~~CM~~
"Hi Jess." In his black SUV, Aaron picked up her call on the bluetooth speaker as he drove home after a long case.
"Can you chat?" Jess asked.
"Yes, I just got back. How are you?"
"Yeah, Emily mentioned that. We've been texting but I think she is still uneasy about me. I mean, I get it but you are my family," Jess trailed off.
Aaron thought about Haley and their wedding plans, Jess on the outskirts, considered too young to be involved. He thought about Jess' first day of high school, trailing behind him and Haley. Senior Year road trips to Virginia Beach, telling her she was just a sophomore. Driving to college to set up Haley's dorm room, leaving Jess behind.
"You still there?" She asked.
"Yeah, I was just remembering Haley and you when we were young," Aaron smiled, "we've known each other since we were teenagers. You've been in my life longer than anyone and I can't even begin to..." Feeling overly emotional, he stopped himself from continuing, Aaron took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Glancing around, he changed to the right lane and pulled into a gas station. Putting the car in park, he sat for a moment. Aaron knew needed to speak with her in person. "Jess, do you have some time? We can get a cup of coffee."
"Why don't you come over here? I will throw some coffee on and we can talk."
Aaron agreed and hung up. Scrubbing his hands over his face, he tried to relax his body, rolling his shoulders. Shaking his head at his own idiocy, he sat and stared for a few moments before calling Emily.
"Hey Babe, change of plans. I just talked with Jess. I think I need to talk to her in person so I am going to swing by her house now."
"No problem, I'm sure she caught my nerves through text messages," Emily laughed nervously.
"I don't think that's it. I think Jack and I are the only family she has left," Aaron cleared his throat, "her father's Alzheimer's is too far gone and he doesn't know who she is. Em, I think she feels excluded."
Emily inhaled harshly, "oh no, I never intended that."
"This one is on me, Em," Aaron said wearily, "I've treated her like a kid sister for practically her whole life."
"Poor Jess." Emily sighed, "Go. Go see her."
Aaron said his goodbyes and drove out of the parking lot.
Arriving at Jess' home, she met him at the door. Jess smiled up at him, but he saw that her smile didn't reach her eyes. He enveloped her into an embrace, holding her tightly.
"You are my sister, and my friend and confidante," Aaron's voice broke, "I love you, Jess. I'm sorry I haven't told you that I love you, that you are my family."
Jess leaned on him, crying. Her tears soaking into his suit.
Aaron held her tighter and allowed a few of his own tears to escape.
~~CM~~
Glad to be home, Aaron loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt as he got out of his car. He closed the garage door as he entered the house, "Emily, I'm home."
Emily met him in the kitchen, kissing him lightly on the lips. She caressed his face, her eyes searching his.
"I'm fine. Jess is fine," Aaron said as he pulled Emily close, "I need to work on communication skills. And interpersonal skills. And not take people for granted."
Snorting indelicately, Emily tugged him to follow her, "How about you get showered and into comfy clothes? I'll put some tea on and we can talk about it. We have about two hours before the boys will be home."
Aaron climbed the stairs behind her, staring at her behind, "but we could use those two hours wisely."
"Stop staring at my ass," Emily shook her butt at him, "you need to spend some time on your communication skills and interpersonal skills and tell me what's up with you and Jess."
Grumbling under his breath, Aaron took off his suit jacket and tie before upholstering his gun. Placing it in the gun safe, he tried to unbutton his shirt but Emily reached out to him.
She unbuttoned his shirt, pulling gently until it fluttered to the floor. She tugged on his undershirt and he raised his arms so she could undress him.
"Maybe if we use time wisely, we can do both?" He asked.
"Sorry, Mr. Hotchner." Emily disappeared into the bathroom, and he could hear the shower running.
Aaron padded in after her and kissed her, "I love you, Emily."
"I love you too," she said as she stepped away, "water should be hot by the time you get in. I'll make you early grey."
Reminding himself that they needed a new water heater, Aaron finished undressing and climbed into the lukewarm shower.
