Christmas Dreams
"Bunny!"
Emily wiped her hands on a nearby dishtowel as her father came into the kitchen, arms open wide. "Merry Christmas Daddy," she said, pressing a kiss to her father's cheek before submitting to his hug.
"Merry Christmas, Bunny," her father replied. "You... are positively glowing."
Emily beamed. "I feel good."
"You're taking it easy?"
Penelope, who refused to let Emily cook by herself and was therefore puttering around the kitchen with the brunette, snorted.
"Emily..."
"I'm fine, Daddy," Emily tried to reassure him.
Jonathan raised an eyebrow.
Emily knew that look well. "There was a little bit of a stressful few hours," she finally relented. "It wasn't that big of a deal."
"Emily Catherine..."
"It's the truth, sir," Penelope spoke up. "Hotch called me and Derek and I came over to lend a hand. She even had a nap this afternoon."
"Bunny, you've almost made it," Jonathan scolded.
"Trust me, Daddy, I know."
"Then why did Aaron have to call Penelope? You can be so much like your mother."
Emily flashed her father an innocent grin. "From the way Mother tells it you're the stubborn one."
The pregnancy had managed to bond the ambassador and her only daughter. Elizabeth had come through for her daughter with stories of her own pregnancies and it had brought out the seldomly seen compassionate side of the ambassador. Emily had even voluntarily gone to parties at her mother's and Elizabeth had kept an eagle eye on her daughter. It had warmed Jonathan's heart.
"Of course your mother would say that," Jonathan responded.
"Are you going to contradict me, Jonathan? Hello sweetheart." Elizabeth Prentiss had managed to take everyone in the kitchen by surprise.
Emily stepped up to exchange kisses with her mother. "Merry Christmas, Mother."
"Merry Christmas darling. Hello Penelope."
"Ambassador Prentiss," Penelope greeted.
"Please, it's Elizabeth," the ambassador corrected. "Is Gabrielle here, darling?"
"I haven't seen her," Emily answered pleasantly. "But Pen and I have been in the kitchen since about four, so I really haven't seen who is here and who isn't. Fran is here and I'm sure you saw Chris and Charlotte on your way in."
"Braden is getting so big," Elizabeth said, eyes glowing. Emily couldn't remember the last time her mother looked so young.
"They grow up so fast," Penelope agreed. "Yesterday Gabi was just starting to crawl and now she's running around this place."
JJ bustled in at that moment. "Em, do you have another veggie plate? Gabi and Jack got into this one."
"Is there dip everywhere?" Penelope asked with trepidation, already wiping her hands.
JJ waved Penelope off. "Derek's already got Gabi in the bathroom with the diaper bag."
"Honey, we're going to need a cloth out here. And my parents have just arrived," Aaron called just as Jack impacted her legs.
"Gabi made a mess!" he exclaimed.
Emily placed a hand on Jack's head. "Did she?"
"All over the table," Jack agreed, nodding vigorously.
"Okay, we'll make sure we clean it up," Emily reassured him. "Are you sharing nicely?"
"Daddy and Uncle Chris said Braden's too little for some of my toys," Jack replied.
"Emily!"
It surprised the brunette when Jack moved around behind her, hiding from Aaron's parents. "Gabrielle, Liam."
"We just had to come over and see how you were doing with our grandbaby," Gabrielle gushed, pushing past Elizabeth and Jonathan to place both of her hands on Emily's baby bulge.
"Just fine, Gabrielle," Emily answered with a tolerant smile.
"Mother, Father, can I get you a drink?" Aaron had followed his parents, having recognized the glint in his mother's eyes when she'd stepped in the door. "Elizabeth? Jonathan?"
Emily smiled her relief, her hand still stroking through little Jack's hair. She made a mental note to ask about Jack's relationship with Aaron's parents.
"I offered to host this," Penelope reminded her.
"Aaron and I got out of both Christmas galas for this," Emily admitted. "Thanks so much for helping."
"Of course," Penelope replied, following JJ back into the living room with a wet towel.
Emily turned her attention to her stepson. "How would you like to help me set the table?"
"Emily, go sit down," Aaron requested as he made another pass through the kitchen with another armful of dishes.
"We have to do something with this kitchen, Aaron," Emily replied from where she was scraping plates.
"Honey, Derek and I can handle things in here. You need to go relax."
"Aaron, I'm fine."
But he wasn't about to listen. He plucked the dishes from her hands, set them in the sink while she spluttered and all but pushed her from the kitchen. "Your father has volunteered to play Santa. Go help Gabi open presents and make sure my son says thank you."
He only smiled when she glared and watched to make sure she was sitting before going back to the dining room for another load of dishes.
"She's damned stubborn," Derek said with a wide smile.
"Some things don't change," Aaron agreed. "Getting her to agree to maternity leave after eight months was probably the worst day of my life."
