Written by tooks.
Note: Emily babysitting little Henry.



Hotch stepped into JJ and Will’s home with just a vague look around before focusing in on who had called him there. “Hello Emily,” he smiled, “how are you doing?” For the moment he was ignoring the sounds of little Henry wailing somewhere within the house.

“Are you kidding me?” Emily asked, clearly at her wits end, “you can’t hear that?”

“Yes, I can,” Hotch replied calmly as he removed his jacket and ensured the door was locked behind him before following Emily into the house towards the screaming.

Emily sighed, “He won’t stop, Hotch, I’ve tried everything and I can’t get him to stop.” To say it was stressful was a vast understatement. It was like some bizarre form of torture-by-baby. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Henry’s normally so good but he…he hates me.”

Hotch smiled softly and took the woman’s hand in his, giving it a small squeeze of reassurance, “Henry does not hate you, Emily.”

“Then what is it?” the woman asked in near desperation for answers. She’d wanted so badly for her time babysitting Henry to go well and it’d all fallen horribly to pieces. She felt like a complete failure with the infant.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure we can find out together.” When they reached the living room Henry wailed loudly in his vibrating baby chair as the room was covered in toys. Emily had clearly taken out every toy available in hopes of appeasing the small child, “Hey, buddy, what’s the problem?” Hotch spoke softly, gently, to Henry though got no recognition even as he went to undo the safety straps of the chair and lift the baby out.

Emily watched with interest as Hotch nearly cooed at the infant. She’d seen him with Jack countless times, she knew how incredible he was with his son, but somehow seeing Hotch this gentle with a baby made her heart melt just a little more for him. All his traditional guards and walls were completely down and it made him…beautiful. “I, uh,” she almost didn’t want to break the connection Hotch seemed to be making with the infant boy, “I fed him a while ago, burped him, changed him, all of it. I didn’t know what else to do.”

Hotch nodded as he listened to Emily and watched as the boy stuffed his tiny fist in his mouth, muffling his whines and cries. He then smiled a bit, “I have an idea,” he began to carefully bounce the child some as he started towards the kitchen, “can you bring that little, squishy, ring by the couch with you, Emily? The one with Elmo on it.”

“Elmo? Is that the little red creature?”

“Yes,” Hotch smiled back at her from the kitchen, starting the sink faucet, “Could you bring it, please?”

Emily grabbed up the described toy and headed in, “Hotch, I already offered Henry this toy, he didn’t want it.”

“It’s just a matter of what circumstances you offer it to him under,” Hotch assured her as he took the ring from her and ran it under the now cold water.

“What does that even mean?”

Hotch smiled even more at her before going to gently maneuver the now dripping and chilled ring into the infant’s mouth. The moment he got it between little Henry’s lips the boy began to suck on it with vigor. He looked down at Henry, “That feel good on your gums, big guy? Yeah…I bet it does.”

“He’s teething,” Emily sighed, finally getting it.

“Seems to be.”

“How did I miss that?”

The soft look Hotch gave the infant stayed as he turned his attention to Emily, “Emily it’s possible it only started to bother him today and not even JJ or Will knew yet.” He doubted that JJ would’ve let Emily care for a teething infant without giving the woman a heads-up.

“You knew,” Emily pointed out as she went to sit at the kitchen table with a slight frown.

“Yes,” the man confessed with a smile as he carried Henry with him to sit next to Emily, “but I have a son that already went through this, I knew what to look for.”

“And you’re a good father.”

“I’m an experienced father,” Hotch countered.

“You’re a good father, Hotch,” Emily reaffirmed with a smile.

Hotch just smiled before looking down at Henry who now seemed calmed and content. After a moment he looked back at Emily, “You’ll be a wonderful mother, Emily.” He imagined that was her current concern, that because she hadn’t figured out the trouble with Henry it reflected negatively on her potential as a mother.

Emily smiled and gave her eyes a roll, “Yeah, sure I will.” The truth was, now that she was older, now that she was a woman, Emily had considered having a child, she just wasn’t sure she’d ever get the chance or be any good at it if she did.

“You’re great with Jack,” Hotch pointed out.

Emily turned a little red at the compliment before hesitantly speaking, “I…I love Jack, Hotch, as if he were my own, but…but he’s not.” She then smiled a little, “And he’s certainly not an infant, he can tell us what he wants and needs and what’s bothering him.”

“Fair enough,” Hotch conceded before shifting Henry a little in his arms, “but when you have your own child you’ll see. You’re a natural, I know it.” He moved to hand Henry over to her, “I trust you with my son, JJ and Will trust you with theirs, and none of us would allow our reasons for living to be cared for by just anyone.” Hotch then stood up and smiled down at her, “I’m just going to clean up the toys a bit and see if there’s another teething ring I can wash off and chill in the freezer.”

Emily listened with wide eyes that almost teared as went to take Henry and Hotch spoke. It meant so much to her to hear those words. She knew Hotch wasn’t just trying to placate or reassure her, he wasn’t just saying it all to boost her self-esteem, he meant every word. Still, she had to check, “You really think I’d make a good mother, Aaron?”

Hotch turned to smile at her. He took in the image of Emily holding little Henry; she looked beautiful in what seemed a natural state for her to Hotch. “I wouldn’t want or trust anyone but you to be the mother of my future children, Emily.”