Chapter 2

Anna-Joy – June 2036

Usually, AJ and Vaughan avoided the Cliff mansion. Really, it had little to do with his mother. AJ genuinely liked Tenley. Admittedly, she liked Tenley when the woman wasn't playing wife to Vaughan's father.

Reginald Cliff was everything AJ's mother had warned her about when it came to the political crowd. He was snotty, arrogant and, it seemed, terribly and continually disappointed in his son. It was the latter that grated on AJ. Vaughan had partied, yes. He'd sown his wild oats enough to require her to think twice before embarking on this relationship. But Vaughan was everything AJ would need. He worked damned hard, harder than AJ, she swore, and yet, he never got the recognition from the man that mattered.

But, AJ also understood the importance of having this conversation.

Because she was, indeed and truly, pregnant. After a subdued brunch – AJ hadn't said a word to her siblings at that point – AJ and Vaughan had headed home. When they'd arrived home, they'd talked and talked and talked and talked. Eventually, they'd agreed that while they did want to get married, there was no rush. Regardless, she still took his ring.

She twisted that ring on her finger in anxiousness as Vaughan pulled into the long drive to the Cliff manor.

"Hey," Vaughan reached over. "It's going to be fine."

She squeezed his hand. "Isn't that what I'm supposed to be telling you?"

He smiled, and AJ could see the nerves and tension. "Well, worst comes to worst, we'll tell them, listen to the lecture without hearing it, then claim you're exhausted." That was when the wonder crept in. "You're growing a tiny human, you know."

Considering AJ had spent the morning hugging the toilet, she didn't need to tell him she was well aware of the baby. By and large, the kid hadn't given her much grief to this point. On the contrary, her morning sickness had been few and far between. But, she knew, she hadn't eaten much in the last twelve hours because her nerves had her stomach in summersaults. Still, the wonder in his eyes calmed her slightly. The idea of a baby really had grown on them both. It was still extremely surreal, AJ wasn't sure she was completely comfortable with it, but she was starting to like it.

Vaughan turned off the car and pocketed the keys, but didn't move. AJ took her cue from him and they both sat for a moment, looking out at the manor's grand windows and imposing façade. Eventually, he reached out for her hand.

"Hotch," and the nickname clued her into just how scared he really was. He rarely called her Hotch now, especially since he'd met her father, but she could understand why he did it. Hotch was invincible, whether it was her 'alter-ego' or her father's FBI persona.

"Whatever happens in there," AJ said, surprised at her conviction. "We swore we were in this together."

Vaughan nodded. "Exactly."

They got out of the car in tandem, meeting at the hood before Vaughan pulled AJ to him. They embraced for a moment, before Vaughan finally stepped back. "I love you," he said, squeezing her hands.

"I know," she replied, kissing him sweetly. "I love you too."

Since Vaughan was nervous, they chose the more familiar side entrance. It was less imposing, less cold. They hung up their coats, and switched to indoor shoes – Reginald frowned on sock feet – before making their way through the kitchen. It wasn't a surprise to find Tenley and Reginald in the formal sitting room. What was a surprise was the other couple in attendance.

"Vaughan, my boy!" Reginald boomed.

AJ resisted the urge to wince. She hated, hated the mask the man put on when there were others in the room.

"Father." Vaughan greeted, shaking the man's hand when he offered it. He released AJ's hand to head to his mother.

"And Anna-Joy. It's a pleasure."

AJ, manners kicking in quickly, mirrored the air kisses to her cheeks. "Hello, Mister Cliff."

"How many times have I told you to call me Reginald?"

Every time AJ happened to be over when there were guests. AJ didn't bother to ask. Her heart did warm, however, as Vaughan embraced his mother. A murmured conversation passed between father and son and she found herself smiling at the spark that lit in Tenley's eyes.

"Sit, sit!" Reginald offered, and AJ immediately went to Tenley's side. The woman kissed her cheek, murmuring a quiet hello. But her hello was full of a mother's warmed and AJ found herself blushing at the shared secret. Vaughan took AJ's other side, grasping her hand immediately.

As it turned out, the other two were Vaughan's godsister, Elizabeth, and her husband. In a sense, it made AJ shiver. Elizabeth couldn't have been much older than AJ herself, if at all and it reminded AJ of the world she was currently playing in.

And reminded her of how much she liked her own.

Small talk flew around the room at lightning speed until Elizabeth gasped.

"Anna-Joy is that a ring?"

AJ blushed despite herself. She was happy about it. Very happy about it. But it was, admittedly, tempered by the circumstances. "Vaughan gave it to me."

