Part Two

A/N: i.e one of my favorite chapters so far.

"Ava?" Emily called, from her bedroom, through into her daughters room. "Ava, sweetheart, are you ready?"

She was fiddling around with her earring, trying to force it through the hole in her ear, and wincing at the sharp pains she was feeling. When had she let her ears close up? Finally, she broke the skin, cursing under her breath, and slid the back on, so it wouldn't fall out. There, that was it. She stepped back, looking herself up and down in the mirror on her wardrobe door, unsure of why she felt so self conscious all of a sudden. It hadn't been that long since she'd had a girls night out. It was, however, the first girls night out since she and Hotch had split up. She wasn't going out as a married woman, with her married friends, anymore. She was going out as a woman who was currently having divorce papers drawn up and no longer wore her wedding ring. She was, as they said, back on the market. Not that she had any intention of letting anybody know that.

It had been a long time since she had gone out as a single woman, however. Nine years and three months, to be exact. For a split second, she considered putting back on her wedding ring, for a little bit of comfort, then decided against it. That was a ridiculous idea; not only would it spark questions from JJ and Garcia, but it was something she had to learn to live without. It wasn't a soft, cushy blanket of familiarity for her to fall back on.

Ava came into the room, dressed in a tracksuit onesie, converse and a body warmer. All pink, of course. All courtesy of Auntie Penny. Emily had put her hair up in pigtails and tied them with pink ribbon, as requested. She was carrying her backpack in her arms, ready for a night in her fathers. The girl looked Emily up and down, her eyes wide.

"Mommy, you look so pretty." Emily smiled at her daughter, who she thought looked more and more like her father every day. She got the same expression on her face as Aaron did when she was concentrating, or when she was frustrated. When she smiled, it was like Emily was looking at Hotch in pigtails. That amusing thought made Emily smile to herself.

"Thank you, angel." She said, as she looked at herself once more in the mirror, smoothing her hands over her black trousers.

The outfit wasn't a new one, but it was one that had been at the back of the wardrobe, out of sight, for a good few years. Black, skintight trousers that cut off just above her ankle; a red, strapless top, with an over-sized bow at the waist. And, of course, her louboutins. They were her newest great love. They'd been a twenty-first present from her mother who had barely known her, way back when. At the time, Emily had rolled her eyes because they weren't her style at all, and she wasn't surprised that her mother had gotten it so laughably wrong. However, Garcia had since educated her on the importance of expensive, red-soled footwear, and the profiler now had a healthy appreciation for her stylish shoes. One she wouldn't reveal to her mother in a million years. Her hair was styled in an elaborate low bun, to one side, and her make up was classy but obvious; dark, smoky eyes and a red lip.

She didn't look like herself. Or at least, not her present-day self. She supposed it had to do with the fact that when she and Hotch had first broken up, she had lost part of her. It became obvious that she had lost herself to their marriage; they had almost merged into one person. It felt odd to go about her daily life without him, she turned to have conversations with him at the dinner table, then realized he wasn't sitting there. She rolled into him of a morning, only to roll into the empty space left by him in their bed and curl in on herself, shivering and lonely. It had taken her weeks to pull herself together and start dealing with it properly. Now, three months later, things were better. They had settled into a routine; even Ava seemed to be adjusting to her new situation. She liked Hotch's new place, liked that when she saw him, he liked to spoil her. Emily had no doubt that her little girl would rather still have her father living with them, but she was making the best of it. They all were.

So, now that things were getting back to...normality, Emily supposed she was too. That was why she had chosen this outfit. Because it screamed Emily, pre-Hotchner.

