The Choices We Make

Chapter 2

Everyone was gathered at Dave's beach house...it was a gorgeous day outside, and the team was ready to take advantage of a full week off. Everyone was there together as a family, everyone except Emily. She had promised to come, so Dave was sure she would be there. She had never broken a promise to him, but everyone else had arrived the previous day, and Emily wasn't there yet. Morgan and Garcia were now playing with a beach ball on the beach with Henry and Jack. JJ and Will were sitting close by drinking a cold beer and enjoying the sunny day. Reid was, of course, at the edge of the pool reading a book, something that was very common for him. Dave, Hotch and his girlfriend, Beth, were sitting on the patio talking and drinking. Hotch seemed to be happy and smiling a lot, something that was not very common of him, even in a relationship he still did not smile much. Dave had not figured out why yet, but perhaps things would change once they committed more.

Dave kept constantly glancing at his watch; he knew he had given Emily the correct directions so why wasn't she here yet?

"Is everything all right, Dave?" Hotch asked, grabbing a few beers from the cooler and handing one to him and one to Beth.

"Yeah, I was just wondering if Emily got lost...she should be here by now." He said, looking at his watch once again. Hotch just nodded, he had also been wondering where she was and whether she was going to show with that idiot boyfriend of hers. Beth immediately quirked her mouth into a fake smile, she was hoping that "slut" didn't show at all.

"Maybe she changed her plans," Beth said, hoping her dream came true.

"No, Em isn't like that, she would be here," Dave said, standing up to go inside to grab his phone and call her.

Just as Dave was walking inside his house to get his cellphone, the doorbell rang. Dave went to open the door and met Emily and her boyfriend at the door. Emily had not told him she was going to bring Andrew.

"Hey…I hope you don't mind me bringing Andrew," She said, as she greeted and hugged Dave.

"Of course not, Em, you can bring anyone you want, Andrew, it's nice to see you again," He said, shaking Andrews's hand.

"Nice to see you again, Sir."

"Call me Dave, please, Sir makes me feel old." Dave smiled playfully, getting out of the way so Emily and Andrew could go in the house.

"You are old, Dave." Emily teased.

"Funny..." He grabbed Emily's bag and led them inside.

"Come on, guys, I'll take you to your room so you can get ready…I hope you are ready for paradise.."

Emily and Andrew followed him to their bedroom to settle in and put on their beach attire.

A little while later, the three of them walked outside where everyone else was. The first thing that caught Emily's eye was Beth sitting on Hotch's lap while they were kissing; for some reason, that image made her stomach tighten up in knots.

As they walked in further, Beth and Hotch broke apart just in time to realize the new company had arrived. What the hell is he doing here? This is only a family thing Hotch thought to himself.

Hey guys, sorry I'm late…" She faked a smile to Hotch and his girlfriend; she had promised herself she wasn't she wasn't going to let anything get to her this week.

"Hotch, you remember Andrew, right?"

"Actually, I don't," He spat in a cold tone. Emily just glared at him.

"Well, this is my boyfriend, Andrew."

"Nice to meet you, Sir." Andrew extended his hand to shake Hotch's hand.

Hotch just looked at him sternly. "Nice to meet you." He said, walking away with Beth without shaking his hand.

Emily wanted to punch him in the face, what the hell was his problem. She turned around to kiss Andrew.

"Come on, lets go see the girls." Deciding to go see her best friends and erase that image out of her head, she walked towards the beach holding her boyfriend's hand.

The rest of the day was spent at the beach playing around, Jack was ecstatic that Emily was there. For some reason, little Jack wasn't very fond of Beth, but he didn't want to tell his dad because he wanted his dad to be happy and smile. Emily being there was a huge plus for him, and now he was happily chasing Emily around the beach. Emily had been wearing a white sundress all day, she had not gotten into the water yet. She wanted to just chill for today, and maybe tomorrow get in the water.

The next day was Jack's birthday, and everyone woke up early to help with decorating while Hotch, Reid and Will took Jack away on a small boat. Dave had decorated the house with Spiderman since it was Jack's favorite character, and because he was a super hero just like his daddy. Dave, Morgan and Andrew were decorating the outside of the house and setting out all the surprises Dave had prepared for the party, JJ, Garcia and Emily were inside the house in charge of snacks and food. Beth had been locked in her room mysteriously with a migraine. As the girls were talking, they were laughing and baking at the same time. It had been a while since they were all together like a family.

