Chapter 9
"Home sweet home!" Maria exclaimed as she led Hotch into the house.
"Maria, I can walk, thank you very much," Hotch quipped sarcastically.
"Oh, you!" She lightly punched him on the shoulder.
She handed Hotch a pillow as he sat down on the couch.
"Maria, I swear, I'm fine," Hotch insisted.
Maria "fake-pouted."
"The question is whether or not you're fine," Hotch said.
Maria sat down and sighed.
"It's hard you know," she said, "being a single parent of two kids. My mom's got 'em for the afternoon. After the kids vistied you, she took 'em shopping. Get their mind off of things, you know."
"It gets easier as time goes on," Hotch replied, "I'm still learning with Jack. And, of course, the attack was a major bump in the road but..."
"You got through it," she pointed out.
"I know it doesn't seem like you'll get through it, but you will."
Maria bitterly laughed and said, "You know, with Peter being gone so much, I should be used to it by now."
"It hasn't sunk in yet, has it?"
Maria whispered, "No."
"And you miss having someone around."
"How do I explain to the kids that Daddy is never coming back?"
Both sat in silence. Neither of them knew how to answer, not even Hotch knew what to say.
"They'll have questions," Hotch finally answered, "when they're older, they will probabbly want to know what happened. When the time comes, you'll be able to tell them."
Maria wiped her eye. They didn't speak for about ten minutes and she said, "You know, Peter and I met in high school. He was in my biology class. He was my lab partner. He never wanted to do the work, though. He thought dissected frogs was gross. Guess who got the job of dissecting everything?"
Maria and Hotch laughed.
"Oh!" Hotch exclaimed.
"Does it hurt to laugh?" she asked.
"Yeah, my skin feels tight. Doctor says it'll heal."
"Sorry."
"You'll hold onto those memories for a long time," Hotch said, and despite the pain, a smile broke out.
"You've got to be careful with your face if you want the recovery process to speed up."
"So," Maria began, "I have called a local psychologist and scheduled an appointment. I also scheduled one for the kids, too."
"Maria, that's great!" Hotch exclaimed, "I did that with Jack, too. Really seemed to help him."
"I just need to work through some things," Maria said, looking up at him. He knew what "those things" were.
"Hey, hey. If everything goes well, I will be waiting."
"I really do need to grieve for Peter without..."
"You'll find a way," Hotch said, "and if you need Garcia to run background on the pyschologist, I will be more than happy to have her do it."
Grabbing her jacket, Maria replied, "I just might take you up on that. Goodbye, Aaron. Remember, I'll be here if you need me. I'm just a phone call away."
"I'll be here, too," he said.
"No, you need to focus on your recovery, mister," she chastised.
"I meant what I said," he called after her, "I'll be waiting." Always he thought.
