Hi guys! I got kind of stuck with this one, because I had something COMPLETELY different in my plans, but then it all somehow changed and it took me a bit to figure out what to do, but I think I got it how I want it finally (and it's longer than some other chapters, so that's good news for you guys!). Thanks so much for your patience! : )

XxxX

Emily stayed with Jack the next day and Hotch went into work, though he only stayed until noon. Jack was mostly better, just weak and tired. They spent the day in the living room watching movies. Jack wanted Emily to stay one more night, and of course she agreed.

Jack went right to bed after dinner, though they hadn't done much all day he was still pretty worn out. Both Hotch and Emily hoped by tomorrow he'd be better. They were glad he had the weekend to recover.

"Are you feeling alright?" Hotch asked after Jack had gone to his room.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. I'm just tired." She said. She felt a little off, but she was sure it was just because she was tired. Jack had gotten them up a couple of times the night before, and she'd been so worried about him that she didn't sleep well anyway.

"I hope you're not getting what Jack has." Hotch said worriedly.

"I don't feel sick, honestly. It's just a headache." Emily sent him a smile, though her attempt was futile. Hotch saw right through her.

"We should go to bed soon ourselves." Hotch suggested.

"It's not even 8 yet." Emily said. "Let's at least watch a movie or something, we're not old enough to go to bed this early." She joked.

"Alright," Hotch agreed. "But let's watch it in the bedroom."

Emily rolled her eyes playfully and rose from the couch as she pulled Hotch up with her. Hand in hand they went to Hotch's bedroom. He let her borrow some pajamas again and they changed and cuddled up next to each other on the bed. Emily let Hotch pick the movie, because despite her earlier argument she knew she was going to fall asleep as soon as she lay down.

Emily woke up that next morning feeling like she'd been hit by a truck. She immediately closed her eyes and covered her face with the blanket. Maybe she did catch what Jack had after all. She took a breath, trying to ward off the ever present nausea so she could get up and go home. She didn't want to bother anyone, she'd be fine. She would just leave a note and go home to sleep this off.

Slowly she sat up, but as soon as she did she found herself rushing across the hall, unable to fight the nausea anymore. Emily usually had a pretty strong stomach, she couldn't even remember the last time she'd been this sick. A few minutes later she heard the door click and Hotch come inside. She wanted to tell him to go away, but instead she threw up into the toilet again.

He got down on his knees next to her and held back her hair and ran his hand up and down her back until she sat up straight again.

"How are you feelin', sailor?" Hotch asked. Emily groaned.

"Like I drank an entire bottle of tequila all by myself." She said seriously. "I'm sorry. I should go; I don't want you to catch it." Emily said. She wanted to get up off the floor but she didn't really trust herself to stand without getting sick again.

"I've already been exposed. I'm not letting you leave when you can barely sit up." Hotch said. He placed a hand on Emily's forehead. "You feel really warm." He commented. He left her sitting on the floor, knees pulled up to her chest. He retrieved the thermometer and took her temperature.

"It's a little higher than Jack's was. Do you think you can take some medicine?" He asked her.

She groaned again, the thought of putting anything in her stomach made her stomach turn. "Maybe later." She managed.

"Can you get up?" He asked. He'd only seen her sick a very few times since he'd known her, but he'd never seen anything like this. He was worried, but he tried to keep calm by reminding himself that Jack had the same thing and he was already getting better.

"I think so." Emily replied, she pulled herself up off the floor slowly. "Are you sure you don't want me to go home?" Emily asked as Hotch steadied her shaky body. "Holding my hair while I puke probably wasn't on your list of fun things to do on a Saturday."

"You are not going anywhere." Hotch said as he kept a hold on her to keep her steady. "Now, wanna camp out on the couch or the bed?" He asked, brushing her hair out of her face.

Emily shrugged. "Doesn't matter. I don't want to take over your bed."

"You'll be more comfortable there. I'll bring you some movies and magazines and whatever else you want so when Jack gets up we don't bother you." Hotch said.

