Regrets Chapter 11
"Time stands still Beauty in all she is I will be brave I will not let anything take away What's standing in front of me Every breath Every hour has come to this One step closer..."
After feeding Emma and eating breakfast, Emily and Aaron gave Emma a bath and got her ready.
Aaron still cannot believe that he is actually here in the same house with Emily and their daughter Emma getting her ready to meet her brother. He had waited so long for this day to come. There were days and nights he thought this day would never come. He thought he had screwed up so badly that Emily would never forgive him.
He reached in his pocket and took out his phone. Emma was giggling while Emily was kissing her stomach. He captured the sweet moment between the woman he loves and their daughter. He then set the image as the wallpaper on his phone.
Aaron couldn't contain his emotions. Tears of happiness started flowing. Emily noticed the tears, confused.
"Aaron?"
"These are tears of joy, Em. I am just so happy. I just can't believe that I'm here with you and Emma. That you actually forgave me and want to be with me."
Emily walked over to where Aaron was standing and kissed his lips.
That's all the answer Aaron needed.
"So, Daddy, why don't you go to Mommy's car and get little Emma's car seat and put it in your car?" Emily teased.
"Yes, Mommy."
"I need to get her bag ready and her milk too. She should be taking a nap soon."
"Ok. Em, after Emma and I are done spending time with Jack and you're done talking to JJ and Penelope, could we go to Georgetown or something so I could buy her a car seat to put in my car? Then we can go to your favorite Italian restaurant and have dinner there."
"That's a great idea Aaron. I should be done around 4 o'clock. I have a feeling it will be a long talk."
"Are you ready for this?"
"Ready as I'll ever be. Whatever they say Aaron, I made my decision and they all just have to accept it."
"And I told you last night Em, if they hate me for a little while, I can live with that."
"But they look up to you. They respect you."
"I'm disappointed with myself too, Emily. So, if they decide to avoid me like a plague outside of work, that's fine with me. I will wait until they are ready."
"But Aaron…"
"As long as I have you, Emma and Jack, I can take on anything and anybody."
"Alright Superman, you and this little one better get going. I need to get ready to meet the ladies. Go."
"I'll call you or text, okay?"
"Okay. I love you Aaron. And I love you, my little angel."
After Aaron and Emma left to meet with Jack, Emily took a shower, got dressed and left to face her two best friends.
When she got to the deli place, both JJ and Penelope were already waiting for her. She saw them wave her over.
Before she even got to the table, JJ and Penelope rushed over and gave her a suffocating hug.
"Ladies, are you trying leave little Emma motherless?"
"Oh, sorry Em. We just miss you so much. Speaking of Emma, why didn't you bring her? JJ and I thought you would have brought her. And I know I already gave you so much stuff for her but I just couldn't help myself Em. I saw these adorable matching top and bottom and I just could not stop myself."
"Oh, Pen, you are too much. It's bad enough my Mother is spoiling her but you too?"
"But thank you though. These are adorable."
"I told you. It's why I couldn't resist."
"I'm starving ladies, so why don't we order first." JJ suggested.
While they waited for their food, the ladies talked about the latest case they worked. Emily listened as Penelope and JJ talked about the obstacles they encountered and how much they have really missed her input these past few months that she has been on maternity leave.
"Don't worry ladies, I will be back next week. I can't believe I have been on maternity leave for almost five months. I didn't even notice that it's been that long. Time flew by."
"I thought you'd be back right away and I was really surprised when you took the whole five months." JJ said.
"I wasn't planning on it but I just wasn't ready to leave her yet. I wanted to just enjoy the first three months with her."
"Do you have the babysitter all worked out?"
"I'm bringing her to my parents' house. My Mom hired a nanny for her. I told my Mom that the Bureau has a daycare but she would not have it. She said this is her first grandchild and that she will stay with her and my Dad. There was no point in arguing with her."
"You're lucky to have such loving parents Emily. It really helps especially, you know, with the father not being in the picture."
Both JJ and Penelope noticed Emily fidget and looked really nervous.
"Em, what's going on? Why do you look uncomfortable? Did the father contact you? Who is this bastard?" Penelope asked.
"Actually, that's why I wanted to meet you both today."
Emily noticed JJ has not said anything about her behavior when the word father was mentioned.
Before Emily could say Aaron's name, JJ cut her off.
"It's Hotch isn't it?"