"Oh?" Reginald pounced. AJ was not only a Hotchner, but a Prentiss. Both were politically powerful, even though the real power had mostly passed on. Still, it was quite a match to make.

"Well, that's not the whole story," Vaughan picked up. It wasn't difficult to play the doting lover when it came so easily. Yet, it still felt like an act. "I asked Annie to marry me."

The squeals that came from Elizabeth were of a pitch AJ hadn't realized humans could hit. Reginald beamed. Tenley squeezed AJ's hand.

"That is excellent, my boy! A good match! And without our help!"

AJ almost winced. She wasn't some damned prized pony. And more than that, Vaughan wasn't a piece of meat to be auctioned off to the richest bidder. Her anger snapped whip fast as she put on a smile.

"That's not all," she said and she felt Vaughan grip her hand, squeezing the bones. They weren't going to say anything about her pregnancy. Not initially. They'd book the wedding date, talk about long engagements long before sharing the news. But the vindictive side of AJ couldn't resist.

"You're going to be a grandfather."

The room went deathly silent. She knew, beside her, Vaughan was white. But AJ had a good idea of what she'd gotten herself into.

"Pregnant." The word came out of Reginald's mouth like a puff of air. "Pregnant! You idiot!"

It was AJ's turn to squeeze Vaughan's hand as Reginald leapt out of his seat. She shot her fiancée a quick glance, hoping to God he could trust her.

"Well, we'll have to do this quickly, won't we? At least you made the right choice. You'll have to be married quickly."

"No." Despite the fact that AJ's voice was quiet, it carried. She'd inherited that from her grandmother.

Reginald spun on her. "I beg your pardon?"

"No," AJ repeated. "We're not getting married quickly."

"Young lady, I don't think you understand-"

"Oh no," AJ interrupted, aware she was committing yet another 'no-no'. "I am fully aware of what I'm doing Mister Cliff. I know exactly what's at stake."

"Silly girl! You're pregnant! This isn't some… problem."

"It's not," AJ agreed frostily. "It's my baby. It's my life. Your son and I are engaged, but don't, for a minute, think that I've lost all logic and faculties because of it." And though she was sitting there was no doubt who held the power in that room. "I may be a Hotchner and a Prentiss, but my parents raised me to make decisions for me. They raised me without the archaic notions of bastard children and doing the family name proud by following what they wanted." She cocked her head to the side in a look that was Prentiss through and through. "If I won't let my own parents make my decisions for me, what makes you think I'm going to let you do the same?"

Reginald sputtered.

"And while I'm at it," AJ continued. "We're doing you a courtesy of coming here to tell you this. The way you treat Vaughan makes me hope to God he turns out to be less of a father and more of a daddy. How he turned into the man I know and love must be your wife's genetics, Mister Cliff, because I can't see you anywhere but his looks." Then she stood and though her legs shook, she locked her knees. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to use the ladies room."

She left Reginald standing there in shock as she headed for the bathroom, pressing a hand against her stomach to quell the butterflies. That hadn't been the way she'd intended it to go. She hadn't wanted to tell Vaughan's family anything. Not yet. And Reginald had personified why. Yet, it had felt so damned good to take the man to task over how he ran his life, and how he was under the mistaken impression that he could also run his son's.

She managed to close the door and roughly grab her hair in a ponytail before she bent over the toilet to empty her stomach. Except all she got were painful dry heaves. A few minutes later, she felt a hand over her own in her hair, holding it gently as another smoothed up and down her back. When the heaving stopped, AJ opened her eyes to find Tenley looking at her tenderly.

"Sit back," she said quietly and AJ allowed the older woman to help her settle against the tub. Tenley went for the top drawer of the sink and a few minutes later, AJ felt a cold cloth on her head. Once Tenley had mopped at her brow, she returned the cloth to the sink and settled in beside AJ.

"Your suit will get wrinkled."

Tenley looked down at the robin's egg blue pantsuit she wore and shrugged. "Nothing a quick iron won't fix." She settled beside AJ and, with very little encouragement, had the woman resting her head on Tenely's shoulder. "That was some speech."

AJ smiled. "I'm sorry," she said. "I hadn't meant for it to get that out of hand."

She felt Tenley shake her head. "I'm glad you did."

There was a sadness in the woman's voice that tugged at AJ's heartstrings.

"He wasn't always like that, you know," Tenley revealed softly.

"You don't have to tell me this," AJ whispered. She didn't want Tenley to go through some past pain to make her feel better. It didn't matter. AJ didn't see Reginald in Vaughan.

"I know," Tenley replied, smoothing a hand over AJ's head. Somewhere along the way, this tenacious darling had fallen in love with her son. Tenley loved AJ both because she was good for Vaughan, and, admittedly, because Tenley could see pieces of herself in the young woman.

