Author's Note: Picking up a few minutes later.

Mid February

Getting Our Act Together

Emily left the bathroom holding Hotch's hand.

Just simply having the freedom to touch him that way again, like she had on their night together, meant so much. Because so many times over the past month, she'd wanted to reach out to hold his hand or give him a hug . . . because God, if there was EVER a person in the world who needed more hugs, it was Aaron Hotchner(!) . . . but she'd always pulled back. Afraid that if she got used to the physical contact, even if she tried to keep it casual, it would make things harder for them.

It had all been a part of that damn slippery slope.

But now . . . she smiled as he ran his thumb along the inside of her wrist . . . he was hers for real. So she could touch him as much as she wanted to. Well, provided nobody else was around of course. But she wasn't thinking about that right now.

For tonight, she wanted to just be happy about the good stuff.

Because she was having a wonderful, sweet, little baby, with this wonderful, sweet, (big) man at her side. This morning, that news had filled her with panic and dread. And now, well now, this had turned into one of the best days of her life. But she had wasted most of the day worrying, and she didn't want to taint any of the time left with depressing thoughts about the restrictions on their potential happiness.

Instead she wanted to celebrate.

So when they reached the bottom of the stairs she turned to Hotch.

"Would you be okay with getting Chinese food for dinner?" She asked, before adding somewhat awkwardly, " I just thought it would be a nice commemoration of the uh," she tipped her head, "events, that brought us to where we are now."

It wasn't really an anniversary, but it did seem like they should do something special. And given their limited slate of 'activities' on that night, they didn't have much in the way of traditions to call upon. Really, they had Chinese food, Mythbusters, and various, hot sex, positions, to choose from. But neither the hot sex nor the Mythbusters was exactly what she had in mind in terms of a 'nice' celebration of the new little life growing inside of her. Not that she wasn't TOTALLY planning on having celebratory sex later.

Because she absolutely was.

Just not right now.

Noting the undercurrent of nervousness in Emily's proposal, Hotch found his expression softening.

This was a side of her he had never seen at work. When she was on duty, she'd always projected confidence and self assurance. But during that night they'd spent together, and then in this subsequent month that they'd been building a closer relationship, he'd begun to see that in her personal life, confidence and self assurance were both issues that Emily struggled with. But she was right. They should do something nice to acknowledge the night that had changed everything.

So after he'd pulled her into a hug, he rubbed his hand down her back and whispered in her ear, "I think that Chinese sounds really nice, sweetheart."

As soon as the word was out of his mouth, Hotch realized that was the first time he'd called her "sweetheart" since it had slipped out accidentally when they were having sex. This time was different though.

It had come from a place of genuine emotional attachment.

And the first time Emily hadn't seemed to notice what he'd said, but this time she clearly had. Because she leaned back to give him a watery smile as she brushed her thumb along his chin.

"I really like the sound of that 'sweetheart,'" she whispered.

No man had ever called her "sweetheart" before. Usually she was just "baby." Not that she was opposed to that term of endearment in principle, but she was never personally that taken with it for use with a lover. It was a term she used with a child, someone she had maternal feelings towards. But sweetheart was special.

Romantic even.

Feeling his own eyes stinging, Hotch tucked Emily's hair behind her ear as he responded in the same tone, "me too."

Even if he wasn't quite head over heels in love yet, Emily was still definitely his woman now. And although he couldn't exactly scream that fact from the rooftops . . . he rolled his eyes slightly to himself, not yet anyway . . . in their private time, he could certainly express his affection for her. This change in emotional circumstance was definitely going to present a challenge when they went back to work though.

The clear divider that they'd drawn after their first night, it was gone now. Their line in the sand now had waves lapping against it, washing it away. His brow creased.

They were going to have to figure out a new world order.

As if Emily was reading his mind on this point, she suddenly smiled at him . . . though there was a hint of melancholy to it.

"I guess we should talk now."

