DOES TRUE LOVE REALLY CONQUER IT ALL?

Chapter 3

Aaron had finally told Emily he loved her, he had also told Haley about it, something the former wife didn't take too well, but they had been divorced for almost two-and-a-half years so Aaron didn't feel like giving her any explanations. He had also talked to Jack, the little boy was ecstatically happy, he loved Emily, and he wanted to spend as much time as he could with her, another reason for Haley to hate Emily. Haley's son couldn't stop talking about her, but Aaron didn't care, he had never been happier than since he started dating Emily. In fact, Aaron felt it was time to let someone else know about the beautiful brunette.

Aaron and Emily had exchanged keys a while back, so instead of knocking in her condo door, he let himself in. It was a little past nine, and he had just returned from a meeting with the FBI directors. He was tired and all he wanted to do was curl into the couch with his girlfriend. Emily was waiting for him, she had made dinner for them, and she was happy to have the next three days off to spend with her man and Jack since it was Aaron's weekend with the little boy. She heard the door opening, and Aaron walked into the foyer, placing his briefcase on the floor and walking towards the kitchen. He spotted Emily tinkering around the kitchen and he smiled, walking behind her and wrapping his arms around her from behind.

"Hey there, beautiful." He said, kissing her neck and pulling her to him.

Emily turned around in his arms, "Hello there, Agent Aaronner." She greeted kissing his lips. "I was expecting you earlier."

"I'm sorry, baby, the meeting turned out to be longer than I expected, and then my mom called, so I spent quite awhile on the phone with her." He said, giving her sweet kisses.

"That's nice, you hardly ever talk to her, how did it go?" She asked, looking at him and smiling.

"Well, they want me to come this weekend to meet them at the beach cottage they have in Alexandria, they want to see Jack." Aaron said, still holding her close to him. That made Emily a little disappointed because she was excited about spending the weekend with her two favorite men, but she knew Aaron had not seen his parents in awhile, and she didn't want to ruin that for him.

"Oh." She said, disappointed, but she tried to hide it. "Well, I think that's a great idea...I'm sure you and Jack will have a blast."

"Actually, WE'LL have a blast, you're coming, too." He said, smiling at the fact that she didn't know how to lie.

"What?!" She asked, stunned.

"You're coming with us, I told them about you today, and they want to meet you, they want you to come for the weekend, too." Aaron kissed her lips, grinning...the look on her face was priceless.

"I...uh...I...don't think that's a good idea, I...um…I…think you should go with Jack alone." She said stammering and moving away from his arms...she started picking up things in the kitchen avoiding his gaze. Aaron just smiled.

"Emily," He called softly. But, she pretended she didn't hear, and she entertained herself with the coffee pot.

"Do you want coffee? Dinner is ready...I'll start serving if you want to sit down?" She said, nervously walking away.

"Emily Katherine Prentiss." He said in his Unit Chief tone. Since she didn't respond, he walked to her and turned her around in his arms, she looked away but he gently placed his finger on her chin bringing her eyes to look at him.

"You don't want to meet my parents?" He asked, trying to sound disappointed to tease her around.

"Its not that, it's just…I…are you sure you want me to meet them?" She said nervously, trying to look away from him.

"I wouldn't be telling you if I didn't want you to." He said softly, looking at her intensely. "Baby I love you, I'm crazy about you, and I told them that, they want to meet the woman that has stolen my heart, can you do this for me, please?" He asked, pleading with her.

"What if they don't like me?" She asked, looking away from him again, she knew Aaron's parents hated Haley, and she was terrified to meet them.

"Baby, I don't think there is a single person in this world that couldn't like you, you're amazing, but if you don't want to, I won't force you to go." He said, taking her face in his hands. "But, it would mean a lot to me if you come with us."

"All right, I'll do it for you." Emily said nervously. Aaron just smiled at her and kissed her.

"They'll love you, I promise."

The next morning, they left the house around 7:00 am to pick up Jack at his mother's house. Emily was nervous...she wanted to do this for Aaron, but this was a big step, what if his parents hated her like they hated his ex-wife. She tried to act calmly the entire drive there, but she couldn't hide her nerves. Aaron, sensing her behavior, kept grabbing her hand and placing soft kisses on it, smiling at her. They arrived at the cottage around one in the afternoon, and Aaron parked in the driveway of the cottage house and got out, helping Jack out of his booster seat, then opened Emily's door and held his hand out her for her to get out. He opened the entrance door to the cottage with his set of keys, and the three of them walked inside the beautiful cottage.

