I know its been a while. This is to hold you all over before things get really interesting. Please review!
They finally got the socks from Nia and Reid was currently trying to get her to play with a baseball that Reid had. Hotch chuckled when Nia avoided the baseball and tried to get Reid to wrestle again instead. Hotch cleaned up his mess from making breakfast. He just finished up when his phone rang. He checked it and saw that it was Roxie, Jack's sitter when Hotch was out on a case.
"Hotchner."
"Hey Hotch, it's Roxie. My sister's husband just called me and my sister is in the hospital. She went into labor…"
Hotch interrupted her before she went any father. "You go be with your sister Roxie. Just bring Jack over to Reid's and be really careful on those roads." Hotch said pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Thank you Hotch." Roxie said relieved. They hung up and Hotch sat heavily on the couch.
"What was that about?" Reid asked coming up and sitting on the couch with Hotch.
"Jack's sitter Roxie needs to go visit her sister that is about to have a baby. She going to try and get out there before the roads are completely shut down. If it's alright, I told her to bring Jack here." Hotch said suddenly nervous that Reid might say no to him and Jack staying here.
"No problem. I haven't seen Jack in a while and it would be good to see him again." Reid said smiling.
Nia came over and dropped another ball of socks in Reid's lap. Hotch and Reid laughed. Reid grabbed the ball and scratched Nia behind the ears.
"These are not to play with." Reid tried to say sternly but failed miserably. Nia nudged the sock ball and let her tongue hang out the side of her mouth. Right then she did kind of look like a dog to Hotch.
Reid laughed and gave up for the moment and tossed the socks. Nia chased after them. After a couple times back and forth, Nia set the socks down and then sat before Reid and Hotch panting.
They were watching the news and they had taken turns throwing the sock ball. Reid noticed Nia just sitting there and had a good idea what she was waiting for. He went to the kitchen and found a bowel. He filled it with water and set it on the floor. Nia rubbed her head against Reid's leg in thanks before she got a drink.
Reid smiled and went back to the couch. He had just sat down when there was a knock at his door. He went to get up when Hotch put a hand on his knee.
"Don't worry. It's probably Jack and Roxie." Hotch said standing up and answering the door. He opened the door and a loud "Daddy!" emanated from the door.
Reid smiled as Hotch was forced back a step when Jack tackled his dad.
"Hey buddy." Hotch said giving Jack a hug.
"Thank you again Hotch." Roxie said brushing a lock of her short, brightly colored hair out of her face.
"Don't worry about." Hotch said giving Roxie a small smile. She waved them goodbye and Hotch closed the door. Jack saw Reid sitting on the couch and ran up to him.
"Uncle Pence!" He said throwing himself into Reid's lap. Reid laughed and hugged Jack back. Hotch smiled as he walked over and joined the two on the couch. He glanced around and saw that Nia was missing. He figured once she heard Jack and Roxie at the door she probably ran into Reid's room.
Jack turned to Hotch after a bit.
"Daddy… why are you at Uncle Spencer's?" Jack asked. Hotch smiled.
"Well, Uncle Spencer just got a new addition to his family and needed some help getting them settled in. Do you want to meet her?" Hotch asked.
Hotch didn't know why he suggested Jack meet Nia. He had actually been thinking that maybe he should have had Reid keep her in his room while Jack was around. His plan just went down the hole at his own doing. Jack looked at Hotch in wonder and then turned and looked at Reid. Hotch also looked at Reid but with an apologetic look in his eyes.
Reid looked at Jack and gave him a smile.
"Let me go get her." Reid stood up and went into his room. Hotch pulled Jack over into his lap.
"Okay, so she is going to be really scared alright so move slow when she come in alright. The family she was with previously was really mean to her and she gets scared easily. So make sure you take it slow alright?" Jack nodded his head. For such a young kid, Jack was really smart.
Reid found Nia peeking out from his room. He knelt down near her. She immediately walked over to him and peeked behind him.
"Hey I have someone you should meet." Reid said holding out his arms for Nia.
She paused for a minute before she jumped into his arms. Reid smiled and carried her back into the living room. Reid found Hotch and Jack still on the couch but now Jack was in Hotch's lap.
"Alright Jack this is Nia." Reid said setting Nia down on the couch next to them. They both thought Jack would see a dog like Mr. Hall had so they were surprised at what Jack said.
