The next morning Emily squinted her eyes at the offending sun that was attacking her face without her consent. Throwing a pillow over her face she snuggled back under the covers. It was a Saturday and there was no way she was getting up early, no matter how much the sun wanted her to. While fighting to go back to sleep the previous day's events flooded her memory. Karl Arnold, her picture, Hotch, Jack, arguing. Wanting to go back to sleep but finding that task very difficult, Emily started humming to soothe herself, but the hope of more sleep evaporated quickly when her bed dipped down as someone jumped on it. Emily threw the pillow off of her head and bolted right up.
Feeling her heart race settling down when she realized that it was the young Hotchner she breathed a sigh of relief and smiled brightly at the young boy.
"Morning Em'ly! Did I wake you? What are you still doing in bed? You should be up so we can spend the day together. Daddy told me to let you get some more sleep before I bothered you but I couldn't wait. I'm so glad you're here! What should we do today? Do you want to see my—"
"JACK!" Hotch said with force as he stood in the doorway watching his son ramble on to a sleepy looking Prentiss. He tried not to laugh as he looked her over. Her hair was sticking up every which way, clearly the pillow had been over her head, and her pajamas were twisted around her body strangely and the sheet was half hanging off the bed while the other half was wrapped securely around her legs. Regardless of all the flaws he might have been staring at, he's never seen her look more radiant with the sun shining in on her and reflecting off her dark hair. "I thought I told you to let her sleep," he said to Jack and he watched as his son lowered his head and scooted over to Emily.
"I know daddy, I'm sorry, but I really wanted her to get up and play with me." Jack admitted softly.
"It's fine Hotch," Emily stated as she pulled Jack onto her lap. "He's better than any alarm clock," she said as she tried desperately to stifle a yawn.
"If you're still tired, feel free to go back to sleep. He is capable of watching cartoons for an hour or two."
Shaking her head slowly, Emily looked at Hotch. "It's fine. I needed to get up anyway, we have a lot of things to do."
"I called Morgan and he's going to go into work today and work with Garcia and try to figure out as much as possible on this whole situation."
"Oh," Emily replied surprised. "Well if Morgan and Garcia are there, then I should go too. I might be able to add some input on—"
"You're leaving?" Jack asked as he played with Emily's hair in between his fingers.
Emily gazed down at Jack and saw the tiny pout that was lingering on his lips. Taking her bottom lip between her teeth her gaze snapped up to Hotch's and silently asked for help. All he did was shrug. Giving him a look that clearly stated, you're a lot of help, Emily looked back down at Jack.
"No buddy, we can spend the day together if you want," she smiled.
Jack snuggled closer to Emily and rested his head on her chest. "Can daddy play too?"
"Of course he can."
"Actually, I was going—" Hotch stopped talking once he saw the glare Emily gave him. "Sounds fun," he said instead. He wanted to go into work and help but clearly that wasn't going to happen. He figured he would keep Emily and Jack occupied with each other while he was gone, but they both had other plans. Then again spending the day with his son and the woman who was slowly stealing his heart didn't sound like that bad of an idea.
"Okay kid, we are all yours for the day, what do you want to do?" Emily asked the calm child in her lap.
"Can we go to the park?"
"Sure. How about you go get dressed, and I'll cook breakfast and Emily can get ready and then we'll head out."
The three headed in different directions to get ready for their day. All Emily could think about was spending the day with the two Hotchner men. She knew her mind should be on where Karl Arnold possibly is, but she couldn't pull her mind away from a fun filled day. She hadn't had one of them in a while, and she desperately wanted one. While Hotch was making breakfast, he quickly called Morgan to let him know that he was going to stick around the house to make sure Emily was safe, and if he found out anything to let him know first thing. Hotch's Saturdays were usually filled with paper work or just spending some time alone with Jack, but he couldn't remember the last time that he spent it with someone extra. And the fact that the person who is going to be spending time with them is named Emily Prentiss just makes the day so much more exciting.
After breakfast they all piled into Hotch's car and headed for the park. Hotch leaned against the pole as Emily pushed Jack on the swings, and they talked about meaningless things. When neither adult was paying attention Jack jumped off the swing and ran away then turned back saying 'you can't catch me,' which sent the two agents running after the small boy who couldn't stop giggling. Emily reached Jack first and scooped him up into her arms and planted small kisses all over his face and neck while Jack couldn't stop laughing and begged for his daddy to help him. Emily placed Jack back down on the ground then tapped Hotch's arm and sprinted away yelling 'you're it.'
Never one to back down from a challenge, Hotch glanced at Jack who grinned then ran after Emily away from his father, and then he started running after the two. As he was running Hotch couldn't remember the last time he had so much fun. Doing childish things made him feel young and he liked it. Hotch reached Jack first and tapped him on the shoulder then continued after Emily. He never realized how fast she actually was. She darted around other pedestrians who were enjoying the beautiful Saturday and when she turned back to see where Hotch was she let out a yelp when she realized how close he actually was to her. Picking up speed, Emily zig-zagged around the tires and ran under the slide. She ran around a tree and saw an out as she ran into a group of children who were playing near a house. She got them to run with her quickly then she slipped inside the play house hoping Hotch didn't see her enter.
