A Deal With The Devil
Chapter 10: The War at Home
Emily was at home rushing her four year old to hurry up; Lanny was taking a lot of time gathering her things and packing. Aaron's mother was going to pick up the kids anytime now, and Lanny was taking her good ole time doing as her mother told her because she kept getting distracted by the television. Emily decided to go upstairs to see what was holding the little girl up so much, since Jack was already in the living room ready to go and just waiting for grandma. She walked into her daughter's room, and she didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or be mad. Lanny was completely distracted by the television, and her hand was in her hair holding her pajamas that were supposed to be landing in the backpack on her bed; however, she was way too distracted to put them down completely. She had changed as Emily had told her, but she had only put on one sock and the other was in her other hand, her shoes were scattered in the room along with some other pieces of clothing.
"Lanny, you are not even ready." -Emily exclaimed in an exasperated voice.
"Look mommy, this is my favorite part of Frozen, Olaf is singing." -The little girl said, pointing to the television.
"Honey, grandma is almost here, you have watched that film a million times. Turn off the television, please." -Emily ordered, walking inside the room and picking up Lanny's clothing from the floor.
"May I take the movie to grandmas?" -Her daughter asked, looking at her mother with puppy dog eyes...with those eyes that made Emily melt, those beautiful eyes that stole Emily's heart four years ago.
"Fine, take it, just hurry up, please." -She said, rolling her eyes. Emily finished packing her daughter's things, then she picked her up sitting her on the bed and putting on the other sock and her shoes. Normally, she would have Alana dress herself because she had been able to for a long time now, but right now, Lanny really needed to hurry. She heard Lanny's grandma's car approaching outside on her driveway.
"Grandma is here." -She told her daughter with a smile on her face. Lanny jumped off the bed and started running downstairs forgetting her bag and her doll. Emily smiled rolling her eyes again and picking up her backpack and her Frozen doll, then she, too, followed after her daughter. She was walking down the stairs when the doorbell rang. Jack rushed to the door, and after asking who it was, he finally opened the door letting his grandma in. Both kids jumped in the older woman's arms as soon as she stepped in the threshold.
"GRANDMA!" -They yelled, hugging her tightly. Helen laughed and hugged the kids tightly, too.
"Hello, my loves." -Emily watched them and smiled widely in spite of herself. Her mother-in-law was an amazing person; she was always willing to help her out, and she adored the kids more than anything. That was why, once a month she took the kids...she usually said it was to give Emily and Aaron time off from the kids, so they could enjoy going out on a date and get some alone time...today, she decided to take the kids with her. Unfortunately, this time, Helen had no idea what was going on in the Hotchner household.
"Ready to have fun with grandma?" -Helen asked the two Hotchner kids.
"YES!" -The kids yelled ecstatically.
"Okay, why don't you go put your bags in the car while I say hi to mommy, then we can go." -She told the kids sweetly.
Both kids nodded and rushed to the car with their bags. Helen approached Emily smiling widely.
"Hello, darling." -She told Emily, hugging her tightly. Emily wanted to fall apart in Helen's arms. She trusted her a lot, and she knew she could tell Helen anything, but this was different...she couldn't talk about this especially since it involved Aaron.
"Helen, it's so nice to see you." -Emily said, trying to smile and look happy.
"Are you okay, darling, you look tired and off?" -She questioned, looking at Emily skeptically.
"I'm just tired, it's been a long week." -Emily lied.
"Oh, honey, you guys work way too much, maybe it's time for you and Aaron to take a vacation with the kids. Maybe we can all go together." -She suggested, Emily looked exhausted, and the circles under her eyes were very evident.
"That sounds so good, I'll talk to Aaron about it." -Emily replied as she smiled.
"Okay then, talk to him tonight, go out and have fun, guys, you both deserve it so much." -Helen said holding Emily's hands softly.
"Where is he taking you tonight anyway?" -Helen asked curiously.
"Oh, I don't know, I...we really haven't had time to discuss it. " -Emily told her a little nervously.
"Well, I'm sure wherever you guys go, you'll have an amazing time." -Helen smiled softly, and Emily nodded, faking a smile.
"We'll go ahead now so we can let you get ready." -She stated, hugging Emily again. Both women walked outside the house, and Emily went to say goodbye to her beautiful babies and pretended to be happy, although she felt like crying. When Helen finally left, Emily went inside her house feeling emptier and more alone than she had before Helen had taken the kids.
