"As I expected," Tovah announced as she looked up at the screen. "Jade, you are currently in eighth place and Paige, you are in fifth. Not bad for your first time at Nationals. Now, that means that you will be on different sessions for practice ice tomorrow morning, as well as being in separate warm-up groups for the competition. It will make it a little easier for me to spend time with both of you."

"Would you like to comment on that?" JJ asked with a smile as she rejoined them.

"Thank you so much!" Tovah told her. "That woman caught me totally unawares."

"She was awfully nosey," Jade commented.

"That's her job, Sweetie," JJ replied. "And, I must say, I kind of enjoyed handling her. It has been a long time since I've done something like that."

"How would you like to be my wingman, too?" Ian teased. "I may not have two students here but I am sure I could – "

"Sorry, Married," JJ smiled as she held up her left hand with its wedding band. "Although, I must admit, the offer is tempting."

"Just my luck!" Ian groused cheerfully.

"Catch up with you later?" he offered Tovah.

"With my husband, too?" she replied.

"It will be my pleasure!"

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Ian seems really nice," Paige commented offhandedly that evening as she and her family were relaxing in their hotel suite.

"He certainly does," Laurel agreed.

"Coach Tovah said she knew him a long, long time ago before he moved here," Paige continued.

"I'm sure Coach Tovah has skated with a lot of people over the years," Hotch told her. "Just like you have. Remember Clarisse?"

"Oh Yeah - Her!" Paige wrinkled up her nose.

"Coach Tovah and Uncle Spencer are having dinner with Ian right now," Jack contributed.

"And I'm sure they having a good time getting caught up," Laurel commented as she rocked baby Sophia.

"And, now, young lady, it's time for you to get into bed," Laurel continued, looking over at Paige. "You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow."

"Oh Mom!" Paige protested.

"And, I want your cell phone before you go," she held out her hand.

"What?" Paige asked.

"No texting after you are in bed!" Laurel told her. "You are supposed to be sleeping. Now, hand it over – You'll get it back tomorrow morning."

"Whatever!" Paige muttered as she handed the phone to her mother before heading into the closest bedroom.

"Whatever happened to Clarisse – Do you know?" Hotch asked after Paige had left the room.

"According to Joan, she just passed both her Senior Level tests," Laurel replied. "Her mother is supposed to be bringing her here in the next day or so, so she can watch the Senior Ladies' competition. That way she will have an idea of who she will be competing against over the next year. It is supposed to inspire her to work harder."

"We had better warn Rossi," Hotch smirked. "I would assume Dotty hasn't changed her man-chasing ways."

"Now," he continued as he stood up. "I am going to go change my clothes and get ready for bed. I have had a long day and I suspect that tomorrow is going to be just as long."

He looked over at his son. "Jack, do you want to go first in the bathroom, seeing as how we are going to be bunking together tonight?" he offered.

"Not quite yet," Jack replied. "Mom still doesn't have the crib for Sophia set up and I was planning on giving her a hand with that."

"You can hold Sophia while I put the sheets on," Laurel smiled as she handed over the baby. "Then I can wheel the crib into the other bedroom with Paige and me. That way when we leave for practice ice tomorrow morning we won't disturb the two of you."

"Why don't you leave Sophia with Jack and me tomorrow morning?" Hotch offered. "After you are done feeding her you can just roll the crib into our room and we can take it from there. That way you won't have to drag all her gear out the door and across the street with you."

"If you are sure?" Laurel asked.

"We're sure," Hotch replied with a smile at Jack.

"Don't worry, Mom," Jack added. "We can handle it."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

When Hotch woke up the next morning, he was alone in the bedroom. Yawning, he got out of bed and walked over to the doorway leading into the living room. When he pushed the door open, he saw Jack sitting on the couch holding Sophia. It suddenly dawned on him that he could very easily be looking at a young father holding his first child - His son was quickly becoming a man. How much time had passed and how much of his son's growing up had he missed? Was there still time to play catch-up? Maybe it was time to –

Hotch quickly shook off that thought. He and Morgan needed to work on rebuilding the team. Bringing Anderson in had been the right move, but they still needed at least one more member, and thus far none of the agents who had been rotating in and out had seemed to be a good fit.

Jack sensed that he was being watched and looked over to smile at him. "She's really something, isn't she, Dad?" he asked, nodding towards Sophia.

"She certainly is," Hotch agreed as he walked over to stand behind his son and daughter.

"And to think that Mom – That she actually - ," Jack left the sentence unfinished.

"She's something special, too," his father agreed.