Emily awoke to her alarm the next to an empty bed. Jack's little imprint was still next to her, and it was warm, so she surmised that Hotch must have come in to get him recently. She lay there for a moment to assess whether she was well-rested. Deciding that she was even better than well-rested, she stepped swiftly out of bed and peeked into Jack and Henry's room to find the former asleep in his own bed again. She took a quick shower, got ready, and met Hotch downstairs.

"Morning," Hotch said, sneaking a peek at the front page of the newspaper before they had to get the kids up and ready.

"Morning," she said with surprising cheer. She didn't notice the resultant raised eyebrows from Hotch, as she was reaching into the cupboard for her favorite coffee mug.

"Sleep well?"

"Yeah, actually," she said as she poured.

"Even though Jack came in and bugged you?"

Emily smiled softly at Hotch as she stirred some creamer into her coffee. "He was fine. He had a bad dream, didn't want to wake you up because you'd make him go back to his own bed, and he thought there was a monster in his room. I would've gotten out of bed and done a monster check, but I was so tired so I let it slide. Sorry. I know you want him to sleep in his own room."

"It's fine," Hotch said. "I'll talk to him again, though. Make sure it doesn't become a habit."

"Good plan. How'd Charlotte sleep?"

"Well enough, and she just ate a ton, so I think she's good to go to daycare. You good to go to work?"

"Definitely. And I'm going to call my mother tonight, maybe get together with her and talk." Emily waited for a reaction from Hotch, which didn't take long.

"Really?"

"Why are you so surprised?"

"Because you hid this from her for two months and now you're suddenly ready to talk to her after your fight last night."

"Well, I can't leave something like this hanging up in the air. Plus, I wasn't fair to her last night. She didn't deserve that," Emily said with a shrug.

"Well, to be fair, she wasn't very nice herself."

"Well, she had a reason to be angry. I really didn't."

Hotch furrowed his brow. "You must have slept really well."

Emily scowled, but a grin eventually sneaked across her lips. "So what about your brother?"

"What brother?" Hotch asked with a ghost of a smirk.

"Oh, please, I know you have a brother. JJ and Garcia told me how hot he is." Hotch rolled his eyes in disgust. "So, have you told him?"

"Not yet."

"Ha," Emily said victoriously. "I win. I told my family first—"

"Your family found out first," Hotch corrected, pointing a playful finger at Emily. "You certainly are in a better mood—"

"Don't change the subject," Emily said in a more serious tone. "Really, we need everyone to know. We're a family now. Maybe the weirdest one on the block, but we are."

"So you're more optimistic about getting to keep the kids," Hotch said.

Emily pursed her lips. "More optimistic, yes. Entirely optimistic, no. But the sleep did help."

"As did a relentless pep talk from Garcia?"

Emily chuckled. "That too. And relentless is the perfect word." She smiled uncomfortably as she quickly rehashed everything she and Garcia had talked about the night before. "And while we're on this general topic of the shit that hit the fan last night, what the social worker saw…it's my fault, I should have walked away. But I was tired, I was terrified, I was vulnerable, and I wasn't thinking." She considered pausing to let Hotch get a word in, but decided against it. She needed to be firm. "This is about the kids. And I know I've used this reasoning over and over, but it's true. Sometimes I forget it, and sometimes you forget it, and that's okay. We're human and we make mistakes. But we just need to remind ourselves that we can't risk hurting them. We just can't. They need both of us."

Hotch had risen that morning wondering how long they would be able to go without talking about their moment of weakness the night before. To be truthful, he hadn't been optimistic about Emily's reaction, but to hear her reject the idea of them, yet again, didn't hurt any less. But judging from the grave look on her face, and the shine in her eyes, what she was saying to him wasn't easy. "I'm sorry," he said. "I think I took advantage of the situation a little. You tried to walk away and I didn't let you. And you weren't in any state to make any decisions like that. I'm sorry."

"No, don't be. I'm not upset with you. Let's just…try harder. Practice makes perfect, right?" she said, ending with a sigh.

Hotch nodded distantly. "Want to get the baby ready or the boys?"

"I'll get the baby," Emily said, setting her half-drunk coffee on the counter. "Oh, and can you take some stuff out of the freezer so we can eat real food tonight?"

"Pick up, pick up, pick up," Emily muttered desperately, calling Hotch on her lunch break.

"Hey, what's going on?" Hotch answered in the hurried voice of a multi-tasker.

"I just got a call from social services. We have a court date."

"We do?" Hotch suddenly sounded like Emily had his complete attention.

"Tomorrow at noon. Thank God, because I can go on my lunch break and if they rule in our favor then it shouldn't take long. Not that the kids aren't more important than my job, but I swear, if I miss any more work in the near future, my ass is grass, and I'd like to be able to feed and clothe them, which I don't think we can do on a single income."

"Well, that's a reason to be optimistic, then. Do the kids need to be there with us?"

"No," Emily said shakily. "I can't believe it's tomorrow. Is this really happening?"

Emily's nerves were contagious, and Hotch couldn't find it in himself to tell her to calm down. His voice shook. "Looks like it. Let's regroup tonight. And maybe you should hold off on talking to your mother until after the hearing. Unless you think you'll have her unwavering support. Otherwise it's just going to be additional stress you don't need."

"Oh, I'm one step ahead of you," Emily said. "She can definitely wait."