"He is such a hottie…you are so lucky, Em," Garcia said, eating a piece of the watermelon JJ was cutting and looking out the window watching Andrew hang up some balloons. Except for Hotch, everyone liked Andrew, he was actually a very good looking man, blonde hair, blue eyes, very well-educated and smart. Most importantly, he adored Emily, and he was the nicest guy she had ever dated. Everyone was so happy for her, and they were sure he was the right man for Emily.

"I know…he is sweet and nice…to me," Her eyes followed in the same direction.

"But? " JJ asked, looking at Emily's question in her eyes.

"I never said a but..." Emily laughed nervously. The truth was...she couldn't figure out what the but was, he was, in fact, the nicest guy she had ever dated, any woman would be lucky to have him. But, she wasn't sure, she had not been able to say those three words to him, she figured that with time, she would. but right now she just…..she just did not feel it.

"God, Emily, please don't...he is perfect. He is good looking, he has money, he is amazing to you. What else do you want?" JJ added, looking at her again, she did not need to be a profiler to know for some reason her friend wasn't completely into the banker.

" I know...I'm lucky," She said walking toward the oven.

A few hours later, Hotch had returned with the boys and Jack, and everyone was now having fun by the pool playing with Jack and Henry. Everyone was in the water, even Beth, whose migraine had miraculously disappeared. Emily, however, was sitting by the pool in a chair; she was smiling and watching her friends have fun. Dave got out of the pool to go get more beer, and he walked toward her.

"What! are you afraid you would drown if you get in there?"-he said smiling at the brunette.

Not at all…I am just not in the mood for water just yet…"-she said smiling back.

"I think you don't know how to swim that's why," Dave teased, handing her a beer.

"I hate to disappoint you, but I am probably a better swimmer than you."

"Then prove it," He said, jumping back in the pool.

"Come on, Em…we'll save you if you drown." Dave teased again, splashing her with water.

"Dave…." Emily squealed, trying to cover her face. But, she was wet now, and there was no other way to protect herself. Watching the amusement on Dave's face, she finally took of her blue patterned dress revealing a very sexy black and white two piece bathing suit. She looked so sexy and beautiful that everyone turned to look at her. She was very slim and had a very toned body, with perfect hips and a great ass, and if that wasn't enough, her legs were long and slim.

Hotch, who was playing with Jack, couldn't help but notice the brunette at the end of the pool taking of her dress, and his breath caught in his throat. He had never seen Emily with that little amount of clothes on and right now, he was having trouble keeping his thoughts together. Of course, Beth had noticed immediately that her boyfriend's eyes were glued to Emily, and she immediately moved in front of him blocking his view, shooting him a cold look. Beth hated any other woman that could catch Hotch's attention, but Emily, she just wanted her dead,..there was something about Emily that made Beth feel very insecure. After the cold stare from Beth, Hotch's attention went back to Beth and Jack.

A little while later, Emily got out of the pool and wrapped her towel around her waist, walking towards the cooler to get a bottle of water for her and one for Andrew, who had been playing with her in the water for the last hour. Beth noticed an opportunity to approach Emily since everyone was still gathered around the pool.

"Are you having fun, Agent Prentiss?" Beth asked, faking a smile and grabbing a bottle of water as well.

"I am thanks," Emily smiled drinking some of the water.

"I would like to advise you to dress a little more appropriately since there are a lot of decent people and children around here." She said, evilly.

"Excuse me?" Emily asked, she couldn't believe what Beth had just said to her.

"I just think you might want to be more respectful and cover yourself a little bit more…this isn't a strip club." Beth said, looking at Emily up and down in disgust.

Before Emily could answer anything or defend herself, Hotch approached them, wrapping his arms around Beth from behind.

"Hey there you are…what are you two doing?" He immediately noted Emily's defensive pose.

"I was just telling Agent Prentiss how nice is to see her again and how pretty she looks." Beth replied, faking a smile.

"You are so nice, baby." Hotch said, kissing her. "Come on, baby, let go back to the pool." He said, grabbing her hand and separating the two brunettes.

Emily just stayed there looking at the scene in front of her...she couldn't believe what Beth had just said to her, and most importantly, she couldn't believe she had lied to Hotch also. She knew there was something wrong with her, and now she knew what, Beth was the most fake person she had ever met. Emily knew if she tried to tell Hotch he would never believe her, and besides that point Hotch wasn't even talking to her anymore, so it really didn't matter. She saw Andrew smiling at her from far away, and she smiled back at him. Maybe it was time to forget about the psycho and focus on her relationship with Andrew, After all, Hotch seemed to be very happy, and he was an adult, and he knew very well what he was doing. She walked towards Andrew thinking it was time to just focus on him and really give him a chance and give herself completely over to him.