"Hotch? As in our Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner. by the book and man with high morals? Oh my God!"
"Yes, Aaron is the father. JJ how did you know?"
"I've noticed then that you were close. Then when you told us you were pregnant, I noticed that things between you two changed. There was so much tension and I knew then, that he was the father."
"But Emily, how could Hotch abandon you like that? I don't know what I will do when I see him at work." Penelope asked.
"Aaron doesn't expect you to forgive him now. But he hopes, that someday you will."
"You and Hotch, you have talked? When?" JJ, surprised.
"Actually, the first time we talked after I told him I was pregnant was almost a year ago. He came by my place to say how sorry he was. He cried and begged me to forgive him. But I shut the door in his face. He kept trying and trying by sending me letters, emails and leaving me voice messages. I ignored all of them until recently."
"What changed, Emily?" JJ asked with a little hint of anger.
"He went to talk to my parents. He went to my parents' house and apologized to them. He told them that he wasn't worthy of me but it was only right that he asked them for their forgiveness for the pain that he had caused me."
"I thought it over and over again, Pen, JJ. And the only decision that felt right was to give him a chance."
"Em, we will support you. We don't blame you for this decision. I know Emma deserves to get to know her father. But we need time to understand and forgive Hotch for what he did to you. You don't know how many times I wanted to castrate him Em even when you haven't told us he's the father."
"You weren't alone. But good thing I didn't because…" Emily joked
"Stop right there, lady. We are not ready for that yet. We hate him, still." Penelope said.
"Aaron wants to talk to you both, when you are both ready. I won't tell you his reason or reasons as to why he did what he did. I will let him do that. But I can say this, now that I am a mother, I can understand his initial reaction."
Both JJ and Penelope reached over to hold her hand.
"Are you okay, Em?"
"I am really, really good. I am at peace with my decision. And I would not have let him back into my life and let alone in Emma's life, if I wasn't sure that this is what I want and what is good for both of us. I love him. And I just can't see myself spending my life with any other man but Aaron."
"We know Em. We understand. We just need some time."
"I know it's asking a lot but I hope we can keep our professional from our personal at work, please. We still haven't told Reid and Morgan. We plan to do it when I come back to work on Monday."
"What about Strauss?"
"Aaron said he will talk to her after we talk to Morgan and Reid. He said he will take care of everything. He will happily step down or move to another department."
"How do you feel about that?"
"I don't know JJ. BAU is Hotch. And ever since I had Emma, I'm thinking that I want to have maybe a desk job. Or maybe I can join Jordan's Terrorism group where I won't be going on the field but just doing translation and giving behavioral profiles. I can't have both Aaron and I out there risking our lives. We have Emma to think about now."
"Whatever you decide, we will support you on this one too. We love you, Emily."
"I know and I really appreciate it."
"So when do we see Emma again, Em?"
"It's all paperwork for me on Monday, and Aaron told me that you're on stand down for the week after the last case, so I will bring her on Monday. We all could take turns taking care of her."
She jumped when she felt her phone vibrate.
She smiled when she saw the image Aaron sent her.
"Hotch?"
"He sent this picture of Jack and Emma."
"So, he's over at Haley's?"
"He told Haley months ago."
"Wow."
Her phone vibrated again.
"We're done. We're heading home. Is it okay if we bring Jack along? He can't seem to leave his baby sister alone. Haley was wondering if we could take care of Jack for the weekend. She wants to go away this weekend. She met someone recently and wants to spend time with him."
"It's fine. I'll see you in half hour."
"That was Aaron again. He said they are heading home. He's bringing Jack with them since he can't seem to keep away from his baby sister. And Haley met someone recently and she wants to go away with him for the weekend."
"Ok. I need to get back to my men too. Will has been complaining lately about the amount of hours I have been away."
"Is everything okay with Will, JJ?"
"We will talk about it another time, Em."
"Call me when you want to talk this weekend, okay?"
"I will, Em."
"And I need to get back to my Kevin. He and I plan to watch a Star Wars marathon all weekend."
"Okay, ladies. I will see you both on Monday. Enjoy the weekend off. Don't ever forget that I love you both. Thank you for always being there and for understanding."
"Anytime, Em. Call us if you need to have a girl talk."
JJ and Penelope waved and watched Emily go.
"She looks really happy, Pen."
"Yeah, she really does."
