he stays hydrated," Emily opened her mouth to speak, but he held up his hand to add the last bit. "And if it gets any worse I promise I will call you and I will make a doctor's appointment."
"I feel so bad leaving him, but I really think he'll just sleep a lot today. But don't hesitate to call me, I don't care if I'm in the middle of the meeting or not, if anything changes." Emily told him sternly.
"Of course, you know I will." Hotch promised.
"Okay, well, let me just run up and give him some medicine and tell him where I'll be. Jack's going to be like, twenty minutes late probably. Oh, could you call Layla's daycare and tell them that I'll be late bringing her, and for them not to worry?" Emily rattled off, trying and failing not to stress out.
"Layla can just stay here, too. There's no need for her to go to daycare if I'm here." Hotch rationalized. Plus, that would take a stop off Emily's trek to work.
"That's true, she's already been exposed to whatever Dec has anyway, he was probably more contagious yesterday than he is right now. Okay, then can you let them know she won't be there today?"
Hotch nodded, and Emily grabbed some crackers and stopped in the upstairs bathroom to get some medicine for Declan before finally returning to his room.
"Hey, Dec." Emily said gently.
"Hi," Declan replied. She was surprised he wasn't already back asleep.
"I brought you some medicine for your fever, but I don't want you to take it on an empty stomach. So can you sit up and eat a couple crackers before you take it? I brought you water and juice because you need to stay hydrated." Emily rambled on.
Declan slowly sat up, trying to avoid wincing in pain at the nagging ache in his side that didn't seem to want to go away. It had been there since last night, but he knew how much Emily worried, and he didn't want to worry her unnecessarily.
"What's wrong?" Emily asked. Declan refrained from sighing. Of course she picked up on it, she always did.
"Nothing, I'm fine. Just a stomachache. I'll probably be fine in a few hours." Declan said as she ate two crackers and took the medicine Emily had brought him.
Emily raised an eyebrow. Declan was pretty much always hungry, and for him to not have had any interest in dinner last night or anything at all this morning was very concerning.
"I have to go into work this morning, a stupid meeting." Emily sent him a sympathetic smile. "But your dad's gonna stay here, okay? And I'll try to slip out as early as I possibly can." Emily explained.
"It's okay, Mom. I'll be fine." Declan said as he lay back down and pulled the covers up over him.
Emily leaned down and kissed Declan in the forehead, even though she knew that embarrassed him sometimes. "Just please say something if you feel worse." Emily said.
"I will." Declan said as his eyes started to close.
"Okay. Feel better, Dec. I love you." She said, not expecting a response as she exited the room and softly closed the door behind her.
She practically sprinted down the stairs and into the kitchen. Jack was ready and waiting at the door, his back pack on, his shoes on, and his lunch in hand. Hotch was sitting with Layla on his lap, Emily's things sitting next to him on the couch.
"You're a saint." Emily said as she grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. She kissed Hotch goodbye before bending down and kissing Layla's forehead and telling her goodbye before she and Jack finally headed out the door, forty-five minutes late.
She got to Jack's school twenty minutes later, getting Jack there nearly an hour and a half after the school day actually started, but at least they were there finally. She had to walk in with him and explain the situation as she signed him in. Everyone was very understanding, so Emily hugged Jack goodbye and sent him on his way before she headed back out to the car and finally to work. She was pretty late, but she explained, yet again, the situation to her boss. She hadn't missed her meeting, so she wasn't in trouble. Emily sighed in relief. She hoped the rest of the day was a lot less stressful.
XxxxX
Emily had to use every ounce of self-control she had in her to keep herself from bashing her head on the table. This "brief" meeting with some higher-ups about some cases and protocol and whatever the heck else they were talking about had been dragging on for nearly two hours. Two hours! Emily had really hoped to be in and out in half an hour. This wasn't supposed to be a big deal!
