She woke up in his arms, this was a feeling that would never get pulled her tight to his chest and kissed the top of her head.
"Good morning." He said against the top of her head.
"Morning." She was snuggled against his chest.
"I need to head home and get ready for work." She raised up and looked at him, smiling.
"See you later." She leaned forward and kissed him.
"I'll bring Jack by with some dinner."
"Sounds good!" He kissed her one more time before leaving.
The nurse came in smiling at her "How'd you sleep?"
"Great!"
"Do you think I could get a shower?"
"Sure thing honey!"
"Is that good looking man your husband?"
"No, he's my...complicated."
"The doctor may let you go home today or tomorrow."
"Really?"
"You're doing wonderful!"
The nurse helped her into the bathroom, she got into the shower. She washed her hair, other then bed baths she hadn't had one in ages. She just wanted to stay under the hot water for hours until she felt clean, she got out of the shower and wrapped the towel around herself.
She looked at her body in the full length mirror, the bruises were fading on her body, she looked at the knife wound. It looked ugly, she dried it off, and got dressed. She let her hair dry naturally, she brushed her teeth and came out of the bathroom. She climbed into the freshly made bed.
Morgan knocked on the door and came in carrying a bag of breakfast. "I heard you were having issues with the hospital food."
He sat the bag in front of her, the smell of pancakes and bacon rose out. "Thank you so much!"
"You have to get your strength up!" He sat a cup of coffee in front of her.
"Thanks Morgan!"
He sat down in the chair beside her bed. "So, what's new with you Cooper?"
"Tell me what you've heard."
"I haven't heard anything."
"There you go!" She smiled at him.
Dr. Guffey came into the room, "Agent Cooper, how are you feeling this morning?"
"Great!"
"I see your eating, with no issues."
She nodded.
"How'd you like to go home today?"
"Really?"
"As long as you take it easy."
"I promise."
"I'll write the discharge orders and the nurse will be in to discharge you."
"Thank you." The doctor left the room. "So you want to give me a ride home?"
"Nothing doing! Hotch will kill me. You better be calling him!"
"I'll call him. Give me a ride to the office, I can get a key to get into my house."
"No."
"Come on Morgan!"
"No!"
"Fine!" Morgan left her room and went to the office. She picked up her phone and called Aaron.
XXX
"Hi."
"Hey, I'm getting released this morning."
"When/"
"I'm waiting for the nurse. I'll take a cab to the office to get my spare key to my house."
"No, I'll come get you. I want you to stay with Jack and me."
"Okay."
"Let me take care of you."
"Aaron.."
"I'm on my way." He ended the call and drove towards the hospital.
XXX
"Here is a prescription for pain meds, take it easy, get plenty of rest, follow up with Dr. Guffey next week."
"Okay."
"Get these pain meds filled, don't be ashamed take them."
"I'll be fine!" She got up leaving the prescription where it lay. Aaron walked in and picked it up, looking at her and shaking his head.
"I'll be sure she takes them if needed." He took her bag and walked her out the door. "You were really going to leave this?"
"I would have been fine."
"Has anyone told you you're very stubborn Izzabelle Cooper?"
"Not recently!" She laughed. He turned her around and kissed her.
They left the hospital together, he took her home and got her settled on the couch. He sat down beside her, pulling her into his arms.
"Don't you have to go back to work?"
"I took the afternoon off to be with you."
He nuzzled her neck with his lips. "And what exactly did you have in mind Agent Hotchner?"
"I plan on holding you in my arms and kissing you."
"Ummmm! Sounds promising."
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. "I love you Izzy!"
"I love you too!"
She leaned her head on his shoulder, his arms wrapped around her. She dozed off, he was waking her up a couple of hours later to go get Jack from school.
"I'll go with you." She got up a little to fast and got dizzy. Aaron caught her around the waist, steadying her against his chest.
"Are you okay?" He was looking at her with a concerned look.
"I just got up too fast, I'm fine." She touched the side of his face.
He put his arm around her waist and walked her out to his SUV, helping her inside. They drove off to Jack's school.
XXX
Izzy sat in the SUV, while Aaron went into the school to get Jack.
"Daddy, I miss Iz. Can we go see her tonight?"
"I don't know buddy."
"Come on please daddy? I drew her a picture!"
He walked Jack to the SUV and opened the back door letting him in, Jack got in the car seat and buckled himself in.
"Hi pal!"
"Iz!" He climbed out of his seat and climbed between the front seats wrapping his arms around her neck. "I missed you!"
"I missed you too!" She hugged him back and kissed his face. "Get buckled up so we can go to your house."
"Are you coming home with us?"
"For awhile."
"Jack, I thought we could take care of Iz."
"Okay daddy!"
He climbed back into his seat and buckled up, they left for the Hotchner's apartment.
XXXX
Jack was taking Izzy by the hand when they walked into the door. "Come to my room Iz!"
"Okay pal. I'm Coming."
She followed him into his room and sat on the floor. He pulled out his action heroes, they started playing together.
"Iz, I love you!"
"I love you too!"
"Iz, can you be my mom?"
