A/N: So, so sorry for the huge wait. My only excuse is that I got wrapped up in my other jotch fic, Burning Love, which was for the valentine's gift exchange and apparently I'm not very good at multitasking. I'm back to focusing on this one, though. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.

Post-Wedding 2:

"Where you going daddy?"

Hotch turned from the mirror he'd been glancing in while tying his tie to focus on his six year old son standing in his bedroom doorway. Jack was watching him with an indecipherable look on his face.

He smiled at Jack as he answered, "I'm going out for dinner with your aunt JJ."

Jack's face it up at the mention of the blonde, former media liaison. Since the wedding had been called off two weeks ago JJ, Hotch, Jack and Henry had continued to spend time together, but as for any alone time with his favourite person, well that was nonexistent.

"Can I come?" Jack asked eagerly.

"Not this time buddy," Hotch shook his head. "It's a grown up dinner."

Jack seemed to accept this and as he went back to tying his tie he was reminded of how lucky he was to have such a good, calm son.

"But," Hotch felt the need to elaborate. "Your aunt Penelope is going to watch you and Henry at Henry's house."

"Yes!" Jack exclaimed.

Hotch chuckled.

Part of the reason he and JJ were taking things slow was for their sons. Especially Henry; he loved the boy and knew Henry loved him, but both JJ and he agreed that Henry might not be so ready for another man in his life.

So, tonight would be there first official date and he had some great things planned. He couldn't wait to see JJ's face as it lit up from the things he would show her tonight.

JJ held out several dresses as her audience lay sprawled across her bed.

"Which one?" JJ questioned both Emily and Garcia. She was holding a black, red, and deep purple dress of varying styles.

"Hmm," Garcia pondered. "First date, right?"

"Yeah," JJ answered, not being able to contain her giddiness.

"Not the purple one," Emily added. "It screams third or fourth date."

JJ glanced at the dress with the cap sleeves, not sure what about it gave off that impression, but she just shrugged it off, tossing the purple one away. She did, after all, want to look spectacular.

"Ok, so, red or black?" JJ put the question out.

"I think the black one's more sophisticated. It's gorgeous, but more demure," Emily analyzed.

JJ glanced at the dress with thicker straps and a gathered stitch under the bust line, from there it would skim the body all the way to just the top of her knees. A few crystals sewn into the dress, here and there added to the dress. It was pretty, but not even remotely outrageous. She definitely agreed with Emily's assessment.

"Now, the red one," Emily praised, "is definitely hot."

The red choice wasn't fire engine red, but more of a blood red. It had a plunging back and neckline that were slightly on the scandalous side. It was about the same length as the black, though.

"I like the red one," JJ gave her opinion.

"The question you need to ask yourself before you decide is," Penelope started a bit too logically, which is how JJ knew there was a surprise ending coming, "Are you ready to hit that?"

"Garcia!" JJ exclaimed.

"What?" Garcia objected. "It's a legitimate question."

JJ shot her a rueful look. "How does my sex life make for a legitimate question?"

"It will help us choose the dress," Emily jumped on the bandwagon.

The look on her two friends faces were so serious that JJ had to burst out laughing. Soon, both Garcia and Emily joined in until tears were coming from their eyes.

"So…" JJ started slowly. "I think I'll go with… the red one."

It was impossible to get a word in after that due to the squeals of delight from all three ladies.

Hotch knocked on JJ's front door, tentative and hesitant, because he was completely nervous. Why was he so nervous? This was JJ, his JJ. Nothing had changed… and yet everything had changed. They were together, but somehow he felt that tonight would make it official.

He was holding a bouquet of flowers just in case. It always paid to start off a date on the right foot. Jack was at his side. The babysitting would happen at JJ's.

"Dad, why'd you bring flowers?" Jack asked curiously, as they continued to wait.

Hotch smiled down at his son. "Girls like flowers and they like you more when you do something nice for them."

Jack nodded taking in his words of wisdom.

The door opened a second later and like on many occasions before he was again surprised by who opened the door. But his son was quicker than him on the greetings.

"Hi Aunt Emily. Hi Aunt Pen," Jack said happily. "You look very nice today."

And then he proceeded to give both ladies a quick hug, much to all three's delight. Jack then left to find his aunt JJ and Henry too.

"You've got quite the charmer there," Emily commented, amused.

"Little ones are so adorable," Garcia exclaimed. "You all need to get on having more."

"Uh… yeah ok," Hotch said awkwardly. "Where's JJ?"

"She's upstairs finishing making herself look all pretty for you," Garcia said giddily. "She said to go on up."

He nodded. He started to climb the stairs, but not before Emily added in a sing-song voice, "Have fun…"

Garcia giggled. Was he missing something? He shrugged it off, chalking it up to his friends' general strangeness, and continued to climb the stairs.

Once up in the hallway, he took in his surroundings. He knew where Henry's room was, having been inside it a couple of times. But he'd never been inside JJ's room. He assumed it was the one at the very end of the hall.

He walked towards it, noticing the door was open. Still, he knocked on the doorframe before entering.

"Hey," JJ said, smiling a 100 watt smile at the sight of him.

Facing him, he immediately zeroed in on what JJ was wearing. He was struck speechless; the dress was dark red, and hugged her in all the right places, not too mention the deep V for a neckline.

