dangerously ↝ a. hotchner

e p i l o g u e

"Jack, buddy, can you make sure you get your homework done before dinner." Aaron asked his oldest son. "Make sure you don't wake up Theo." He called out after Jack.

Jack nodded and Aaron smiled as he watched him run upstairs and to his room. Ana was still at work and he'd just gotten back from a full week in Boston, solving a case about a partnership of unsubs with a deep seated hatred for their fathers, which manifested in the form of, well, killing.

He walked down the halls of their house, the one he'd bought over four years ago, three months before the wedding. It was big, perfect for their family. Bonus points for the huge study that was bigger than his office at work.

Speaking of which, he walked into his study, intent on getting some work done before Ana came home. He flipped through old case files before coming across a particularly memorable one. The file was over five years old, but it was still in perfect condition. He pulled it out from the stack and smiled as he paged through it. It was a terrible case, a surgeon ending terminally ill patients lives prematurely, definitely wasn't something he wanted work on ever again.

But it was the case where he'd met Ana properly. That case changed his life, in more ways than one. He remembered the shocked look on her face when he walked into her office. The huge smile on her face when he took her out to coffee after the case was over. Every single moment with her from then onward resurfaced in his mind. Movie nights after work, coffee dates and all the fun they'd had.

He shook his head lightly, the smile permanent on his face when he realized how different his life was now. His fingers gently ran over the gold band that adorned the fourth finger on his left hand, staring down at it as it glinted in the late afternoon sun. Sometimes life hit Aaron all at once, overwhelming him in a good or bad way. Right now that was happening, in the best way possible.

Aaron was happily married to the woman he loves most in the world. He had two beautiful children, Jack and Theo, who absolutely adored each other, and Aaron and Ana loved them to bits. His team, although slightly different, were still the people he knew would be there with him through anything. For all this, he was eternally grateful.

"I'm home." Ana called out from the foyer of their house.

She walked further into her house and grinned as she heard three pairs of excited footsteps, all approaching her. The first two people she saw were her two sons. Jack and Theo launched themselves onto Ana. She laughed and picked Theo up in her arms as she held Jack close to her.

"How are my boys doing?" She asked happily, ruffling Jack's hair affectionately.

"Good." Jack replied, a huge grin on his face now that his whole family was home.

Theo laughed excitedly, "Good!" He said as he heard his older brother speak. The two year old held tightly onto his moms neck, he missed her a lot when she was gone.

Ana smiled, "That's good. Where's your-"

"Right here." Aaron smiled as he leaned his body against the wall, feeling immense happiness at the sight of his family together again.

Sometimes cases took a lot out of him, but knowing that he had this family in front of him to come home to, was the biggest motivation.

"Hi honey." Ana bit her lip as she tried not to smile almost crazily. It had just been her and the boys for the week, she'd missed her husband immensely. She put Theo down, who latched his hand onto Jack's and allowed Jack to lead him to their playroom.

"Hey baby." Aaron muttered as he swept her up in his arms, holding her tightly to him.

She sighed as she buried her head in his shoulder, not realizing how much she missed the feeling of his arms around her until now.

They partially separated from the hug, their arms still holding the other close, not wanting to let go. Aaron dipped his head down, ghosting his lips lightly over hers, and smirked at the longing look that amplified itself in her eyes. He dipped down to kiss her again, but instead of kissing her on her lips, he turned to kiss the side of her lips, nuzzling his nose into the side of her face as she let out a desperate whine.

"Aaron." Ana pleaded. "Kiss me." She whispered.

At that, he pressed his lips gently against hers, savoring the taste of her lips and the feeling of them against his. Ana tangled her hands in his hair, tugging softly and smiling into the kiss as she elicited a low groan from him.

They broke the kiss, and Ana let her hands fall to his neck, lacing her fingers securely together at the nape of his neck. Aaron trailed his hands down her waist, resting them gently on her belly, rubbing his thumbs affectionately over the growing bump there.

"How was she today?" He asked softly, his eyes trained intently on her small but noticeable baby bump.

Ana's eyes glimmered with love as she watched Aaron kneel down so that he was eye level with her bump. They'd just found out the sex of their baby two weeks ago, it was a girl, and Aaron had gone crazy. His two sons were a blessing, but upon hearing the news he was going to have a daughter, he jumped up in the doctors office and started cheering.

Needless to say, he was extremely excited to have a little daughter he could spoil like crazy.

"Hey babygirl." His voice was soft and gentle as he spoke to her tummy, "I hope you've been good for your momma today. We both know how much she hates morning sickness." He whispered the last part, but Ana heard anyway and laughed. It was true, she absolutely hated morning sickness, but didn't have it as often as she did with Theo, which she was thankful for.

Ana said nothing as Aaron continued to stare lovingly at her belly as he spoke to their daughter for a few more minutes. "Your mom and I already love you so much." He said softly.

Ana felt tears rush to her eyes as she listened to her husband. He was easily the most loving person she knew, always making time for his family and always voicing how much he loved each and every one of them every chance he got.

"Yeah." Her voice cracked as she lay one of her hands over his larger ones that was resting snugly on her tummy.

Aaron smiled as he stood back up, taking Ana in his arms once again. He pressed his forehead gently against hers as his eyes gazed into hers. Loosing himself in the pools of chocolate he had first fallen in love with all those years ago.

"I love you Mrs Hotchner." He murmured softly.

"And I love you Mr Hotchner."

—

Surprise?
i don't know, the idea of an epilogue grew on me.

— J