School Play
The next day she flew back to Washington. At the airport she waited for her daughter's plane to come in from New Haven. They'd arranged this together and she couldn't go without her.
Suddenly she got a text message so looked at it and smiled as she saw Chloe's text. 'Landed xx.' She smiled and went up to arrivals.
When Chloe saw her she ran up and hugged her. "Hi mum," she smiled.
"Hey honey, I'm so proud of you," she answered knowing it was her first solo flight.
"Thanks mum. I'm so glad I've finally done it."
"Let's get a cab," she smiled.
She nodded excitedly. "Do dad and Jack know we're coming?"
She shook her head smiling. "No I told your father I'd be back in two days time. Going to leave it as a surprise for them."
"I can't wait to see their faces."
"Neither can I."
They smiled at each other and hailed a cab. Once they'd got one they headed to Jack's school. They were both excited to see Aaron and Jack again and keep it secret they were coming until they joined them.
When they arrived at the school they thanked the driver and went inside. They looked around the school for the school hall and soon found it. Once they were there they scanned the room for Aaron. They smiled when they saw him at the back of the room and two empty seats beside him.
They headed over and he looked up in shock. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw them but got up anyway.
"What are you doing here?" he smiled.
"You didn't think we'd miss Jack's play, did you?" they smiled back.
"Of course not."
He kissed both their cheeks and helped them into their seats. Emily snuggled into him intertwining their fingers and rested her head on his shoulder.
They watched the play in this position. It was a really good play and they were proud of Jack. It was a production of Oliver and Jack had the lead role.
After the play he came running up. When he saw Emily and Chloe he exclaimed their names excitedly. He reached them and they both hugged him.
"You came to my play! I told dad you would but he wouldn't believe me," he smiled.
Emily raised an eyebrow and he defended, "You said you were coming home in two days time. No-one breathed a word to me."
She kissed his cheek and answered, "It was meant to be a surprise."
"And it was a wonderful surprise," he smiled hugging her close to him and kissing her hair.
"I'm glad," she smiled up at him.
"How did I do?" Jack asked.
"You were perfect, buddy. We're so proud of you," they smiled at him.
He beamed back up at them. "I enjoyed myself."
"We're glad you did, little brother," Chloe smiled ruffling his hair.
His fifth grade teacher came walking up and smiled when she saw his dad but her face fell when she saw the woman he was with. She'd had a crush on him since she taught Jack in the third grade. She'd been so happy when she was assigned his class again.
Emily slipped away from his embrace and offered her hand. "Hi, you must be Jack's teacher. I'm Emily Prentiss, his dad's girlfriend."
"Yes I am, Ms Springer. Nice to meet you," she smiled trying not to show the disappointment on her face.
"Nice to meet you too. Jack's told me so much about you."
"All good stuff I hope," she answered smiling at the boy.
"Absolutely," Emily smiled up at her placing her hand on Jack's shoulder.
They headed home shortly after introducing Chloe. She'd changed her name legally to Hotchner a couple of weeks before starting Yale. She'd wanted to start with the name she was always meant to have.