"Cool! Uncle Pencer has a dragon!" Jack said excitedly looking up at Hotch.
Nia backed up into Reid at Jack's loud exclamations.
"Remember what I told you." Hotch said when Jack frowned at Nia backing away.
Jack looked back up at Hotch and nodded his head. Jack slowly held out his hand. Nia looked at Reid then she looked at Jack. She studied him for a minute. Nia took a leap of faith and reached her head out and gently touched Jack's hand with her nose. Jack resisted the urge to jerk back his hand and laugh loudly.
Seeing that Jack wasn't going to hurt her, she crawled out of Reid's lap and sat close to Jack. Jack slowly moved his hand and started petting Nia. She licked Jack's hand and he giggled. She did it again and before long, Nia had Jack laughing uncontrollably. Nia jumped down from the couch and trotted to the kitchen.
Jack looked up at his dad confused. He smiled.
"You didn't do anything wrong. Look she just needed a drink." Hotch said pointing over the couch to the kitchen where Nia was getting a drink from the bowel that Reid had placed down earlier. Jack smiled.
Nia returned just a minute later. Reid had placed the ball of socks on the corner of the couch. As she returned she snagged the sock ball and trotted off with them.
"Hey!" Reid said noticing Nia steal the socks.
Jack looked up at his dad. "Daddy… why is she playing with socks?" Hotch smiled.
"Well Jack, we think that socks were the only thing that she knew she could play with without getting in trouble." Hotch said to his son.
"Hey Jack do you think you could do me a favor?" Reid asked the little kid. Jack nodded his head up and down.
"Do you think you could try and get Nia to play with this?" Reid asked holding up the baseball from earlier.
Jack nodded his head. "I'll try." Jack said taking the ball.
Nia stood looking at Jack expectantly with the socks sitting in front of her. Remembering what his dad told him earlier, Jack slid slowly off the couch and made his way over to Nia. She picked up her ball of socks and wagged her tail a bit. Jack held out the ball.
"How about we play with this?" Jack suggested. Nia tossed her head and dropped the sock ball in front of Jack. Jack shook his head and held out the baseball again.
"Come on please. I don't know about you but I wouldn't want to play with socks." Jack pleaded with Nia.
He really wanted to keep playing with her but he wasn't so certain about tossing a pair of socks. Nia looked at the ball curiously but rolled the socks toward Jack. Jack sighed. He plopped down on the floor and tossed the socks for a bit. He sat there thinking for a bit and then he perked up all of a sudden.
Hotch and Reid smiled at the sight of Jack and Nia playing. They turned their attention back to the news. A half hour later the news ended. They heard laughter and they glanced over. Jack was playing with Nia and they seemed to be having a good time.
Reid got up and walked to the kitchen to see if he had anything they could make for lunch. He found some bread that was still good. He had some peanut butter and some grape and strawberry jam that they could but on the bread. Reid set about making lunch. Hotch scared the crap out of him when he took the jam from him.
"You do the peanut butter and I will do the jam." He said to Reid.
Reid dipped his head in understanding and in no time they had enough sandwiches for all of them.
"Alright lunch time!" Hotch said bringing the sandwiches over to the table Reid had. Jack jumped up and raced over to the table. Nia was on his heels with the ball in her mouth. Hotch helped Jack up to the table while Reid got out two more plates.
Reid glanced down at Nia when he came back with the plates. She came right up between Jack's and Reid's chair and dropped her ball. He was surprised to see that she dropped the baseball.
"Buddy, how did you get her to play with the baseball?" Reid asked curiously.
"I remembered when daddy told me about how Auntie JJ trained Henry to use the potty. I thought that may be it would work with Nia too." Jack said with a small shrug before he took a big bite out of his sandwich.
Hotch shook his head and smiled. Jack surprised him. Reid got Nia some more water before he joined the two at the table. They talked about what they might want to watch later while they ate their lunch.
Jack looked down and saw Nia sitting over by Reid. He thought for a minute before he pulled off a piece of his second sandwich. He leaned down and held it out for her. Nia's ears perked up and she walked right over and gently took the piece from him.
Hotch and Reid watched curiously. They all laughed when Nia made a face and began trying to get the taste out of her mouth. Jack looked down at Nia and then up to his dad.
"What is she doing Daddy?" He asked.
"I don't think she liked that flavor of peanut butter and jelly." Hotch told his son. Jack considered this for a second.
