Work Text:
“Daddy!” Noah came bursting into the study even though the door was mostly closed. “Daddy lets watch Credibles.” He held up the DVD.
“Kiddo, you know when the door is closed that means Daddy is working. I'm trying to get this research finished. I'm on a deadline.”
Noah looked at him. Dave hardly wanted to believe it but his son was wearing Erin’s patented bullshit face. He hopped one foot to the other waving the DVD. Dave had no idea how Noah could sit through The Incredibles again. It’s possible he’d seen the movie half a billion times in the last few months. His father didn’t think he could take another viewing.
“Daddy!” the three year old drew the word out. “Daddy lets watch the Credibles.”
“Hey Noah, there you are.” Ted walked into the study as well. He saw Dave, the toddler, and the DVD. “I've been looking all over for you. I wanted to watch The Incredibles.”
“Me too!” Noah exclaimed, jumping up and down.
“Oh good, we can watch it together.” Ted smiled.
“Daddy too?”
“He’ll come and watch with us as soon as he's finished his work. Right now it’s just a brother thing. Wanna do a brother thing?”
“Yeah!”
“High five, little guy!”
Noah jumped up and slapped Ted’s hand. He was grinning from ear to ear.
“Let’s fly, Ted; let’s fly OK.”
“No problem. C'mon.”
He scooped Noah up in his arms and spun him around. Dave mouthed thank you as his son giggled wildly. Ted flew him toward the living room so they could watch the movie. He closed the study door behind him. For just a moment Dave felt an immense wave of guilt. He was turning away his son to work on a paper about lust killers.
It was important because he would take two weeks to travel and lecture on it. With five days ahead for the Thanksgiving holiday Dave could really put a dent in it, even finish it. Luckily Ted was home from school to pick up his obvious slack. He loved spending time with Noah; the feeling was mutual. Maybe the guilt in the pit of Dave’s stomach would eventually dissipate. Sighing, he put the focus back on his computer.
***
“Nuh uh.” Noah shook his head.
“Yes it was. It was a giant rocket ship with restaurants, parks, and toy stores too. It was headed straight to the party on Jupiter.”
“Can dogs go to Jupiter, Ted?”
“Everyone is invited to the party, even dogs.” He nodded. “There's gonna be cake, sandwiches, ice cream, and all of your favorite things. What do you wanna take?”
“My skates!” Noah exclaimed. He couldn’t quite skate yet but Daddy was going to teach him. “I wanna bring cookies and my new tee shirt. And my tramoline…bring my tramoline.”
“We’re definitely taking the trampoline. It’s gonna be awesome in zero gravity.”
“What's that?” the toddler asked.
“It means we get to fly all the time, just like superheroes.”
“Even Muddie?” Noah’s eyes were wide.
“Even Mudgie.” Ted grinned and tickled him. “Alright buddy, its time for you to get some sleep.”
“No.”
“Yes. We’ll hang out more tomorrow; I promise.”
“Hey guys.” Erin walked into the bedroom.
“Mama!” Noah sat up, holding out his arms for her.
“Hello sweetheart.”
She came in and sat down with both of her sons. Noah climbed into her lap; she kissed his forehead. Ted kissed her cheek.
“Did you two have a good day?” she asked, caressing his face.
“Yes.” Ted nodded.
“We watched The Credibles, Mama. And we flew too.”
“I did teach him to fly. He's a quick study.”
“I appreciate you keeping an eye on him.” Erin lowered her voice. “Dave has been so into his paper.”
“It’s not a problem.”
“You don’t come home to babysit.” His mother reasoned.
“Nope, I come for the free food. I’ll have an abundance of that tomorrow.”
“Thanks so much Teddy.”
He smiled. Then he stood up from the bed and did an exaggerated stretch and yawn.
“Oh boy, I'm so tired. I can't wait to get to bed and have a good night’s sleep. It's gonna be awesome. Goodnight, Noah.”
“Night, night Ted.”
He left the room and Noah looked at Erin.
“I'm tired too, Mama.”
“So let’s get you back into bed.” Erin put him back under the covers and pulled them up to his chin. “What are you going to dream about tonight?”
“Jupiter.” He replied. “Me and Muddie are gonna fly there like superheroes.”
“I bet its going to be great.” She smiled. Then she bent to kiss his face. “Goodnight, my sweet little superhero.”
“Night, night Mama.”
Erin planned to stay until he dreamed; she did almost every night. Still dressed like Madame Section Chief down to the Stuart Weitzman pumps, she did her best to relax on the spaceship bed. Mudgie moved over to give her space but he crept closer to Noah as sleep began to overtake him. Sighing, Erin petted the dog’s head. Mudgie sighed happily.
