THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT

--

AJ jumped as she watched a shadow crawl across the wall. She and Gabi had headed to a friend's birthday where they'd watched a horror movie. AJ didn't do horror movies, but it has been a birthday and everyone else had wanted to see the movie. She didn't want to seem like a wimp. But now, every creak of the house, every shadow on the wall, made her jump.

"Gabi?"

"You're still awake too?" Gabi whispered.

"I'm too afraid to close my eyes," AJ whispered back. "I keep thinking the shadows are mosters."

"You have a tree tapping on your window," Gabi replied, wriggling slightly closer.

"What are we going to do?" AJ asked, gripping her blankets. "I can't sleep."

"I always climb in with Daddy when I can't sleep," Gabi revealed.

AJ nodded, even though Gabi couldn't see her. "Me too." They were best friends, they didn't keep secrets.

Then there was a scratch and a creak and both girls sprung upwards, Gabi clutching the Build-a-Bear she'd had since infancy. AJ held the puppy she'd been given on her first birthday. They exchanged a look and all but bolted out of the room.

"Mommy?" AJ whispered. "Mommy?"

--

Emily heard her daughter calling and rolled sleepily out of her husband's warm arms. It wasn't just AJ peering at her, but Gabi too. "What's wrong?"

"We're scared," AJ whispered.

Emily sighed. She'd wondered if the girls would be able to sleep. Aaron had Googled the movie since neither of them had known what it was about. She'd voiced her concern almost immediately. Aaron had agreed. And now, both girls looking were looking over the edge of the bed. She knew she had only one choice. "Climb in."

Almost immediately Gabi scrambled up while AJ raced around to climb on Aaron's side. Gabi cuddled into her chest almost immediately, her bear Boo squished between them. From the day both girls were born, Emily and Penelope had ensured that both girls considered not only their biological mothers as their mothers, but also all of the women that were part of their BAU family. She heard Aaron grunt as AJ woke him.

"Annie."

"I'm scared, Daddy."

Emily grinned. AJ was her father's little baby girl and she could play the man as if she'd been studying behaviour for years and years.

"What happened, sweetheart?"

"The movie," AJ replied in a small voice. "It was scary."

Emily smiled as her husband rolled over. "We've got two for the price of one," she said, waving at the bundle of floral and flannel beside her.

Aaron sighed. "Excellent."

3am.

He hated 3am.

He hated 3am, lying in bed with two little girls and his wife when one of those two little girls was in the throes of a nightmare. He sighed, wrapping his arms around his daughter the same way he wrapped Emily in her arms when she had a nightmare. And AJ, he knew, was prone to nightmares.

Aaron sighed once AJ had settled down. He wanted to sleep. He needed to sleep. He'd planned his Saturday carefully, knowing his Honey-Do-List was eight miles long and aware he and Jack had made plans to hit the baseball game with Seth for some all-boy bonding. But at the rate of AJ's nightmares and the way she was trading off with Gabi, sleep wasn't going to come.

AJ rolled into her mother and Aaron rolled onto his back, looking up at the ceiling. He had two options. He could stay and modify his plans for the next day to decrease the danger he could put himself in because of exhaustion and sleep deprivation or, he could leave the nightmares to Emily and climb into AJ's vacated bed. Because he really didn't want to go through the off-putting feeling when he slept in.

And that dragged him out of his warm comfortable bed into the cooler sheets of his daughter's. Still, he sighed as he rolled over and dropped off to sleep.

"Aaron."

There was amusement in Emily's voice as it sounded from far away. He reached out for her, only to fall off the edge of the bed, hitting the floor. That woke him up quickly. Emily was standing over him with the digital camera in her hands. He blinked sleepily as the flash went off. "You are a cruel woman."

Emily sat on the edge of AJ's bright purple comforter, giggling. "Purple is definitely is your colour."

"Don't mock," he said, through a yawn as he pulled himself up off the floor. "I probably got more sleep than you did."

"I'm sure you did," she replied, watching intently as he stretched. "When Annie wasn't tossing and turning, Gabi was. Thank goodness Pen's taking them today. Convincing Kate that today is a quiet day with her and her mommy shouldn't be that difficult."

"Where are the girls?" he asked, settling down next to her and pulling her legs across his lap.

"Creating a fort out of our bed," she replied. "It's going to be fun to try and make it."

Aaron sighed, pulling her closer and kissing her temple. "Katie will help. Our little housewife."

She pinched his shoulder and clucked her tongue.

He hissed in pain. "Come on. You find it hilarious when she orders her siblings to pick up after themselves."

"Of course it's hilarious. It's funnier that even Jack at ten years older, listens," Emily replied, curling into him.

"Can we make a deal?" he asked on a sigh.

"I'm listening."

"We check and see what movie AJ's going to watch before hand? She can use us as a scapegoat with her friends when she says 'no, I can't see that movie'. She's prone to nightmares, we know that," Aaron answered.

She was already nodding her agreement. "Definitely. What kind of parents are we if we have no idea what she's going to see."

"Excellent," he replied, resting his head on her shoulder.

"Alright, Mister Hotchner, I have two girls to prep for a day of girlie-ness. Seth is probably downstairs and Kate will sleep all day, if we don't wake her up." She stood, but he pulled her back, pulling her down to straddle his lap and pulling her into a passionate kiss.

Emily was panting when she pulled away. "What was that about?" she inquired.

"I didn't get my good morning kiss," he answered, his hands stroking up and down her back. He grinned as she shivered against him.

"And we're in your daughter's room so you'd better not be hoping for anything else," she scolded. "And don't deny it, I know that insistent-" She gasped as his hand snuck under her shirt and brushed very lightly up her spine. "Touch."

Aaron chuckled lowly. "Let's go away."

"Mmm, what?"

"Let's go away," he repeated. "It's been a long time since we've had time to ourselves."

"When?"

"Soon," he replied. "Next weekend."

"Short noticed," she said, pulling his hands off of her skin and holding them tightly in hers.

"We're not going far," he replied. "A small place, just for some childless time together."

Emily grinned. "Mom will watch anyone Jayje and Pen won't take."

"Then it's settled," he decided, kissing her again, despite the grip she had on his hands.

She pulled herself up and away. "I'll go make the calls."

"I'm going to shower. I'll wake Katie up."

"Breakfast in half an hour."