Chapter 12
While flying back from Nashville, Dave in some quiet time sitting by himself, had made the decision to give the Hotchner's some space. His heart tugged at him to be there for them, yet he knew in his head that they had to do this on their own. Aaron needed to re-bond with his sons and become a full-time father. And as much he loved them all, the three of them needed to do that without someone that could become a crutch.
Sitting in his office Tuesday morning, taking a break from consults and after actions reports, Erin's goddamn paperwork he thought, Morgan knocked on his open door. "Gotta sec," Morgan asked.
"For you Derek, always," Dave smiled. "What's up?"
"Have you talked to Hotch? Is he going to take Strauss' offer?"
Dave shook his head. "I'm trying to give them some space. Aaron has to re-bond with his sons and settle into being a single parent; which he will do before he makes any decision. And since Strauss gave him the time to give her an answer, he's going to take it. Derek, he's got enough on his plate right now, dealing with the boys and Haley's estate."
"I know, but you two are close. I just thought you might have checked in."
Dave smiled. "That, I can do," and he reached for his cell phone and hit the speed dial button for Hotch's. He looked at Derek to keep quiet while he put the cell on speaker. Morgan walked over to the door, quietly shut it and sat back down.
"Hey Dave," Aaron answered. "How's the team?"
"We're fine Aaron and Morgan is doing a great job. Don't worry about us. How are you and the boys doing?" Hotch filled Dave in on their weekend working at the house, the visit to the doctor and getting Sean off.
He finished his "report" by saying, "We're at the house right now. I'm waiting on the claims adjustor from the homeowner's insurance company and a Marshall Service rep that will be part of that convo. The way we're going around here, we should have everything packed up to go to storage or be donated by the weekend. Then comes the fun part; dealing with all the paper work. A Law School classmate of mine has agreed to handle all the legal stuff. I'm spending the afternoon looking at pre-schools for Jack. The next big thing is Zach's visit with the orthopedic specialist Thursday morning for his finger. And the boys and I are going back to that store next to where we got Zach's suit tonight to get them some more clothes. You can't believe how little they have, starting with winter coats; not much at the house fits anymore."
"When you start to move things out, do you need help? I can round up the team. You know they'd love to help out." Derek nodded his head.
"I'll get back to you on that Dave. I'm taking it one step at a time, and right now, I'm taking baby steps."
"Just let us know Aaron."
"I will. Thanks Dave."
"Give me a shout if you need anything."
"Got it Dave; thank you." The call clicked off.
"He sounds pretty damn good, considering," Morgan noted.
"But I still worry about him."
"Dave?"
"He's got a boatload on his plate, and you know Hotch. And even though he's taking 'baby steps', you and I both know he's going to try and plow through it. What happens when the other shoe drops and he gets time to think?"
Morgan smiled and rose out of the chair across from Rossi's desk. "You'll be there Dave," he winked and left. Rossi just smiled.
Zach walked into the living room as Hotch ended the call with Dave. "What's up?"
"Uncle Dave was just checking up on us," he smiled.
"Dad, I thought he'd be around more since the team is back."
"Son, I think Dave wants us to find our own way as a family before he jumps back in. I really appreciate that. As close as we all are, he could become a crutch; to me and you boys."
Zach smiled. "You're good dad."
"I have my moments Zach," Hotch smiled.
"So does he," Zach smiled at his dad.
"Yes, son, he does," Aaron smiled.
"Dad, I've got a game plan."
"Let's hear it."
Zach laid it out to his father. "All the stuff that is going to be donated to charity, we can get together downstairs. The stuff that goes into storage, we could put in the garage. The house isn't going to go on the market for a while so we'd have the time to deal with that when we can get to it."
Aaron clamped a hand on his oldest son's shoulder. "You just keep thinking Zach. Sounds like a game plan to me."
They both heard Jack banging around in his room, happily playing by himself. Just then the doorbell rang. Zach looked at Aaron. "I'll keep him busy; you do what you have to do. Whistle for us when you ready," he said, glancing at his watch. "But he's going to need lunch sometime soon."
