"I can't believe that we were almost late for this, Hotch! Parking was a nightmare!"

He turned his head to see Penelope plopping down in the empty seat next to him, Derek taking the one of the other side of her. "Yes, and you have no idea how difficult it was for me to save those two seats for you as the venue filled. Any longer, and you probably would have been ushered to the overfill room."

Aaron nodded to Derek, and the younger man grinned as he returned the gesture. "We wouldn't have missed this for the world, man. It is a major accomplishment to go from fish out of water to college graduate in four years. And I already heard from Rossi, he is getting the party set up at his place for as soon as the ceremony is over."

"That's good. Erin said that the whole ceremony should take about ninety minutes, maybe two hours if the commencement speaker rambles on for longer than planned."

Derek and Penelope nodded as they settled back in their seats, the lights coming down as a signal that the ceremony was about to begin. As he stared down at the sea of graduates, he tried to find Erin, but it was impossible, since everyone looked the same in their caps and gowns as they filed in to take their seats. Jack squirmed a little next to him, and Aaron laughed beneath his breath as he reached out to ruffle his hair. His son looked up at him, giving him a quick smile before trying to pay attention to the stage as the first speaker came up to the podium.

It seemed like once the ceremony was under way, all he could focus on was what was happening on stage. Hearing Erin's name made him sit up a little taller, trying to hold back his applause, since they had been asked to wait until the end to acknowledge all students at once in an effort to keep the ceremony running smoothly. Finally, though, all the students were seated once more, and the audience was allowed to applaud, and he watched as Jessica and Jack exuberantly clapped for Erin. Aaron himself had to blink back tears of pride at what is wife had accomplished in four years of hard work and dedication.

The commencement speech was blessedly brief, and he tried not to immediately jump to his feet as the graduates filed out to the sounds of Elgar. "You want to head right out there, don't you?" Penelope asked, and he nodded. "I do, too, but there are so many people thinking the same thing. Trade spots with me, and I'll keep Jack entertained for a little bit while we wait for the teeming masses to clear a little."

"That is probably for the best," he replied as he stood, letting Penelope scoot over into his seat while he took hers. Turning to face Derek, he gave the man a small smile before taking a short breath. "Thanks for coming to this. Dave decided that he couldn't afford to be here and leave the event planner on her own at his place."

"He just wants to make certain that everything goes perfectly today. I get it, he's been your best friend for years, so of course he wants to honor your family this way. And Baby Girl may have hooked up his computer so that he could watch the ceremony from home. It wouldn't be the best quality, but he could still be here in spirit while getting things ready at his house."

"I see." A warm flush of happiness spread across his chest at the thoughtfulness of the gesture. Penelope had become a dear friend to their family over the course of the last four years, and he found himself so grateful for the love and attention she had given Erin, especially when he had been away.

"What time am I supposed to be at Rossi's again?"

He looked up to see Alex standing in the row in front of them, a wide smile on her lips. "He said that if we were all there by two, that should give him enough time to have everything ready. It's just after one, so if you were to head over now, you should be good. I think that we're going to try and find Erin and get some pictures here before we head over there."

The woman nodded before looking away from him. "Do you think that I could join you for that? I can take the pictures, so that everyone is included."

Aaron smiled at her as he rose to his feet. "I think that she'd like that, Alex, especially since you were her academic advisor for the last three years. You've been just as much a part of her life as we all are, so it makes sense that you join us for this."

Jack wormed his way past Penelope to take hold of his hand as they followed Derek into the aisle and then they were heading out into the foyer. It seemed like a good number of the people were already gone, and so he was easily able to make out Erin's familiar shape standing by the bank of windows. Tightening his grip on Jack's hand, he picked up his pace and quickly reached her, slipping his arm around her waist and pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. "Aaron, you finally made it out here."

"We wanted to let the others clear out a bit before braving the crowds. Alex is coming to take pictures with us, since I thought it would be nice to include her before she heads over to Dave's." The smile Erin gave him told him that he'd made the right decision there. "I am so proud of you, darling."

"I'm proud of myself." She leaned up and kissed him softly, and Aaron heard Penelope coo a little, somehow knowing that she had managed to capture that moment on her camera. "All right, Penny, enough gawking at us. I thought we were going to take photographs?"

"I have been, Erin. Candids are the best." Penelope winked at him before gesturing for them to assemble as a family. It didn't take long for them to get all the pictures taken that they wanted, and thanks to another kind attendee, they were able to have everyone in the picture, too, something which he knew Erin would be grateful for when they got them developed. "All right, we're going to head out, and meet you at Rossi's. Oh, god, Erin, I am so so proud at what you've accomplished!" Penelope hugged his wife tightly before grinning at him as she took hold of Derek's hand and left the building.

"I suppose that's my cue to head out as well. See you all soon!" Alex said as she gave them a small wave. Erin nodded and held out her hand to the woman, only for her to shake her head and embrace her warmly. "We're colleagues now, Erin. There's no need to be so formal."

Erin blushed a little as she nodded, and Hotch felt his brow furrow a little at that remark. As soon as Alex was a good ways away from them, he turned to look at his wife, his face still wearing a questioning look. "What did she mean by colleagues?"

"I was accepted into the Masters program that she heads, and I'll be her TA in the fall. If all goes well, I'll move right from that into my PhD. Imagine that, me, a doctor of sorts! And it would never have happened if you hadn't awakened me with your kiss. I will be forever grateful for the curse that brought us together, Aaron. It brought me my greatest joy." Erin smiled at him before leaning up and kissing him soundly, and he kissed her back, in total agreement with her words.