Undercover Lovers |Aaron Hotchner|

Chapter Eighteen: Luck

Strauss was back at the BAU in a month. She seemed to be doing much better, despite the endless questions she received about where she'd been. Everyone pretended not to notice how much happier Rossi was when she got back. Even I was happier and I didn't even really like her. She got the help she needed, which was all that mattered.

We'd had a lot of cases in that month we'd been back, but the one that stood out the most was when Kate Callahan's niece Meg and her friend Markayla were kidnapped and held hostage. None of us thought it'd end well, but we never dared to say it out loud. We were all so relieved when they were both found alive, and Kate decided to leave the BAU to raise her kids in peace.

Aaron, Jack, and I had spent a whole lot of time together, which I loved. We all had fun together and it was just so seamless— except when Haley was around. She hated me and I hated her, but only one of us showed it. I wanted everything to be easy and she did not. Her goal was to make my life a living hell and it infuriated her when I simply ignored the problem.

There was always a huge festival in my neighborhood every August, but I hadn't gone in years. We were on a case last year, I was in Los Angeles before that, and in Paris with Emily one year. It was Aaron's day with Jack, who was so excited to go. We decided everyone would just sleep at my apartment afterwards, which was perfectly fine by all of us. That wasn't completely out of the ordinary in the last month.

"Can we play the ring toss?" Jack asked excitedly.

"Look at all those prizes, Jack!" I pointed. "What do you want?"

"Yoda."

"Good choice. Aaron, wanna give it a try?"

He shook his head. "There's no chance any of us are winning, honey. They're all rigged."

"Is that so?"

"Carnivals are full of scams, you know that."

"Watch and learn, boys." I dared. The man handed me three rings and watched doubtfully. I looked back at Aaron, who whipped out his phone to record just as quickly as I would've, and landed each ring on a bottle.

"Valerie!" Jack shrieked with joy as the man handed him the large Yoda toy.

"Rigged, huh?"

"You're just lucky." Aaron grinned.

"I am, but that was all skill. What's next, Jack?"

"Can we get cotton candy?" He asked as he eagerly pulled us in another direction.

We spent most of the day at the festival and got back to my apartment around 6:00. I ordered a pizza while Aaron and Jack set up the guest room. They put away all the prizes and toys we won— well, what I won. Aaron sucked at the games and Jack certainly took after him. It made it more fun to watch though.

We were all getting tired, so Aaron told Jack to shower before bed. He laid his new dinosaur pajamas out on the dresser and I could hear the water running in the guest bathroom in no time. Aaron sat on the couch and pulled me down with him.

"We both had a great time today." He said. "Jack loves you."

"And you?" I asked.

"I guess you're tolerable sometimes." He grinned before giving me a soft kiss.

Everything was so easy. To me, it already felt like we were a family. We all fit in together easily. I wanted it to work more than anything because I cared so deeply for both of them.

Right after dinner, someone got a phone call. I could feel the panic set in as we both searched for our phones. I didn't want to be ripped away from the pure situation at hand to have to go find some serial killer.