. . . . .

Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss was good at many things. She was damned good at her job, she was fantastic at compartmentalizing and before meeting one very fussy Gabriella Catherine Garcia-Morgan, she would have said she was excellent with children. Heck, even her fiancée of three months, SSA Aaron Hotchner would have agreed without question. Gabi, on the other hand, just didn't want to settle down.

Emily and Aaron were babysitting the small girl for the night. Penelope Garcia had been absolutely terrified to think of leaving her little baby girl anywhere, but Emily had sworn on pain of death that nothing would happen to the small girl. And she'd meant it. She knew that there were only a couple of people the blond technical analyst entrusted Gabi's care to and one of them was definitely Aunt Emily.

"Emmy, why is Baby Gabi crying?"

And just their luck that it was a Friday night Aaron had Jack. Emily adored the seven-year-old, but with Gabi fussing, her patience was thin.

"I don't know, Jack," she answered honestly. "She's not hungry, she's not dirty..." Emily was sitting on the couch, rocking Gabi in her lap and the infant still wiggled and whimpered. Gabi, more often than not, didn't cry.

Jack climbed up onto the couch beside her, plunking down right against her side. He'd been more than ecstatic to learn that 'Miss Em'ly' was moving in with Daddy. So happy, in fact, that he'd dropped the 'miss' from her name. He reached over.

"Gentle," Emily reminded him softly.

Jack had been so good with Gabi since the day he'd met the little girl. He'd been absolutely enraptured by the fact that children were so tiny, that he had once been that small. He giggled when Gabi reached out and grabbed his pinky finger and Gabi stopped whimpering.

"What on earth did you do, Buddy?" Emily asked with a smile as Jack leaned over Gabi.

"I dunno," Jack answered as he gently shook his arm. Gabi looked up at him curiously, brown eyes just like her parents blinking up through long lashes. Emily had told Derek the first time she'd seen her after they'd brought her home that she was going to be a heartbreaker.

"Just like her Mama," Derek had replied with a proud grin.

"Well whatever you did," Emily told Jack as she settled back on the couch with both children. "She's quiet now."

Jack looked up at her. "Can I hold her?"

If she was honest, Emily was nervous about letting Jack hold the infant. She took a deep breath, thinking about it. "Okay," she said, getting an idea. She stood. "You move right into the corner, okay?"

Jack did as he was asked, eyes bright with wonder. He'd never been able to hold Gabi before. Miss Penny and Mr Derek were very protective of their little girl.

"Remember how Daddy showed you how Pen holds Gabi?"

Jack put his arms out just like Daddy had shown him. Emily leaned forward with Gabi in her arms, gently resting the child in Jack's. The seven-year-old looked down at the baby in wonder as her weight settled on him.

"Make sure you remember to support her head," Emily reminded him softly, her hand coming up behind his elbow. She didn't touch him, trusted him to listen, but she was there in case something happened, crouched right in front of the infant and Jack.

A flash made them both look up. Aaron was standing in the kitchen doorway, camera in hand. "You have no idea what you two looked like," he said, voice thick with emotion.

"Look Daddy!" Jack exclaimed quietly. "I'm holding Baby Gabi!"

"Yes you are," Aaron agreed with a smile, coming over to stand by his family.

"She's so little," he said quietly. "Was I really this little Daddy?"

"Once upon a time," Aaron replied. "You're not so little anymore."

Jack had started second grade the month before and seemed to be taking to it like fish to water. He had friends, he did well and he rarely got in trouble.

Emily smiled at Jack and Gabi, wishing Jack was holding his own sibling instead of someone else's baby. But she hoped that would come in time, that some day Jack would be holding his own little brother or sister. She knew Aaron hoped the same thing. It was why they'd set their wedding date so soon and why Emily was putting most if not all of her spare energy into planning it.

She'd steadfastly refused a wedding planner and she'd been stubborn about her mother's involvement in the whole thing. She was going to have her simple wedding, not the lavish one that their families had all but demanded. It had meant one massive fight with her mother and Aaron had been forced to tell off his own, but in the end, she'd gotten her way.

And they'd still managed to squeeze a week and a half in Europe out of both families. Emily wanted to go back to Rome, Aaron wanted to see Monte Carlo and London. They'd settled on a ten-day cruise in a suite that was bound to be lavish and too much for them. But Emily's father Senator Jonathan Prentiss had been adamant that there would be nothing but the best for his little girl's honeymoon.

"Emmy, I think Baby Gabi's sleeping."

Sure enough, somehow the little infant had managed to drop off to sleep right in little Jack's arms. "You are a miracle worker," Emily said as she lifted Gabi, careful not to wake her.

"What's that?"

Aaron chuckled. "Come on, I'll explain it to you in the bath."

They made their way up the stairs together, Emily turning into the room she shared with Aaron as the boys headed for the bathroom. They'd set up Gabi's playpen in their room for the night. Emily wasn't about to take any chances by putting her in the spare room. She carefully set Gabi down, relieved when the little girl barely stirred. She hadn't realized how long she'd been standing there until Aaron poked his head into the room.

"Jack's ready for storytime."

Emily smiled. "'Kay. I'll be there in a minute."

Instead of leaving, Aaron came further into the room, wrapping his arms around her stomach. "We will have one of those, Emily," he told her with conviction.

"I sure hope so," Emily responded with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

He kissed her temple. "Go tell Jack a story. I'll get the baby monitor and meet you downstairs, okay?"

She turned in his arms to kiss his mouth. "Sounds good. Pick a good movie."

"And popcorn," he said, watching her leave.

"Always popcorn."

. . . . .

"Jenn?"

"Hey," Jennifer 'JJ' Jareau said, looking more like a drowned rat than the stunning blond she usually was. "You busy?"

"No." It wasn't the first time she'd shown up at his apartment unannounced, but it didn't make it less surprising to Dr Spencer Reid.

"Fantastic. Got a towel?"

In the four months since they'd agreed to put their friendship back on track, they'd done this a few times. Bad cases, bad dates, bad moments, they went to each other. From the way JJ was dressed he had a feeling she'd just been on a bad date.

"What happened?"

"Can I dry off first? It's absolutely pouring out there."

Spencer hadn't noticed. He'd been too wrapped up in a documentary on the Hillside Strangler to hear the pattering of rain. He went to the linen closet, pulling out a towel and handing it to her.

"Are my sweats still here?"

"Top drawer, left side."

"Thanks," she said gratefully, kissing his cheek as she headed to the back room.

Spencer shook his head as he made his way into the kitchen. By now – and by extension since they'd done this long before their relationship and friendship had hit the rocks – he knew how JJ worked. A bad date required chocolate and though he never ate it, he'd long been in the habit of keeping some on hand. November in Virginia had turned cold fast and so instant hot chocolate mix was the name of the game. It would help with the chill she'd be dealing with too, that much Spencer knew and knew well.

She emerged not five minutes later, changed into a pair of sweats she'd left long ago and a t-shirt that had been with it. He couldn't remember why she'd left them or the circumstances under which they'd shown up, but he knew he had a similar pair at her place.

And logically, he knew what they were doing was probably, in most circles, a little bit wrong.