"Okay, well, I'll see you tonight. I might be home a little late. Go ahead and start dinner without me if the kids are hungry."

"Okay. See you at home." Emily's mind was a confused mix of excited, horrified, contemplative, and just plain restless, which made it hard to focus on her work for the rest of the day. Quitting time couldn't come soon enough. She didn't think she'd ever been happier to pick the kids up than she was that evening.

Emily couldn't help herself—once she got the kids home and settled in, seasoned some chicken and put it in the oven, she sent a text message with the news to Garcia, Reid, Rossi, and Morgan, all of whom responded quickly with words of support and encouragement. Feeling her nerves abate a bit, Emily focused on trying to find something to go with the chicken. She almost did a celebratory dance when she found two boxes of rice hidden behind a giant jar of peanut butter. Henry and Jack were playing in the back yard and the baby was sleeping when Hotch arrived just in time for dinner.

Jack, who must have heard Hotch pull into the driveway, came tearing across the house to the front door. Henry tried to keep up with him, leaving the back door wide open. Emily went to shut it and heard Jack screaming, "Daddy! Daddy!" Such a reaction from Jack when his father got home wasn't uncommon. What followed, though, was entirely new. Henry echoed Jack perfectly. Emily's eyes widened in surprise, which she tried to hide when Hotch struggled into the kitchen, Henry on his hip and Jack tugging at his suit jacket.

"Hey," Hotch said, somewhat awkwardly, clearly unsure whether Emily had heard Henry.

"Hey. Just in time for dinner."

"Great. I'm starving. Boys, go wash up. Jack, you need to help Henry out, okay? Don't leave him hanging like you did last time. He can't reach the soap."

"Okay," Jack huffed, taking Henry by the hand once Hotch set him down.

Hotch, successful at his attempt to give him and Emily one minute alone, eyed her inquiringly. "Did you hear him?"

"Yeah," Emily said breathily. "That's…that's great. He's adjusting. Really well." She kicked herself for it, but she couldn't help but be disappointed. For as much grief as she gave Hotch and Garcia every time they insisted she was a mom, having one or both of the boys call her "mommy" would have melted her heart and would have eased her nerves about the next day even more. And it would have made her believe Hotch and Garcia for once.

"He was just echoing. He's like a parrot right now. You know that," Hotch said, laying a hand on Emily's shoulder.

"He's smart enough to know what a dad is," Emily said. "He knows you're his dad, so he's going to call you 'daddy.'" She turned her attention back toward dishing out dinner.

"The only reason he hasn't called you 'mommy' is because Jack hasn't. He does what Jack does."

"I know. So do you think you can pick me up from work tomorrow and we can drive over together? I'm right on your way."

"Sure," Hotch said, giving up on gaining any headway with Emily for the time being. They enjoyed a much more peaceful evening than the previous one. Even with the newly introduced underlying tension courtesy of Henry's penchant for repeating things, Hotch and Emily both found it hard not to enjoy a night so uneventful. Charlotte wasn't nearly as fussy, ate well, took her medicine without a fight, and Jack and Henry got through the night without any tiffs.

Emily came downstairs, Charlotte against her shoulder, after saying her goodnights to the boys, which was Hotch's cue to do the same.

"I need you to stay in your own bed tonight, buddy," Hotch said to Jack as he tucked him in. "No more sleeping with me or Emily. You're a big boy now, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, big boys sleep in their own beds. All right? I love you."

"Love you too."

"Goodnight." Hotch said with a kiss on Jack's forehead.

"Goodnight, Daddy," Jack said, somewhat disappointed.

"Night, Daddy!" Henry shouted from his bed. Hotch chuckled and said his goodnight to Henry and tucked him in before heading out.

"I thought you were my daddy," Jack said, making Hotch stop in his tracks in the doorway. He turned to see Jack pouting, his face half-illuminated by the light in the hall.

"I am," Hotch said, squatting down next to Jack's bed again. "A father can have more than one son."

"You can?"

"Of course. I'm a daddy to all three of you."

"And Emily is our mommy?"

"You bet," Hotch said, his heart warming. He didn't bother reminding Jack that his had all been clarified already. He couldn't expect a five-year-old to understand completely. If he needed reminding, that was fine.

"Can I call her mommy?"

"Of course you can. You know what? I think she would really like that."

"Can I do it now?" Jack asked eagerly, sitting up.

Hotch smiled and nudged Jack back down against his pillows. "Tomorrow morning, okay?" As much as Hotch thought Emily could use a pick-me-up right now, he didn't want it to seem like he had sent Jack on that mission.

"Okay…"

"Goodnight. Again," Hotch said, amused. Nothing like cute kids to cut the sexual tension down to nothing. Emily's repeated insistence upon a platonic relationship that morning didn't bother him now, at least for the time being. For the first time in a few days, he was perfectly happy. He left their door ajar and went back downstairs, where Emily was already surfing through the DVR. He couldn't hide his anticipatory smile.

"What's with the goofy grin?" she asked, the baby laying across her lap and hanging on to her pinky finger.

"Nothing. The boys were just being goofy. Hey, I think we have ice cream. Want some?"

Emily's lips turned up despite her sulkiness. "Okay, let's establish a ground rule concerning ice cream. I'm surprised I haven't had to do this yet. You never have to ask if I want ice cream."

A/N: Reviews are much appreciated. Please and thank you :)