"Tenley," AJ said quietly. "I know how this world works. Really, I know Reginald loves Vaughan. I just can't figure out if he loves Vaughan out of obligation, or out of genuine affection." When Tenley didn't respond, AJ took another deep breath. "Vaughan will be a fantastic father. I've seen him with my nephew."

"He'll be a fantastic father because you won't give up on him."

The words shut AJ's mouth. Fast.

"Anna-Joy, I love my husband."

AJ didn't doubt that.

"I love my son."

She didn't doubt that either.

"But somewhere along the way…. Reginald started to become his father. I was raised in the same world, it wasn't my place to step in between them. It was something I assumed Reginald would work out with Harold. But he never did. So he loves Vaughan the only way he knows how and unfortunately, we're all too used to the status quo.

"But you… you are something completely different. You're enough of this world for 'approval'," and that was said with spite, "is given freely, yet different enough to fight. You will fight for him, for the man he is and the man I know he can and will be. You won't sit idly by and let him become his father. You won't be relegated to the background."

"You're not," AJ protested. She couldn't have been. Not when she and Vaughan shared such a close relationship.

"Reginald doesn't know I raised my son," Tenley revealed. "He was never here to see the volcanoes, or the plays. Eventually, I stopped telling him about them. The house was always perfect when he got home, always, but my pride and joy is that young man out there about to become a father." She sucked in a deep breath. "He's so scared."

"I am too," AJ whispered, clinging to Tenley.

But the older woman shifted until she could cup AJ's face in her hands. "You will be brilliant parents." She swallowed. "And, I know you have your own mother but… if you want advice, or someone to talk to."

AJ felt her chest expand as tears flooded her eyes. It was the ultimate approval. "Tenley…. I won't put up with Mister Cliff if he's going to treat my children as anything but beautiful miracles. I won't have that negativity in my life, Vaughan's life, or the life of my child. But, no matter what happens, Tenley, with Vaughan's father, you're going to be an awesome grandmother."

AJ wasn't going to cut Tenley out of her children's lives. She wasn't going to cut the woman out of Vaughan's.

A knock interrupted them and though Vaughan's face was a mask of fury when he poked his head in, it softened immediately upon seeing his mother and his fiancée. "We're leaving," he said quietly. "I'm sorry, Mom."

Tenley was the first to stand, and wrapped her son tightly in her arms. It had been a long time since her son had used such an informal moniker and it tightened her chest. "I'm so proud of you," she whispered in his ear.

Then she was gone and AJ and Vaughan were left staring after her. Vaughan sighed and ran a hand through his already discheveld hair.

"I think I left her with quite a mess to clean up."

AJ took the hand he held out to her as he carefully helped her to her feet. "You probably did."

"Hey!"

AJ kissed his cheek. "She's a good woman."

"I know," Vaughan agreed wrapping his arm around her. "I'm sorry."

"That you're father's a bit crazy?" In fact, there was now yelling coming from the family room. Elizabeth and her husband were nowhere in sight and AJ assumed they'd made their excuses at the first sign of trouble. She had no regrets about making that scene in front of them, mostly because she hadn't been the one out of hand. "So long as it's not genetic, I think we'll be okay."

When they reached the car, Vaughan swung her around to face him.

"I am so proud of you," Vaughan told her, kissing her fiercely. "So damned proud."

AJ's responding smile was tremulous. "Hey, watch your language there. Bitsy in here is going to learn bad things before he comes out."

"Bitsy? Is that really what you want to call our daughter?"

"Peanut came to me first," AJ admitted as they split to get into the car, "But that was what the family called Gabi before she was born. Felt weird." She leaned back against the seat once she was inside. "I need to hug my mom."

Vaughan started the car. "Call her," he said and gave her a wry smile when she looked at him quizzically. "I could use a hug too."


Anna-Joy – Early June 2036

Emily had been honestly surprised by the phone call that had come from her daughter. She'd known they were going to tell the Cliffs about the engagement tonight, but her daughter sounded so exhausted Emily could only assume it hadn't exactly gone to plan. That didn't mean she was about to say no to a visit.

The minute her eldest stepped in the door, she wrapped her arms around her. The tension released right under Emily's hands.

"Everything okay?" she asked, pulling back.

"Yeah," AJ breathed out. "Everything's fine. Now." She glanced back at her fiancée, then her mother. "Vaughan could use a hug too."

Emily didn't hesitate to pull Vaughan close and tight. These kinds of moments were exactly why Emily had been reluctant when she and Vaughan first started out.

