October 26th, 2013 - 4 weeks old
"You're such a good baby, yes you are!" Emily cooed at the baby in her lap as Luna stared up at her with bright eyes. "Seriously guys, she is so adorable how do you ever put her down?"
"Between the three of us she doesn't get set down often." Beth chuckled.
"So Jack likes being a big brother?" JJ asked.
"At first he seemed a bit indifferent - he liked her but he didn't have a whole lot of interest in holding her. Lately he's been wanting to hold her more and more. I think he was just nervous at first." Hotch answered.
"Have you been thinking about another?" Beth asked JJ.
"Thinking about it! Maybe one day." JJ responded but something about her reply seemed off to Beth. "How's she sleeping?"
"Some nights are better than others. She's starting to give us 4-5 hour stretches at night but nothing super consistent. It's okay right now because with Aaron home and Jack in school I can usually get a pretty good nap in during the day. I don't know how it's going to go when he goes back to work on Monday!"
"You'll make it work," Penelope reassured her. "You're a great mom."
Luna started to fuss in Emily's arms and Beth glanced at the time.
"She's probably getting hungry. It's getting close to her bedtime." Beth told her.
"Let's check on the boys in the backyard, guys. I know JJ has been desperate for alone time with her girls lately." Will said as he stood up. Derek, Reid, Rossi, and Hotch all followed suit as Emily handed the increasingly loud baby back to Beth.
Beth chuckled as she snuggled the baby against her chest and maneuvered her top to give Luna access. Once the baby was latched on she covered the baby with a light blanket over her shoulder just in case one of the guys had to come back in for something. "Never thought my boob could clear a room so quickly."
The girls just laughed and nodded their heads in agreement.
"JJ thanks so much for taking Jack tonight. I know he's really excited for his sleepover with Henry!"
"Of course! Honestly it will be a nice distraction."
"Distraction from what?" Beth asked.
"Well. Will and I have been trying for another baby. And it's not going very well."
"Oh JJ, I'm sorry," Beth replied as Emily and Penelope rubbed JJ's back in support.
"Sorry Jayje," Emily murmured.
"It's okay, I'm sure it will happen eventually. And if not we're super happy with just Henry. But I've gotten a bit obsessive about it and I think I need to take a step back and focus on other things for a while. It got to the point where I'd have a mental breakdown if we were on a case while I was ovulating. I felt like we waited all month for our brief window of opportunity and then it was gone without a fair shot."
"Yeah that's so hard. I'm so sorry you're going through that." Beth told her, genuine concern flooding her tone.
"Thanks guys. I just never thought we'd have trouble getting pregnant since we got pregnant with Henry so unexpectedly."
The girls moved on to happier subjects and conversation flowed easily. Beth sipped on the one small glass of white wine she allowed herself on the special occasion and it felt like heaven to be enjoying wine with other real adults. She felt the suckling of her daughter slow and soon it ceased all together, too sleepy and sated to continue.
"I'm just going to put Luna to bed, I'll be back."
Beth took the baby upstairs and swaddled her before laying her in the bassinet and turning on the baby monitor.
"Sleep tight, Lulu. I love you."
She grabbed a sweatshirt and headed back downstairs to go outside where the girls had joined the men. She found Hotch standing on the patio drinking a beer and she happily stood next to him and wrapped her arm around his waist. He casually wrapped his free arm around her and pulled her in tighter against his side.
"Lu's asleep?" He asked her.
"Mhmm the monitors in my pocket."
"Uncle Spencer pass me the ball!" Beth heard Jack shouting and she glanced up to watch them play. Spencer was awkwardly dribbling the ball before he passed it to Jack. She gave him credit for trying.
"Alright boys if you want to watch a movie before bed it's time to get going!" JJ called to the young boys.
"We should probably be going too, pretty boy. Who will those poker players lose all their money too if we're not there?" Morgan playfully shoved Reid.
"I can't believe you let Reid into your poker game." Emily scoffed.
"Hey if Morgan's dumb friends want to give me their money that's on them." Reid shrugged.
"Yeah and I'm sure giving Morgan half your winnings helps motivate him to keep his mouth shut about your card counting abilities." Hotch just chuckled at them.
Morgan and Reid said nothing but Penelope and Emily busted out laughing.
"What are we going to do with you two?" Penelope asked them.
"How 'bout we give the new parents their alone time, eh?" Rossi suggested as he herded them all towards the door.
Hotch handed Jack his backpack with his overnight clothes and gave him a hug. "Bye buddy, I'll come pick you up around lunchtime."
"Love you, Bud." Beth gave him a hug as well.
"Bye mom, bye dad." Jack waved goodbye as he left with JJ, Will, and Henry.
Hotch shut the door behind everyone and sighed with relief.
"What's that noise for?! You know you've missed them." Beth accosted him playfully.
"I think I've been seeing them too much in a personal setting and not enough in a work setting. They're getting too comfortable around me." Hotch joked but maintained a serious face.
Beth just smiled and shook her head at him. "Well you'll be back to no nonsense Agent Hotchner in no time but tonight you're still mine, Aaron."
Beth grabbed him by the belt and pulled him towards her before wrapping her arms around his neck and standing on her tiptoes to kiss him. She felt his hands come to either side of her waist before wrapping around her and pulling her up to more easily reach his lips.
"I love you" Beth murmured against his lips in-between kisses. "Like really really really love you."
