Fic: Homecoming, Chapter 2/2 (Criminal Minds, Hotch /Chad, Jack)
Title: Homecoming, Chapter 2/2
Pair: Spencer Reid / Derek Morgan,
Aaron Hotchner / Chad Christensen
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Criminal Minds Main List
Chapter 1/2
“That was almost too easy…” Chad commented in a hushed tone. Jack, who had five minutes earlier insisted he was old enough to stay up till nine, was sound asleep in his pillow and blanket fortress in the middle of the living room floor.
“Last time he had a cold, he fall asleep at the dinner table.” Hotch reminiscent. “At least he stayed awake to brush his teeth.”
“You know, it doesn’t kill you if you forget it sometimes and just brush twice in the morning.”
“And let all the bacteria simmer in his mouth all night? It’s quick and easy, and there’s no excuse for missing it. Besides Hailey would kill me.”
“You should have left out that last argument, you lost all your credibility.” Chad grinned. He gathered the blankets around Jack and lift him from the floor. Hotch was about to follow him to the stairs when he cell phone started buzzing. He shot Chad an apologetic look.
“I’ll take him upstairs.” Chad headed out of the living room and Hotch snapped his phone open.
“Hotchner.”
“Hey, bro.”
“Sean?”
“Who else?”
“What’s wrong with your voice?”
“Icepack.”
“Icepack?”
“Yeah, my nose had a little accident.”
“What about the rest of you?”
“Sore, but I’ll survive.”
“What kind of an accident?”
“You know that coffee shop next to that pizza place? Near my place.”
“No and call every place “that place“ and expect people to know what you mean.”
“Anyway, when I was waiting for my coffee, one of the waitresses was throwing away old junk from the backroom and I got a pin for free.”
“Good for you, but how does that lead to an accident? And how much would your pin have cost normally?”
“Nothing, they gave them away for free last Valentines Day. Anyway, it was one of those yellow things with a red smiley face and it said: It’s Valentines Day, leap on someone you love.”
“And you actually did it?”
“Well, it sounded like a good idea! Cain was working late so I put all the light off and waited in the bedroom.”
“And then you leaped?”
“Yep, and they should add a fine print to those pins. Something like: Don’t try this in the dark with someone bigger than you, who has black belts in stuff you can’t even pronounce.”
“How bad is it?”
“Not bad, but I’m probably not gonna come to play football tomorrow.”
“Right, that was tomorrow… Don’t worry, we would have cancelled anyway. Jack’s having a cold, so we’ll keep him indoors.”
“Good, because I look like I got a ripe tomato where my nose should be. You should have seen the looks we got when we went to the hospital to make sure nothing’s broken. One of the nurses tried to slip me a brochure for abused women’s shelter.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I tried to make a joke out of it and said we just like rough sex. She didn’t think it was funny. And I got a really nasty look from Cain too.”
“I don’t find it very funny, either.” Hotch stated. “And you have no one to blame but yourself.”
“I know, I know. Next time I leap on him, I’ll do it in broad daylight and without clothes. I didn’t even know you can get half-choked with your own T-shirt.”
“Can’t you just do it the normal way?”
“What is the normal way? Sorry, I forgot I was talking to the guy who used to schedule his sexlife in his daily planner.”
“I never did that.”
“You didn’t?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Oh… sorry, it just sounded like something you’d do. Anyway, I gotta go, Cain’s gonna come back from the store soon.”
“Why is he going to the store at this hour?”
“He went to get me some ice cram and doughnuts. After all, I’m injured and recovering from a traumatic experience.”
“So you’re taking advantage of it?”
“Who? Me?” Sean grin was easy to detect even through a phone line. “I’m gonna milk this till the cows come home. And then I’ll milk the cows.”
“Thanks a lot for the bedtime story. It was real moral lesson.”
“You’re welcome. Good night.”
“Night.” Hotch closed his phone and sighed deeply.
“Bad news?” Chad asked and walked into the living room. He was tapping the keys of his own phone in a slow tempo. “That sigh was kinda telling.”
“Not bad news, just weird news. Did you get Jack to bed?”
“Yeah, and Maris says hi.”
“When did you talk to her?”
“I didn’t, I was checking my messages and there was one from her hubby. I send them some stuff for the kids. And a lot of batteries.”
“Don’t they sell batteries in Cleveland?”
“They do, but that’s the kind of stuff you never remember when you’re in the store. Besides, it’s kind of an old joke. One of my old buddies from high school had a boy couple years ago and we got her a joint gift for his first birthday.”
“With batteries?”
“I’m coming to that part. We got the kid this little toy car that played music when you tapped the headlight. It was annoying beyond belief, dii-dada-dii-da-dii-dada-daa over and over again. Every time it stopped the boy just tapped it again and he started screaming when someone tried to take it away from him. They could just wait till the batteries run out.”
“How long did that take?”
“About three hours.” Chad laughed. “We weren’t very popular guests in that house for a while.”
“I can understand them. But your sister’s doing well?”
“Yeah, and the new baby too. And Andy is over the moon.” Chad pocketed his phone and snapped the TV off. “What was yours about?”
“Sean being Sean.”
“Oh that…” Chad rolled his eyes. “Wanna watch another movie? Something not animated?”
“Sitting in that thing?” Hotch laughed and pointed the pile of blankets and pillows.
“It’s comfy. Almost like when we were kids and mom and dad had to go somewhere. One of mom’s friends came to baby-sit and she always let us camp out in front of the TV till we fell asleep.”
“We never did that.”
“Are you kidding?”
“No.”
“That’s one of the best parts of childhood!”
“I turned out okay, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, but we need to correct this.”
“We do?” Hotch grinned.
“We do, or you’ll be a very grumpy senior citizen and Jack’s too afraid to bring his own kids to meet Grandpa-Hotch, because you’re so serious.”
“And watching bad TV in a pillow fortress will prevent that?”
“Yeah. And there’s an all-night Bonanza marathon starting in ten minutes.”