A/N This is written for the Wedding challenge in CCOAC! I've never written Hotly before, but some have wanted me to so here it is. I hope you like it;)
"Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end."
The wedding had been a disaster. None of their plans had gone right and the seven months they'd spent preparing it were all to waste. Anyone who looked at Emily's detailed notes about what flowers to get and where all the guests should sit, would have thought that it would turn out to be an amazing wedding; one of those which every little girl dreamed about. The women would've looked at her with jealousy, but she wouldn't have cared because she would be marrying the most amazing man.
JJ and Garcia would be playing bridesmaids while Morgan and Reid would be the best men. Jack would carry the rings and April would be their flower girl.
The guests arrived at time, the bridesmaids, best men and kids were ready, and the bride and groom were set to take the next big step in their lives.
Everyone knew this would be a dreamlike wedding, but unfortunately... Everyone was wrong.
"Em, you look beautiful!" Garcia beamed as Emily turned around to look herself in the full-length mirror.
"I really do." Emily smiled at her own reflection, letting a silent tear fall down her cheek.
It was the day she'd always dreamt off, but never thought would come. The day she met Aaron Hotchner everything changed. They had started of on a rough patch with him not trusting her at all. She always wondered what would have happened if he hadn't let her stay and she'd walked out without a job. This day would definitely never come.
It was first after Hayley's death when Emily had been there for him and Jack every free moment that they had developed feelings for each other.
No one on the team was surprised to hear about their relationship and that Hotch was the father of the baby in Emily's stomach. She would give birth to a beautiful baby girl who they named April Elizabeth Hotchner and soon after she'd learned to walk Hotch proposed to Emily.
They had been walking through the mall with the kids when Jack and April really wanted to go on the carousel. Since April still was so small, Emily went with them, holding April in a firm grip as she sat on one of the horses. Hotch had been watching them and decided at that moment that he really wanted to marry that woman.
When the carousel stopped and Emily and the kids stepped off, he took her hand and they continued to walk just a few feet before Hotch saw the most perfect thing. He pulled Emily with him and kneeled down to the ground in front of the toy and bubble gum machines. Emily had complained that the kids already had enough toys and when he turned around still down on one leg she was confused. It got clearer when he opened the small ball and pulled out a ring with a heart-shaped gem.
Emily's hand immediately flew to her mouth as Hotch begun his speech about how much he loved Emily and couldn't imagine spending the rest of his life without her.
This event was what led Emily to stand in a beautiful strapless wedding gown 8 months later, ready to be Mrs. Emily Hotchner. It would be the happiest day of her life, right after April being born of course.
Rossi, who was walking Emily down the aisle, knocked softly on the door letting them know that it was time. All three ladies squealed before happily walking out of the room and lining up in front of the entrance to the church.
April entered first, followed by Garcia and JJ.
"Are you ready, kid?" Rossi asked putting his arm out for Emily to take.
"Never been this ready." Emily smiled and took a deep breath before the big doors opened for her to enter.
The first bad thing happened just when she got inside the doors. She was looking over the guests and a big frown covered her face. All the guests were there so it wasn't that, but their backs and hair were sweaty and they kept fanning themselves with the program. Emily immediately felt the warmth in the air and it didn't help that the sun was shining through the windows, making it even hotter. Where the hell was the air condition?
She could tell that Hotch was also sweating and that small dripplets were sliding down her bare neck. The hair that had taken 2 hours to fix soon became wet too. Doing her best to keep up the smile on her face she approached Hotch. Rossi gave Emily a kiss on her cheek before leaving her to Hotch.
As soon as she took Hotch's hand she got calmer and tried her best to forget about the lack of cold air. It worked and a wide smile spread on her face as they turned towards the minister.
The minister was a 50 something man with whitish hair and very well-respected. He started with telling everyone why they were there, but Emily didn't listen that much because she was busy glancing at her soon to be husband who, besides the sweat, looked too good to be true.
His speech didn't take more than five minutes and then he motioned for one of the bridesmaids to step up on the podium to read a text from the bible. It was a text that Emily had long ago marked in her bible and now that she was getting married it proved to be the perfect text for this occasion.
JJ grabbed Emily's bible and started to open it up, but as she did so JJ's smile faltered. Emily looked worriedly at her best friend. Something was wrong.
JJ gulped loudly and looked to the bride, an apology clear on her face. JJ raised the bible and turned it enough for Emily and Hotch to see. Emily's eyes widened at the cut through and colored bible. She turned to her youngest daughter who in guilt hid behind Garcia's legs. Her grip tightened around Hotch as she tried to calm herself down. So far it felt as if everything was against them.
Emily was slightly frustrated as they hopped into the limo that only took 8 people when it should have taken 12 so all o the sweaty people had to be cramped up in a really small space. Emily really wondered what more could go wrong on this awful wedding day.
Hotch noticed Emily's discomfort and took her hand to try and calm her. She smiled sadly to her husband, willing the tears not to come. It was supposed to be the perfect day, but now it was all ruined.
None of the others in the limo seemed to care, though. Garcia was pouring champagne in everyone's glass and they were drinking and chattering happily. All but Emily who stayed silent, gazing out of the window while the houses passed by.
The drive to where the reception was held wasn't long and most of the other guests had already arrived by the time they came. Soon the team, their spouses and their kids started piling out of the limo, leaving Hotch and Emily for last. Hotch kissed Emily on her cheek before they together entered the building.
At least the air-condition worked here so the couple was immediately met with a cool wind.