Things were really bad with her and Aaron, things had gone from bad to worse and she didn't know how to handle it anymore or what to do. For the last couple of weeks, he had been coming home very late, later than usual sometimes even past midnight, and it was happening almost every day now. Emily asked him repeatedly what was keeping him out so late, but he kept saying it was because of work, but she had to admit she didn't believe him. In fact, she didn't believe anything he said lately; she didn't know what had happened between them and she hated it, she had cried so many times over the last couple of days that she was sure she didn't had any more tears left.
She just felt Aaron was doing something behind her back and she knew it, but she didn't know what it was. She hated not trusting her husband, she hated the fact that her marriage was having so many issues; she thought everything was wonderful, and she was living a fairy tale, but all of a sudden that changed and her fairy tale got torn apart. Of course, she couldn't tell her mother-in-law. She didn't want to concern Helen with her problems, but there were no plans between her and Aaron to do anything that night, in fact, she was sure Aaron had forgotten about their monthly dates. Just like he had forgotten about many other things he did for her before, like leaving a rose on her desk every week, or sending her loving text messages, or leaving surprises all over the house for her to find like chocolates or a piece of jewelry. They didn't have breakfast anymore like they did every Sunday in bed together before the kids were up, they never talked anymore at night about their day, partly because he was never home anymore, and when he was, he seemed to be somewhere else entirely. Even when they were together intimately, which had been very rare for the last month, Aaron seemed to be somewhere else. They used to make love every night at least once, and then they would fall asleep in each other's arms. Over the last month, they had only been intimate a few times and even then, Aaron seemed to be completely in another world...or with someone else, which pained Emily even more, because as soon as he fell asleep, she would start crying. He seemed to be in outer space even when he was making love to her.
Emily couldn't handle the situation anymore, they had fought so much over the last month she was sick of it. She was tired of asking him what was wrong and getting "nothing" for an answer. She was tired of him avoiding her eyes when she asked him to tell her the truth. She was tired of him coming late home every night to just sleep, or to even not come home at all. Yeah, maybe that was why she was so upset right now, Aaron hadn't come home the night before, and she knew they were not on a case. Emily was furious when she woke up alone in her bed and Aaron wasn't there.
Flashback.
Emily woke up that morning alone in her bed; she had fallen sleep crying again because she knew something was very wrong with her husband. She didn't know how long she had been crying, but at some point she had fallen asleep. It was now almost 6.30 in the morning, and her husband wasn't in her bed with her. She looked around and there weren't any signs that he had even come home alone. She quickly stood up and put her robe on, the window was somewhat open, and the cold coming through the window was the reason she had woken up. She stepped out of her room and went to look for her husband downstairs, maybe he had come home too late and he had fallen asleep in the living room or his office; she wanted to wake him up and get him in bed with her; even as mad as she was with him, she still loved him and wanted the warmth of his body in bed with her.
She went downstairs and checked everywhere, but her husband was nowhere to be found, not in the living room or the kitchen, or his office. She started feeling a knot in her stomach, and she couldn't stop the new tears that were running down her cheeks now. She finally opened the garage door to find the spot where his car usually was parked, and it was empty. She closed her eyes, and the tears started to run freely from her eyes...there must be another explanation for why he wasn't home. She went upstairs again and grabbed her cellphone. She had such a mixture of anger and worry at the same time, she was so furious at the fact he had not even had the decency to call her and tell her where he was, or tell her he wasn't coming home; another part of her was very worried, what if something had happened to him, he truly had never not come home unless he was on a case. Her heart started beating a thousand miles per hour as she dialed his number.
Hotch woke up in his office with his head on his desk as his cellphone started ringing in his pocket. He had been working on the Foyet case all night, and he must have fallen asleep. Kate had called him the night before giving him a lead to help him find Foyet along with some other information she had for the case. He was so eager to find Foyet that he wanted to review the information as soon as possible, especially now that things were definitely bad with his wife at home. He needed to catch Foyet as soon as possible and repair the damage he had inflicted on his relationship with Emily and his family, or he was going to lose her and his children, and he just couldn't lose another family because of this job again. So, he had been working on the file until very late...he usually worked on the case once everyone was gone, so nobody would see he still was working on Foyet's case, since he had told everyone it was over, and he had let it go, especially to his wife, even though he knew he was lying to everyone.
