Let Me Give You A Hand

Chapter 10

When Aaron and Dave came down into the kitchen, Jack was already eagerly waiting for them.

"What took you so long?" He scolded them impatiently. "I want to go out and play soccer!"

The two men exchanged an amused grin.

"Did you brush your teeth?" Aaron questioned him.

Jack nodded.

"I feed'd Mudgie, too!" He told them proudly.

Both Aaron and Dave raised their eyebrows and were a bit concerned, but a look at Mudgie's bowl surprised them. Jack had found and indeed given him his dog food.

"Good job, buddy!" Aaron praised him and Dave was glad that his dog wouldn't have to suffer through stomachache because of the wrong food.

Preparing breakfast turned out to be a messy affair, especially since Jack loved to fool around with the ingredients for the pancakes. Aaron and Dave let him get away with it this time, because they were too caught up in mentally preparing for their talk with Jack.

Even though he had assured Aaron only ten minutes ago that he had nothing to be nervous about, Dave was now feeling some uneasiness himself.

What if Jack would suffer from the fact that his father was suddenly in a relationship with another man?

Dave had never been one to give a damn about what other people thought of him, and he certainly wasn't and would never be ashamed of being with Aaron Hotchner, but he knew that same-sex relationships still weren't as widely accepted as one would hope. Aaron and himself, they were adults, they knew how to deal with potential haters, but Jack was just a child, who'd probably be confused enough by their relationship itself. The very last thing he wanted was for Jack to get hurt in the process when they came out to the public.

He sighed deeply and looked at Aaron, who gave him a nervous smile. He knew they were pondering the same thoughts in their minds.

"Dad, don't burn the pancakes!" Jack called out, pulling them from their contemplation.

"Oh, thanks buddy," Aaron quickly replied and gave his full attention to cooking their breakfast.

Dave sat back and watched him, silently pleased with how at ease Aaron moved around in his kitchen, and happy and grateful that he would be able to have this a lot more often from now on.

Once Aaron was done with the pancakes, Jack practically jumped at them and ate them one by one, all the while excitedly informing them of what he wanted to do all day long besides playing soccer with his dad and uncle.

After a while Aaron and Dave silently agreed to postpone their talk with the boy until later when he had run off some of his energy. He'd probably be more receptive when he was too worn out to run around.

.~.~.

They spent all morning outside on the lawn behind Dave's house, with Jack and Mudgie chasing the two older men around until they were sure they'd break down if the didn't get a break. Mudgie had his own, interesting interpretation of the soccer rules and more often than not ran after the ball and hauled it off into the opposite direction. Jack had a lot of fun wearing out his Dad and his Uncle Dave, and the two adults enjoyed seeing the boy so carefree and happy.

Around noon they went back inside for their well-deserved lunch break.

While Jack watched a short cartoon on TV until Dave and Aaron were done preparing the sandwiches they were going to have, the two men decided to quickly brief each other on the talk they now planned on having with Jack over lunch.

"Are you ready?" Aaron wanted to know.

"As ready as I can be," Dave replied with what could only be described as a slightly panicky half-smile.

"I don't think he'll disapprove," Aaron said in an effort to wash away both their nervousness. "You've seen him this morning. He's happier than he has been for a long time."

"That's not what concerns me," Dave told him honestly.

"What is?"

"Well," Dave looked into Aaron's face. "What are we gonna tell him about last night?"

"No details," was Aaron's quick answer.

Seeing Dave's confused face, he added: "I don't think, he's gonna want to know details anyway. Though, he'll definitely ask if there's anything on his mind."

"Very comforting," Dave retorted sarcastically.

"Don't worry. I'm really sure he won't ask for any specifics," Aaron repeated, trying to put Dave at ease, while silently praying that he was right.

"Let's hope so," Dave mumbled and finished with the last sandwich.

Aaron grinned, he couldn't help it, even though he felt just like Dave. But seeing David Rossi nervous, scared shitless even, because of a conversation with a five-year-old definitely had its merits.

"I'm afraid that Jack will suffer if this gets public," Dave then said out of the blue.

Aaron furrowed his brows and stared at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Aaron, you can't tell me you haven't thought about what could happen if we go public with our relationship."

"If we go public? What are you saying, Dave?" Aaron's tone became impatient and his stare more intense.

Dave sighed.

"I'm just saying, Aaron, frat rules aside, there are still people at the Bureau who aren't as open and understanding of same-sex relationships as others. Not to mention the fact that any relationship I had in the past 25 years has always made it into national media outlets."

"Is that it? You're afraid of your career?" Aaron sounded clearly angry now.

If he was honest, he was quite surprised with himself that he had so little concerns about everything, but for once in his life he wasn't going to let anything get in the way of his happiness. And he had actually thought that Dave's usual I-don't-give-a-damn-what-others-think-or-say attitude would make this easier for him.

And now Dave was the one who was afraid?

"Aaron, no, that's not-" Dave started, but the younger man didn't let him finish.

"Okay, maybe we should set a few things straight here before we talk to Jack," Aaron bit out and glared furiously at Dave.