Emily shoved her spare key into her ex's lock, throwing the door open so she could get herself inside. Her boyfriend had called her ranting about the older man, recounting the entire evening to her about what had happened at the doctor's office.

Looking up from his files, the Unit Chief saw his ex storming into the apartment. "Hey," he stated slowly, frowning at the younger woman. "Did we say something about meeting that I forgot about?"

"You got into a public fight with Richard at the appointment?"

Hotch sighed, standing from his seat. "Emily, it wasn't like that."

"You fought in front of Alisanne," the mother of two accused, throwing her purse to the chair along with her phone. "Why would you do that in front of our daughter? What do you think runs through her mind when you behave like that?"

"When I behave like that? Emily, I was not the only one there."

Emily's eyes hardened. "That's your excuse?"

Hotch took his ex by the arm and led her to the other side of the living room, looking to her with stern eyes. "The kids are nappking."

"Don't bullshit me, Aaron," she seethed, poking her finger into the older man's chest. "You made a scene in front of our daughter and that is completely out of line."

"You've never lost it in front of the kids?"

"Not once!"

Hotch huffed, running his hand over his sweating forehead. "Ok, can we not fight? This isn't the time for this, nor is it that big of a deal."

Emily kept her patience in check, her dark eyes staring hard up into her ex's. "You questioned his love for me," she stated quietly. "'We'll see about that'? What in the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that he's not the only male figure in their life anymore. I'm their father Emily, he's not."

"So what?" she questioned, throwing her hands in the air. "He has been in their lives since their first birthday, alright? He's been like a father to them and that's something you're going to have to deal with."

Hotch fumed, taking a dangerous step toward the younger woman. "He is NOT their father!"

"And are you?"

The older man practically growled at the woman before him, watching as her chocolate eyes turned black as she stared at him. "What in the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Emily scoffed. "Aaron, you all of a sudden come into our lives, and trust me when I say that I'm so grateful that we get to be home and you get to know your kids, but you cannot just come in and act like you've been here forever, and say who can and can't be with the twins! He's been their father before you were, do you get that? They love him, and you can't just write him out like he's nothing."

"He's nothing to me."

Seeing the anger boiling in the older man, Emily gulped, knowing that she couldn't back down from the man she once loved. "Well he's something to me," she nodded, her eyes softening. "I love him, and so do your kids. If you can't try for me, try for them."

Hotch ground his teeth.

"Look," the younger woman's voice almost whispered, "I'm sorry if you don't like him for the fact that he was in the twins' lives before you, or maybe just for the fact that he's with me at all." She shrugged, the mother of two looking into those softening eyes of the older man. "I'm sorry, but we both had to move on. You get that, don't you?"

The Unit Chief watched the mother of his children's lips part, knowing her heart was beating in her ears as she spoke to him.

"I am sorry, Aaron. Please believe me."

He watched her wipe her hand over her quivering lips before walking away from him, his eyes connected with hers before she walked out the door and out of his home.