But he'd allowed JJ to push. The feelings for her were still there, still strong, and he knew hers were too, but there was trust to build up between them again. He had to be reminded that she could put time and effort into something. She needed to be reminded of why she had feelings for him in the first place.

For now, friends was working.

"What are you watching?" she asked, still towel-drying her long blond hair.

"Documentary."

"Don't you ever watch anything unreal?" JJ teased, snatching up her purse as she passed his front door. She hung the towel on a chair and rifled through the small bag.

He watched almost in fascination. "Even documentaries have fallacies, I can only imagine how many incorrect facts are in movies."

"That's the point," JJ said, emerging triumphantly from her hunt with a hair elastic. "Something you don't have to think about."

"How can you watch them when they're filled with inaccuracies," he replied as the kettle whistled. "Don't they drive you crazy?"

"I'm not looking for them," she answered around the elastic, pulling her hair back. "I'm watching the movie for the pure fanciful enjoyment."

Spencer poured the water into a nearby mug, already pre-cocoa powder filled. "I can't stop looking for all of the wrong things they're doing. Horror movies are my favourite."

She laughed. "They're hilarious," she agreed.

"The blood angles are always wrong," Spencer continued. "And they're so unreal."

"But that's what makes them funny!" JJ argued accepting the mug he held out to her. "Thank you."

He led the way back to the living room and his documentary, watching as she curled up on the end of the couch. "We're digressing."

"We always digress," she replied easily, taking in exactly what documentary he was watching. "Hillside Strangler? Don't you get enough of this at work?"

"It's wrong," he responded. "So I've been-"

"Picking out the inaccuracies," she finished for him. "You know, Spence, one day, I'm going to find some way to get you to just watch and enjoy a movie."

Yeah, maybe when pigs grew wings.

. . . . .

. . . . .

There was ringing, ant it was driving him nuts. What was ringing doing in a nice warm dream? It took Spencer a few minutes to realize the ringing was coming from his cell phone. And his cell phone was in his room. He stumbled for it, not conscious enough to realize there had been someone sleeping on top of him and managed to get to it in time.

"Hello?"

"Remember the case I told you about a couple of days ago?"

"Becky?" Detective Becky Chard lived in Las Vegas. Spencer had met and bonded with her while the team was working a case in Vegas and he'd taken a few personal days following the case to visit his mother and ended up spending the few days with her.

"Hi."

Spencer blinked rapidly, trying to wake himself up. "Case?"

"The one we've been working on with the sex crimes unit? The little girl's death?"

He searched his brain quickly. "Yeah."

"We found another little girl today. Yesterday, I guess."

Spencer looked at the clock. 4am. Which would mean 1am in Las Vegas.

"Nightmare?"

"God, Spencer…" She sounded absolutely torn. "I can't stop seeing her when I close my eyes."

He tried to blow out a quiet breath. He knew what that was like, had experienced his own nightmares over his years of BAU work. And though he'd never mean to belittle Becky's nightmares and Becky's emotions, the BAU saw the worst of the worst. He wasn't always able to rationalize why he was having the nightmares so he could only imagine what she was going through.

"You'll catch the guy," he tried encouragingly.

"Will that make the nightmares go away?"

She sounded so incredibly vulnerable. Spencer hung his head. He had no idea how to help her. He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder to see JJ standing above him, eyes wide and alert.

"Everything okay?" she asked softly, eyes darting to the phone.

"Someone's there?" Becky asked almost in panic.

"JJ," he replied quickly. "She came over, we fell asleep." He tilted his phone away from his mouth. "Becky."

JJ just nodded her head, but stayed close. He looked helpless, hurt and her heart went out to him. So she kept her hand on his shoulder, hoping that was enough comfort, at least for now.

"Then, um… I'll let you go."

Spencer closed his eyes. "Becky, no, I-"

She'd already hung up on him. He sighed as he pulled the phone away from his ear.

JJ sighed. Her hand went down his back. "What happened?"

"Nightmares," he answered. He confided in JJ, had until things had fallen apart between them. Since they'd started to patch things up, he'd started confiding in her again.

JJ didn't know how to reply. If she was honest, she was jealous of Becky's close friendship with Spencer. It gave her a quiet thrill to know she was here and Becky Chard was across the country in Vegas. What she didn't like was how his head was cradled in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees. "They're normal," she said softly.

"It doesn't make it any easier," he answered. "Nothing makes the nightmares easier."

"No," she agreed easily. "Nothing does. Except knowing that you're making a difference."

"But we don't."

"Of course we do," she contradicted. "For every unsub we catch, we save people's lives, we save others from being targeted. We help families try to find closure for those they've lost."

"We come in too late."

"Spence, law enforcement comes in too late. It's something we have to live with every time we step into a crime scene."

He knew all of this, but for some reason it felt nice coming from someone else. He looked up when she removed her hand from his back, arching both over her head instead. He tried not to stare at the exposed skin of her stomach where her shirt had ridden up, and winced as her back popped. "We shouldn't have fallen asleep on the couch."

"Probably not, but I wasn't going out into that storm," she replied seriously. "Got a pillow and blanket I can use? We don't have to be up at least for another three hours yet."

"Four. Please four. It's Friday."

"It's Saturday," she corrected primly. "Blanket? Pillow?"

Spencer waved a hand at his bed. 'Right here."

"Nuh uh, buster, I'm not making you sleep on the couch in your own home."

"Your back just popped so I'm not forcing you to sleep on my uncomfortable couch to hurt your back," he replied, standing and moving around the bed to pull down the covers. "It's a big bed. It's not like we haven't done this before."

They had, at her place. Her television was by her bed and they often fell asleep absently listening to the television while they talked out whatever issue they'd gotten together for. She approached the other side, pulling down the covers and crawling in. She was already half asleep by the time her head hit the pillow. She yawned loudly. "Goodnight, Spence."

"Night Jenn."

. . . . .

Penelope Garcia sighed as she packed up Gabi's things for another day at the office. For the time being, Hotch had been fantastic enough to allow her to keep her baby in a small corner of her office, hidden away from everything she saw and heard. She'd gotten into the habit of keeping her door closed and locked, even when she was in there. There was always and aunt or uncle willing to watch her if she had to run somewhere. It was the only benefit to being in the same office as the people she adored and considered family.

Still, it was taxing, not only to her, but to everyone else. She hated asking them to help out knowing that they had their own jobs to do and their own things to cover. Emily always said it was her pleasure and even Derek, Gabi's father, took her whenever he could. But she knew it was against regulations and though Strauss had said she wasn't about to split up the team, Pen wasn't about to give her something else to punish them for.

The only problem was that daycares were expensive. She and Derek had looked into a number of different place and where she'd thought the place was fine, Derek came up with a reason why it wasn't and vice versa. Not to mention they weren't about to leave their daughter just anywhere. Years in the FBI had taught them both about what kind of people were out in the world and neither of them even considered a place where the security wasn't tighter than Fort Knox.

Which, when she looked at it, was the fundamental problem and Pen had flat out refused to let their daughter stay at the FBI daycare. If she was going to be there, she might as well stay with them. There were more people she trusted in that bullpen, most of them with access to her bunker and she wasn't about to leave her daughter a few buildings over when she could spend time with her. She had the space, so it didn't make sense.