"Oh Jack!" She hugged him and searched for the words to say, tears streamed down her face.
"My real mom is in haven, I need a new mom, I want you to be my new mom. Don't cry Iz I didn't mean to make you sad.!"
"I'd be honored and proud to be your mom but that's for your dad to decided pal. You didn't make me sad, you make me happy!" She hugged him tight, she didn't see Aaron leaning against the door listening to them talk.
"Can I ask my daddy?"
"Jack...I think he needs to decide on his own."
"But Iz..."
He hugged her neck and ran out into the hall, she got up and was instantly was dizzy. She fell on the floor, Aaron rushed into to help her up.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Just tired." He picked her up and carried her to his bedroom, laying her on his bed.
"Lay here and rest." He kissed her on the forehead and left the room. She laid her head back and dozed off, Jack was kissing her nose waking her up.
"Iz, it's time to eat. We're having a picnic in bed!"
She smiled and sat up. "What are we having Jack?"
"Mac N' cheese, hamburgers, green beans and chocolate cake!"
"Did you help cook?"
"Yes!"
"It sounds yummy! I can't wait to eat!"
They ate dinner and dessert and laughed. Jack sat on Izzy's lap and read her a book, while Aaron cleaned up. When he came back from the kitchen he found them curled up together in his bed sleeping. He thought about the conversation he had overheard, Jack loved this women as much as he loved her. He hadn't felt this way about anyone since Haley.
She sensed someone was watching her, her eyes snapped open. She looked at up at him, he reached down and picked Jack up from her arms. He carried his son to his room and came back, she was changing into a tank top and shorts. He walked in while she was topless, she inhaled and pulled the tank top to her chest so he couldn't see her scar.
He walked towards her and pulled the top from her hands, she tried to turn from him, covering up with her hands. He looked into her eyes and gentle lkissed her.
"Let me see."
She shook her head no. "Please."
"You got this protecting my son, because you love him. It makes it beautiful, like the rest of you."
"Aaron..."
He picked her up in his arms, carrying her to the bed and laying her down. He quickly undressed and joined her, taking her in his arms and making love to her.
XXX
He kissed the back of her neck. "I need to tell you something." She quietly said.
He continued to kiss her neck, pulling her against his chest. "Is it about the deep conversation you and Jack had tonight?"
She rolled over in his arms and faced him. "You heard that? I didn't know what to say..."He stopped her with a kiss.
"I think how you answered was...perfect." He kissed her again., she smiled up at him. Her eyes were getting heavy, her hair was spread out on his chest. She feel asleep in his arms. Aaron lay awake planning a future.
XXX
Aaron had left for work, she was sitting on the couch drink a cup of coffee when the doorbell rung. She was expecting Director Cruz to be on the other side.
"Director, come in. What can I do for you?"
"We need to have a talk Cooper."
"Yes, Sir."
"Because of your relationship with Hotchner, and with the recent discovery that Rossi is your father, you can not be a part of the BAU team any longer. The relationships would leave the team weak. "
"I see."
"You can go any where you want."
"Does the rest of the team know?"
"I'm notifying you first."
"I need time to think about it."
"I understand."
"Thank you sir."
He got up and left. She sat there in shock, she needed to get out and think. She gathered her purse, and clothes and left Aaron's apartment, taking a cab to her townhouse. She knew exactly when Cruz notified the team because her phone blew up, she didn't feel like talking to anyone.
She knew she should answer her phone when Aaron and Rossi called, it wasn't their fault but she didn't want to talk. She ignored text messages and phone calls for the rest of the day. She fell asleep laying on the couch, trying to come up with a happy solution.
She woke up, something had startled her. She sat up on the couch, someone was banging on her front door. She got up and peaked out the window and saw Garcia standing on her porch. She pulled open the door, letting her in.
"You're okay? We've been so worried! Ever since we were told... Hotch is out of his mind worried about you! They got a case and had to leave."
"I'm sorry, I fell asleep! Where did they go?"
"Washington State"
"I'll call him."
"He wanted me to take you back to his place."
"I'm assuming Jessica has Jack?"
"Yes. Since he couldn't find you."
"Is Jack at Jessica's or Aaron"s?"
"Jessica's. Why?"
"I'm going to stay here tonight P. It will be fine."
XXX
She picked up her phone listening to each voice mail left by Aaron, he was pissed by the last one mixed with worry. Shit! She thought. She dialed his number and waited for him to answer, it went straight to voice mail.
"Aaron, I'm sorry. I needed time to think, I went to the town house and fell asleep. I'm sorry I worried everybody. I'm staying the night here, please forgive me. I'm not sure what I'm doing. I love you."
She hung up the phone, and sat on the couch waiting for him to call her back. Twenty-minutes later her phone rang, she picked it up, it was him.
"Hello."
"Izzy, I'm sorry. I've thought about this. It isn't going to work out between us."
She swallowed hard to keep from crying. "Be sure this time, because I won't be around when and if you change your mind."
"I'm sure, we want different things."
"Got it!" She ended the call and threw the phone down. Well then, that was that!