Hotch had everything ready. There was a selection of Disney DVD's sitting on his coffee table, as well as a new on he didn't think Ava had yet, which he had wrapped in pink tissue paper. Something about snow, he guessed, from the cover. He knew he shouldn't gift her every time she came to see him, but he'd seen it happen to divorced fathers at the bureau before; their children got to a certain age and stopped wanting to spent time with dad, in favor of seeing their school friends or doing extra-curricular activities. He had a few years before he needed to start worrying about that, with his daughter, he knew, and subtle bribery certainly wasn't the way to make sure it didn't happen, but the irrational part of him that used to worry about whether Haley would let him see Jack told him otherwise. Emily wouldn't ever stop him seeing Ava, or ever let Ava stop visiting her father, not in a million years. But that didn't register.

There was also a steaming mug of hot chocolate on the side, in Ava's favorite Snow White cup. She liked Snow White because "She looks like mommy!". Of course, he had put whipped cream and extra marshmallows on top. Was there any other way for a child to enjoy cocoa?

The buzzer went and he went to the intercom.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's us."

He wanted to smile at the sound of her voice, but there was something so bittersweet about it these days. Hearing Ava in the background, shouting hello to him, however, did make him smile. "Come on up."

It had been almost four months, now, since he had moved out of their shared house and he missed them. Seeing Ava every weekend they weren't on a case made things easier, but god, he missed her. Emily. He missed seeing her of a morning, sleepy-eyed and smiling at him, curled up at his side, craning her neck for a good morning kiss. He hated how immaculate and empty his bathroom looked; the absence of her endless half-full shampoo and conditioner bottles, lipstick tubes and whatever else she had cluttered up their en-suite with, left him feeling sad and lonely.

The sweatpants that she had left on the dresser, after their last night together, working the Mariposa case, had been sitting on his dresser since he'd come back. He didn't know what to do with them. He didn't like to just start wearing them again, but he couldn't bring himself to throw them away. So there they sat, and there they had been for three months straight. It was almost like a daily reminder of their imminent divorce; seeing them everyday was like torture, but still he couldn't bring himself to get rid of them. And she didn't want them back. If she did, she wouldn't have left them in the first place.

There was a small knock on the door; Ava. He went to it, opened it and was immediately hit by a very small wall. His daughter threw her arms around his legs, hugging him, as she always did. Smiling, he reached down, hooked his hands under her arms and pulled her up. Her arms wound around his neck, locking in place. Emily was smiling at the affectionate display.

When he looked at her, he slowly lowered Ava to the floor, setting her on her feet.

"Daddy, is this for me?" She asked, running to the coffee table, having spotted the wrapped up DVD. Hotch didn't answer; he was looking at Emily. She burned under his gaze, a blush rising in her pale cheeks. That didn't help his situation, at all. She looked...beautiful. She looked like she had when he first fell in love with her. It wasn't necessarily better than how she normally looked, nowadays. He still thought she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on, a decade and a half later, but seeing her like that. Like she was ten years younger. Something about that tugged on his heart.

Someone was tugging on his sleeve. He tore his eyes away from Emily and glanced down. It was, of course, Ava, and she was waving the DVD at him. "Daddy? Is this mine?" There was a whine in her voice that told him she had already asked him several times.

"Oh. Yeah, princess. Yeah, it is." She tore it open and squealed, excitedly, waving it at her mother.

"Mommy! Daddy bought me Frozen!" Emily smiled down at her daughter, who was bouncing up and down excitedly.

"Wow! Did you thank daddy?"

"Thanks, daddy." Ava called to him as she sped over to the cabinet that housed his DVD player.

He turned back to Emily, taking in her appearance once again, and then realized she was still standing in the doorway. "Sorry," He apologized, sincerely, "Do you want to come in?" He smiled, slightly. "We have hot cocoa."

Emily smiled back. It felt, and looked, natural and genuine. "As tempting as that is, I've got a Pornstar Martini waiting for me at the bar and I'm already late. Ava, come and say goodbye." She glanced down at the watch on her wrist and he realized, with a pang, that it had been his last Christmas present to her. Their daughter came over and hugged. "Be good, my love. Goodnight and sweet dreams, okay?" Emily kissed the girls head and let her go, watching her return to the couch to watch the film. "Thank you for the offer, though." She said, in reference to the cocoa. "And thanks for having her tonight."

