The first few weeks in the new house went well. We got all the boxes unpacked, everything in place. We managed to find a few hours here and there to shop for new or additional things.
Then, Jack seemed to enter a regression. He was demanding to sleep in bed with us at night, he was throwing temper tantrums, he was telling me to get out and would push me away from Hotch whenever we were near each other.

At first, we thought we would just wait it out. After two weeks of this, Jack declared that he hated me, and he wanted me to leave. He told Jessica about how much he hated me; he told Rossi that I was stealing his daddy away.

Hotch tried to sit down and talk with him about it. He tried his best to spend more time with him. This all resulted in Hotch and I barely speaking outside of work. I usually stayed in my office until long after Jack was asleep. I began sleeping in the spare room, because he would scream and cry whenever I was in my bed with Hotch.

After four weeks, Hotch and I began to feel the strain it was causing on our relationship. At work, I tried not to be different, but the entire team noticed that I was keeping my distance. Jack wasn't even there at work, but I still did it.
Three days ago, Hotch attended an appointment with Jack and his school counsellor regarding his behaviour. We discovered he was starting to act out at school too, and his teacher suspected he wasn't receiving enough attention at home.

This morning, he took Jack to my therapist, and asked me to come too. I tried so hard to keep it together when Jack told her about how he wanted his mummy back, and me to be gone.
She requested to speak with Jack alone, so Hotch and I sat in the waiting room in silence. After a painful fifteen minutes, she called us back in.

"Jack has a bully at school who is saying some mean things about his late mother. That, and your recent move, is making Jack anxious and is causing him to act out. He does not hate you, Emily.
"What Jack needs is some one-on-one time with both of you, and some time altogether as well. You need to reenforce that you both love him. Aaron, he needs you to continue to talk to him about his mother, and how much she loved him too.
He is just feeling a little lost at the moment. It won't be forever."

"Okay." Hotch nodded and looked at Jack at his side.

"In saying that, my appointment with Emily last week detailed how this is affecting your relationship. The two of you also need some time child-free, to talk and work through not only this, but everything else in your professional and personal lives as well. Living together but sleeping apart and separating yourselves in the home is only reenforcing Jack's behaviour and allowing your relationship to be pushed onto the back burner."

We talked through some strategies with her before we left the appointment. In the car, we were all silent. Hotch reached his hand over and intertwined our fingers on my knee. I looked at him and smiled, squeezing his hand briefly. The smile was short lived, as Jack spoke up, "No! My daddy!" He started kicking his legs and yelling from his seat.

I sighed and went to move my hand away, but Hotch held on and looked at me, shaking his head. "Jack?" Hotch tried to get him to settle down and listen.

"My daddy!" He yelled again.

"Yes, he is your daddy, Jack. I am not trying to take him away from you, buddy." I looked at him over my shoulder and tried to smile at him, but he just glared at me.

"No!" He squealed.

I turned back and looked out my window so neither of them would see the tears fall from my eyes. I unlinked our hands and tried to make the tears go away. I felt the car slow down and looked at Hotch as he pulled over onto the side of the road. "What are you doing?" He didn't reply, just got out of the car, told me to wait, and then got Jack out. I watched from inside the car as he sat Jack on the bonnet of the car and spoke to him. I couldn't hear anything, but I saw Jack crying. I could tell Hotch was trying to be understanding and gentle with his words, but he was feeling the stress of this and was struggling to keep his own temper in check.

When they got back in the car, Jack sniffled and wiped at his tears, and Hotch began back towards home again. He called Rossi through the Bluetooth and waited for him to pick up the phone, "Hey Dave, are you busy tonight?"

"No plans. What did you have in mind?"

"Thought we could go out or I could come over for dinner and some drinks. Emily and Jack need some time alone together." He suggested. I whipped my head back around and tried to get Hotch's attention. I shook my head; I did not want to do that. I saw Jack watching me out the corner of my eye and I met his eyes, smiling at him. He just stared back, but it didn't look like a glare this time.

"I don't want to do this, Aaron. He hates me. He doesn't talk to me; he doesn't want me to play or read with him." I followed Hotch from the ensuite and into our closet as he dressed to go to Rossi's.

"Emily, you heard her. You need some one-on-one time with him. The sooner we get this resolved, the sooner we can fix…this." He motioned between us.

"We don't need to fix us; we're fine."

"You're sleeping in the guest room."

"Because he won't let me in our room!"

"Stop. He is a five-year-old boy, Emily. And keep your voice down, or he will hear you and think you don't want him around."

"Well what time will you be home? Before bedtime? Because if he won't sleep in his bed when you're here, and there is no way in hell I am going to be able to get him to sleep anywhere."

