A/N: Hello again. So, I didn't get quite the response for the second chapter as I did for the first. But, of course I'll keep updating, for me and for anyone else who is enjoying this story. I'm excited for where it's going to go, so I'm definitely seeing it through. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. And please R&R! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

Pre-Wedding 3:

Hotch pulled up to JJ and Will's modest family home. It wasn't unlike the one he had once shared with Hailey. And yet he knew it was different. Because the family in this house was a happy one.

"Are we there daddy?"

Hotch turned in his seat to look at his son in his booster seat. "Yeah, son, let's go check if Henry, Aunt JJ and Uncle Will are ready to go, ok?"

"Ok daddy," Jack agreed.

Hotch helped his son out of his seat and they walked hand in hand up to the front door. At Jack's insistence, Hotch hefted his son up to reach for the door bell.

After waiting thirty seconds, they heard a child's excited screams and padded footsteps coming towards the door. And then they heard some delicate, yet shouted, chiding by none other then Hotch's former media liaison.

"Slow down Henry, they won't go anywhere," JJ yelled.

And then the door was opening to reveal a somewhat breathless and slightly dishevelled JJ. Hotch had to hold back his laugh as he watched JJ try to hold Henry back, gently, by wrapping her leg around his waist.

"Yay, circus time, let's go!" Henry exclaimed clearly, as he tried to walk around his mother.

"Henry!" JJ said firmly, seeming exasperated.

"Hey Henry," Hotch greeted the little toddler. The boy beamed back at him. "Why don't you and Jack go play in your room until we're ready to go? Ok?"

"Ok!" Henry said excitedly, he took Jack's hand and pulled him away. "Come on Jack!"

And then just like that both boys disappeared up the stairs. JJ held the door open form him to come in and then shut it behind them.

"Thank you," she breathed out, relaxing.

Hotch gave her a chuckle. "He's a bit hyper, isn't he…"

She gave him a raised eyebrow. "Understatement of the year… I completely blame Will. He decided to feed my son sugary oatmeal for breakfast. And then he left me to fend for myself when the bomb exploded."

"Oh… Will's not coming?" Hotch asked curiously.

He watched JJ wince. "Yeah, sorry I didn't get back to you… Will had a… uh… prior engagement that he couldn't get out of. I'll reimburse you for that third ticket."

By the added 'uh' he could tell that either she didn't know where Will was or that she didn't approve of where he was. He was suddenly curious to know which it was, but he was too polite to ask.

"Don't worry about it, JJ," he said instead.

They stood there for a minute, awkwardly, until JJ broke it.

"Uh… I've got to pull Henry's car seat out of my car," JJ told him. "Why don't you check on the boys?"

Hotch nodded. "Sure… why don't you take my keys and move it to my car. I'll get the boys ready to go."

She smiled her relief and he pulled out his keys from his pocket. When she reached for them with her left hand he received a shock of a lifetime. Something large and sparkly on the all important ring finger.

He met her gaze; she was still smiling at him. She hadn't noticed that he'd noticed the ring. So, he put the keys into her hand.

"Thanks," she said happily.

He nodded, not knowing what else to say. She left, leaving Hotch to wonder what exactly the ring meant. Even though, deep down, he knew exactly what it meant.

Hotch was sitting on what was rapidly becoming his favourite park bench in the world. The circus was loud and crowded, and thankfully over. JJ and Hotch had decided to take their kids to the park to blow off some of that excited energy the show had instilled in them.

They were sitting silently, content to watch their children play happily and just enjoy each others company.

But after JJ's fourth wistful sigh, Hotch knew he had to say something.

"JJ?" he said softly.

And that's all it seemed to take to get her to speak.

"Hotch… do you ever question the decisions you've made in your life?"

"All the time," he confessed.

Another sigh. "How do you keep it from driving you crazy?"

That was a tough one. He wasn't quite sure he could be called completely sane. You had to be a little strange to do the job he did everyday.

