October 11, 2013 - 11 days old

"Did you have a good birthday party, bud?" Hotch asked his son as he and Beth put him to bed.

The night of Jack's actual birthday he had camped in the backyard with his dad and they had made hot dogs and smores over the fire but since it was a school night they had saved his real party for the weekend. Henry and Jack's friends from school came over and they had an outdoor movie night where they curled up with blankets in chairs and watched Star Wars Episode IV while eating popcorn and M&M's.

"Yeah it was so much fun, dad. Star Wars was really cool, can we watch the other movies?"

"Definitely bud, just not tonight. You have a soccer game early tomorrow morning and you need your sleep."

"Is Adam's mom going to pick me up and take me to soccer like last week?"

"Not this week Jack, I think we're all going to try and come to your game." Beth told him.

"Even you and Luna?" He asked her.

"Even me and Luna," she reassured him.

"Sleep tight big man, we love you." Hotch told his son before leaning down and kissing his forehead.

"See you in the morning, Jack." Beth leaned down and kissed the same spot before ruffling his hair.

"Night," Jack replied sleepily before rolling over and closing his eyes.

They shut his door and peeked into Luna's nursery where she was napping in her crib. She was sleeping overnight in a bassinet in their room but they were slowly trying to introduce her to her crib for naps throughout the day. Hotch preferred to hold her throughout her naps and usually did just that but Beth insisted since it was she that was going to have to be home with her once Hotch went back to work that she get acclimated to the crib.

"Sleeping like a baby," Hotch smiled at her.

"Both of our kids asleep at a reasonable hour. Unheard of." Beth joked.

Hotch glanced at his watch. "I bet we have another 45 minutes to an hour before she wakes up hungry. What should we do?"

"Eat leftover birthday cake and watch this weeks episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine?" Beth wiggled her eyebrows at him.

Hotch laughed. "Sure, babe."

Hotch had to admit, he usually found any sort of police or FBI show ridiculously unrealistic but the comedic aspect of Brooklyn Nine-Nine was surprisingly enjoyable thus far. He cut them two extra large pieces of cake and settled in next to Beth on the couch.

"It's been so nice having you home every evening for the last month. I've gotten too used to it." Beth admitted and she snuggled in against his side and took a bite of the chocolate cake.

"I know. I'm worried I have too. But it wasn't that long ago that we weren't even living in the same state so we can do it. And it's been so much easier on me having you be home with Jack. Of course I trust Jessica but knowing that he's home and on the same routine even when I'm gone is so comforting. Thank you for that." Hotch kissed her briefly before taking a bite of his own cake.

"You don't have to thank me. That's my kid too. It feels weird saying that because I never want to negate that Haley's was also his mother. But I swear to god Aaron I love that kid as much as I love Lou."

"I know you do. I know. And I want you to know that knowing that makes me happier than I ever thought I could be."

Hotch reached his hand out and cupped her face. Slowly with the tips of his finger he stroked her cheek before leaning in to her and kissing her longer. Beth eagerly sank into the kiss and pulled his bottom lip between hers running her tongue across it.

"Mm. I miss you," she whispered against his lips.

"So I've been thinking about something and I think I know what you're going to say but I want to run it by you anyway." Hotch said to her as he leaned back into the couch.

"Okay," Beth replied patiently

"Right now if something were to happen to me then Jack goes to live with Jessie. But I don't want him to lose you, or his sister, or his home. I figured we would just wait until we got married to finalize the details that he would stay with you but I don't want to wait. I want to get it finalized before I go back to work at the end of the month."

"Okay," she agreed nodding.

"And now that there is you and Luna to think about I want to increase my life insurance policy too. I don't want you guys to have to worry about anything if I'm not here. It'll be expensive because of the high risk nature of my job but I think it will be worth it."

"Aaron, stop. Please, stop. I agree with everything you are saying. I'm with you fully. But I am sleep deprived and two weeks postpartum and if you say one more thing about you dying then I'm gonna have a complete break down. So do what you have to do and know that I trust you."

Hotch smiled sheepishly at her. "Let's watch some TV."

Beth nodded in agreement before cuddling in against his side as the opening scene played.

"Babe. Babe. Wake up." Hotch was gently shaking Beth who had fallen asleep no more than 5 minutes into the episode. "Luna's crying. I need you to move so I can go get her."