But she knew it wasn't fair to Gabi. Gabi deserved to have a place where she could stretch out on her blanket and play and the conference room, where she spent two or three hours with Daddy every day, just wasn't going to cut it. Not to mention she knew that though Hotch adored his goddaughter with almost the same love that he had for his own son, Gabi was a distraction to the whole team.

She cursed when the phone rang just as she was preparing to take Gabi out to the car. "Hello?"

"Penelope?"

"Hi Fran," Pen responded in surprise.

"Oh good, it is you. Is my son around?"

"He's at work," Pen replied suspiciously.

"Perfect, do you have a moment?"

Technically? No, no she most certainly didn't. "Actually Fran I-"

"This will only take a second. I wanted to run an idea by you."

What was it about the Morgan's that made Pen tongue-tied? "Okay."

"Derek and I have been talking about the problems you've been having finding somewhere to leave Gabi during the day,."

Pen closed her eyes. She knew Derek had talked to Fran about it, but she'd hoped Fran would let them handle it. "We're still looking but-"

"How about Grandma?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Well, I've been thinking about it and about how I will rarely get to see my granddaughter while living in Chicago. I looked into somewhere to stay in Virginia and it looks like there's a few nice apartments I could at least take a look at. That way it's someone you trust, in a place you find secure and you can pick her up at the end of the day."

"Fran-"

"You have to go, honey. Just think about it. Talk to Derek about it. I wouldn't mind seeing Gabi on a regular basis."

Pen was a little shocked as Fran all but forced her off the phone. On one side, it would solve their problem of daycare. Fran could watch Gabi during the day and she or Derek could pick up their daughter to bring her home at night. And she'd pointed out every problem they'd had with other places. In fact, they were already considering transforming the basement into an apartment to sublet and that way, Fran could potentially even have her own place while still being in the same house. It would cut down on travel time and still give both parts of the family spaces of their own.

"What do you think?" she asked the infant as she picked up the carrier-slash-carseat. "Do you want to spend your days with Grandma?"

Gabi gurgled happily having just woken for the second time that day.

Penelope grinned down at her daughter. She had to admit, it was difficult to accept that such a tiny little life had come from her. Well, her and Derek, but her stomach had been home to little Gabi for nine months. The team still called her 'Peanut'. "Well, we'll have to talk to Daddy. I'm not sure how he'd feel about having his Mommy move all the way out here just for little old you, no matter how cute you are."

. . . . .

. . . . .

"Mother, we've had this conversation a million times."

"I know, Emily, but I was talking with Gabrielle and there are some very important people missing from this guest list."

Gabrielle Hotchner was Aaron's mother and as much a political fixture as her mother was. Since they'd learned of the very serious relationship between their children, Emily knew they'd been lunching together and planning events.

"You picked your people and Gabrielle picked hers. It was part of the deal."

"They are simply people we can't afford not to invite to the wedding of our children. Christopher invited them all."

"Christopher got married in a little hick town," Emily reminded her mother. "Do I have to find a new church to make sure that only so many people can fit?"

If she was honest with herself, she'd already submitted to a massive reception. Since it was being funded by her parents and his she hadn't minded all that much, especially since she knew her brother, Chris, and his wife Charlotte had planned a much more intimate gathering for the next day. It had been that particular deal that had booked her and Aaron their trip to Europe.

"Think about it, think of the people that aren't on this list."

"I'm at work, Mother, I don't have the list in front of me."

"And I'm sure it would be adorable for Aaron's little son to be in the wedding, but do you think-"

"That is it!" She closed her eyes when she realized how loud she said it and how many people were now looking at her. Doing this in the middle of the BAU bullpen probably wasn't the best idea. Still, it had been her mother that had called her and not the other way around. She hadn't really gotten much of a choice on the venue of their discussion. She sighed as she stepped out into the hall, finding the closest stairwell. The last thing she needed was people listening in on a conversation as volatile as Emily was sure this was about to be.

"I'm done, Mother. I've let you plan a massive reception, had to spend six weeks talking you and Gabrielle down to a wedding that wasn't one to rival English royalty and yet you keep hounding me, trying to get me to invite more and more people, to allow you to plan a massive society wedding. How many times do we have to tell you that's not what I want and it's not what Aaron wants?"

"Now, Emily, you're missing the point-"

"You're missing the point," Emily responded sharply. "You're making this about your reputation again, about how the family will look to everyone else. This isn't about my wedding, about me getting married to someone I love. It's about politics and inviting people to… I hate politics!"

"Emily Catherine Elizabeth! That is not appropriate!"

Emily almost snorted. There were things she had yet to tell her mother, like, for example, that Erin Strauss had all but told her and Aaron that they didn't have to play politics anymore, except to keep their current jobs. And Emily had a hard time believing that the FBI would fire either one of them simply because of the team they'd built and the reputation they had. There wasn't an ice cube's chance in hell that either of them were going anywhere and Emily firmly believed that.

"You and Gabrielle have been turning my wedding into a political extravaganza from the beginning. Both of you have attempted to veto every decision I make and every colour or style choice that is possible to make in a wedding. Some of them, yes, I've bowed down to, because in the end, I guess the ceremony's just a formality. But I am not making my guest list into a who's who of the political world. I gave you a limit of people, Mother and you will follow that limit or mark my words you'll be lucky to sit in that front pew with Daddy."

She hung up, breathing hard. She didn't much enjoy fighting with her mother, but there were things she was adamant about and one of them was her wedding. She was an introverted person by nature, so was Aaron, and it was going to be almost hard enough to debate with him writing their own vows in front of half of the most influential people in the country, let alone the enormous list Gabrielle and her mother had presented her with.

She slid down the wall, well aware that her hands were shaking with emotion, and closed her eyes. Her head impacted the wall as she knocked it backwards in frustration. She hated that this was such an ordeal, hated that she was balancing this with work alone. And she knew Jack's birthday was coming up and Aaron had planned a whole day for his little boy. She was exhausted, she was stressed and it was starting to pile up. Sometimes even the best lost it.

It didn't help that she hadn't been feeling the greatest lately. There had been a couple of mornings over the last few weeks that she'd woken up feeling light headed and ill. She'd chalked it up to nothing, to stress and nerves and moved on, but it was starting to become more and more consistent. If she was getting sick it was going to make things even more frustrating and even worse. Not to mention she was a terrible patient.

She stayed sitting in that stairwell until her hands stopped shaking from temper, surprised that there hadn't been a single person who'd tried to contact her. She'd been gone almost forty minutes when she checked her phone for the time. She sighed as she pushed herself up, trying to get her mind to focus on getting back to the consults she was working on. Sometimes, it was difficult to be a profiler. Then she had a different idea.

. . . . .

Penelope looked up at the knock on her door. "Who is it?"

"Em."

Penelope knit her brow as she wheeled her way over to the door and opened it. "Everything okay?"

"Yes. No. Heck if I know."

Penelope smiled as Emily made a beeline for Gabi, picking her up and cradling her close. Penelope yearned for the day Emily could be a mother herself. The older woman was so good with the team and fantastic with Gabi and Jack. She hoped she and Hotch would just hurry up. If there was anything Emily deserved, it was to be a mother. "What happened?"

