Almost four months from when the team were first turned into kids Hotch eased off his jacket and hung it up as he came into the house. It wasn't quite late; a dusky hue was starting to appear in the city and filter through the windows of his balcony but to Hotch's new parent clock; it was quite late. He heard muffled giggles from somewhere and couldn't help but frown and feel slightly wary.
Rossi had been commissioned to babysit while Hotch had an important meeting at the BAU about how the other team was doing on trying to catch Dr. Brian. He didn't want to hire a babysitter because it was last minute and he wouldn't trust someone he'd never met to look after the kids.
So he had called Rossi- who was only too happy to watch the kids when all he had to do was make sure they were fed and occupied.
And apparently he had done this very well.
Hotch walked into the living room and found what was effectively a fort set up. He could just make out the silhouettes of his friend and kids as they giggled about whatever the hell it was they were doing.
Hotch placed his briefcase down on a chair and knelt to open the flaps of the sheets. "Permission to enter the fort?"
He was barrelled over by all the kids as they leapt at him excitedly, happy to have him home. "Hotch! You're back! We missed you! How was the meeting? Have you finished now? Does that mean you can stay here?"
Hotch managed to pull himself back to his feet whilst holding a very cuddly Reid and Emily and glared at Rossi.
"What?" His friend asked.
"How much sugar have you given them?"
"Not that much!" Rossi protested, even as Reid and Emily were practically shaking in Hotch's arms and Morgan and JJ climbed all over Hotch's legs. "Well... not as much as you wouldn't want them to have."
"I wouldn't want them to have any," Hotch reminded him. "You know how hard it'll be to get him to sleep?"
"That's why it's better to be an Uncle," Rossi reminded him with an innocent beam. "You can do whatever and then just give the kids back afterwards. Speaking of, I should really go - "
"Nope," Hotch said, blocking his friend's way as he gave a predatory smile. "You can help me calm them down and get ready for bed."
"No, I should probably leave soon, I have to be - " Rossi's words were cut off as Hotch placed Reid and Emily in his arms.
"I'm going to get changed," he told Rossi sternly. "When I get back, that fort is to be gone and these kids," Reid giggled and chewed on his own fist, "is to be calm. Got it?"
"Aaron, I don't know how to calm kids down!" Rossi said in a panicked voice.
"Well then you'd better learn quickly shouldn't you?" Hotch replied.
"Where are you going?" JJ gave a wail, clinging to his leg.
"I'm just going to get changed out of my suit," he promised her.
Rossi was struggling to keep Reid and Emily in his arms and hold Morgan and JJ back as Hotch got further away from them.
Reid managed to wiggle out of Rossi's arms.
"Hey!" Rossi cried out, going to grab for him but missed. He watched as Reid scampered into Hotch's room, crashing into the now jeans clad legs as Hotch was pulling a black shirt on. Rossi winced, getting ready for the explosion, but all that happened was that Hotch sighed and waited until he had gotten his shirt on before picking Reid up, rubbing at his back as the kid wiggled in his arms. Rossi gave Hotch an innocent grin as he came back out frowning.
"Didn't I say that the tent had to come down?" Hotch asked, raising an eyebrow at Rossi who quickly moved towards the fort. He did not want to mess with Hotch when Hotch was in this kind of mood.
"No!" Reid whined in protest. "Please?"
"Please what?" Hotch asked.
"Please can I keep it up?" He asked, looking up at Hotch with large, dewy eyes. Hotch sighed but nodded at Rossi, ignoring the smug grin on his friend's face.
"C'mon, kids," Hotch muttered. "Let's try and get rid of whatever the hell it was that Uncle Dave fed you. You hungry?" They nodded eagerly. "Good. I'll make pasta - how about you have a drink?"
"Juice?" Reid questioned happily.
"Nope, but I hear that water's nice," Hotch replied, grabbing a plastic cup and pouring some water into it.
"I don't want water," Reid whined, paddling his little hands on Harvey's chest uselessly. Hotch caught them effortlessly and glared more at Rossi.
"Hey, I wasn't the one to teach your kid to hit - that's just bad parenting right there," Rossi smirked at Hotch. "But, uh - " He hastily started clearing away some of the mess from around the fort as Hotch continued to glare, "you need to drink water, Reid - it keeps you hydrated. Although not too much," Rossi said, looking pensive. "Then you might pee the bed."
