December 9

Emily actually jumped when her phone rang. She'd been so focused on her work – she'd actually slept the previous night while in her own bed – and she hadn't been expecting a phone call of any sort.

"Prentiss."

"Hi Em'ly!"

She yanked the phone away from her ear as Jack's excited voice carried over the line. She shook her head, managing to withhold the chuckle that threatened to burst through. "Hi honey."

"Daddy says to ask if you can come for dinner!"

The tone of his voice told Emily he'd been carefully practicing. Then her mind processed the words and she found herself blushing despite herself and despite the fact that she knew better than to get so excited. "Did he now."

"Uh huh," Jack answered and Emily could almost picture his little head bobbing. "You're gonna come, right?"

When he asked like that, there was no way anyone in their right mind would be able to say no. "Of course."

"Daddy!"

Emily yanked the phone away from her ear again. They really had to teach Jack about using the phone. She heard them in the background and focused on her files, keeping her ear open for when Hotch would inevitably pick up the phone.

"Emily?"

"Still here," she replied with a little smile, cradling the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she jotted something down on the case file in front of her.

"I'm sorry. He's-"

"A kid," Emily finished. "No apologies." Her voice had unconsciously lowered to an intimate tone as she leaned back in her chair to focus all of her attention on the conversation.

He cleared his throat. "You're coming for dinner?"

"If you want me there," she replied, valiantly ignoring the butterflies in her stomach.

"We both want you here," Hotch assured her. "Seven?"

She checked her watch. If all of her focus from the morning paid off, she'd probably even have time to run home and have a shower. "That'll work perfectly. Do you need me to bring anything?"

"No," he replied. "Just… just you."

There was a strange note of satisfaction and intimacy underlying his characteristically sad tone that she could just make out. "I can do that," she agreed.

"Okay. I'll see you later."

"Later."


Emily actually felt nervous as she looked at Hotch's apartment door. For the millionth time, she berated herself. This was Hotch and Jack. She'd held them both after tears and nightmares. This was just dinner. So to that end, she shook her head at herself and pulled out her key. Maybe letting herself in would remind her that this was just food, that she had absolutely no reason to be nervous.

"Hello?" she called as she disabled the alarm. She'd just thrown the deadbolts and was reaching to re-set the alarm when Jack's little feet propelled him around the corner.

"Guess what Em'ly!?"

"What?" Emily replied, swining the five-year-old into her arms before his nose impacted the wall or the floor. Then she set the alarm. It was partially habit on her part, partially because she knew Hotch was still extremely vigilant.

"Daddy let me help him cook!"

She laughed heartily. Hotch may have chosen the legal profession and then the Bureau, but he shared Sean's gift for cooking. At least that's what he'd told her. She'd never met Sean, so she couldn't say she was able to compare the two brothers. The few times he'd cooked for her, Emily had been relegated to the dining room or living room. Hotch never let her help. Jack looked utterly flabbergasted when she passed on that information.

"Never?" he asked in awe.

Emily smiled as she tapped his little nose. "Never. Which makes you very special."

Jack giggled as she carried him into the kitchen. Hotch looked at home leaning over the stove in simple jeans and a t-shirt. Emily smiled. He seemed relaxed, though he'd always seemed that way in the kitchen.

"Daddy! Em'ly's here!"

Hotch looked over his shoulder, flashing her the only thing that had counted as a genuine smile since they'd found out about the US Marshall in charge of Haley's case. The fact that he was putting in the effort meant a lot. "Hey."

"Hey," she replied with a shy smile. She put Jack down as he tried to wiggle out of her hold.

"Daddy lets me help with the salad," the younger Hotchner informed her as he clamoured onto a chair positioned beside his father. "But he's always gotta stop to make sure nothing gets burnded."

"Burnt, honey," Emily corrected gently, stepping up behind him before turning to his father. "Jack and I can handle the salad."

He looked at her warily. "Don't go cutting your fingers off."

She rolled her eyes, inordinately pleased that he was teasing. Today must have been a good day, she thought to herself. They worked in tandem as Jack chattered on, their rhythm long-perfected for their jobs translating easily into their rhythm in the kitchen.

"Hey Jack?" Hotch interrupted the little boy's ramblings. "Why don't you and Emily set the table?"

Emily helped Jack put all of the dishes on the table, then laughed when the child basically pushed her back into the kitchen. She took advantage of the opportunity though. Having not seen Hotch for a few days, and considering his last breakdown, she wanted to see how he was doing. But, she'd resisted calling, knowing that would be crossing the line to nagging and hovering, exactly what she didn't want to do. So she leaned against the counter.

