30 Days of Hotchniss

Day Three - Cuddling

Even though he was exhausted and his head was pounding after spending most of the night writing up his report at his desk at the BAU, the sight that Aaron was met with the second he entered the apartment still managed to make him smile. Right there in the middle of the living room, curled up on a pile of blankets and cushions while Brother Bear played quietly on the television, was Emily and Jack and both of them were sound asleep. Jack was cuddled as close to her as her ever-growing baby bump permitted him to be, his head tucked beneath her chin as her nose was buried in his hair and her arms were wrapped securely around him. He must have had another nightmare. He had to admit that he had been anxious about Emily moving in with them for that exact reason, but how understanding she had been had astounded him.

She had been unsure of how to respond when he had woken them both for the first time just days after she had moved in, but the moment he had come back to the bedroom with him in his arms and laid him down on the bed she had pulled him close. She had stroked his hair and kissed him while he had clung to her, holding him close and whispering quiet words of reassurance to him until he had eventually gone back to sleep. Once she had eased Jack into the space between the two of them on the bed and made sure that he had been comfortable she had looked up at him with a smile and he had known. He had known that he had lost his heart to her and she was the only woman he could ever want. She was the one he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with and his conviction had only been strengthened as time had passed.

She was incredible with Jack and he loved the relationship that she had with him.

Her maternal side had really come through since she had moved in with them and even though she hated mornings with a burning passion, she had started getting up earlier than necessary on the rare occasion they were still wheels down so that she could pack his lunch for him. He had caught her slipping an extra chocolate bar in there on numerous occasions and even though he had always been strict when it came to him eating healthily, he could never bring himself to confront her about it because he loved seeing how much it pleased her to do so. She was born to be a mother. She was a complete natural and that was why he was certain that she was going to be wonderful with their little girl when she arrived, despite what she herself thought. There wasn't another woman more suited to being their children's mother than her.

Realizing that he had spent the last several minutes just watching her and Jack sleep, he double-checked that he had locked the door to the apartment before turning the main light out and allowing the light from the television to make it possible for him to see what he was doing. He could feel his eyes beginning to sting with fatigue and all he wanted was to lie down with Emily and sleep, but he decided to head to the bedroom so that he could brush his teeth in the en-suite and change into some pajama pants so that he would be able to sleep comfortably. It wasn't too long until he was returning to the living room and making his way over to the pile of blankets, a gentle yawn escaping him as he laid down behind Emily and draped an arm over her and Jack so that he could pull them both close while kissing her warmly on the neck.

'Aaron?' She mumbled, stirring in his arms.

'Yeah, I'm here. Go back to sleep, my love.' He replied.

Completely ignoring him, she turned onto her back and sighed with relief when all Jack did was turn away from them and settle back down. 'Sorry, I know that he has school tomorrow and I shouldn't have let him stay up, but it was a bad one tonight and so I thought that I would just make him something to drink and put something on to help calm him down. He wasn't up too long; he drank his hot chocolate and then he was asleep in about ten minutes. I tried to wait up for you, but your child has been non-stop kicking all night and she just wiped me out.'

'Funny how she's always mine when she's misbehaving, isn't it?' He laughed, resting a hand on her belly. 'Well, she's not kicking anymore.'

'Yeah, that's because she's finally asleep and I want to keep it that way,' She pushed his hand away before they shared a tender smile and she rolled over onto her side so that she was nose-to-nose with him. 'You're worn out, you should have left some paperwork for tomorrow.'

He groaned. 'And have Strauss on my back because I'm behind? Pass.'

'You work too hard,' She laid a hand on his neck, allowing her thumb to run along his jawline as she gazed into his eyes. 'I worry about you.'

He shook his head while wrapping an arm around her and running a hand along her back. 'You have no need to be because I'm all right.'

'You see, that does nothing for me because you wouldn't tell me even if you were struggling.' She pointed out.

He chuckled at that and dropped a kiss to the end of her nose. 'I love you...'

'I love you too, but you can't just change the subject.' She told him.

'I can do what I please, thank you very much, and we both agreed that this apartment would be a work-free zone.' He reminded her.

'But...'

He shushed her while pressing his index finger against her lips, causing her to giggle in response. 'See, now that's more like it.'

'You're an idiot.' She shook her head at him.

'Yeah, I know, but you love that about me and so I don't care,' He admitted before opening his arms and allowing her to enter his embrace, a deep sigh escaping him when she laid his head on her chest and he was able to stroke her hair while the swell of her belly pressed against him. 'You really need to get some rest, Em, it's one in the morning and there's every chance that another case could come through later on.'

'Stop with all your talking and let me sleep then.' She mumbled into the coarse hairs on his chest as she draped an arm over his stomach.

He smirked while looking up at the ceiling, his arm tightening its hold of her when he kissed the top of her head. 'Night.'

'Night-night...' She whispered. 'Sleep well.'