Finally, Emily noticed everyone around her seemed to be rising from their seats and dispersing. Apparently, she had zoned out. She had no idea what had been said in the last few minutes, but frankly, she didn't care. Nor did she understand why her presence was even necessary, they hadn't even discussed linguistics! She held back a sigh and rose from her chair and headed back out into the office, pulling her phone out of her pocket on her way to her desk.
She had 12 missed calls. 12! All from Hotch.
Emily tried to remain calm. Maybe he just couldn't find something. Maybe he forgot how to use a thermometer. Maybe he just wanted to chat.
Nope, Emily couldn't make her mind calm down. For him to have called her 12 times in two hours, something had to be really wrong. Biting back tears, Emily immediately called him back and headed to the restroom in hopes of a little bit of privacy while she talked on the phone.
"Emily?" Hotch asked frantically.
"Aaron." Emily said, hearing her voice crack despite her efforts.
"Emily, we're at the hospital." Hotch told her.
"The hospital?" She barely got the words out. She gripped the counter in front of her with one hand for dear life, knowing without it she might fall to the floor.
"Declan's fever went up to 104, and he kept telling me that he had a stomachache. But it seemed really intense so I asked him where it hurt, exactly. It's his appendix, Emily. They had to take him back for emergency surgery. I have Layla with me. I know a hospital waiting room isn't really the place for her, but I just…I don't want her to be away from me right now."
Emily blinked back the tears, understanding. "I'm on my way right now." Emily said as she got the hospital address from Hotch and told her boss what was happening, he gave her the day and as many days she needed afterwards. She thanked him before all but running out of the FBI building and out to her car.
She shakily plugged the address into her GPS. The ETA was thirty minutes. Emily got there in fifteen.
She bolted into the waiting room and found Hotch seated with Layla in a far corner of the waiting room, away from the majority of the people in there. She relaxed slightly when she saw them, but not enough to not be sure that she wouldn't burst into tears at any second.
As soon as Layla saw her mother, she jumped out of Hotch's lap and ran right to her. Emily picked her up and held her close, willing herself not to cry.
"Hey," Hotch said when she approached them, motioning for her to sit down. She sat next to Hotch and placed Layla in her lap, gently running her fingers through Layla's hair with one hand while biting her nails with her free hand. "Someone just came and told me that he's out of surgery." Emily made a move to get up but he gently grabbed her arm. "We can't go see him yet. They have to move him to a room and get him ready. When he starts waking up, we can go in. They said we caught it just in time." Hotch said.
Emily couldn't even stop the tears this time. She leaned her head into Hotch's shoulder and cried. She cried because she was so upset that she hadn't caught it earlier when Declan winced when he sat up that morning. She was upset that she'd been in a stupid meeting while her child was in surgery. Mostly, she was crying because she was so happy that he was going to be okay.
"Mommy okay?" Layla asked worriedly as she turned herself in Emily's lap so she was facing her parents.
Emily looked up and blinked back tears. She brushed a hand over Layla's head.
"I'm okay, baby." Emily assured her daughter. To be so young, she was so inquisitive and picked up on pretty much everything.
"Declan?" The toddler asked, looking around as if she was expecting him to be there.
"He's okay." Hotch assured Layla, but also Emily. He knew how worried she had been, and how she was analyzing the situation from every possible angle. "We can go see him in a few minutes."
As if on cue, someone called Declan's name and Hotch and Emily got up and hurried over to her, knowing they would be allowed to see Declan soon.
"My name is Doctor Rodgers, I'm the surgeon that operated on Declan." The tall, redheaded woman said. "He did so well, it was good Dad got him here when he did, though. One more hour, and we might not have had the same outcome." The woman said. Emily closed her eyes, bouncing Layla on her hip. She wished the woman wouldn't say things like that.
"But," Doctor Rodgers added. "Everything is fine. The appendix didn't rupture, so his recovery won't be too long. I do want to keep him for just a couple of days, just to make sure there's no post-op infection or complications. Barring any, he could go home by the end of the week."
"Can we see him now?" Emily asked, knowing what the doctor was saying was important but finding it impossible to concentrate on anything but seeing her son.
