AN/The epilogue is here! We have been totally awed by the awesome response for this and all of our other stories. Thanks to everybody that has reviewed/alerted this and any of our other stories. Y'all Rock. SSBAILEY has been a super fun author to write with--she's awesome!


Epilogue

"Henry James LaMontagne." The kindergarten teacher read his name as Henry walked across the stage to accept his 'Diploma' and his medallion made of fruit loops.

JJ stood in the back, holding her newborn son as the second row errupted in applause. The team had come in regular fashion to support her son, Hotch, Jack and Will rounded out the crowd.

"Look Benson, that's your big brother up there." JJ whispered to the small baby in her arms, propping him up a little so he could see. When the baby seemed happier to sleep than watch, she moved her arms back down to sway with him a little, "Okay, lazy bones you can sleep--Just be glad Daddy's taping this, we'll watch it later."

The small ceremony ended quickly after that, Henry being the second to last child to walk across the small stage. "Mommy!!" Henry yelled, nearly going head first off the stage in his attempt to get to her, only to be caught by Morgan.

"Hold on there buddy." Derek chuckled, "She's not going anywhere."

"Henry..." Hotch and Will said at the same time. Both smiled awkwardly at each other after realizing what they had done. While the two men had remained cordial since Hotch and JJ got married, it didn't erase the odd occurrences that happened when they were in the same room. Hotch had taken his responsibilities as stepfather very seriously, so there was some strange feelings when they both tried to discipline Henry.

Morgan put Henry on his feet, who ran to JJ. "Benson, I graduated!" Henry said happily, showing his little diploma to the young baby.

"Yes you did." JJ laughed, ruffling his hair slightly. "Now go say hi to your daddy and invite him to our house for your graduation party, then we'll head home." She instructed as he obeyed immediately.


"It's too bad Will couldn't come." Emily said as she picked up a bowl of fruit from the kitchen to take outside to the party.

"Yeah, he was going to, but then he got called into work." JJ said, grabbing a bag of chips and some dip.

"Well we sure know what that's like." The women laughed as they set up the remaining food items on the table in the back yard.

"Hey JJ!" Jack yelled as he ran over to her from the grill where Hotch stood cooking the burgers, "Dad said to ask if you wanted to do hotdogs too?"

"Oh I forgot! Can you get them out of the fridge for me so I can take the baby inside and feed him?" JJ asked, she was still trying to move Benson from breast feeding to bottle feeding--there was no way he could still be breast feeding when she went back to work.

"Sure!" Jack answered, heading off towards the house.

"Oh and I got that green ketchup you wanted!" JJ called after him, and laughed when she saw him whisper a "yes!". Making her way over to where Garcia sat holding her slightly fussy baby, JJ held out her arms when Garcia seemed reluctant to hand him over, "I'll give him back as soon as he's finished, Pen--I promise."

"I want a blood oath. Last time you said that Reid swooped in and snatched the baby." Garcia whined.

"In America, we outlaw monopolies. I was just capitalizing Benson's time." Reid defended. Both JJ and Garcia laughed and rolled their eyes at the young genius.

"And in the online community that I belong to, we outlaw stupidity, but that doesn't mean it transfers over to family parties." Garcia teased sarcastically.


Thirty minutes later when JJ had yet to reappear from the house, Hotch decided to check on her. Making his way up the staircase, he heard his wife's quiet singing coming out of the nursery.

"Stars shinin' bright above you, Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you", Bird singin' in the sycamore tree, Dream a little dream of me..."

Leaning against they doorway to the train themed nursery, the sight in front of him made his heart swell. "I was wondering what happened to you guys."

"Sorry, I guess he was a little hungrier than I thought." JJ mused quietly, her free hand softly skimming Benson's head as he continued breast feeding. "No wonder he was fussy."

"He's a hungry boy." Hotch smiled at the sight of his wife and youngest son.

"Just like his daddy." JJ laughed.

"Like his daddy? Sorry, but I think that's all you." He laughed.

"Hey! It's not my fault I can never decide on just one thing to order when we go out!" JJ defended, "It's just so hard to decide when you know everything tastes good."

"Sure, honey." Hotch chuckled, "The others are already eating outside, I couldn't hold them off any longer."

"Well, as soon as this little guy is done, I'll be right out." JJ smiled, "Assuming that he ever stops eating."

"I'll save you a burger." Hotch promised her, "and probably a hotdog."

"You know me too well." She laughed, caressing her young son's cheek.

Hotch walked down the stairs, reflecting on how his life had changed over the course of four years. It was far better than he had ever imagined.


AN/We hope you enjoyed this little story, sadly, as one of the reviewers stated--all good things must come to an end. :)