"Our whole life is an attempt to discover when our spontaneity is whimsical, sentimental irresponsibility and when it is a valid expression of our deepest desires and values."

Helen Merell Lynd

Aaron Hotchner flipped his cell phone shut and set it back down on his desk. He hadn't expected a call from his brother Sean. Hell, he'd talked to him a week ago and couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten two calls in one week. But at nearly 11 am, Sean called and dropped his latest bombshell. Seems he and his girlfriend du jour, Marina, had decided to get married.

He laughed, at first, drawing a sarcastic comeback from his brother, who then assured him that he and Marina had been together for nearly a year and that this was "the real thing". Allowing him the benefit of the doubt, Hotch asked if they'd set a date. To his surprise, they had. It seems they decided to get married in Las Vegas, a week from Friday. Sean wanted his brother to be there, if he could.

Promising him he would check his schedule and get back to him, Hotch hung up the phone. Las Vegas. Why in God's name did they want to get married in Las Vegas? Wasn't Manhattan's City Hall sufficient? Did they have to fly three quarters of the way across the country to get married by an Elvis impersonator?

Shaking his head, he decided to share this one with Lisa. He no longer worried about calling her in the middle of the day, now that they stopped hiding their relationship. As he suspected, no one in either of their units was surprised in the least. Nor did it warrant any concern, except for an obligatory warning conversation with Erin Strauss.

Surprisingly, she wasn't too concerned either. Not that either one of them gave her reason to be concerned. They'd both displayed nothing but professionalism and continued to do so. They didn't even commit any public displays of affection while they were there. It wasn't like he stole into her office during the middle of the day for a quickie, as tempting as it may have been.

Outside of Quantico, they were doing really well. They'd fallen into a comfortable routine over the summer, as much as their respective case loads would allow. When they were both in town, they'd spend their nights together, usually at Lisa's condo.

Despite Hayley's venomous threat, she hadn't done a thing to change the custody arrangement. Lisa decided that she obviously wanted to have every other weekend free to spend golfing with Steven. It didn't matter the reason, though. Jack loved having Lisa around and Lisa loved being around him. Hotch had to admit that he enjoyed their family time almost as he enjoyed being alone with her.

Picking up his desk phone, he quickly dialed Lisa's extension. After two rings, she answered.

"Lisa O'Reilly," she said, clearly irritated by the interruption.

"Did I catch you in the middle of something?" he asked, with a laugh.

"I'm always in the middle of something," she returned, and he could hear the smile in her voice. "But I can handle interruptions like this. What's up?"

"Sean called."

"Twice in one week? Is everything okay?"

"You're not going to believe this, but he and Marina have decided to get married."

"Get out!" She laughed, "Really? Sean Hotchner, tying the knot? Damn…"

"It gets better…"

"Oh no," she laughed, "Tell me…"

"They're doing it in Vegas."

"Vegas, huh? Wow. So, when's the big day?"

"A week from Friday," he went on, "He asked me to go."

"Of course you're going," she dismissed, "You have to. You're his big brother, you have to be there."

"We have to be there," he corrected. "I'm not going to a Vegas wedding without you."

"I most certainly hope not!" she playfully sniffed, "Just picture it, Hotch. You and me in Sin City, we can hit all the hot spots…go see Tom Jones…"

"Is he even still alive?" Hotch laughed.

"Yes," she returned, smartly, "And just be glad I'm not a Celine Dion fan."

"So, I guess I should tell him we'll be there?"

"With bells on," she decided.

XXXXX

Despite Sean Hotchner's history with women, Hotch was surprised to find that Marina was an intelligent, goal oriented woman. Petite, with long dark hair, Marina was the daughter of Russian immigrants, who'd moved the family to New York from Moscow in 1985.

Marina made the best of the move, excelling in school, attending NYU and graduating with a degree in marketing. She worked for a bridal fashion company in Manhattan. After spending her days seeing the excesses of today's over the top weddings, Marina firmly decided that a Vegas wedding was the only type of wedding for her.