"I just got off the phone with my mother."

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

Penelope knew Emily and Ambassador Prentiss had been disagreeing on the many details involved in planning a wedding. It didn't exactly come as a surprise to Penelope considering Emily's relationship with her mother was tenuous at best. She just figured that someone's will would have given in already. "And?"

"She wants to invite half of Congress and the entirety of the Senate."

"Is the president going to be there?" Penelope asked, tongue in cheek as she turned back to her computers. She smiled when she heard Gabi giggling.

"If my mother has her way that could be a distinct possibility."

Penelope snorted in laughter. She wouldn't have this problem if she planned her own. "So have two weddings."

"What?"

The blond turned back to face her friend at the surprised and almost fearful tone of voice. "Well, your mother wants her society extravaganza, right?"

Emily nodded slowly.

"So why not turn the reigns over to her for the huge thing and have a more intimate wedding the next night? We're already working on a more intimate reception, and I'm sure your family has a judge friend that could do the ceremony." It had been an idea floating around in Penelope's head for a while as Emily became more and more stressed with the wedding plans. She and JJ had taken charge of the quiet reception for close friends and family to take some of the pressure off of Emily's shoulders, but it seemed every which way they turned it hadn't helped.

"Let my mother have her formal extravaganza and still have the wedding I want."

Penelope could tell the idea was starting to grow on Emily. "Exactly."

"Like the formal wedding is a practice."

That make Penelope laugh. "Something like that, yeah," she agreed. "Feel better?"

"Much," Emily said with a smile. "Thank you."

Penelope grinned. "Anytime."

. . . . .

Emily went straight for Aaron's closed door when she returned to the bullpen and managed to force herself not to just barge in. It was a good thing too, for he had a guest.

"Hey," she greeted him, confusion obvious on her face. He looked happy, much to her surprise, and nowhere close to as severe as he did when plowing through paperwork. Not to mention he was sitting in front of his desk instead of behind it.

"SSA Prentiss, meet-"

Then Emily's head clicked in and she realized exactly who was sitting in front of her fianceé's desk. "David Rossi."

The older man tilted his cheek up in a little half smile. "You know me."

"I don't know anyone in the profiling world who doesn't, sir," she responded politely. "You are very much a legend."

"Dave is coming back to the BAU."

Emily turned her attention to the other agent. "Out of retirement, sir?"

"I got bored," Rossi replied with a shrug and an appreciative smile.

Emily almost rolled her eyes. She'd heard many-a-story of David Rossi's BAU days and his three ex-wives. "I'm sure it'll be a pleasure to work with you."

"Did you need something?" Aaron asked, his eyes sparking in curiosity.

"Nothing that can't wait," she promised him. "We can talk later."

"I should check out my office anyway, get settled in," Rossi volunteered, standing.

Emily stepped aside to allow him passage. "Pleasure to meet you, sir."

He shot her that little half smile again. "You too, Agent Prentiss."

She raised an eyebrow at Aaron as he waved her to the chair Rossi had just vacated. She closed the door behind her. The team wouldn't care which would mean the only curiosity she'd have to deal with was Agent Rossi's. "What was that about?"

"He wants to come back."

"After, what? Ten years in retirement? I find that hard to believe. Is he taking the unit?"

"No," he replied, shaking his head. "He's willing to work under me."

"God that's weird."

"I know." Then he looked at her. "Something wrong?"

Her smiled came back, wide and strong. "Not at all. Something's right, actually."

"An hour ago you looked about to explode."

"Hmm, Mother called."

"Ah." Aaron was well-versed in the issues Emily was having with her mother over the plans for their wedding. He wasn't sure he much cared, so long as he married her.

"We fought. Again. I might have threatened to withdraw her invitation and ban her from the wedding if she didn't back off."

"What?"

Emily sighed, her left hand coming up to rub her forehead. "I know, I know. I'm just so fed up."

He watched her diamond sparkle in the light for a moment. There were days it was still so surreal to think that she'd said 'yes'. "Okay, but you didn't seem so upset coming in here."

"Because Penelope Garcia is a brilliant woman."

"She is," he agreed slowly.

"We'll have two weddings?"

That shot both of Aaron's eyebrows to his hairline. "We're going to what?"

"Have two weddings," Emily repeated. "We're already having two receptions, right?"

He'd known about that. "Okay."

"Well, I can turn the reigns for the big one over to my mother and yours, let them plan the wedding they want, and then plan our wedding," she explained. "Without them breathing down my neck."

Actually, when she put it like that, it was a pretty tempting offer. He hated society as much as she did, but he would be able to put up with it for a night if it meant what they really wanted the next day. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

"Well, I'd have to put my foot down in some places, of course, like bridesmaids, made of honour, dresses, that kind of thing, but otherwise why not? Then you and I can have our wedding the next day, just before the reception, sign all of the necessary paperwork with close friends and family… the intimate thing we want. And then we're not saying written vows in front of Congress and the Senate."

"Not to mention the United Nations."

"God, why did we have to be born into such political families?"

"The stork dropped me off at the wrong doorstep. I'm not sure about you."

She laughed outright, unused to his often-absent sense of humour in the office. "So?"

"I think that if you are up to the idea and up to the whole thing, then it's a good idea."

Her smile was brilliant. "I love you."

"I love you too," he said chuckling. "Consults?"

"Working on them," she promised as she stood and headed back out into the bullpen. She stopped just short of opening the door, turning back to him. "Have you figured Jack's birthday out with Haley?"

Aaron blew out a breath. "We're still arguing about the details."

"You were a prosecutor, I'm sure you'll come up with something creative."

She left.

. . . . .

. . . . .

Derek looked down at Penelope when she shifted for the millionth time. They were watching a movie and while she did fidget, it was never this bad. Well, unless there was something on her mind. He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case here. "Baby Girl, what is up with you?"

"Nothing," she lied.

"Pen… You know how useless it is to lie to me."

She moved away from him completely then, resting back against the other end of the couch. "Your mother called a few days ago."

Derek raised an eyebrow. "Days ago?"

"You were already gone, I was just packing Gabi up to take her to work, I was half way out the door when she called…"

"What happened?" He was sitting up straight now, eyes fixed on her.

"I didn't know you'd told her about how hard it was for us to find a daycare."

"She told you about that?"

"Derek, she wants to move here."

"She what?"

Penelope sighed. "She wants to move here. Well, that's probably not the right way to explain it. She's considering moving here to help us take care of Gabi while we're at work."

Stunned was an understatement in explaining how Derek felt at that particular moment. "She wants to what?"

"Honestly? It's logical," Penelope tried to rationalize. "She'd get to spend time with Gabi, we could go to work and Gabi would still be here when we got home. Not to mention we wouldn't have to pay for a nanny service or daycare."

"We'd have to pay my mother."

"There are tonnes of ways to do that," she reminded him. "I know it seems weird…"

"Weird isn't even the beginning. I didn't think she'd ever leave Chicago. And who would look after the house?"

"I don't know, Derek, I told her I'd have to talk to you."

"What do you think?"

Penelope sighed. "Honestly? I can't keep bringing her into the office. As much as I love being able to see her constantly, it's just not feasible and Hotch is going to want her out of there eventually. Who would we trust more than the team?"

