They fell into an unspoken routine. Every night she’d try to go to bed on her own. When she had a nightmare, it depending on who woke first as to whether they would end up in his bed or hers. Neither of them spoke about it the next morning. Another month passed that way, hitting Emily’s four and a half month mark on her recovery.
“Jack’s coming over this weekend.”
Emily looked up from her book to where she could see him in the dining room, surprised by the news. “Is he?”
Aaron nodded. He was next to positive they weren’t going to be called on a case and had even filed the time as personal time just to make sure. His relationship with Jack had unfortunately dwindled to phone calls for two separate reasons. He was busy with his job, the same way he always had been. Then Emily had been released from the hospital and his six-year-old was a ball of energy he didn’t want to expose her injured side to. But she could now lift her arm above her head and even lift a few things to the higher shelves. Jack, he figured, she could probably handle.
“I’m glad,” she said sincerely. “I was thinking of moving back to my apartment this weekend, so it’s perfect timing.” She was surprised when he jumped.
“I didn’t know that.”
She shrugged, trying to play it off as nonchalance. “I hadn’t exactly thought it through, but it fits. I’ll get JJ to come grab me Friday night and you can have your weekend with Jack.”
Aaron looked at her for a moment, mentally debating how far out of his comfort zone he was willing to go. He’d been hoping Emily would stick around with Jack, give him another stable female force in his life. He planned on introducing his son to the team bit by bit anyway, but Emily had always had that maternal nature about her, something he’d noticed with Carrie just after Gideon left. “I’ll move you back the weekend after,” he said with his own shrug. “JJ can take the weekend for herself.”
Emily battled her logical mind. JJ could use the weekend and it would be nice to stay just a little bit longer. Then he absolutely floored her.
“Stay. Meet Jack.”
“Okay.”
At six, Jack had hero worship for his father. It wasn’t a surprise. To Jack, Daddy went off to fight the real monsters in the world and, in his little mind, that made it okay. He’d love to spend more time with Daddy, but he wanted to be safe too. Or, at least that was how Mommy explained it to him. Daddy answered the door when Jack knocked and the little boy threw himself into his father’s arms.
“Hey Buddy.”
Mommy hugged and kissed him goodbye, handing his bag to Daddy and telling him she’d be back on Sunday to get him. Jack shrugged. He was just glad to have uninterrupted time with Daddy.
“Hey Jack? There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
Or not. Jack’s face fell. He’d wanted Daddy time, he didn’t want to share it. And why did Daddy have someone over anyway? He didn’t want another Mommy. He had a Mommy, a good one. Bud Daddy carried him into the kitchen anyway where a lady sat with brown hair.
“Hi, Jack. I’m Emily. I work with your dad.”
Jack chewed on his fingers as he eyed this new presence. Daddy rarely had people over. Jack had never met anyone from the people that helped Daddy fight monsters. “You fight monsters too?” To his delight, she didn’t laugh like most people did. She nodded solemnly.
“I do. Just like your dad.”
Well, if Emily fought monsters than she was okay in Jack’s book. Maybe she could help Daddy find the monsters under the bed that always scared him at night. He didn’t much appreciate them.
“Emily got hurt,” Daddy explained, setting him down on the floor. “She’s staying with me so she can get better.”
Jack was confused. When he got hurt, Mommy just kissed his boo-boo and he went back to playing. So he turned innocent eyes to his father. “Why don’t you kiss it better? Like Mommy does.” He watched as Daddy started to sputter.
It was Emily who answered his question. “It was a bad boo-boo. I don’t think a simple kiss would have healed it.”
Jack considered this new information with all the seriousness a six-year-old could muster. He always thought everything could be solved with a hug and a kiss. “Oh.” Emily didn’t seem so bad. She answered his questions and he understood her. Sometimes, when adults answered his questions, he didn’t understand the answers. He scampered back to the front door where Daddy had left his backpack, digging through it to find Monkey and his favourite book. Then he ran back into the kitchen, stopping in front of Emily. He plunked the book on her lap.
“Where the Wild Things Are,” she read off the cover.
Jack watched a smile stretch across her face. He turned shy. “Will you read it to me?”
Emily smiled at him. “Sure thing.” She picked up the bowl Jack had missed on the kitchen table and followed him onto the couch. He settled against her in the innocent and trustworthy way only a six-year-old could as she opened the book.
“The night Max wore his wolf suit…”
Aaron came down the stairs after tucking Jack snugly in bed, his mind more than whirling. Jack had taken to Emily, wanted Emily to do everything with him. It helped that Emily knew all kinds of children’s games and ways to keep him occupied. He was slightly surprised that her ability to deal with Carrie had translated so swiftly into how she handled Jack. And she’d managed to do it with her side. He knew it still twinged every once in a while, though it seemed to take less and less time to pass.
She was curled on the couch, watching some sort of primetime drama and looked up with a tired smile as he joined her. “He’s a good kid.”
Aaron smiled in response. “He is. And you’re good with him.”
Emily blushed. “It’s not that hard if the kid responds to everything.”
“I think you’ve got him hooked on those bite-sized apple bits.”
Emily grinned unrepentantly. While reading to Jack, she’d been snacking on apples sprinkled with cinnamon. She hadn’t seen any harm in offering some to her companion. Jack had enjoyed the treat. “It could have been worse.”
He had to give her that.
“You’re a great father, you know,” she said softly, just loud enough to be heard over the sound of the television.
Aaron sighed. He wasn’t so sure about that. He gave everything to his job, to the families out there facing the worst monsters, while his now-ex-wife chased Jack’s monsters at home. Aaron hadn’t made time for his family and it had cost him.
“Hey, don’t go down that road,” she said softly, placing her hand on his arm. “You do what you can, when and where you can. That’s all Jack and Haley can ask for.”
“I could have left.”
“That wouldn’t have been fair for her to ask of you,” Emily answered quietly. “You are the BAU.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
Emily shrugged. “Does it matter in the long run? You’re trying to give Jack and his friends a better world. You’re trying to put away people that kill without motive.”
“There’s always a motive.”
She rolled her eyes playfully. “You’re splitting hairs.”
Aaron did know what she meant. Most of the killers they dealt with were need-driven, killing because they thought they had to for whatever reason. They didn’t have the same control a regular human had. They were different, for whatever reason that was.
“You’re making Jack’s world a safer place. And don’t underestimate him, Aaron,” she suggested with a wise tone that belayed her years. “He’s a very smart kid.” She paused, knowing the next comment was potentially crossing a line. “Just like his father.”
“You really think so?”
She smiled, encouragement and faith in every line of her body. “I know so.”
For some reason, that made him feel better.