Hotch pov:
I'm getting a call. It's from Sam's school? Why are they calling? I think in my head as I answer the call. "Due to the rise in Covid cases in Virginia and surrounding states, Quantico school district has made the formal decision to go back online for the coming week following Winter Break. Technology (laptops and tablets) can be received at the technology department in Quantico. Sorry for any inconvenience.", the automated message. I get up, How do I tell him? He's going to be so disappointed. He loves his friends at his school. When I finish my paperwork I will tell him, he is on Winter Break so I imagine he is still sleeping.
1 hour later
(Hotch is like a narrator at this part) I'm finished with my work at the office. When I get home I have to tell him. I hope he isn't too disappointed. On the way home I'm brainstorming ideas about how to tell him. Just as I figure out a plan, I am pulling in the driveway. I am not very excited to give him this news. I knock on Sam's bedroom door expecting them to be asleep but I hear a faint "come in", I walk in looking around to see his room, surprisingly, clean. "Hi dad! I cleaned my room just in time to go back to school!". Oh boy this is gonna be a hard one. "About that bud, just for this week you are gonna be doing online school it's just because of the ris-", as I'm about to finish my sentence Sam interrupts me. "Online school?", I sigh "Yes Sam, online school", I say in a disappointed voice. I wait for a response and I see Sam start to tear up. I hate seeing him cry. I walk over and hug him "It's gonna be okay 'little man'" I say, pulling out a nickname I haven't used since he accidentally broke his favorite toy train when he was around 3. "This means you get to work with me at the BAU and see all your aunts and uncles," the soon-to-be teenager smiles. "Even Uncle Derek?" Sam sounds, starting to get excited. "Yes, even Uncle Derek." I say while smiling. I can't believe in just 3 months he will be 13, the years really do go by.
