𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞

𝐈𝐕: 𝐂𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

          Mondays in the Hotchner household had always rolled around too quickly. It was something that consistently happened still, even after nearly thirteen years. That's what happens when a workaholic and careless, not careful, spirit have children. In Sheridan's mind, it was safe to say that Eric and Elizabeth Hotchner never should have had children, but here they were: prime examples of functionally dysfunctional. The oldest and youngest like their father, quiet people who worked far more than they should because it's what they do. The middle like their mother... Careless and dreamy and no plan ahead of him. Typical.

          On Friday night, Sheridan went home to her apartment for the first time in nearly a year since permanently moving to Virginia, moving back home. Home never felt like home though, for a variety of reasons that she had tried to forget for the past thirteen years of her life. So she found herself an affordable yet nice apartment on Elliot Boulevard in Quantico, Virginia, avoiding Manassas as much as possible. Aaron lived in the town of Stafford just outside of Quantico in an average townhouse, something she was sure was a subconscious pressure he didn't even recognize. With emphasis on extra room. The man, ever stuck in his overprotective nature from when she was a child, somehow managed to get her to move in with them, something that Haley didn't completely hate but certainly disliked.

          By Sunday the three Hotchners were exhausted and most definitely regretting their life decisions: Sheridan on moving in with the two, Aaron and Haley on having a kid. Because though Sheridan loved her new nephew to death and would do anything for the blond-haired baby, she was sick and tired of his damn screeching at the ungodly hours of the night. That was mostly why the couple and Sher, ever the third wheel in life, had fallen asleep on the living room couch. It was also why she was already up at four-thirty in the morning on Monday, a bowl of cereal on the table and spoon full in one hand with Jack in the other.

          She heard shuffling coming from the couch as Aaron looked over the armchair to her, Haley in his opposite arm as he swiveled his head in confusion. His brows were already knit together before she could say anything, short hair curled around her head in several directions and parted the wrong way like she had just woken up. Her brother sat up fully and slipped his arm out from under Haley, getting up groggily in clothes that he rarely wore: a pair of sweatpants and a normal blue t-shirt.

          "Did he wake you up?" Sher shook her head and looked back at Jack as she took another spoonful of cereal, which she concluded was cheerios through taste alone. She was significantly blind without her glasses on. There was a single light flicked on off to the side that was blocked by a cleft in the wall, it barely illuminating Sher's face as she contorted her hand to hold Jack's bottle for him.

          "I've been up for twenty-three minutes as of right now. I heard him fussin' so I went runnin' to take care of him. Quieted right down when he saw me, best baby ever." Aaron scoffed at the heavy, sleep-induced accent that she had, as well as the comment about his son. Whenever she spoke with the mixed accent that they had all grown up with, he always fell back into it a little, like a memory or mantra that played in the back of his mind.

          "How would you know he's the best baby ever? How many babies have you even been around?" His sister rolled her eyes at him and looked at the clock.

          "My best friends from college got married and had a little girl named Angeline. I was in the area after my first time in Alexandria when she was born." She took another bite of cereal, "Plus, I'm his Auntie Sher, he's always gonna be the best baby in my book." Her speech was muffled from the hand that covered her mouth, an obvious amount of food still in it just the same. Aaron shook his head in disgust and sat beside her at the table, scooping his son from her arms so she could eat.