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SSA Aaron Hotchner woke up that morning and was suddenly hit by the realisation that it was Valentine’s Day. It was the first Valentine’s Day since Haley had died and he felt ill equipped to deal with it. They had been divorced for a while and he was used to spending it alone, usually working but this time it was a weekend and the team was on stand down. Aaron remembered previous valentine’s days with Haley especially in the early days which had been filled with love and happiness. It had always been a favourite holiday of his ex-wife’s and she had tried to make it special for Jack as well as the little boy grew up. Hotch didn’t know what he was going to do to make it a good day for his son today, he supposed that Jessica might have some ideas but he felt in the grip of such lethargy that he just didn’t feel able to get out of bed and face another holiday without Haley.
As he was lying there thinking about Jack and ways to make this a better holiday for the little boy especially after the disaster of Christmas so soon after Haley’s death that they had all been so raw and hurting that it had barely been a celebration at all when he heard the door to his room open. Looking up he saw his son walking slowly towards him carefully balancing a laden breakfast tray before him.
Smiling at the boy Hotch moved to help his son as they settled the tray on his lap to Jack’s satisfaction.
“Happy Val-Val –Valetine's day daddy!! Will you be my valetine?” Jack exclaimed excitedly bouncing on the bed in his excitement.
Aaron couldn’t help but smile at the excited tow headed boy who had gone to so much trouble to get him breakfast in bed.
“Sure buddy, I’ll be your Val-en-tine Jack not valetine.” He said ruffling the boy’s hair affectionately.
“Did you do this all by yourself?” He continued looking at the toast and juice on the tray and wincing internally at the thought of the mess one little boy could make in the kitchen.
“Aunt Jess helped me.” Jack said still bouncing.
“We have the whole day planned for you daddy…come on…you just have to get ready soon so we can go.” Jack continued jumping up to give his dad a quick hug before running out of the room.
Chuckling softly to himself Hotch munched on his slightly burnt toast feeling very thankful for Jessica. He made a mental note to do something special for the woman who was like a sister to him for everything she had done recently for him and Jack. As he was finishing his breakfast and getting out of bed Jack ran back into the room.
“You’re not ready yet? Come on daddy, hurry up…I wanna go now!” Jack exclaimed jumping in his excitement.
“Would you care to tell me where we are going today?” Hotch asked smiling at his son affectionately.
“Nope, that’s a surprise…aunt Jess said.” Jack said grinning and bouncing in place as he watched his dad gather his clothes and walk into the bathroom.
After a quick shower the dark haired profiler dressed comfortably in jeans and a sweater and walked downstairs to see what his son was upto.
“Yaay daddy’s ready…..let’s go aunt Jess let’s go.” Jack yelled at the top of his voice making the adults laugh.
“I’m not coming with you guys Jack, remember this is your day.” Jessica said smiling at Hotch.
“You could come too, we don’t mind, do we buddy?” Aaron said looking at his son for confirmation.
“Yeah aunt Jess you could come with.” Jack said.
“It’s ok I already have plans with some friends. You guys go….have fun.” Jessica said shooing them out the door.
“If you’re sure.” Hotch said as he was dragged to the car by his son.
“So where to now buddy?” Hotch asked as the got settled in the car.
“We’re going to the movie theatre daddy. The one we always go to.” Jack said happily.
“Ok then the movies it is.” Hotch said starting the car and driving them to the theatre. When they got there he found that there was a special showing of the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie that had been released the previous year which Jack really wanted to watch, so they bought the tickets, popcorn and snacks and went in.
It was a fun movie and both Jack and Aaron enjoyed watching the chipmunks and their antics. After Jack decreed that they were going to be playing mini-golf. Jack had never played before and he was keen to try it. Hotch and Jack spent an enjoyable couple of hours with Hotch teaching Jack how to hit the ball so it avoided the obstacles. Jack was a quick study and even managed to sink a few balls. When they grew hungry they decided to head home since Hotch could see that the boy was getting tired.
The two Hotchners came home and since Jack insisted that Valentine’s day was not over yet and he had planned for this he drew his dad into the kitchen where they found that Jessica had laid out the makings of s'mores with a note that there was dinner ready in the fridge which they just needed to heat. Hotch put the dinner that Jess had made in the microwave feeling extremely grateful to the woman and started the fire while Jack decided to make a cosy nest in front of the fire with blankets and pillows.
They grabbed their plates and glasses and settled in front of the fire to eat with Jack talking excitedly about all the things they had seen and done that day. When they were done they stacked the dishes in the sink and brought the tray with the makings for s'mores into the living room and spent a long while making and eating the s'mores until Aaron saw Jack’s eyes drooping.
The dark haired profiler then carried his warm bundle of boy up to bed and tucked him in pressing a kiss to his forehead even as Jack smiled sleepily and snuggled into the blankets.
“Thank you for a lovely Valentine’s day buddy. I had a lot of fun.” Aaron said as he stroked his sons hair.
“Me too daddy .It was awesome.” Jack said happily eyes still closed.
Hotch switched off the lights and walked downstairs reflecting contentedly on the day glad that his son was so resilient and hadn’t lost his spirit and ability to be happy after even after the terrible loss of the previous year.