Story I – Chapter 34
Once the party was over and everyone had left, Hotch and Kahlan loaded up the kids and headed to Rossi's cabin. Once they were on the road, Wyatt looked at Jack and Joey and then to his parents. "What's this about?"
Hotch glanced at him in the rearview mirror. "What's wrong with us going up and enjoying some time at the cabin together as a family?"
Jack huffed. "He answered a question with a question."
Kahlan chuckled and Hotch shot her a dark look.
"Is this about Daddy?" Joey asked.
"It has to be unless something else has come up," Wyatt told her.
Hotch sighed. "Alright! Yes. We are going to talk once we get there, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy ourselves afterwards."
Wyatt settled back into his seat and shared looks with his siblings. Joey shrugged and Jack smirked. "Told you."
Kahlan turned around in her seat. "Ok, guys."
They all looked at her and nodded and then started doing their own things to pass the time.
XXX
All of the Hotchners sat around the family room in the cabin. The crackling fire was the only sound as the kids stared at their father. Hotch ran his hands up and down this thighs nervously and he looked at each of his children. After it was obvious Hotch wasn't going to start without a little encouragement, Kahlan reached over and ran a hand down his back. "Just tell them, Hun."
He took a deep breath as he nodded and then looked at each of them again. "I know you guys have been worried about me, and I know I've seemed a little off, but I want to let you know that you don't need to worry, that I'm ok."
Jack huffed. "Yeah. That explains it."
Wyatt's brows furrowed. "This is about that Colorado case isn't it? When Mom rushed out to you?"
Hotch licked his lips as he swallowed.
"You haven't been the same since," Joey started. "What happened?"
Hotch got up and went to the fireplace. As he absently straightened one of Rossi's pictures on the mantle, he nodded. "Something did happen, and. . . And while it was pretty serious, it's turned out to be alright. At least. . . It seems to be alright so far," he muttered without turning around.
The all shared looks with their mother, but they silently waited for him to continue.
After several silent minutes, Joey finally couldn't take it anymore and she jumped up and wrapped her arms around his waist. "It's ok, Daddy, you can tell us."
A nervous little chuckle escaped Hotch as he looked down into eyes that were a mirror to his own. He squatted down and looked her in the face. "I'm not the same anymore, Angel, but. . ." He looked at the boys as he wrapped his arm around Joey's shoulders. "But just because I'm not the same anymore doesn't mean that it's a bad thing."
Jack fixed Kahlan with a serious look. "Would you please tell us what he's talking about since he can't seem to do it?"
Kahlan gave him a small smile and looked at her husband. He sighed and nodded as he pushed Joey back towards her spot on the couch as he stood back up, so Kahlan took a deep breath. "It's nothing too serious, Dad's just a vampire now," she told them simply.
Wyatt laughed. "Yeah, ok. Cool."
"No really? What's he talking about?" Jack asked her.
Joey's Hotch stare came out in full force as she looked back and forth between her mother and her father. The longer she did it, the more her brows furrowed. "She's telling us the truth, isn't she, Daddy?"
Hotch looked at her and mentally winced at the look on her face. No! You are supposed to be the one who accepts this the easiest. He bit his lip as his stomach tightened. "Yes, she is."
Wyatt's jaw dropped as he realized that they were indeed telling the truth. "What?" he asked in a shaky voice.
Jack's eyes shot back and forth between his parents and after a second or two, he jumped up with a massive smile on his face. "Are you kidding me? That is the coolest thing ever!"
Wyatt shook his head at his brother. "What?! How is that cool?!" he wanted to know.
The grin never left Jack's face, though, as he looked at his father. "That means you can. . . You're like. . . You're really strong now, right?"
A smile played at the edges of Hotch lips. "Yeah, I guess," he admitted and then looked at his other children.
Joey's eyes were darting back and forth while she looked at the floor and both adult Hotchners knew she was thinking a thousand different things at once. When Kahlan turned her attention to Wyatt, she winced. He was shaking his head. "That's not possible!"
Hotch cringed; he couldn't tell if Wyatt was scared or pissed. No! Jack was the one who would need proof. You were supposed to accept this with a smartass grin in your eyes just like your mother!
"Show them, Aaron," Kahlan ordered as she stood up.
Hotch wilted. "Kahlan. . ."
"They need to see it with their own eyes, Hun."
He took a deep breath as all the kids looked at him. His eyes slid shut. Please don't let them be afraid. After another deep breath, he forced himself to changed and opened his eyes.
Joey gasped, Wyatt's jaw dropped, and Jack's grin grew even bigger, but none of them said a word.
"Guys. . ." Kahlan started.
Jack finally took his eyes off of his father and looked back and forth between Wyatt and Joey. "Dad's a real life superhero now!"
Wyatt looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "A superhero? Superhero?" He took a shaky breath and shook his head as he looked back at Hotch. "You mean a monster!" he yelled as his face scrunched up like he was going to cry and then ran to the door and out it.