With an infant latched onto her boob for 50% of the day she hadn't exactly been craving any extra physical touch but in this moment she remembered how good it felt to be loved by Hotch. His strong arms around her waist pulling her closer to him like she was nothing, his soft lips and scratchy face against hers was the perfect juxtaposition and it felt oh so good.
Beth started to feel frantic in her need to get closer to him. She unwrapped her legs from around his waist and set her feet back on the floor before she started furiously unbuttoning his shirt.
"Beth…" Hotch began to say hesitantly.
"Take a shower with me?" Beth asked, cutting him off before he could go any further.
Hotch nodded his head in agreement and Beth led them upstairs. Passing by the bassinet Beth quickly assessed that Luna was still sound asleep before pulling Hotch into the bathroom and shutting the door. She turned on the shower heads and let the water heat up while she finished undressing Hotch. Soon his shirt was off, his pants and briefs were at his ankles, and she had a lot of catching up to do.
Beth took a steadying breath before raising her arms above her head making it easier for Hotch to remove her shirt. She hadn't been shy about her postpartum body but she hadn't exactly shown it off either. But here they were in the well-lit bathroom about to stand naked in front of each other for the first time since welcoming a new baby and Beth couldn't help but feel a twinge of self-consciousness with her body. She closed her eyes and felt Hotch's hands at the brim of her shirt before slowly lifting it above her head then reaching around her back to unclasp her bra.
"I leak like crazy in the shower, sorry in advance."
Hotch gently touched his lips to hers. "You don't have to be sorry about anything."
Beth pressed her lips against his again as she removed her pants and underwear and kicked them to the side. She focused on kissing him but couldn't help but notice that her stomach felt softer against his than she was used to and she hadn't gotten waxed since before she had given birth. It was all she could do to not call the whole thing off and run back into the bedroom and put on her largest sweats and coziest sweatshirt.
"I think the water is hot." Hotch softly whispered.
Beth opened her eyes and saw him looking at her with nothing but love. She knew she was way overthinking this.
He held the shower door open for her and the water was the perfect temperature; it seemed to melt away whatever self-conscious doubts she was holding on to. She smiled at him as he followed her into the shower. He stood under his stream of water but Beth abandoned hers to kiss him again. She sucked on his lower lip - she truly felt like she couldn't get enough and as she felt him against her stomach she could tell that he wasn't getting enough either.
"Beth, it's just two more weeks." He reminded her not really sounding like he could make it two more weeks.
"I don't plan on breaking any of the rules. Don't worry," she smirked at him.
Beth ran her hands down his chest and stroked him a few times and the groan that came out of Hotch's mouth made Beth irrationally happy. Slowly she sank to her knees and came face to face with a part of him that she hadn't been able to enjoy in over four weeks. She gave him a few long licks before placing the tip into her mouth. She played with the spongy head in her mouth with her tongue and Hotch's moans got louder. She had missed hearing him make these noises.
"Beth, you really don't have to."
She removed him from her mouth to shush him.
"I want to. So just be quiet and enjoy it."
Hotch shut his eyes and let his head fall back and she resumed sucking and licking on his tip while her hands began to massage his balls. Throughout the process she kept switching up her technique. Sucking on the head, engulfing him in her mouth, stroking him, licking him, playing with his balls. She kept him on edge for nearly longer than he could handle.
"Fuck. Beth, please. I'm so close."
She decided to stop toying with him and let him finish. Her knees were starting to hurt on the tile anyway. She gave him his favorite combo: sucking on the tip while stroking his shaft and rolling his testicles between her fingers. After doing this for a few moments he lost all control and groaned her name as he spilled himself into the back of her throat. She eased off of him slowly as he came down from his high. Beth had underestimated how much hearing those sounds from Hotch would turn her on, she would give anything to be able to bed him right then but she knew Hotch would never break the rules if it could potentially hurt her.
"God, you're amazing." Hotch told her as he helped lift her to her feet. "You really didn't have to, can I repay the favor?"
Beth just smiled at him. "In two weeks for sure, I have no idea what's going on down there right now. Besides, tonight was all for you. I want you to miss me a bit when you're back at work."
"A bit? It will be a miracle if I can think of anything but you!" He assured her. "Come on let's finish showering."
Beth reluctantly agreed and stepped back under her stream of water to wash her hair and body before they got out and got dried off. When they opened the door to their bedroom Luna was still soundly sleeping in her bassinet.
"Do you think there is a way I can subtly ask JJ if she'd take Jack for a sleepover again in two weeks?" Hotch asked her.
"I don't care who you ask and I don't care if it's subtle just make it happen. Think we can convince anyone to take Lu too? Just for a few hours?" Beth joked.
"Who are we kidding? We'll be lucky if I'm not out on a case when we hit the six week mark."
"True, I guess we shouldn't get too greedy. Although if you're gone I'm just going to take matters into my own hands."
"You're telling me you can make it 6 weeks without sex and then at your first opportunity you'd rather replace me with a vibrator than wait an extra day or two? Man that one hurts."
"Guess you better make sure you're home so we don't find out." Beth giggled at him.
Hotch rolled his eyes at her and Beth just laughed even harder. He was truly wondering how he would ever find the motivation to go back to work. Tomorrow was his last Sunday before returning to work and it had come so much faster than he expected. All he knew for sure was he wasn't taking any of this for granted.