Understanding, Doctor Rodgers nodded. "Of course, he should be waking up any time soon. He'll be a little out of it most likely, just know that's normal." She said as she led Hotch and Emily down the hall and to Declan's room.
Emily passed Layla off to Hotch and pulled a chair up next to Declan's bed. She put her hand to his cheek and refrained from crying again. He was okay. She knew that now. She could see him, and though he was attached to an IV, and he was pale and still sleeping, Emily could physically see him breathing, and she knew it was all going to be okay.
Hotch gave Layla back to Emily, and brought up another chair and sat it right beside Emily.
Emily had a firm hold on one of Declan's hands, and her other arm was wrapped tightly around Layla. The baby was growing tired from all the excitement, and had leaned back into Emily's chest and had basically already fallen asleep. Hotch smiled. He wanted to offer to take Layla for her, but he knew she needed this.
"Should I go get Jack now? I thought about just waiting until school gets out, but you and I both know he'd want to be here." Hotch spoke up after a few minutes. Emily nodded.
"Want me to take her with me?" Hotch asked. Emily glanced down at Layla, sleeping peacefully in her lap.
"No, that's okay. I can get someone to bring a cot in here for her if I need to. I don't want to move her; you know how she can be when you wake her up." Emily managed a smile at the thought. Hotch nodded, heading out to pick up Jack early.
Two minutes later, a kind nurse brought a cot in for Layla, with extra pillows so Emily could secure her without worrying about her falling off. She knew before the nurse even told her that Hotch had asked for this on his way out. She smiled, she really had gotten lucky.
Slowly, she moved from the chair and placed Layla down in the cot, making sure the pillows were placed properly so Layla would stay secure. She bent down and kissed Layla's little nose, placing the pink blanket that was kept in Layla's bag over Layla gently.
She sat next to Declan again, reaching out to hold his hand. She felt his finger twitch at the contact, and looked to see his eyes start to open.
She sighed in relief, feeling like she could breathe properly for the first time since she'd seen those calls from Hotch.
"Hi, honey." Emily whispered.
"Hey," Declan sent her a weak smile. "What happened?" He asked, looking around confusedly.
"Your dad realized you were having appendicitis symptoms and brought you right over here. They had to take you back to emergency surgery. You're fine now, though." Emily said as her voice broke. She decided he really didn't need to know how close a call it had been. The doctor's words to Emily refused to leave her head.
"Oh." Declan said. "I'm sorry." He said.
"Dec, don't be sorry. This isn't your fault, baby. It just happens." She said to the young teenager, realizing that even though he was getting older, he was in no way an adult.
"I know, but- but my side was bothering me last night and I didn't tell you." He admitted.
Emily wiped at a tear that has escaped from her eye.
"That's okay, Declan. I'm not mad at you. I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried." Emily told him.
"S'okay," Declan mumbled. "I only have one appendix, so this'll never happen again."
Emily bit back a laugh, that boy's dry humor in practically all situations was something she was never going to get tired of.
"Yeah, I know." Emily said softly.
Suddenly, Emily heard a light knock on the door. She turned around to see Jack and Hotch standing there, apparently not wanting to barge in on a moment.
"You guys can come in," Emily said softly.
Jack wasted no time, he practically flung himself into Emily's lap. She could see the worry on the little boy's face dissipate as he saw his brother up and talking in the hospital bed.
"Hi!" Jack said quietly, knowing Layla was sleeping.
"Hey, Jack." Declan said tiredly.
"Dad said when you come home, we can get whatever ice cream and jell-o you want. I get to help make the jell-o!" Jack said excitedly.
"That's so cool." Declan indulged Jack. "Maybe Mom and Dad will let us stay up all night and play video games." He winked.
Emily laughed. "Maybe you can stay up a bit later one night. Maybe." Emily stressed.
Declan laughed a little. "You can't tell me no, Mom. I just had surgery. That's just cruel."
"Yeah, yeah." Emily waved him off playfully. Despite everything that had happened today, she knew that without a doubt, she was the luckiest woman on this planet.
