𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟎𝟗𝟖

"Morning," The teen says quietly.

"Daddy!" Jack interrupts the quiet atmosphere with his excitement.

"Hey, bud," Aaron chuckles as he watches his son jump out of bed. He picks him up and embraces him, knowing Jack is the closest thing he has to Haley.

"I hope it's okay we watched some cartoons on my phone," Noah tells him.

"Yeah, of course," Hotch replies, "Thank you."

"Yeah," Noah nods and stands from the bed.

"Can we go to the park today?" Jack asks with pleading in his eyes.

"I don't know about today," Aaron replies.

"Please!" Jack exclaims.

Noah sees the hesitancy in Aaron's eyes, so she offers to help, "I'll take him to the park,"

"You don't have to do that—" Aaron tries to take Jack off the teen's hands.

"I know you wanna be close to him, but you also have to think about yourself, Hotch.  Just take a break and we'll be back in an hour or so."

Aaron looks at his son and sees his excitement. He would hate to take that away from him. The man turns to Noah, who offers a small smile.

"Can we go to the park, Daddy?" Jack pleads.

"Noah's gonna take you to the park, bud.  Is that okay?"

"Yeah!" Jack agrees and wiggles out of Aaron's hold on him.

"Alright, get your clothes and shoes on," Hotch tells the boy. Noah stands and walks to the doorway to change herself.

"Thank you, Noah," Aaron mutters as the teen walks by him.

"Of course," The teen beams with a smile, but it fades quicker than it came.

"He really likes you," Aaron says.

"I usually don't like kids, but I like yours," Noah giggles as she watches Jack pull out all different kinds of shirts from the dresser.

Aaron just smiles and nods at her to get changed. Noah goes to the bedroom and looks at the bag that she packed at Emily's before they came to the apartment last night. She grabs her sweatpants and a hoodie, throwing them on. She slips on some socks and her tennis shoes before heading to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

As the teen walks out of the bathroom, Jack runs up to her and grabs her leg. Noah giggles and ruffles his hair. They walk to the door, seeing Aaron holding out a jacket for his son. Once they are ready to go, they open the door and look back at Aaron.

"We'll be back in an hour, I'll text you," Noah mentions and sees him nod.

"Have fun, okay?" Aaron says to Jack.

"Bye, Daddy," Jack replies with a wave before rushing down the hallway. Noah waves to Hotch and runs after the boy, making the father smile.

—
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬

"There's only one rule at the park," Noah says as she crouches to Jack's height, "Don't run off without me. I want my eyes on you, okay?" She asks as she points her fingers at her eyes and then at Jack.

"Okay!" The boy exclaims, practically bouncing with excitement.

They walk onto the playground and play around. Noah stays on high alert, having her eyes on the little boy at all times. The crowd of kids does not help, but she is able to spot him by the color of his blue jacket.

Noah watches the boy climb around and go down the slides. She watches him talk to the other kids and make friends. They even join in on a little soccer match that was happening on the grass.

"Can we go to the swings?" Jack asks as he walks up to Noah out of breath.

"Yeah, let's go!" Noah shouts and runs off towards the swings. The boy keeps up with her and grabs a swing, Noah taking the one next to his.

The teen sits down on the swing and kicks off. She sees that Jack has some trouble kicking off, so she grabs one of the chains of his swing and guides it with hers.

"How high can you go?" Noah asks as she watches Jack swing back and forth.

"Super high!" Jack exclaims.

"Super high?" Noah giggles, "I bet I can get higher than you!"

"We have to touch the sky!" Jack chimes.

"The sky?!" Noah exclaims, "Keep going!" She encourages the boy as he gets higher up. Jack watches Noah in amazement, wanting to be able to go as high as her. He pushes his little legs as much as he can, wanting to be higher up.

They swing for what feels like hours, but Noah has not smiled or laughed like this in days. She feels herself let go. The breeze on her face does not remind her of her fear, it just feels like she is a little kid on a swing. Instead, it reminds her of the days when she and Max used to have competitions of who could get the highest in his backyard. They would swing and swing and swing until they felt sick.

Noah looks at the time on her phone and realizes they should probably head back. She slows down her swings and jumps off once she is low enough. She hears Jack laugh at her landing on her feet.

"My turn!" Jack shouts with a wide smile.

"Jump!" Noah replies and holds her hands out, ready to catch him if he falls.

Jack swings forward and jumps out of the seat, falling right into Noah's arms. The teen holds him up in the air, cheering as she listens to the boy's laughs.

"And he stuck the landing!" Noah beams and spins around with Jack in her arms. Once she puts him on the ground, the boy jumps with excitement.

"Okay, I need a break," Noah chuckles as she walks over to the grass and lays down, shutting her eyes for a moment. The boy sits next to her, pulling on her arm to wake her up.

"Is that the highest you've ever been?" Jack asks.

"Oh, that was definitely a personal record," Noah giggles as she sits up. She peers over at the boy with a smile on her face, watching him look around the park.

"Do you think Mommy could see us?" Jack questions with curiosity ridden in his eyes.

"We were so close to the sky, I don't think she could've missed us," Noah chimes and ruffles his hair.

The teen takes a moment as silence settles between them. Jack leans against Noah's arm, slumping into the grass beside her. She wonders what he thinks about when he thinks of his mother. Whatever it is, she knows it is her with a smile on her face.

And it only hits her as she looks down at him that Jack will spend his life missing his mother longer than he knew her.

"Ready to head back, little man?" Noah asks.

"Not yet," Jack mumbles as he lays his head on her lap. He looks up at the sky and Noah settles in her spot, not wanting to ruin his peace.