Work Text:
It was another long day at the BAU, Hotch had just finished up the last of the paperwork, even though he knew there was already another stack waiting for him and calling his name.
He closed his office, with his briefcase in hand, he walked towards the elevator doors. He said goodnight to the janitor as he always did when he stayed late, which was more often than he wanted. He couldn't wait to get home to Y/n, he needed to see her. It felt like too long since he held her in his arms or vise versa.
He got home to their shared apartment as soon as he could. He unlocked the door as quietly as possible, he knew Jack would be fast asleep at this hour of the night. If he heard him and woke up, Jack would never go back to sleep. Y/n was sitting on the couch, curled up in a blanket reading a book. She looked so comfortable. It was a habit of hers to get too comfortable while reading and end up falling asleep soon after. This was one of those times, he could see that she was nodding off; but she moved when he came through the door.
"Hey," she muttered sleepily, "I was waiting for you to come home, how was work today?" She turned to lean over the back of the couch, using her hand to support her head; looking up at him with a loose smile.
"I don't think you want to hear what happened today," Hotch kicked off his shoes and wrestled with his tie to loosen it before removing it completely. He came over to her and quickly kissed her lips before slumping on the couch next to her. "Let's just say I'm glad to be home,"
Y/n puts the book down, she rests her hand on the back of his neck and slowly combs through his hair with her fingers. She can feel him relax under her touch, he sighs. It's moments like this, that make it all worth it, he thinks to himself. Small and incremental touches to close out the day when he is too exhausted for anything else. "I'm glad you're home," Y/n says simply.
They stay silent for a bit until Hotch asks, "How was Jack today?"
This perks Y/n up, "Oh, he did great today, you should have seen him at his soccer game. Look I have a video," she scrambles for her phone, smiling all wide. Hotch watches her as she swipes through her phone for the video. The video consisted of a shaky camera, Jack scoring the winning goal, and Y/n screaming louder than anyone else among the parents. Y/n laughs at herself when she hears her loud voice through the phone.
"I admit, I was a little excited," she says, trying to clear the embarrassment out of her voice.
"Just a little?" Y/n rolled her eyes and playfully pushed him away. Hotch smiled, this was the highlight of his day.
Y/n continued to ramble for a little going on about Jack's homework, what tv shows they watched, what games they played. It was a day off for Y/n, she worked from home and had a decent amount of flexibility with her hours, so she usually stayed with Jack while Hotch was putting the bad guys away.
"Y/n, I'm really glad you're here, I don't think I've said that enough," Hotch turned his body to face hers. "I don't think I would make it without you,"
Y/n scoffs at this, "Of course you would, you're already a great father," she cups his cheeks with her hands, they're warm and Hotch leans into her touch. "You do so much already, Jack loves talking about how you "put all the bad guys away"; he couldn't be happier that you're his father. And I'm here because there's nowhere else I'd rather be, but I have no doubt in my mind that you would be able to talk care of him and raise him on your own if you needed to; but you don't, because I'm here,"
At this spill of encouragement, all Hotch could do was reach out to hold her. He has no words that can express how much love he feels for her in that moment, so he leans back on the couch and holds her close to his chest. Her smaller frame pressed against him and he knew that he was valued and appreciated. And that's exactly what he needed that night.