February 2012

Kids' Ages

Jack Hotchner - 6

Henry LaMontagne - 3

*Emily is nearly 8 months pregnant

*Penelope is 4 months pregnant

Hotchner Household

"I'm all ready to go, Daddy!" Jack announced, running into the ensuite bathroom his father and stepmom shared. Emily was sitting at the vanity pushing shiny earrings into her ears. Aaron stood behind her, using the large mirror to button up his white dress shirt.

Aaron turned to look at the boy. He was dressed in the suit that he wore for the wedding. His ankles were showing and the jacket sleeves barely made it to his ankles. How is my little boy so big already? Aaron wondered. It seemed impossible that the boy in front of him wasn't the three-year-old he had held at Haley's funeral, but instead was now in kindergarten and turning seven later in the year.

"Jack, Buddy, we told you already that you can't come this time," Aaron reminded his son gently.

"But why not?!" Jack pouted, crossing his arms.

Emily couldn't help but notice how much he looked like his dad with his crossed arms and frown. "Because, where we are going isn't a place for little kids. They don't even have chicken nuggets," she explained. "Besides, while Daddy and I are stuck in stuffy clothes having boring adult conversations, you'll be here having fun with Henry and Uncle Spencer."

Just then, the doorbell downstairs rang.

"Jack-Jack can you go open the door please," Emily asked.

Jack complied, leaving the room.

"Make sure you check that it is Aunt Jenny or Uncle Spencer first!" Aaron yelled after him.

"This feels like prom all over again," Emily muttered, following her husband into their bedroom. She smoothed her dress. It was skin tight, coming to about mid-thigh, and only had one sleeve. She would have loved it if it weren't for its delicate pink color. "God, I hate pink."

Aaron smiled, handing his wife her heels. "Honey, you didn't have to buy a pink dress."

"Pen picked it out," Emily explained. "And you should be glad I stopped her there. She had been eyeing an entirely pink suit for you."

"What, my pink tie isn't enough for her?"

"You know how she is."

Aaron glanced at his watch. "We should get down there."

Emily stood up, clutching her purse. "After you."

They reached the front door just as it rang. Emily opened it, finding JJ and her family on the other side.

"Just in time. Come on in."

"Where's Jack?" Henry asked the second his feet landed on the hallway floor.

"He's in the living room with Spencer," Aaron told him.

He started to leave the room but JJ pulled him back. "Let me have your coat. And please greet Emily and Aaron properly."

"Hi, Aunt Emmy and Uncle Aaron," Henry rushed out so that he could go play.

"He's adorable," Emily gushed.

"Too adorable. It gets him in trouble," JJ admitted.

"We should head out," Aaron mentioned, taking Henry's coat from JJ and hanging it on the coat rack.

"Spence, we're leaving now," Emily called.

The two couples headed out into the cold winter evening. Emily and JJ led the way to the Hotchner's car, arm in arm, chatting lightly. The men trailed behind, walking in contented silence.

"This is the best damn steak I've had since leavin' Louisiana," Will announced, leaning back in his seat with a happy smile.

"I'm just happy to have one night without a case," JJ said.

"I can agree to that," Hotch toasted, lifting his glass. His face held a genuine smile, one that only his wife and son were graced with.

"I'd kill to be out in the field," Emily grumbled. Whilst she was still working, Hotch had vehemently refused to let her be in any real danger from the second he knew of the life growing inside of her. Her help had been reduced to staying at whatever precinct they were working out of, or in rare cases, interviewing families and suspects. Even then she was never alone, lest something happen. And now that she was in the midst of her third trimester, she had been forced to stay back with Penelope while the rest of the team saved the world. All of this so-called protection was getting under her skin, though she knew it was for her own good. Secretly she had been counting down the days when she would be allowed to go back to work full force.

"I felt the same way when I was pregnant with Henry," JJ assured her. "And then I saw his perfect little face, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to go back."