"Thanks Zach," Aaron said, rubbing his shoulder again as he moved to the door.
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When the three of them finished, Hotch whistled for Zach. His two sons come thundering down the steps. Hotch smiled to himself, although a bit sadly. He and Haley had talked about that future before the split. She would have loved to hear that he quietly thought, even though she would have shook her head at her sons.
"Hey Zach, got a surprise for you." He walked to the right of the front door and pulled up Zach's backpack from the school in New Jersey. "The Marshall brought it for you."
"Sweet; I've got my iPod back," he smiled and then it dimmed. "How'd it go?"
"Everything is rolling son. Let me worry about that."
The three Hotchner's had lunch at McDonald's. Jack looked at Aaron. "This was the last place we ate with mommy."
Hotch looked at Jack. "Is that would mommy want you to remember?" Jack shook his head at Aaron, smiling. Zach sitting across from the two of them, smiled as well, plowing through his second quarter-pounder with cheese.
"Daddy, are we going back to the house?" Jack asked. "It's not right without mommy there."
Aaron looked at Jack. "Nope, we're going to get Zach a new cell phone and then back home because you," he tickled Jack, "need a nap." Jack giggled and then looked at Aaron, giving him his father's infamous look.
Jack very seriously nodded his head up and down once. "Zach needs a phone so you can talk to him."
Aaron smiled. "Yes, Zach needs a phone so I can talk to him. After that, I going to find you a pre-school," he smiled at Jack.
"Sweet!" Jack said. "New friends!"
The second pre-school that Aaron looked at in Annandale was perfect. Instead of a home-based business, like the first one he looked at, this one had their own building, yet they weren't part of a "chain" childcare company. It was three sisters that started a daycare business together and expanded to offer pre-school for four year olds. And while they had many kids there, he found the teacher to child ratio to be ten to one for toddlers and older. They were well-staffed, the place was absolutely spotless with an older woman, that Aaron noticed, obviously the janitor, cleaning as a group of kids raced by her to go outside and play. They all called her by name with a special greeting. He sat down with one of the co-owners that would be Jack's teacher. Aaron immediately knew that Tami had a heart of gold. He explained the situation to her, with her eyes showing tears about what happened to Haley and promised Aaron that they would diligently take care of Jack.
Aaron smiled at her. "When can Jack start?"
Tami looked at him. "How does tomorrow sound?" Aaron looked at her. "It's seems you have a lot on your plate Agent Hotchner and we'd love to help you out."
"First off, I'm Aaron, trying to be a single father. Secondly, tomorrow? Really? That would be huge for me."
Tami smiled at him. "Let's get you into the office and do the paperwork." And by paperwork, she meant paperwork. Aaron filled out forms that he couldn't believe: medical consent, food allergies; the works. But the biggest one that impressed Aaron, cementing in his head he made the right choice, was the release form.
"Aaron, by signing this," Tami explained, "you are giving us your consent to let Jack be released into the care of the people you name. And each of the people you name needs to stop by here in person, so that we can make a copy of their driver's license so we know for sure who we are releasing Jack to. And until they do that, we don't let him go with them." Aaron named Zach and Jessica, obviously, and then added Dave and Penelope just to be on the safe side.
"Zach will be with us tomorrow morning when Jack comes in. Jessica can stop tomorrow night after work. The other two may take a couple of weeks, but I don't anticipate using them unless it's an emergency." Tami just smiled and nodded.
As Hotch settled into his car to drive back to his apartment in McLean, he breathed a huge sigh of relief. He had crossed a big hurdle. Annandale was on his way to Quantico and he and Jack could spend the drive sharing one-on-one time. It was perfect.
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The next morning, Aaron got Jack up for school. Jack, while showing the Hotchner nervousness of a new situation, seemed genuinely excited. Zach finished his shower; they ate breakfast together and set off.
Tami was waiting for Jack at the front door. Aaron introduced her to Zach. After shaking her hand, Zach scooped up Jack into his arms. "I think you scored big time JP." He leaned his forehead to his little brother's. "Be good on your first day, OK?"