Emily closed her eyes, standing up was making her feel dizzy. "Okay." She agreed as Hotch helped her back to his bedroom, lying her down and lightly kissing her forehead. He went across the hall again and got her a cloth for her head just like she had done for Jack.

He went back to his bedroom and gently placed the cloth on her forehead.

"Thanks," Emily said quietly. "I'm sorry." She said again.

"Don't apologize for being sick, sweetheart." Hotch said, the term of endearment rolling off his tongue as if it were the most natural thing in the world. They rarely used pet names for each other, so she knew he was serious.

"Okay." Emily said, too tired to even argue.

"Just try and take a nap, I'll come and check on you in a bit." Hotch told her. He tucked her in much like he might for Jack and quietly left the room, pulling the door closed behind him.

Emily did manage to sleep for a little while, but eventually she woke up again. She didn't feel any better, but she didn't feel any worse either. She very slowly sat up and glanced at the clock, noting it was already well into the afternoon. She couldn't remember a time that she'd slept so late. She didn't move for a few minutes, allowing her body to get used to sitting up before she finally got out of bed. Her legs were shaky and weak, but she managed to walk into the living room without any issues. She didn't even feel that sick anymore, and she hoped that meant the worst of it was over.

"Hey Sleeping Beauty," Hotch greeted her. He and Jack were seated on the floor, a puzzle spread out on the coffee table in front of them.

"Hi," She replied, slowly moving to sit on the couch near them. "What are you guys doing?"

"A puzzle. It's supposed to be a sunset but right now it just looks like a blob." Jack answered. Emily had to smile.

"Are you feeling better?" She asked him.

Jack nodded. "I don't even have a fever today! But Dad said you're sick now."

"A little, but I'm okay." Emily assured the boy.

"Sorry I got you sick," Jack said.

"It's not your fault, don't be sorry." Emily told him. "Besides, it's nice to have an excuse to sleep all day." She joked. Though, she could really do without the constant ache in her head and the queasiness of her stomach, but she left that part out.

Jack put a couple more pieces of the puzzle together before he got up from the floor and went to sit beside Emily. He put his hand up to her forehead just like she'd done for him.

"You feel like you have a fever. Did you take medicine?" He asked her.

Emily smiled weakly. "No, I didn't." She told him honestly. "Maybe I should. Do you want to go get it for me?" She asked. Jack nodded eagerly and headed off in search of the bottle in the medicine cabinet.

"Do you think you can take some now?" Hotch asked, pulling himself up off the floor and moving to sit beside her.

Emily shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. But if I can kick this fever I'm sure I'll start to feel better." She decided.

"Have you been sick anymore?" He asked her, concerned.

She shook her head. "Nope, I've been sleeping since this morning." She told him.

"That's good, maybe you're already getting better." Hotch said, putting an arm around her and smiling when she leaned her head into his shoulder.

"God, I hope so. I literally thought I was dying this morning." She admitted.

"Ah, the armor cracks." Hotch joked.

Emily lifted her head up for a moment and bit back a smile as she playfully slapped his arm. "Whatever." She said, pretending to pout but resting her head on his shoulder once again.

Seconds later, Jack returned with the bottle of fever-reducing medicine and handed it to her.

"Thanks, Jack." Emily said. She took the required dosage and grimaced as she swallowed it.

"I got you this too!" Jack said, giving her a bottle of Gatorade.

"You're good at this." Emily said as she took a few tiny sips. She knew she had to; she didn't want to get dehydrated.

"It's what you did when I was really sick." Jack shrugged.

Emily smiled at him. "You're a great doctor." She told him, running her hand over his hair.

Thankfully, Emily seemed to be over the worst of whatever virus she'd caught. She wasn't sick anymore, though she had to move slowly and couldn't think about eating anything. Her fever broke the next morning and within a couple of days she and Jack were as good as new. Somehow, Hotch managed to get through the weekend without catching it. By Monday, Jack was back at school, Hotch was back at work, and Emily finally went back to her apartment after an unexpected few days away.

