𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 ↠ a. hotchner

chapter twenty-five - away.

IT HAD been three months since the nursery was completed, and Ophelia had reached 36 weeks. Spencer informed her when they were in the grocery store that her little bundle of joy was now roughly the size of a head of romaine lettuce. She knew it was getting bigger every week, but to visualize it like that was surreal. Especially in front of everyone in the store. Since Hotch was chief, JJ had stayed back with her and Garcia when they were called to their most recent case. If Ophelia were to give birth, Garcia wouldn't be able to leave her post at the station, so she asked Hotch if JJ or Spencer could stay back with her. He happily agreed, of course.
"Welcome to the lair, darling," Penelope outstretched her arms dramatically as Ophelia entered her office. "And you too little guy," She waved her fingers at Ophelia's belly and she giggled. JJ was doing some paperwork in one of the three chairs that sat at Garcia's desk, smiling up at her.
"How you feeling?" Her voice was calm and reassuring. Ophelia sighed.
"I have to pee, like every thirty minutes, but other than that, I'm good," JJ stood from her seat to help Ophelia down to the one next to her. She fell into it with a grunt. The three of them sat around the desk, waiting for instructions from the team, which was in Kansas at the time.
"So," Penelope began in a prodding tone.
"So," Ophelia teased. They chuckled.
"Do we know if we're getting a boy or girl yet?" She bit her lip in excitement.
"No," The girls sighed in disappointment. "We're waiting until the baby is born," The entire team connected that it was Aaron's baby as soon as Ophelia was forced to admit it to a gunman on a case in order to deter him from getting violent. Just to be safe, Aaron gave an announcement to the entire team, admitting that he was indeed the father, and that he would be going on paternal leave immediately after Ophelia returned. The team practically laughed, of course they had known, but they took the opportunity to congratulate them and plan a baby shower. Ophelia hated this idea, but that didn't stop them from giving gifts anyway. Spencer gave them an elephant stuffed animal, appropriately named Doc. Derek gave them a bunch of baby socks—"they were just so cute!". Emily gave them formula, the expensive kind. Penelope gave them an assortment of glittery head-bands, and JJ knitted a baby blanket.
"Do you have a feeling on what it's going to be? Like, mother's intuition?" Penelope questioned, smiling excitedly.
"I dunno..." She took a minute to rub her belly. "Aaron thinks girl, though," They giggled.
"That's too cute," JJ awed, watching as Ophelia's hands grazed her stomach. They were unfortunately interrupted by the ring of Garcia's phone. She clicked the button to her left.
"Queen of tech at your service!" She chimed as Aaron and Spencer popped up on the screen in front of them.
"Garcia, how's Ophelia?" Aaron asked, scanning the room for her. Penelope allowed room for her to scoot into frame and Aaron's face visibly lit up.
"Hi, Aaron," She tried to be professional in front of the team as much as possible.
"How you feeling?" He smiled. She chuckled; this was a very frequent question.
"Just fine— what can we do?" Reid positioned himself in the frame and began to speak.
"Since the unsub is staging people as scarecrows after he kills them, we need farmers or farm hands who have been fired in the last year and have records of assault or abuse in Norton, Kansas," Garcia had already began typing.
"You got it...that's about...87 names," She looked for further direction.
"Try just men who aren't married and without any education past high school," She typed again.
"Okay, you're down to 32 names," They nodded.
"Okay, thanks Garcia, send them in," The call ended. She sighed, leaning back in her chair.
"And that's how it's done,"

      Three days in, and they were closing in on the suspect. They gave the profile to the deputies and the media, but the trick was to get someone to admit they had met someone like their profile. A small town always protects eachother, and the needed to break that trust.
      "What if no one's giving him up because no one knows him?" Spencer questioned, examining the board. Everyone turned to look at him.
      "Like someone off the grid?" Rossi questioned.
      "No, have you ever heard of someone being raised by wolves?" The team nodded.
      "While people aren't actually raised by wolves, some children may imprint on the wildlife around them and build a special bond with them. That might be why he's using scarecrows— to keep birds away from livestock since that's his main source of nutrients," He darted to the laptop.
      "Garcia, look for male children that have gone missing around the 1970s, no body would have been found," She nodded.
      "Looks like we have...one, his name is Leslie Marks, his parents searched for him for months after they lost him on a camping trip," A loud grunt came from behind her. She looked to her right, where Ophelia would sit and turned back to the team
      "Okay, thanks, Garcia," The team started to ready themselves but Spencer and Aaron stayed locked on the screen.
      "Garcia, was that Ophelia?" Aaron asked. She nodded.
      "I'm fine, I'm fine!" Her voice sounded forced and in pain.
      "How often has that been happening?" Spencer questioned, furrowing his brow with worry.
      "Um, I think about...every seven minutes," She said the last part quietly, as if she was ordered not to.
      "Penelope!" Ophelia whined as she jabbed her in the arm with her elbow.
      "Sorry, sorry, I can't lie to Hotch, he knows I'm a bad liar!" She defended. Ophelia sighed.
      "Where's JJ?" He asked, his face stern like it always was when he was stressed.
      "She's getting my go-bag from home," Ophelia breathed, feeling the contraction subside.
      "You're not supposed to deliver for another month!" Spencer squeaked, possibly more scared than Aaron.
      "Guys, we gotta go if we're gonna catch this guy," Derek called from the door of the conference room. Spencer nodded and grabbed his vest from the wrack on the wall.
      "I'll call you from the car," Garcia nodded and Aaron closed the laptop. Aaron grabbed his vest as well and immediately put his phone to his ear.
      "Ophelia, why didn't you tell me you were having contractions?" He took long, quick strides as he tried to catch up with the team.
      "They're probably just Braxton Hicks, and I want you to focus on catching this guy," She was clearly out of breath from being in so much pain. He hated to hear her like this. "It's okay," She gave a light chuckle, hopefully to calm him down. "Oh, here's JJ. I've gotta go,"
      "Let me talk to her," She obeyed and handed over the phone.
      "Hotch," She answered.
      "Should I be getting on a jet right now?" He asked. He knew if anyone was going to tell him for sure if she was okay, it would be JJ. He climbed into the SUV next to Derek. JJ stepped away while Penelope was distracting Ophelia.
      "I'd catch that guy soon if I were you," She paused to make sure the two weren't listening. "It could be nothing, but..."
      "I could be having a baby today," He realized. He took a moment to breathe.
      "Yes, sir, you could be having a baby today," He could hear Ophelia start to yell in pain again. "I have to get her to the hospital, Hotch,"
      "Okay, go. Call me every hour,"
      "Of course, sir," JJ ended the call. He held his phone in his hand for a moment, just in case she put Ophelia on the phone again. He just wanted to talk to her one last time. To tell her that he loved her.
      "Is she going into preterm labor?" Derek asked, just shifting his eyes away from the road for a second to look at Aaron's expression for any sign of distress.
      "Maybe," He trailed off, thinking of what she was feeling right now. She must be terrified. He was too, but he couldn't imagine how scared she must be, thinking about giving birth alone. She was strong, he reminded himself. If anyone could do it, it was Ophelia. She proved she didn't need him several times before.
      "Are you gonna be okay?" He asked. Aaron nodded.
      "I'll keep watch by the cars. I shouldn't be out there when JJ could call me any minute," This was the first time Aaron had ever admitted to not being able to go out on the feild. Derek tried to keep his jaw from hitting the floor.
      "Of course, sir," He gripped the steering wheel. He was excited, but terrified at the same time. The last thing he wanted was for Hotch to lose someone again. Especially Ophelia, the person who had made him smile for the first time since Haley, and the most often.