June 7th, 2013 - 24 weeks pregnant

"C'mon bud, we're back at the house. Let's brush teeth and get you to bed."

Aaron pulled Jack out of the car and carried him to their AirBnb. They had spent the morning at the San Diego Zoo and the afternoon and evening at LegoLand. Jack was exhausted and had fallen asleep in the car. Jack could barely keep his eyes open and laid his head on his dad's shoulder as Beth unlocked the front door.

"Or maybe we'll just skip teeth brushing tonight and go straight to bed," Hotch smiled at his tired son.

Hotch laid him in the bed in the guest bedroom and took off his shoes before tucking him under the covers and kissing his forehead.

"Sleep tight, Jack. We love you."

Turning out the light he stepped out of the room and closed the door. He noticed Beth was out on their balcony and he grabbed himself a glass of scotch before joining her. Beth smiled at him as he opened the sliding glass door.

"Out like a light?" She asked him.

"Out like a light." He confirmed.

Beth moved her feet so he could sit next to her on the couch before she put them back on his lap when he sat down. He lightly rubbed her feet with one hand while sipping his scotch with the other.

"You know what would be nice?" Beth asked him.

"Hm?"

"Take a long drink of that scotch and let it linger in your mouth a bit before you kiss me."

Hotch laughed. "Jonesing for a drink are you?"

"I didn't realize how much I enjoyed our night caps until I couldn't have them anymore!" Beth whined. "First thing you're doing after I push out this baby is pouring me a glass of champagne."

Hotch took a drink. "Deal." He leaned over and kissed Beth letting her taste the scotch still on his lips.

"Mm damn that's stiff."

Hotch smiled and shook his head. He lifted up Beth's shirt and placed his hand over her belly softly rubbing.

"And how's my favorite fetus doing?" The baby seemed to do a somersault under his hand. "That good, huh? Do you like it in there? We can't wait to meet you!"

Beth smiled as the baby continued to move and kick at the sound of Hotch's voice.

"That baby loves nothing more than kicking in the middle of the night and to the sound of your voice."

"A babe after my own heart." Hotch said as he leaned down and kissed her belly before pulling her shirt back down. "Have you been thinking about names at all?"

"A bit? I don't know. It almost seems too early. I guess I don't want to get stuck on a name and then feel like I can't change my mind."

"Well that's the beauty of not knowing the sex," Hotch smirked at her. "We can't be dead set on a name if we don't know if it's a girl or a boy. So we can change our minds whenever we want!"

"I don't want our kid to be named something that no one will ever be able to pronounce, but I also don't want them to have the same name as five other kids in their class. I graduated with at least four other Elizabeth's. What are some other names that you like?"

"I kind of like old fashion names for girls; like Hazel or Margot. For boys I tend to like the classics; Alexander, Andrew, names like that.

"I like all of those names. I just don't feel like any of them stand out as something I desperately want to name my kid. I don't know why!"

"Naming a kid is a big deal! We barely had Jack's name picked out before we went to the hospital - and with him we knew he was a boy so we truly didn't have an excuse."

"And to think; this will probably be the least stressful part about having a baby."

Hotch laughed. "That's almost a guarantee."

Beth chuckled before yawning loudly.

Hotch stood up and helped pull her off the couch. "Come on, dear. Let's go to bed."

Beth happily followed him into the bedroom and curled up next to him before falling asleep in his arms.

June 8th, 2013 - 24 weeks pregnant

Hotch poked his head into the bathroom where Beth was curling her hair. "Hey, I'm just going to go drop off Jack at JJ and Will's. I'll be back in like 15 minutes."

JJ and Will had rented an AirBnb near Beth and Hotch's and had offered to watch Jack so that Beth and Hotch could have a date night in San Diego. They had spent a majority of the day at the beach and Jack and Henry had loved playing on the beach and in the ocean. Morgan jumped waves with them and Emily and Garcia built sand castles with them. Needless to say Henry and Jack were provided with endless entertainment thanks to the members of the team. Beth was weirdly exhausted after lying on the beach all day but was looking forward to a night out with Hotch. She finished curling her hair and started doing her makeup - she was wearing a dress she had bought with JJ and Emily when they went shopping together before the trip. It was a black maxi dress that had long sleeves and a deeper V that made her boobs look good. It was form fitting while still being flowy and accentuated her bump perfectly.

Beth heard Hotch come back through the front door and he made his way toward the bathroom. She packed away the last of her makeup.

"You look amazing," he told her.

Beth smiled at him. "You look pretty fine yourself."

He did look fine. He was wearing navy dress pants with a white button down shirt tucked in. He finished off the look with a belt and dress shoes. It was less formal than he work attire and just oozed sex appeal.

Hotch held out his hand. "You ready to go?"

Beth happily took his hand and followed him out the door.

"Do I get to know where we're going yet?" She asked him.

"You'll figure it out soon enough." He told her with a smile.

After a bit of walking she noticed they were taking the same path they had taken earlier in the day.

"Are we going back to the beach?"

Hotch just shrugged and kept walking. Sure enough soon they were back at the beach overlooking the Pacific ocean; the sun was setting and it was gorgeous. Beth took off her shoes as Hotch started to lead them down towards the water.

"Is that Jack?"

Beth saw what appeared to be Jack up ahead. He was standing on a large white sheet with rose petals and flameless tealight candles. He was holding a dozen roses and smiled as they got closer to them.

"Aaron, what is this?!"

Hotch still didn't answer her. Just led her to the sheet in the sand where Jack handed his dad the roses and a small black box before giving Beth a big hug. Hotch got down on one knee and Beth could feel tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Beth, for two years now you have brought exponentially more joy into our lives. You have been a beacon of hope, a source of comfort, and my closest friend. I love you more than I ever could have thought possible and I can't imagine the rest of my life without you by my side. Would you do me the greatest honor of marrying me?"

