A Father's Daughter

Chapter Fourteen

"Oh my gosh," Penelope rushes over to me when I get into the office a couple days after the arrest of Mary Ellen. "How are you doing?"

Hotch gave me four days off to recover and get my psych eval taken care of to go back into the field.

I give Garcia a warm smile, "I'm good. I went to the doctor and she told me that I got really lucky. She didn't hit any major arteries and it wasn't deep enough to cause any permanent issues. The worst thing is that I may have a small scar on my shoulder, but I already have full mobility and I can get my stitches out in a couple weeks."

She gives me a side hug to avoid my injured arm, "I'm just so relieved that you're okay!"

"Me too," I tell her as we walk into the bullpen together.

I'm instantly greeted by the entire team, each giving me an awkward side hug and welcoming me back. Spencer is the last to hug me and he keeps it brief, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention to us.

Apparently, Hotch called him into his office the day after we got back and asked what was going on between us. Given his reaction to me being in immediate danger, he couldn't deny that he had feelings for me. He admitted to Hotch that we have been "getting to know each other better" for a few weeks but that from here on out we won't allow it to affect us in the field. Spencer told me about it when I went over to his place that night. I assured Reid that it was okay that he told him but that when at work we should still keep it professional and he agreed.

Hotch walks over to me and gives me a firm handshake, "I'm glad you're back."

I nod, "me too, sir. Thank you again for everything."

I think I see the slightest smile before it quickly disappears. He tells us to get back to work and be ready just in case we have a case come in. We all disperse to our desks and I cringe when I see the mountain of paperwork sitting on mine, I guess that's what happens when you get stabbed and are forced to take nearly a week off work. I sigh, sit down at my desk, and start to slowly work my way through the cases.

The day moves at a snail's pace, completing one task after another until I'm finally caught up. After I finish five cases, I check the clock to see it's 5:30pm and I decide to turn them into Hotch and leave for the day. I print them out and place them in individual folders before I knock on Hotch's open door. Rossi's in the office with him, looking more determined than I've seen in a while.

"Sorry to interrupt, sir," I say once he wave's me in, "I just wanted to turn these in before I left for the day."

"Thank you, Ash," he tells me before turning his attention back to Rossi, "As for you, I already told you, I don't have a sitter for Jack and I won't be able to find one last minute."

I turn and make my way out of the office but then Rossi says, "Aaron, it's just a date. I'm sure if you ask Hailey's sister..."

Hold on. A date? And he needs someone to be in his apartment unsupervised to take care of his kid? If I can get into Hotch's apartment, I might be able to finalize a plan for him. I can't waste this opportunity.

"I can't do that," he sounds exhausted, "she already helps out so much, I can't ask her to give up yet another night to watch my son. It's not fair to her, she has a life too."

"Hotch," I say before I lose my nerve and I turn to face them, "if you want, I can watch Jack."

He looks over at me as if he forgot I was still there, "are you sure?"

"Yeah," I say as I take a step forward, "I'm good with kids and plus, I feel like I kinda owe you one since you saved my life and all." I give him a kind smile but I can tell that he's still hesitant. "But only if you're comfortable with it! I know that I've only met him a handful of times so I totally get it if you want someone who he's more familiar with."