"You really shouldn't have sent me flowers," Emily insisted, pouring glasses of wine for both her and Aaron that night at her apartment. "But the gesture was very sweet and the flowers are beautiful."

Aaron kissed Emily on the forehead gently. "I just wanted you to feel special. You needed some cheering up, and I thought you might like the gesture of flowers."

Emily sipped her wine slowly, savoring the taste. "You're right. I did appreciate the gesture." She glanced over at the beautiful roses that were in the center of her kitchen table.

"I think the team knows," Hotch said, checking the simmering spaghetti sauce. Italian food was on the menu. "About us, I mean. The flowers might have been a dead giveaway."

Emily reached into the fridge and pulled out the butter so she could put some garlic toast in the oven. "Do you think we should tell them about us, before they start spreading the gossip?"

"What do you think?" Hotch broke the spaghetti noodles into a pot of boiling water and stirred them in. He enjoyed helping Emily cook.

"Maybe we should. Should we call them to come over after dinner?"

Emily thought for a few minutes as she buttered the bread. "I hadn't wanted to tell them this early, but if you think they're just going to speculate until we tell them, we might as well go ahead and do it."

"I'll call Derek and Rossi," Hotch said, pulling his phone out of the clip on his belt.

"I'll take care of Garcia and Reid," Emily replied.

That night, the entire team gathered in the living room of Emily's apartment. J.J. was on speakerphone and even Agent Jordan had been asked to come. Everybody was drinking either wine or beer and Emily had set out some peanuts in a bowl.

"We have an announcement to make to the team," Hotch spoke up, standing next to the chair Emily was sitting in.

"We already know," Rossi interrupted. "Garcia did a little research after the flowers arrived."

" I told you the team already knew," Hotch told Emily. "We can't keep secrets for long at all."

"So, the reason that we wanted to tell everyone was to see where you stood. Is this all right with you guys, or do we need to do something about it?" Emily turned to face her friends, praying they wouldn't be against the relationship.

"I think I speak for everyone when I say…it's about time!" Penelope declared loudly.

"I'm with Garcia," Derek agreed.

"Same here," Rossi said.

"I've been waiting for this for ages," J.J.'s voice came through the speakerphone. "We all saw it coming…except for you two."

"Well, since you are all so obliging, let me just say that this won't get in the way of work," Hotch promised.

"We know it won't, Hotch," Derek said. "It's cool with us."

Emily looked up at Hotch. "This is better than I expected."