A.N. Hello! I know it's been a while (Six weeks?!) but I am back now and exam/school free for the next month. This chapter was a lot shorter than the others only because it was a purely Riane/Hotch chapter and it's more fluff than anything. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up because I'm not sure what I'm going to write about but it will hopefully be up soon. Anyways if you enjoy please review. And as always, enjoy.

Riane sat on the park bench and watched her children play. It was uncharacteristically warm for October but they weren't far enough into the month for the weather to be cold enough for hats and mittens yet.

"They're going to have sand everywhere," J.J. said as she took a seat next to her on the bench.

"Don't look so smug Jayje, so will Henry."

"Ahh," J.J. countered. "Henry loves baths. He'd stay in there until he became a raisin if I let him."

Riane sighed, "I wish. It's just a huge crying fit for me. Harrison's not that bad but Atticus and Nathanael? Not a chance."

J.J. nodded, "I guess you don't have a bathtub big enough for all three of them."

Riane shook her head, "No I do not, not since 12 months anyways. It's a long process but usually by the time I'm done with the last one the other two are asleep."

An easy silence fell between the two of them as they watched the children play. For a Saturday afternoon there wasn't as many children as either had anticipated which was a blessing and a curse.

"Where's Will?" Riane asked.

J.J. grinned, "It was daddy's turn to do the house chores. Shopping, sweeping, mopping, dusting, vacuuming…the list goes on and on."

"Oh I wish! When they're old enough they will help me with all the cleaning. Especially seeing as I'm going to need a bigger house."

J.J. laughed, "Good luck with that. How many bedrooms does your place have now?"

"Three," she answered. "I mean they're all in the same room right now but I'm sure they'll outgrow their cribs in a year so they won't all fit in the same room. And I don't like the idea of having two in one room and one in the other. They're pretty close and I don't want to cause them any stress."

"That sucks. You live in a nice neighbourhood."

Riane nodded, "I like it. It's close to my sitter but I'm sure I'll be able to find a good place. Maybe even closer to work."

"Yeah!" J.J. agreed. "When are you coming back anyways?"

Riane shrugged, "I still don't know. Hopefully it'll be before Christmas but it just depends on what my physical therapist says…" She let her sentence fade, she didn't want anyone from the team to know that she'd been suspended. She wasn't even sure what was going to happen given what had developed between her and Aaron.

"Well hopefully it'll be soon. I know you haven't been at the BAU that long but it's not the same without you."

Riane smiled, "Thanks J.J. I appreciate that. So what's Henry going to be for Halloween this year? Only 25 days left!"

J.J. shook her head, "We still don't know. Will wanted to take him out this weekend but I'm not sure if that will happen, maybe next weekend. What about the boys?"

"No costumes yet either but I'm really excited. Last year they were only four months old so there wasn't much I could do. So even though it's my second Halloween as a mother it's my first active one."

J.J. beamed, "Oh you're going to have so much fun! Take tons of pictures okay? I want to hear all about it."

"Deal," Riane agreed.

Riane dropped into the couch and stretched back against it closing her eyes. Next to her she felt Aaron do the same, his arm settling around her shoulders.

"It gets easier they said. Children will make your life full they said. I want to strangle everyone who ever told me that this wasn't going to be hard."

He laughed, "They don't make your life full?"

"I didn't mean it like that! I love my children more than I ever thought was possible but I want to sleep. When will they start sleeping through the night?"

Aaron shrugged, "Maybe when they turn two? That's about when Jack started to get a full eight hours."

She arched an eyebrow, "What happened to the ten to twelve that I read about in the baby books?"

"Twelve years. I do recall sleeping through most of my teenage years."

Riane exhaled "I don't even want to think about that far into the future. I think my best chance is to win the lottery."

He nodded, "When you decode that trick let me know alright?"

She grinned, "Good plan."

His grin mimicked hers before he leaned in to kiss her. Their relationship was slow and it bothered Riane to know that she was preventing any progression but Aaron has assured and reassured her that everything was fine, and as she wrapped her arms around his neck she was inclined to believe him. She still was comfortable with some forms of touch and sex was a definite no-go but she enjoyed the teenage-like make out sessions and she loved to touch him. It wasn't something she had expected but she was fascinated with the angles and planes of his body, all the observations she'd made with her eyes that she was now able to commit to memory through touch.

"Mmm," she pulled back with a gentle smile. "You should go. It's getting late and you should get Jack to bed."

"I don't want to," he murmured between kisses.

She laughed lightly, pushing her fingers through the hair at his temples. "I don't want you to go but Jack deserves to spend some time with you."

He sighed and relented, propping up his head with his hand. "You know," he said. "Jack has a school trip next weekend. He leaves Friday night and doesn't get home until Monday."

She grinned, "It would be a shame for you to be home alone all weekend."

"That's what I was thinking."

"Well what are we going to do about that?" She asked.

"I'm sure we'll think of something," he assured.

She smirked and kissed him once more before getting off the couch and beckoning for him to do the same.

"I think Jack may have fallen asleep."

"I'm surprised that my kids still are. I guess that trip to the park really did tire them out."

Riane watched Hotch go down the hall and come out a minute later with his son in his arms, sometimes she forgot that he had admirable strength that was hidden beneath dress shirts and ties most of the time.

Getting the half asleep boy into a jacket and shoes was amusing for Riane even if it proved to be slightly difficult for her partner.

"Text me when you get home?" She asked.

Aaron nodded, "I will. Good night."

She gave him a slight wave before locking the door after they'd gone. She watched his headlights pull out of her driveway and disappear down the street before she turned out off the lights and made her own way to bed.

"Why haven't you decorated?"

"Hmm?"

"Your wall," he stated. "They're white…and empty."