"Stop, breathe," he stood in front of me and held my hand, "Just have dinner with him, try to play with his toys or draw with him, watch a movie. Find something that he will do with you and let him know that you love him. Remember that he doesn't hate you, he just feels lost, left out. He doesn't know where he stands. Just try to ease his anxiety." I just nodded. He smiled and pressed a kiss to my lips, "I love you."

"I love you too." I kissed him back, and then it seemed impossible for either of us to stop. He backed me against the wall, and I moaned into the kiss.

"Daddy!" I heard Jack call out. I sighed and dropped my head as he reluctantly pulled away. I couldn't remember the last time we went this long without sex; probably when I was healing after Doyle. He ran his hand along my cheek briefly. I leant into it, and then he pressed one more kiss to my lips before he went in search of Jack. I took another few minutes before I went downstairs.

He begged Hotch to take him with him, but he kept reiterating that Jack needed to spend some time with me. Hotch knelt to give him a hug and said he loved him, and then he kissed my cheek before he left. Jack turned to look at me, waiting.

"What do you want for dinner?" I asked him.

He thought for a moment before speaking quietly, "Pizza. At Luigi's."

I smiled, "Okay! Let's go to Luigi's. Do you want to bring a toy?" He went and grabbed a superhero toy and returned to me at the door. I grabbed his coat and held it out for him. He just shook his head. "Jack, it's cold outside. You need to wear your coat, please."

"No!"

I took a deep breath to calm myself, "Well…then maybe we won't go to Luigi's. We have to stay home if you don't want to wear your coat." I bit my lip as he stared at me for a second. He snatched his coat from my hands and put it on with a grumpy pout. He opened the front door and went out to my car. I slipped my own coat on, locked the door, and followed him out.

The drive was silent, and he only spoke again to tell me what kind of pizza he wanted. I ordered for us and watched him play on the playground. Some of the kids were a bit bigger than him – maybe 8 or 9. Soon, he returned to the table and looked at me. He looked like he wanted to speak. "Is something wrong?"

"…Will you come play with me? Those boys are mean. They wouldn't let me on the slide."

"How about we eat the pizza that's on its way over," I pointed to the waitress who was making her way over to us, "And then I'll come play with you and make sure those boys don't be mean anymore."

He nodded in agreement, and then he dug into his pizza. I ate mine and smiled every time he looked at me.
After eating, he got up and waited for me to grab my bag. I played with him for almost an hour, and then he wanted to play on some of the arcade games. I gave him coins and cheered him on. I high fived him and praised him when he won the games.

Eventually, it hit 7:30, and we needed to go home. "Jack, buddy. It's time to go home and have a bath before bed."

"I'm not ready."

I crouched down so he could hear me clearly over the games and other kids, "How about this: we go home now and get ready for bed. You sleep in your own room through the night, and tomorrow I promise that daddy and I will take you out for breakfast, and then to the park, and we can come back here for lunch if you want to."

"Really? You promise?"

"I pinkie promise," I held my pinkie out. He hooked his around mine and smiled at me. It almost brought tears to my eyes; I hadn't seen that smile directed at me in weeks. "But remember, you have to sleep in your own room tonight." He nodded and then ran to the door. I jogged to catch up to him, and then drove home.

"He's in his own bed?" Hotch asked as he entered the room. I jumped when he spoke; I hadn't heard him come home. He smiled and laughed lightly, "Sorry."

"It's okay. We went to Luigi's. We had pizza, played on the playground, played the arcade games, and then I told him we needed to come home. He said no, so I promised that if he came home, got ready for bed, and spent the entire night in his own room, then we would take him out for breakfast, to the park, and then to Luigi's for lunch tomorrow."

He smiled as he undressed. He sat down on his side of the bed and kissed me, "So not too bad of a night with him?"

I shook my head, "Not too bad. It was a little awkward in the beginning. There were these kids at Luigi's who were being mean to him and wouldn't let him on the slide, and it upset him. I was tempted to use that as an example of how he has been acting. You know, being mean to me, not letting me into my own room, not letting me near you. But he seemed like he didn't mind me and I didn't want things to revert back."

He nodded as he slipped under the covers, "Hmm. It's nice having you back in bed with me." He whispered as he lay his head on my chest. "I missed you."

I smiled and ran my hands through his hair rhythmically, "I missed you." He moved his head to kiss at my collarbone, and then slowly up my neck. I pushed him away lightly after he pressed a few kisses to my lips, "Believe me, I want to, but we don't know that he's going to stay in his bed, and I don't want him to walk in on us."

He sighed, "Next weekend, provided there is no case, we are getting JJ to take him for a sleepover."

I smiled and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips, "Agreed." I put my book down and snuggled down into the bed. He rolled onto his back and lay his arm out. I turned my lamp out and then snuggled into his side. God, how I had missed being in his arms.