December 12, 2013 - 10 weeks old

Beth was lounging on the couch with a sleeping baby on her chest waiting for Jack's bus to drop him off from school when she felt her phone buzz. Glancing at the notification she saw it was from Hotch. He had been gone 3 nights on a case and it was the longest he had been away since Luna had been born. She was anxious for him to come home - being the only parent 24/7 had been exhausting and she sincerely hoped he would be home for the weekend.

*On our way home now. I should be home before bedtime. Please keep them up if you can. I've missed you all.*

Beth grinned at the good news and knew Jack would be happy as well.

*Sure thing - we've all missed you and will be excited to see you.*

She texted him back and heard the bus stop in front of their driveway. It was only a minute before Jack came running in the door, his cheeks pink from the cold.

"Hi, mom!"

"Hey, bud! How was school?"

"It was good, we learned about plants and how they make oxygen."

Jack hung up his winter coat and kicked off his boots before climbing up next to her on the couch.

"Can I watch SpongeBob?"

"How much homework do you have?"

"Not a lot. Just a math worksheet and practicing reading."

"Okay we can watch TV for a bit but then you're doing your math while I make dinner. And you can practice reading to your dad, Luna, and I at bedtime." He noticed right away.

"Dad's coming home?!" He asked excitedly.

"Yep, he should be home around bedtime so we'll get all ready for bed so that we can read once he gets here."

Jack settled in next to her, pleased to hear the good news. They relaxed and watched a couple of episodes of SpongeBob before Beth decided it was time to be productive.

"Alright, dude. Go get your homework. I'm gonna make spaghetti and meatballs for dinner."

"Just one more episode?" He asked hopefully.

"Not right now. You need to get your homework done."

Jack didn't argue and ran to pull his homework from his backpack. Beth felt proud of herself and the role of being a mother that she was growing into. Jack settled himself on the kitchen island and Beth put the baby in the swing. With both kids occupied momentarily she started boiling the pasta water.

Jack finished his math homework and they ate dinner together. They were sitting on the couch together trying to coax smiles from Luna when they both heard the familiar sound of the garage door opening.

"Dad's home!" Jack exclaimed and his excitement finally got the smile they had been hoping for from Luna.

Beth giggled. "Does that make you happy, Lu? Did you miss your dad?"

The baby continued to smile at them and Hotch entered the house.

Jack immediately ran to give him a hug and while Beth noticed how utterly sleep deprived he looked she could tell he was happy they were all still awake to greet him.

Beth pulled herself and the baby off the couch but hung back as Jack and Hotch still were greeting each other.

"Go run upstairs and pick out some books for tonight and I'll be up in a minute, okay?"

Jack nodded and ran up the stairs to his bedroom.

Hotch walked over to Beth and gave her a long hug before leaning back to kiss her.

"It's good to have you back, Hotchner." Beth told him when they broke off the kiss.

She handed him the baby. "She missed you. She'll smile occasionally for me and Jack but she definitely prefers smiling for you."

"Is that right, sweet Luna?" Hotch cooed at the baby as he kissed her multiple times on her cheeks. Immediately Luna gave him a big smile and Hotch grinned at her in return. "Gosh, I missed you guys."

Beth hugged him again. "We missed you too. Let's go read with Jack."

They followed Jack up to his room where he was patiently waiting in his bed with his books picked out. They sat on the end of his bed as Jack carefully sounded out the different words and diligently showed them the pictures to every page. Beth nursed Luna to sleep as they listened to Jack recount the adventures of the Bernstein Bears.

"Alright bud, you did a great job. I'm proud of you.'" Hotch told his son as he tucked him in and turned on the night light.

"Will you still be home tomorrow dad?"

"I hope so, Jack. Should just be a normal day in the office so I'll see you in the morning and I'll be home before dinner."

"Night, big man. We love you." Beth kissed him goodnight on the forehead and they gently shut his door on their way out.

Making their way to the master bedroom Beth placed Luna in the bassinet on her side of the bed. She hesitated before turning on the baby monitor.

"You seem exhausted. Why don't you just go to bed?" Beth suggested to him.

"I'm fine. I want to spend time with you." He argued.

"It's okay. I'm exhausted too. Our kids are exhausting!" She chuckled. "I'll lay in bed and read until I'm ready to fall asleep."

Hotch sighed and nodded. "I am exhausted. But I missed you and I hate that we're only spending 30 minutes together before I'm passed out."

"We'll enjoy our time together more if we get some rest. Hopefully tomorrow will be lowkey at the office and we can spend the weekend together as a family."

They brushed teeth and climbed into bed and Hotch nearly moaned in delight at being reunited with their bed. He felt his body sink into the mattress and the sheets had never felt softer after 3 nights of stiff hotel sheets. He knew he would be asleep within minutes so he took a moment and placed his hand on Beth's thigh under the blankets.

