A/N: Okay, so here's chapter 10. I tried to get it up in timely fashion, so if there are any editing errors, I truly apologize.

Timeline: This segment occurs in January 2011. They've been together for about 7 months and Jack is a couple months past 5. They aren't living together or anything, but they're very much committed to one another.

Chapter 10

J is for Jell-O

"All right, I'll see you tomorrow, okay Buddy?" Hotch kissed his son's head.

"Why can't you just come home now? You seem okay to me," Jack pointed out to his father.

Hotch gave Emily a pleading look, showing just how much he agreed with his son. She rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. "Jack, Daddy's okay but he just had his appendix out, remember? The doctors just want him to stay a little bit longer to make sure he's okay."

"Okay. But he still seems okay to me," Jack shrugged and hopped off the hospital bed.

"Thanks for taking him Jess," Hotch thanked his ex-wife's sister as the woman leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Not a problem. Emily should be here to spend time with you and make sure you actually sit still. Plus, this way she can get some sleep tonight instead of having to stop and get him on her way home," Jess nodded.

"We really appreciate it," Emily smiled.

"Of course. You feel better soon, Aaron. Jack, are you ready to go?" Jessica asked her nephew.

"Okay! Can we watch Jurassic Park?" Jack requested as his aunt led him out of the room.

"How are you really feeling?" Emily asked, moving to sit in the chair right next to Hotch's bed and taking his hand in her own. She stroked it gently and pressed her lips to his knuckles softly.

"I'm really feeling okay. Ready to get out of this damn bed," Hotch insisted.

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Did you bring me some case files to look at?" he asked, looking like a kid in a candy store.

"Nope," Emily shook her head.

He stared at her in disbelief. He couldn't believe that she was completely cutting him off from work. It's not like he asked her to take him to the office or something. Although, as he thought about it, given the opportunity he would have gone in a heartbeat.

"Emily, I have things that need to get done. There are reports to read, consults to attend to, just because I'm in the hospital doesn't mean I'm useless. I had my appendix out for God's sake. It's not like I'm dying," he grumped, his voice a little louder than necessary.

"Oh quit being a baby. I brought you files," Emily shook her head at his reaction.

"You're infuriating," he told her.

"You're a workaholic," she countered.

"You're pushy."

"You're stubborn and pig-headed."

"You are too," he reminded her.

She considered this for a moment before shrugging and nodding her assent.

)))

"This is repulsive. It hardly qualifies as food," Hotch grumbled darkly, pushing away the tray of food that the nurse had brought him for dinner.

"You just had your appendix out this morning and are still in the hospital…what were you expecting? Pot roast and fresh vegetables?" Dave rolled his eyes at his friend.

"No, but I think I could handle something with a little more substance than chicken broth, juice, and Jell-O," Hotch said sullenly.

"You truly are the worst patient ever. I don't know how Emily deals with you," Dave commented.

"By getting you to come babysit me while she steps out. Which, by the way, you didn't need to do. I'm perfectly capable of sitting here by myself without getting into any trouble," Hotch pointed out.

"That's where we differ in opinion. Who knows how long you could be here alone before trying to talk the doctor into discharging you immediately and then pulling the federal agent card when he said no. No, no, I think Emily was perfectly justified in calling me to babysit," Dave smirked.

"Of course I was. Lord knows how long it would take for him to have checked himself out, AMA and be halfway home," Emily's voice agreed as she entered the room, having caught the tail end of their conversation.

"That's true. I thought he may threaten the doctor, but checking himself out is also an option," Dave nodded.

"I'm right here you know," Hotch huffed.

"Yes dear, we know," Emily rolled her eyes and stroked his hair gently.

The three sat and chatted for awhile longer before Dave saw that it was nearly eight o'clock and bid the pair farewell before taking his leave.

"So, where'd you go while Dave babysat?" Hotch asked absently.

"Oh you know, just to grab some stuff…like an ice cream cup for you," she said casually, reaching into the bag she'd brought back with her and producing a small plastic cup filled with fudge ripple ice cream.

"You are a goddess," Hotch moaned and reached for it.

"It's probably a little melty," Emily warned him, digging out a spoon and handing it to him.

"That's okay, that's exactly how I like it," Hotch said.

"I know. That's why I wasn't worried about giving it to you immediately upon my return," Emily nodded as she settled back in her own chair, content to watch him enjoy his little treat.

"I'm surprised that you got this, going against the clear liquids diet," Hotch commented. He almost instantly regretted his words, what if she took the cup from him and didn't allow him to eat his dessert because he opened his big mouth??

"Yeah, well, you know me, I like to break rules," Emily shrugged, unaffected.