She began to hum a lullaby for all of them. She was exhausted too...looked forward to three days away from the Bureau. Tomorrow didn’t count since Dave was having members of the BAU over for Thanksgiving dinner. It wasn’t that he wanted to, exactly, but it was time for most of his team to meet Noah. They would also inadvertently find out about Dave and Erin’s relationship.
Since they were profilers, and spent way too much time together, she was sure they already suspected. She had no intention of acting like a guest in her own home tomorrow. Noah didn’t even know how to pretend about things like that. There was no way it wouldn’t all be known by the end of the evening. After the hell they'd been through Erin just didn’t give a damn anymore.
She was holding onto her family with both hands. Taking Noah’s tiny hand, soft and warm in hers, Erin gently squeezed. He was surely halfway to Jupiter by now. She kissed him once more before gently getting off the bed. Erin slipped out of her shoes, picked them up from the carpet, and crept out of the room.
“Laptop off please.” She said as she walked into her bedroom.
“Yes ma'am.” Dave smiled but he didn’t look up.
“I'm serious David.”
“I know. I just need to finish this thought.”
“I'm going to take a shower. It’s going to be long and hot…”
“And you'll be quite naked.” Dave finished.
“When I come back I do not want to see that laptop.”
“You won't, I promise.”
Dave watched over the top of it as Erin undressed. Her back was to him; she actually paid him no mind. She stripped off her purple skirt, matching jacket, and black silk button down blouse. That left her dressed in a half-slip along with a pearl colored bra. Her hands moving under it, Erin rolled her stockings down slow.
“Stop watching me.” she said, not taking her eyes off what she was doing.
“Respectfully, that’s not going to happen. I find it unbearably sexy when you strip away Strauss.”
Erin tried not to smile; she loved when he said things like that. She heard him move around on the bed but was surprised when Dave wrapped his arms around her from behind.
“David…”
“You're not dirty, baby; not yet anyway. You showered this morning, I remember. In fact you still smell so damn good.” He pulled her closer, his hand trailing across her stomach while he inhaled the nape of her neck. “You should at least wait until I get my caveman smell all over you before you shower again.”
“Your caveman scent isn’t so bad.” She murmured.
“Oh tonight its going to be bad.” He turned her in his arms. “It’s going to be very dirty.”
“I would say that you only have a one-track mind but I know for a fact that all you did today was work on your paper. So, sex and serial killers…what would a profiler think about that?”
“Not all lust killers are serial killers.” Dave replied, kissing her neck and throat.
“I think you know what I mean.”
“I don’t.” he shook his head. He slipped both of his hands in hers and walked them toward the bed.
“You were home all day. You didn’t spend any time with Noah.”
“I made him French toast for breakfast.” Dave laid her down on the bed. He smiled as his body moved over hers.
“Breakfast was over 12 hours ago. You're home for a few days…Noah wants to be with Daddy.”
“We’re going to hang out tomorrow.” He kissed her. “I promise.”
“You're going to hang out tomorrow and Friday.” Erin replied. “I'm banning you from the study and I'm hiding the laptop.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“This paper…”
“This paper can wait; family first. You should want to be with Noah as desperately as you want to get me out of my clothes.”
“Apples and oranges, baby, and you're mostly out of your clothes anyway.”
“I could stay mostly out of my clothes.”
“You want me as much as I want you.” Dave’s hands moved up her slip. Soon her silk and lace knickers were sliding down her legs and off her feet. He touched between her thighs, loving the way Erin shivered. “You always want me.”
“I hate you.” she grinned when she said it.
“You love me. You’re crazy about me, Erin Strauss.”
“Thursday and Friday.” Erin said as her half-slip went the same route as her panties.
“Thursday and Friday…and you're right you know.”
“I know.”
“Can we make love now?”
“After you tell me you love me.”
“Mmm, I love you so much Erin.”
She smiled, reaching to turn out the lamp. Dave preferred light when they made love and that suited Erin just fine. But she didn’t like closing the door because of Noah and wasn’t in the mood for covers tonight. While she doubted there would be any surprises, it was always better to be safe than sorry.
“Oh my God, David!” she squealed, gripping him tighter when he hit one of her favorite spots.
“Oh yeah, I love that sound.”
“If you keep touching me there you're going to hear it plenty.”
Dave planned to do just that. He usually balked at time off but the past six months had been unexpected and insane. While the paper definitely filled his time, he needed to spend time with Noah. The truth was that Dave wasn’t always comfortable with his son. He loved him like crazy but he was three years old. At 55 he didn’t have much in common with a toddler.
He watched Noah and Ted wishing he could jump in with both feet like that. There were times when it seemed easy, other days unfathomable that he was here after all this time. Dave loved Noah; he also loved Erin. Over this long weekend he’d put away all the other bells and whistles and focus on his family. Dave never regretted it when he made that decision. The people who loved him were always something to be thankful for.
***