Last chapter! Title should be self-explanatory; it was that or something really cheesy. :p Enjoy.

ELEVEN: Flight Into Egypt

The brit milah was held at Gideon's cabin. The whole team was there, along with a small number of friends, family and members of the local Jewish community. Half of them had come straight from Hotch and Beth's hurried wedding ceremony. The whole thing was very last-minute—Jack had stood up as best man, JJ had been designated matron of honor, and Henry had been honorary ring bearer.

"We'll do it properly when we come back to the states," Beth assured a disgruntled Garcia, who had been hovering near the punch bowl with Reid for most of the last half hour.

"You'd better," she said. "I expect all the trimmings. And I want to see my gorgeous onyx Greek statue in a tuxedo."

"You wanna see who in a what?" Morgan asked, walking up to them.

Garcia pointed at him playfully. "You, sir. In a tux. When Hotch and Beth have their real wedding." She looked back to Beth. "So, how's it feel to be Mary Beth Hotchner?"

"I'll let you know; it hasn't sunk in yet," Beth answered.

"I hadn't realized Beth wasn't short for Elizabeth until the Rabbi said it," Reid put in.

"I never use the Mary part."

Hotch left off talking to Gideon and the rabbi and approached the group around his wife and adoptive son. "I'm glad you all came," he said. "It means a lot to us."

"We wouldn't have missed it," Reid said.

"Of course not," Garcia chimed in. "I mean, when am I going to get another chance to go to a wedding with a baby-mutilation ceremony at the reception?"

"Penelope," Reid scolded.

"I'm sorry! It's just so... Ugh!" She cringed.

"It's okay," Hotch said. "I know it seems like a weird thing to celebrate. But it's very symbolic for the Jewish people..."

"I know. Reid was explaining it all to me as you went along. I just can't help it. It's squicky. Poor little guy." She reached out to stroke Joshua's cheek with one finger.

"It's a healthy practice, really," Reid said. "It prevents all sorts of potential problems..."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Hush."

Reid closed his mouth and rolled his eyes.

"Anyway," Beth said with a smile, "when we come back we're going to have a nice, big, traditional wedding... but with some Jewish elements."

"Like in Fiddler On the Roof?" Garcia asked.

"Maybe a little bit."

"Oh! you should dance with a scarf."

"A scarf?" Hotch asked warily. It had been a while since he had seen the musical in question.

"Yeah, you know..." Garcia pulled the feather boa from around her neck and put one end in Reid's hand. "Like this... so you're dancing together, but you're not touching..."

Reid obligingly lifted his end so Garcia could pull lightly against his grip and twirl under the feather boa.

Hotch snorted. "Feel free to dance however you like at the wedding... but I think Beth and I will be doing more western dances."

Beth leaned toward Garcia and whispered loudly, "I'll work on him."

Gideon came over and slapped Hotch on the back. "Well, you finally got yourself on the right path, old son," he teased. "Wife and two kids, wedding and a circumcision in one day, plans to go to synagogue, looking for a rabbi..."

"We'll have a new set of material for cross-cultural jokes," Morgan said dryly. "Instead of a blonde, a brunette and a black guy, we can do a black FBI agent, a white FBI agent and his rabbi..."

Garcia giggled.

"Gideon, if you're interested," Hotch said, "I'd like for you to help me teach Jack and Joshua about the Torah. I've studied it to some extent, but I could use someone else's input."

"You don't want me trying to teach them anything," Gideon protested. "Let the rabbi teach them if you don't know what you're doing."

Hotch gave a small, exasperated laugh. "It's not just that I'd like some assistance; I'd also like to stay in touch with you. This gives me a reason to that doesn't involve work. I thought you might like that."

"Well, when you put it that way..."

"Can anyone audit these lessons?" Reid asked eagerly.

"Hang on now... we're not opening lectures to the public here."

"Don't worry, I won't be showing up to Hebrew school," Morgan said.

When it was time to leave, Hotch gave his house key to Rossi. "Once the flooding has gone down enough, try to get me an estimate of the damage," he said.

"Sure thing," Rossi answered, pocketing the key. "We're supposed to be able to get back into D.C. within the next few days, so I can probably do that soon."

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

Everyone bestowed hugs, kisses and handshakes on the new family.

"Don't drink the water," Reid advised them.

"You don't know where we're going," said Beth.

"Wherever you're going—don't drink the water."

Hotch laughed. "Fair enough. Take care, Reid. Dave, hold down the fort for me. JJ, Prentiss, don't let Morgan do anything too reckless."

"Hey," Morgan protested.

"And Garcia... keep doing what you always do."

