Work Text:
“What about Petronella?”
“Um…”
“It’s a little weird but it’s different. I wanted to go with different.”
“It is different.”
“OK, I know that tone.” She laughed. “What about Phoebe?”
“I like Phoebe?”
“Do you like Peeta?”
“What's with all the P names?” he asked. “Let’s try another letter of the alphabet. What about Katie?”
“Katie is a nickname. So if her name is Katie what will we call her?”
“Katie.”
“I'm thinking you're not taking this seriously.”
“I am. I know how important what you name someone is. I've done this before and it can be a long and arduous, though worthwhile, process. OK, no nicknames. Katherine might be a little more formal than you wanted. What about Sasha?”
“I like that. Do you like Audrey?”
“Audrey is nice. You could go for something a little less traditional too.”
“I like traditional. Of course my name is Elizabeth so that shouldn’t surprise you.”
“I love your name.”
“I love yours too.”
“How much do you love it?” he asked.
Beth could tell that Hotch was smiling on the other end of the phone and that made her smile as well. Being apart was never easy. He couldn’t call her every night from the road but she made sure when he did that they didn’t talk about the monsters he slayed all day. She wanted to give him normalcy in his life.
“I love saying it.” she replied. “I love whispering it; I love moaning it.”
“You have a dirty mind, Elizabeth.”
“I think you like that.”
“I think I love it.”
“I think I love the name Petronella. We could call her Nelle.”
“I think we’d have to. Hollering Petronella across a crowded park sounds like something from a Dickens novel.”
“And what's more traditional than that?” Beth asked. “I think that’s why I like it. It's old school and new school all in the same breath.”
“Well you get the final decision so if you like Petronella…”
“She won't just be mine Aaron.”
“She's going to be mine too?” He asked.
“Well…we spend time together. Jack will spend time with her too. Don’t take this the wrong way but I thought it'd be nice to have it be a family decision. Should I have said that?”
“I'm your boyfriend. I'm flattered that you want this to be a family decision. Jack is going to fall in love with this dog.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad one?”
“We can't have a pet at home; I'm just not there enough. His friends have them and I know sometimes he feels deprived. This will give him the opportunity to have one, in a way.”
“That’s why I thought it’d be good for you to come with me.” Beth said.
“You think?”
“Do you even like dogs?”
“I don’t dislike them. I wasn’t allowed to have pets growing up either. There was no way my mama was letting an animal trample all over her carpet.”
“You sounded so adorable when you just said that.” she giggled. “You know when you say certain things there's just a hint of an accent that comes out. It makes me tingly.”
“Where?” Hotch asked.
“Uh uh. You're far away tonight and we’re not having that conversation, Hotchner. We need to have the dog conversation. Will you come with me?”
“I will. Do you have any idea what kind of dog you want?”
“I don’t want to go too big, but I don’t want to go too small. I need something that’s just right and I’m sure I’ll know it when I see it.”
“If someone was listening in on this conversation they would be very interested to know what you were talking about.”
“Now who has a dirty mind?” she asked laughing.
“The person spying on our conversation obviously.”
“Oh cute.”
“I try to be.”
“And you succeed.” Beth looked at her alarm clock. “I better get to bed; I have a long day tomorrow. Do you know when you’re coming home?”
“I’ll be back in the next few days. We’re definitely flying out before the weekend. This case has a lot of elements in it but we’re breaking it down quickly. Seven minds think better than one.”
“And with Garcia you guys don’t have to do all of the legwork.”
“She's a godsend.” Hotch said. “So if I'm home this weekend we can go to the shelter. But we don’t tell Jack until you’ve picked the perfect pet. I don’t want him to get excited and then be let down.”
Beth was going to say she knew Hotch felt that way about more things than the dog but she didn’t. She knew protecting Jack was Hotch’s #1 priority. It had been so since the day he came into the world and was even more so after all they'd been through. He was a dad…nothing about that upset her. She felt privileged to be a part of his little boy’s life. Just the fact that she was said she meant something to Aaron. And that meant something to Beth.
“I think that’s a good idea. I'm so excited about this.”
“You had a dog growing up, right?”
“His name was Sandy, like the dog in Annie. Oh my God, I loved that movie. I must have subjected my brother to watching it 5 million times. I knew my dog could have no other name. He was probably just glad the Von Trapps didn’t have a pet…that was the only movie I watched more growing up. Musicals…what can I say?”
“I'm thinking there's not much to say about that.”
“Get off my phone.” Beth laughed.
“You're gonna miss me when I'm gone.” Hotch said laughing.
“You don’t have to be a crackerjack profiler to figure that one out.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to call tomorrow but we’ll talk soon.”
“OK. Be safe Aaron and sweet dreams.”
He wanted to hear her say I love you again but that damn sure wasn’t fair since he didn’t reciprocate. Beth hadn't said it since that first time but Hotch thought about it and always got butterflies in his stomach. It was huge for him to hear something like that. He wasn’t ready to say those words though he knew her feelings for him were strong. Hotch had only felt like that once in his life before and it was a long time ago. If he thought back far enough he could remember what it was like to be crazy about Haley. With Beth it was different, which was good, but it was just as crazy in his belly and his head.
“Have a great day tomorrow. Text me?”
“I will.” She never wanted to be a bother when he was in the field. If he was at Quantico she would text him a few times a day. They would text each other, and it was always fun. But Beth knew he needed to be focused when he was out there. Distractions were dangerous, even the sweet and fun kind. “Are you sure that'll be OK.”
“It’s OK with me.” he replied. “It makes my day. Talking to you and talking to Jack makes my day.”
“It makes my day too.”
“And when we agree on things, we’re both happier.”
“I agree…ooh you're right, it’s so easy.”
“I know.” Hotch laughed. “I’ll see you soon. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
Hotch hung up the phone and took a deep breath as he lay back on the hotel bed. They were getting a dog. Well actually Beth was getting a dog but they were going to pick out the dog together. What stage was that? He surely wasn’t going to ask his teammates because they would probably have a variety of answers that would just freak him out more.
This didn’t feel uncomfortable; Hotch felt fine. He was actually looking forward to it. Any excuse to spend time with Beth was one that he readily took. Thinking too much about stages, reciprocity, and three big words was only going to take time away from thinking about her.
***