Chapter 25

Hotch awoke with a groan. His head was pounding, and after his eyes finally focused, he saw the empty scotch bottle mocking him from the little table in between the two beds. He ran a hand down his face. Jesus. I can't believe we drank it all. He threw the covers back and swung his legs over the side as he sat up. The pounding in his head quadrupled and he had to lean his head down in between his knees as nausea hit him in waves. You drank way too much after eating way too little. You are an idiot, Hotchner!

After a few deep breaths, he eased himself back up into a sitting position. When the room didn't spin, he forced himself to stand and turned to see Rossi still sleeping peacefully. He huffed and made his way to the bathroom hoping a quick shower would help him feel more awake and less hung over.

It worked a little. Once he was dressed, he walked over and kicked the other bed. "Get your ass up," he urged.

Rossi reached up and rubbed his eyes and then smiled at Hotch. "Good morning."

Hotch huffed and flopped down into the chair to put his shoes on. "What's so good about it?"

Rossi sat up and studied him. "Well, if you hadn't of drank three-fourths of a bottle of scotch, you might be able to smile, too." Hotch locked eyes with him and Rossi shrugged. "I only had two cups."

Hotch pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why would you ever let me drink that much?"

Rossi went to him and squeezed his shoulder. "You needed it, and now you need to eat."

Hotch groaned. "Please don't mention food."

Rossi chuckled and grabbed his clothes and headed to the bathroom. "Some nice, greasy, bacon and eggs will do wonders for you, Aaron. Just you wait and see."

Hotch sighed as he cringed. He wasn't sure which was worse: the thundering herd galloping its way through his head or the acid charged hurricane tearing through his gut. A small smile made its way to his lips, though, as his eyes trailed to the closed bathroom door. He couldn't remember anything of the night after Rossi had shown up, but he considered that a good thing. Thanks, Dave.

XXX

After Rossi had forced him to eat a plateful of eggs, bacon, and toast, Hotch had to admit he did feel better. When he saw Mack rubbing her temples, Morgan being a little too subdued, JJ taking headache pills, and Reid scarfing down enough food for a man twice his size, he mentally smiled. Apparently I'm not the only one who let a little liquid drown the day away.

Rossi's smug smile and loud comments had the whole team begging him to stop, but that just made him worse. By the time they were all done with breakfast, though, they were all the back to their usual selves and they headed to the station to wrap up the horrible case so they could head back home.

XXX

Once Hotch was settled on the jet, he text Kahlan to let her know and she reminded him that the boys had an away football game. He looked at his watch and cringed because he knew he would never be home in time to go with her to see it. 'That's right. Sorry. Tell the boys I said good luck.'

'I will, and there will be a plate for you in the fridge and it better be gone by the time we get home.'

He huffed.

'And I will check the trash!'

He chuckled. 'Then I guess I better eat if I know what's good for me, huh?'

' '

'I'll see you when you get back. Love you.'

'Love you, too, Hun. Don't stay at your office all night either!'

'Yes, Ma'am.'

XXX

Hotch was about to head up to bed when he finally heard Kahlan's car in the drive. He opened the door with a smile on his face, but he quickly lost it. "Aww, let me have her," he offered as he reached to take a sleeping Joey out of Kahlan's arms.

"Careful, she's soaked. She needs to be woken up so she can take a bath."

Hotch nodded as he stepped back to allow the rest of the family to enter as he adjusted Joey in his arms. A little laugh escaped him. "She's not the only one soaked. You look like a drowned rat."

"It was pouring the whole game!" she insisted as she pealed her coat off.

Jack and Wyatt shared a grin. They were both happily dry because of showering and changing after the game. "And Mom forgot the umbrellas," Jack pointed out as he sat his bag down.

"I don't think so! Get that mud covered stuff to the laundry room!" Kahlan insisted.

"Sorry," Jack offered as he grabbed both of the boys' bags and headed toward the washing machine.

"You get Joey in the tub and I'll start their uniforms," Hotch offered as he started up the stairs.

Kahlan nodded as she followed him. "And you can throw mine and Joe's clothes. . . Aaachoooo. . . in as soon as they're done."

"Bless you!" Wyatt called up from the bottom of the steps. "And she's been doing that the whole way home," he informed his father.

Hotch took a deep breath. "Wyatt can put their clothes in the wash, I'll give Joe a bath, and you can take a shower."

"No. I'm fine," she tried as she went into their room and started taking off the wet clothes. "I'll be good as soon as I get something dry on." The statement wasn't delivered with much authority with the nasty cough that followed it.

"Wyatt! Can yo. . ."

"Yes, Dad. I can put our uniforms in the washer and Jack will put on the kettle."

Hotch looked down at him and smiled his thanks and then looked back at his wife. "We got this covered. Jump in a hot shower."

She sneezed again and then nodded. "Fine, but I am not getting sick!"

Sure you're not, Babe. Sure you're not. Hotch took Joey to her room to wake her up and get her into her tub.

When Hotch was halfway through helping Joey get undressed, he realized she was freezing. "That was some cold rain, huh?"

She nodded as she pealed her socks off and then sneezed. Hotch cringed. No! Not both of my girls sick at the same time! Once she was undressed, she was shivering. Hotch picked her up and took her to her bathroom. "Come on, Angel. Daddy has a nice warm tub with your name on it," he told her and then started her down into it.

She pulled her foot back as soon as it touched it though. "Too hot!

He sat her down and reached down and checked the temperature. "No it's not, Sweetheart. It just feels that way cause your feet are cold. Go ahead and get in, I bet it feels really good in just a few moments."

