Like My Father Loves My Mom

I Wanna Come Home to Roses

Olivia Hotchner, the Hotchner's eldest daughter, got to go home earlier from school today while her father, the BAU's Unit Chief, and her mother, a teacher at the FBI academy, were both still at work. She knew that her mom would be home not too late after her, her dad on the other hand she suspected wouldn't be home until at least dinner. The team had just gotten home from a case and she was very well aware of the amount of paperwork that needed to be done in result.

Olivia Hotchner was an exact mix of Emily and Aaron which drove a lot of people around them crazy. She had Emily's brown hair and dark brown eyes, whereas her nose, and smile with, yes, the dimples, were 100% Aaron. You would think a mini-Emily was trouble, which her 8 year old sister definitely already was, but a mix of the both of them was definitely not as easy to be around with as one would think. It could be intimating even. She had her mother's selflessness and intelligence which was always gladly appreciated by her teachers, then she also had her father's seriousness and discipline which certainly worked well with the former together. She was an A-student, haters would say she was a teacher's pet as well, always kind to everyone around her (she knew exactly how to hide her annoyance at certain classmates), knew how to react to others properly, be calm, but then again, she sometimes felt the need to prove herself, which the team all agreed on she had been given by both of her parents. Growing up with two profilers, she always knew how the people closest to her felt and how to address difficult topics, showing the empathy her mother had, but she also knew how to compartmentalize best, another trait Emily had given her. In her friend group everyone agreed she was the one everyone trusted most and would go to for advice or for just help in general. Oh, and she also had been given the well-known "Hotch Glare" as Garcia would call it. She just didn't use it as much, why would she. She didn't interrogate unsubs, although she maybe, sometimes felt as if she were. So, if you didn't know how to handle such a strong personality, Olivia Hotchner would probably drive you crazy. At least a bit. Or, well, a lot.

When she unlocked the front door, she put off her shoes and her jacket and then went to sit down on the couch, taking in a deep breath and enjoying the silence, a thing she usually did after school to calm down from the craziness she always experienced with partly overly strict teachers and annoying classmates who would always ask her for homework or answers in classes and tests. She didn't have a lot friends and wasn't popular in school which had led her to start doubting herself at some point in her early teens. Now at 15, after a few conversations she'd had with both of her parents, she wasn't bothered by that fact anymore, but in return appreciated the few people she trusted even more.

As she was sat on the couch she decided to cook something since she was the first to be home for once, cooking enough for everyone so that her mom and little sister would get to eat something when they got home as well. That'd be a nice change for once, wouldn't it? On her way to the kitchen she noticed a bouquet of red roses on the dining table which definitely hadn't been there this morning before she left. She knew who they were from and for whom they were, though.

——

"Olivia, sweetheart, are you home?" She heard her mom say just as she was about to finish up the spaghetti. It was a recipe of Rossi's, of course. She found his explanations incredibly easy to follow, despite what her mom would sometimes say about not being Italian enough to fully understand what Rossi wanted from her.

"In the kitchen, mom!" Olivia heard her little sister Zoe babble on about her day in school as they entered the kitchen.

"Liv!!" Zoe shouted excitedly running towards her favorite, and well, only, sister.

"Careful, love, Liv's cooking," Emily warned softly as she approached her eldest daughter as well, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Got off early from school I take it?"

"Mhm," she hummed, way too concentrated in flavoring the bolognese sauce. "Oh, and by the way, there are roses for you in the dining room." She tilted her head into the direction of said room and smiled as she saw her mother's smile in the corner of her eyes. Emily knew who they were from, too.

Whenever he got back from a case that lasted longer than two nights, the first thing he'd do was buy flowers, scribble something onto a small card and leave it for her in the dining room for when she got back home from work. Only then he would go back to his office to finish up his paperwork.

Emily smiled to herself and wondered why he had particularly chosen red ones. They usually reserved red roses for special occasions. Then it crossed her mind that it was probably because of the fact he was gone over Valentine's Day and felt terrible that he couldn't be with her when all he wanted to do was to be with her. She then reached for the note.

"My Love, I know I've said it before but I'm so sorry I couldn't be there sooner. Consider every single rose a 'I'm sorry, I love you'. I'll be home as soon as I can, promise. -A"

She could barely hold back her tears as she saw that tiny heart he'd scribbled on there. That soft, loving, vulnerable side of Aaron Hotchner was something only she and their children got to see and it made her only love him more, even though she thought he could smile a little more often outside of their home.

A/N: It was 2am as I had finished this, I didn't have anyone proofread this (as usual) but I actually loved writing this too much to wait any longer to post this. Please let me know what you think! <3

(Also, I kind of focused on Olivia a lot in this one. I did this just because it was the first chapter and kind of felt the need to explain who she is in the beginning. And also because, well, she's Hotchniss' daughter and I absolutely live for them having daughters. Future chapters will focus more on Hotchniss, though!)