Hotchniss Oneshots ❥

That One Summer Night...

He'd been watching her sleep for the past 20 minutes. It was a very hot summer night causing him to have trouble sleeping. So as he woke up, the clock on his nightstand showed 3:23 am. Not wanting to wake her by going downstairs into their backyard, he propped himself up on his left arm and decided to take in her beauty while she was lying next to him, thinking about how far they've come – and what still was to come.

He thought about the fact that Jack loves his 'Emmy' too and it made his heart flutter. He thought about the way she takes care of Jack, always kisses his wounds, makes him feel important, treats him like her own. He thought about how Emily filled an empty space in the Hotchner household that even the Hotchner men themselves didn't know needed to be filled in the first place.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by her kicking the sheets away. Apparently, she hadn't been as much asleep as he had thought. She opened her eyes, looking at the ceiling and sighed as the heat got too much for her, too. Emily Prentiss valued her sleep. Being part of the FBI means you don't always get the amount of sleep needed, so while she could she always made sure to take full advantage of it. But this night she accepted herself defeated.

"Can't sleep?" he asked her softly.

She quickly turned her head his way, definitely not having known he'd been awake. "Geez, Aaron, no need to scare me like that." He just chuckled. "How long have you been awake for?"

He checked the clock on his nightstand behind him once again. "Uh, for about a half hour," he replied taking in her amused expression. She just shook her head and smiled as she propped herself up on her right arm, mirroring him.

"Do you want to go into the backyard? I guess it's cooler outside than it is in here," he asked her as his right arm reached for her left one, rubbing it softly as he spoke and she simply nodded at him.

They got out of bed and opened their bedroom door trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake up Jack whose room was just down the hall.

"Hey, do we still have some of that ice cream left? Or do we have anything else that's refreshing," she asked him quietly, her voice just above a whisper, as they made their way downstairs.

"Let's go on an adventure and find out," he said with such enthusiasm resulting in her letting out a laugh.

"Alright Aaron the explorer, lead the way." Yep, they definitely watched Dora the Explorer too many times with Jack these past few weeks. It had become somewhat of a ritual, the three of them cuddled up together on the couch watching Dora the Explorer in the mornings. Seeing the 5-year old interact with the animated characters had something so pure and adorable about it.

"Right this way," he said before taking her hand in his and practically dragging her into the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen, he opened the freezer only to find that only one popsicle was left and they wanted to leave this one for Jack so they decided to look for something else. Opening their fridge, Aaron looked for any refreshing snack they might have in there while Emily looked around other parts of their kitchen.

"I believe, my fellow explorer, we have found the perfect snack," he stated as he grabbed a watermelon and turned to face her.

Emily loved watermelons, so when she saw him holding one she literally beamed with excitement. "I didn't know we still had a watermelon," she said excitedly, somewhat trying to keep her voice down. She quickly took the watermelon out of his hands, gave him a kiss on his cheek and started cutting it into slices. Aaron felt the butterflies in his stomach as he watched her slicing it, but was once again pulled out of his thoughts by Jack's voice calling for them from upstairs. She gave Aaron an apologizing look, unsure if she had woken him up, earning a reassuring one from him.

"I'm coming, buddy," he told the 5-year old, making his way upstairs.

Not even a minute later she watched as Aaron came back down the stairs, Jack on his right hip resting his head on his father's shoulder.

"Hi Emmy," he said sleepily, "I can't sleep. It's so hot in my room."

"It's really hot, isn't it?" Jack just nodded. "Here, have one." Emily offered him a slice of watermelon and he happily accepted it. "Why don't we go outside, hm," she proposed as she ran her hand through his soft hair and then caressed the little boy's cheek.

Being the gentleman that he is, Aaron opened the door to their backyard with Jack in tow who was happily biting into his slice of watermelon as Emily carried the rest of the slices in a bowl. The three of them lay down on their outdoor sofa bed, ate watermelon and talked about their plans for the day and other things they wanted to get off their chests until they witnessed the sun rise. By then, Jack had finally fallen asleep in Emily's arms while her head rested on Aaron's chest. He placed a kiss on the top of her head and sensed her smile as they too were finally dozing off.