"Are you certain that there's nothing more than I can do to help you out, Erin?"
"You've already helped so much by agreeing to have the girls spend the night with you, so that we can have this moment of togetherness, Jess. I know that they love seeing their auntie, but I also know that it can be a lot for you to handle."
There was a soft sigh on the other end of the line, and Erin wondered what was going through Jessica's mind. "Erin, you know that I would do anything to make your life easier, and this is a small thing to do. One of my favourite things to do when I was Elise's age was to spend the night at my aunt's house, having a fun night away from home. And from what you told me over the phone, he deserves to have a quiet night, just the two of you."
Her shoulders slumped in relief as she stirred the pasta sauce once more. She had called David's sister to get the recipe from her, knowing that he would need good comfort food after the day he had. Aaron had already called after their lecture at the university to let her know that he seemed to be struggling this year, more so than in years previous, with having to deal with Thomas Yates and his manipulative ways. And so, she had left work early to get a start on making this meal for her beloved. "Thank you for understanding, Jess. I love you, more than you could possibly know."
"I love you, too, Erin. Now, go, concentrate on getting everything perfect for him, and we'll all see you tomorrow evening."
"Okay. Tell the girls that we love them, and to be good for you." Jessica laughed as she ended the call, and Erin set the phone on the counter as she stirred the sauce once more before stepping over to the meat and stirring that as well. Everything seemed to be in order, and she reread the directions that Sofia had sent to her email. Seeing that she had a little bit of time before the next step of the recipe, Erin went into the dining room and set the table with a deep green tablecloth and then set out the good candelabras and filled them with new tapers before laying out the good china and making certain that everything looked perfect before she went back into the kitchen and began to get the last bits of the recipe ready. Once the last step was finished, and the dish was in the oven to bake, Erin hurried upstairs, stripping off her clothes as she went in order to conserve time, stepping into the master bathroom and into the shower moments after stepping out of her panties and piling her clothes on the counter by the sink.
It wasn't a relaxing shower, but it was enough to wash the grime of the day from her body and after a few minutes, she turned the water off and wrapped a towel around her body to dry it while she washed her face at the sink and then applied a fresh face of makeup before slipping into the bedroom and putting on David's favourite outfit. Once she had slipped on the jewelry that went best with the dress, she stepped into heels and then made her way back downstairs, dropping a thick apron over her outfit so that she wouldn't get anything on it as she finished the last minute preparations on the meal.
She had just started taking the main dish out of the oven when she heard the garage door open, and she took a deep breath as she brushed her hands against her apron and carried the salad bowl and plate of garlic bread into the dining room before heading back into the kitchen, hanging up her apron and then opening the bottle of wine that Sofia had suggested would pair well with the meal. "Stellina?"
"Welcome home, darling. I decided that you needed something good to wipe out the bad of your birthday. I, I hope that this is okay?"
David looked like he wanted to cry as looked at the dish cooling on the oven, and then he was looking back at her, his lower lip trembling as he closed the distance between them and crushed her tightly to his chest as he let himself cry. Erin held him closer, stroking his hair as she crooned in his ear, glad that she could comfort him in this way, after he had so often comforted her in her times of need. "This is more than okay, Erin. Thank you for this."
"Sofia helped, a lot, since she sent me your mother's recipes. I followed them exactly, but I'm not too certain how they'll turn out, since I don't have much experience cooking Italian food. I just wanted you to have something nice to come home to. Jessica has the girls, and our other children are with Alan tonight. Maybe I should have kept them?"
"Don't second guess yourself, sweetheart. This is exactly what I needed tonight. I'll carry the dish into the dining room."
Erin nodded as she leaned in to kiss him tenderly. "That will give me time to light the candles. Thank you." He gave her a sad, lopsided, smile as she grabbed the box of matches off the counter and left the room. It didn't take too long to get the candles lit, and then she turned down the overhead lighting to lend a more romantic glow to the room. Hearing David come up behind her, she sighed sadly as she took a seat, allowing him to serve her from the dish before placing a portion on his own plate before he sat down.
Without hesitation, she clasped his outstretched hand and listened to him pray over their meal, finding the words heartbreaking and lovely all at the same time. After the end of the prayer, they began to eat, and Erin kept up a light conversation, knowing that they would discuss the heavier topics once they were upstairs and cuddling in bed. "Did the lecture go well today?"
"The kids seemed really interested in the fact that we have a jet."
She let out a trill of laughter as she shook her head. "That's not glamourous, David. Why does everyone think that it's some great perk? It's the only way that you can get to some cases in time to help the local police force out."
"But all kids hear is private jet, and they think that we're so cool. I wish that they could see the cases we see, the horror we look at, and then find out if they say the same thing. I know that we need to have a hook to bring them into the BAU, but there are times when I think that we glorify everything that happens a little too much. If we didn't talk about the monsters, maybe we'd stop creating them?"
"I wish that were true, but there are always going to be awful people out there, doing horrible things, and we need to be prepared to fight those monsters when the pop up. That is why I'll always fight for your team, because you do so much good. Even if it looks like I'm just kissing the Director's ass. But if I don't pay him lip service, then I have to worry about your budget being slashed, and worrying about the monsters having too much leeway." Picking up his hand, she brought it to her lips and kissed the palm softly. "Dessert is me, darling."
"Then it is a good thing that I left room for my birthday treat." She smiled, knowing that she had made the right choice in saying those words in that moment. She was going to make this birthday evening the best for him that she possibly could, in order to drive out the demons that continued to haunt her beloved husband.