Disclaimer: Still not mine. Darn it.
The next morning seemed to come earlier than usual and with it a new resolve. She knew she was going to meet Jack today and while she was nervous, she reminded herself that this was an important step. Yes, his coworkers had known Aaron far longer than she had and yes, they were closer than she'd thought, but he was letting her meet his son; that had to be a good sign. Her new goal, besides finally getting Aaron Hotchner into her bed, was to get him to tell her the things about himself that his team obviously already knew, if not more. Surely, if he could talk to a coworker, he could talk to his girlfriend. With that in mind, she got ready for the day, taking care to look as nice as possible without going overboard for an extremely casual event.
When she arrived at the park where the race was to end, she easily spotted the BAU team at the edge of the finish line; if the little boy holding the sign for Aaron hadn't given them away she still would have easily recognized the three women from the night before, all of whom looked rather miserable in the bright sun. Obviously they'd had a long night. She loitered behind them discreetly for a few minutes and listened as the tall skinny man, Reid she figured, complained good-naturedly about having been left with Henry all night. Henry was presumably the little boy currently asleep in a stroller, while David Rossi held Aaron's son on his shoulders, and a dark-skinned man spoke to the boy good-naturedly. 'Uncle Derek' and 'Uncle Dave,' as Jack termed them, seemed to be having great fun tormenting the three hung-over women, who alternately scolded them and groaned at them to shut up. She moved away from the group as the runners approached the finish line; she couldn't wait to see Aaron and congratulate him.
While he didn't finish first, he was definitely one of the fastest. In the few minutes it took her to spot and reach him, she saw that he'd already met up with his team and was talking to his son. She called his name and was glad to see that he spotted her and immediately led Jack over.
"Jack, I'd like you to meet my friend Beth."
Ok, she could understand being introduced as a friend, rather than a girlfriend, it was easier for Jack that way. She complimented his sign and smiled when he thanked her politely; he really was a cutie. She was about to ask them both to breakfast when she was preempted by Aaron asking her to join them…and the team. Apparently in the few minutes before she met him, they'd already made plans as a group. Oh well, it would be a good chance to get to know them and see Aaron with them. Maybe then he'd open up to her more.
With two little kids in the group, it was no real surprise that they ended up at a nearby IHOP. She tried to take the opportunity to talk to Jack a little more but while he was polite, he was clearly more interested in playing with Henry, who'd woken up amongst the racket. The two boys colored on the children's menus and chattered with each other a mile a minute. She'd somehow ended up between Aaron and David Rossi, who was looking rather satisfied with himself and smirking at his friend periodically. And while the entire team was polite and friendly, going out of their way to include her in the conversation whenever possible, she couldn't help but feel like a bit of a fifth wheel. Aaron kept his attention on her for the most part, when he wasn't focusing on his son, but Jack seemed completely disinclined to talk to her beyond their initial conversation. If he wasn't coloring or talking to Henry he was chattering at his 'Aunt JJ,' who seemed to be feeling better, about everything under the sun. JJ made polite conversation as much as possible in between dealing with the boys, telling Morgan to stop picking on Reid and shooting glares at Rossi for being a smart ass. The others were a little too far down the table to make conversation easy once they'd sat down, though there were plenty of curious looks thrown her way. All in all, she was rather grateful when the meal was over.
When she arrived home with several hours to kill before her dinner with Aaron and Jack later that evening, she sat down to do some thinking. While Jack's initial reaction to her was a bit discouraging, she had hopes of changing that soon; getting him to like her was essential if she had any hope of continuing to see Aaron. Jack was his world and she knew he would end things with her if his son was unhappy. However, she was confident that she could get him to talk to her more when the others weren't around. Aaron's team was certainly unique but she'd gotten to know boyfriend's coworkers before, she could do it again. His schedule, while hectic, could be manageable. From the way he kissed, she knew the sex would be great. Yeah, it was worth the effort.