A/N: Hello! So… here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

Pre-Wedding-2:

JJ inspected herself in the mirror, making sure everything was in place. From what Will had bought her to wear tonight, she could tell that they were going someplace fancy. Where exactly they were going, though, she still didn't know.

She was wearing a long, fuchsia evening gown, strapless, with little jewels going around her body under the bust line. It was rare to catch her in such an intricate outfit.

"Where're we going tonight?" JJ asked over her shoulder; she saw that Will was busy trying to decide between a gold tie and an indigo one. "Blue," she answered for him.

"Thanks," he said warmly. He went about tying his tie while looking in the same mirror she was sitting in front of. She put on a layer of tinted lip-gloss while she waited for him to elaborate. "That's a surprise, JJ, you know that."

He was smirking knowingly at her.

"I hate surprises," she told him grudgingly.

Will smiled at her, love shining through. "You'll love this one, trust me."

"Ok…" she said reluctantly. "Well, I'm ready to get going. I'm going to check on Henry before we leave."

Will nodded and she left their shared bedroom to walk the hallway into Henry's bedroom. Henry was sitting on the big-boy bed they'd bought for him a few months earlier.

"Hey buddy, whatcha doing?" she asked absently, just enjoying her son being happy.

"I'm pwaying twucks," he said in his little boy voice. JJ smiled at her son's mispronunciations; it was too cute.

"Ok, hun, daddy and I are leaving soon, come give mommy a kiss," JJ urged.

The young boy happily did as told, swinging his little legs over the edge of the low bed. He made his way to her. She bent down to intercept his angelic kiss on the cheek.

"Be good for Uncle Spence when he gets here, ok?" JJ told her son.

He gave her a big nod and then went back to his bed. Before he resumed smashing truck toys against each other he had one more thing to tell his mommy.

"Mommy, you look so pwetty," he said genuinely.

JJ gave her son a watery smile. "Thanks honey."

Just then the phone began to ring, she rushed to the kitchen for the nearest handset, but Will was much quicker.

"JJ," Will called out, "it's for you."

Reaching the kitchen, she grabbed the cordless phone and clicked it on. "Will, I've got it."

She heard the click of the other phone hanging up and then she put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey JJ," she heard Hotch's deep voice coming through. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"

It wasn't her imagination when her heart sped up at the sound of her voice. "Hotch, hi, Will and I are about to go out… but, I think I can talk for a bit. What's up?"

"Oh, that's ok, I won't keep you long. I just wanted to ask if you, Will, and Henry would like to join Jack and I at the circus tomorrow?" Hotch asked. "I managed to get a few extra tickets and Jack has been begging me to get Henry to go."

JJ smiled. Jack was adorable. "Um… sure, Henry and I are in, I'll have to ask Will. But I can let you know later tonight, I hope."

"Good," Hotch said sincerely. "We'll both be very happy to see you two tomorrow…" Her cheeks warmed at that comment. "It starts at 11; I can pick you guys up?"

JJ nodded her head and then realized that he couldn't see it. "Yeah, that would be nice."

"All right, see you then."

"See you," JJ replied.

She hung up the phone and put the receiver down on the counter. Staring at it, she couldn't help the warm fuzzies that filled her up inside. Man, what was wrong with her? She was acting like a girl with a crush. Was that it? Did she have a crush on her former boss and now good friend?

"JJ?" she heard from behind her. She jumped nearly a foot in the air. "Whoa, are you ok?" Will asked; she nodded. "Ready to go? I think I just saw Reid pulling into the driveway."

She nodded again. "I just have to grab my purse."

She started to leave the kitchen when Will's voice stopped her. "What did Hotch need?"

"Hotch?" she very nearly squeaked out. Oh man, she needed to get over this crush and fast. "Oh, Hotch, he uh… was inviting us to see the circus tomorrow."

"All of us?" Will asked, as the doorbell suddenly ran.

"Yeah," she answered.

Will started for the door as she trailed after him. "Oh, I can't, remember, I've got to help Jason with his basement renovations."

JJ suddenly did remember. She had forgotten that Will had started to help his newfound best friend from the police force with some home renovations. She had forgotten because Jason was pretty much a stranger to her. Will always went to the other man's house, never vice versa.

"We'll talk about it later," JJ brushed it off as Will opened the door.

She had every intention of going whether Will went with them or not. It had been an immensely considerate thing of Hotch to do for them, and the little crush helped her along too.

"Reid, how's it going?" Will greeted.

"Hi Will, it's been good," Reid answered.

JJ took a look at her son's god parent. He looked a bit different than the last time she saw him a week and a half ago. Was that hair gel in his hair?

"Hey Spence," she greeted warmly.

"JJ… wow, you look beautiful," Reid said by way of greeting.

She laughed at his star-struck expression. It seemed this break from the team wasn't just wreaking havoc with her emotions.

She leaned up and gave her friend a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks Reid… and thanks for babysitting."

He blushed brightly and she heard Will attempt to cover his chuckle.

