Eye to eye, heart to heart

Chapter 8: The Park

I woke to the sound of the shower turning off. I rubbed my eyes to get rid of the sleep that was sitting in the corners. The bathroom door opened and light flooded in irritating my still tired eyes. Aaron was standing in the doorway with a towel hanging low on his waist and his hair was messy. When his eyes met mine a glowing smile appeared on his face and his teeth were no longer concealed by his lips.
"Good morning," I said stretching out my arms, then I looked at the clock that was sitting on the bedside table, 7:10am.
"You still wake up at 7 on our days off?"
"Yeah," he said maintaining his smile, then he knelt onto the bed and kissed me, his lips tasted like mint from the toothpaste. He stood and got dressed into some black shorts,taking the towel that was around his body and rubbing it through his wet hair.
"What do you want to do?" He asked reaching into his closet and pulling out a plain grey t-shirt.
"We're going to the park with Jack aren't we?"
"Yes but he doesn't get dropped of until 10. So what do you want to do until then?" He asked while pulling his shirt over his head.
"What do you usually do?" I asked getting out of bed and walking over to him.
"I usually go for a run but we don't have to," he said making sure I knew that we didn't have to go if I didn't want to.
"No, let's do it! I'll go get changed," I said turning towards the bathroom to brush my teeth.
-
When we got to the park Aaron stopped the car and waited for me to get out then we walked to the footpath.
"You ready?" He asked playfully, stretching his arms and legs.
"More ready than you," I said biting my lip, then started running down the path.
"Race you around the park!" I called as I was getting further and further away from the car. I could just here his footsteps but they were gaining on me, within seconds he was next to me.
"Your out of shape Jareau." He said while overtaking me. I sped up to be by his side again but he gained the lead for a second time. Once we were almost back to the car we both sped up.
"C'mon jayje what are you doing?" He asked teasing me. I broke into a sprint and pushed it to the limit. I was almost next to him.
"I'm gonna take this Hotch," I said running as fast as my legs would take me. We both gritted our teeth and pushed our bodies forward, moving quickly. Hotch suddenly slowed down just before we got to the car and I rushed past him and threw my hands up in victory when I reached the car.
"Oh no, you beat me!" Hotch said sarcastically.
"Thanks for letting me win," I smiled at him and pulled his body up to mine. I grabbed his face and kissed him softly, then I pulled away and panted for air.
"That was a great workout!" I smiled before opening my door and jumping in. Hotch got into the drivers side and started the car. Once we were on the road he grabbed my hand and squeezed it, not letting go until we got home.
-
Once we got home it was 9am and we had an hour to have breakfast. On the way home we had grabbed some coffee from my favourite cafe and I was going to order food but Aaron said he wanted to cook. He was a great cook, one of the many things that I loved about him. I got changed into a flowery dress and some flats to get ready to go to the park. I walked out and Aaron was standing over a pan cooking. He looked up and met my eyes, then he ran his eyes back up and down my body and his mouth dropped open.
"You are so beautiful," he said walking over to me and wrapping his arms around my body.
"You are TOO nice to me," I said between kisses.
"You should finish cooking," I breathed. He slowly pulled away and walked back to the pan.
"Pancakes will be ready in 5." He said while flipping the food in the pan. I walked over two the fridge and pulled out the orange juice. I poured two glasses and placed them on the dining table. Then I grabbed the maple syrup out of the cupboard and placed that on the table as well. Aaron brought over the pancakes and we both sat down. I got straight into mine and scoffed it all down but Aaron didn't eat anywhere near as much as I did, which made me feel like a pig. But now that I think about it I don't see him eat very often, at work or at home.
-
The dishes were washed and the dining table was cleared and now Aaron and I were just sitting on the couch waiting for a knock at the door. There was a knock and Aaron and I both stood at the same time. He walked to the door and opened it. Jack and his aunt stood there as Aaron greeted them,
"Hey," I heard him say to Jack's aunt.
"Hi buddy," he said kneeling down and pulling Jack into a tight hug.
"Hi dad," he replied cheerfully and ran into the apartment. Aaron said goodbye to the woman and closed the door, looking back to smile at me.
"Hey Jack, JJ is gonna spend the day with us is that ok?" Aaron asked looking down at Jack's smiling face.
"Sure!" He yelled in a high-pitched voice.
"Alright let's go to the park then." He said smiling and opening the door while grabbing the car keys. Jack and Aaron had a conversation about school, soccer and how Jack was doing in general. Aaron cared about him so much, yet another great thing about him.
-
We got to the park and Jack jumped out of the car and ran towards the swings.
"I'll go push him," I smiled as Aaron was unpacking the trunk. I walked up and pushed Jack gently each time he swung backward. I watched Aaron set out the picnic blanket and he laid down on it, and watched Jack and I play on the equipment together. After about 20 minutes of us playing on the swings, slide and monkey bars Aaron called us over for lunch. Jack and I raced over and plopped down on the blanket waiting for Aaron to hand us our sandwiches. We each had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and some juice boxes. Jack was eager to go back onto the equipment with me that he was tugging at my arm so I got up and went back over to the play equipment. He did the monkey bars a few times and made me time him, trying to get quicker every time, which he did. He was determined, just like his dad. After the monkey bars he ran back to his dad and grabbed the soccer ball that was sitting on the blanket.
"C'mon daddy!" He said running off onto the open field kicking the soccer ball along with him. I sat down laughing at how cute Jack was and watched Aaron jump to his feet and run out onto the field, kicking the ball with Jack. They were so cute playing soccer together, Aaron was so different at home than he was at work, SO different. It was quite nice to know and love both sides of him. They both ran back breathlessly and Hotch messed up Jack's hair from rubbing his head.
"Can we go for ice-cream?" Jack asked his dad.
"Sure buddy, let's go." He smiled down at Jack then up at me. We walked back to the car and headed to the ice-cream shop.