She made more than an excellent point. His mother would be perfect and she did gush about how Gabi was her first grandchild. Gabi could grow up surrounded by family and they'd have someone to leave her with should Penelope have to stay overnight at the office on a case. He knew that was less and less likely to happen, but as a precautionary measure, it would work beautifully. And weren't they thinking of transforming the basement into an apartment too?

"She can live here."

"What?"

"Well, there's no point in her finding an apartment when we were planning to convert the basement anyway, right?" he proposed. "She wouldn't have to go anywhere, we wouldn't have to pick Ellie up and we wouldn't have to lug all of Ellie's things. They'd all be right here."

"You're okay living with your mother?" Penelope asked skeptically.

"I'm thinking about convenience," he replied. "And simplicity. I know we wanted to rent it out, but it's already got it's separate door." It almost sounded like it was already a go, the way he was talking about it, but he couldn't help it. As much as it did bother him to have his mother move all the way to Virginia for him and Penelope, he liked the idea of his mother watching Gabi. He felt much more comfortable with the idea of his mother watching Gabi. "She owns her own business so it wouldn't be difficult for her to work from here."

"Not with the internet," Penelope agreed.

Derek nodded once. "Then it's settled. I'll call my mom tomorrow."

. . . . .

Emily felt like absolute hell. It seemed light the light-headedness and the nausea were catching up with her when she woke to the snooze alarm. They had a routine by now. He'd set the alarm, get up when it rang and hit the snooze button. That gave Emily an extra fifteen minutes of dozing before she had to get up and face the day. When the alarm started beeping at her, however, she just buried her head further into the pillows. She breathed a sigh of relief when the alarm clicked off and felt the bed dip when Aaron sat on it.

"Emily?"

She took a deep breath. Right, work. She had to go to work. "I'm up, I'm up," she promised, flipping the covers off of her body and moving to stand. Only to plunk right back down again as a wave of vertigo hit her. "Whoa."

Aaron was at her side in an instant, towel still wrapped around his waist from the shower. "Are you okay?"

"Just light-headed, it'll pass," she promised with a weak smile. Actually, she hurt all over and standing had been a chore in itself. She took a quick stock of her body. Well, there were no chills, so she couldn't have a fever. She could go into the office provided she didn't throw up before they left.

"Sweetheart, are you sure?"

She really did adore it when he used endearments like that. They didn't come out that often and it made her treasure them all the more. "Yeah."

"I'll go start coffee. You want toast or a bagel?"

"Toast," she answered, ignoring the concerned look on his face. "I'm fine, I just need a minute." It wasn't until she was sure he was gone and downstairs that she allowed herself to almost collapse back onto the bed. The light-headedness had quite thoroughly given way to nausea. She tried to swallow it down, closing her eyes. When she thought she could make it to the shower she stood and slowly made her way into the bathroom.

She'd gotten as far as turning on the water before the nausea hit again and she was couldn't fight it. She emptied her stomach into the toilet, thankful she'd thrown her hair into a ponytail the night before. She didn't have the energy to raise herself to wash out her mouth and brush her teeth. She curled up in the foetal position against the cool tile floor. She did manage to flush the toilet first.

And it was where Aaron found her, cup of coffee in hand. She blinked her eyes open when she felt his hand against her cheek. "Maybe I'm not just light-headed."

He brushed damp curls from her cheek. "Let's get you back in bed."

She curled into him, helping him only slightly to get her body off the floor. She hated missing work, but sometimes even she had to give up. She curled back into a ball when he settled her on his side of the bed and she was still completely surrounded by his scent. She looked up at him with a small, weak smile. "I should probably call my boss and tell him I'm not coming in today."

Aaron chuckled slightly, stroking her head. "I think he'll understand."

Her eyes fell closed again. "I should have known this was coming."

"You haven't been feeling well?"

"No," she replied. "And you've noticed."

"You've been eating less," he agreed. "You can't afford to lose anymore weight."

She smiled slightly wider. "Thanks."

He chuckled, stroking her side. "You are too thin, Emily Prentiss."

She sighed, reaching up to take his hand. It felt heavenly, soothing some of the aches pounding at her, but she knew he had to go into the office. "Bring me two Aspirin and a glass of water before you go?"

Twenty minutes later, she felt him shake her awake.

"Come on," he urged. "Water and Aspirin."

She fell asleep almost as soon as he left.

. . . . .

Aaron hated days without Emily. They were few and far between, especially since they worked all of fifteen feet apart, but he didn't like it one bit. He didn't like looking out of the bullpen and not seeing her at her desk. He didn't like seeing an empty chair beside him during the morning briefing. He hated knowing she was at home, suffering from some flu-like bug. He loathed that she was all by herself.

Since the day looked slow he fully intended to be out of the office by lunch and home to take care of his deathly ill fiancée. Okay, not deathly, but she'd looked so terrible that morning that he'd debated calling in sick himself. But he knew Emily's absence would raise enough eyebrows and he'd had to reassure almost each member of the team individually that she was sleeping it off. With any luck, she'd be back in the morning.

That didn't mean he wouldn't call her.

"Hello?"

"Hey sweetheart," he said softly. Her vulnerability brought out the tender side of him he showed so rarely. "How are you feeling?"

"Ever been hit by a train?"

He chuckled. "Can't say I have."

"Neither have I, but I'm pretty sure this is what it would feel like."

"Still achy?"

"No chills though," she said through a yawn. "That's a bonus."

"Did you eat something?"

"Right now I'm lucky if I can keep down Tylenol," she replied, exhausted annoyance obvious in her voice. "I'm currently debating just napping on the floor."

"I'm going to try and be home around lunch," he told her. "We'll curl you up on the couch and watch Charlie's Angels."

"I hate that movie."

"Ironic." It was, after all, about three women kicking proverbial ass. He knew she hated how unlike real life the movie was.

"I know."

Aaron looked up at the knock on his door, unsurprised to find Rossi there. Neither man had really gotten the chance to catch up yet and, since the day was slow, Aaron figured it would be a good day to do so, Emily sick or not. It wasn't like he hadn't left the office for her before. "I have to go."

"Mmhmm, you have to work."

"Something like that," he said with a tender smile. "I'll see you in a few hours."

"I'll try not to throw up on the carpet."

"That's gross."

"That's being sick."

"Sleep."

"It's all I've been doing."

"You're stubborn."

"You love me."

"I do," he agreed softly. "I'll see you."

"Love you too."

"Bye."

Rossi had taken a seat in front of his desk by the time Aaron got off the phone. Now he looked at his 'student', eyebrow raised. "Haley?"

"No, actually," Aaron replied honestly. "Haley and I have been divorced for almost two and a half years."

"How did I not know?"

"When was the last time we saw each other, Dave?" the younger man asked wryly, coming around to sit in the other chair. If they were going to play catch up, they were going to do it on an even playing ground.

"Dinner, five years ago."

"A lot's changed since then."

"I see that. Communications coordinator?"

Though Rossi had met Emily yesterday, he'd spent the rest of the day settling it. It was at that morning's briefing that he'd met the rest of the team. Aaron had been very aware of how Rossi's eyes had lingered on the blond. "JJ's great at what she does."