Aaron usually worked in his office late at night, and when Kate had called him the night before telling him she might have found a lead to Foyet, he was there until very late hoping this would truly help him get Foyet and put the son of a bitch behind bars. Then he could finally get his life back...unfortunately, he must have fallen asleep, and he woke up to the sound of his cellphone ringing, and he quickly looked at his watch, seeing it was about 6.30 in the morning. Aaron grabbed his ringing cellphone from his packet, and his heart dropped when he realized it was his wife calling. Fuck, fuck, fuck, he was in very deep shit!
"Hello." He answered in a sleepy and scared voice.
"Its 6.30 in the morning, where the hell are you?" -Emily said angrily, but he could still hear the tears in her voice.
"I'm still at work, sweetheart...I'm so sorry...I was working late on some stuff Strauss asked me to, and I lost track of time, I fell asleep, I'm so, so sorry." -Aaron said, pleading with his wife.
"And you couldn't call me to tell me you were going to be late?" -Emily asked indignantly, but relieved that he was fine and nothing had happened to him.
"I'm so sorry, baby, please forgive me, I should have called you, I really did lose track of time." -He apologized again.
"I have to go. I have to get the kids ready for school." -She said, slamming down the phone on him angrily.
Aaron ran his hand through his hair exasperatedly. He knew Emily was beyond furious, and he had to do something, things were already bad between them. God, he had to talk to her to make her understand, he would have to find a way to repair things between them...maybe tonight. His mother was supposed to take the kids for the weekend, maybe he could use that time to talk to Emily...yeah, that was it, he would go home later today and talk to his wife, then he would take her to a really nice dinner, or wherever she wanted to go, and he would talk to her. Aaron would do anything in his power to make this up to her. For now, he had to get ready for the day; he realized he no longer had time to go home and change; he decided he would take a shower at Quantico and change there. Kate was supposed to come in later with some more information she had that was important to help find Foyet.
End flashback
Emily watched as Helen left with her kids, and she wiped away the tears that had formed in her eyes. She had to get away from the house, or she was going to go crazy. Since there were no plans with Aaron that night, and she was absolutely sure he had forgotten, and he probably didn't care anymore about their monthly dates, she decided she wasn't going to spend the time home crying and waiting for him to come home. She pulled her cellphone out of her jeans and dialed a number.
"Hello?" -The blonde woman answered.
"I think we should have a ladies night." -Emily rushed to say without hesitation.
"Emily!" -JJ shouted in shock.
"No, it's your mother, of course, it's Emily." -She replied sarcastically. The blonde just laughed on the phone.
"Oh, hi mom, isn't it odd that you're inviting your own daughter out to drink alcoholic beverages?" -The blonde joked around with Emily.
"Come on, JJ, I'm being serious!" -Emily whined exasperatedly.
"Okay, okay, relax, that sounds good to me, but aren't you supposed to be going out with Hotch?" -JJ asked, since they all knew about their monthly dates.
"Apparently, he is doing some stuff Strauss ordered, so no, no plans tonight." -Emily lied to her friend.
"Please JJ, I really need to get out of this house." -Emily insisted.
"Okay, okay, fine, I'll call Penelope and Will to make sure he is okay with staying with Henry tonight." -The blonde said, but she couldn't stop smiling widely because it had been a while since they had gone out on a 'girl's night out' date.
"Okay, cool…'Butterscotch' at 8?" -Emily said, smiling... that was their usual go to bar to hang out.
"I'll be there, and you know PG will." -JJ told her.
"See you then." -Emily replied, hanging up the phone.
She went upstairs to get ready. She wasn't going to sit around and wait for her husband to come home from doing God knows what! If he was allowed to come home late without telling her, then she was going to do the same thing. She changed into a pair of jeans that where a little too tight and a shirt that showed some of her cleavage, something Aaron would never have let her wear to a bar. But, oh well, he was too busy doing paperwork at work to care about his wife, so she wasn't going to care either. She knew she was probably acting like a teenager, and she didn't care…she was mad at him and she was going to go out with her friends and forget about him for one night. A part of her was intentionally behaving like that and dressing like that just to get under his skin, she knew exactly how to drive her husband crazy jealous. While she was changing, her cellphone rang…it was Aaron, and she looked at the phone for one second before sending the call to voicemail. A few minutes later, the house phone rang, too, but she didn't need to look to know who it was to ignore the call.