~~CM~~
Aaron was thrilled to be able to pick up the boys from school. Work often got in the way but when he was able to, he did. Climbing out of the car, he watched as Declan chatted with friends as he made his way to the other side of the building where Jack's class was dismissed. Jack ran to Declan, his backpack hanging open and jacket dragging on the ground.
Feeling a swell of pride for his boys, Aaron watched as Declan pulled Jack to the side and zipped up his backpack. The older boy carried Jack's jacket as they walked towards the Parent Pickup Area. When Jack saw him, he whooped and started running. The teachers were about to stop him but they recognized Aaron as he entered the gate code.
He didn't make it a single step past the fence before both boys were jumping on him.
"I've missed you both so much," Aaron hugged them and signed them out.
As they drove towards home, they filled him in on their week and he noticed Declan hushing Jack several times. After overhearing the word "secret," Aaron decided to make a stop. He fired off a quick text to Emily and ushered the boys into their favorite frozen yogurt shop.
Once the boys had created their monstrosities with too many mix-ins, Aaron, being a mature adult, made his chocolate frozen yogurt with Oreos and rainbow sprinkles mixed in. No one needed to know he had put caramel syrup on the bottom of the cup and as well as on top.
Sitting in a booth across from the boys, he enjoyed talking to them about their friends and upcoming birthday parties for Toby, Hector, and Maddie. As they ate and chatted, Jack tried to say something but Declan nudged him, whispering "it's a secret." Jack slapped both his hands over his mouth.
"Do you remember what Robert told you about secrets?" Aaron asked Declan.
He could see Declan's mind spinning as he tried to remember what his therapist had told him.
"Fun secrets are okay but dangerous secrets are not good and I need to talk to a trusted grownup," Declan said.
Jack piped up, his face covered in raspberry syrup, "We are not supposed to keep secrets that are not safe. Fun secrets are like surprise parties and presents."
Declan elbowed Jack again.
Aaron nodded, "I just want to make sure that you are safe. Both of you have been in danger, both of you had to keep secrets. If you are keeping a secret, can you tell me if you have told a trusted adult about it or if you want to tell me anything?"
"Daddy, it's a fun surprise secret!"
"Yeah, Aaron. Mom knows about it and it's not dangerous," Declan held up his pinkie finger, "I promise."
Holding back a laugh, Aaron hooked his pinkie to Declan's for a pinkie swear. His laugh escaped when Jack stood up in the booth and practically laid on the table to reach so he could pinkie swear the both of them at the same time.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at home, faces and hands sticky. The boys rushed upstairs to wash up.
"I'm pretty sure the car windows have raspberry syrup on them. So glad I changed into jeans," Aaron showed Emily the chocolate stain on his pant leg. He held up a pomegranate frozen yogurt for her, "I got it as we were leaving but it's still a little melty."
He washed his hands at the kitchen sink and used the wet paper towel to dab at the stain.
Aaron could hear the boys thundering down the stairs and screeching as they made it into the kitchen. They thrust a large gift-wrapped box at him.
"I did the gift wrap" Declan announced, pointing to the haphazardly wrapped gift featuring R2D2 and C3PO patterned over and over.
Jack jumped up and down in his spot, "I got to tape it."
Smiling at the boys, and sharing a knowing smile with Emily, Aaron sat down at the table, "What's this?"
"The fun secret." Declan said as Jack yelled, "Surprise! Open it, Daddy."
Opening the present, Aaron laughed as he picked up the red, white, and blush plush slippers with Captain America's head at the front. "I love them," he told the boys as he toed off his sneakers.
He put the slippers on and modeled them for everyone as the whole family laughed.
Emily clapped her hands to get their attention, "all right boys, get your homework out of the way so we have time for Aaron's next surprise."
A couple of hours later, he and his family were all in pajamas and slippers, watching Captain America: The First Avenger in a blanket fort with pizza and popcorn. Aaron couldn't be happier.
