It wasn't supposed to happen like this, he thought to himself.
He should have told JJ how he felt a long time ago. After Haley left, his feelings for the media liaison had snuck up on him, and he tried his best to quash them. He told himself that it was nothing more than a reaction to his wife leaving him, that there was nothing there.
And then Will had happened.
It felt like a sucker punch when they announced they were having a baby. He had known she was seeing someone, but hadn't realized it was so serious. He was forced to watch her build a life with another man, never letting his stoic expression fall no matter how much it might hurt.
Maybe if he had told her then, though, he could have spared her. The constant fights between her and LaMontagne became common knowledge of the team, and the dark circles under her eyes deepened day by day. It was almost a relief when she caught him another woman, giving her everything she needed to take her son and walk out.
Looking down at her and the boys in his arms, Hotch smiled. Maybe he should have told her years ago, instead of showing up at her door on a rainy night and just kissing her. But maybe things he had turned out for the best. He hated LaMontagne, but it was because of him that they had Henry, and there wasn't any member of their little family he'd trade just to avoid the pain they'd had to go through.
Because now it was perfect.