"Hello..." Aaron called from the foyer. A few minutes later, Aaron's dad came out smiling widely, greeting them at the door.

"Hey guys, you made it safely." But, Jack ran toward him as soon as he saw his grandfather.

"Grandpa!" Jack jumped into the older man's arms."

"Hey there, Champ, you've are so big, what has your daddy been feeding you?" They all chuckled. Then he placed the little boy down and went to hug Aaron, and then his attention turned to Emily.

"Hello, young lady, you must be Emily, I'm Richard Hotchner." And to her surprise, he pulled her into his arms hugging her, too.

"Hi, it's a pleasure to meet you." She said shyly.

"The pleasure is mine, sweetie, come on in, guys, make yourself comfortable." He said, leading them to the living room. "Your mother will be down in a second." A few minutes later, a very attractive lady came downstairs. Jack again ran toward her.

"Nanny…nanny!" Jack shouted joyous. The woman scooped Jack up in her arms, hugging the little boy tight to her.

"Hello, my baby boy, I missed you so much." Then she placed Jack down and directed her attention to her son.

"Aaron, I have to call you for you to remember about your mother." And she hugged the older Hotchner. When she turned to look at Emily she was smiling happily.

"Aaron told me you were amazing, he just didn't tell me you were this beautiful. It's a pleasure to meet you, darling. I'm Natalie." She said, shaking Emily's hand and kissing her cheek.

"I'm Emily, and it's an honor, Ma'am." Emily responded cordially.

They all sat down at the living room talking for a while, Jack playing by his grandparents the entire time. After a while, Aaron's mom called them into the dining room for dinner. Aaron's parents seemed to love Emily, and they were impressed that she was also an FBI agent. They were also impressed that she spoke that many languages, and they had also heard of Emily's mother, so they knew she was from a good family. They ate dinner laughing and joking and making conversation with Emily, and she graciously responded to all their questions.

"So, Emily, tell me something, how did a beautiful and intelligent woman like you lay eyes on ugly her?" Richard said playfully, pointing at Aaron. Emily just chuckled.

"I think your son is an amazing man, I'm the lucky one to be with him." She said smiling. Aaron pulled her into his arms and kissed her softly on the check.

The whole weekend went by so fast Emily couldn't believe it; she was so nervous to go there in the first place, but they ended up having an amazing time. They went to the beach, and she enjoyed chasing Jack around, and she also spent time talking to Aaron's parents, they were amazing people and they seemed to like her a lot. On their last day at the cottage, they went to a beautiful place by the beach for dinner; right before they headed back home, Emily paid the tab secretly, something that didn't make any of the Hotchner's happy, but they had already fallen in love with her. Aaron's mom could see how tender and attentive she was with Jack and Aaron; she also could see how much she loved them and how selfless she was. She was happy see her son in love with someone that seemed to love him back in the same way. It was time to say goodbye, and they were outside the cottage saying goodbye to the parents.

"It's been a pleasure to meet you, darling, Aaron is really lucky to have you in his life." Aaron's mom said, hugging Emily.

"Thank you, it's been such a privilege, thank you so much for all the hospitality." Emily said, smiling at the woman. Then the mother turned to hug the Hotchner man. Richard came to Emily and wrapped his arm around her.

"Call me if he gives you any trouble, sweetie, I'll straighten him out." He said, winking his eye at Emily. She couldn't stop herself from bursting into laughter,

"I'll keep that in mind." She said, laughing and hugging him and once again thanking him for everything.

Then, they all got in the car and drove away...after a little while, Aaron turned to see Emily and smiled at her; his parents had loved her, they had an amazing weekend, and now it was time to go home. He kept glancing at her and smiling.

"What?" She asked curiously, smiling too.

"Nothing, it's just you didn't want to come, and they adored you, I told you they would." He said, grinning at her, his dimples showing deeply.

"They are amazing people, Aaron, I liked them a lot." She said, squeezing his hand and looking out the window. They drove in silence for a little while, and then he turned to look at her again..

"Em….?"

"Yeah?" She said, looking back at him.

"I love you." He said, grabbing her hand and kissing it.

"I love you, too." She winked at him.