A/N: I always get too impatient to post chapters once I've written them and so I've decided that I'm not going to wait until the same time every day to post, I'm just going to put up a chapter once I've written it! This chapter was based on the prompt "Watching the other sleep" but there's barely any watching of sleep going on and it's more Hotch and Emily teasing each other and loving on their baby girl. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it and happy reading.
Settling back against the cushions on the couch as he sipped at the can of beer in his hand and ran a hand through his hair with a sigh, Aaron stopped watching the rugby match when Emily groaned in her sleep and chuckled as he rested his hand on her stomach so that he could feel their little girl kicking. She had definitely started getting the hang of how to use her feet over the past couple of weeks. In the beginning, her movements had been minimal and she hadn't kicked much at all, but she was making up for it now and it seemed that her and Emily's sleep patterns never lined up because the minute she fell asleep she would wake up. She was forever keeping her awake at night, kicking and rolling around and pressing down on her bladder, but Emily never complained and he loved her for that.
When she huffed and settled down again, he began rubbing her stomach slowly in an attempt to get their baby girl to calm down before placing his can of beer down on the table next to the couch and stroking her hair as her head rested in his lap. He had no idea why, but he had quite an obsession with her hair. He always found himself playing with it whenever they cuddled while watching a movie or lounged around in bed together and he loved the content sighs she afforded him with in response. She was so adorable. He would never come out and tell her that he found her adorable though because she would punch him no doubt. She loathed it when people called her cute or anything along those lines but teasing her was one of his favourite things to do and so he made sure to do it every so often.
The sound of his cell phone beeping on the table pulled him from his thoughts and his heart sank as, for a moment, he thought that it would be Garcia telling him that they had a new case. Their most recent case had taken almost three days to solve and it had left Emily exhausted, even though he had made sure that she had stayed back at the station with JJ due to her condition, so he was relieved when he picked his phone up and realised that Garcia was just checking in to see how she was doing. He sent a quick response, letting her know that she was all right before turning his phone on silent and chuckling when he felt his little girl start kicking again as he placed it back down. 'How your mommy manages to get any sleep with you in there is beyond me…' He sighed. 'You never stop, do you?'
As though trying to prove his point, she pressed either one of her tiny hands or feet against his hand before giving her mother a swift kick and he had to force himself not to laugh when Emily opened her eyes and glared up at him. 'I swear, you two are going to be the death of me at this rate,' She grumbled, her voice hoarse from slumber as she reached up to brush her fringe out of her eyes before pushing herself up so that she was sitting in the space beside him. 'Jack lets me sleep. Jack tries to be quiet when I'm asleep so that he doesn't wake me up, but I have this little one constantly beating the life out of me from the inside and you making it worse! Right now, Jack's my favourite.'
'You aren't allowed to have a favourite, that's one of the many rules of parenthood I'm afraid.' He smirked.
'You're so cute,' She kissed him gently when he wrapped his arm around her. 'You thought I was on about the kids.'
He feigned hurt. 'Well, that's just downright rude. I let you move in here and that's how I get treated.'
'You, Hotchner,' She poked him in the chest. 'Are the reason I have to share my body with this little madam.'
'You had just as much to do with this as I did, so don't go pinning it all on me.' He laughed.
Just as she opened her mouth to respond, their baby girl decided to start kicking her bladder and she let out a deep groan as her head fell back onto his shoulder and she smoothed her hands over her bump. 'Oh, you have no chance. This is my first day off in ages and I am not spending half of it stuck in the bathroom, so you can move right now,' She told their daughter, pressing down gently over where she could feel her resting until she felt her move and she sighed with relief when the urge to run to the bathroom disappeared. Looking up at Aaron again, she could tell that he was trying not to laugh. 'I'm glad you find this funny because you'll be the one on night duty once she's arrived.'
'You know what, that's actually fine with me,' He shrugged, resting a hand on her belly. 'I just want her here now.'
'Yeah, me too…' She admitted.
Even though she was exhausted, she was beginning to struggle to see her feet and their little girl drove her insane at times with all the kicking she did, she had to admit that she was becoming increasingly impatient to hold her in her arms. She couldn't wait to hear her cry and have skin-to-skin with her for the first time, to be able to kiss her little face and see whether she looked more like herself or Aaron. He was sure that she was going to come out looking just like her with dark brown hair and rich brown eyes, but she had a strong feeling that she would take after him. She already shared his frustratingly charming personality, so it wouldn't surprise her if she had the looks to match.
'We still need to give her a name,' He said after a couple of minutes had passed. 'She can't be "little one" forever.'
'Why not? It's unique.' She teased.
Rolling his eyes, he kissed her forehead. 'Have you thought of any that you like yet?'
'Yeah, I've thought of a couple, but there's one that keeps coming back to me.' She told him, stroking her stomach.
'Go on.' He nodded.
'Before I do, I need to tell you that I came up with this name because Jack said that he wanted her to be named after Haley somehow and I liked the idea. I know how special she was to you and I think it's important that her memory is kept alive for Jack's sake as much as yours. 'What…what do you think about Adeline Haley Hotchner?' She asked.
He thought the name over in his head for a moment while brushing his thumb against her shoulder as she sat next to him in silence, a smile crossing his lips when he looked at her again and pulled her closer to him. 'You know; it's not a name that I would have come up with, but I honestly think it sounds perfect. You had an aunt named Adeline growing up, didn't you? Or a grandmother?' He raised his brow at her while she draped her arm across his stomach.
'She was my grandmother and I loved her so much. She had a wicked sense of humour and she spoiled me rotten as a child which annoyed my parents, but neither of us was bothered. I always knew that I wanted to name my child after her if I had one because she would have loved it and I feel like I owe her that after everything she did for me,' She explained before tilting her head back on his shoulder to look up at him 'You don't mind about the Haley part?'
He shook his head, bringing his hand to her face so that he could draw the back of his index finger down her cheek. 'We do need to keep her memory alive for Jack's sake and I think naming this little one after her is a brilliant idea,' He admitted, his hand moving to cover her own on her stomach before he smoothed his thumb across her knuckles. 'Thank you. For everything that you do for me and Jack. I love you so much and I sometimes forget to tell you that.'
'Well, that's the beautiful thing about being a part of this family,' She replied, kissing him softly. 'I already know…'
A/N: Thanks so much for checking out this chapter and I hope that you liked it! I had such a hard time choosing the baby's name, but I think I like it. I'd love it if you would leave me a review to let me know what you thought and I'll see you next time :)