"Yes," he let out a slow breath, "we should. So why don't you put in the order for dinner? And then we can get started while we wait for the food. The sooner we get through the messier bits," his eyes crinkled faintly, "the sooner we can move onto the good stuff, right?"

"Yeah," her lip turned up, "right."

So with a final squeeze of Hotch's fingers, Emily reluctantly let go so that she could go make the call to The Green Dragon.

While Emily headed into the kitchen to get her cell phone, Hotch walked into the living room and dropped down onto the couch. He scrubbed his hands down his face.

Even though it had already been a long, stressful, day, he still really wanted to have this talk tonight, and just get everything hammered out now. Because whatever decisions they came to about work, the baby, or their relationship, he just wanted to make sure that they came to them together. His marriage had fallen apart, in large part, because the longer he was with the BAU, the more he had cut himself off emotionally from Haley. By the time she had left him, he was regularly working sixty to seventy hours a week, and she was making pretty much all of the decisions related to the house, and Jack, without any input from him. And he'd thought nothing of it.

That wasn't going to happen with Emily.

Because this was his second chance to have a family, and if he fucked it up like he'd done the last time, that would be it. He'd be a part time dad to another child, and his heart couldn't take that. This was a gift.

Not one to be squandered.

So the sooner he and Emily ironed out all of the details, the sooner they could settle into a new routine, and start building a family unit. Because that was the end game. That's what he had decided today that he wanted. The whole, gloriously, messy, package.

All over again.

Not to say that he wasn't still amazed simply at the idea of having another child, because he ABSOLUTELY was! After the separation, he had obviously assumed that he was done having children. Even if he and Haley had gotten back together, at that point, he would have known that having another child with her would have been a terrible idea.

If she'd already left him once, she could definitely do it again.

And he had certainly never anticipated having another serious relationship at any point in the near, or semi-near, future. The whole idea of "dating" was abhorrent to him. So point of fact, if he and Emily hadn't come together in the way that they had that night, he most likely would have been alone for, well . . . his jaw twitched . . . a very long time.

He looked up then as Emily walked into the living room, snapping her phone shut.

"It'll be about thirty minutes."

She dropped down onto the cushion to his left, and a second later she pulled her feet up under her and let out a heavy sigh. Once more he suddenly flashed on that night last week. And even though she was now right next to him . . . with her arm brushing against his . . . suddenly he felt a pang in his heart. It was that memory. Remembering how much he had wanted to touch her, and hold her.

And how he'd believed that she would always be just out of his reach.

But no more. It was time to let that go.

And to turn the page.

So he reached over and pulled her into his lap. And after he'd hugged her close, he kissed her temple and murmured, "I just wanted you to know," he rubbed his hand over her stomach, "I am very happy about the baby."

At first, some little part of his brain was worried that maybe he was mostly happy about just getting that permanent connection with Emily, and that maybe he was only making the best of things when it came to the baby. But now that they were away from that initial moment of the results, he was starting to feel that same joy and anticipation building, that he'd begun to have after he'd found out about Jack. So yeah, that had definitely, fortunately, settled his worries there.

Thank God.

Emily leaned into Hotch's side.

"Me too," she whispered, "I meant everything I said upstairs," she tipped her head to look over at him, "not to mention, the baby brought you back to me," she grinned, "so the kid's getting a gold plated binky for that one."

With a chuckle, Hotch kissed her temple again.

Yeah, Emily was right, the kid definitely deserved to get something for bringing his parents back together! Which was all the more reason that he was so desperate to make this thing between them work.

To make it permanent.

People who haven't been through a divorce could never understand that pain. You miss your child all the time. You miss everything! And you try so hard to cram as much living into the little bit of time you're allowed with them. Just the fact that somebody actually can deny you access to your baby, is unbelievable. It's your child and the courts say that you can't see him unless his MOTHER says it's okay.

As though Jack wasn't just as much his as hers.

