Sequel to Nicotine
"Eventually you will come to understand that love heals everything, and love is all there is."
- Gary Zukav
Published: 10/7/21
Completed: TBD
*Note: Takes place 16 years after Nicotine ends
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Morning in the Hotchner household were always like clockwork. Aaron Hotchner always woke up at 5 in the morning like clockwork and took great care not to wake his sleeping wife. Of course he also knew that she loved her sleep.
Aaron carefully went through his morning routine as usual before making his way downstairs to start a pot of coffee. He knew that as soon as the household began to wake up the pot would soon empty. It was better to brew the coffee earlier before everyone woke up rather than when his wife demanded coffee in her grumpy morning mood. The morning was always coffee, paperwork, and breakfast.
Around 6:30 am Jack would make his way downstairs to grab a cup of coffee before heading off to his morning jog. Aaron laughed softly as he saw Jack's disheveled hair. "You know your mother is going to try and comb your hair if she sees you like this," he told his son.
Jack ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to straighten it out. "Yeah? Well there's no use in fixing it before my morning jog. Who's cooking breakfast today?"
"It's my turn, I was just thinking of making some frittatas with potatoes. Nothing too fancy."
Jack nodded, "Well I've prepared lunch for the twins and Aria. It's in the fridge in each of their designated lunchboxes. Oh, and mom said to make sure James and Addie don't drink more than a cup of coffee. She's trying to stop them from becoming coffee addicted before they turn 18."
Aaron chuckled, "Yeah that sounds about her. I'll brew a pot of Earl Grey for James. That usually deters him from the pot of coffee."
Jack laughed, "Smart thinking dad. Well I'm gonna go on a quick jog and then I'll help you with breakfast. I'm sure a smoothie would go perfectly with breakfast. You know perfectly well that sometimes Addie prefers to drink a smoothie rather than eat breakfast."
Aaron sighed, "Oh I know it all too well. She does that so that she has her hands free to read. I swear, she always brings a new book down for breakfast when she knows the household rules."
"Oh come on dad, you can't exactly expect Addie and James to not bring books to breakfast. Don't you remember they were reading War and Peace with padrino Spencer four Thanksgivings ago? They are academics through and through."
"Hopefully Aria is going to be the calmer one of the family."
"Dad, I'm the calmer one of the family, Aria is just a quiet thinker. Although she is calmer compared to Addie and James, Aria is still young and curious."
"That is true. I just hope she takes after me more. All I'm asking for is a semi-normal child."
Jack laughed, "Dad, you and mom are way too above average to even think about having normal children. James knows close to thirteen languages and he's only 16. That's not even counting the several indigenous languages he picked up for fun. He's even on call with a list of linguists if they ever need a historical artifact translated. That's not even the tip of the iceberg because Addie is currently about to graduate for MIT with a double major in criminology and forensics as well as a minor in chemical engineering. We are nowhere close to normal and I wouldn't have it any other way. How many people can say their younger siblings are both graduating college at age 16?"