~~CM~~
The first (and hopefully only) wedding planning in-person meeting was being hosted at their home. Jess arrived early, hugging Aaron and making a point during her hug with Emily to squeeze extra tight.
Before they could move out of the entryway, Jess held on to both of Emily's hands. "Aaron is my family, Emily," Jess said firmly, "even with Haley being my sister. I know they divorced, they fell out of love but they loved each other. Haley died knowing that Aaron loved her. She loved him, and probably would have always loved him for her whole life had she lived. Love doesn't go away, it binds us together and in this odd connection."
Aaron felt like his throat was closing up as he teared up. Jess reached out for his hand and continued, "Aaron has been my brother for most of my life. So in a bizarre way, that makes you my future sister-in-law. So we are family no matter how we got together."
Emily tugged Jess in for a hug, and Aaron wrapped himself around both of the women. They cried together as Jack wandered by, muttering under his breath, "Grownups are weird."
After everyone had wiped away their tears, Emily shakily offered to open a bottle of wine. Jess accepted and they settled in the living room, sipping pinot grigio and chatted.
Aaron welcomed the Ambassador and Walter into their house. The boys made a beeline for Walter and he slipped them candy. Within seconds, he could hear the boys screeching as they dropped Pop Rocks on their tongues and held their mouths open so they could hear the granules crackle and pop.
Since Walter was taking the boys for the evening, Emily headed to the garage with him so they could get Jack's booster seat.
After settling Elizabeth in the living room with a glass of wine, he answered the door to let in Penelope. She giggled as he encouraged her to call him by his given name.
"Aaron, nope, nope, not gonna happen," Penelope said as he led her to the living room, "I have to call you Hotch."
Penelope said her hellos to Elizabeth and Jess then excused herself to find the boys, jingling her large bag.
"Oh no, I thought she might have a wedding binder but I think she has more gifts," Aaron complained.
Elizabeth laughed, "they are easy to spoil."
Finally, Walter and the boys headed out and the wedding planners settled in. Penelope did have a binder in her voluminous bag.
She started the meeting by asking if everyone had completed their tasks.
Elizabeth had booked the caterer, the final menu to be set, and Aaron had found a tent rental company.
"Dance floor? Tables? Chairs?" Penelope asked.
"Yes, and they have a small chandelier that can hang from the tent."
"Way to go, Hotch!" Penelope held out her hand for a high five and Aaron leaned across the coffee table to reach her. "Jess, flowers? Decorations and arch?"
Jess pulled her tablet from her purse, "I am going out on a limb here but since the proposal was kinda mountain-themed and that's where Aaron and Emily met, I wanted to continue that."
Seeing the look on Elizabeth's face, Jess started speaking faster, "it's totally still elegant. I swear." She pulled up an image on her tablet, flipped it's stand up, and set it on the table so everyone could see. "It's a wooden arch with lights. The flowers can be set on wooden planters that match."
The group was stunned into silence and Jess's voice grew quieter until faded away at the end, "I just thought it was the right backdrop for the backyard but we can go with a more traditional arch."
"It's perfect for my daughter," Elizabeth smiled, "I think it will fit nicely in the west side of the backyard."
The arch was a large wooden hexagon with fairy lights hanging from the top beam. It stood on its own with tall wooden planters on each side.
Feeling better about her arbor choice, Jess' voice was stronger now, "we can hang different lights too, edison bulbs, round lights, mix and match bulbs. Although, I don't think mixing the bulb styles works great but we can do any kind of colors, even multi-colored but again,"
"That wouldn't match their style," Penelope interrupted as she picked up the tablet, "This is perfect. We can put the flower arrangements on the planters. Is this the wood color?"
Aaron glanced at Emily to gauge her reaction. She caught his eye, smiling as Penelope, Jess, and her mother discussed wood stains and light bulb shapes.
"It has to be walnut to match the house trim," Elizabeth said over Penelope's mandate that the bulb shape had to match the tent lighting.
Quietly, Aaron and Emily stood up. They tried to leave the living room discreetly but the Ambassador shook the empty wine bottle in their direction.
~~CM~~