Emily arrived at Butterscotch around 8.15. Her hair was done her hair in nice curls, and she was wearing a little bit more makeup than usual, and she looked absolutely stunning…even at her age, she was unbelievably gorgeous; she had a body to die for, and she still had many guys that hit on her especially law enforcement officers, something that drove her husband completely nuts. As she walked into the bar, at least six guys turned around to look at the brunette beauty that had just walked in. She walked to the table where her friends were sitting. Aaron had called her at least twice more, but she had ignored all his calls.
"Wow! You look stunning, woman, are you trying to go home with a date tonight?" Penelope joked around. Emily just winked at her and laughed, hugging and kissing her friends.
JJ looked at Emily in shock. She looked very beautiful, but she usually didn't dress like that because she knew Hotch was a little jealous and possessive with her.
"You do realize there are at least six guys looking in this direction?" -JJ asked her as she leaned over to kiss her check.
"Oh, come on, Jayme, they are probably looking at you." -Emily said, smiling to herself. The girls ordered their drinks and started to have fun. After a few drinks Emily, felt much better, and she decided she was just going to enjoy this night with her friends, after all, she hadn't gone out in a while. They talked about everything they usually did as friends…everything was going very well until Penelope brought up something that caught Emily's attention.
"Hey Jayje, was it just me or did that woman that was with Hotch today look exactly like Haley?" -Penelope asked sipping her drink.
"She did, huh, I knew she looked familiar." -JJ said a little too loud.
"What woman?" -Emily asked, a little uncomfortable.
"The woman Hotch has been working with almost every day in his office. He said it was an important case." -JJ said, smiling at Emily, oblivious to what was going on.
"Kate Joyner?" -Emily asked, feeling knots forming in her stomach.
"Yeah, her. The case must be really important because she was there before I arrived this morning, and I got there at 7 am? -Penelope said.
"She was there last night, too, very late. I wonder what that is about. Maybe she is going to start working there. Emily dropped her drink on the floor, and the two woman turned to look at her in shock.
"Are you okay, Em, should we cut you off?" -JJ asked, joking around.
"I'm fine, I'm sorry, it slipped out of my hands. I'm going to go dry off." -She stammered and went to the bathroom.
Emily went to the bathroom and locked herself in one of the bathroom stalls. She closed her eyes, fighting the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes. Aaron hadn't come home, and she knew now why, he had been with that woman all night…he had spent the night at the office with her, or probably somewhere else. Emily couldn't believe this, it couldn't possibly be true, and Aaron wouldn't cheat on her. There had to be another explanation, but she wasn't sure there was. When she returned to the table her friends were a little concerned.
"Are you sure you're okay?" -JJ asked, very concerned.
"I'm fine, JJ, I promise." -Emily replied, faking a smile.
They kept drinking and having fun, with Emily trying to ignore what had just happened and putting it behind her. But, she couldn't, she was so angry and confused. Her phone rang a couple more times, but she ignored the calls, she knew it was him.
Around one in the morning, the girls finally decided to call it quits to go home, and Emily drove to her house, crying all the way there…she couldn't believe this. Was Aaron really having an affair...this couldn't be possible. She parked her car, and she could see all the lights were on, so, she knew he was still up and probably waiting for her. She knew things were going to get pretty bad; she was furious with him, and he probably was, too, because she had not answered his calls. On top of that, she had too much to drink, and she was dressed a little inappropriately for his tastes. She sighed and decided to go inside and face his music with her attitude.
Aaron was sitting on a kitchen stool waiting for her. He knew she was mad at him, and that was why she had ignored his calls, but this was too much. It was one in the morning, and she had never come home this late…not to mention the fact she didn't tell him where she was. He heard the door open, and he immediately stood up. When Emily walked inside, he wanted to die. His eyes landed on her outfit, and he could tell she had been drinking, his eyes turned dark and fiery. He felt his blood pressure rising, and his mind was racing to "where the hell had she been dressed like that".
"It's one o'clock in the morning, Emily, where were you?" -Emily carefully placed her purse on the table by the door and ignored him completely.
"I'm talking to you." Aaron hissed furiously, letting his emotions win.
"I went out." -Emily calmly replied, walking past him avoiding his gaze. He was crazy jealous and mad, and he couldn't control his emotions. He approached her and stopped her by grabbing her arm a little roughly turning her around to face him. His eyes were fiery, and he was shaking mad.
"OUT WITH WHO? AND DRESSED LIKE THAT!" -He screamed at her furiously.