And losing Jack had almost killed him. That depression, those months of misery as he'd tried to navigate his shitty world without being able to see his boy . . . he couldn't imagine doing that again. Not that he would ever pretend to have feelings for Emily just to keep access to his child. That would be unfair to everyone.

No . . . he tipped his head against hers . . . his feelings for her now were definitely genuine.

But the desire not to have his heart broken again, was most definitely an additional motivator to work through the hard stuff that would be coming. Because now, better than he ever had before, he truly understood what it was that he would be losing.

Everything.

So with that thought at the forefront of his mind, he started them down their new path together. They began with work. Putting rules in place for physical interactions on duty, discussing generally how long they would wait before they told Strauss and the team.

Contingency plans for Hotch's career imploding after the Strauss conversation, were tabled until a later date.

Luckily they had a few months before that one would be an issue . . . Emily wouldn't be showing for awhile . . . and they needed to think about how best to handle that worst case scenario.

Lastly, they discussed how long she could be in the field before it would become a hazard.

That one was hard for Hotch. Just the idea of her staying in the field at all. Of course, intellectually, he knew that there was nothing preventing her from working. There were pregnant women working in law enforcement all over, but this pregnant woman was going to be carrying HIS baby.

And he just wanted to keep the two of them safe.

Laudable, maybe, but not particularly professional. Yes, there was always some risk of injury on the job, but it was rare that anyone was seriously hurt. And with the exception of Morgan's propensity to tackle anything that moved, most of them, generally, had minimal hand to hand with an UNSUB. And that was because the members of his team were all well trained, and well armed. So he was going to have to trust in those factors, and the law of averages, that everything would be okay.

He was comforted though by the fact that he only had to get through the first trimester.

Because he and Emily had already agreed that she would start cutting back field work in her fourth month, with the goal of having her completely out of situations needing Kevlar, by month five.

At that point she would definitely be showing and they'd have to tell the team.

Emily had already said though, that if Hotch found it too hard to separate his personal concerns for her safety, from his professional ones, that they could come up with some plausible reason for her to go on light duty. Still do interviews but not serve any warrants.

That one, Emily had told him, was a no brainer, because the last thing she wanted was for Hotch, or anyone else, to get hurt because he was worried about her and the baby and not doing his job.

She would never forgive herself.

And that's when Hotch had realized that the anti-fraternization rules really did exist for a good reason. As much as you cared about your partner, or your team, it wasn't the same as taking your, for lack of a better word, family, out into the field with you.

His worries now were going to be tenfold.

That was the last thought he had just before the doorbell rang. A tickle of amusement hit him, and his lips twitched.

Billy.

Emily shot Hotch a look. "Be nice."

The poor kid had barely made eye contact with her since that night!

Feigning a look of innocence, Hotch asked in astonishment, "when am I ever not nice?!"

Emily pushed herself off his lap to stand up and look down at him . . . her mouth was quivering.

"Um, how about last week when you made that gas station attendant cry?!"

"Please," Hotch stood up with a scowl and slipped his arm around her waist, "that kid was a jackass!" They started out of the living room, "did you forget that he was smoking WHILE he filled the tank? He was lucky I didn't arrest him."

Emily let out a snort as they separated in the hall. And as she went into the kitchen to get plates, Hotch went down to get the food. At least this time when he opened the door he was fully dressed.

And although Billy blinked once at seeing him again, he wisely said nothing else besides, "$26.50."

Figuring that he'd MORE than made his point about kicking the kid's ass the last time they'd met, Hotch decided to make an effort not to scare the crap out of him again. So to that end, his eyes crinkled slightly as he counted out the money . . . and then he added on a ten dollar tip.

"Have a good night, Billy."

For a moment Billy looked up at him suspiciously, but then finally there was a cautious nod as his fist closed around the money.

"Thanks mister, uh . . ."

When he trailed off expectantly, Hotch's lip quirked up, "Hotchner."