It felt strange being back at her apartment. She found she'd much rather be at Hotch's place. She felt more at home there than she ever felt at her own place. It scared her a little, because she'd never felt like this before. She knew what they had was great, and she knew he probably missed her as much as she missed him when they were away, but that didn't make it any less scary for her. She spent so long building up walls and keeping people out that when she did decide to let someone in, it was terrifying. This time though with Hotch and with Jack, it felt right. Despite all her fears and all her emotions, she knew she'd never find anything better.

XxxxX

Before Emily knew it, it was almost Hotch's birthday. His birthday fell just before Thanksgiving, and she wasn't completely sure what she was going to do for him. She had the picture of him and Jack from Jack's birthday party that she wanted to have framed, but she didn't feel like that was enough. He had always been a great friend to her, going above and beyond when he didn't have to. Through this past year, he had become the one constant thing in her life that she knew she could always count on.

She had no idea how to channel those feelings toward him into a gift. She knew rationally that it didn't really matter what she got him, but she still wanted it to be great. For her birthday last month he'd actually tracked down a first edition copy of her favorite Vonnegut novel. She wanted to do something like that for him, but she just couldn't decide what. He didn't read much unless it was for work, and he hardly watched TV.

So, the day before Hotch's birthday, Emily offered to pick Jack up at school to give Jessica the afternoon off. She hoped Jack could give her some good suggestions on something she could get for him. At exactly 3pm, Emily was standing outside Jack's school with all the other parents and guardians that came to pick up their respective children. She'd never done this before, but it felt like she had a thousand times. At exactly 3:03, Jack ran up to her and threw his arms around her waist. She hugged him back and smiled. She was glad he didn't think he was "too old" to hug her around his friends.

"How was your day?" She asked him, putting an arm around his shoulder and leading him to her car. She listened as he went on about what happened at school, describing pretty much everything that happened from the time he got to school until he saw Emily.

Emily took Jack to her place and helped him with his homework, though he didn't need very much help.

"Will you help me with something before I take you home to your Dad?" Emily asked as she helped Jack put all his school things back in his bag.

"Sure," Jack agreed, zipping the bag and putting it on the ground. "What is it?"

"I don't know what to get him for his birthday." Emily admitted.

"Aren't you coming over tomorrow?" Jack asked.

"Yes, but I'd like to have a present for him, too." Emily said. "Well, I do have a picture I got enlarged and framed, wanna see it?" Emily asked.

Jack's eyed widened. "Yeah!"

"Okay, come on. But you have to keep it a secret." Emily said as she led the boy to her bedroom where she was keeping the picture.

Jack nodded in agreement and Emily pulled the picture out of a drawer, where she was keeping it so nothing would happen to it.

Jack looked at it and smiled, recognizing where it was taken. It was a candid of Jack and Hotch, neither of them looking at the camera but both of them smiling happily at each other.

"This is from my party!" Jack said.

"Mhm, do you think he'll like this?" Emily asked, not really sure why she was so insecure over a present. She knew she could get Hotch anything and he'd like it. She knew that even if she just came over without anything, he wouldn't care. But it had been a long time since Emily was in a relationship she cared so much about. She knew she was being ridiculous, but she just couldn't seem to help it.

"Yeah, he always says he doesn't have enough pictures 'cause when we spend time together he forgets to take them." Jack said.

"Oh, good." Emily smiled.

"I know what you can get him!" Jack said excitedly, placing the picture frame on Emily's bed.

"What's that?" Emily asked.

"Get him a photo album!" Jack said. "Jessica makes scrapbooks, but Dad probably wouldn't like that. Just one he can put pictures in when he remembers to take them. Or when you take them for us." Jack said with a smile.

"You are so smart, I don't know what I'd do without you." Emily said honestly. "Thank you, Jack." She told him sincerely, pulling him into a hug.

