CHAPTER 9

The team silently travelled home from California after their latest case. The tragedy they had found wasn't completely visible when they had taken the case just days earlier.

Hotch and Emily hadn't been partnered together when the final takedown happened earlier today. Emily had been with Reid and Morgan as the UNSUB took them and the LEOs on a high speed chase as he imagined his family was also in the car. They later were able to arrest him after he crashed the car.

Meanwhile Hotch had been with Rossi and Jordan at the carnage of the UNSUB's house where he had killed his wife and two daughters days earlier. When they arrived back at the BAU they would discover that the medical examiner had determined that the deaths of the three had occurred the day before the case even came to the team.

When the jet finally arrived back Quantico, the team's somber mood remained as they made their way up to the BAU. The circumstances of the case did not preclude the need to complete their reports. If anything all of them just want to complete them as soon as possible so they could all put this case behind them.

As they left the elevator, Hotch could see the sadness and fatigue on Emily's face. As soon as they were done their reports, he was planning on leaving for the night. He wanted to go home and have a quiet evening where they could comfort each other in a way they hadn't been able to while on the case.

His attention was diverted enough on her that he was surprised when Reid yelled about someone being in the conference room. It hadn't taken long to discover that someone was actually two people.

JJ and baby Henry.

As much as Hotch had hoped that she would take a break from BAU to enjoy her time at home with Henry, he had to admit that he was glad to see her as long as she was only visiting. He would never say it out loud to anyone except perhaps his wife but he missed JJ's calming presence in the field particularly after Jordan's meltdowns during this case.

If there was ever a time that this visit was needed it was today. As he looked on, he could see that he wasn't the only one excited to see them. The gloominess that had been coming off of all of them when they had walked through the door into the bullpen was now replaced with laughter. And little by little the pieces of them that had broken during the case were healing.

The team except for Jordan was gathered around JJ. Then Morgan had quickly asked to hold the baby. According to Emily after her visit the previous week, only she and Garcia had been to see JJ since she and Henry had gone home from the hospital.

As Hotch smiled at the team, JJ had come over and stood next to him. He tried to express through a brief hug how grateful he was for the visit while at the same time reminding her she still had leave left.

As the only parents on the team they watched together as Morgan fed Henry with Garcia watched him closely. Then there was Spencer's excitement as his godson burped for him. That was followed by the team's laughter and Rossi's surprise as Henry spit up on him. After that Dave had grumbled as he walked out of the room to go change his shirt.

But none of that replaced what Hotch felt when he saw his wife holding the infant as she soothed him. It wasn't the first time she had held Henry. She had a couple of times in the hospital. Then she mentioned that she had when she had visited last week. But for whatever reason, today it was as if it was the first time he was seeing it.

And it was a sight that he marveled at though Emily was unaware of his thoughts as her complete attention was consumed by the baby in her arms. He didn't know why it was affecting him this way as he had observed her with Jack multiple times. The moment was broken when Emily carefully passed the sleeping infant off to Garcia.

As he looked around the room, it seemed with everyone more relaxed what would have been a good time to tell the team about their marriage. But they had agreed not to say anything until Jordan had completed her time with the team. And unless Jordan made the choice to leave after this last case, she still have a few weeks left with them.

He caught Emily eye across the room and could tell she was considering the same thing. However she quickly gave a small shake of her head supporting what he concluded that staying with the plan was still the best option.

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Later that evening after they arrived home, Hotch was sitting on the couch in sweatpants and undershirt while Emily had relaxed into him as she wore one of his tshirts and a pair of her sweatpants. It was these rare moments that gave them the normalcy that most people took for granted.

They looked at the Christmas tree they had set up the night before they had left for California, reveled in that they would be spending their first Christmas together as a couple. It was one of the few evenings that they had been home since Emily and all of her stuff had completely moved into what was now their apartment.

They were looking forward to spending part of the holidays with Jack as well as having some time where it was just them. This year Jack would be over with them for the morning of Christmas Eve and dinner for Christmas Day. While the team was scheduled to be on stand down they both hoped that nothing urgent would come up and undermine those plans.

Emily leaned forward and picked their wine glasses up off the table before sitting back against him before handing him his glass. As they both held their glasses they both found themselves lost in thought.

The silence went on between them though it wasn't uncomfortable. They were together and relaxed into each other.

Later Hotch turned after not getting a response to a question he posed to Emily. Worried, he turned to face her only to find that she had fallen asleep.

Gently taking the glass out of her hand, he reached out and placed both glasses on the dining table behind him. Then after maneuvering, he stood up holding her bridal style and walked her into their room before placing her in their bed.

He then returned to the family room to get their wine glasses to take the kitchen to place in the dishwasher. With that done he too headed to bed after turning off lights and making sure everything was locked up.

As he stepped back into the bedroom after using the bathroom and watched Emily sleep in their bed, he thought about how much he had missed these little pieces of normalcy after Haley left him. And now everything that he was looking forward to sharing with Emily.

He climbed in bed careful not to wake her. He turned off his bedside reading light before move up next to her. It wasn't long before in her sleep Emily turned into him resting her head on his chest as he had discovered she preferred to sleep. Shortly after that Hotch found himself also falling asleep.