Hotchniss Oneshots ❥

Halloween at the Hotchner's

October 1st

Halloween was Emily Hotchner's favorite holiday and she felt it was her duty to decorate the house and spread the Halloween spirit. Now that her children weren't as young anymore and mostly understood the concept of Halloween, she could put up all the decorations, including the ones she once considered too scary for their youngest daughter. Aaron had brought down all the boxes with Halloween decorations from the attic the day before so that Emily and the kids could decorate the entire house after school. Jack would only be joining them the day after, though, due to college and to Emily, it still felt weird putting the decorations up without him, even though this was already the third year he wasn't there for that.

Friday was also Emily's day off. She had decided not to go back to work full-time after she had Zoe. She had to wait for their kids to be dismissed for the day as she didn't want to start decorating without them, so she decided to bring her husband lunch, knowing he probably was too caught up in paperwork to even think about taking a break.

"Come on in," he responded to her knock on his office door.

"I come bearing lunch, Agent Hotchner," Emily deadpanned, closing the door behind her.

They sat on the couch in his office and had lunch together, talking about everything and nothing.

"You know, I miss the days where Jack would jump on our bed and wake us up every first of October to start decorating the house before school. He was always so excited for Halloween," she said with a sad smile on her face, a cup of coffee warming her hands as she looked at her husband.

"I know, sweetheart," he sighed and took her left hand in his to provide some comfort. He may not love Halloween as much as Emily, but he still understood.

-

While Olivia and Zoe started unpacking the boxes with indoor decorations, Emily had started unpacking those with outdoor decorations. Zoe had insisted they listen to music while decorating, so as Aaron came home a bit earlier than usual she danced around to 'Spooky Scary Skeletons'.

"Hey, are you guys having a party without me?"

"Daddy!" Zoe practically shouted while running to hug him.

"Hi honey," he smiled as he put her down again, hugged his eldest daughter, and kissed his wife.

-

"Let the skeletons rise! Muahahahaha!" Emily said enthusiastically as she reached for the skeletons in her box.

Aaron smiled and had to stifle a laugh, "You are literally just taking out the decorations."

She stuck her tongue out at him and continued whatever it was that she was doing before. "Ooo, look!" she exclaimed as she held out one specific skeleton in front of her. Emily pushed a button and the skeleton's eyes lit up in a bright red color and a supposedly spooky voice cheered 'Happy Halloween!"

"Did that skeleton just talk to me?" he asked, fake confusion on his face as he smiled at his overly excited wife.

"Don't be so rude. His name is Johnny, he's quite lively, you know," she answered. "Ask Jack."

Smiling, he shook his head and kissed her temple. When Jack arrived the next day, the first words out of his mouth were, "You put up Johnny again!"

October 29th

"Hi darling, are you on your way back?" The team had been called away on a case a few days prior and the longer the case went on, the more afraid she had become he'd miss Halloween. When they texted that morning and he had told her they were almost good to go home she had been very relieved.

"Yes, we just landed."

"That's great," she sighed. "You know, it never gets any easier. I still miss you so much even after almost 10 years of marriage."

"I'll take that as a good sign," he laughed. "I miss you too, sweetheart."

She smiled, "You know, Garcia texted me she's hosting a pre-Halloween dinner which also serves as a belated birthday dinner for Spencer. Will you be my boo?" Emily asked jokingly.

Aaron let out a heartfelt laugh and felt his heart bloom with love for her in his chest, "of course I'll be your boo."

October 31st

The Hotchner's agenda on the 31st consisted of watching Halloween movies all morning, playing a new Halloween bingo and Halloween charades they had got from Garcia two nights ago until it was time to get ready for the Halloween party. Emily insisted on hosting one this year. Invited were Jess, Penelope, Spencer, JJ, Will, Henry & Michael, Derek, Savannah & Hank and Dave & Krystall. Jack and his girlfriend Ivry came to visit the day before and were joining them as well.

Emily was dressed up as a devil, wearing a red bodysuit and devil's horns, her hair wavy, almost curly, her makeup decent. After loving complaints from Emily and Zoe's parts, Aaron decided to be a vampire for halloween, dressed in all black with a bit of white theatre makeup and vampire teeth (which he found out weren't of any benefit when it came to kissing Emily). Olivia dressed up as Agatha from Wandavision since she was her favorite character. No one knew who or what Zoe would be dressing up as, the 8-year-old had been planning her costume with her favorite (and only) brother and her favorite Ivry and wanted it too be a surprise.

"Close your eyes!" The youngest member of their family demanded from the others who were already downstairs.

"Alright, let's go, love," they could hear Jack say before they went to join the others.

"Open your eyes, open your eyes! Can you guess who I am?" Zoe asked excitedly. Jack smiled at his dad as he realized who she had dressed up as. All Aaron saw was a mini Agent Prentiss. Ivry had curled Zoe's hair almost exactly the way Emily used to curl them when she was still somewhat new in the BAU and her outfit was a kids' version of what they'd usually wear. Before they could respond, though, Zoe continued speaking, "I'm mommy and daddy! I know mommy doesn't work with daddy anymore but she is still a superhero like daddy!" The 8-year-old squealed excitedly.

"Come here, baby," Emily said as she kneeled down and hugged her daughter, a little too tight for her liking. "I love you. So much," she told her youngest before mouthing a 'thank you' to Jack and Ivry.

-

When everyone else arrived at their house and everyone's costumes were admired, they went trick-or-treating. But of course, the Hotchner kids wouldn't let that go without some sort of challenge (they all got that from Emily, even Jack). So, it was the Hotchners & Jessica against the Morgans, Reid & Garcia against the LaMontagnes & Rossis and whoever had the most and best sorts of candy, won.

-

That night when Emily and Aaron lay cuddled up in bed, with Jack and Ivry sleeping in his old bedroom, she felt fulfilled. She had spent the day with her found family and her most loved ones were all home. No one was away on a case or had to attend any classes. As she thought about that, her heart was filled with pride and love and happiness.

"I love you," she whispered as she pressed a kiss to his jawline and snuggled closer to him.

He kissed her forehead in response and held her even closer to him, "I love you too."

Note: i posted this on my ao3 last night, so even if it's november 1st: happy halloween, everyone!!

feel free to leave suggestions for improvement & comment what you think!
<3