"I'll bet she is."

"Dave…"

"I know, I know. Fraternization's against the rules. I didn't know you were so rigid."

"I'm not," Aaron said, laughing slightly. Fraternization rules had once stood as an obstacle to the greatest thing in his life since Jack's birth. Their reputation as a team had knocked it down.

"So who was on the phone? New lady?"

"If two years is new," the younger man replied.

"You've been dating for two years?" Rossi asked in surprise. "That's fast."

"She's a fantastic woman."

"I can see that. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks."

"Who is it?"

Ah, the question Aaron wasn't sure he wanted to answer. "I guess there's a few things about this team you should know…"

. . . . .

. . . . .

Hours later, Aaron was stepping through the front door of his house, breathing out a sigh of relief. He didn't often take half days, but with Emily as sick as she'd been that morning and as terrible as she'd sounded on the phone, he wanted to be home. It wasn't like there was anything pressing he had to do in the office anyway. It was another day of simple consults, though he'd grudgingly assigned Reid and JJ to go check one out in Texas. Though JJ wasn't a profiler, she was the top communications liaison in the law enforcement sector and the case had broken big. So while Reid worked the case, JJ would work the media. The local LEOs had been more than happy to accept any help the BAU was willing to give. Nevertheless, as a general rule, he disliked sending his team to separate places.

Emily wasn't asleep, as he'd expected her to be when he entered the bedroom. She was awake and working, on what, he wasn't sure. "You're supposed to be resting."

He felt her eyes on him, tracking him across the room until he disappeared into the closet. "I got bored of sleeping," she replied. "And I kept two Tylenol down."

"Food?" he asked, returning to the side of the bed, sweats and t-shirt in hand. He tried to stamp down the rush of arousal when her eyes darkened, following the path of his bare chest as he stood in front of her dressed in only his boxers.

"Haven't tried," she replied, mouth tilting down slightly as he slipped the t-shirt over his head and threw on the sweats. "I liked you better without the clothes."

He chuckled, climbing onto the bed beside her, slipping an arm around her back. "What are you working on?"

"Wedding stuff," she replied. "I still have to call my mother and yours and tell them the wedding is theirs to plan."

"The first one."

She chuckled, tilting her head up to kiss his cheek. "The first one," she agreed. She leaned her head against him, still leaving her hands free to continue browsing. "And I have to call my godfather."

"What do you need me to do?" he asked, the hand behind her coming up to pull the hair elastic out of her hair to run his fingers through the strands. She'd all but ordered him out of her way for the wedding his mother wanted, but he was more than willing to help with the second one.

"Right now, nothing. Well, that's not completely true. Your mother is going to want a list of your groomsmen to critique and send back to you. Don't be surprised-"

"If she adds people," he said with a chuckle. "I know my mother."

"My mother sent me a list of twenty-eight more appropriate bridesmaids than JJ and Pen," Emily replied. "I almost told her to shove it. Literally."

"And now?"

"I'll give her a number, tell her Pen and Jayje have to be my maids of honour and let her have at it," she answered with a shrug. "It should limit my hell over the next couple of days and weeks. Oh, and no party the week before the weddings."

He laughed at that. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you didn't trust me."

"It's Derek I don't trust," she replied. "And Agent Rossi, if you're going to invite him along."

She'd created the perfect segue. "He knows."

"Hmm?"

"I told him about our engagement, and about Garcia and Morgan's."

"Ah, fill him in on all of the team gossip."

"Agent Morrow handed in her resignation today."

That took Emily by surprise and he could tell. "She what?"

"She wants to leave the BAU. I saw Strauss' assistant hounding her in the hall yesterday."

"What did she say?"

"Her mother was sick back in Wichita," Aaron responded. "She was going home to take care of her."

Emily blew out a breath. "I hate politics."

"I'll write her a glowing letter of recommendation for whatever she does," he promised. "She'll be fine. I'm not sure she was cut out for some of the things we see anyway." He'd noticed her struggling on their last few cases and though he was generally indifferent to her, he'd wondered if she was at the end of her rope.

"We all know politics played a role."

"Honey, politics is the reason you're on the team, the reason Dave's back and on our team. I don't think we'll ever get away from it."

She smiled slightly, waving to her computer screen. "We're getting married twice because of politics."

He hummed and leaned over to kiss her quickly and gently. "I'm not sure I care how many times we have to go through the ceremony. I'd elope, just so long as you are my wife."

He felt Emily shiver. "I really like the sound of that."

. . . . .

"Fran Morgan."

"Mom, it's Derek." Derek sat in the BAU bullpen, phone pressed against his ear, heart somewhat pounding in his chest. He'd promised Penelope he'd call his mother today and start going through the process of arranging his mother's move and stay with him and Penelope and Gabi.

"Derek, how are you?"

"I'm fine," he said.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of the call? We talked yesterday night."

"So did Pen and I."

"Oh?"

"She mentioned you were thinking of moving out here."

"Well, you'd mentioned how much of a difficult time you were having finding someone to look after Gabi and I just thought it would be a suggestion-"

"We both like it, Mom."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "I'm sorry?"

"Pen and I like it. We'd love if you could look after Gabi."

"Oh."

"We'd like it even more if you'd live with us."

"Oh, honey, I couldn't do that!" Fran protested. "You have so much you're doing and you need a house for your family-"

"You are family, Mom," Derek replied. "That way you're close by, we don't have to carry things back and forth for Gabi, you won't have to stay at our house as a guest when we're away… It's in everyone's favour."

"Derek, I couldn't."

"We were going to transform the basement into an apartment anyway. You can live there. And there's internet all throughout the house, you know Pen, so you can still keep your business."

"You're persuasive."

Derek chuckled. "Sure, Mom. So?"

"When will the apartment be finished?"

"Probably not for another month. Hotch and Chris were going to come over this weekend to help out."

"That gives me enough time to set things straight here and get Sarah settled into the house. She's looking for a place. Again."

Derek chuckled. Sarah was the more flighty of his sisters and though he adored her, he wasn't surprised she'd decided she wanted to move.

"But I can come out earlier, if you'd like. I don't know how long you can keep Gabi at work with Penelope…"

"I think if we tell Hotch we've got it narrowed down to a month he won't mind so much. We just can't keep her here forever. She deserves to grow up around happy things, and I'm not talking about the happy things in Pen's office."

"She's my granddaughter, Derek. I'm more than happy to take care of her."

"Thanks Mom." He hung up the phone and looked around briefly, noticing Reid's attention fixed on something by the bullpen doors. He followed Reid's gaze curiously and almost choked. There was JJ, smiling broadly in the hallway, laughing at something the man in front of her had said.

And Derek recognized the back of that man's head as David Rossi's.

. . . . .

. . . . .

Emily was back in the office in a few days, thankfully only bogged down with the flu. She was glad to discover the previous day she felt almost 100 percent, but Aaron had flat out refused to let her come in. As much as she would have usually argued with him, she took the day to continue planning her little intimate ceremony. Still, it felt good to sit at her desk again, to plough her paperwork. But it was a very quiet bullpen. So quiet, in fact, that when her cell phone rang, Emily flat out jumped.

"Agent Prentiss."

"This is killing me."

