Emily scratched her finally growing fingernails down her daughter's back as she tried to lull her back to sleep. Kaitlyn had cried to her mother about a dream she had once she had fallen asleep.

The big bad Harriet had chased her down the street until she ended up on top of a frozen lake all alone, neither of her parents were there to save her.

The mother of three immediately wanted to go back in time to earlier that day, wishing she had done some physical damage to the blond woman who had obviously scared her eldest girl in some way.

Looking down to the now sleeping girl, Emily shook her head. She needed to speak with her ex husband on the matter.

Harriet would never be around her children again.

Emily stood and pressed a loving kiss to her daughter's soft forehead before making her way out of the room and down the stairs. A frown fluttered lightly over her features at the sound of a knocking on her door, and she took a quick glance at her antique clock that hung above the fireplace.

Nine o'clock. Who was coming over at nine o'clock at night when her children were sleeping?

The brunette made her way into the foyer of her home and stood on her tiptoes to peek out the peep hole.

Aaron.

She forced herself to stop the eye roll that she wanted oh so dearly to do before opening up her front door, nodding gently to the older brunette that stood on her front steps. "Hey. What are you doing here?"

The father of three looked strongly at his ex. "I need to talk to you."

Oh great, she thought. Lovely ol' Harriet must have told him what had happened earlier that day. "Sure, come on in." She held open the door for the older man and followed him into the living room, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's kind of late. The kids are sleeping."

"I know," he nodded. He stood a few feet away from the younger woman, afraid to get too close to her just yet. "Harriet told me that she came to you today."

Emily slowly nodded her head. "Yeah. I hope you don't expect me to apologize," she chuckled. "She gave me no heads up on her coming on over here to 'try and get to know me' while the kids could have damn well been here."

Aaron ran a hand through his short hair, shaking his head. "I don't expect an apology at all. I completely agree with you; she should have spoken to you first before coming over."

The younger woman frowned. "You agree with me?"

"I do."

Emily rolled her eyes as she took a step forward. "Ok that's not how this was supposed to go," she smiled. "I had a whole speech planned."

The father of three laughed lightly at the amusement he saw behind his ex's eyes. "Sorry to ruin that for you."

Emily smirked, sitting herself down on the plush sofa. "No problem."

"I wanted to let you know that what she did was completely disrespectful, and I let her know that."

The brunette felt her eyes widen, watching as the older man sat himself down on the other end of her couch. "Really? And how did she take it?"

Aaron could have laughed, remembering the fight he and his now ex had in his new home. "Not very well."

Emily bit her lip as she looked at the brunette that sat close to her. "You broke up didn't you?"

After all these years she could still read him like a book. "We did." For some strange reason, Aaron didn't feel uncomfortable sharing this with the younger woman. "I think I moved too fast."

"May I say something?"

Aaron quickly nodded. "Of course."

Emily smiled gently, reaching over and patting the Unit Chief's hand. "I wholeheartedly agree that you moved on too fast." A laugh caught in her throat at the smile on her ex's usually stoic face. "I am sorry that you broke up."

"I um... I actually called you my wife."

The brunette mother of three felt her heart stop and her breath leave her. "What?"

Aaron nodded. "During our argument. She asked why I was defending you instead of her, and it was what came out." He shrugged. "It seemed right."

Emily bit shyly into her bottom lip as her ex husband's hand flipped over and softly captured hers, and she immediately noticed the hopeful sparkle in his eyes that she had seen the day he had proposed. "Oh wow."

"Being with Harriet made me realize that I'm not over you, Emily." He quickly shook his head when he saw her open her mouth. "I'm not saying that we should get back together just yet, Em. All I'm saying is that I think we should work on things."

The brunette felt tears spring into her eyes. "We split for a reason, Aaron."

"And it was the wrong reason."

Emily let out a breath, letting her ex rub his thumb over the back of her soft hand. "I'm not saying that I don't agree with you, but I was just finally beginning to feel settled." She gave the smallest shake of the head. "I do still love you."

Aaron felt his heart break at the tears in the brunette's doe eyes. "I love you too, sweetheart."

The mother of three blinked back her tears as the father of her children moved closer to her. "I think what we need is to go to a counselor, ok? Then we can know where we stand." Letting out a laugh as Aaron pressed a thankful kiss to her forehead, Emily smiled. "Would you like to sleep in the guest bedroom tonight? The kids would love to find you here in the morning."

Aaron's eyes immediately brightened, his dimples coming out to play. "I'd love that."

An hour later, Emily lie in her bed staring up at the ceiling with a smile on her face, knowing the father of her beautiful kids was right down the hall. Maybe it could happen, she thought. Maybe they could start again.