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Lacy here kids, finally, with the next A&E. Delay on it this time was completely intentional. As you can imagine, pissed didn't quite cover how the beginning and end of the episode made me feel. And my lovely manager decided to inform me that there was a kiss. A kiss I missed because I had it muted and wasn't looking. Yeah, she was in the doghouse. So this is going to be overly fluffy, at least that's what I'm aiming for, in order to deal with the episode. So have fun and call your dentist.
Disclaimer: Bethany, Mallory and Aurora.
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Emily laughed as Aurora cheered from her arms and Jack and Bethany from either side of her for their father as he trained. Sean was running with him, helping him keep pace. The triathlon was only a few weeks away and Aaron, Mr. Confidence, was feeling nervous and anxious about it. Not that he admitted, god forbid he did that, but Emily could tell from the way he'd been acting when preparing for training and afterward told the profiler and wife in her everything she needed to know. And she knew, her husband was nervous.
"Are you going back to work soon, Mommy?" Jack's voice broke through Emily's thoughts.
Emily looked at her oldest. "In a couple of weeks, I will be. Why?"
Jack looked down at his shoes. "I like having you around all the time."
Emily held Aurora with one hand and ran the other through Jack's hair. "I like being around too." And she really did. Her maternity leaves were amazing for her. Watching her children develop, watching Jack grow into an amazing big brother. She could definitely see why Austin was having a hard time deciding if she was going to rejoin the team. Leaving the kids behind was one of the hardest things she did.
"You're thinking again." Once again, Emily was pulled from her thoughts. This time by Aaron. "What's with the face?"
Emily sighed, noticing that Sean was playing with Jack and Bethany a way off. "Jack commented that he liked having me around all the time and it just got me thinking."
Aaron sat beside her. "About coming back to work."
Emily nodded. "I just," she sighed again. "it's getting harder to be away from them, to leave them."
Aaron nodded. "I understand that. I mean, you're their mother so I have no doubt it's harder for you but I do understand." he leaned his arms on his knees. "Do you want to look into cutting your field work back? Or retiring altogether?"
Emily adjusted Aurora. "I don't know."
Aaron let Aurora grab his finger. "Well, we'll think about it. If it's something you really want to do, then I'll support you one hundred percent."
Emily smiled. "Thank you."
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JJ sighed as Dave ran a gentle washcloth over her face, cleaning the few cuts she'd gotten in her fight with the unsub.
"They really aren't that bad," Dave said softly.
JJ smiled. "You should see the other guy."
Dave laughed. "I did see the other guy. And I couldn't be more proud of you." he brushed JJ's hair back. "You did great, babe."
"Thank you," JJ gave him a kiss. "Of course, I'd feel a lot better about it if I could breathe properly."
Dave laid a careful hand on her side. "How bad is the pain?"
JJ shrugged as best she could. "Kind of feels like Henry spent an hour bouncing on my ribs."
Dave gave a wince. "Okay, ouch." he set the washcloth down. "Well, you go get in bed and I will get ice and my academy sweatshirt so you will be nice and comfortable."
JJ huffed. "Some way to spend Valentine's day."
Dave kissed her again. "I think it's the perfect way to spend Valentine's day." he gave her one more kiss. "Now go. Off to bed."
JJ carefully got off the bathroom counter. "Fine but don't you make me wait."
Dave smirked. "Jennifer Jareau, when have I ever made you wait?"
JJ returned the smirk. "Well then you better not start now."
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Humming softly, Emily covered Aurora and smiled as the little girl sighed in her sleep. Switching on the baby monitor, Emily hit the light switch and shut the door. Quickly sticking her head in Jack and Bethany's rooms to make sure both older children were sleeping, Emily turned off the hall light and headed back downstairs.
Stopping short at the bottom, she smiled as she looked around. The room was lit with candles on almost every surface. The couch was moved back to under the living room window and a rose petal path led from the end of the stairs to the center of the living room. And standing there was Aaron.
"What is all this?" Emily asked as she followed the petals to her husband.
Aaron shrugged innocently. "Well, since we couldn't go out for Valentine's day, I figured I'd make sure we could celebrate at home."
Emily laughed softly. "Aaron, you know it didn't matter to me."
Aaron pulled her into his arms. "I know but given what we were talking about a few days ago, I wanted to do something special for you."
Emily kissed him. "You are perfect."
Aaron laughed. "I am nowhere near perfect but for you, I try." he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a long jewelry box. "And this is just an added bonus."
Emily frowned but took the box. She pulled away a bit but allowed Aaron to keep his arms around her. She gave Aaron a playful looked before opening the box. A soft gasp left her as she looked at the gentle necklace laying against the silky black fabric.
It was a white gold box chain with a oval cut sapphire pendant wrapped in tendrils of white gold, each with a small diamond at the end.
"Aaron," Emily smiled at him. "it's beautiful."
Aaron took the necklace out and slipped it under Emily's hair and around her neck. "And it looks even more beautiful on you." he kissed her. "Happy Valentine's day, sweetheart."
Emily smiled into the kiss. "Happy Valentine's day, Aaron." she pulled back. "I want to retire."
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*grins* At this exact moment, Katie is sitting beside me, trying to make me tell her what this ending is. She'll have kill me by the time she gets to this. But since the news of Paget leaving, I've decided to make it work for me and give us a happy way for Emily to leave the team. Well, okay no way will be happy but it'll be happier then whatever the writers have planned. Okay, let me know what you think, flame policy stands and thanks for reading.
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