Emily's eyebrows came together in confusion. "Hello to you too, JJ."

"Emily, seriously."

"I am being serious."

"I can't do this."

"Can't do what?"

"Be here.," JJ replied. "I'm going insane."

"I'm confused," Emily answered, standing to move out of the bullpen. From the undertones in JJ's voice, this was not a conversation she wanted to have with Derek right there and Aaron watching from his office. Because she very well knew he did.

"I'm in Texas."

"That much I knew."

"With Spence and Agent Rossi."

Emily pushed open the door to the bullpen, stepping out into the hall. "Uh huh…"

"I haven't felt this awkward… Gosh, Em."

"You're going to have to speak in full sentences, Jayje," Emily said, laughter in her voice.

"You're laughing at me!"

"I am not. I want to hear."

JJ sighed on the other end of the phone. "It's been awkward since we got on the plane. Spence was… I don't even know how to explain it, all I know is the last time I felt this weird with Spence was before we decided to be friends again."

"Did you talk to him?" Emily asked carefully. JJ and Reid's relationship was often considered dangerous ground. There was so much history there and many an agonizing night with JJ after their relationship dissolved the first time. Since then, though Emily knew JJ often went to Spencer when things got difficult, JJ had been adamant that they stayed away from any deep discussion, especially if it involved their feelings or their quasi-relationship.

"No." Exactly the answer Emily had been expecting.

"Do you have any idea how this awkwardness happened?" Sometimes Emily wasn't sure if she was a profiler or a really cheap therapist for her friends. She loved her friends, it was just often difficult to balance her own job with the drama that seemed to be attracted to her life.

"No," JJ repeated. "We were fine when I got into work a couple of days ago and it's been nothing but awkwardness since."

Emily sighed. "JJ, you're going to have to talk to him. I'm too far away to be of any help."

"I just don't know what I did wrong! What happened in between the briefing and boarding the jet that threw us off? I hate awkwardness."

"I know, Jayje," Emily said, trying to withhold her mirth at the blonde's petulant voice. "But that doesn't mean you can get out of talking to him."

"Oh, hang on, Em."

Emily heard JJ put her hand over the phone and mixed voices. She strained her ears to figure out who the other person could be mixing with JJ's floating voice. Her eyes widened when she listened to the inflections in both voices. Whoever it was, JJ certainly was being happily friendly.

"I have to go. Dave and Spence have come up with a few theories they want to throw by the LEOs."

Emily arched an eyebrow, some of JJ's issue becoming clearer. "Dave?"

"Rossi, Em, come on."

"Oh, I knew exactly who you were talking about," Emily responded. "Have you been getting to know Dave, Jayje?" Emily heard JJ tell Rossi she's be just a minute.

"I'm not sure I like what you're implying."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Look, Reid isn't exactly the most socially intelligent person in the world. You may think nothing of it, but he might."

"And you think that would make things awkward?"

"He doesn't want to stand in the way of you and your happiness, you know that. Don't make him fight for you."

"I'm not trying," JJ said in exasperation. "I don't want him to fight for me. It didn't work, Em. We tried, it didn't work."

"So you're moving on?"

There was a pause. "I can't." JJ's voice was soft.

That much Emily was very much aware of. She'd heard from both Derek and Penelope about Reid taking JJ to a Redskins game before she'd arrived on the scene, so Emily had figured their relationship had been a long time coming. The break had only come as a surprise because Emily had truly believed both parties could work it out. "Then what's going on, JJ?"

"I don't know!" the blond said in exasperation. "I have to go."

Emily sighed when she and JJ hung up before heading back into the bullpen. Derek looked up, his eyebrows knit in question. "Nothing," Emily tried to shrug it off.

"Uh huh. JJ?"

"Yeah, from Texas."

"Things are weird with her and Reid?"

Emily blinked. "How did you know?"

Derek shrugged. "Saw her flirting with Rossi."

"Flirting?" Emily's eyebrow arched upwards.

"Reid didn't look pleased."

Emily shook her head. What on earth had JJ gotten herself into?

. . . . .

JJ was pacing. She did it when she was anxious, she did it when she was nervous, she did it constantly these days. She didn't like it. It was stressful as could be. And usually Spencer could sense it before it got to the point of pacing. This time, he hadn't said anything as her stress grew and grew and grew. Something was off and JJ absolutely hated it.

"You ready to go?"

She tried to smile at Dave, but she knew it didn't reach her eyes. "Yeah, everything's all packed up."

He stayed silent, even as she averted her eyes. She knew the tactic. She'd seen Hotch use it a number of times on suspects, unsubs, almost everyone. And she knew it worked. And she knew it was working. "What?"

"You're anxious."

JJ blew out a breath and tried for another smile. "I'm fine."

Dave raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem fine."

"There's just a lot on my mind, that's all," JJ replied, again aiming for the breezy happiness. She almost jumped when his hand made contact with her elbow.

"Is that why you called Emily?"

JJ stepped away, carefully turning to face Dave head on. "I call Em all the time. She's my best friend."

"So it has nothing to do with how anxious you are now or how jumpy you've been around Dr Reid recently?"

Profilers. She really had a love-hate relationship with them. "What difference does it make?"

Dave stepped back, hands up in a posture of surrender. "You're right, it's none of my business."

JJ ran a hand through her hair, trying to take a deep breath. "I'm sorry, it's just... stressful."

"Then it's good we're on our way back to Quantico, isn't it?"

JJ didn't step away this time when Dave stepped closer, just to the inside of professional distance. She and Dave had done a lot of talking through their four days in Texas and JJ liked to believe they'd at least gotten to know the surface. They weren't as close as JJ was with Emily and Pen by any means, but it was a start and he'd found a way to put her at ease almost immediately.

"JJ, what happened between you and Dr Reid?"

JJ's head shot up and she knew that she'd given him an answer to that question without a word. Then she caught movement in the door and turned to see Spencer's stunned face. Suddenly, a lot of the awkwardness, the complication, made sense. "Spence." She took a deliberate step away from Dave.

"I just came to get my stuff..."

"We're ready to go," Dave replied, lifting the box with their report files to go back to Quantico. "I'll meet you guys outside."

JJ swore in her head. "It's not what you think, you know." He'd looked more broken than shocked seeing her and Dave standing so close. "He's an agent."

"You haven't been against fraternization before."

"He's older than Hotch, Spence. That's just gross." She could feel irritation bubbling up in her again, frustration at the entire situation and her new-found understanding. Spencer, bless his heart, wasn't the most socially-knowledgeable person in the world and JJ felt a little stupid that she'd allowed him to come to the conclusion that she was flirting with Dave throughout their case.

"I don't care."

JJ arched an eyebrow. "I don't believe you."

"You're not my girlfriend, JJ."

That stung. "Fine." She picked up her bag and purse. "Then I don't care either."

Yet as she left, she could feel tears pricking at her eyes.

. . . . .

. . . . .

"He hates me."

"Jayje, no he doesn't," Penelope replied, her hands skimming through the clothing on the racks nearby. It was girls' day, one that Penelope and Emily knew JJ needed above all else. Even little Gabi had come with them and was happily giggling away at Aunt Emily's funny faces. It had been almost a month since JJ had spent a few days in Texas with Reid and Rossi. Penelope and Emily were taking turns listening to JJ say the same things over and over and over again.

