THE CALMING EFFECT OF CHILDREN

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Emily heard the front door open and the thud of what could only be Aaron's travel bag hitting the floor of the front hallway. The BAU had been called out on a case within a week of little Katherine "Kate" Hotchner's birth, so it had only been Aaron who made the trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma for the case. Emily had received no details at the time and it had been more than difficult to get the information out of her husband when they'd talked on the phone and Emily had absolutely detested the way his voice grew more and more despondent the longer the case dragged on. Eventually, she'd pulled the information out of Penelope and prepared accordingly.

Once she was reassured Penelope would tell her exactly when they were set to take off and land, Emily did a rare thing and called Haley, explaining the situation to the ex-Mrs. Hotchner carefully. Haley had agreed to let Jack spend a few special and surprise days with his father and Emily had picked him up from Haley's that afternoon, Kate and AJ in the back seat. Jack was now upstairs in his bedroom, and Emily had deliberately and carefully placed his nightlight so Aaron would see it when he walked down the hall.

She quietly climbed the stairs beside him, watching as he pushed open Jack's door a slight look of surprise on his face as he took in his still-little boy. Jack was growing up, there was no doubt about that. He was now almost ten and yet, he had an extremely soothing effect on his father. Emily leaned against the wall, mentally counting to a thousand. On cue, Aaron emerged and headed into AJ's room. There was nothing like watching his children sleep to sooth over the rough edges of a case gone bad. This time, she watched from the doorway as he pulled her purple comforter closer around her, avoiding the bar on the bed with skill and practice. He tucked her puppy in close and kissed her temple, sliding his hand over her hair.

Then came the stop that she knew was most important in this case. Kate was nowhere close to sleeping the whole night – in fact, by Emily's calculations, it was going to be feeding time soon – so Emily didn't bother to worry that he'd wake the infant up. Plus, this was so much more important. She was more than willing to let him do what he needed to do to be able to sleep tonight. She smiled as she watched her husband pick up their new infant daughter just as she started to fuss. He shushed her quietly, rocking her back and forth in his arms. She didn't move until Kate let out a cry.

"If you let me feed her you can burp her and put her back to sleep," Emily said quietly, interrupting and stepping further into the room.

She knew he was reluctant to hand over the infant, but the squall that came out of Kate's mouth had him smiling and giving her to Emily. She made her way to the same rocking chair she'd nursed AJ in and settled down. Aaron knelt in front of her, one hand on her thigh, the other running over Kate's dewy hair.

"It was a bad one," he said quietly.

"I know," she replied, just as quiet, watching him watch her nurse their daughter.

"You called Garcia."

Her gentle shrug was unapologetic. "I had to know what was coming home to me and the kids."

He nodded, his eyes still on Kate. "When did you pick up Jack?"

"This afternoon. I told Haley you needed him."

"You called Haley?"

Emily nodded, well aware that it meant a lot to him. Haley and Emily didn't interact mostly because neither was exactly on even footing with the other. But it didn't matter. She'd do anything to make sure her Aaron was okay and if that meant reaching out to his ex-wife, she was prepared to do it. His hand left their daughter's head to stroke down her cheek. "You're fantastic."

She just smiled, continuing to nurse her daughter until she seemed full. She then willingly handed the infant over to her father and stayed sitting as Aaron paced around the room with the new addition to their family. He looked odd still dressed in his full suit, but socked feet as he walked back and forth with an infant on his shoulder. She stood to get the burp rag before Emily was forced to take yet another suit to the dry cleaners. There had been many of these types of errors during AJ's nursing years. She kissed his cheek before leaving the room. He'd make sure Kate was asleep, then he'd come to bed. She knew the routine.

True enough, forty-five later – he'd obviously taken some more time to just watch her sleep – he stepped into their bedroom and closed the door half way behind him. The baby monitor went on his bedside table before he went about preparing himself for bed but instead of going to his side, he sat down on hers. She looked at him through bleary eyes, having been dozing while she waited for him.

"There were seven of them, Emily," he began quietly. "She took seven kids and she killed them."

Emily knew the parameters of the case, but she wanted to hear it from him. She wanted him to talk through it. So she reached out instead, rubbing her hand over his back where she could reach.

"Someone caught her on this last one. He was sixteen months old and she'd been feeding him cocaine for almost a week," he said. "She waited until she realized he was dying in front of her before she even considered taking him to the hospital. And the only reason she did that was because a neighbour had knocked on the door at just the moment he was going into seizures. She called 911."

Emily wasn't sure if she was supposed to say something or what to say if that was what she was supposed to do. She wasn't prepared for this. The case broke her heart as much as it broke his. "Your kids are still here, Aaron," she told him softly.

He sighed and stood, walking around the bed and crawling in. Emily didn't move, just closed her eyes and waited. There were some bad cases where he couldn't hold her, as if the darkness he was feeling would creep through his skin into hers. It took him a few minutes before he eventually rolled over and gathered her against him. She relaxed completely.

"What if I can't keep them safe?" he whispered against her hair. "What if I can't protect them?"

"You're a fantastic father, Aaron. That's protection enough."

"The parents of these kids were good parents too, Emily. And they couldn't protect their children."

She turned in his arms, kissing his chin softly. "No parent is completely perfect, Aaron. But you are a great father and you have great children. Jack is a brilliant little boy, he knows how to avoid dangerous situations. And AJ knows better than to talk to strangers or to go too far away from the people she knows. You'll teach Kate the same thing. It's the best we can do."

With a sigh, he pulled her closer and kissed her hair, but Emily had the feeling his demons hadn't even been beaten back, let alone defeated. It was going to be a long couple of days, but Emily was still on maternity leave. She had another week before she had to head back into the BAU and she had a couple of ideas of how she, her husband and the three children sleeping down the hall could pass the time. And then maybe things would be okay. They had to be okay.