Tipping his head, Billy thawed slightly as he held out the food.

"So I guess I see you around more now Mister Hotchner?"

"Yes," Hotch chuckled as he took the bag out of his hand, "yes Billy, you will definitely be seeing me around. You have a good night."

Then he shut the door and turned to go back to the kitchen, calling out to Emily as he walked down the hall.

"I bribed him with ten bucks! Now we're best friends!"

Emily laughed.

"That's good. If you're going to be over here, you'll need to get along with all of the other men in my life too."

Hotch dropped the bag on the counter as he looked over at her with a smirk.

"Lot of other men dropping in around here?"

"Not really," she grinned, "I think it's basically just Billy and Chad. You remember, Chad, he's my pizza boy."

His eyes crinkled.

"Yes, I do remember meeting Chad." Then he walked over to scoop Emily up into his arms, "and I think I can take them both. Especially given that combined, they probably weigh about a hundred pounds soaking wet."

"Well, I think you could take them both even if they were linebackers!" Emily laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

That was something that she hadn't actually considered before. With Hotch, she'd really hit the jackpot in so many ways. Not only was he, as she'd told him upstairs, excellent father material, but he was also capable of incapacitating almost anyone with basically just his pinky finger. Last month, he'd broken that guy's wrist for her just because he'd left a bruise on her arm. Some women might find that kind of behavior a little creepy, but Emily actually considered it a selling point. Because she knew that, as his family, Hotch would literally do anything for her and their baby.

They would always be safe with him.

He placed her back on the ground then, and her eyes crinkled as her fingers traced along his cheekbones.

Not to mention he was absolutely gorgeous.

Yep . . . she leaned up to kiss him . . . she'd definitely made a good deal here. And as their mouths opened and their tongues met for the first time in a month, Emily suddenly flashed on what they had done immediately after the Chinese food arrived last time.

But . . . she pulled back slightly, giving him a soft kiss before she pulled away completely . . . they weren't done talking. And she was afraid that if they got sidetracked with the hot sex, they wouldn't get back to what they needed to get back to. And the big thing that was still left was, well . . . this.

Them.

How were they going to integrate their two separate lives, into one? Aside from that night he was over last week, mostly their personal interactions over this last month had been at coffee shops and diners. And as much as she loved having him here with her now, it would be VERY weird if suddenly they were living together full time!

If they wanted this to work, they couldn't push things too fast.

But on the other hand, she really did want them to be all settled in together by the time the baby came. And where were they going to live after the baby arrived? Yes, she had the spare room, but Hotch also had Jack. And she knew that whatever relationship she built with Hotch, also meant that she was going to have a three year old living with her on the weekends.

And it wasn't fair to make a little boy who only saw his father for a few hours a week, share his room with a baby.

Emily's eyes widened slightly as something suddenly occurred to her as she went over to get their drinks.

Not only was she going to be a mom, but she might eventually be a stepmom. Or at least be in that role.

Wow.

That was a little scary. But good scary, like the baby. Because as she looked over at Hotch pulling the white cartons out of the bag, she had no doubt that someday soon she would wake up in love with the man in the black suit. She wasn't quite there yet . . . but she was close.

And being in love meant that everything that was important to him, would be important to her.

And his son, to date, had been the most important person in Hotch's life. Of course, theoretically, her child would now hold equal footing with Jack. She hoped so anyway. But the bottom line was, even if, God forbid things didn't work out between her and Hotch, Jack would still be her child's brother. No matter what, she had just become part of a blended family.

She blinked.

God this was a big day!

It was honestly amazing how one little moment in time, can change so many things in so many ways. A stick had turned blue and now her life would never be the same again.

A few minutes later, as they settled in on the couch with their dinner, Emily turned to Hotch again.

"How are we going to do this?"

Knowing instinctively what Emily meant, Hotch looked over at her seriously.