Aaron stepped into the room then, carrying the three-month-old Nicky who was wide awake and baby-babbling away.

AJ was by her father's side immediately, reaching for the baby. "Gabi and Jack are out?"

"Jack had to go meet a parolee and Gabi's out shopping with Aunt Pen," Emily answered. "He didn't want to interrupt Mother-Daughter time, so he called us."

"And naturally, you were happy to take him," AJ rubbed her nose gently against the baby's. "He's getting big."

Aaron bounced the baby boy gently. "It's tummy time," he said. A couple of times a day, Nicky was settled on his stomach for playtime.

AJ looked to her mother. "We could use some lunch."

"Come on then," Emily said, wrapping her arm around her daughter's shoulders. "Let's leave the men to their manly time while we take our overly stereotypical places in the kitchen."

Aaron snorted. "Honey, we both know I'm the better cook."

"And that's why Annie's coming with me," she said, shooting her husband an affectionate glare.

Aaron and Vaughan headed to the baby corner in the living room where Aaron settled the baby down. After a few minutes of silence and Vaughan settling on the floor in front of the baby while Aaron stayed standing, Aaron spoke.

"I take it things didn't go so well."

Vaughan sighed as he watched Nicky raise his head to watch the toy he dangled. He remembered Gabi saying they were trying to get him to keep his head up, to work those muscles, and he didn't mind pitching in. He then surprised himself with his own candidness, "My dad thinks I'm a disappointment."

Aaron snorted inelegantly. "How are you a disappointment?"

It was a vote of confidence from a man Vaughan still kind of feared. He was a little surprised when the old man folded himself onto the floor as well. Still, he didn't answer the question, aware that there was no right answer.

"You know, when I first met you I didn't approve."

That did not surprise Vaughan in the slightest. He couldn't blame the man, really. If he'd met himself back when he and AJ had started dating, he would have disapproved too. Hell, the entire beginning of their relationship was a big reason to want Vaughan out of AJ's life.

"My daughter didn't share my point of view." He smiled wryly. "She rarely does."

"Annie's independent," Vaughan murmured in agreement. Nicky's childhood innocence was lightening Vaughan's spirits immensely.

"But you're not that young man anymore," Aaron went on. "You're a man that has overcome personal obstacles that Annie has never had to face. She's never had to strive for our love. And from what I hear from Emily, you felt like you had to strive for hers."

That was partially true. Vaughan had tried to, essentially, pay for AJ's affection. She hadn't wanted any of it. He'd had to find a steep learning curve if he didn't want to offend her.

"Vaughan, you're stronger than you think you are. You're smarter than you think you are. If you weren't both of those things Annie wouldn't have given you the time of day." Aaron pulled Nicky's hand that was trying to put a car in his little mouth. "You've proven… important to my daughter. She's an extremely private person, and yet, she's given you her trust. And she's giving you more than that now."

A baby. But Vaughan knew Aaron was referring to the faith AJ was putting in Vaughan that he'd stick with her. That he'd never leave. AJ believed that.

"More importantly, you're not running from it." Aaron smiled at his first grandchild with such love Vaughan felt his stomach lurch. This was family. A good, solid, steadfast family.

"It takes a man to raise a child, Vaughan."

Vaughan's smile flashed, quick and bright. "Country, sir?"

"Aaron," the older man replied. "Or Hotch, but something tells me that would be confusing." After a minute, he spoke a again, "Look. It takes a lot for a father to give away his daughter, to understand that she's grown up and making her own choices and decisions. She's made a good decision in choosing you."

Vaughan blew out a shaky breath, then drew it back in again. "That means a lot." When he breathed in next, his nose wrinkled. "I think we have a dirty diaper."

Aaron grinned, a smile Vaughan couldn't see as he was focused on Nicky. "I think it's time you started learning the basics of being a father."

Vaughan's eyes widened. "I don't think-"

But Aaron wasn't listening. "Come on." He waited for Vaughan to pick Nicky up before leading the way up the stairs. "Lesson number one, always make sure you have everything ready…"


Quick recap because I was asked for it before I did this mini-overhaul. Which needed to happen when I realized I was skipping over most of AJ's pregnancy.

Emily & Hotch:
Jack (March 5, 2005) – I went with the closest date of the airing where Jack is brought to the BAU
Anna-Joy (January 5, 2013)
Kate (April 28, 2016)
Seth (December 17, 2017)

Penelope & Derek:
Gabriella (August 11, 2012)
Chris (February 19, 2017)

JJ & Spencer:
Calleigh (September 8, 2015)
Nate (May 21, 2017)
Eric (October 14, 2019)