Chapter 3

Kahlan awoke to an empty bed. She sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. He's getting too quiet! She smiled as she saw a note on the nightstand: 'Gone to get you breakfast. Be right back. Love, A.' She made her way to the bathroom and after a shower and getting dressed she emerged to find Hotch at the little table with coffee and pastries. She went up to him and gave him a kiss. "Morning, Hun," she told him and sat down in his lap.

"You slept well. I don't think I've ever been able to sneak away from you except at home," he told her with a smile.

She shrugged. "I guess being on vacation has allowed me to relax as if we were at home."

By the time everyone got dressed it was a little after noon. Kahlan made a few phone calls and they all made their way to a café.

Jack quietly walked up and reached around and put his hands over Emily's eyes. She froze. "Guess who?" Jack asked and then laughed.

"I know that laugh!" Emily exclaimed and turned around. With a massive smile, she swallowed Jack in a hug. "What are you doing here, Jack?"

"We are on vacation," he told her as everyone else walked up.

Emily stood up in shock. She looked at all of them with a smile, and they could tell she didn't know who to hug first.

Rossi made the decision for her and pulled her to him. "How have you been, Princess?"

She pulled away from him and Hotch grabbed her. "Good. It's so great seeing you all!" she told them and then pulled Joey into a hug and then Wyatt. "My God, you all have really grown in a year!" she told them as she studied the kids. "How did you know where I was?"

Kahlan chuckled. "I still have a couple contacts here."

Emily laughed and pulled her into a hug. "They look great, Kahlan. You are doing a wonderful job with them all!"

"How's your little man doing?" Hotch asked her as they all sat down around her.

"Michael's growing like a weed. Every time I think he has enough clothes, he outgrows most of them," she told them with a smile.

"Yeah? Just wait until he's their size," Kahlan told her with a grin at the boys.

"How's the hubby?" Rossi asked her.

"Working hard as usual," she told him with a grin. "You all have to come over for dinner tonight. Michael would love to see the kids, and Brent loves to show off his culinary skills."

Kahlan smiled and looked at Hotch. "Sure," he told her.

"Great! I'll send you the address. How's six sound?"

XXX

After leaving Emily to her work and a promise to see her for dinner, they wondered around the city a little more.

Wyatt ran back to his parents. "They're doing 'Macbeth' this week," he told Kahlan with a smile.

Kahlan's smile grew with the news as they looked at the Globe Theatre. She turned to Hotch. "Please!" she begged.

He shook his head at her. "You're worse than one of the kids."

"Oh come on, how awesome would it be to see 'Macbeth' performed in the round like in Shakespeare's day? The kids can go back to school and share it with their classes," she grabbed his hands in hers. "Please! I never got the chance to go once they reopened it!" she begged with a pout.

Hotch looked at Rossi and Cindi. "What? There's no way I could tell that face no!" Rossi told him.

Cindi shook her head. "And now you know how she has always gotten anything and everything she's ever wanted."

Kahlan looked at him with raised brows and a smile. Hotch laughed. "I don't care."

Kahlan bounced with joy and leaned up to give him a kiss. "Thank you."

The kids laughed and Jack and Joey went up to see what time the performances were scheduled. He checked his watch and they made their way back to the group. "We can go to the next one in a little over an hour, and still have time to get to Aunt Emily's."

"What's McBeth about?" Joey asked her.

"It's 'Macbeth', and there's ghosts, and witches, murder, battles, and everything. You'll love it!" Kahlan told her with a smile. Joey considered it a moment then nodded.

"They're going to talk strangely, though," Wyatt pointed out.

Joey looked at him questioningly.

"They are going to use Shakespeare's language," Rossi explained.

"Is it like the knights from the Middle Ages?" Joey asked excitedly.

"No, but if you can understand that, you won't have any problem understanding them," Jack assured her.

They all laughed and decided to look for someplace to eat lunch.

After a few blocks, Hotch found a pub that he thought looked good. Kahlan shook her head. "Not there," she told him and then pulled him along.

"Why not? It looks authentic," he said as he pulled her to a stop.

"It has a horse head on the sign," she told him.

"So?"

She chuckled and she had reminded herself that he hadn't traveled. "A horse head means they serve horse meat, not beef."

Hotch's face showed his disgust. "Really?"

"I've heard there's not much difference in taste, but I've never been brave enough to try it. Could you imagine what Joey would do if she found out?"

"If I had gone in there and ordered a steak, it would have been horsemeat?" he asked and she nodded. He shook his head and started walking again. "I'm so glad you knew that."

She laughed and they quickly caught up with the rest of the family.

XXX

After a light lunch they made their way back to the theater. Hotch had to smile at the way Kahlan was engrossed in the play. While he wasn't surprised by that, he was surprised to see the kids actually enjoying it, too. He smiled as he watched his family. A vacation is exactly what we needed!

He had to stop a laugh when Macbeth died because while most of his family wore smiles, Kahlan and Joey had cringed and shook their heads. He shook his head. She's just like her mother!

After the play, they strolled around the park near Emily's. "Macbeth was dumb!" Joey told her parents as she walked in between them and held both of their hands.

"Why do you say that?" Hotch asked her.

"He should have paid attention to the ghosts. If he would have, he would have been ready when the other guys showed up."

"He misunderstood the warnings. He took them to mean he was invincible," Wyatt pointed out.

Joey nodded as she considered it. "He could have won if he did things differently."

Kahlan and Hotch shared a look over her head. Kahlan smiled and Hotch shook his head. Only our children would be picking apart Shakespeare, and only Joey would be analyzing the tactical decisions of the main character.