Reid watch as Jack reached and grabbed a different flavored sandwich. Jack pulled off a small piece and held that one out for Nia. She looked at him quizzically before she gently took that piece. She slowly chewed it. This time she didn't make a face.
Jack smiled and fed Nia pieces as he finished his own sandwich. Jack continued to feed Nia after he finished his own.
"Last piece." Jack said holding the piece for Nia. She gently took it but made sure she licked his fingers in the process. Jack giggled. Hotch helped Jack down and smiled when he took off like a rocket. Nia was on his heels.
"Come on Nia! Let's see if Looney Tunes is on!" Jack said excitedly climbing on the couch. Nia jumped up and sat next to Jack as he searched the channels.
Reid stood up and began cleaning up. Hotch helped him and they had everything clean in no time.
"Nia is really responding Jack." Reid commented whipping up some of the water that spilled while they did dishes. Hotch nodded in response.
"Yes but we both know the minute she fall asleep she fall back again." Hotch said wanting to make sure Reid knew that things were not going to be fixed over night.
Reid nodded. "I know but if she responds this well then it is a step forward."
Hotch had to agree to that statement. Hotch glanced at the clock and saw that it was time for Jack to have a nap. He walked in to the living room and stopped in his tracks.
"Reid… come here." Hotch said quietly. Reid looked over at him curiously but walked over. When he saw what Hotch did he smiled.
Jack was asleep on the couch with Nia. She was curled around Jack in a protective manner and Jack had his arms wrapped around her too. As Hotch stepped closer to he could hear what sounded like a purring sound.
A floorboard creaked under Hotch and Nia cracked one of her eyes open. Her tail twitched when she saw it was Hotch but she didn't move other than that.
Reid placed a hand on Hotch's shoulder. "Let him sleep there Hotch. It's fine."
Hotch thought about it a moment before he nodded and walked away. Nia seemed pleased with that and curled a little more around Jack.
Reid chuckled quietly as he led Hotch back into the kitchen. Reid pulled out a deck of cards. Hotch and Reid played a few rounds until they heard whining coming from the couch.
Reid got up and saw that it was Nia. He was about to rush over and move her before she woke Jack up but she quieted. Hotch raised his eyebrow to Reid. Reid just shrugged his shoulders returning to the table.
They played a few games before Hotch finally called it quits. He should know better from all the times he watched the team play against Reid but he couldn't help it. He liked to spend time with Reid. There was rustling from the couch and the two of them looked over.
Nia had moved so Jack was more laying down. She pushed his legs over so he was more comfortable. Once she was sure he was comfortable, she laid down and curled around him again.
"It almost looks like she is protecting him." Reid commented shuffling the cards.
Hotch nodded. "If she feels like she has to protect then she may get over her fears faster. I am not saying it is going to be easy but it may go a little smoother."
Reid nodded. Before they knew it, they had been playing for an hour and half and Jack was starting to stir.
Jack blinked his eyes open. Nia felt him stir and moved so she could lick him in the face. Jack giggled getting the attention of the two adults. Nia got up and stretched before she jumped down. Jack rubbed his eyes before getting down too. He followed her into the kitchen. Nia got a drink while Jack went over to his dad.
"Daddy I got to go." Hotch nodded in understanding and helped Jack to the bathroom. Nia walked over and set her head in Reid's lap.
"Hey you." He said rubbing behind her ears. Nia sighed and moved into his touch. The phone rang startling them both.
"Reid."
"Hey pretty boy." Morgan said on the other end of the phone.
"Hey Morgan what can I do for you?" Reid asked scratching under Nia's chin.
"Well there are quite a few things you could do for me but I'm not getting in to that right now." If Reid had been drinking something he would have chocked.
"Umm…" Reid didn't know how to answer that.
Morgan laughed. "The roads are getting really bad so I was wondering if I could stay with you and Nia. They just said over the radio that most of the roads are closed so I can't reach my place."
Reid sighed. "You can stay if you like but please be careful."
Morgan laughed. "Of course." With that Morgan hung up. Reid let out another sigh as he put the phone away.
"My apartment is not big enough for more people to be coming over but I think we can fit Morgan." He told Nia.
She considered him for a moment before she nodded her head in agreement. Reid laughed. He had a feeling that he was so going to regret having this many people staying at his place.