Reid blushed bright red and turned his head away from Rossi, pushing his face into Hotch's neck. He did not want that to happen.
"Thank you. So much," Hotch deadpanned to his friend. "Now he probably won't drink anything."
"Hey, I'm being helpful," Rossi argued. "Now you won't have to change the sheets if he does!"
"I don't anyway," Reid mumbled, causing Hotch to rub his back soothingly.
"I know... Uncle Dave's just trying and failing to be funny," Hotch reassured him. "He might find himself being in charge of a bath tonight if he doesn't watch out."
"Come on, Aaron - I've been talking to the kid all day like this and he didn't mind!"
"Because he was hopped up on sugar," Hotch reminded him, bringing some pasta to the boil effortlessly as he held Reid on his hip and stirred with one hand. "And now he's slowly coming down."
"Well at least he's coming down," Rossi reminded him, grinning.
Hotch hummed in agreement before he was forced to put Reid down in order to prepare the food. And at that moment in time his cell rang as well. Cursing his bad luck he flipped his middle finger to his friend as he laughed at Hotch trying to answer his phone whilst holding a boiling hot pan and trying to keep Reid away by gently pushing him with his leg.
Garcia had just ran into Strauss in the hallway and was told to tell Hotch that some meetings with her have been rearanged. She had to call him and tell him about a change to his meeting times. Hoping he wasn't trying to do anything important, she dialled and waited.
"Hello?"
Huh. He sounded weird. Sort of out of breath.
"Hotch?" Garcia questioned, because it wasn't like her boss to sound flustered.
"Garcia... what do you - dammit - what's up?"
"Are you okay?" She heard a small splash.
"I'm fine, just trying to - no, Spencer, don't stand in that puddle, it's hot - go over to Uncle Dave, okay? I'm just trying to do three things at once."
"And you can't do that?" She asked, preening that she could - although she was wondering what was happening down the other end of the phone.
"Of course I can but when it involves making pasta, trying to calm four hyper children down and answer a phone - it's a little harder than it should - Dave, do not wind him up again!"
She now desperately wished she could be watching the carnage of the scene unfolding at the other end. "I was just calling to tell you - "
"Yeah, JJ, I can see it from here - yeah, I'll look at it properly in a minute, okay? Sorry, Garcia - what were you saying?"
"Your meetings tomorrow - "
"Spencer, wait, okay? I'm trying to - well yeah, you might want to talk to Daddy, but Daddy's trying to talk to Aunt Penelope, okay? I'll be finished in a minute. Sorry, Garcia."
"Strauss had to reschedule with - "
"Emily, come get your food, sweetheart - what? No, you can't talk to Aunt Penelope... Because I am. No. Now eat. Who did she have to rescedual with?"
"The Aterny General has to - "
"No, Derek you just... Dave will you make sure he doesn't spill anything else? Because I said so! Thank you. What's going on with the Aterny General?"
"He's had to go visit his sister - "
"Derek if I see any more of that go on the floor purposefully - no, Dave that's not exactly helping. Is his sister alright?"
"She slipped at home and broke her - "
"You've finished? All of it? Good job, Emily. No, you still can't talk to her... Go get your pyjamas on. What did she break?"
"Her leg, so she needs someone to look after her kids - "
A small crash resounded on the other end of the phone. "It's alright, kiddo - you just tripped. It's okay," there was a scrabbling at the other end and a bit of wailing. Hotch sighed. "Garcia, can I call you back?"
Hotch sounded so frazzled that Garcia almost took pity on him.
But then she remembered how much he interrupted her over the phone.
"I'll come round," she said brightly. "You sound like you need some help."
Hotch groaned and she hung up, quickly packing up her things so she could go over to Hotch's.
He should be thanking her - it sounded as if he had needed back up for a lot of that conversation and Rossi hadn't exactly been the best help. But she knew he would secretly count it as a curse. She didn't know what he was expecting - it wasn't as if she would look down on him as being a bad father. Completely the opposite, she thought he was a wonderful father. But - like in most aspects of his life - he would be well and truly lost without her.