Beth nodded her head up and down as tears started to fall down her cheeks. "Yes, of course I will marry you!"

Hotch stood and gathered her in his arms. He held onto her tight before releasing her just enough to kiss her. Beth heard cheering in the background and immediately recognized it as members of his team. She distinctly heard Morgan yell 'atta boy, Hotch!'. Hotch chuckled against her lips and pulled back. He took the ring out of the box and slid it onto her left ring finger. She hadn't even looked at it while he was proposing, she was too teary eyed. As he placed it on her finger she gazed at it. It featured a large oval shaped diamond in the middle, with two diamond halos around the center diamond. The band was white gold and featured small diamonds on the top side of the band. It was beautiful and sparkly, it was large but still managed to look delicate on her thin and long finger. It was perfect.

"It's beautiful," she whispered to Hotch.

"Can I see it?!" Jack asked.

Hotch reached down and lifted him up. Beth gave him a kiss on his cheek before showing him the ring which he audibly admired. The rest of the team emerged from wherever they had been hiding and greeted them with hugs and words of congratulations. Beth felt like she couldn't stop smiling. They took the celebration to a nearby restaurant on the beach where they were able to sit outside and enjoy the rest of the sunset. There was champagne waiting for everyone. Hotch handed her a glass.

"I asked the midwife and she said half a glass wouldn't hurt. Cheers, my love." Beth clinked her flute with Hotch's before taking a swig. It tasted bubbly and delicious and she tipped the rest into Hotch's glass before she felt tempted to drink more. Hotch placed his arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple. The conversation flowed easily as the team celebrated together. Beth was pleased that despite being in the presence of others he kept almost constant physical contact with her; a hand on her leg, an arm around her shoulder, a few kisses.

Beth and Hotch shared scallops with brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes and despite only eating half the meal she felt stuffed. Hotch leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"How about we get our dessert to go?"

Beth nodded and Hotch ordered the chocolate cake to go.

"Daddy can I come home with you and Beth?" Jack asked him.

"Not tonight bud, you're going to have a sleepover with Henry!"

Jack nodded looking a tad bummed but Hotch knew he would have fun with JJ, Will, and Henry.

"We're going out for breakfast before our flight home so we'll see you early in the morning, okay?!" Beth told him.

Jack nodded again, still trying not to look sad.

"Can I have a hug goodbye?" Hotch asked. Jack hugged his father tight and Beth joined in, giving the boy a kiss on his head.

"We love you so much Jack," Beth told him.

Hotch and Beth walked back to their house quickly. Hotch put the cake in the fridge for later; there were currently more important things on his mind.

"Want to take a shower with me?"

Beth nodded and led them to the bathroom. She turned the shower on to a steamy temperature and lifted her dress over her head. If she had known how important tonight was going to be she would have chosen to wear lingerie but even in her everyday bra and undies Hotch looked at her like she was the sexiest thing he had ever seen. She grabbed him by the belt and pulled him to her lips. She started undoing his belt while she kissed him before untucking and unbuttoning his shirt. She ran her hands up and down his torso, she could feel the scars under her fingertips. Steam started to fill the room and they separated to finish getting undressed before getting in the shower.

They stood under the steam of hot water. Hotch pulled her tight against him and captured her lips once again. Hot water ran down their bodies as their tongues danced with one another. Beth was in sensory overload. It was hot, Hotch's hands and lips were everywhere, her body was pressed against his, the air was wet with steam. Hotch pushed her against the wall of the shower and the cool tile was a relief against her back. She hitched one leg around Hotch's hip and he entered her. Beth held onto him for dear life trying to maintain her balance as he repeatedly thrusted into her. The hot water continued to pound on Hotch's back but he couldn't focus on anything except Beth and the way she felt around him, he couldn't control the moans coming from his mouth.

"Oh my god, Beth." Hotch groaned as he emptied himself inside of her. He felt Beth contract around him as she orgasmed just after he did. Hotch slowly pulled himself out of her and Beth sunk down to sit in the shower.

"Will you turn the water off?" She asked him. Hotch did and lowered himself to sit with her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Beth smiled at him. "Just a little light headed. That was intense." Hotch gave her a worried look. "I'm fine. Go get our chocolate cake and meet me on the balcony?"

Hotch stood up and pulled her up with him, he left the bathroom and the opening of the bathroom door helped release some of the steam allowing Beth to take a deep breath. She washed her face with cool water and pulled her wet hair into a bun on top of her head. Walking out onto the balcony she sat down next to Hotch and snuggled next to him. He hadn't started eating the cake without her and Beth happily accepted the first bite that he offered to her.

"Oh damn, that's good." Beth told him as she reached for the extra fork to get another bite. Hotch laughed and took a bite himself.

"It only hurts a little bit that you're more enthusiastic about the cake than you were about the sex." Hotch joked with her. Beth gently elbowed him in the ribs and took another bite of the cake. "I just want to make sure you know… the absolute only reason I proposed to you is because I love you and want to marry you?"

Beth looked confused. "Should I assume you proposed to me for a different reason? My money?!"

Hotch laughed. "No, of course not. I just don't want you to think that I feel obligated because of the baby. I am so excited about this baby but that's not why I want to marry you. I want to marry you because I truly can't imagine my life without you."

Beth reached out and cupped his face. "I love you so much. I never doubted your intentions, Aaron. Plus, you're not exactly one to feel pressured into doing something you're not comfortable with." Hotch smiled at her and Beth leaned in and kissed him softly. "Now why don't we take this to the bedroom and I'll show you exactly how enthusiastic I can be."