SSA Aaron Hotchner is stepping down from his Unit Chief position for a 6-month period due to an assignment in overseas. To his temporary replacement comes SSA Alexandra Barnes, Chief of the Child Abductions Unit. Both Hotchner and Barnes have their...
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His POV I fully trust Lexie and, unfortunately, I can't say I was surprised that she didn't tell me about her ex-fiance right away. But I appreciate her explaining everything as soon as I asked. I guess we're both waiting for the right moment to tell each other things but that right moment doesn't seem to come.
We wrapped up our case by Friday and just arrived to the bureau. It's almost 1pm but the 7th floor is almost empty of Agents and Lexie has her phone off. So, I left her a message that I'm back and started paperwork.
She texted me back about an hour later, telling me she is on her way back from a location. I took the opportunity for a break and headed up to wait for her.
Now, there are about 5 families in the bullpen and a couple of Agents that assist them. My best guess is that they are waiting for the team to come back with the victims.
Surely enough, they come in a few minutes later. The team is accompanying 5 kids, that run to their parents as soon as they see them.
I stay besides Lexie's office door and I smile when she finally looks up at me. She makes sure everyone in the bullpen is ok before coming to me.
"I thought you were drowning in papers" she says as she gets closer
"I am but I missed you" I reply as I wrap my arms around her.
Every time I hug her, she does that thing where she inhales deeply as I pull her in and then she exhales and relaxes against me. I find it adorable.
She pulls away, just enough to stand by my side. I keep my one arm around her and she rests her head on my shoulder. We both look towards the bullpen and the reunited families.
"You asked me the other day why we like this job. I believe this is why" I say and I kiss her head
"Yeah, I think you might be right".
Her POV It was a good day today. 5/5 missing kids returned home. But that doesn't mean less paperwork after. And the fact that Aaron works just a floor under and I haven't seen him in 4 days, makes me crazy. I missed him and I was so happy he was here when I returned, even if it was for a few minutes.
Someone knocks on my door and I raise my eyes to meet James. "Hey, I wanted to thank you before I left" he says
"Oh, it's not necessary. We did our jobs" I reply
"Yeah... Well, it was good seeing you again, Lex. And good luck with SSA Aaron Hotchner"
"Thank you" I smile. "Good luck with the baby"
"Thanks, I'll need it" he jokes. "Bye, Lex"
"Bye". He walks away and I let out a breath.
I turn back to my papers and I try to focus. I let out another breath and I gather the necessary files for now. I pick them up, along with my things and I head to the 6th floor.
"Woah, someone's in a hurry" Emily says as she sees me come out of the elevator. She and JJ seem to be on their way out.
"Emily and I are going to grab a bite. Want to join?" JJ suggests
"I would love to but I'm not done yet. Maybe another time" I answer as I walk away.
I knock on Aaron's door to take his attention. "Am I bothering?" I ask
"What is it?" he asks. That's not a yes, but also not a no.
I continue anyway and I take a seat across from him on his desk. "I missed you and it's not fair to stay away when all that separates us is a single floor. So I brought my work here, and I'm going to do it with you. I mean, of course, you're gonna do yours and I'll do mine-- I just want to be with you right now" I explain.
He smiles "That's a great idea". I smile too and I relax a bit more.
As we both approach the end of our piles of papers, I decide to speak. "As we do that maybe we could talk about a pretty important issue for our relationship. We have already started it a few months back but we didn't quite close it".
"Did your reunion with Sergeant Larsen make you bring it up?". He already knows exactly what I'm about to say, doesn't he?
"Yes. I don't want you to think that we are wasting times. I love you and I love spending all my time with you, but I will not have kids. Ever. I pretty much went through it once with my sister, and I do not want to do it again. I need to rest, I need to be a little selfish now. I want to be clear about that"
"I understand. It was clear to me the first time you said it".
I nod and I try to swallow the knot in my throat. "So I want you to promise me that if something happens and I do conceive..."
"Lexie, I would never force you into anything. And I would never keep it against you" he says before I could finish.
I finally look at him. "I believe you. I trust you".
He takes my hand and rubs the back of it. "My ex-wife was pregnant. But it came to a late miscarriage at 20 weeks. He had a heart defect which they had warned us of early on, so it wasn't a total surprise. However, it made it any less harder".
I get up and I walk to him. He pulls me in his lap and kisses me. "I'm really sorry" I say. He kisses me again and holds me.
"My point is that all that made me start thinking about what kind of dad I would be. Haley always said that I worked many hours, but she also said that she understood it and that it would work out..."
I totally get the way he's feeling. "But she never let that go. She made you feel like you were not enough even though you tried your hardest to be there every time. You are more than enough to me, Aaron. You're amazing. Don't ever doubt that".
He takes my face in his hands and looks at me in the eyes. "I love you" he says
"I love you too" I reply.
"Please come to my place with me tonight" he asks
"You know I'd love to but I have to get home, shower, change and everything. I don't have more things in your place. But I can come by tomorrow and stay for the weekend" I suggest
"Move in with me" he says, catching me by surprise
"What?" I ask, sure I heard him wrong
"Let's move in together. We've basically been doing it every time we were in hotels. I want to come home to you and spend every second I am home with you".
"Aaron, I have never lived with anyone other than my sister" I admit
"You were engaged"
"Yes and we were still looking into it. We've never ended up moving in together... I can't leave Evelyn"
"I'm not asking you to. I don't want to take you apart. You've spent all your lives together and you I know you won't break. She could come over any time; she already does that with you. We'll just change location"
"Assuming I say yes, would that mean I'm moving in with you or we would look for another place?"
"The first could work but I think we should look into other places first. We'd want to find our place, right?".
"I'm so in love with you right now" I say and I kiss him
