"Is Emily going to be happy today?" Jack whispered into his father's ear, his hand that wasn't cupping the older man's ear tugging at his tux's sleeve. "I want Emily to be happy."
Hotch pressed a small kiss to his son's cheek before helping him off of the stool. "You don't think Emily's happy, bud?"
Jack stared up to his father with his big eyes. "Daddy, Emily was crying."
The father of one sighed. They had walked in on the other woman sobbing into her pillow a few nights before after coming back from getting Jack from Haley's. It had been months since the accident, but her mother had called to finalize plans for flying in for the wedding and it had sent her over the edge of holding back all her feelings for months on end.
She hadn't wanted to upset her favorite boys.
"Emily's happy."
Jack frowned. "She was crying, daddy."
Hotch smoothed his son's hair down, hearing his groomsmen fussing around behind him. "People cry all the time. Daddy cries sometimes."
The young boy's eyes popped open. "Daddy?"
"A lot," he admitted to his son. "It's ok to cry."
Jack itched the top of his head, causing his father to smooth it down once again. "Do you think Emily is still sad?"
Hotch kissed his forehead. "Why don't you go over to her room and see, ok? I'm sure she's going to want to give you a hug before we start the ceremony." With a little nudge to his arm, the Unit Chief shared a small smile with his son. "I promise she'll be happy."
Jack shared a kiss with his father before tip toeing out into the church hallway, his tiny fingers fiddling with the tiny cufflinks he wore on his wrists. Emily was supposed to be getting ready for the evening, and he was told to stay with his daddy until they started, but he needed to see the second mother figure in his life.
He quietly made his way to the door down the hall where he heard his Aunt Penny's familiar laugh, and he curled his hand into a fist to knock on the wood. "Emily?"
Opening the door, JJ looked down to see the seven year old boy fiddling with his tux. "Hey Jackster," she grinned, fixing a small hair that stuck up on the top of his head. "What are you doing over here? Shouldn't you be helping daddy before we start the wedding?"
"I want to see Emily."
The brunette in question turned to see her soon-to-be stepson standing in the doorway, and she quickly bent down and ushered him inside. "Come here baby," she smiled, letting the seven year old run into the room and wrap his arms around her waist. "Why aren't you with daddy?"
Jack looked up to the brown eyed woman and touched her cheek. "Are you happy, Emily?"
She could feel the eyes of everyone around her staring her down, and she led the boy who was to become her son over to her vanity. "Here," she smiled sweetly, lifting with her arm and setting the seven year old on the stool. "There you go."
The ambassador sat back and watched at how her daughter's eyes lit up when she could see how proud she was of herself for getting her stepson up there all on her own.
"Why do you think I'm not happy?" Emily brushed a thumb over Jack's cheek, lowering her voice. "You saw me crying the other day," she pouted, nodding along with the sandy haired boy. "Is that why?"
"You cried really hard," he whispered fearfully. "And you're getting married to my daddy."
Emily did her best not to tear up at the words, and she sat herself down beside the young boy. "You think I'm not going to like being married to your daddy? Jackie, I love your daddy."
Jack huffed. "But you cried."
"I wasn't crying because of the wedding," the brunette admitted, feeling her mother's eyes on her from across the room. "You remember my mommy?"
He watched as Emily pointed behind them, and he looked to the ambassador trying to busy herself with one of the bridesmaids.
"I had to talk to her about the wedding, and it made me really sad."
Jack looked up to the brunette. "Why?"
Emily tried to force her tears back. "My mommy hadn't seen me without my arm before. You know how scary it was to see me at first?" She saw the little boy immediately nod his head, and she tried to smile. "I was doing my best to warn her about what she would see because I didn't want her to be upset. Our conversation was very emotional because a mommy never wants her child to be hurt," the agent nodded, her chest tightening. "So I got very upset because I had to talk to her about it. I was never upset about the wedding."
Jack chewed his lower lip. "You wanna marry daddy?"
"Of course I want to marry your daddy," the older woman whispered, letting Jack snuggle into her side. "I want to marry you too."
The seven year old laughed into the brunette's chest. "You can't marry us both!"
Emily's jaw dropped. "And why not?" She wrapped her arm around him and lifted the little boy into her lap. "I'm going to be your daddy's wife, and you know what that makes you?"
"Jack."
The brunette gave a bark of a laugh. "You'll always be Jack. But me being your daddy's wife means that I'm your stepmommy."
Jack played with a curl in the brown eyed woman's dark hair. "I have two mommies?"
"You can always call me Emily," she nodded, letting him give her a high five so he wouldn't get distracted by the diamond pendant that hung around her neck. "But I will be like another mommy. Does that make sense?"
The seven year old tilted his head. "You're not sad?"
Emily pressed a long kiss to the top of Jack's head and shook hers, tickling his side. "I could never be sad when I'm with you and your daddy." Watching him beam his cute smile up to her, she took the veil from the vanity and put it in his small hands. "Do you want to help me with this?"
"What is it?"
"This is called a veil," the agent explained, not noticing the tears in her friends' eyes as she helped Jack stand on the stool. "It goes on my head to cover my face as I walk down the aisle."
Jack frowned. "Don't cover it!"
Emily's heart warmed and she let him kiss the tip of her nose. "It's tradition," she whispered, showing him the small tongs on the hairpiece. "These slide right into my hair so the veil stays put. Can you do it for me?"
JJ held the ambassador's hand as they all watched the blond boy slide it in as best as he could before fixing her curls so it didn't show. The veil was crooked and they would fix it when Emily changed into her dress, but the grin on Jack's face told them all they needed to know.
"It's perfect!"
Emily gave him a big hug before helping him jump down from the bench they sat on. "Now you go and tell your daddy to get his butt out to the altar, alright? I'll be right there." She watched him run from the room and felt her eyes immediately fill with tears as the other women rushed around her to get the dress ready. She was the luckiest any woman could ever be.
Jack waited outside the dressing room as the bridesmaids and groomsmen walked down the aisle, fixing the lapels of his tux just as he watched his father do. He was to walk Emily down the aisle.
Looking up at the sound of a new pair of heels on the wooden floor, the seven year old grinned and held out his hand. "Hi Emily," he blushed, letting her kiss his cheek.
"Hi Jack Attack," she whispered back, letting him play with the corsage she wore on her wrist, a default because she wasn't able to hold a bouquet and the seven year old's hand because of her disability, before they walked hand in hand down the aisle.
"You happy, Emily?"
The brunette squeezed Jack's hand as they finally made it to the steps of the altar, and she bent down to share a small kiss with her new son. "Very happy."
Hotch took the beautiful woman's hand and knew his tears were ready to fall by the look of shock on her face. Bringing her closer to him, the Unit Chief leaned in and cupped her cheek. "I have never seen you so beautiful. Do you know that?"
Emily's chin trembled as their chests touched.
"You are stunning," he husked, "and I love you so much."
The brown eyed woman silently nodded her head, letting him press a long kiss to the corner of her mouth before she let herself take a deep breath. "I love you too."