It Might Be You [Hotchniss]

IV

trigger warnings: mentions of miscarriages

—

Hotch sighs as he sets his bag down on the chair. He looks around to see the place clean.

Beginning to take off his jacket, he walks to the bedroom, spotting his wife on the bed. "You're still up?"

"Well, how can I sleep if you don't get home after midnight? You're home late again."

"Can we not do this tonight? I already had a long day," Hotch says, removing his shoes and placing them on the floor of the closet.

Haley scoffs. "That's what you always say, Aaron. That's your constant excuse."

"Because it's true. I had a long day."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Haley offers.

Hotch shakes his head. "No."

Haley relaxes on the bed and Hotch changes into pajamas. "Aaron, we never talk anymore. And I miss it. Even if we do talk, we end up arguing. I want to work things out."

She props herself up and sees that her husband isn't even in the room. A couple seconds later, he walks back in.

"Aaron. I want to talk about work."

He looks up. "What about it?"

"We made a deal that after a year, I'd go back to work."

"What work Haley? You don't have a job waiting for you," Aaron notes.

"Because you didn't want me working when we found out that I was pregnant," Haley replies. "I was still able to work."

Aaron groans. "I didn't want you to have another miscarriage. So I guess it's my fault for being overprotective."

"Don't bring my miscarriages into this. Look what happened, I miscarried again even if I didn't work!"

"I have to talk about it. Haley, you got depressed after we lost our 3rd baby. You went to a therapist for 6 months, then stopped when you got better. And now, you want to talk about work? That should've been the topic months ago!"

Haley takes a deep breath, stopping herself from crying. "We should stop. But just so you know, it's always been the topic for me. You're just never around for us to really talk about it."

Hotch shakes his head and walks out of the room. And as for Haley, she tries to get comfortable in bed and looks out the window, stopping herself from crying.

The next couple of hours, Hotch sits in his home office sorting through some paperwork. That's the thing with Hotch, he's a workaholic. He rarely takes a break.

Things were different more than a year ago. The team was in good hands, Elle was still an agent for the BAU. And Haley was 8 weeks pregnant.

"Just trust me on this one, honey. I don't want you to keep on working."

"How can I help provide for us?" Haley questions.

Hotch sighs. "I've got it. Just do this for us and our baby."

"I'm scared, Aaron." Haley begins to ventilate. "If I lose this baby, I won't be able to cope."

"I'm here for you. We got this. We're gonna be parents!"

A couple hours later, Hotch gets a phone call from Haley.

He smiles. "Hi honey. I'll be home soon."