"No problem. I brought a couple of things I think will interest Henry," Reid said. "Uh…" He reached into his bag and took out a couple of movies with titles far beyond a toddler's comprehension. "A Beautiful Mind… uh… The Last Samurai…"

"Reid, those aren't really kid friendly," JJ informed him.

Reid looked at the two movies than back at the couple. "Really?"

Will shook his head. "No, my friend."

"Oh," Reid said, still looking perplexed. He pulled something else out of his bag. "Well… I got this one too… the Wigglies or something."

JJ held back a laugh. "The Wiggles?"

"Yeah, yeah that's it," Reid confirmed.

"Definitely go with that one," Will let him know. "We should get going, JJ."

"Oh ok," JJ answered. She turned to Reid. "Thanks again!"

"Your welcome, have fun!"

JJ glanced around her surroundings. Her eyes hadn't jumped back into their sockets and her mouth had only closed when she'd started to chew on her first course.

The place Will had taken her had courses! It was called Osteria de Medici, an Italian place, which JJ knew took several months, at least, to get into. JJ had no idea how Will had gotten reservations.

"Hey," she whispered across the table.

Will, clearly amused, whispered back. "Why are we whispering?"

Why were they? She shrugged in answer. "Are… are you sure this is ok?"

Will laughed. "Of course, JJ," he told her. "Why would I take you somewhere not ok? I just want you to relax and enjoy yourself… are you having a good time?"

He seemed tentative suddenly and JJ wanted to cure him of any insecurities and quick.

"Yeah, of course I'm having a good time," she assured. "This place really is amazing. I mean, courses? Come on!"

"Good, good," he said, suddenly nervous.

JJ sensed his change in mood right away. She leaned across the table and placed a calming hand on his forearm. "Hey," she said soothingly. "What is it?"

He looked up into her eyes and she finally saw it sparkling in his blue eyes. Anticipation. Excitement. Hesitation. Uncertainty. Love.

Uh oh, JJ thought.

"I… I have a question to ask you," Will answered her question.

JJ pulled back, detaching her gaze from his hopeful one. She began to look everywhere but at him. "Uh… do you want to wait until the next course gets here… you know, so the waiter won't interrupt us?"

This time Will reached across the table and took her hand in his. Her gaze flashed fleetingly to his, but the brilliance of the love shining from his eyes caused her to look away.

"No," Will shot her down.

And then to her complete horror he was getting up out of his chair, taking her hand with him, until she was turned in her chair and he was kneeling down in front of her.

"Will…" she started tentatively.

She was sure her complete fear and terror at this situation was showing on her face. So why wasn't Will getting the message? She tried to meet his gaze once again, but the shining love beams coming from his eyes were blinding her and apparently him.

"JJ, I love you," he started.

"I love you too," she said quickly, happy to distract him.

He just smiled brighter at that. Crap! Now people were staring. Oh, this was a disaster.

And in the brief moment between Will's smile brightening and his taking a breath to utter his next words JJ had the chance to consider exactly why it would be a disaster.

She loved Will, she did. He was the father of the very essence of her being. Will had given her Henry and for that she would be eternally grateful to him. They had built a life together centering on Henry. It was stable and healthy and they were all happy. Weren't they?

"JJ, I know at first you didn't want to. And I understood your reasons back then. We hadn't known each other long. You weren't sure about us," he continued, voicing some of her hesitations. "But, we've been together for almost four years now. I love you, you love me. And I'd like to ask you to marry me. So… marry me, JJ?"

She forced herself to meet his gaze; he deserved that much, at least. He was so hopeful… and so happy. She was happy too, right?

Ugh! Why was she hesitating? Will was the man she loved; there would be no one else for her, ever!

A flash suddenly went through her mind. A memory, Hotch by her side giving her one of his rare smiles. But the smile was almost sad somehow. Where was that memory from? Better yet, why was she remembering it now?

"JJ?" Will urged.

Her gaze had strayed, and now she returned it to meet his questioning and, this time, more decidedly uncertain gaze.

She couldn't pinpoint why she was hesitating. Couldn't put her finger on it. So there was only one choice.

"Yes…" she whispered. "Yes, I'll marry you."

And then Will was pulling her into a hug, and people all around were clapping their approval and JJ was suddenly reliving the sad Hotch smile.

%%

She hadn't wanted to tell them, him, this way. They were excited for her. Yet, when she looked into his eyes, she could see behind his smile. He was hurt? Or sad?

He started to walk away. She had to know the reason behind the look.

"Hotch," she called as she chased after him.

He stopped and turned around. "JJ, you could have told me…"

%%

Will was slipping something onto her finger. She looked down, seeing the large engagement ring, one thought going through her head.

What did I just do?

Well that's it for now. I'm so happy with the response I got for this story. I absolutely love writing JJ/Hotch stories and I'm glad people enjoy them too.

I'll probably be updating this one sometime next weekend, so stay tuned for some Hotch perspective.

Thanks to anyone who added this to their alert list, and thanks to my readers and reviewers: Hotch Fan; Teh . Juxtaposer; canny-bairn; basket-case1880; FloatingAmoeba; BbyStarlette; and LITERARYjunkie25.

Thanks!