Becoming reality

Author's note: This is a follow on to "She always had her dreams". Please let me know what you think! Without feedback I've got nothing to guide me & if it's rubbish & you don't tell me, then I'm afraid I'll just keep writing rubbish. If anyone has any tips on how I can improve I would be extremely grateful :-)

I don't own Criminal Minds

It was just after 11 am & Emily Prentiss had only just showered. She loved Saturday's off! After a tough week such as the one just gone, she considered it absolute bliss not to set the alarm, & to get dressed only when she felt like it. She ambled into the living room, towel drying her hair as she went.

A smile kept appearing as she allowed her mind to drift between those blissful ongoing dreams where she was part of the Hotchner family, & the week before last when she went out for ice-cream with Hotch & Jack. They'd had such a lovely time & Emily was eager to repeat it! She wasn't quite brave enough to invite herself along to one of their father-son outings, or even to invite them out somewhere. As much as she'd enjoyed it, she was pretty certain Hotch would think it inappropriate to become a regular occurence.

Joining them for ice-cream had made her dreams even more wonderful! Seeing Hotch interact with Jack was a far cry from when he was dealing with the BAU team. He was much more affectionate & joyful around his son, who it was obvious he absolutely adored! This carried over into her dreams, and whenever she would allow herself to drift off, she would find an even more loving image of Hotch than the one she dreamed of before.

The doorbell pulled her from her daydream. When she was away on cases, any parcels were delivered to her neighbours & they would always return them very promptly. So it was no surprise that someone was now at her door. What was surprising was who was actually there!...

...Hotch & Jack! She opened the door with a grin that quickly faded when she realised, here she stood with wringing wet hair, wearing an old scruffy pair of jeans & a top she'd just thrown on for comfort. Hotch could see the horror in her face so he quickly tried to put her at ease "I'm sorry, we should have called first!" he said with an apologetic smile.

"No, no!" she replied, the shock now fading, "Come on in. I just er...wasn't expecting you."

"Like I say, we should have called first."

"Oh, no. I didn't mean it like..." she smacked her hand to her forehead in frustration as she realised she was making it worse, "...honestly it's fine! Please come in."

"You sure?"

Jack looked as though he would burst! He was clearly eager to see Emily. "As long as you don't mind my weekend attire" she smirked gesturing towards her relaxed state.

Hotch smiled back, "I really don't know why you seem so worried. You look fine to me."

Emily hoped the shock of a compliment from Hotch about her appearance didn't show in her face. "Well to be honest, it's nice to see you don't live in your suit!" she joked as she pulled the door open wider to let them in.

Jack tugged on Hotch's t-shirt and said, "Daddy, can I ask her?"

"You can ask her but she might just want to relax today."

The little boy looked slightly disappointed at the thought of Emily not wanting to join them. "Me & Daddy are going to the park & we brought a picnic, would you like to come? Pllleeeeeaaaasssee?"

"Jack it's not nice to beg!" Hotch raised his eyes towards Emily, "But we would love it if you would join us?"

Emily couldn't help but break out in a grin, "I'd love to!" She ruffled Jack's hair as he bounced on his tip-toes in excitement, "If I could just have 10 minutes to get myself ready?"

"Sure!" Hotch said a little more enthusiastically than Emily expected.

"Great! Help yourselves to drinks & I'll be out in a minute." She said as she ran into her room to get ready. As soon as her door was closed behind her she broke into a little dance of excitement, and then composed herself & got ready.

She emerged 10 minutes later, as promised, with dry hair & more suitable clothes for being seen outdoors. Hotch & Jack were sat on the sofa in a loose attempt at a game of eye-spy when she came back into the room. "Just let me grab some stuff for the picnic & I'll be good to go!" she said as she headed towards the kitchen. Hotch shouted through, "Oh, you don't need to bring anything! We brought lots of food incase it was a yes." Her heart fluttered at his words. This meant she wasn't just an afterthought, they had planned on asking her all along! "You sure?" she shouted back, "I don't want to steal your food!"

"Emily, please! We disturbed your peaceful morning, the least we can do is feed you!"

"Ok, well it looks like I'm ready then." At these words Jack was up on his feet in an instant & proceeded to pull Hotch up from the sofa under the impression this would get them to the park faster. Emily couldn't help but smile at the little boy's enthusiasm. Jack eagerly led the adults out of the apartment, clearly excited about their trip.