"I… I don't know," he said unsurely, not liking the fact that he didn't have a straight answer for her. "Having Jack helps. Knowing that I must have made some good choices to get me him helps a lot."

"Yeah…" JJ said, nodding, accepting that answer. She was quiet for a second before she burst out in frustration, "I just wish I had something to make my decisions for me… like a psychic or… or… I don't know."

"A magic 8 ball?" he tried to joke, wanting to lighten the mood at least a bit.

But when she answered, completely serious, "Yeah," he knew something was up.

He frowned at his friend. This was a much different JJ then the one he'd seen a couple days ago. The other JJ was carefree, relaxed. This one was definitely wound up. And he could definitely guess at what was up.

"You really don't like change, do you?" he hedged.

She shook her head. "No not really."

He took a deep breath. He knew it was none of his business; especially since she hadn't mentioned it yet. But it had been right there, on her finger, staring him in the face all day. And he had to know if it really was what it so obviously was. The end of his one in a million chance.

Hotch reached out and gave her hand a bit of a tap. "Seems like you've got a pretty big change coming up that you haven't told me about yet…"

JJ looked away from watching the boys to gaze at him with startled, big blue eyes. He always loved her eyes.

"Huh? What do you mean?" she questioned.

It was hard to tear his eyes away from her own expressive ones, but he did, to look down at her left hand.

"I mean that, right there," he said dryly.

He watched her lift her left hand to hold it in front of her face as if she was surprised to see the expensive ring there. "Oh… I hadn't meant to wear it… I was going to keep it at home, I forgot."

That was a strange statement to Hotch. Most brides-to-be were excited to wear their new status out for the world to see. But JJ seemed to want to hide it. Something wasn't right.

"Why?" Hotch wanted to know.

"Why what?" JJ replied.

Hotch let out his breath. He realized he was probably about to overstep the boundaries of their friendship. But he was concerned. JJ had been agitated since the minute he'd picked her and Henry up. And he was maybe a little hopeful too… hopeful that maybe JJ was realizing that this wasn't what she wanted. Yes, he was being selfish.

"Why would you want to hide it JJ?" Hotch inquired. "I mean, if this is what you want… then you should want to show it off for the world to see. If Will is who you want…"

"Of course Will is who I want!" JJ said sharply, almost defensively. "Who else would I want? I love him, Hotch!"

Hotch winced. He hadn't meant to make her angry. "That's not what I meant. I was—"

"What did you mean, then? Just because I don't want to flaunt it or show it off doesn't mean I don't love him," JJ continued. "Hotch you have no right… no right…"

She got up and started to stalk away toward Henry.

This was so not what he wanted. His moment of selfishness was about to cost him one of the best things in his life.

"JJ, stop," he called after her. Luckily, she did as told, but she didn't turn to face him. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to say anything to hurt you. I was… I was just worried about you. I mean, you seemed not yourself. And I just wanted to make sure that being engaged to Will is what you want," he paused in his explanation. "I… just care about you."

She turned around then, her expression softened, hopefully by his words. "You… you care about me?"

She seemed unsure to him and he guessed he hadn't much, ok any, opportunity to express even his basic feelings to her.

"Of course, I do," he told her.

JJ surprised him then by throwing her arms around him and engulfing him in a big hug. It was the second time in a few short days that she'd embraced him. And he willingly hugged her back.

"I care about you too," she practically whispered in his ear.

He didn't want to let her go, but knew that he had to. He pulled back a bit so that he was able to look her in the face.

"I'm sorry again, for… prying," he apologized. "I just want to make sure you're happy."

"I am," she said contently.

Then she pulled him back for a quick hug before she pulled away and went to join the boys.

Hotch watched her walking away completely aware that she hadn't really answered his question about why she had meant to leave the ring behind.

Well that's it for now. I'll be updating soon, probably this weekend. Hope you enjoyed, leave me a review and let me know what you think!

Thanks to my two reviewers: kdzl and angry penguin. Thanks!

And thanks to those who have alerted this story!