RUNAWAY
CHAPTER TWELVE...!
❝ SEASON TWO ❞
"YOU'RE seriously leaving?"
Haley and Aaron stood outside of Jennie's room, the blonde's face filled with shock. Jennie wasn't in ear-shot of the two, as she sat on her bed, grinning as she played with her baby brother.
"There's a case─"
"Jennie's birthday is tomorrow, Aaron." Haley told him.
"I've taken too many days off, Haley, I─" Aaron sighed, falling silent. Deep down, he knew Haley was right. The thought of missing his own daughter's birthday killed him. And if he could stay with her, he would. Without a doubt, he would. "Jennie- she'll be fine. She won't care. I already made sure she was okay with it, and she is─"
"You see that? You see─ that's not normal, Aaron!" Haley told him. Her voice was as loud as a whisper, but her emotion was strong, "You're her father! She should care!"
The two fell silent, both looking into the girl's room to see happy look plastered on Jennie's face as she and her little brother played with his toy cars.
Haley then looked back at Aaron, "She should care, Aaron. A 14-year-old girl should care that her dad's going to miss her birthday. But she doesn't─"
"Because she knows she always comes first for me─"
"No, because she's used to it." The stepmom continued, "She has grown up, thinking it's normal for her father to constantly choose his job over his life at home. So, you let me know when you actually want to start teaching her that she should come first."
And with that, Haley walked away.
Hotch's hand moved up to rub his temple. He then looked back into his daughter's room.
The sight made a rollercoaster of emotions rush through him. He always wondered why he never ever heard a complaint escape the young girl's mouth. Sure, she sometimes wouldn't be able to hide her disappointed look on her face, but she'd usually cover it up with cracking a joke, or something of the sort.
There isn't a minute that goes by where Aaron Hotchner wishes he could be there more for his daughter. She will always come first.
But for Aaron Hotchner, there are a lot of times where he just can't get what he wished for.
───
THE FOLLOWING day, Aaron Hotchner was in Ohio for the case. Every time he could catch a break, he'd pull out his phone, and dial Jennie's number, only to have it go to voicemail.
"Hey, JenJen. Sorry for all the calls, but your phone keeps going to voicemail. Guess that's one thing you've learned from me, huh?" Aaron let out a small chuckle, before falling silent for a moment, "Look─ Jennie, if I could be there with you, and sing happy birthday to you today, I would. I promise you, I would. It's killing me that i'm not there with you right now."
The man sighed, looking down at his shoes, "Just─ call me back when you get this? Please? I love you."
And with that, the man ended the voice message, before he sighed.
Every word he had said was true. If he could find a way to spend his daughter's birthday with her, he would. He would do anything in the world to do that.
Unfortunately, every unsub, whether a murder, a robber, or an arsonist, seems to share one quality.
Horrible timing for Aaron Hotchner.
───
BACK IN QUANTICO, Haley and Jennie sat at in the dining room table, with Jack in a high chair next to them. Jennie had her chin rested on her hand, reading from her school textbook, while Haley fed Jack his lunch.
"So, Jennie─ how does it feel to be 15?" The blonde asked, trying to make conversation with the teen, who had been dead silent.
The girl shrugged, flipping a page in her book, "The same."
Haley sighed, "Look, JenJen─ I know it's not a typical birthday. I-I didn't have time to buy a cake, b-but─ we have ice cream in the freezer! I'll even let you have it for dinner. What do you say?"
Jennie let out a small giggle, shaking her head, "Really, Haley, I'm fine. Birthday's aren't really my thing, anyway. They're overrated to me. Really, the best gift you could give me today is free me from doing chores for the next 24 hours. That would be─ the best birthday wish."
Haley rolled her eyes, "Fine. No chores for you."
Jennie grinned, closing her textbook. She then got up from her seat, looking over at her baby brother, "You see that, Jack? That is how you bargain."
The girl's step-mom let out a laugh, moving Jack's arm to wave to Jennie, as a 'goodbye', before the teen went up to her room.
───
JENNIE SAT in her bed, her textbook on her lap, the only source of light in her room being the lamp on her night stand.
Soon enough, she felt her eyes become heavy. She sighed, closing the book, and placing on her night stand. While doing so, her eyes moved to her alarm clock.
11:59pm
"Yeah." Jennie muttered to herself, "He's not gonna come home in time."
Jennie's cuddled up in her blankets, turning off her bed light. She looked back at the clock, letting out a small sigh. No tears had fallen from her eyes, but she still let out a small sniffle, whispering to herself.
"Happy birthday to me."
12:00am
It was officially the next day.
And Aaron Hotchner had missed his daughter's birthday.
───
AARON had gotten home around 12:24am. Once he stepped into the house, he didn't hesitate to go up to Jennie's room. All he could do was hope she was still awake, so maybe he could at least say a late happy birthday.
But as he made his way to her room, his eyes landed on his daughter in her bed, sound asleep.
His face fell, as he stood by her doorway, muttering to himself, "Damn it."
His saddened look only lasted a moment, before an idea reached his mind. He quickly pulled out his phone, dialing a number. He pressed the phone to his ear, and to his benefit, they had picked up.
"Hey, JJ? Look, I know it's late, but I need a favor." The man spoke. He rubbed his fingers together slightly, before questioning the blonde.
"How fast do you think you can get the team over here?"
───
IT WAS almost 1am when Jennie's father approached her bed, gently shaking the teen awake.
The girl groaned, her eyes opening to see Aaron, "D-Dad─ what are you─"
"JenJen, come downstairs. I have a birthday surprise for you."
"What, no─ dad─" The teen was barley forming words, due to her still being half-asleep. She looked over at her alarm clock, "No birthday surprises, okay? It's 12:58, my birthday is over."
The man looked at the clock, before back at the teen, shrugging "It's still your birthday in Chicago time, which technically means it's still your birthday." The man told his daughter, leading her tired body down the stairs.
He held her hand as he walked her over to the backyard door. He looked at her, his lips forming into a small smile, "Happy birthday, JenJen."
With that, the man opened the door to reveal Gideon, Morgan, Reid, and JJ, who had yelled 'surprise!' as soon as the door opened. Haley was with them too, holding Jack in her arms as everyone cheered.
"Oh my god, I love it so much." Jennie laughed out, as she saw everyone pulling the string to their party poppers.
Well, almost everyone. Reid had some difficulty, which caused Morgan to hit him in the head, which caused the genius boy to whine to JJ, which caused her to roll her eyes─
Let's just say it was chaos.
But Jennie loved it.
She turned back to her father, her face now having a bright smile. She barley spared a second, before jumping into her father's arms. The man didn't hesitate to hold his daughter into his embrace, so tightly that she could feel her feet be lifted off the ground, as he spun her around.
"Alright, let's have some fun, huh?" Morgan spoke up, clapping his hands together as everyone cheered.
Soon enough, gifts were given, cake was served, and everyone had big smiles on their faces as they celebrated the 15th birthday of Jennie Hotchner.
And just half an hour away from them, was Elle, as she stood only a few feet away from the dying body of a rapist she had just shot.
Again, let's just say this day was chaos.
AUTHOR'S NOTE. |
OKOK HII
again i want to make it clear that i'm not tryna make hotch look like a bad dad in this book, but trying to bring light to the reality of a hard-working parent and their child. dad hotch is amazing, and hopefully you all will see that later in this book :)
𝗐𝗈𝗋𝖽 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍.
1505.