"D'ya think the boys' got Spencer locked in a closet yet?" Will wondered.

Aaron shook his head. "Our boys are pretty well-behaved. And Reid's a good uncle. "He's probably got them watching a documentary on the history of Valentine's Day."

Emily and JJ shared a look. "We should head home."

Reid

The second Reid entered Emily and Hotch's house, Jack was pulling him into the living room to build Legos with him. The pair were so invested in building the Star Wars Lego set that Spencer hadn't even realized the other adults had left. Even after Henry had joined them, the boys worked on their project until dinner time when the growling in their stomaches grew too loud to ignore.

"Uncle Spencer, I'm hungry," Jack complained. Henry nodded in agreement.

"Okay, let's go see what there is to eat," Spencer said, standing up off the floor, his leg aching as he did so. It had been a while since he got shot but his leg still gave in trouble on occasion.

Henry lept from the couch onto his godfather's back. Jack followed his lead, latching himself onto Spencer's front with a gleeful giggle. Spencer struggled to the kitchen, the boys weighing him down. In the kitchen, he leaned forward until Jack's feet touched the ground and he unlached his arms from around his neck. Then he sat Henry down at the island and began searching the fridge and freezer for something remotely healthy for the boys to eat.

He scanned over takeout containers and tubs of ice cream that he concluded were Emily's doing, as well as cups of low-fat yogurt and fresh produce, which could only be Hotch's contributions. Finally, his eyes found a bag of heart-shaped chicken nuggets, and below that, a nag of smiley fries. Perfect for feeding a couple of very hungry little boys. He popped them onto a tray, which he needed Jack's help locating, and set them in the oven. Then he sent the boys to wash their hands while he started the movie to keep them distracted.

During the movie - Jack had picked out The Jungle Book - Spencer tried his hardest not to point out how inaccurate it was for a little boy to befriend a bear in the jungle. They only got so far into the movie before the boys couldn't wait for the food to cool any longer and Spencer had to shuddle them into the dining room.

"Henry, do I need to cut your nuggets up for you?" Spencer asked from the kitchen where he was dividing food into three different plates. He also added a couple of pieces of broccoli to make the dinner slightly healthier.

"Noooo, I'm a big boy Uncle 'Pencer," Henry boasted.

Spencer wasn't sure how well he could trust the words of a three-year-old who couldn't even pronounce his name properly but decided to go along with it anyway, promising himself he would watch him carefully.

"Uncle Spencer, broccoli is gross," Jack complained, pushing the green vegetable farther away from the rest of his food as though it would somehow contaminate it.

"But it's full of vitamins," Spencer informed him, confused about why he didn't like something that did such good things for the body.

"I don't like via'mins," Henry announced.

Spencer sighed. "Vitamins are good for you. They make you big and strong like your dads or Uncle Derek."

"I wanna be just like Uncle Derek!" Jack exclaimed. He tenderly picked a piece of broccoli and bit into it. Henry, who worshipped the ground Jack walked on, copied the older boy.

Thankfully the rest of dinner went without complaint and the boys ate every piece of broccoli on their plates.

Later in the evening, Jack asked Spencer to read to them, picking out the book he was currently reading: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The trio gathered on the couch, Henry laying his head on Spencer's lap, and Jack curled into his side. Spencer forced himself to slow down when reading it to the boys, taking on a new voice with each new character that spoke; his best being the whispery voice of Albus Dumbledore.

"Fred and George, however, found all this very funny. They went out of their way to march ahead of Harry down the corridors, shouting-" Spencer paused his reading when he heard the front door opening. He looked up at the same time that JJ, Will, Emily, and Hotch entered the living room.

"Aww look at that, Spence you got them to sleep," JJ cooed.

Spence looked down and sure enough, both boys were fast asleep. "Oh, I didn't even notice."

Will came forward, gently extracting Henry from Spencer's lap, careful not to wake him up. Aaron did the same for Jack, carrying him upstairs to his bedroom. Spencer slowly stood up, his back stiff.

