"That should not have happened - That was wrong of me!" Hotch declared later as they lay in the bed. "I know better! I took advantage of you!"
"Aaron, in case you didn't notice, I was just as active a participant as you," Christine pointed out. "And, if anything, I took advantage of you. I knew you were lonely."
"But - ," Hotch struggled to contain his distress. "This was wrong!"
"Aaron, we are two consenting adults. What we did was not wrong!" Christine stated vehemently.
"But – It's you – and me – and what about Reid?"
"What about Reid?" The question hung in the air between them.
"What about Reid?" Hotch repeated his question.
"Dr. Spencer Reid, Genius Extraordinaire," Christine spoke slowly. "He kicked me to the curb a long time ago. By his own inaction, he made it clear he doesn't want anything to do with me. And, that's why you're here and he isn't."
"He wrote you off - How?" Hotch was shocked.
"He never called," Christine told him sadly. "I left him the numbers, and he never called."
"What numbers? Do you mean Reid has known where you were all along?" Hotch was astounded.
"He didn't know where I was," Christine quickly corrected him. "I left him the number for the disposable cell phone I had, and the contact information for Miss Lilly. I figured if he didn't want to talk directly to me, maybe he would talk with her. But, he never called."
"You left him the information?" Hotch repeated.
"Yes," Christine replied. "When I left my babies at the hospital, there was a large, manila envelope with them. It contained their birth certificates from the hospital, an open letter explaining what I was doing and why, Spencer's contact information, and a sealed envelope addressed to him. I rewrote that letter five times, trying to explain things to him."
"Dave did mention that the social worker gave Reid a sealed envelope with his name on it," Hotch recalled. "We never asked what was in it because we figured it was personal."
"So, he did get the envelope!" Christine exclaimed sadly. "There has always been a part of me that hoped –Oh Well! When I saw him and Rossi arrive at the hospital, I knew my babies would be in good hands, and that he would get my letter. So, I left."
Christine sounded resigned to accepting her decision. "It was the best thing for all of us."
"And now - This?" Hotch questioned.
"Aaron, I am a heterosexual woman who has spent the past three years in the company of nothing but other women," Christine reminded him. "I haven't been with anyone since the night the twins were conceived. As long as you don't have any encumbrances – "
"None," Hotch looked over at her.
"What about George Wyatt?" he asked.
"Sorry," Hotch immediately apologized. "That was insensitive of me."
"That's okay," Christine told him. "I need to talk about it and, after this, you have a right to know."
"His first try at raping me was less than successful," Christine recalled. "Apparently none of his other victims had ever hung out with a group of FBI agents. I managed to deliver a low blow and kind of put him out of commission for a while. That's when he took the Taser to me for the first time." She shuddered. "And, then, he beat me up pretty badly. Sometimes I think I can still feel the bruises he left."
"The next time, he came prepared with the Taser. That's when I decided maybe I had better cooperate," Christine continued. "At that point, I was certain I was pregnant and didn't know what kind of damage a Taser would do to the baby. However, let's just say his equipment didn't want to work properly. He took it out on me by again beating and kicking me. It was after that episode that I started putting my degree in psychology to work and somehow managed to convince him that I was better used for other things, like handling his accounting. I felt bad about it, because the other women were still being abused. Then, when my pregnancy became obvious, he completely lost interest in me sexually." Christine was physically shaking as she finished her story.
"Come here," Hotch held out his arms and pulled Christine close to his chest. "That's all in the past. Right now, what we need to do is to start thinking about your future."
Hotch's cell phone buzzed. Suppressing an unkind comment, he reached over and picked it up to glance at the screen.
"It's Jack," he announced, reading the text message. "He's ready for me to pick him up."
"You need to go then," Christine stated as she pulled away from him.
"And, just leave you?" Hotch sounded torn.
"Aaron, he's your son. He comes first. That goes without saying," Christine told him. "As much as I hate to see you go, you need to get dressed and get going."
As Hotch was putting his clothes on, he looked over at the woman sitting on the bed, wrapped in a sheet. "I do have a question," he said. "You said you saw Reid and Rossi arrive at the hospital for the twins?"
"Yes," Christine told him. "Spencer jumped out of the car even before Dave had stopped it and proceeded to leap over the snow banks in the parking lot. I was afraid he was going to slip and fall and hurt himself."
"But – How?" Hotch asked.
"There was a bus shelter across the street from the emergency room entrance," Christine explained. "In a heavy ski jacket, everyone looks the same. And, quite frankly, neither one of them took the time to survey the area. I had left Spencer's contact information with the twins so I figured it wouldn't be long before someone showed up. They arrived much sooner than I had anticipated.
Hotch nodded as he finished tying his shoes. "You'll still be here tomorrow?" he questioned.
"I'll be leaving sometime in the morning to drive back to The Yoga Center," Christine told him.
"I'll call?"
"Aaron, if you can't get me here, you know where I am."
After Hotch had left her, Christine made the bed and then began pacing nervously around the motel room. She sat down and opened her laptop, but couldn't concentrate on her writing. She turned on the TV, but none of the programs caught her interest. Her encounter with Aaron had been unexpected and had left her feeling unhappy and unsettled. Her whole body was trembling and on edge. She felt like she wanted – She wasn't sure what. Maybe a warm bubble bath would help
Christine went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her, and began running water into the tub. She never heard the knock at the hotel room door.