"How are you doing?" she asked softly, watching Jack from her vantage point as he climbed on chair after chair to properly set the table. She mentally shook her head as she watched Jack perfectly place the knives and forks. She made a mental note to watch and ensure that his apparent OCD – though she was sure Hotch would more call it organized and vigilant since he was the same way – didn't manifest itself into something a little more damaging.

"Today? I'm good," he replied honestly and Emily resisted her urge to grin at the way he didn't beat around the bush or try and lie. She liked that kind of rapport they seemed to have developed. "Tomorrow? I don't know."

"It's a roller coaster," she agreed sucking in a deep breath as Jack's foot slipped a she was climbing onto one of the chairs. "You didn't have to make dinner, you know. I would have been just as happy with take out. I could have picked it up."

She had to do a double take then, as an honest to goodness pink tinge appeared on his cheeks. Aaron Hotchner was blushing! He stirred, tasted, then held out the wooden spoon for her. "We wanted to say thank you," he said softly as Emily tasted their dinner for the evening.

His eyes were soft and Emily felt her insides warming and the butterflies returning in earnest. "This is good," she said, rolling the taste around in her mouth. "And you don't have to say thank you. This isn't an easy time, and I vaguely remember promising you that we'd be here for you."

Hotch's lip tipped up wryly. "Even so, you've done so much for me and for Jack. Dinner is the least we could do."

She tilted her head to the side. "What are we having?" It looked like chilli to her.

"Sloppy Joes," Hotch replied with a secretive tilt of his lips and a definite sparkle in his eye. It was subdued, but it was there.

She laughed.


Emily waited until after Jack was in bed to start gathering her things. It had been a good night, and Hotch had been in a much better mood than she'd really been anticipating so soon after he'd completely lost it. Still, it was a nice change and she'd had a good time. She smiled at Hotch as he came out of Jack's room, closing the door softly behind him.

"He's down?"

"Yeah. Exhausted."

"I bet. Between dinner and go fish…" Jack was a competitive child when it came to his card games.

"You can't forget taking over the world."

No, she really couldn't. It had been the last thing they'd done before Jack had gone to bed, and it had been almost like an Easter egg hunt to find all of the little soldiers around the living room. She pushed herself off the couch with a sigh.

"I'd better get going."

He didn't say anything while she gathered her things, and it was right when she was reaching for the doorknob that he stopped her.

"Emily," his quiet voice floated over to her.

"Hmm?"

He seemed nervous and she found her brows knitting in concern. Finally, he swallowed. "Stay."

Emily didn't have to think about it. It was so rare that he asked that she couldn't say 'no'. "Are you sure?"

"Please stay."

She smiled. "Okay."


Story time with Kavi!

So this is, in my mind, an hour and a half late. But there's a story behind it. One, it involves the Sims. Two, it involves not being able to get a grip on what I wanted to do with this chapter. Three, it involves the fact THAT IT IS CURRENTLY SNOWING LIKE THE DICKENS AND MAKING ME SO HAPPY!! Fourth, because it was grey outside, I didn't want to wake up, so I slept until pretty much 10. Which, logically, would mean this chapter is going up after that. Good story, hey?

Now, before I get questions about Hotch doing this 180, remember, we haven't seen him in like a day, and just because this is a good day does not necessarily mean it's going to last. I'm hoping that came across in the story, but I never can tell with my brain, so I just wanted to make sure that we cleared up that Hotch's grief is like a roller coaster. He's got to stay strong for Jack, but he's not, as we so aptly describe him, Superman. He's more like Humpty Dumpty, (and thanks to rawpotato for such an excellent analogy) where he's broken and Em with help from Jack is trying to put him back together again. So he's going to have some serious ups and downs while he tries to find that balance between allowing himself to fall apart and being strong for his son.

Now, I really have to go study. I have a final Monday. For those of you who offered to do my take-home yesterday, it was finished so quick! I really should have had this chapter done yesterday, but I got distracted.

For those of you looking for December or holiday prompts, sienna27 and I are just ironing out the details. I have the prompts so I just have to go through and pick some out. We're still not totally sure if we're going to do the full 25, or if we're going to narrow it down to more like 12 instead. Since it's a special time of year, it'll probably be more than the usual 6. So keep an eye out! I'll try and remember to put a note in the chapter I post the same day the prompts go up.

Right. Studying. And while I do that, you guys can review, okay? I think that's a good deal.