"He does too." Then she turned to Emily. "Has he RSVP'd for the wedding yet?"

"Yeah, gave me the card a couple of days ago," Emily answered, lifting Gabi into her arms and perching the little child on her hip. She wanted to shop too and it was easier to do without the bulky stroller. It was much easier now that Gabi could hold her own head up.

"Is he bringing a date?"

Emily was quiet for a moment. Reid had indeed RSVP'd with a guest, and it wasn't just any guest either. Apparently Detective Becky Chard was flying in for her wedding to be Reid's date. "Yes, he's bringing a guest." She wasn't about to tell JJ it was Becky. The blond had been threatened enough by her almost identical twin when they'd originally met the detective.

"See? He hates me."

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Because he's bringing someone to the wedding? JJ, you don't even know if it's a woman or not."

JJ turned her eyes to Emily again.

"I can't remember if there was a name or not," Emily lied, shifting Gabi slightly. The little girl was reaching out for a satin shirt and the last thing Emily was sure the store wanted was baby spit all over their clothes.

Penelope wandered over, scooping Gabi from Emily's arms. "Maybe I should have left you with your Daddy, huh?"

"She would have distracted Derek and Fran would never be moved in," Emily responded, taking advantage of the lack of baby to fill her arms with clothing. She knew the girls were throwing her a bachelorette party in less than a week and she'd been looking for something fun and sexy to wear for the night. She fully planned on raiding the Victoria's Secret online catalogue too, but she wasn't about to tell Penelope and JJ that. Aaron was their boss and as much as they indulged her, she knew they got annoyed when she shared too much of her rather healthy sex life.

"Ah, too true. I can't help it if genetics blessed her," Penelope said with a bright proud smile. It was an ulterior motive to their day. Fran needed to be moved in to the Garcia-Morgan basement and so the girls had headed out shopping so as to decrease the distractions. Meanwhile, it gave JJ a chance to blow off some steam, though the blond had yet to pull something off of the rack, let alone purchase a thing.

Emily watched JJ finger a pretty pink blouse and rolled her eyes in Penelope's direction. "Look, JJ, if it's bothering you so much tell him it is."

"He thinks I've moved on with Dave," the youngest of their little threesome replied.

Penelope raised an eyebrow as she reached passed JJ to find the blouse in JJ's size. "Have you?"

"Ew," JJ said, wrinkling her nose. "I'm younger than Em and Dave's older than Hotch."

"Couples with bigger age gaps have made it work," Penelope replied with a shrug, pushing JJ after Emily towards the changing room.

"Who knows, maybe Reid'll get drunk tonight and spill his guts to Derek," Emily replied, referring to the bachelor party that had been planned. She and Aaron had both intended to have their bachelor and bachelorette parties long before the wedding and it was an executive decision on both of their parts to stagger them.

"Spence doesn't get drunk," JJ answered as she took the change room next door to her brunette friend.

"I'll make a call to Derek. Even the good doctor would give into peer pressure," Penelope said through the closed doors, bouncing her gurgling daughter.

"Maybe Rossi will set him off," Emily volunteered as she pulled her shirt over her head. There's been a couple of cute things she'd pulled off the rack and was seriously intent on finding something.

"Please. I'm just hoping for something that won't happen."

Emily stepped out of her change room, hands on hips, not surprised to find Penelope with a similar look of irritated surprise. "Jennifer Elizabeth Jareau, get out here."

JJ poked her head out the door. "I'm in my underwear."

"I don't care."

Gabi had stopped gurgling in surprise at the outburst. Emily was ticked. She was sick of JJ feeling sorry for herself and she was sick of this dance. They'd done it before their relationship started and it had taken a New Year's kiss and a simple conversation for their relationship to take off.

"You made your choice, JJ," Emily said, softly and firmly. "You chose to throw yourself into Pen's pregnancy. You chose to basically shut Reid out of your life. You can't blame him for ending it. And now, here you stand, wanting him back with everything in you and you're not doing a damned thing to fix it. You won't talk to him, you won't try to clarify this with him. So here's the deal, you either stop complaining about it or you deal with it. Because obviously telling you Reid still wants you until we're blue in the face isn't helping."

JJ blinked and slowly pulled her head back into the change room, closing the door with a soft click. She pulled the pink blouse on without really paying attention, her mind definitely now focused elsewhere. Emily had made a couple of very good points. Regardless of their feelings, she and Spencer had most definitely agreed to start back at the friends stage. It was unfair for her to treat him like a boyfriend and it wasn't fair for her to get jealous. Nor was it fair for her to continue to complain about the situation.

She buttoned up the blouse carefully and admired herself in the mirror. It was pretty and perfect for the office, but as she looked at it, and looked at herself, she found that it wasn't what she was looking for Her mind had shifted. She had a new goal, a new idea slowly starting to form in her brain.

Spencer Reid wasn't the only man in the world.

. . . . .

If it was any other night, any other group outing Aaron would have been having a great time. But it was very difficult to have fun, even at his own bachelor party, when Emily wasn't around. Aaron Hotchner was meant to be in a monogamous relationship and no amount of alcohol was going to change that. It was nice to spend time with his friends in a social atmosphere, but he missed Emily. And Derek had taken his cell phone. He wanted to talk to her, just to hear her voice. Being out for his bachelor party made him think about his wedding and that, in turn, made him think of Emily.

"Come on, Hotch! We're here to celebrate your last weeks as a single guy!"

Aaron had to give Derek credit, he was trying. "I'm perfectly fine here."

Derek plopped down beside his boss with a sigh, reaching into his pocket. He tossed his cell phone at him. "I've called Penelope eight times to check on her and Gabi. Call her, but don't make it long. This is supposed to be a night with the guys."

Aaron didn't need to be told twice. He was up and out of the bar as fast as he could, speed dialling Emily's number.

"Hello."

"Hey."

"Hey! How's your bachelor party?"

"Not the same without you."

Her laugh floated over the line. "We went shopping."

"Did you get anything?"

"Mmhmm. For me and for you."

He felt his blood heat at her implication. "Really."

"Mmhmm."

"When are you going home?" He knew they'd planned to head back to the Garcia-Morgan house afterwards to watch movies and eat popcorn.

"I don't know," she answered. "Soon, I think."

He blew out a breath. "I miss you."

"You're tipsy."

"I'm fine."

"You're being corny." Her voice was amused. "It's your bachelor party."

"It seems useless the second time through." The words were out of his mouth before he'd thought about it. He winced.

Emily laughed it off. "You said yes. I would have been perfectly happy to throw you your own bachelor party right at home. And your stripper wouldn't have cost a thing."

"You're torturing me." He knew heat laced his voice.

Her chuckle reflected the same. "Be good for the boys and I'll see you at home."

He never got over how much he loved hearing her say 'home'. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Aaron stepped back into the bar, finding Derek as he tucked his phone back in his pocket, his eyes searching out Reid and Dave in the process. He had to admit, as he made his way towards Dave that his spirits were definitely lighter. After all, he knew he had a warm, willing woman waiting for him when he made it home. What more could he ask for?

. . . . .