There was a loud cheering as they walked inside and neither one of them could help but to grin widely. As the couple passed the guests they got several congratulations and hugs until they reached their seats and everyone could sit down.
Alcohol was served as a welcome drink to the guests and also appetizers. The guests were chatting away, eating happily while Emily and Hotch sat in silence, just watching them. They smiled occasionally at each other and both of them were filled with happiness, making the past events at the ceremony seem forgotten. A few bad things were allowed to happen and from now it would only get better.
That was until an hour later when Dr. Spencer Reid had to make a toast. JJ had already done it, talking about small girls' dreams of princess weddings and when Emily first came to the BAU. It left Emily with some tears that she quickly wiped away when another knife against glass could be heard.
Reid cleared his throat and took a hold of his champagne glass, some of the champagne coming over the edge as he wobbled a little in his place. Emily and Hotch's faces fell when they realized how drunk the young genius had gotten himself.
"I'm 'onna make a toast." Reid sluttered. "For the bride and groom. My remembering note got a little lost." Reid giggled. "I'll just impro... Improvise then."
The couple looked at each other with worry for their colleague. It wasn't normal for him to be this drunk.
"Reid, maybe you should sit down." Hotch tried to tell him, but he just shook his head.
"Nos, I promised you a toast and I will give you one." Hotch was gonna object again, but Reid started his toast. "I've known both of you for a very, very, very long time and better than most of these guests here. To be honest..." Reid put a hand by the side of his mouth, shielding him from the rest, and lowered his voice. "... I don't know who all these people are."
Hotch put a hand on his forehead, shaking his head while Reid continued in a normal voice this time.
"We've been through a lot together and I've had to listen to a lot. Like when Emily couldn't stop fantasizing about Hotch naked and then after Hayley left she finally got that fantasy to come true."
Emily sank into her seat and her face turned a deep crimson.
"What more can I tell you...? Hotch didn't feel the same way about Emily. For him it was always Hayley, Hayley, Hayley. 'Hayley asked for a divorce', 'Hayley left with Jack', and so on... But I'm happy that he finally got his head out of his ass and decided that Emily was the right person for him, even if I would be a lot more suitable to be the father of April. Though, since I couldn't oblige to that I'm happy that it's Hotch. No one will be a better father than him! Cheers!" He raised his glass and sat down with a content smile on his face, mentally patting himself on the shoulder for doing such a good job.
Emily shook his head in disbelief. This couldn't have happened. The whole room was quiet after raising their glasses, not a sound could be heard.
After a few minutes Morgan stood up and cleared his throat.
"Well, thank you for that Reid. Isn't it time for your first dance now?"
Both Emily and Hotch nodded their heads and Hotch took her hand to lead her to the dance floor. The music started slowly and the pair danced just like they had been taught to do at their dance lessons.
They saw that Morgan was keeping check on Reid who was eager to get out on the dance floor and dance. The couple ignored it the best they could as they swayed beautifully to the music.
It really wasn't Emily's day though. When she finally managed to calm down from Reid's drunken toast the music stopped. No, not stopped, but it started singing the same line over and over again like a broken record. The pair stopped the dancing and stood in the middle, trying to keep the same smile on their faces. After a few seconds the music continued again and both relaxed until it once more got stuck.
Emily's face fell and she let go of her husband, looking into his eyes with tears in her own.
"I'm sorry... I can't do this anymore." Emily said and stormed out of the room towards the bathroom.
Letting out a sob, she slid down the bathroom wall and landed on the floor. She furiously wiped her tears away as more and more kept coming. This wasn't like her, she knew it, but she had wanted it to be a perfect day.
Not even five minutes after she had ended up on the floor, crying her eyes out, the bathroom door opened and Hotch stepped inside. He bent down in front of her and took her chin in his hand.
"Don't cry, honey." He said in his calming tone.
"How can I not? The day is ruined. Our wedding day is ruined." She said, looking down at her hands.
"No, it's not, Em." Hotch said as he sat down next to her on the floor, putting his arm around her and letting her rest her head on his shoulder. "We could have gone to the courthouse for all I care..."
"Don't you say that Aaron." Emily began to pull away, but Hotch stopped her.
"But it's true, Em. I don't care about a broken air condition or a dance that couldn't be completed because of a scratched CD. All I care about is you being there." Emily raised her eyebrows. "I just wanted you to be my wife so I could spend the rest of my life with you and it doesn't matter how bad the way there got. I'd do it all again as long as it ended with you as Mrs. Hotchner."
"Do you really mean that?" Emily asked, wiping away another tear that rolled down her cheek.
"Yes, and we'll have more important things to look forward to. More kids, buying a house, grandchildren and we're gonna do all this together."
Emily didn't know what to say so she threw her arms around her husband and gave him a hard, almost desperate kiss on his mouth.
When they pulled away from each other she said:
"I love you so much! I don't know where I would have been without you."
"I love you too." Hotch smiled. "So are you ready to entertain our guests?" He held out a hand for her to take.
"I think Reid is doing a pretty good job with that." Emily chuckled as she stood up. "We should probably save him, though, from further embarrassment."
Hotch agreed and together they walked into a future that would have many ups and down, but they would at least always have each other.
"I dreamed of a wedding of elaborate elegance, A church filled with family and friends. I asked him what kind of a wedding he wished for, He said one that would make me his wife."
A/N I hope you liked this! Thank you for reading and please review if you find the time. I'd like to know how I did with Hotly;)