When Nothing Goes as Planned
Week 18
"Emily! Emily! Emily!" Jack yelled as soon as she entered the Hotchner apartment. He came running to her his face flushed and slightly out of breath. "It's so good you're here! You have to save me from the tickle monster!" Jack wrapped his arms around her legs from behind, trying to hide from the young girl that came running after him.
"You can't hide from me little Jack man," the girl said kneeling in front of Emily and started to tickle Jack under his arms. The little boy had to let go of Emily's legs so he could protect his armpits from the girls fingers, but failed and fell to the floor laughing. "No more Abby, no more!"
"You know you have to say the magic words to make me stop."
"You're the sweetest girl in the whole world!" Jack yelled as loud as he could and then Abby stopped tickling him.
"That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Jack shook his head and Abby ruffled his hair. "Go to your room and start clearing up the mess we made earlier and then I'll put on a movie you can watch with Emily."
"Can it be Toy Story 2?"
"Of course it can." Jack smiled and ran out of the hall while Abby got up from the floor and stretched out her hand for Emily to shake. "I'm Abigail Sinclair."
Emily took her hand and for the first time really looked at the girl. She looked younger than the 17 Hotch had told her Abby was, but that might just be because the she was not wearing any make-up. Her light blue eyes were not even surrounded by mascara or eyeliner. And it could also be the fact that the girl's long strawberry blonde hair was pulled into low pigtails. "Emily Prentiss."
"Oh, I know," she said with a big smile and a dimple in each cheek appeared.
"You know?" Emily asked as she took of her jacket.
"Jack talks a lot about you and the little ones – the peanuts. He's really looking forward to becoming a big brother," Abby told her as they walked into the living room. Emily sat down on the couch as Abby knelt in front of the TV turning on both that and the DVD-player. She laid the movie disk on the slid and then sat down on the couch next to Emily. For a moment they both just looked at the movie menu as it played over and over a few times, but then Emily turned to Abby and asked, "How do you know Aaron and Jack?"
"Haley used to be my violin teacher."
"Jack's mother?" Emily asked surprised. From all the things she had expected the girl to say that was not it.
"Yes, when she and Aaron were still married and before Jack was born she would teach a couple of classes a week – one of them being mine. But after the divorce she started working again and needed a babysitter for Jack a couple of times a week and asked me if I would like to do it and I said yes. I had known her and Aaron since I was like five, so..." Abby shrugged her shoulder and looked away from Emily. "I remember seeing you at the funeral," she mumbled.
Emily searched her memory to try and find Abby between all the people in black that had been there that day and at last she remembered a strawberry blonde girl stilling alone by a table in a black dress much like her own. She had been crying and clutching a violin in her right hand. "I remember seeing you there too."
"You and the team left before Andy and I played 'Amazing Grace' on our violins."
"I'm sure it sounded beautiful," Emily said, but Abby just shrugged her shoulders. They sat in silent for a few minutes, but then foot steps could be heard running from the hall to the living room. "Is the movie ready?" Jack asked and squashed down between Emily and Abby on the couch.
"Yes it is," Abby said and kissed Jack on top of the head, "and I have to go now. I'll see you tomorrow morning Jack-man."
"Bye bye happy Abby!" Jack said as he and Emily waved goodbye to her as she left and when they heard the front door close Jack turned towards the TV. "Start the movie!"
"Okay," Emily said turning on the movie, "but just so you know it, I can only watch the beginning of the movie with you."
"Why?" Jack asked tilting his head to the side. "Are you leaving again?"
"Of course not. I won't leave till your daddy gets home."
"But if daddy never comes home, will you still stay with me?"
"He is just at a meeting and will be home by eight, Jack, so there is no need for you to think about anything like that."
"But if he doesn't. Will you stay with me?"
"Of course."
"Good," Jack said and looked from Emily to the television scene and smiled. "Oh I like this part."
Emily looked curious at Jack and wanted to ask him why he had asked her that. She knew it had to do with his mother, that Jack now understood how a parent could could leave – could die – and never come back. Was Jack asking her to take care of him if he ever became a orphan? Emily looked over at the little boy as he laughed at the movie. It was easy for her to imagine Jack as her son, the boy as incredible and she wished the twins would be just like him – sweet, nice, hopeful, positive. 'He's like a pocket full of sunshine,' Emily thought and smiled to herself. "I'll start making dinner now."
"What are we having?" Jack asked without looking away from the TV.
"Lasagne."
"I hope yours are better than daddy's."
"Your dad is not good at making lasagne?" Emily asked realizing she did not know anything about Hotch's coking skills. How could she work with the man for five years and not even know if he was a good cook? But then again she did not really know that much about him anyway. 'I will have to change that,' Emily thought and noticed that she had not heard Jack's reply to her question. He laughed again and Emily smiled as she got up and walked to the kitchen.
"Is the food done yet?" Jack asked as he came into the kitchen an hour later. "My movie is finish. You should see it too, it's really funny."
"I'll do that the next time I come," Emily said taking the lasagne out of the oven and placing it on the kitchen counter. She took two table mats from the drawer. "Could you put these on the table next to each other?" Jack nodded as he took them from her hands a laid them on the table and Emily then placed the dish on top of them.
"Can I set the table," Jack asked.
"That would be great," Emily said with a smile and took two plates from the cupboard which she handed to Jack, who quickly ran to the table with them and soon after came back to get the cutlery and then the glasses and milk. Emily bought over the bread and salad bowl and then both of them sat down at the dinner table. Emily smiled when she saw that Jack had placed the knife and fork in the wrong places. It helped her to remember that he was only a small child. Some time when she talked with him he seemed so grown up.
