For the Love of a Daughter (A Criminal Minds Fanfic)

Chapter 10: I'm Gonna Give all my Secrets Away

Monday morning came around far too quickly for Aaron's liking as he walked up the short steps to his office. He checked the clock and saw that it was barely eight am. He poured himself a cup of coffee and settled into his chair, glancing at the stack of files that seemed to just magically appear on his desk over the past two days. He sighed, then grabbed the top folder and began flipping through it.

He'd spent the rest of Saturday night and most of Sunday morning, going through the photos and videos that Aria had given him. As he saw all the years he missed out on, he couldn't help but feel emotional. He would never be able to get those sixteen years back. If it was this hard on him, he could only imagine how Aria must feel. He could barely sleep the rest of the Sunday morning. Luckily, Jack hadn't picked up on his father's mood as they spent the rest of the weekend together.

A few minutes later, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out, he smiled, seeing that it was a text message from Aria.

About to be bombarded with questions about you from Izzy and I still need to talk to Danny. Wish me luck :)

-Aria

He smiled then replied:

No need. You'll be fine. But I'll just humor you and wish you luck anyway. Let me know how it goes.

-Aaron

Nearly an hour later, a knock on his door interrupted his thoughts. He looked up to find Rossi enter his office then shut the door behind him.

"So..." He started. "Are you finally going to tell me what's been going on with you these past few weeks?" He asked as he crossed his folded arms across his chest and casually leaned against the closed door.

Hotch dropped the pen he was using and closed the file, then raised an eyebrow.

"Good morning to you too Dave. Have a good weekend?" He asked casually.

Dave sighed. "Cut the crap Aaron. Just tell me what's going on." He demanded as he walked closer to the desk and rested his hands on the edges, looking at Aaron.

Hotch looked at Dave and saw the concern and worry present on his face. He sighed, realizing that he'd been keeping this in too long and needed to confide in someone. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone, then scrolled through some things until he found what he was looking for. He stood up from his chair, glanced at his phone one more time then placed it on the desk facing Rossi.

"That's what." He finally said.

Dave frowned then picked up the phone to look at what was displayed. It was a photo of a teenage girl, brunette with long wavy hair and hazel eyes, smiling shyly at the camera. He glanced at the picture then back to Aaron.

"Pretty." He said with a small smile. "Who is she?" He asked, confused.

Aaron took a deep breath then exhaled slowly. It's now or never. He thought.

"She's my daughter." He stated.

By the look on Dave's face, it was clear that out of all the scenarios he thought of, that was not one of them.

"I'm sorry. Could you repeat that? I could've sworn I heard you say that the teenager in this photo is your daughter." He finally managed to get out once he found his voice.

Aaron sighed then sat down rubbing a hand over his face.

"It's true, Dave. She's mine."

Rossi looked at him for a moment, still trying to process the news. He sat down in the chair facing Hotch then sighed.