Chapter 19
The next morning Mrs. Hanson made one last breakfast for her house guests. Rossi entered the dining room and noticed that Hotch hadn't come down yet. They still had two hours before the jet would take them back to Quantico, but he was surprised that Hotch had slept in. Everyone was busy eating and enjoying casual conversation and Wyatt smiled at Rossi as he joined them at the table. Kahlan poured him a cup of coffee and handed him the cup. "Thank you," he told her with a smile.
"No problem," she said as she returned the smile. "Wyatt tells me you're a mean gamer."
Rossi smiled at the boy. "He's just being generous. He kicked my but most of the time."
"I thought you said you had never played the game before?" Morgan asked him. He knew Rossi was good, and if Wyatt had beaten him, Wyatt must be really good.
"I hadn't, but I got the hang of it pretty fast," Wyatt admitted.
"He's always had a way with games and computers," Kahlan told them with a proud smile.
"Do you play chess?" Reid asked him.
"No. Is it fun?" Wyatt asked.
Morgan and Rossi laughed. Reid shot them a look. "It a game about strategies, and, yes, it can be fun," Reid told him enthusiastically.
JJ rolled her eyes. "You just think it's fun because you always win," she pointed out.
"Don't listen to them. I'll teach you some time." Reid suspected that Wyatt was smarter than the average nine year old, and he was actually looking forward to it.
"Sure. I like learning new things."
"You play chess?" Rossi asked Kahlan. He knew she was smart and would probably give Reid a run for his money.
She smiled. "Not since I was young."
Reid looked at her excitedly. "You'll have to play me on the computer sometime."
She just smiled at him. None of them knew she was going to move to Virginia except Garcia, and she swore her to secrecy.
Hotch finally came down and told everyone 'good morning' as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Rossi noticed the quick glance he gave Kahlan, but no one else did. Rossi smiled. He knew Kahlan was going to talk to him the night before, but he didn't know what about. He had been worried, but after he saw the smile on his friend's face he knew things didn't go badly. He also would have sworn that it was them who didn't get back to their rooms until after four that morning, but he couldn't be sure. He knew he would have to have a talk with his friend once they were on the jet.
"Well, we better go get packed up, Buddy. We got a long drive ahead of us," Kahlan told her son as she got up. He picked up his plate and took it and his mother's to the kitchen. She waited for him and they headed up stairs.
"You better watch it, Pretty Boy. I think that kid is gonna be smarter than you," Morgan told him with a grin.
Reid looked shocked. "You think so?"
"Oh yeah. His IQ was already 110 in the first grade," Garcia told him with a smile. Rossi gave her a questioningly look. "I checked his school records," she told him innocently.
Hotch just shook his head at her.
XXX
Hotch threw his go bag in the SUV and walked up to Kahlan as she put her bag in the rented Chevy Spark. He laughed at the little car. "You find this at the bottom of a Cracker Jack box?"
"Hey! I think it's cute!"
"It's too small for someone my height."
"You would look kind of funny sitting behind the wheel," she admitted as she shut the back door. "That place didn't have a big selection."
"I bet," he told her as he looked around to make sure no one could see them. He leaned down and gave her a kiss. She returned it with passion as she gripped his shirt in her fist. He moaned against her lips as memories of the night before came into his mind. He finally pulled back when his need for air made sparks flash in his head. She moaned as they lost connection, but smiled up at him. He smiled back at her. "You think two weeks?" She nodded as he pulled her into an embrace. "That's going to feel like forever, you know?"
"Tell me about it!" she told him as she pulled away from him just in time as Wyatt came around the SUV.
"Mom, you ready?" He stopped as soon as he saw that Hotch was with her. "Oops, I'm sorry."
"Don't be silly," she told him with a smile. "I want to go in and tell everyone good bye," she told him and started back to the house leaving Wyatt with Hotch.
Wyatt smiled at him as if he knew exactly what they had been doing. Hotch swallowed hard. He wasn't sure what to make of the boy yet. "Mr. Rossi says you have a son, too?"
Hotch smiled. "Yep, Jack's eight."
"Cool," is all he said as he studied Hotch some more.
Hotch shuffled his feet and wondered if Beth had felt that awkward when she had first spent time with Jack. He was about to go back to the house when he saw Kahlan emerge again. He opened the car door for her as Wyatt climbed into the back seat. "Text me when you get home."
"I will. Call me later this week, when you have time," she told him and shut the door.
He watched her drive away and found himself already missing her. He rubbed the back of his neck as he went back to the house.
XXX
Hotch was sitting in the back of the jet looking out the window. Rossi thought he was being much too quiet, so he decided to join him. Hotch didn't even notice him sit down, so Rossi cleared his throat. It startled Hotch and he looked at Rossi with surprise.
"What's on your mind?" Rossi asked with a smile.
"Do you think I'm crazy, Dave?"
"That depends on what you're talking about."
"You know who I'm talking about," Hotch told him as he looked to see if anyone was within hearing distance.
"Did you go and elope or something?"
"What? No! Why would you ask that?"
"Well, that's one crazy thing I can think of you doing," Rossi told him with a laugh at the look on Hotch's face.
"Are you going to quit your job and move to Reliance?"
"No!"
"You plan on marrying her before the end of the month?"