Her heartfelt explanation over dinner on the night before the big event, made sense to Hotch and he was able to relax and come to terms with the whole experience. Also helping was the detailed agenda that Marina had created and printed out for them. He had to admit, he was really starting to like his brother's fiancé.

Lisa and Marina hit it off instantly, despite the nearly 14 year age difference. Marina had included Lisa when she booked her day of pampering and beauty before her 3 pm wedding. Hearing of her morning of spa treatments and relaxation endeared the petite Russian woman to Lisa immediately and they bonded quickly over a very delicious meal at Prime Steakhouse in the Bellagio.

As per Marina's detailed schedule, a trip to the courthouse for their license and a visit to the Chapel to confirm their 3 pm booking were on tap after their meal. Marina asked Lisa and Hotch to join them and all four of them piled into a limo for their trip. After their stops, they returned to the Bellagio, where they'd be staying for the weekend and spent sometime on the patio at the Fontana Bar, watching the fountain and light show, while Hotch and Sean sipped some very good scotch and Lisa and Marina enjoyed a couple of Cosmopolitans.

Finally, at sometime after midnight, they all retired to their rooms. After locking the door behind him, Hotch turned to find Lisa slipping out of the short white tank dress she'd worn.

"You're staring," she commented, stepping out of the dress to reveal a very sexy white lace bra and panty set.

"I'm sorry," he smiled, his body responding to the site before him, "But I like what I see."

"Do you now?" she laughed, as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

"Very much," he growled, backing her to the bed.

"We should be getting some sleep," she laughed, as he lay her down. "You have a 7 am tee time."

"I'm not tired," he said, his hands slipping behind her, looking for the hook on her bra. Finding none, he pulled back.

"Front closer," she laughed.

"Making it difficult for me, aye?" he smartly said, unhooking her bra and pulling it aside. He smiled.

"Why do I feel like I'm about to be ravished?" she said, with a sexy giggle that never failed to excite him further.

"Because you are," he said, bending to kiss her.

XXXXX

"So," Hotch began, looking at his younger brother, "Are you sure this is what you want?"

Sean looked up as he pulled the ball from the cup at Hole 4, "Yeah, it is. Marina's something else, Aaron. She's so totally out of my league, it's not funny. But she actually loves me."

"There's no accounting for taste," Hotch laughed.

"And what about you? Hooking up with Lisa," Sean shook his head, as they got into the golf cart for the ride to the next tee. "It's about damn time you took advantage of having something that hot right under your nose."

Hotch laughed at his brother's comment. "Yeah, well…"

"Damn, Aaron, you're really into her," Sean said, with a laugh. "This isn't just a friends with benefits kinda thing."

"Far from it," he admitted, watching as his brother processed his response. "I'm in love with her, Sean."

"I never thought I'd see this," Sean said, his tone more serious than teasing, "You've gotten over Hayley."

He narrowed his eyes at his brother, "Did you have to bring her up?"

"Sore subject?"

"That's putting it mildly."

"Let me guess, she knows about you and Lisa and isn't too happy about it?"

"Again, that's putting it mildly," Hotch replied, then, tiredly, "I guess things were good when she had her new man but I was still mourning the relationship, but now that things are on equal footing, she's not happy."

"Did you expect her to be?"

"I don't know what I expected. I didn't expect to be in a relationship with Lisa, that's for damn sure. I can't imagine how Hayley felt."

Hotch got out of the cart and set his ball on the tee. After lining up his shot, he hit a long drive.

"Nice shot," Sean nodded, then set down his own ball. He lined up his shot, then hit a drive nearly as long as Hotch's. "Shit, you're still better than me."

"And we both suck," Hotch laughed, getting back into the cart.

"So what's the deal with you and Lisa," Sean asked, as he drove the cart.

"We're…involved," he decided.

"Involved," Sean repeated, causing Hotch to look at him.

"Yeah, involved," he concluded, wondering what was wrong with his terminology.