"Well," she said once she let him go. "Your Dad should be home now, you ready to go home?" She asked.

Jack nodded. "Are you eating dinner with us?" He asked hopefully as they headed back into the living room and got their things.

"I don't know," Emily said. There hadn't been any plans made, but Emily knew that didn't really mean anything. More nights than not, all three of them ate dinner together. In fact, Emily felt weird when she did eat alone. "Do you want me to?" She asked jokingly, picking up Jack's backpack and handing it to him.

"Yeah, I wish you stayed with us every night!" Jack said as he slid the bag over his shoulders. "That'd be cool."

Emily laughed as she grabbed her purse and keys before opening the door to her apartment. "You're sweet. We'll see, okay? If your Dad has something else planned I'll definitely be there tomorrow." She assured the boy as they made their way down to her car.

"Okay." Jack agreed as he opened the door and crawled into the back seat, resting his bag beside him as Emily got into the driver's seat.

Of course, Emily did end up eating dinner with the two Hotchners. She sometimes wondered when she was alone if they might be moving too fast, they were hardly ever apart. But when she was with Hotch in any capacity, it just felt right. When she spent time with him and Jack, it felt like the most normal thing in the world to her. So she forced herself to push any of those negative thoughts out of her mind, and focus solely on how lucky she was to have what she had.

XxxxX

The next evening, Emily arrived at Hotch's apartment at exactly 6pm, per Jack's request. Jack had told Emily weeks ago that he wanted to make dinner on his dad's birthday, but that he couldn't really cook anything. So without hesitation, Emily offered to help Jack out with it. Hotch knew that she was coming over, but not that she and Jack were making dinner.

"Emily!" Jack said excitedly as he opened the door for her. She'd probably never get tired of being greeted with his bright eyes and wide smile.

"Jack!" Emily replied with the same enthusiasm as she came in and hugged him. "Where's your Dad?"

"Getting ready. I told him you were coming at 6:30 so we could start without him knowing." Jack said proudly.

"You're sneaky." Emily laughed, running a hand over his hair. "Come on, let's see what we got." She said as they headed into the kitchen. Jack went to the refrigerator and opened it, carefully looking over everything they had available. Emily stood beside him and mentally planned out a meal. She didn't want to do anything too time consuming, since it was a week night and Jack would have to go to bed.

"Let's see, you've got chicken, that's not too hard." Emily said. "Do you guys have any pasta?"

Jack nodded and showed her the cabinet over the sink, since he was still too short to reach it.

"Okay, good." She looked through more cabinets and found pesto sauce that was still within the use by date, cherry tomatoes, and just enough stuff to make a pretty decent salad. "Okay, I can make something out of this, do you think that'll be alright?" Emily asked, hoping Jack said yes because truthfully her culinary skills weren't the greatest. Mostly because she was rarely ever home and couldn't keep groceries that went bad quickly. But she had learned a few things since coming back to DC, mostly from George who had taught her to make a couple different things, one of them being a pesto chicken and pasta dish that she'd made before. She was pretty sure she remembered how to do it.

"Sure, it'll be fine." Jack smiled. "I can help right?"

"Of course!" Emily said as she set all the ingredients out. "This was your idea." She reminded him.

They got to it, knowing Hotch would probably come into the kitchen at any minute. Emily wondered how he hadn't heard them already. Emily cut up the chicken, but let Jack mix up the salad, put the pasta in the water, and pour the sauce on the chicken. They were having so much fun together they didn't even notice Hotch come into the room.

He stood in the door way, a big smile plastered on his face. He had no idea Emily was coming early, but he'd heard her come in. He knew then that she and Jack had to be plotting something, so he stayed away and let them think they were getting away with it. He could smell them cooking when he opened his bedroom door. Watching them together now made his heart happy. Jack was laughing and telling Emily jokes he was obviously making up off the top of his head. Emily was honestly laughing, indulging him happily as she simultaneously helped Jack cook whatever it was she was making. She was so beautiful, her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail, wearing dark jeans and a purple long-sleeved shirt. The sleeved were rolled up to prevent anything getting on them as she cooked. He'd always found Emily to be beautiful, and the more he got to know her, the more beautiful she became.