"No! What the hell, Dave?"
"Well, if you were going to one of those things, I would consider you crazy. Since you're not, I guess you're sane," he told him with a grin. Hotch shook his head. "What has you worried?"
"This whole thing. What's a woman like Kahlan see in a guy like me?"
"A guy like you? You mean a guy who has a great career, a guy who is an awesome father, a guy that is a perfect gentleman, a guy whose loyalty and friendship are beyond reproach, a. . ."
"Alright, Dave"
"I was wondering when you were going to stop me. I was running out of reasons," Rossi told him with a laugh. "Damn, Aaron, do you think you could eventually love her?"
Hotch considered him a moment. "Yes. I think I could," he told him seriously.
"Does she feel the same about you?"
"I think so." He nodded.
"Then what the hell is the problem?"
Hotch looked at him. "I don't know."
"Don't you think that you deserve to be happy or something? Cause you do. With everything you have been through, you deserve to finally find someone who can make you happy, Aaron." Rossi could tell by the look on Hotch's face that he wasn't sure he agreed, so Rossi decided to turn the tide a little. "Do you think Jack will like her?"
That made Hotch smile. "Yeah. I think Jack would love her."
"Is it Wyatt your worried about? Cause if it is, I think he really likes you."
Hotch gave him a shocked look. "How can you tell? When he looks at me I feel like he can see right through me."
Rossi smiled at him. "Well, he told me for one, and of course he looks at you like that. It is his mom we're talking about. The bond between a mother and her son is different than any other bond. It was probably a little strange for him. He can probably tell you two like each other but yet you were keeping it hidden. He's probably trying to figure out what your intentions are."
"He told you he liked me?"
Rossi laughed. "Well, he said you were 'cool', but I got the feeling he likes you. What do you think Jack would think of him."
Hotch took a moment to think about that. "Those other boys seemed to really like Wyatt, and the team seems to like him. I don't know why Jack wouldn't."
"Then what's the problem? Spend some time together, so you all can get to know each other. See where it leads. What harm can there be in that?"
"None, I guess." Hotch told him with a grin. "She did say she's moving to Virginia."
Rossi smiled. "I figured as much."
"You think I should ask her about her past before I let myself fall any farther?"
Rossi pursed his lips. "You think it will make a difference on how you feel?"
"I don't think so, but I really don't know anything about her. How can I fall for somebody I don't really know?"
"Because it's not her past that you have fallen for. It's her."
Hotch looked at his friend. "When did you become an expert on women?"
"When you've been around as much as I have, you pick up a thing or two." Hotch laughed. "But if her past is so important to you, then I suggest you ask her about the next time you talk. That way you'll know for sure if it will change the way you feel about her."
Hotch nodded. Rossi was right, of course.
XXX
Two days later, Hotch and Jack were at the park. Hotch had talked to Jack about Kahlan and her son moving near them, and Jack was excited to meet Wyatt. Jack had met Kahlan briefly as she hid them away in the hotel, and all he said about her was that he thought she was pretty and wanted to know if his daddy thought she was, too. Hotch laughed at that, but agreed with his son. "Look, Daddy, I want to learn how to do that," Jack told him as he pointed across the park to a boy doing tricks with a soccer ball.
"Yeah. That would be cool to learn, huh?" Hotch told him as he squinted to try to get a better look at the boy across the park. If he didn't know better, he would have sworn it was Wyatt. The boy's hair was shorter, though, so he just shook it off and went back to playing frisbee with his son.
After a few minutes Jack noticed a woman sneaking up behind his daddy. He recognized her from the hotel, and didn't say anything because he saw her put her finger to her lips. He just smiled and kept playing. As soon as Kahlan was close enough and Jack threw the frisbee to Hotch, she jumped out and caught it before Hotch had a chance.
"Too slow!" she told him as she turned to face him.
Hotch just stood there, shocked.
"Geeze, Jack. I think I might have broken him," she teased. Jack laughed at the look on his dad's face.
Hotch blinked a few times as if he was trying to figure out if she was actually standing in front of him. "What are you doing here?" is all he managed to ask.
"It is a public park, isn't it?" Jack laughed again, and Kahlan tossed him the frisbee.
Hotch shook his head. "Yeah, but. . . When. . . Why?" he stammered.
"Yep. You broke him," Jack agreed because he had never seen his father like that before.
"We flew in last night. I wanted to show Wyatt the area to get his opinion before we actually moved."
"He's here?"
"Yeah, he's right over there playing with his ball," she told him as she pointed to the boy Jack had seen, and she called him over. Wyatt ran up with a smile.
Hotch noticed the look on Jack's face. "Wyatt, this is my son, Jack," Hotch introduced him.
"Where did you learn how to kick the ball around like that?" Jack asked.
Wyatt smiled. "My mom taught me," he told him with a nod to Kahlan.
Hotch's surprise matched Jack's and Kahlan laughed. "No, I just showed him a few tricks. He has taken it to a whole new level."
"Want me to show you?" Wyatt asked Jack.
Jack was so excited that he couldn't talk, so he nodded enthusiastically.
Kahlan and Hotch both smiled as they watched their sons run off to play. "Well, that went a lot easier than I thought it would," Kahlan confessed.
Hotch laughed. "All it took was a black and white ball."