While they ate dinner Jack told Emily about the movie he had just seen, how good it was and that she really, really needed to watch it with him. She did not have the heart to tell him that she had already watched it. Instead she promised him that she would take him to the movies so they could watch the new Toy Story 3 when it came out.
The little boy jumped of his chair and ran to Emily wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. "Thank you! Thank you! I have never been to the movies. It will be so fun! Can daddy come too?
Emily nodded. "Of course. If he wants to come with us then he can."
"Yay! Can we call him and ask him now."
Emily looked at her wrist watch. "Sorry buddy, but he is still at a meeting. You will have to wait to tell him till tomorrow."
"Okay." Jack nodded his head sadly as he walked back to his seat and ate the rest of his lasagne. "I'm all done now."
"Good, then please place your plate on the kitchen counter and then you have a little over an hour to play in before it's time for bed," Emily said as she got up to take her own plate of the table. Jack did as he was told and then walked to his bedroom to play with his Lego. Emily washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen and living room so Hotch would not have to do it when he eventually got home from work.
Time had passed quickly and when Emily finally looked at her watch it was already 7:20pm and time for Jack's bath. She sighed and wished that she had had a little time to sit down and relax. Walking around and picking things up from the floor had not been good for her back and feet hurt a little, but Jack needed to get to bed as a clean boy, so there was nothing she could do but give the boy his bath.
Emily walked down to Jack's bedroom and opened the door finding Jack sitting on the floor surround by Lego blocks. "Jack it's time for your bath."
"I don't want one."
"Come on Jack. I know you shower every night before you go to bed, so pack the Lego away while I fill the bathtub," Emily said picking up some night clothes for the boy before heading to the bathroom. 10 minutes later the tub was filled but there was no little boy in it or even in the bathroom, so Emily decided to go look for him and found him sitting on the couch. "The bath is ready."
"I don't want one."
"Jack, I'm not in the mood for this. Please come with me to the bathroom so you can have your shower," Emily said tired.
"But I don't want one," he said and when Emily started walking towards him he jumped of the couch and ran in the opposite direction. And soon Emily was chasing him around the living room. "Jack stop running right now!"
"Only if I don't have to take my bath."
Emily sighed and stopped running so her and Jack were now standing on opposite sides of the couch. "Why wouldn't you shower?" she asked placing her hands on her hips.
"I don't want you to see my bottom."
"Then I'll just close my eyes while you crawl into the tub."
"Not good enough."
"Oh come on Jack!"
"No!" he said and stamped his foot on the floor.
"Fine, then you don't have to shower."
Jack smiled. "Really?"
"No," Emily said and was able to move faster than Jack and she caught him around the waist before he had a change to run away from her. He squealed and moved all he could to get out of her grip as she tried to take of his pants and shirt, but she only succeed in removing his pants before he got away from her again and instead of running after him like before Emily just laid down the floor breathing heavily.
"You don't run after me anymore?"
"Nope," Emily said looking of at the ceiling, "I'm just going to lay here and do nothing at all."
Jack walked slowly over to her ready if she decided to come after him again. "Do you mean that?"
"Yep, so go put on your pajamas and bring your blanket back here and we will lay on the floor together and do nothing for a little while."
Jack did as Emily said and five minutes later he came back dressed in his navy blue pajamas and with his blanket in his right hand and his pillow in his left. "This is for you," he said and handed Emily his pillow.
Emily smiled. "Thank you, but won't you need it yourself?"
Jack shock his head. "I'll just use you," he said making Emily laugh.
"Okay then, lay down where ever you want."
Jack wrapped his blanket around himself and then laid down next to Emily on the floor with his head on her chest. His little hand crawled out from under the blanket and moved up to lie on Emily's stomach. "Are the Peanuts sleepy now?"
"Yeah I think they are," she said and wrapped her arm around him.
Jack ran his hand over her stomach slowly. "Then maybe singing them a song would be a good idea."
Emily smiled. "I think you might be right. That song do you think they would like?"
He thought for a moment and then tilted his head up so he could look at her and said. "I think they would like the one with the star."
"Twinkle, twinkle little star?" Emily asked and Jack nodded closing his eyes and cuddling closer into her side as she started to sing.
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are..."
/
The meeting ended a little after eight and Hotch hurried home, so that he might be able to say goodnight to Jack before he fell asleep, but when he walked into the apartment almost no light was on and everything was quiet. He walked down the hall and through kitchen and living room to Jack's room expecting to find his son in his bed sleeping, but the bed was empty – both his son and his blanket were gone. Hotch wondered where he was and then he thought of Emily. 'Where are they,' he thought and walked back out of Jack's room and into the living room, and then was when he saw the feet sticking out from the side of the couch. He walked closer feeling slightly panicked, but when he looked over the back of the couch he smiled. There laid Emily with Jack in her arms and sounding asleep on the floor.
Hotch bent down and lifted Jack into his arms carrying him to bed. Then he walked back to the living room and sat down on the couch. He almost could not bear having to wake Emily up, she looked so sweet as she laid there on the floor, but he know he could not let her sleep there. Hotch knelt down next to her on the floor and lightly shook her shoulder. "Emily wake up," he said, but she did not open her eyes. Instead she rolled onto her side and mumbled something he could not understand. Hotch tried to shake her awake again, but did not succeed and decided to give up. So he lifted her into his arms and carried her to his bedroom, because they did not have a guestroom and he could not let her sleep on the couch, so his bed was the place she could sleep. So Hotch moved the covers back as good as he could and then laid Emily down on the bed and pulled the cover over her. She rolled into her side and ran her hand over her stomach.
Hotch sat down on the side of the bed and laid his hand on top of Emily's. He ran his thumb over the palm of her hand and whispered, "Goodnight, little ones."