"Involved," Sean said again,"You know, Aaron, you still have the romantic skills of a gnat."

"I'll have you know I have excellent romantic skills."

"For someone so freaking smart, you're an idiot," Sean laughed, "I'm not talking about sex, Aaron. I'm talking about…you know…romance."

"Oh, and you're the expert on romance," he snickered.

"I'm a chef," Sean grinned, "I work with food, I spent a year in Italy, I speak the language of love. I can teach you a thing or two."

Hotch rolled his eyes, "The day I have to take romance lessons from you, is the day I hang it up."

"Yeah, well, I'm getting married tonight, what are you doing?"

"I'm having a weekend in Las Vegas with my girlfriend," he said.

"Mark my words," Sean said, stopping the cart. "Weddings do strange things to women. You're going to have to sharpen those romantic skills, Big Brother."

"Can we just play golf here?" Hotch said, stepping up to his ball. He tapped it, sending it to within 5 inches of the cup, then sinking the put. Taking his ball from the cup, he walked to the side of the green, watching while Sean finished.

Despite himself, he thought about his brother's words. Sure, he wasn't some sonnet spouting romantic, but Lisa wasn't the kind of woman who needed that. She cringed at the sugary romantic stuff, nearly as much as he did. They had their own version of romance and it worked well for them.

XXXXX

Looking back at it, Lisa couldn't remember when she'd enjoyed a day more. Her morning of pampering and beauty treatments soothed her body and soul and helping Marina prepare for her wedding was so very much fun. As they dressed, they sipped champagne and took pictures with their digital cameras, laughing like teen age girls. Before leaving the room to meet the men for their ride to the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel, they made a promise to keep in touch and promise to keep in touch and do their best to bring the Hotchner brothers together more often.

Despite their misgivings about having a wedding in a Vegas Chapel, Lisa was quite surprised at how nice the place actually was. Sure, it was no National Cathedral, but there was something pretty about the candles and twinkling white lights. The ceremony was performed by a Reverend, not an Elvis impersonator, and was amazingly emotional and romantic.

As she and Hotch were standing up for Sean and Marina, they stood on either side of the couple. She wasn't surprised that each time she stole a glace at him, he was looking right back at her. As she stood, listening to the Reverend talking about commitment and love and sharing their lives together, she felt closer to Hotch than she ever had. Not one for soupy romantic fantasies, she allowed herself a moment to picture the two of them exchanging vows, but only a moment, as she felt like a sappy high school girl for doing it. What's next, O'Reilly? Signing your name on your notebook as "Mrs. Aaron Hotchner"?

Feeling herself blushing, she watched as Sean and Marina exchanged vows that they'd wrote themselves and then exchanged rings. As the Reverend invited them to share their first kiss, she returned her eyes to Hotch and gave him a smile.

He returned the smile and added a wink before turning his attention back to the Reverend who announced the new "Mr. and Mrs. Sean Hotchner." After exchanging hugs, the newly married couple stepped aside to have their pictures taken, leaving Lisa and Hotch alone.

He stepped to her and with a smile said, "Should we have thought to bring rice?"

"I'm sure they sell it out front," she returned, as he took her hand. Automatically, their fingers intertwined. "So, that wasn't what I thought it would be."

He shook his head, "I think I liked that ceremony better than my wedding."

"Oh, I know I liked it better than mine," she agreed, "This one didn't have Monsignor Spignoli going on for ten minutes about how it was their job to bring many children into the world."

"He didn't," Hotch laughed.

"Oh, he did," she nodded, "If it wasn't for the damn corset top of my dress being so tight, I would have fallen asleep."

"Corset top, huh?" he said, with a playfully raised eyebrow.

Lisa shook her head, "You can be such a male sometimes."

"Are you guys ready to get this wedding reception on the road?" Sean asked, as the photographer walked away.

"I know I could use a drink," Marina grinned, her arm around Sean's waist. "Come on, Lisa. Let's go see if we can find more Cosmos."