"Zach, I'm always good in school," Jack smiled. Zach hugged him and handed him to Aaron who repeated the process. Tami smiled at them and led Jack off to his classroom.
Zach, doing the paperwork, showed his New Jersey driver's license. "Sorry," Aaron apologized to the secretary, "not at the top of my list."
"That's OK Aaron," Marci, the secretary smiled. "It starts with me and they don't get by me. I've got the button to lock those doors," she said, motioning at the double doors that gave access to the rooms where the kids were. "And since I've met Zach, the DL is a formality. We just need to have a record of it."
Zach looked at Aaron. "Ya just hit a huge dinger dad."
"Oh Zach," Marci said. "Your dad hit it out of the park," and winked at him. "We know baseball around here." Zach pointed his splinted finger at Hotch.
He and Zach spent the rest of the day at the house, moving furniture following Zach's plan. Jessica was dragging her feet in finishing taking care of Haley's stuff, but Hotch wasn't about to be bothered by that. He was only looking at tomorrow.
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After dropping Jack off at school Thursday morning, the next stop for the two Hotchner's was a re-visit to the clinic. Zach got ushered in to see Dr. Carlson, the orthopedic specialist. She greeted them both, got them sat down and then pulled the MRI image up on her computer screen.
She pointed to the screen. "There's very obvious ligament damage. On a scale of one to ten, I'd say an eight." She looked them both in the eye. "And while I'd like to help, I could do more harm than good."
Aaron looked at her. "The ligament that is damaged also has a central nerve running through it for the finger. I could try and fix the damage but it would it be tricky at best. And if I nick that nerve in doing so, Zach loses all feeling to the finger."
She looked at Zach. "I know you play baseball and you are a righty; something you didn't inherit from your dad. I hit that nerve, you don't play anymore. You will have complete loss of control with that finger."
Aaron looked at Zach and then Dr. Carlson. "Options?"
"Option one is I do the surgery and we all take chances. Very honestly Aaron, I really don't want to do that. It's that risky to Zach playing baseball. And I know how much that means to him. I was in that room, remember? That was the first thing Zach said to the ER doc," she smiled. Zach just shook his head.
"Option two is this: we keep him in the splint for a minimum for six weeks. We let that ligament settle and heal on its own. From the MRI, I can plainly see that it is still badly aggravated. But ligaments, if left alone, in a lot of cases can heal on their own."
"Worst case scenario with Option two Doctor," Aaron asked.
Dr. Carlson looked at both of them and shrugged. "He has limited mobility in bending the finger; which means he can't grip a baseball, far less a bat." She looked at the two of them and saw that news register with both of them.
"But I don't think it will be that. Dr. Schmidt sent me his report of the dexterity Zach had in his finger when he pulled the stitches. I take that as a huge sign that the 'eight' I gave you, keeping it immobilized and letting it heal, will turn into a four, maybe even a three."
Zach looked at her. "Bottom line Zach; you'll have complete use of the finger for gripping. You just won't be able to put that finger down flat." Zach gave her another look of question. "Zach, lay your hand on my desktop." He did, with Dr. Carlson removing the splint. "That finger will never lay flat. The ligament, as much as it will heal with rest, the damage will never allow that. That finger will have a permanent crook in it."
"But I can play ball?"
Dr. Carlson smiled. "Does baseball require you to have a finger that can stick out absolutely straight?"
"Nope," Zach smiled. "But my pitchers may have to get used to my fastball sign with a crooked finger."
Dr. Carlson laughed and looked at Aaron. "He's your son and a minor. It's your decision."
Aaron smiled at her. "Thank you doctor; but I think the decision has already been made."
Dr. Carlson sternly looked at Zach. "When I mean six weeks, I mean six weeks. You don't mess with me; or that finger."
Zach smiled. "Wouldn't dream of it Doc."
Dr. Carlson had them schedule a follow-up visit.
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A/N: Hitting a "dinger" in baseball terms is hitting a homerun. Hitting it out of the park is exactly that. Sometimes a baseball hitter can connect so sweet, the ball they hit goes completely out of the outdoor stadium. They are also known as "monsters shots" or "bombs". Just for future reference.