He studied her for a moment. "You asked the nurse if it was okay, didn't you?"

She grinned and nodded.

"I should've known," he rolled his eyes.

"Why're you whining about it? You got your ice cream, didn't you? I could've left you to eat…" she turned to his discarded dinner tray and surveyed the contents, "Chicken broth and…Jell-O? You had Jell-O for dinner?"

"I didn't eat it. I hate Jell-O," he shrugged.

"How can you hate Jell-O?" she asked, clearly affronted.

"I prefer foods that don't jiggle their way through my digestive tract. Things that stand on their own and are made of real food," he replied.

"You're insane," she said and took the Jell-O from his plate. "I'm eating this."

"Have at it. If you don't mind disgustingly sweet flavored goo, it's all yours."

Emily ignored him and pulled open the tab on the red snack.

They ate their respective desserts in silence for a minute or two before Hotch heard Emily let out a moan.

"Huh, I thought I was the only thing that could make you moan like that," he joked.

"Shut it. This is heavenly," Emily sighed happily.

"It's Jell-O. You may be one of the only people in the entire world to classify that as heavenly," Hotch shook his head.

"Then the rest of the world doesn't know what they're missing. It's so delightful; all cherry flavored and smooth and yummy. It basically melts on your tongue but has enough substance that it isn't just like drinking juice or something. And the best is when it comes in fun shapes. You know, stars or hearts or whatever else. Ohh, and jell-o shots, soo good," she rambled.

As Emily was listing the merits of Jell-O, Hotch stopped hearing her specific words by the word "cherry". He was absolutely mesmerized by her.

There she was, this adult, professional, beautiful woman who was talking about Jell-O, of all things. He'd never met anyone like her, anyone who could be so happy over such a small thing. She was like that with everything, not just her dessert selection. Hotch knew that there were some things that brought her down, but she was always the happy face of reason when someone needed it. It never took much to put a smile on her face and for that, he was so thankful.

In the twenty years he'd been with Haley, he'd never been able to cheer her up so effortlessly. Every single thing that didn't go according to plan was the end of the world. Emily was like a fresh of breath air on that front. In the seven months they'd been together, he'd found that she was more than able and willing to roll with the punches and often said that it was the imperfections that made life interesting and beautiful. Before he realized what he was saying, words were spilling from his mouth. As soon as he heard them though, he knew that they were true…knew that they'd been true for a long time.

"I love you Emily."

She stopped mid-word, while saying something about Jell-O with fruit bits and stared at him. "What did you say?"

He doubted himself for a moment, but pushed the doubts back. He did. He did love her and she should know it, whether she said it back or not.

"I said that I love you. You don't have to say it back or anything, but I just thought that you should know," he repeated.

Emily grinned and dropped her Jell-O cup onto the tray table in front of him. She leaned in and kissed him, her hands immediately going up to tangle in his hair.

When their tongues met in this passionate kiss, the flavors of his vanilla and chocolate ice cream and her cherry Jell-O mixed and for a moment he was inclined to agree that the disgusting "food" she had just been eating was, in fact, quite delicious.

"I love you too, you know," she admitted when they broke apart and she rested their foreheads together.

"More than Jell-O?" he teased.

She pretended to think for a second.

"Hey!" he protested her pause.

"Yes, more than Jell-O. All the Jell-O in the world would never compare," she grinned and kissed him lightly.

"Good to know. For a second I was afraid that you were going to leave me for a pudding cup," he rolled his eyes.

She chuckled and settled back into her seat. She picked up the discarded Jell-O and went back to savoring each bite.

"You know…I may have been wrong," she said a minute later.

"About what? About me being well enough to go home right now?" he asked hopefully, though he knew full well that it was only wishful thinking.

"No, because you aren't going home a minute before the doctor says you can. I may have been wrong when I said that all of the Jell-O in the world wouldn't compare to you. This is just supposition of course, but I think that if I made a Jell-O mold of you, that may be even better than the real thing," she said thoughtfully.

He stared at her. Was she serious? The thing was, he was betting she was serious. Yup, he really did love this woman.

A/N: All right, so that was the first time they exchanged "I love yous". In my opinion, they both already knew that they loved each other, but after everything they'd been through, I think they were both a little nervous about actually saying it. But now they have and it's out in the open and all is well.

I haven't written the next chapter yet, but I have some ideas. I'm thinking that it may be a fight chapter. Not like a blowout or anything, but a moment of less than perfect happiness, because I feel like you can't be completely happy without fighting for what you want, and Hotch and Emily definitely want each other. Let me know if you have any ideas!! Thanks for reading!