DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds.
Hotch couldn't help but smile at the sounds coming from the phone. One of the twins was laughing into the receiver. "Who is it? It sounds like Lexi," Hotch asked. Emily smiled. "You got it. That's your daughter Hotch," she replied, knowing that he generally got a little emotional whenever she spoke those words. She could picture him now, closed up in his office, tears forming in his eyes, and him willing them to stop.
"So what time will you be home honey? Jack said he wants to help me make dinner," she asked. Hotch shrugged his shoulders. "Uh, I should be home as soon as the meeting's over. Agent McGee started case work this week and they went away on their first case, so I wanted to have a meeting with the whole team and ask how it went." Emily nodded and sighed. She still wasn't sure if it was the Robert McGee she was thinking of. But she doubted all that many Yale/JHU grads were named Robert McGee.
"You ok sweetheart?" Hotch asked, hearing her sigh down the phone. Emily shook her head, relieved that he couldn't see the worry on her face. "I'm fine honey. I'm just tired. I think I might go put the kids down for a nap and get one in myself," she replied. It was true, she was exhausted, so she didn't feel guilty about telling a little white lie. Hotch nodded. "Alright. Well I'll call you when I'm leaving the office," he replied. They said goodbye and hung up.
"How did everything go in Texas?" Hotch asked Morgan as he walked into the BAU conference room. Morgan shrugged his shoulders. "As well as could be expected. We had a few tense moments on our first day, with Rob insisting he was ready to add to the profile. He got a bit of stage fright when it came to delivering it though," Morgan explained. Hotch nodded. He glanced around the room.
"Where are the others?" he asked. Morgan nodded towards the bullpen. "I sent them home. It's been a pretty horrible few days and I could tell they needed to get away," he explained. Hotch shook his head. "I requested a meeting with the team, the WHOLE team, Morgan," he said, disappointed. Morgan shook his head. "I know. But I couldn't ask them to stay any longer than just dropping their things off. They needed to get out Hotch. You know what it's like," he argued.
Hotch nodded. "I do. Ok, well make sure everyone's here 9am Monday morning. It'll be Em's first day back and you should introduce her to Agent McGee before the team gets sent away," he explained, "And in the future, when I say set up a meeting with the whole team, make sure they're here." Morgan nodded. "I'm sorry I just…" he paused and looked at his feet. Taking a deep breath, Morgan looked back up and continued. "Hotch, I know how to run this team. I don't need you checking up on me all the time," he said. Hotch frowned. "Morgan, it's my job. I might not be Unit chief anymore, but I'm still your boss. And I need you to respect that," he argued. Morgan nodded. "I do… it's just…," he stammered, "I'm still adjusting to you not being on the team… everyone is. It's gonna take some getting used to." Hotch nodded and pat Morgan's shoulder. "For all of us," he replied. He paused, "Alright. I'll see you Monday," Hotch said, before walking out of the room.
Emily heard the garage door open. Hotch was home a lot earlier than she'd expected. Jack was setting the table and raced into the kitchen to take the salad bowl back to the dining room. Then he stood at the kitchen door, waiting for Hotch to walk through.
Hotch sighed as he opened the door to the house. It was definitely going to take some time to get used to not being on the team, to not being around on cases. He shook his head. Those thoughts could wait until Monday. Right now he just wanted to see his kids, see Emily, and make the most of the first weekend that he didn't have the prospect of a case looming over his head. When he walked into the kitchen, he smiled.
Jack threw himself at his dad's legs and waited for him to pick him up. He wrapped his arms around Hotch's neck and squeezed tight. "Guess what Daddy?" he asked excitedly, as Hotch carried him over to Emily. "What buddy?" Hotch asked after giving Emily a kiss. "I made dinner for you!" he cried out, holding his hands up in the air. Hotch chuckled and looked between Emily and Jack. "Did you really?" he asked. He put Jack down again and leant over to give Emily a proper greeting.
Hotch pulled Emily tight against his chest and breathed in. Emily frowned and ran her hands over his back. "Everything ok honey?" she asked, standing back to look him in the face. Hotch nodded. "We'll talk about it later," he said quietly. Emily smiled sweetly and ran her fingers through Hotch's hair. She nodded, "Ok," she whispered back. "Hey Jack. You wanna help me serve up the plates?" Emily asked, picking up the little boy. Hotch watched as they served up their food, then, after handing a plate to Hotch, the three of them made their way to the dining room.
After dinner Jack and Hotch went upstairs to brush their teeth. They came back down so Jack could say goodnight, and then Hotch took his son upstairs again. Twenty minutes later, after two stories and three "I love you's," Hotch made his way back down to the lounge room. He found Emily curled up on the couch, watching TV. He dropped down next to her and Emily sat up and pulled his head down into her lap. As she ran her fingers through his hair, Hotch started to relax. Emily hit the mute button, before clearing her throat.
"You wanna talk about it?" she asked. Hotch opened his eyes to look at her, before nodding. He closed them again and took a deep breath. "I feel useless. I feel like I've had something taken away from me," he explained. Emily waited for him to continue, but when he didn't she took her cue.
"Honey, you knew it would take some time to adjust. And you've been doing such a tough job for so many years, you had to know it was going to be a much different pace when you stepped up to Section Chief," she pointed out. Hotch nodded. "I did know that. But…" his voice trailed off. "It doesn't make it any easier," Emily finished for him. Hotch nodded again. "I guess I just have to pace myself in my work. I mean, I'm used to getting a full week's worth of work done in a couple of days because of travelling so much. Now I don't have as much to do," he explained. Emily smiled. "That's a good thing hon. You can relax a little, you can come home earlier than usual. And you can maybe start thinking about teaching again," she suggested.
Hotch sat up suddenly and kissed her. That hadn't occurred to him. He had loved teaching when he had Gideon sharing the load of the team. And now he had the time, he might as well. And the publishers were trying to persuade him to put out a new edition of his hostage negotiation textbook. Maybe he could finally do that.
Emily was surprised at the sudden contact, but happy nonetheless. When Hotch pulled away, she smiled. "Feeling a bit better I see," she teased. Hotch looked at her, her hair mussed, her lips swollen and red. He nodded and wagged his eyebrows. Emily chuckled and wrapped her arms around his neck as she slid down to lie on the couch. "Come here, Section Chief," she whispered, pulling him down into a passionate kiss.
A/N: Just a little bit of calm before the storm. Next up: Agent Prentiss meet Agent McGee.