"Wyatt?!" Hotch called as he turned to follow him as he changed back to normal.
Kahlan held up her hand and stopped him, though. "I got him," she told him and followed her son out the door.
Hotch wilted and looked back at the two left in the room. Jack was still smiling but Joey was gone. He looked around quickly. "Where'd Joe go?"
Jack looked to where she had been standing a few seconds before and then shrugged. "I don't know."
That's when Hotch saw the dog door swinging and he knew she had escaped outside, too. He ran a hand down his face, and Jack went to him. "It's alright, Dad. They'll come around. It was just a shock, you know?"
Hotch swallowed as he nodded. "Yeah, I know." He locked eyes with his son. "Are you really alright with this, Jack?"
Jack smiled again. "Yeah, Dad." He nodded enthusiastically. "Just seeing you do that. . ." He shook his head. "I can't imagine what else you can do, but I bet it's awesome!"
Hotch pulled him into a hug. "Thanks, Buddy." And here, I thought, you were going to be the tough one.
Jack chuckled against his father's chest and then pushed him away. "I'm alright; go find Joe."
Hotch gave him a smile as he nodded and then mused his hair. "Yeah, I better."
XXX
Kahlan walked out onto the pier going out onto the lake. Wyatt was sitting at the end staring down at the water. She took a deep breath and sat down next to him. She sighed when she saw his hands balled into fists and the tear stains trailing down his cheeks attested to the fact that he wasn't taking the news very well at all. She leaned over and bumped her shoulder into his. "Hey."
He nudged her away as he shook his head. "Don't."
She winced at his tone as she sat back up. "Ok."
He shook his head some more and snorted. "It's all a lie," he muttered.
"No, Wyatt. We wouldn't. . ."
He turned to her and the anger in his eyes made her lean back away from him. "No! Not that! All of it! All my life!"
Kahlan's eyes searched his trying to figure out where he was going with that, and she cringed because she couldn't. "What do you mean?"
He huffed as he looked back over the lake.
She reached over and took his hand and held it. "Wyatt, talk to me, please. Dad's been trying so hard. . . What you said. . ." She shook her head. "Why would you say that?"
"Because it's true," he started as his eyes cut to her. "Isn't it? He's a vampire, so that means he's a monster."
She took a deep breath and licked her lips as she started shaking her head. "No, Wy. . . He. . ."
"His eyes were red! He had fangs!" he yelled as he pulled his hand away from her. "I bet he drinks blood, too, doesn't he?" When she winced, he shook his head some more. "He's a real life Halloween story!"
She looked at him with furrowed brows. "But you have loved all that stuff since you were little! Why is it bothering you so much now?" He wilted and she put her arm around him.
"But that's because I thought all of it was fake!" He swallowed thickly. "I remember. . ." He sniffed and she pulled him even closer knowing he had started to cry again. "I remember when I was little and I thought there was a monster under my bed. You told me monsters weren't real, that I didn't have anything to be afraid of!" He pulled away from her and turned to look at her directly. "I would wake up in the middle of the night and hold Daddy Lump and kept repeating to myself that monsters weren't real, and it made me feel better!"
Tears started falling from his eyes in earnest. "And when one of the other boys at Holt's ranch would wake up scared or have a nightmare, I would sit there in the dark with him because the old man never let us have a light, and I would tell him he didn't have anything to be afraid of because monsters weren't real! That the only thing we had to worry about was the old man and them. All we had to be afraid of were the very real humans that were keeping us away from our mommies! And that made both of us feel better!"
He slammed his fist down onto the pier and one of the weathered old pieces actually cracked. "Holt was enough of a monster! We didn't need made up ones scaring us, too!"
Tears fell from Kahlan's eyes as she pulled him back to her and held him to her chest. Remembering the bastard who had held her son along with so many other boys brought up unspent rage for the man, and she had to force that back down. "God, Wy. I am so sorry you had to worry about stuff like that, but what you did helped the other boys, I'm sure of it."
"But it was all just a lie. You lied to me, and I lied to them, and God only knows how many people they've spread that lie to."
She took his face in her hands and locked eyes with him. "It wasn't a lie, Wyatt! All of this stuff. . . All the horror movies, all of the decorations we put out at Halloween. . . Up until Sebastian changed your father, I never knew any of it was real. I didn't lie to you when you were little because I truly didn't think they were real."
He wiped his face and looked at her. "You promise you didn't know until it happened to Dad?"
"Yes! And actually, even when I kind of figured it out, I still didn't want to believe it to tell you the truth because of being raised just like you. We were all taught that monsters weren't real." She sighed heavily. "Of course, now we know they are and they have been around forever, but they have to keep themselves secret. That's why only a few people actually know the truth."
She settled up against him. "I didn't lie to you all those years, Wyatt. I was telling you what I firmly believed."