She shrugged as she put another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, "What's wrong with my walls?"

Aaron shook his head, "Nothing. I just thought you might decorate them. Haley used to add pictures of Jack to the wall every week."

Riane made a face, "That sounds like a lot of spare time that I don't have. Besides I'm going to have to move anyways, probably within the next year…it just seems like a waste of time and energy."

He nodded and put his bowl in the sink before taking up his spot at the table again.

"It's not a bad idea to do things that are applicable in the present you know," he pointed out.

"I just don't know Aaron-"

"Where are they?" He interjected.

She raised an eyebrow, "They?"

He nodded, "The pictures."

"Oh," she shrugged. "Probably in a box in my closet."

He offered his hand, "Come on."

She rolled her eyes but relented. Placing her hand in his she let him lead her down the hall, into her bedroom and watched him pull out the box labelled 'photos'. She took a seat on the bed as he went back into the kitchen to grab a knife to cut through the tape with.

"Ready?" He asked.

"No," she answered. "I can't remember what pictures are in that box. I'm inclined to believe they're pictures from before I moved."

"Well I guess I'll get to see what Palo Alto was like."

She shrugged and watched him open the box. Most of the pictures were from the period in her life where she liked to have physical copies of all her pictures. A lot were from her childhood and her work as a beat cop, some were from her days at the academy and there were almost none from the past two years that were of her.

"Are these your parents?" He asked softly.

She moved down onto the floor beside him and took the picture he offered her.

She nodded, "Yeah that's them. This is the last picture I took of them."

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

She laughed and shook her head, "No! Not like that, they're still alive. That was just the last photo I took before I left."

He nodded, "Oh. Why aren't you in the picture?"

"I was three months pregnant with triplets?"

He inclined his head, "Are there really no pictures from the time you got pregnant?"

She grimaced, "A few maybe but it wasn't really a good time in my life."

When he said nothing she pulled the box over and began to dig through. "I don't know," she shrugged. "I mean I spent five months waiting for them to try him and the last two months I spent in a constant state of fear, pain… a lot of the time in tears and alone."

She smiled softly when he put a hand on her shoulder, a silent gesture of comfort that she was grateful for. Spotting what she wanted in the box she pulled out the picture and handed it to him.

Examining it careful he remained silent for another moment before he spoke, "When was this taken?"

"The airport. My partner drove me and insisted on a photo before I left."

"You look happy."

"It was her. Dani was the best friend I'd ever had. I still talk to her every once and a while when I'm feeling nostalgic. She was the one person who I could have an entire conversation with and never feel like she was pitying be in between every breath."

"Do you still feel like that?" He asked catching her gaze.

She sighed heavily and tossed the picture back into the box, "No. I've never felt like you pitied me but Dani was my best friend and for lack of a better turn you're my boyfriend. And that has come with a lot more challenges…I'm being a bit grim aren't I?"

He chuckled and rubbed her back, "I am having a good afternoon Riane, believe it or not. It's been a while since we were able to just spend time with each other and even if we spend it arguing-"

"I'd rather not if it's all the same."

He inclined his head, "Me neither so stop worrying."

She smiled and he helped her to put the pictures back in the box with the exceptions of the few he'd chosen that were destined for the wall. It took them another half an hour to go through all the pictures of her children before they'd finally gathered up enough pictures to make a decent collage.

"There," Aaron stated. "Now all we need to do is get some frames and we can put them up tomorrow."

"You've got the hammer and nails?"

"I'll bring them tomorrow."

She sprawled out on the bed after they'd finished, making room for Aaron when she felt the bed dip next to her.

"I'm tired, "she murmured.

He looked at his watch, "Boys should be up in an hour or so."

"You're an easy man to hate Aaron Hotchner."

He laughed and rolled onto his side to look down at her, "You wound me Ms. Collins."

"Ugh please you sound like my psychologist." As soon as the words were out of her mouth she felt the shock hit her like a ton of bricks and she inwardly groaned.

"Psychologist?" He asked slowly.

"Okay, Aaron, I meant to tell you I really did-"

"Then why didn't you?"

She shrugged, "Because I was scared? I don't know… I thought that if I told people then there would be this expectation of me and I didn't even know if I was going to go through with it. I almost didn't."

He smiled weakly, "You could've told me."

She reached up to stroke the side of his face, "I know."

Nothing was said between them for a few moments before Riane spoke again. "I know you're hurt I didn't tell you but Aaron I feel good. I feel better than I have in a long time."

He smiled, "I'm glad."

Riane nodded, "Thanks. Besides every week I get a little closer to getting my return to work and sooner is definitely better."

Aaron was silent for a moment and she knew that he was trying to organize his thoughts before he spoke.

"You know, I've been thinking that maybe a suspension was a little bit of an overreaction…"

She shook her head, "No Aaron. Don't you dare. Was I angry at the time? Yeah I was but if it wasn't for you I don't know if I ever would have gone to see someone. The last thing I want is for the professional relationship between us to change because I like how we are right now but some aspects of our relationship need to stay the same. It's imperative."

He sighed lightly and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Okay," he relented. "You've convinced me."

"Great," she grinned. "I'm glad we're on the same page, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

"Don't apologize Riane. You're not obligated to tell me everything."

"Well no, of course not but credit where credit's due and all that. Besides now I don't have to worry about accidentally saying something. Especially seeing as my sleep-deprived brain has trouble with secrets most of the time."

He laughed, "Speaking of which I have the feeling that our quiet time is about to end. We should start thinking about dinner."

She made a face, "I don't really want to move."

"Me neither."

She chuckled and buried her face into his neck, "We still have a little time," she mumbled into his skin.

He smiled, "Maybe just a little."