Emily gazed out of the window and she held in the laugh that was threatening to escape as she saw Hotch look around for her. Jack finally caught up to him and she heard him ask where she went. Hotch continued to search for Emily and panic started to run through him. She was just here. She couldn't have gone far. What if Karl was here waiting for her? What if he saw that she was with him at the park and he decided that now would be the best time to take her? Hotch looked left and right and was completely taken by surprise as he was tackled to the ground. He looked up quickly as he tried to fight the intruder off of him when he noticed that it was a laughing Emily who was quickly followed by a giggling Jack.
"She got you daddy!"
"Oh my God Prentiss. Where were you? I was worried sick? Are you trying to kill me?"
"I was hiding in the house Hotch. Are you alright?" She asked as she quickly stopped laughing as she saw the worry on his face.
Breathing a deep sigh of relief Hotch relaxed. "I didn't know where you were and I got worried. I thought maybe something had happened."
Sitting back slightly, Emily bit her bottom lip and started to play with her hands. "I'm sorry Hotch, I wasn't thinking about any of that. I didn't mean to scare you."
Realizing for the first time that Emily was sitting on top of him Hotch tensed back up slightly. "It's okay, just don't let it happen again."
At this Emily smiled and nodded then looked at Jack. "Well, I think we worked up a sweat don't you kind sir?" Jack nodded. "What do you say we go get some ice cream?"
"OOO, can we daddy? Can we?" he begged his father who was still gazing up at Emily. Her hair was cascading around her face as she looked down at him waiting for his reply.
"Sure thing buddy. Let's go," he said and Emily used his chest to push herself up off of him, then she quickly grabbed Jack's hand and waited for Hotch to stand up and wipe his pants off.
"Guess you shouldn't have worn khaki huh?" Emily grinned at the dirt on Hotch.
"I didn't know I was going to get pushed onto the ground," he glared playfully.
"You're spending the day with Jack and I, you should have known you were going to get a little dirty," she said in a flirty tone as she nudged him with her shoulder then started to lead Jack towards the car.
All Hotch could do was stare after them and smile at the playfulness that is Prentiss. He rarely ever got to see her like that and when he did it was always towards Morgan but never him. He never thought that she would act that way towards him, but he was glad that she was comfortable enough around him to say those type of things in that kind of tone. Realizing that he needed to follow the two he jogged up and grabbed a hold of Jack's free hand and thought to himself that he missed having a real family.
They all got ice cream then finally made their way back to Hotch's place. Emily looked into the backseat and saw Jack passed out and smiled.
"I think we wore him out," she whispered.
"That we did."
Emily got out of the car and quickly unbuckled Jack and lifted him up into her arms before Hotch could object. Following behind Hotch as he led the way and held open doors, they finally reached his apartment and Emily took Jack straight to his room to lay him down. She made sure he was completely covered up before brushing his hair off his forehead and placing a gentle kiss there.
She returned to the living room to find Hotch sitting on the couch waiting for her with a bottle of water that she gratefully accepted from him. Emily plopped down onto the seat next to him and chugged half the bottle.
"I think I wore myself out," she laughed then turned towards Hotch to see his face. "So have you heard anything from Morgan?"
"Nope," he shook his head. "But we will."
"I know that."
Hotch leaned his head back against the cushion and closed his eyes. His mind kept traveling back to the park and not being able to find Emily and how worried he got for her safety. Maybe they shouldn't go outside and be in the open like that. What if Karl was watching them? And if he was watching them, what did that mean for Jack?
"What are you thinking about?" Emily asked as she broke his train of thought.
"What makes you think I'm thinking about anything?" he asked with his eyes still closed.
Emily chuckled softly. "Whenever you're in deep concentration your face becomes more serious then it usually is. So what's on your mind?"
Finally opening his eyes, Hotch turned his head towards the raven haired woman. "When I couldn't find you today, inside I was panicking. I didn't know if Arnold was there and he grabbed you. I wasn't sure if I was going to see you again, and I got scared. I guess I don't like that feeling," he admitted as he ran his hand over his face.
Grasping firmly onto his free hand Emily squeezed. "I never meant to freak you out, that was never my intention. It didn't even cross my mind that you would be worried that I disappeared when I went into the house. You have to know I would never do anything to purposefully upset you, especially in this instance. And no one likes to be scared Hotch. We just," she paused and took a deep breath, "have to take this one day at a time."
"You're right."
"I'm always right," she said as she squeezed his hand once more before removing it and instantly missing the warmth that it held. "What else are you thinking?"
"Nothing," he lied although he knew she could see right through him. Clearing his throat he stood up, "I'm going to go change and then start making dinner. I'm thinking chicken tonight, is that okay with you?"
"Whatever you guys want I'm fine with. Remember, no special treatment."
"I know, I know," he mumbled as he started to walk towards his bedroom.
"Hotch?" her voice halted his movement and he turned to look at her. "Do you mind if I help?"
A smile flashed quickly over his face before it was gone. "Of course not. I figured dinner, movie, bath time…for Jack," he added quickly as he watched Emily arch an eyebrow, "then story time and bedtime for everyone."
"Sounds good. Do you think we should call Morgan back tonight?"
Hotch shook his head. "If he figures anything out he'll call us. But we will call first thing in the morning when we wake up," he told her as he continued on his journey down to his bedroom and quickly shut the door before leaning against it. It was only the second day and his feelings for the woman sitting in his living room were spiraling out of control. He quickly cleared his head then headed to grab a new pair of pants.
He exited his bedroom to find Emily in the kitchen preparing the things needed for dinner. She looked up at him and smiled and he felt his heart rate speed up. The duo set about making dinner and the rest of the night went exactly as planned.