He sniffed and took a deep breath. "But how can you be so passive about it knowing the truth?"
A heavy sigh escaped her. "Just because you know it now. . . that doesn't change the fact. . ."
"No, Mom. You don't understand." He shook his head and turned back to her. "I can't look at people and not think bad things," he started. When her brows furrowed signaling she didn't understand, he cleared his throat and twisted his whole body around to look into her face more directly. "Because of Dad and you, I look at the strangers walking down the street towards me and wonder things like 'is he a serial killer, does she have kids trapped at her house. . . Even the people I see every day on the bus. . . I wonder if any of them are actually someone bad that Dad should be trying to put away."
She cringed. "Jesus, Wyatt. Why didn't you ever say anything about that? You shouldn't. . . My God, I'm so sorry," she tried as she took his hands in hers.
He shook his head some more. "No. It's not a bad thing. I don't mean that I'm constantly afraid or anything. . . It's just something I think about cause I spent three years on that ranch and not one person suspected anything was wrong! Those people I would see in that town. . . None of them ever questioned it! I would sit in that truck and wonder why none of them would help us, wonder why they were letting him get away with it."
She wanted to die. She never knew he felt that way. She had gotten him counseling after finally getting him back home, and everyone thought he was alright. "I'm so sorry, Wyatt. I didn't. . . Why didn't you tell me?"
A frustrated snort left him as he grabbed her hands. "No. . . You still don't understand. I've dealt with my problems from that, but I worry that some other kid might be being hurt so I look and I watch, thinking that maybe, if I see something, I could tell Dad or you, and then one or both of you could help them if there was a problem."
She ran a hand through her hair. "Alright. I think I know what you mean, but what does any of that have to do with Dad and what he's become?"
He sighed. "Cause now it's not just wondering if someone is bad, I'll look at all those people and have to wonder if they're a monster, too!"
Her mind raced. She was trying to figure out what she could say to him to make him feel better, but she was at a loss. "Wy. . ."
"It was bad enough knowing there are bad people in this world, but I know Dad works hard every day to protect everyone from them." She nodded, but he wilted a little more. "But now. . . To know that the world is also full of monsters. . ." He pulled completely away from her. "And Dad's one of them. . . Who's going to protect everyone from them?"
And that did it. She couldn't take any more, so she stood up roughly. "Wyatt Christopher Hotchner! Do not sit there and actually tell me you think your father would. . . You can't possibly think. . . He would never!" Anger and shock made her stumbled over what she wanted to say. "He is not and never will be a bad person!"
He jumped up. "No! I didn't mean that! I know Dad, no matter what he is, could never do anything bad!"
She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it and turned away from him. She ran a hand down her face in frustration. After a deep breath to try and calm herself down she turned back to him. "Then why are you so mad or scared or whatever of Dad?"
He ducked his head. "It's not really Dad, it's all the other monsters out there that have me worried."
She sighed and went to him, put her hands on his shoulders, and locked eyes with him. "You don't think is bad?" He shook his head quickly, so she licked her lips. "So you should be able to realize that just because someone is different, just because they are not human like us, that that doesn't mean they are bad, Wyatt." She searched his eyes and gave him a small smile. "Monsters are real, but don't you think we would have all known about them if they were going around doing horrible things all the time? They wouldn't have been able to keep themselves secret all this time if they were always doing bad things."
His eyes darted around as he considered her words.
"The guy that changed your father, Sebastian, is a Detective and seems like a really nice guy."
His eyes shot open as his brows rose to his hairline. "You met him? You know him?"
She nodded and smiled. "Yep, and the only reason he changed Dad was to save him. He didn't do it just to hurt him."
His brows furrowed. "To save him?"
She sighed. "Yeah, and as much as this is a shock to you, imagine how Dad feels. He has been trying to adjust, trying to be the great man he has always been, and he's been having a tough time."
He wilted. "And I just made it worse. He doesn't deserve that. He deserves a son who supports him no matter what."
"He never wanted to scare you, Wyatt. He would never want to do that."
He took a deep breath and nodded. "I know. I better go talk to him and apologize."
She gave him a smile. "And I know you must have a thousand questions, and we will answer them, but the first thing we need to do is make sure that you are truly ok with this."
He stood up straight, squared his shoulders, and nodded. "I will be."
She wrapped her arm around his shoulders as they turned to go back to the house. "And once you get to know about it all, you might even think that it's pretty cool."
He chuckled. "You sure seem to think it is."
She smiled as she nodded. "Yep," she agreed as they made their way off the pier and to the porch.
Hotch ran a hand down his face. When he had gone out the back door to search for his daughter, he had heard Kahlan and Wyatt talking so he had snuck up onto the roof of the cabin and listened to them. I'm so sorry, Wyatt. I never knew you thought any of those things. He took a deep breath. But I will make sure that you know this doesn't have to be a bad thing.
He stood up and looked out into the darkening forest. And now I need to find my little angel.