After a few minutes of watching them, he finally made his presence known. He cleared his throat and stepped farther into the room.

Emily and Jack turned around to see him standing there, still smiling.

"Oh, hi." Emily said softly, stepping closer to him to fill the gap between them. "Happy birthday!" She said, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. She laughed as she felt him pick her up ever so subtly off the ground, kissing her temple as he put her back down.

"Thank you," he said sincerely. "What have you two been up to?" He asked.

"We made dinner!" Jack said excitedly.

"Jack wanted to make you something for your birthday, but since he needed a little bit of help I told him I'd be happy to come over." Emily explained.

Hotch looked at them both for a moment, smiling at them and wondering how he'd gotten this lucky.

"I'm sure it's great. Thank you guys." Hotch said.

Emily finished up the meal within a few more minutes, and then they all sat down together to eat it. Hotch and Jack complimented her many times on how great it was.

"George taught me how to do it, and Jack did most of the work." Emily said. "But thanks for being sweet." She smiled.

Emily had also brought over an ice cream cake that she'd put in the freezer upon her arrival. She knew that was Hotch's favorite, so she'd picked one up on her way over. He'd loved it, and so did Jack.

After that, Jack gave Hotch a card he'd made and Hotch immediately put it on the refrigerator. Emily went into the living room to get the gift she'd gotten him from the coffee table and brought it to him.

"Emily, you didn't have to get me anything." Hotch said, taking the perfectly wrapped box.

"I know I didn't." Emily shrugged. Hotch just shook his head and opened it.

The photo album was on top, Emily had gone with a simple, black, leather bound one. It seemed very Hotch like. He smiled as Jack quickly explained the logic behind the book.

"That's great, this will be motivation to actually start taking pictures. Thank you, Em." Hotch said sincerely.

"Look at the other one!" Jack requested excitedly.

"Okay, okay." Hotch said, carefully pulling the tissue pape back to reveal the framed photo of him and Jack.

"Oh, Emily." Hotch said quietly. "This is from Jack's party?"

Emily nodded. "You guys looked so cute and happy, I just wanted to document it."

Hotch set the frame down on the table in front of him and reached out to grab Emily by the waist and pull her into his lap. She sat down, actually giggling at his antics.

"I absolutely love it. Thank you." He said, his voice a low whisper just as their lips met.

They didn't break apart until they heard a playful "ew" from Jack. When they glanced over at him he was smiling.

The three of them spent the rest of the night together, Jack requesting they try to finish one of the puzzles he'd started earlier in the week until Jack went to bed. After he was tucked in for the night, Hotch met Emily in his bedroom.

He lay down beside her, pulling him close to her and smiling as their fingers intertwined.

"Have you had a good birthday?" Emily asked, looking over her shoulder to see him as best she could without moving.

Hotch kissed her cheek. "This has been the best birthday I've ever had." He said.

Emily rolled over to face him. "I'm glad. You liked the picture? And the photo album? That was Jack's idea. I just didn't want to get you something stupid."

"You could never get me anything stupid. I'd love anything because it came from you. But yes, I loved everything. You're an amazing woman, Emily." Hotch told her.

"Hmm, you're just being nice to me so I'll hurry up and get to part three of your gift, aren't you?" Emily smirked.

"Oh, there's a part three?" Hotch feigned confusion.

"Mhm." Emily purred, moving so that she was sitting up and straddling his hips. "You've gotten it plenty of times before, if I'm remembering correctly."

"Oh, you are." He said with a wink as he pulled her down to kiss her once again. He loved how effortless everything seemed to be with Emily. They knew each other like the back of their own hand. The first time they'd made love, it was like they'd done it a thousand times; like they were made for each other. He'd truly never felt this way with anyone before. Emily had never said it, but somehow he knew she felt the same.