Bonding Has Guidelines
Emily smiled as the fire's heat radiated onto her. Her curled hair had been pulled up all day, now causing a small puff as she took it out of the ponytail. She heard a laugh and immediately looked up from the fire, trying to find a more comfortable position on the log she was occupying. "What?"
Hotch chuckled, grasping the stick in his hand tighter. "Your hair looks cute like that."
Emily's laugh echoed off the trees, causing Hotch to smile wide. "Why thanks. Of course, the day I choose not to straighten it you say its cute."
She watched as Hotch nodded, sending his caring smile towards her. "It's natural. And has more… volume, I guess you'd say."
Emily narrowed her eyes, but was interrupted just before she could get any words out. "Look what I got! Look what I got!"
Both adults turned to Jack, who quickly ran towards Emily. "I got a new friend mommy!"
Emily's eyes softened, hearing his new name for her for only the third time. "Really? What's his name?"
"Roy!"
Hotch's laughter was heard as Emily smiled down at the young boy. "So where is your new friend."
Jack held out his clasped hands to his smiling mother, his blond hair shimmering from the light of the fire. "In my hands. You wanna see him?"
Emily hid her laughter as she nodded.
Jack smiled wide as he opened his hands, revealing a small black spider. "Meet Roy, mommy!"
Emily screamed as she ran towards the ten, her hands shaking. "Jack, go put him back in the woods."
"But mommy-"
"Jack this is not up for negotiation. Go set him free in the woods with your daddy."
Jack's sad eyes turned to his father, who was kneeling next to him. "Do I gotta daddy?"
Hotch shook his head as he rubbed his son's back. "Emily, it's just a spider. There's no harm in Jack having it."
"Aaron it could be poisonous. I do not want Jack getting hurt." Emily continued to feel her heart race as she grasped the tent's fabric in her shaking hands. "Go put it back in the woods, Aaron."
"Mommy why are you scared?"
"Baby I don't want you getting hurt by… Roy."
Jack shook his head as he stepped a little closer to his mother. "But mommy he's real tiny."
"Jack, either put him down or throw him in the fire."
Jack's sad eyes widened as he held the spider to his chest. "Mommy why?"
"EMILY!"
Emily sighed as she reluctantly let go of the tent and knelt in front of the sad boy. "Ok, sweetie look. Tiny things, such as spiders, can hurt you. Even accidentally. Because sometimes, he could get really scared and do it to protect himself."
"But I don't wanna hurt Roy!"
Emily nodded as she ran a hand through her hair. "But he doesn't know that, baby."
Jack shook his head before whispering down to the crawling spider. "I'm not gonna hurt you Roy." He then looked up to his slightly confused parents, Hotch now standing behind a kneeling Emily. "See! Now he knows!"
Emily and Hotch both grinned at Jack's wide smile. "Bud, maybe you should listen to your mother."
"But why daddy?" "Ask your mommy."
Emily sighed and held a finger up before Jack could get a word out. "I just explained to you why you need to get rid of him. If it helps at all, I'll get you a spider from the pet store when we get home." "But he wont be Roy!"
Emily nodded, rubbing her hands over her knees as Jack stared up at her. "Ok, I'll make you a deal. You put him down on the ground and we'll all go to bed. Then, if he's still here when we all wake up, you get to take Roy home and we'll set up a nice place for him in your room. Ok?"
Jack immediately began to jump up and down, before running over to the fire and setting Roy down a crinkled, brown leaf. He then turned back to his mother, and ran over to the tent. "Come on guys, we gotta go to bed!"
…
Emily sluggishly opened her eyes when there was a noise outside of their tent. She slowly, but awkwardly, sat up, with Jack's head laying in her lap. She looked around her, seeing no shadows casting on the tent except for those of trees, and the slight light from the moon.
She looked over to her feet, only to see Roy the spider, climbing onto her big toe.
"AHH!"
Hotch immediately shot up, taking the canteen in hand, while Jack sat by his side, rubbing his eyes. "What? What's wrong?"
"GET THE DAMN SPIDER OUT OF HERE!"
(MeGkAtHeRiNe)