ack is 12. Henry is 9. And Sam/Sammie (Full name Samantha) is 7.

Full Summary: JJ and Hotch are happily together and have been for a few years. They are married with Jack, Henry, and now a daughter as well. Things are going perfectly, too perfectly... That's when Hotch ends up in a terrible accident and when he comes to, he reaches out and asks for Haley. He's completely unaware he's been married to JJ, that he has a daughter and that Gideon left the team. This fic will show JJ and Hotch struggling to rebuild their relationship and show Hotch having to cope with Haley's death all over again.

Author's Note: This idea has been something in my mind for awhile. It was originally meant to be for an original story and not fanfiction, but then I decided on this.

I hope you enjoy this! And thank you so much for reading!

As of Sep 2020, I have also started a Weekly Prompt Forum that helps you get reviews, gives inspiration and just a place to make friends. The link is in my profile, and I would really appreciate it if you would check it out? It would mean a lot to me. I really want to get this forum going.

To an outsider, the scene would have seemed chaotic and out of control. However, to the Hotchners, it was just another regular morning.

"Mom, you promised! No more ham sandwiches," Jack Hotchner whined as he peered into his lunch kit, dramatically giving a gag of disgust. He lifted the sandwich by the edge of the bag like it'd was holding something toxic.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry," JJ said apologetically, now remembering her promise. "Give it here," She reached out to take the sandwich from him, "Is tuna okay?"

Jack nodded and sat down at the table beside Henry, who was already stuffing pancakes into his mouth.

"That's gross," seven year old Samantha shouted loudly, pointing at Henry.

In response, Henry opened his mouth to show her what was going on in there.

"Eww! Mom! He's doing it again," Sam said with disgust, turning her head to look anywhere else.

"Henry, chew with your mouth closed," JJ reprimanded him, now mixing mayonnaise into the tuna.

"Can I have tuna now instead of ham?" Henry asked, swallowing his pancakes much to his sister's relief.

Sighing, JJ nodded, and told him, "Bring me your ham sandwich out of your bag and I'll replace it." She waited. She now expected Sam to demand a new sandwich as well, but she didn't. Then again, JJ should have expected that. Sam had the same sandwich every day, faithfully. Peanut butter. Just plain old peanut butter. There was no reason that would change now.

"Mom, can I have the peanut butter?" Sam asked, almost as if to clarify JJ's thoughts.

JJ nodded, setting the spoon down to reach up into the cupboard to get the peanut butter. Sam always put peanut butter on her pancakes. Sometimes she added jam. This seemed weird to JJ, and she had no idea where Samantha picked this up, but it was what Sam liked.

"Mom, can I have two oranges instead of an apple and an orange?" Jack asked, his mouth stuffed full of bacon. Again, Sam cringed. Boys were so gross.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," JJ said in a lecturing tone, "and no."

"But mom! I don't like apples," Jack complained, leaning back on his chair.

"Mom! Henry's kicking me under the table," Sam said, her voice hitting a high octave JJ hadn't thought possible.

Before JJ had a chance to respond, Hotch was already walking in. "JJ, honey, have you seen my tie?" he asked.

"Which one?" she replied as she turned towards Henry to stop him picking on Sam.

"The one that matches this suit," Aaron said with an annoyed tone, as if that explained everything.

JJ looked over at her husband, eyeing his suit up and down. A dark blue tie... he had how many of those, and he couldn't find one?

As if Hotch could read her mind, he said, "each one in the drawer goes with a different blue suit."

Rolling her eyes, she finally finished mixing the tuna. She asked, with a tone of frustration, "Did you check the laundry room?" Why couldn't he just use another? It's not like anyone could tell that he was wearing a different tie that 'didn't belong' with that suit. They were near identical!

"I figured since you did laundry... you'd know if it was in there," Hotch responded.

"Henry had it!" Samantha suddenly spoke up, looking over at Henry with a small smile.

"Did not!" Henry claimed, shooting his younger sister a glare.

"Yes, he did," Sam insisted, "He was using it for some sort of game."

"A blind fold," Henry muttered under his breath. He had used it to play Marco Polo out in the yard with his friends from up the block. They'd stopped playing when Jamie slipped over a root and hurt his arm.

"Where is it?" Hotch asked, turning to cross his arms at Henry. Henry was attempting to look innocent, but failing miserably.

Henry looked down guiltily as he reached into his back pack and pulled the tie out.

When he saw that it was all crumpled and had something sticky on it, Hotch sighed. "I'll just go use a different blue tie," he said, "Who will know the difference?"

JJ turned quickly around toward Hotch, fully intending to ask him why he hadn't just done that in the first place, but he was already gone.

"Mom! He's still kicking me!" Sam complained.

"Henry, quit kicking your sister," JJ said, clearly exasperated, as she put the new sandwiches into little bags.

"She started it!" Henry said quickly.

"Mom! We're going to miss the bus," Jack shouted in a panic, accidentally knocking over his milk and spilling it across the table.

"Eww! Mom, there's milk on my pancakes!" Sam suddenly whined, sticking her tongue out in disgust.

"Here," JJ said, passing Jack his new lunch and before she could kiss him good bye, he was already out the door.

Both Henry and Samantha only had a few minutes to spare until their bus arrived.

"Both of you, get your shoes on," JJ told them, now trying to wipe up as much of the milk as she could.

There were a few very peaceful seconds before...

"Mom! I can't find my other shoe," Sam said miserably, coming in with only her left shoe on.

"Wear a different pair," JJ said tiredly, not bothering to look up.

"But I want to wear these ones!" Sam declared loudly.

Groaning quietly, JJ set the cloth down helped her daughter look. It took her seconds to spot the missing shoe. Raising an eyebrow at her daughter, JJ pulled it out from under Sam's back pack and passed it to her. JJ told her, "Now hurry up, your bus will be here any minute."

It seemed a miracle when both kids were finally ready and walking out the door.

"Bye mom!" the kids shouted over their shoulders.

"I love you both, and I'll see you after school," JJ called out, watching carefully as they walked down the driveway to wait.

JJ watched both Henry and Sam until the bus came. After seeing so many cases, she was more careful than most parents. She tried not to be over protective but sometimes... it was so difficult.

JJ now only worked part time at the BAU. Sometimes, she went out on cases with them but for the most part she stayed home where she felt she belonged. With her children. A few years ago, she would have never thought it possible for her to step away but now, she aimed to do a week on and a week off. Sometimes, cases didn't allow the luxury of that break but it generally worked out okay.

Her eyes flickered towards the mess in the kitchen. The dishes and food were everywhere, and she paused to savour a silent moment. She wouldn't give this up for anything.

"JJ, honey?" Hotch asked her, breaking her out of her moment of peace, "Can you tell that this tie doesn't belong with this suit?"

Groaning, she turned to face him but instead of being annoyed, JJ laughed quietly. This was her life now and she loved every minute of it.