“Are you absolutely certain she said to come around tonight? I’m sure your mother said tomorrow?” Your boyfriend and colleague Spencer Reid frowned from his seat in the car as you pulled into your mother’s driveway.
“She definitely said tonight. And apparently it’s important, which means she dating someone. Everytime she calls me to a ‘family meal’ it’s because she’s dating someone new.”
“Well good for her. I’m still sure it’s tomorrow though.”
You eye rolled at him and got out of the car, grabbing the bottle of wine you’d bought to gift to your mother. The whole “eidetic memory” thing was cute sometimes but it also made him think he knew everything other times. You were the one who had spoken to your mom so you knew when this meal was. And it was tonight.
As you approached the front of the house you did notice that the lights in the lounge appeared to be off which Spencer pointed out too causing you to huff.
“She’s probably just in the kitchen cooking.”
You used your emergency key to unlock the front door, knowing that your mom sometimes missed the doorbell if she was in the back.
As it turned out, she was in the kitchen. As it also turned out, Spencer had been right. The meal must have been tomorrow. Because you highly doubted your mother meant for you to walk in on the scene that you did.
“Mom, we’re heeeee….jesus fucking christ…. Mom!!” The bottle of wine you’d been holding dropped to the floor and shattered and you stopped so suddenly that Spencer ramned into the back of you before looking to the sight in front of you both.
Your mother was sat up on the kitchen counter, her legs wrapped around the waist of a man who’s face had been very much buried in her neck. When they heard your exclamation both parties jumped apart and you could see that their shirts were both undone, as was the man’s belt buckle. Luckily, nothing else was hanging lose.
It was then that you got a look at the man’s face and your jaw dropped open.
“Hotch!?!?” It wasn’t you who spoke this time but Spencer, the shock of seeing his old supervisor making out with your mother very clear in his voice. Aaron Hotchner had been back within the city for the last few months but wasn’t fully reinstated within the team, consulting on cases instead rather than actively investigating them. He wanted more time to spend with Jack and had grown used to it when he had been in the witness protective scheme.
“Y/N!” Your Mom.
“Spencer! Y/N!” Aaron.
“I…. I… Nope. Just nope.” You spun around and grabbed Spencer’s hand, pulling him with you. Your mother and her… her Hotch? followed you down the hallway, quickly trying to make themselves decent.
“Y/N, please wait. Come into the lounge so we can talk….”
“Nope! Nope, nope, nope!”
You were being childish and you knew it but you had the image of your mother and your very esteemed, sometimes colleague burned into your brain right now and that wouldn’t do. And if you’d have walked in ten minutes later you were quite sure you would have been mentally scarred for life. When you reached the front door you tugged Spencer through it, ignoring your mom’s pleas to stop and talk and faster than you could say “my mom is fucking Aaron Hotchner,” you were in the car and reversing out of the driveway, Spencer scrambling to put on his seat belt.
“Well…. Y/N…..erm….”
“Nope.”
“Do you not want to talk about it…”
“Nope.”
“But you’re going to have to speak to….”
“Does this not bother you? That’s my mother, that’s Hotch. They were….” you shuddered.
“Well…. They’re both consenting adults. They’re not doing anything wrong.”
You glared at him, mainly because you knew he was right. But you did not want to deal with this right now. It was weird and odd and you did not like it one bit.
“You better hope that any serial killers keep their urges contained tonight because I’m getting drunk. Where’s the nearest liquor store.”
Spencer sighed and directed you. He knew you had to work through this revelation in your own way. He was shocked himself and he had never expected to see your mother and his ex boss in such a comprising position. He could do with a drink too he decided.
…
“Here. Coffee.” Spencer placed a mug down in front of you and you winced, the sound of the ceramic hitting the table was painful to your ears. You picked it up gratefully, sipping the dark liquid.
“So, are we actually going to the family meal tonight? Your mother messaged me to ask seeing as you’re not responding to her.”
One look at Spencer and he knew the answer. Apparently you were taking this badly.
“Agent Y/L/N, Dr Reid, you both have a visitor in my office.” SSA Prentiss had walked over to your desk and your heart sank a little with her words. Would your mother really dare come into your workplace?
No, she wouldn’t. She didn’t need to, she had someone already on the inside.
“Y/N, Spencer, I’m so very sorry you saw what you did last night. You weren’t meant to find out like that.” Aaron Hotchner was perched on the edge of Emily’s desk and you felt Spencer grab your arm to keep you from leaving. He knew you too well.
“Your mother is upset. You won’t answer her calls. She says you’ve never reacted like this before, that you’ve always been respectful and pleased when she’s found a partner.”
“Well those partners weren’t someone I regularly work with!” You exclaimed in anger. “How long has this been going on for anyway? Did you know she was my mother?”
“I didn’t know she was your mother at first. And we’ve been talking for nearly a year now, we met online, before I was back in town.”
“My mother meets men online now? Christ almighty. How many horror stories do I have to tell her before she’ll let me run background checks ….. Not that I’d ever abuse my position here…. ”
Aaron tried to hide a smile. Having worked for the FBI for as long as he had he had also been very dubious about online dating apps.
“When did you realise I was her daughter?”
Now he looked sheepish. “Not long after we met. Which was around six months ago.” He braced himself.
“Six months!! You’ve consultant on a number of cases with us during that time. How could you work with me knowing that you were going to home to my….” You shook your head, not wanting to continue.
“Look, I understand you’re angry and upset. But your mother and I, we didn’t want to tell you until we were sure there was something to tell.”
“What’s that meant to mean?”
Aaron shifted slightly and coughed, clearing his throat. “If it was just to be a… well a fling, then it would make things awkward between us here so we didn’t see the point in telling you. But now we know it’s not just a fling. Y/N…. I, well, I’ve fallen in love with her. It’s serious between us now which is why we called the family meal tonight so we could tell you.”
You focused on one part of that. “You love her?”
He nodded. “Very much so.”
“Oh. Well…. Oh.”
How could you be angry if it was love? You wanted your mother to be happy.
“Right. Well… Just don’t, don’t be a dick to her yeah?”
He raised his eyebrows at you and you realised what you’d said to someone that had held a much senior position than you. You held your ground though and didn’t apologise.
“Can I tell her that you’ll be joining us later?” Aaron asked and you sighed.
“Yes fine. I’ll be there. Now, this is weird and I’m still uncomfortable so I’m going to go and get some work done.”
Hotch nodded to you both and you left the room, making your way back to your desk with Spencer following you.
“Are you really okay with this?” he asked you tentively.
“Well I don’t really have much of a choice if they’re in love. I still can’t be believe it though. Aaron Hotchner is dating my mom.”
“Hotch is dating your mom!!” Penelope Garcia squealed and you realised that you had not been paying attention to your surroundings and that Penny had walked by at the exact moment those words had left your mouth. And she was loud, so very loud. You face palmed as the team quickly surrounded you and Spencer.
“Hotch is dating your mother? Is that true?” Emily asked, her eyes flickering up to her office where Aaron still was.
You groaned and decided there was no point in denying it. “Yes. I found out last night.”
“Oh my god!!” Garcia squealed again. “Oh my god, if they get married he’ll be your stepfather. Will you have to call him daddy?!”
“Penelope, I don’t even call my actual father daddy anymore. The Internet has completely ruined that word for me.”
“Babe, you took those words right out of my mouth,” Tara commented and the rest of the team laughed.
“Now erm, can you all go away please. I got very drunk last night after this new revelation and you’re all breathing a little too loudly for my liking.”