She eyed him. "Promise?"

He leaned down and kissed her wet head. "Promise. It will only feel really warm for a couple minutes. You have to give your body a chance to warm back up."

She took a deep breath and ended up coughing, but she climbed in. After a few moments, she smiled at him. "Thanks, Daddy."

"Yep," he offered as he leaned down and kissed her head again. "But you need to scoot down and get your whole body in it." She nodded and laid back. "You be alright why I go check on Mom?"

She smiled. "Yep." When her smile turned into a cringe, Hotch stopped at looked at her.

"What's wrong, Angel?"

She wilted down into the water even more. "Mommy's more wet than me because she gave me her coat to wear, too."

He reached down and mused her hair. "That's what mommies and daddies do, Angel."

"I know, but I still feel bad that she might get sick."

"Maybe her hot shower will drive any cold bugs away from her," he offered with a smile.

She nodded and he threw a small rubber ducky into the water and it splashed her face which made her smile. "And maybe that duck you've had since you were two will chase the cold bugs away from you."

She giggled. "Go check on Mommy."

"Yes, Ma'am," he told her which elicited another giggle from her as he went out the door.

He found Kahlan already getting dressed. "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged as she wiped her nose with a tissue. "My nose in running worse than a leaky faucet, but other than that, I'm good."

He pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead. She raised her brows expecting his opinion knowing he was checking to see if she had a fever or not. He smiled. "Feels alright to me."

She smiled and went to hang up her wet clothes. "Did I hear someone say they were making tea?"

He chuckled. "Jack should have it done by now. You go down and get it while it's hot and I'll get Joe out and dressed."

She smiled. "I would offer to do it, but I'm sure she'd much rather spend time with you since you were gone on a case."

He chuckled. "I can't help it if she loves me more," he joked.

Kahlan huffed and went down stairs.

XXX

Hotch found his whole family at the table; the kids were enjoying hot chocolate with whipped cream and Kahlan was slowly sipping a cup of tea. He sat two things down on the table.

"What's this?" Kahlan asked as she grabbed the box.

"Cold medicine. You and Joey both need to take something."

"Ewwww!" Joey exclaimed as she grabbed the bottle that was obviously a liquid for children. "It's grape flavored."

"It's the only one we have and you will take it," he insisted. When her stare emerged to challenge him, he turned his right back at her as he opened the bottle and poured some in the dosage cup.

Kahlan and the boys kept looking back and forth between them, and after a few seconds, it was clear that neither the young female nor the older male Hotchner wanted to give up. She smiled and tried to hold back the giggle that wanted to escape.

"Mommy!" Joey tried as her eyes never left her father.

"Kahlan!" Hotch put in just as loudly.

And that did it, Kahlan and the boys busted out laughing. "Don't pull me into this!"

"Now, Angelique!" Hotch insisted as he pushed the cup full of medicine towards her and she finally wilted.

When Kahlan giggled again, he turned his stare to her and grabbed a bubble pack of pills, opened them, and held them out for her to take. "Don't think you are getting out of it either!"

She rolled her eyes but took the pills. "Come on, Joe, he's only being a bully because he loves us."

Joey sighed and drank the medicine down. Her face scrunched up in total dislike and she shot her father a dirty look. Hotch chose to ignore that and looked at Kahlan with raised brows. Kahlan sighed and took the pills. "Happy now?"

Hotch smiled and took a drink of his coffee. "Yep."

XXX

When Hotch awoke the next morning, he smiled to see Kahlan already up like usual. Well, she can't be feeling too bad. He made his way to the restroom and then downstairs. When a horrible cough echoed up the stairs, he cringed. Son of a bitch.

When he rounded the corner, he was shocked. Joey was dressed and peacefully eating a bowl of cereal at the island, but both of the boys were at the table and looked absolutely miserable. Wyatt was hunched over in his chair trying to eat a piece of toast and Jack was leaning back in his chair with sweat beaded out on his upper lip and forehead. "Ut-oh," Hotch uttered as he shook his head.

He went to Jack and put the back of his fingers on the young man's forehead. "You have a fever, Buddy."

"They both do," came Kahlan's voice as she came out of the kitchen carrying two mugs. "Drink this. It will help you feel better," she instructed as she gave each of the boys a mug.

Hotch looked at her. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," she told him as she went back to the kitchen and fixed him a cup of coffee. "I guess we should have given the boys some cold medicine last night, too."

Hotch went and gave Joey a kiss. "How are you this morning, Angel."

"I'm good," she offered and then cringed when a sneeze from Wyatt felt like it rattled the house. "Definitely better than the boys," she added with a smile.

"Drink up and go crawl back in bed. There's no way either one of you are going to school today," Kahlan instructed.

"You want me to stay home with them?" Hotch asked her.

She shook her head. "Nah. I think I can handle them."

Jack groaned. "But I have a test in math today."

"And you can make it up the next day you're back. You can't go to school with a fever, Buddy," Hotch told him as he rubbed his shoulders. "Besides, do you want to take the chance and get your friends sick, too?"

He shook his head. "No. I guess not."

Wyatt sneezed again. "I hate getting sick!"

Hotch cringed as he looked at him. The poor boy took after his mother and got sick a few times a year. Jack had inherited most of Hotch's immune system and hardly ever got sick. Joey, on the other hand, couldn't figure who she wanted to take after. One year it was Kahlan and the next it was Hotch, but Hotch hoped that his DNA would win in the end.