"Who woulda thought our Spence would be a kid whisperer," Emily teased.

Spencer shrugged, his cheeks burning red. "It's nothing. The boys are easy."

"Just wait until next year when Baby Hotchner and Pen's baby get added to the mix," JJ said.

"Lord help us."

"I don't think the world is ready to meet the child of Penelope Garcia," Spencer joked.

JJ gasped. "Spence, did you just make a joke?"

Spencer grinned. "I think so."

Morgan Household

Derek sat at the end of his dining table. Only a couple of candles illuminated the room. In front of him sat a plate of Rossi-made spaghetti and his laptop, which he was using to video call with Savannah. He had planned to take her out for an actual dinner but she had been called in to work to cover for a colleague. So she had been stuck at the hospital pulling a double and they had to resort to eating dinner together over video. Derek found he didn't mind much as long as he got to see her face.

They were talking about just about anything that had come to mind, still getting to know each other after almost four months of hanging out. They weren't officially dating but Derek hoped to change that.

"So I've been thinking," He started.

"Uh oh," Savannah said, her grin never breaking.

"No, no it's nothin' bad. I was just thinking, well, hoping, that you might want to make this thing official," Derek told her, stumbling over his words at the beginning. Nobody had ever made him this nervous before, but then again nobody had made him this happy either.

"Derek Morgan, are you asking me to be your girlfriend?" Savannah teased.

"I am."

"Well then, I would have to say yes."

Derek's grin grew exponentially larger. This may just be the start of a very beautiful relationship.

Garcia Household

Penelope was lying on her couch, surrounded by bags and bags of snacks. Tissues lined the floor and coffee table. A sappy rom-com played on the TV. This was her first Valentine's Day alone in six years. She'd been with Kevin for the last three and for the three before that, Derek had been her date. Now, Kevin wanted nothing to do with her, and Derek had a new girlfriend to be his date. She wasn't mad at Derek, not by a long shot, but she was upset at Kevin, or at least the situation he had put her in. She remembered back to when it had all ended, the day she informed him of their child.

The team had been away on a case somewhere in Oklahoma. It was a big one, and Penelope needed his help breaking into a database. She was finding it difficult to focus though, with Kevin so close and the secret she was hiding from him literally growing inside of her.

"Kev, listen, we need to talk," she said finally.

"What is it," he had asked, folding his arms and leaning against a table holding several monitors.

"I'm pregnant."

She watched as his eyes darkened, eyebrows furrowing. "You're kidding right."

She shook her head.

"How do I know it's mine? For all I know it could be Agent Morgan's. You like to whore around with him."

Penelope gasped. "Are you calling me a whore?! I have not been "whoring around" with Derek. You are the father, Kevin, whether you like it or not. "

"I want you to get rid of it," Kevin demanded.

"No." Penelope spat. "I will not get rid of my baby. If you do not want to be a father then fine. You can walk away. My child and I do not need you, Kevin Lynch."

In the end that's exactly what he did. He walked out of the office and out of Penelope's and her baby's life forever.

That was over a month ago. Penelope hadn't heard from Kevin since then. The last that she had heard, he had been transferred to another unit in a different state. She liked to believe that Hotch had something to do with the move but he wouldn't come out and say it, only smiling slightly when she questioned him.

And so here she was on Valentine's Day all alone with just her movies and her growing bump. Tired of romance, she flipped channels, finding a rerun of Law and Order: SVU playing. The show, one of her favorites, quickly changed her mood. Olivia Benson didn't have a man and she was as badass as they come. Penelope figured if Olivia could do it, so could she.

Absently, her hand found her bump, rubbing it. The baby, which she had recently found out was a girl, kicked underneath her hand.

"We can do this can't we, Girlie? You and Mommy. We can be badasses together." Suddenly, the perfect name came to her mind. "My little Olivia."