Still feeling disoriented Beth moved her body so that she was sitting up and out of Hotch's way. She was still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes when Hotch came back down the stairs consoling their crying baby.

"Shhhh sweet girl. Daddy's got you. You're okay. Shhh."

"Daddy's got useless nipples." Beth remarked as she pulled down the clasp of her nursing tank and reached out for the baby.

"Yes, but I hear they're aesthetically pleasing." Hotch joked with her as he reluctantly handed the baby over to her mother.

"Will you hand me my nursing pillow?" she asked unamused by his jokes.

Hotch grabbed it and watched in amazement as their daughter latched onto Beth's breast to eat. He had watched it countless times over the last 11 days and it still seemed miraculous. Everything about Luna filled him with wonder - his experiences with her as a newborn vastly different than his experiences with Jack. With Jack he had felt so out of place, like someone had stuck him into this role as a father then left him behind to fend for himself. Haley had gladly taken on the role of a stay at home mom and he had retreated farther into work. At work he felt like he belonged and he knew his role. At home he felt flustered and inadequate. He wasn't sure if the difference was Beth, Luna, or just his experience as a father over the last 8 years but here and now he felt adequate. Like he could be a good father, a good husband, and a good unit chief. Sometimes things had to bend - that he was sure of, but he had been off work for nearly 2 weeks and out of the field for 3 before that and the team was fine. They were functioning just as well and catching killers, so maybe he could allow work to take a backseat for a bit. He knew that being a profiler was a part of who he was, but maybe it didn't have to be the biggest part.

"What's on your mind, Hotchner?" Beth asked him.

Hotch shook his head. He hadn't realized he'd been staring at her.

"Nothing. Just grateful to have this time with you and the kids." He smiled at her.

"Well maybe it's the hormones talking but I'd birth 100 more kids if it meant I got four weeks off with you every time."

"Well I'm not sure about 100 but I could maybe be convinced on one more." Hotch said as he sat down on the couch next to her.

"Seriously?" Beth looked at him incredulously.

"Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Well we just never even talked about having one kid, let alone more than one." Beth replied still in a bit of disbelief.

"Honestly I didn't really think about it much until recently. For the longest time I thought Jack was going to be an only child. But now we have Luna and we're basically starting over so I don't think it's unreasonable to have a third, if we wanted to. I could honestly go either way so it's up to you."

"Jesus Christ you're dropping all the life and death decisions on me tonight." Beth groaned.

Hotch just chuckled. "We definitely don't have to decide right now. Just know that in the future that door can be opened if you want it to be."

"What are we going to do for birth control in the meantime. I mean clearly IUD's don't work the greatest for me. I could try the pill? I just don't want to end up with Irish twins."

"Abstinence seems to be doing the trick right now."

"Okay well assuming we want to have a sex life again at some point. I mean do we really want to go back to using condoms like we did at the beginning of our relationship?" Beth asked him.

"Condoms aren't the worst thing in the world. If that's what's going to make you the most comfortable then we can make it work."

"It just seems ridiculous to have to be using condoms when we're in a monogamous relationship. But I also feel kind of distrustful of any type of hormonal birth control for obvious reasons." Beth gestured down with her head to the baby nursing at her breast.

"Let's not worry about it right now. We still have four weeks to go before this is a real problem. Talk to your midwife about it when you go for your appointment and I'll have a box of condoms on standby just in case."

Beth nodded in agreement. "She's falling asleep and I'm not far behind her, do you mind changing her diaper and putting her in the bassinet while I brush my teeth?"

"Not at all, come here sweet girl," Hotch pulled the tiny baby to his chest and she voiced her displeasure at being separated from her food source. "I know. I know. It's time for bed."

Hotch took her to the nursery and laid her on the changing pad. He changed her diaper and put her in the snuggliest pajamas before swaddling her in a light blanket and carrying her to their room.

"Goodnight sweet Luna we love you so much," he told her as he covered her face with kisses before gently placing her in her bassinet.

"Fatherhood looks good on you, Hotchner." Beth remarked as she exited the bathroom.

"I've been a father the whole time you've known me," he chuckled at her.

"Yeah but now you've got two kids so it's doubly hot."

"Wow, imagine how sexy I'll be when we get around to having a third," he winked at her.