"I love you," he told her.

Beth lowered the book and smiled at him.

"I love you too."

Not long after Hotch's breathing grew deeper did Beth decide it was time for her to go to bed as well. It was barely 9 PM - motherhood was a whole different kind of wild. She removed her reading glasses and placed them and the book on the bedside table near the bassinet. She snuggled under the covers and let the rhythm of Hotch's breathing lull her to sleep.

XXX

At first Beth wasn't sure what had awoken her. It wasn't a baby crying but it was something. Then she heard it again. It was Aaron. He was mumbling in his sleep, she had never heard him sleep talk before. It quickly got louder and more frantic.

"No, please no. Please, not again. Please. No. No. No."

Those were the only words she could distinguish from his lips and then she heard a new word. One that crushed her soul.

"Haley," he gasped.

He sounded so desperate and it broke Beth's heart. He was reliving the worst day of his life. She wasn't sure the best way to wake him but she knew she couldn't let him go on like this.

"Aaron," she called gently. Grabbing onto his arm. His muscles were tensed under her touch.

"Aaron," she said, louder this time. "Aaron, wake up."

She started shaking his arm more vigorously but it wasn't seeming to have an effect. He just kept mumbling the same words over and over again, his body was tense and starting to thrash. Finally she pulled the covers off their bodies and climbed on top of him. Her legs straddled over his hips and each hand grasping his arm. He was much stronger than her and could easily throw her off but before he had the chance she nearly shouted his name.

"Aaron!"

His eyes flew open and Beth watched as he struggled to reorient himself to reality in their dark bedroom.

"You were having a bad dream," she said gently even though she was sure he already knew.

She relaxed her grip on his arms and they came up to wrap around her pulling her body to his. He rolled them so she was beneath him and he buried his face into her neck and hair. She heard him take long ragged breaths trying to slow down his heart rate and his breathing, she could feel the wetness of fallen tears on her skin. She wrapped her arms around him placing a hand at the nape of his neck slowly running her fingers through the short hair there. The other hand went to the small of his back and she noticed that he was drenched in sweat. How long had he been dreaming before she had woken him up?

"You're okay. You're safe. Everything's alright." She whispered in his ear but she wasn't sure it was helpful. Haley was not okay, she was dead, and despite the fact that they had been divorced and Aaron had moved on, she knew nothing could ever make that right. So she stopped talking and just let him find whatever comfort he could in her.

After several minutes his breathing had quieted and he lay still on top of her. Beth might have wondered if he had fallen back asleep but she could feel his eyelashes on the sensitive skin of her neck everytime he blinked. So she stayed silent with him only letting her fingers move in small circles at the nape of his neck.

"You were there too." Was the first thing he said.

Beth wasn't sure what he meant. Hotch cleared his throat and pushed himself off of her. "It was that day. With Haley and Jack. But you and Luna were there too and I was just as helpless. Just as scared. And it felt so intensely real. I used to get dreams about that day a lot, but they've been less common as time has passed, and I've never gotten one while I was in bed with you.

"The anniversary of her death was only a couple weeks ago not to mention you're overworked and under-rested. You're stressed, Aaron. And you miss her. And all of that is normal. Tell me what I can do to help."

"Just by being here you bring me more peace and comfort than you'll ever know. I'm gonna take a shower."

Hotch got out of bed and grabbed clean pajamas before heading into the bathroom to start the shower. Beth noticed the sweat stains on his side of the bed so she got up and put clean sheets on the bed before he came back. Luna had miraculously remained sleeping throughout the ordeal but it was nearing her usual feeding time so Beth gently removed her from her bassinet and changed her diaper to help wake her up to nurse.

Beth was sitting up in bed feeding the baby and watching Friends when Hotch came back into their bedroom with wet hair and fresh pajamas on.

"I wasn't sure if you'd be able to go back to sleep right away so I turned on the TV. But I can turn it back off?" She had hesitated with the decision to turn it on in the first place, not sure if he'd want to talk or if he'd want to sleep or if he'd be grateful for the distraction from what had taken place.

Hotch shook his head. "This is perfect. I don't mind that background noise - even if it is a laugh track to jokes that aren't even funny."

"Hey now! I happen to think the jokes are hilarious. But I'll put on a sleep timer so it doesn't stay on all night."

"Did I wake her up?" He asked, gesturing to Luna. His tone was back to being serious.

"No, I woke her up to feed her before we go back to bed. Hopefully this way she'll sleep through to the morning."

They sat in bed, quietly enjoying the mindless TV despite the ungodly hour. Eventually Luna drifted back to sleep and Beth laid her down in her bassinet. She pulled the covers back over herself and curled up next to Hotch, resting her head against his chest. Hotch wrapped his arms around her and kept her tight to his body and soon they both fell back to sleep. When they both woke up 4 hours later they were still in each other's arms.