"Did she agree?"
"After a two hour yelling match," Aaron admitted. "She's in Quantico now, maternity leave will start at eight months, so she'll be home all the time."
"I'll let my mom know. Maybe she and Gabi can come visit, give her something to do," Derek offered.
"She would love that," Aaron agreed. "She's going to go stir crazy just sitting around. And I need to ask a favour of you. The nursery. Baby's not due until late January, but Emily's birthday comes before that. I was thinking of putting the nursery together for her for her birthday so she doesn't have to worry about it."
"Get it done before she goes completely crazy? I'm in." Derek agreed.
"Emily does not relax well," Aaron said with a nod.
"She never has."
Both Derek and Aaron jumped slightly at Jonathan's voice.
"I figured I should come help before Jack lost all of his patience. He won't open anything until his daddy is there to watch him," the older man explained.
"He hasn't opened anything yet?" Aaron inquired.
"Emily has him and the other two well in hand," Jonathan reassured.
Aaron and Derek exchanged a glance. "Storytime."
Jonathan laughed. "She does that too? It was always the best way to distract Emily and Chris when they were children."
"Jack won't let anyone else tell stories," Aaron replied. "He brags to his friends at school about her."
It was then that Derek gracefully excused himself, leaving son-in-law and father-in-law alone in the kitchen.
"I never got a chance to thank you," Jonathan began conversationally.
Aaron's brow wrinkled in confusion. "For what?"
"You've given my daughter every happiness a father could ask for," Jonathan answered. "I worried about her because of how closed off she can be, but Emily is a very loyal and passionate woman. You bring out the vibrancy in her I remember from when she was a little girl."
"She's a remarkable woman, Jonathan. She deserves more," Aaron replied.
"She's happier with you than I have seen her in many years," Jonathan replied. "Aaron, you've made her a mother. There isn't a better gift you could give her."
"Daddy! Grandpa Jon! Hurry up!"
Aaron chuckled. "My son did not get the patient gene."
"Your son?" Jonathan required with a raised eyebrow. "Or your wife?"
Aaron grinned. It was completely possible that Emily had gotten his son to try and speed up the cleaning process. "Probably both."
"Well then I'd say we hurry up. I don't know about your son, but I do know my daughter and Emily impatient was never pretty."
Aaron glanced around the kitchen. These could wait until his son was busy with whatever presents he was allowed to open tonight. "Then let's not keep them waiting."
Jonathan clapped a hand on Aaron's shoulder. "I couldn't have asked for a better son-in-law."
He didn't care if he got anything else for Christmas anymore. His father-in-law's verbal approval was a pretty good gift.
"Can we make a teal?" Emily inquired, her feet in her husband's lap.
"I'm listening."
"We never host Christmas when I'm pregnant."
He outright laughed. "Not seven months," he agreed. "Stressful day, honey?"
"Probably more for you than for me," Emily replied, letting out a groan when he hit a particularly tense spot.
"I hated seeing you as strung out as you were," he replied. "That stressed me out."
"I'm sorry," she said on a sigh.
"No, I'm sorry. I should have seen this coming."
Emily arched an eyebrow at him. "How were you supposed to see this coming?"
"I don't know," he admitted with a chuckle. "But you are supposed to be on minimal stress. Today probably didn't help your blood pressure."
"I'm going to be on virtual house arrest in a month, Aaron, and you've already got me riding a desk at Quantico."
"With your agreement," he reminded her.
Emily sighed, pulling her feet away to cuddle against her husband instead. As much as she enjoyed his hands working the tension from her very sore feet, there was nothing better than snuggling with him. "I didn't really get a choice."
"Are we about to debate how unfair it is for a woman who wants to have a career and a family?" he asked, easily wrapping his arms around her.
"No," she said with a laugh. "I always wanted to be a mother."
"You make a fantastic mother."
"Aaron, I don't have a child."
"A biological child. I've seen you with Gabi and Jack, especially Jack. I know."
She smiled as she kissed him. "I can't wait for Baby to come into the world," she said softly, hand rubbing over her stomach.
"Me either," he agreed. "Our Anna-Joy is going to be as beautiful as her mother."
"You still haven't changed your mind? You're sure it's a girl?" Emily asked, absently picking up one of his hands and moving it so he could feel their baby kicking.
"We are going to have a little Anna-Joy Hotchner."
Emily chuckled. "Between you and Jack, AJ will be out of the house before she starts dating."
"But if she looks anything like you we'll be beating off boys with sticks. I hope she's the spitting image of you."
Emily felt tears welling in her eyes. She brushed them away with a reassuring smile. "Let's go to bed, Aaron. Your over-excited son is going to wake up ridiculously early and will want to see what Santa brought."
"I'll meet you upstairs," he promised.
She hummed as she kissed him. "Don't keep Mrs Claus waiting too long, Santa."
He would never dream of it.