At six, Emily opened the door and they could all smell the wonderful aromas wafting out of the kitchen. Emily smiled and invited them all in. Michael, her three year old son, quickly took all the kids to his room to show him his toys. Kahlan gave Wyatt and Jack a smile for being good sports. Emily showed all of the adults to the family room and got them all some wine. "I can't believe it has really been a year already," Emily told them. She had brought her family back to Quantico before, but it had been a while since they saw everyone personally. Normally they kept contact through video chatting and such.

"Everyone sends their love," Dave told her. "Especially Pen."

Emily laughed. "Is she ever going to have any kids? The last time I talked to her all she could talk about were everyone's kids. She had to tell me everything about all of them and show me all of their latest pictures. When I asked her if there were any kids in her future, all she did was smile."

"I bet once the twins get a little bigger, she'll be wanting one of her own," Kahlan told her with a grin.

Brent, Emily's husband of four years, came in and told everyone to get to the table. They all sat down and enjoyed a wonderful meal of several of England's signature dishes. The Fish and Chips were grabbed by the kids first, but the adults preferred the Roast Beef and Yorkshire pudding and the Chicken Tikka Masala.

"Why do they call it pudding when it's just a piece of bread?" Joey asked as she looked at the popover.

Wyatt shrugged. "I was a little grossed out when Uncle Brent said Roast Beef and Pudding. I pictured meat cooked in actual pudding," he confessed sheepishly.

"That is actual pudding," Brent told him with a smile. "It's just our pudding is not the same as American pudding."

Kahlan laughed. "Wait until we get to Scotland and you see haggis on all of the menus."

"What's haggis?" Jack asked quickly.

"You don't want to know," Hotch told him seriously.

XXX

Once they finally bid Emily goodbye, Dave and Cindi insisted on taking the kids back to the hotel so Hotch and Kahlan could go enjoy some of the nightlife.

After changing and telling the kids 'goodnight', they made their way towards the clubs. As they got close to one, the music that was coming out of it made Hotch smile. He turned to Kahlan. "Come on," he told her and started pulling her to it.

"What? You want to go in there? People can't even dance to that shit," she joked as 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' played. The signs on the outside of the club promised the best Beatles renditions in London.

"Please!" he begged trying the same tone and face she had used on him earlier.

She laughed. "And they say I'm the spoiled one."

He quirked his brows at her and she giggled. "Go, baby," she told him, and he pulled her into it.

They ordered a drink and sat at a table as Hotch enjoyed listening to the band. Kahlan enjoyed seeing her husband so happy. He noticed her look and shook his head. "I just sat through five acts of Shakespeare for you."

"I know, and I love you for it."

"They're pretty good," he told her as he gestured to the band.

"They sound a lot like the Beatles," is all she offered.

When they started a new song, Hotch smiled and pulled her out of her seat. "What?" she asked quickly. He just smiled and pulled her to the dance floor. "They actually made a slow song?" she asked in disbelief.

"You wound me," he told her seriously and then pulled her into his arms. He took her around the dance floor as the band played 'Something.' She giggled as she listened to the lyrics. When the song was over, he took her back to the table. "And you said we couldn't dance to their stuff."

She laughed. "I stand corrected."

After about another half an hour, he suggested that they could go. "We don't have to leave," she insisted.

He shook his head and pulled her out the door. "I don't know if we'll find any country places around here, but we can find something else that you will actually enjoy," he told her as they walked down the sidewalk.

"I was enjoying myself," she told him. "I was enjoying watching you enjoy yourself."

He laughed and grabbed her hand. "And I love you for it."

"Besides, I think it was torturing that MI6 guy," she told him and then laughed at his surprised look.

"What?" he asked in disbelief.

She pulled him to a stop. "See that guy with the brown jacket and wire-rimmed glasses?" she asked quietly as she pulled him into a hug that moved him in the direction of the man.

"Yep," he told her as he pulled back and they started walking again. "I think they're called SIS now for Secret Intelligence Service," he pointed out.

"Oh," she told him and then shook her head. "No one tells me these things," she added with a giggle. "He's been following us all day," she told him as they continued walking. After about a block, Kahlan studied the street around them. "You want to lose him?" she asked deviously.

He grinned at the look on her face. "Lead the way."

"Be prepared to run when we get to the corner."

He chuckled. "Got it."

As soon as they reached the corner, Kahlan darted out into the street. Hotch never let go of her hand and they ran past several stopped buses and cars. The light had changed by the time the man following them had run to the corner, and the heavy traffic wouldn't allow him to cross. He quickly searched the street across from him but the Hotchners were nowhere to be seen. He cussed as he took out his phone.

Hotch laughed as they watched the man from the back of a double-decker bus as they got further down the street. "He didn't see us get on the bus," he told her as they sat down in a seat.

"Nope. That box truck blocked his view just long enough," she told him with a smile.

They noticed several of the passengers giving them strange looks, and they both looked at each other and laughed.

"Who knew vacation could be this much fun?" he said as he took one more look behind them.

"The next one won't be as easy." He looked at her questioningly. "Once they know he lost us, they'll send out someone better," she told him plainly.

He shook his head. "And yet, I still don't think it will be a problem for you."

She grinned. "This could actually get really fun before we leave."

"Do I sense a hint of hope for the challenge?"

She giggled her evil giggle. "Maybe."

He pulled her into a hug as he chuckled.

"What? I haven't gotten to play spy in a long time."

He shook his head and laughed some more. "Any idea where this is taking us?"

She looked around. "No idea."

They got off at the next stop and walked back the long way around to the hotel hand and hand. As soon as they rounded the corner, they saw two men step out of a car parked along the street. Hotch laughed at them as they went in. We'll have to see how good they are tomorrow.