Garcia smiled. "Thank you, sir. Have a good trip." she knelt to give Jack a hug. "Bye-bye, sweetie."

"Bye Aunt Penelope." Jack let go of her and held his arms up toward Reid, who quickly obliged him. "Bye, Uncle Spencer."

"Bye, buddy," Reid said. "Take good care of the new baby."

"I will."

As they were about to leave the parking lot, the rabbi hurried over to their rented car.

"What is it, rabbi Simeon?" Hotch asked through his window.

"I almost forgot—this was given to me for you." He passed a little knitted bunting through the window. "It's from a lady who lives near Bethlehem... a Missus Shepherd? Her husband raises some livestock and she made this from their sheep's wool."

"It's so nice," Beth said, admiring the handmade article. "Of course we remember the Shepherds."

"They told me about seeing an angel or something..."

"Do you believe that, rabbi?"

"It's not for me to believe or disbelieve what others have seen," the older man said with a shrug. "It is mine to study the law of the Lord... and watch for the messiah."

Hotch searched the rabbi's face for a moment. He thought he saw conviction there, and certainly hope. "Thank you. Take care."

"The Lord bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you."

Hotch put the car in gear and Jack waved goodbye to the rabbi. They were on their way to the airport.

"Passports?" Hotch asked.

"Got them," said Beth.

"ID?"

"Got them."

"Tickets?"

"Where did you put them?"

"In my briefcase."

After a moment, Beth had retrieved the tickets. "Egypt?"

"Should be nice this time of year. And dry. I don't want to so much as hear the word 'flood' for the next week at least."

"Will we see pyramids?" Jack asked excitedly.

"Maybe. We could be there a while."

"A while" turned into weeks. Jack was starting to pick up Arabic words from native Egyptian children. Hotch was starting to wonder if his stored-up paid vacation time would cover this trip much longer. He wondered what the team was doing without him... but mostly he wondered what the next step was.

Jack was finally asleep and Beth appeared to have dozed off too. Joshua was becoming sleepy in Hotch's arms. The baby had followed the usual pattern of losing a little weight and gaining it back, and he was now about a pound heavier than his birth weight. Still a tiny thing, he had developed a regular feeding pattern, had longer periods of wakefulness, and rarely cried for long. Everyone they met was impressed by how quiet and attentive he seemed to be.

Hotch leaned back on his pillow beside Beth, caressing Joshua on his chest. At this rate, he wasn't sure which of them would fall asleep first. Joshua lifted his wee head slightly and looked at his surrogate father with gold-flecked, deep blue eyes.

"Hey, buddy," Hotch whispered. "You're getting the hang of that." He felt the short, fuzzy hair on Joshua's head. Then his phone vibrated and he fumbled around for it, hoping the noise wouldn't wake Jack or Beth.

"Hotchner."

The caller was Rossi. "Hey, Hotch. I hope I didn't wake you. I know it's late there."

Hotch sat up and spoke quietly. "I was awake... what's going on?"

"Plenty. Three days ago, Robert Herod died in prison."

"Murdered?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah. Garcia found out via his old chatroom that he had ordered his followers to kill several well-liked celebrities in the locale of the prison in the event of his dying before they could break him out."

"Do you know which ones are being targeted?" Hotch asked.

"Yes and no. We know which ones he wanted killed and why, but all signs point toward the groupies not following through on the order."

"Why not?"

"Because Herod was supposed to be their king; without him, their little zealot group has no purpose. The only reason he wanted those people killed was because he doubted anyone would mourn him, and he wanted to make sure people in the vicinity would be crying at his death."

"Sick son of a..." Hotch glanced at Joshua and trailed off.

"Yeah. We've caught all the major players, and it seems the rest of the group has disbanded. You should be able to come home soon."

"That's great, Dave. Thanks for letting me know."

"Sure thing. Reid also said to tell you that for what it's worth, last night he dreamed someone told him it was safe for you to come back."

Hotch smiled. "Tell him thanks."

When he'd said goodbye to Rossi, Hotch carefully lay back down with the baby. Out of nowhere, Joshua looked up at Hotch and smiled.

As the smile persisted, he realized that this really was a real smile and not a random reflex smile. "You know, don't you?" he asked softly. Then he pasted on a fake displeased look. "You're not supposed to be real-smiling yet, you know. It's not fair to the normal kids."

Slowly, Joshua's smile faded.

Hotch leaned forward far enough to kiss Joshua's head. "I know you're not really mine," he whispered, "but I love you."

As he lay back, Joshua nestled his head on Hotch's chest, over his heart, as if to say "You are mine, and I love you."

Whew, made it before the day was over. Merry Christmas! Let me know if you liked it. :)