"Just one day at a time. I figure to start, we'll spend a few nights a week together and get used to, you know, actually living together. The toothpaste issues, the shower issues, doing the dishes, the trash," he tipped his head, "well, I'll do the trash. But you know, all that real life stuff. And then once we get a routine going, and are used to each other's habits, we'll move forward from there."

Prior to this, he'd only ever lived with one woman, so he didn't know if that was going to make it easier or harder in that respect.

Emily nodded, starting to feel a little better as she thought about going slow on the 'playing house' stuff. With the exception of crashing at her boyfriend's place for a month when she was doing her graduate studies abroad, she'd never lived with a man before.

She'd never lived with anyone period.

Yes, she'd had roommates in college, but that didn't really count. For one, that was more than twenty years ago and she had just been a kid then, not nearly so set in her ways. That's why she was a little worried that having Hotch here all the time, was going to be an adjustment. But as long as they moved in slowly it should be fine. Then another thought came to her, and her eyes snapped over to his.

"But we can spend more than just a few days a week together," she asked worriedly, "right? I mean, I don't want to go THAT slow."

Eyes crinkling, Hotch put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her against his side.

"I promise you Emily, I will be over here as much as you can stand me. It's going to be hard enough with work to find time to spend alone together, so I certainly don't want to waste any of that free time sitting home alone reading case files. Not if I could be here having dinner with you, learning how you spent your summer vacation junior year in college."

It had been over twenty years since he'd last had a girlfriend. It had been over twenty years since he had last fallen in love. But he did remember that the beginning parts, they were fun. Exciting, even. And the baby, that was already fun and exciting. So he didn't want to lose out on any of the good stuff with Emily either. All of the little things were important.

Those were the things that would determine if they could make this last.

"Turkey."

Hotch's brow scrunched as he looked down at Emily in confusion.

"What?"

She smiled.

"You wanted to know how I spent my summer vacation, junior year in college. I was in Turkey. That was one of the few countries that I didn't get to visit when my mother was assigned to the Middle East, so I went back on my own and backpacked that whole summer."

Funny, she couldn't remember if she'd ever shared that with anyone before. Not that it was actually private, but just that it wasn't the kind of thing that someone would normally ask about.

They wouldn't care.

Her eyes crinkled as she looked over at Hotch . . . she definitely had a really good feeling about this relationship.

Feeling a warmth fill his chest, Hotch stared over at Emily for a moment. This was it. This was their new path. This was his new life.

With her.

So he reached over and picked up her plate and chopsticks. After he'd handed them to her, he picked up his own food and utensils, and turned to her with a smile.

"I did an internship at a very prestigious law firm in Boston. Basically I delivered the mail and ordered lunch," he gestured to her with his chopsticks.

"What did you do senior year?"

/*/*/*/

Later that night, Emily took Hotch to her bed for the first time in a month.

And as they joined together he stopped them to kiss her and tell her how beautiful she was, and how much he'd missed her. And when it was over and she was cuddled to his chest, he whispered that when things got hard, if they remembered this moment, then they would get through it. Because if they wanted this to work, they needed to remember that they had each other, and they had a baby coming. And that no matter what the Bureau did to them, or people said to them . . . the rewards would be worth all the sacrifices.

And just like the last time they were together, Emily cried.

But this time they were happy tears.

A/N: I remember I'd hated writing this chapter the first time around, because it's a workhouse chapter. It's necessary to kick the story forward, but there's a lot of minutia involved in getting through it. Hopefully though, we kept enough mushy bits to make it all tolerable :)

And it wasn't until I was reading this over for the repost, that I realized, somewhat shockingly, that I'd never actually named Emily's Chinese restaurant! We all know her delivery boy is Billy, but not where Billy actually works. I settled here on it being "The Green Dragon." So, a new factoid applicable across all Girl'verses, where Billy shows up :)

And for the sake of my continued good mental health, please do drop a line on the stories occasionally so I know you're still enjoying them :) Thanks!