"Jack?" Hotch was waiting outside the main door of his son's school as the final bell of the day rang and students began escaping.
"Dad?" the look on Jack's face was a mixture of shock and surprise. "What are you doing here?" He looked around furtively.
"Garcia told me that no one has been able to get you on your phone," Hotch explained. "And we need to talk. So, I came over."
"I have to get to soccer practice," Jack was frantically looking around. "I can't be late. And, the city bus will be here any minute."
"I can drive you over," Hotch told him. "And, I suspect we will have time to stop for a snack on the way. My car is over here." He began leading the way towards the parking lot.
"I wanted to call you, but Aunt Jessica took my phone," Jack explained as he hurried along behind his father. "I did want to talk with you Dad – Honest!"
"Well, we have a chance to talk now," Hotch told his son as they reached the car. "And, I'll have a word with Jessica when she comes to pick you up after practice. Okay?"
"I guess so," Jack sighed. "But I don't know what she is going to say."
He glanced around inside the car. "She isn't here, is she?" he questioned anxiously.
"Who?" Hotch knew who Jack was talking about but he wanted him to say it.
"You know – That woman," Jack replied angrily. "The one who is going to ruin everything."
"Her name is Lynn," Hotch told him calmly. "And she is my wife. And she is not here to ruin anything."
"That's not what Aunt Jessica says," Jack reported as he climbed into the car. "She says nothing is ever going to be right again."
"Well, I don't know your aunt's definition of 'right'," Hotch told him. "But I am going to have a talk with her when I see her."
He started the car up and pulled out into the street. "Where do you want to go for a bite to eat?" he asked his son. "And I want to hear all about your soccer team this year. What position are you playing?"
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"Jessica," Hotch calmly greeted his sister-in-law when she arrived at the soccer field.
"Aaron," she returned the greeting. "I'm surprised to see you here."
"Why wouldn't I be here?" he asked. "Jack is my son and I came to see him play."
"I thought you would be busy with your new family," Jessica sneered.
"I don't have a new family," Hotch replied. "Just an extension of my old family. And, you can be part of that, too. If you want to be."
"Sorry," Jessica tried unsuccessfully to brush past him and into the bleachers. "But Jack and I have other things to do."
"Jack is my son," Hutch looked her in the eye as he blocked her way. "And I intend for him to become acquainted with Lynn and Jacob – and the baby when it arrives. And, that starts tonight. When I leave here, Jack will be coming with me back to the hotel to have dinner with us. You are welcome to join us if you are interested."
"I can't say that I am interested," Jessica stated flatly. "However, I suspect that if I want Jack home at a reasonable hour I will have to drive him myself. So I suppose I will be joining you for dinner."
"Good," Hotch told her. "You know the address."
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
When Hotch (accompanied by Jack and trailed by Jessica) walked into the hotel lobby and saw Lynn and Jacob standing there waiting for him, he felt his heart swell up with pride. They just looked so right standing there waiting for him.
"Aaron!" Jacob shouted as he raced towards his stepfather. "Look – I got kicks just like Uncle Spencer!" He stopped and held up one foot.
"Hey There!" Hotch grabbed the boy, picked him up, and swung him around. "You most certainly do!"
"Reid left?" he asked Lynn as he put Jacob back on the ground.
"Yes," she replied. "He dropped Jacob off and said he had a meeting scheduled with one of his students and then a Skype session – whatever that is - with The Professor. Something about getting a paper published."
"We'll have to set you up with Skype so you can talk with The Professor too," Hotch told her. "It's like talking with someone on the telephone but with a picture." He remembered Garcia's description. "It comes in handy when you have to show and tell whatever it is you are discussing."
"He spent the day with Uncle Spencer?" Jack demanded angrily. "And he got new shoes like his, too?"
"Reid wanted to have some tests run on Jacob," Hotch explained. "So he actually spent the day with the researchers in the Child Development Lab."
"So they can find out what is wrong with him?" Jessica asked archly.
"No, so they can find out what is right with him," Hotch immediately responded. "Reid thinks he is advanced for his age and wanted to verify that."
"And, if you want 'kicks' like Reid's, we can buy you some," he told his son.
"Aunt Jessica says we can't afford them," Jack explained. "She also says we can't afford a better computer set-up or Skype."
"Jessica, what is going on?" Hotch looked at the woman. "I know you have been receiving benefits from The Bureau for Jack and, when I checked, it also looked like you had emptied out the bank accounts I had set up for him."
"We had to have a roof over our heads," Jessica told him. "And you have no idea what it costs to feed a growing boy."
"Well, I am sure you have been keeping track of all his expenditures," Hotch said calmly. "So, if you will get a copy of that over to me, I'll go over it and see how things stand."
"Now," he turned to Lynn. "I am sure that both Lynn and Jacob are just as hungry as I am. So, let's go get some dinner!"
He took Jacob by the hand, wrapped his other arm around Jack's shoulders, and began leading the way towards the dining room.
"I tried to call you the other afternoon," Jessica informed Lynn as they followed Hotch and the boys. "But it appears you were out."
"I'm sorry," Lynn apologized. "I didn't know what a phone is, so, I didn't know how to answer it."
"You don't know what a phone is?" Jessica sniffed. "What kind of backwoods dump did Aaron find you in?"
She then strode ahead to the entrance to the dining room where she proceeded to dictate to the host on duty exactly what type of table she expected to be seated at.