"You don't have to thank me for that." He insisted and she nodded.

"No, I know. But thank you anyway."

They stood there for a moment, each unsure of how to move forward, until, finally, Emily stepped forwards and wrapped one arm around his shoulders in a hug. "I'll see you when you drop her off, tomorrow."

"Yeah." He agreed, hugging her back, wrapping both arms around her. He could smell her perfume. Another gift from him; one he'd bought her for their first anniversary that she had loved, so it had become a go-to gift from him to her. It had become her smell. She pulled away and smiled, turning to leave. "Hey, Emily."

She stopped, turning on her heels to look back at him with an inquisitive expression, one eyebrow raised. "Hm?"

"You look beautiful."

Her eyes creased into a smile, and she looked down at her outfit, a blush burning in her cheeks, once more. She didn't say anything, but she bit her lip as she turned to walk away. He watched her to the end of the corridor, and even then he listened to the click of her heels on the floor, until he heard her step into the elevator and she was gone, leaving only the scent of her perfume behind. He'd never forgive himself for letting that one slip away. He closed the door and turned around, finding himself face to face with his daughter.

Her arms were folded across her chest, her head tilted to one side, one eyebrow raised. She looked so much like Emily that it startled the agent, for just a moment. He raised his eyebrows back at her, questioningly. Ava looked at the door, then back at her father. His expression didn't change. The six year old rolled her eyes, with a groan.

"Grown-ups are stupid."

JJ and Penelope were already at the bar, and they had ordered Emily her go-to girls night beverage. She made her way through the throng of people to where she had spotted her friends sitting. They were engaged in conversation as she neared, but once JJ caught sight of her, she stopped whatever she was saying and her jaw dropped. Penelope followed her gaze and raised her eyebrows.

"Hello, sexy mama." The brunette smiled, swinging her hips, exaggeratedly, as she sauntered over to her friends. She slid into the available seat and immediately picked up her glass. It had been too long since she drank something that wasn't the occasional glass of wine that she allowed herself. With their job, they were never off duty unless it was official and in the books that the back-up team would be working, and tonight was the first occasion that it had been so for a long time. This weekend, they were officially off the clock. And that felt good.

"How's Ava?" Penelope asked, sipping her own brightly coloured beverage. Her friend looked like she usually did; there was little difference between Penelope's work clothes and her actual, real life clothes. Emily liked the differentiation in her own wardrobe, personally. But she also loved her friends sense of style; looking at Penelope sitting there in her bright pink dress with a blue cardigan thrown over the top, a yellow belt around her waist and shoes to match, could put a smile on Emily's face in a way only she could.

"She's good, yeah. I just dropped her off at Aarons'. She's taken to the situation a lot better than we anticipated she would, I'm actually really proud of her."

"If Will and I split up, I think Luca would fall apart." JJ said, in reference to her eight year old son. Emily smiled. Luca was a sensitive little boy; much quieter than his older brother, now thirteen year old Henry. "But I'm not surprised Ava is dealing. She compartmentalises like her mother." JJ said it like she was teasing and Emily rolled her eyes.

"Jamie deals. But Kevin and I broke up when he was a babe in arms, so I suppose he's never known anything different, really." JJ and Emily nodded, agreeing with Garcia. She had been unknowingly pregnant with her ten year old son when Kevin had asked her to marry him, all those years ago, before JJ had even tied the knot with Will, and shortly after her friends' wedding, she had found out. She and Kevin had tried to make it work, again, for their child's' sake, but in the end they decided they were better as friends. To their credit, they made it work.

"Enough baby talk!" JJ said, banging her palm on the table and sipping at her own drink. She put down the glass a little too heavily and Emily wondered how many her friend had drank before she'd arrived. "We deal with children every day, and if we're not dealing with children, we're dealing with serial killers. So, tonight...can we just not talk about either of them?"

"Amen." Emily and Penelope agreed, clinking their glasses together.