She frowned at him, and turned to look at herself in the mirror. That's when he saw the back. It was just as delicious as the front.

"Aaron is something wrong?" she asked tentatively.

"Wow…" he breathed out.

Realization dawned on her face and she turned to take in his awed expression. She smiled at his reaction.

"I mean," he tried again. She'd reduced him to an inexperienced teenage boy. "You look… wow!"

JJ quickly approached him putting her arms around his body. She placed a kiss on his cheek before hugging him tight.

Just as quickly, she pulled away from him and he knew he had to come up with more to say then just 'wow.'

"JJ," he murmured, just before she pulled him in for a passionate kiss, catching him totally by surprise.

Pulling back for air, he had enough time to ask, "What was that for?" before she planted a couple more kisses on his lips.

She let out a reluctant sigh, pulling away from him. "For being you. For putting up with me all this time until I figured out that you were the one I was meant to be with."

"You're welcome," he replied grinning.

She gave him a playful push as she turned to get her clutch off her dresser.

"So," she said conversationally, "Where are we going?"

"To Dolce Sapori," he answered straight out. He knew she wasn't a fan of surprises.

But he did enjoy the drop of her mouth at his reveal. It seemed he had surprised her after all.

"Hotch how?" she asked.

Dolce Sapori was one of the most exclusive Italian restaurants in D.C. It took years to get a reservation. It was near impossible.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Sometimes it pays to be a high-ranking FBI agent."

At her continued look of disbelief he felt he needed to add, "And Sean's been working there for a year now. He pulled some strings for me…"

JJ closed the distance between them and once again he was rewarded with the soft touch of his lips on his cheek. He could definitely get used to this.

"You're amazing, you know that?" she wondered out loud.

Locking gazes with her, he was taken aback by how much love emanated from her look alone. God, he loved her.

He took her hand in his. "Let's get going, ok?"

She nodded wordlessly.

Just as they were exiting the bedroom, they heard some commotion coming from downstairs.

"Will, I don't think this is a good idea," they heard Garcia gently urging.

"I… I just want to see my son; I wanna see JJ," they could hear Will's voice slurring. "They're… they're still my family."

"Will, you're drunk," came Emily's less gentle, more firm voice.

Hotch and JJ shared a worried look before quickly making their way down the hall.

They stopped at Henry's room to make sure the boys stayed put.

"Jack," Hotch said, peaking inside. "I need you two to stay in here for a bit, ok. Don't come out until either JJ or I come get you. Watch Henry, can you do that?"

Jack nodded. "Is something bad going to happen?"

Hotch shook his head. "Not with me and JJ here."

Jack seemed to be relieved by that. Hotch gave his son and Henry one last reassuring look before shutting the door.

He glanced at the silent JJ. She returned his concerned look with a sad one. "I'm sorry, Aaron."

He gave her hand a comforting squeeze and led her to the stairs.

"Will, come on," Garcia was trying again. "You don't want Henry to see you like this."

"But he's my son!"

"And he'll still be your son, tomorrow, when you go home and sober up," Emily added.

"Home? This is my home," Will said sorrowfully, anger fleeing him, leaving only the sadness.

"Will," JJ said forlornly, as they made their way down the last few steps.

His face lit up at seeing her and Hotch felt a stab of guilt. He'd never wanted Will to get hurt. He was a good guy, after all.

And then Hotch noticed the expression on his face change to one of disbelief. And he realized that he'd caught sight of their entwined hands.

"So, this is the other guy?" Will asked nastily.

"Will, please, we obviously need to talk, but not like this," JJ pleaded.

"All those play dates… you were really screwing him, weren't you?" Will bit out.

"Will," Hotch gave it a shot. "It was never like that."

"How could you do this to me, I thought you were my friend?" Will accused, on the verge of tears.

Hotch was surprised when JJ let go of his hand and approached her ex-fiancée. Tentatively, she reached out to embrace Will, and it took every ounce of Hotch's strength for him not to pull her away from the currently unstable man.

Will returned her embrace. And Hotch could see that the man had let go and was now crying on JJ's shoulder.

"Come on Will, let's talk outside," JJ told the man.

Hotch stepped forward, intending on following her, but the discreet lift of her hand told him to stay put. He knew she could protect herself, but he still wanted to be by her side.

Garcia's hand on his shoulder wouldn't let him move either. JJ took the broken man outside, shutting the door behind them.

"Hotch, he needs to hear this from JJ and only JJ," Garcia explained.

He knew she was right. He'd only make things worse. But still… He sat himself at the foot of the stairs, only willing to give them five minutes max.

"Would you two check on Jack and Henry for me, please?" Hotch asked.

The two ladies nodded. They made their way around him and he continued to sit and wait.

JJ sat down on the front step, guiding him to sit next to her. She still hand her arm around his shoulders, but he seemed to be composing himself.

"Why's this happening, JJ?" he asked mournfully. "I thought… I thought you loved me…"

She let out a sigh. "I'm sorry Will… I never wanted you to get hurt… But… but we're not meant for each other…"

"So, what?" he said, pulling away from her to give her an incredulous look. "You're meant for Hotch?"

"He makes me happy," she answered truthfully.

"So, who am I meant for then?" he asked pitifully.

JJ's heart was breaking for him. "I don't know, Will. That's something you're going to need to figure out… because it's not me."

He looked away from her, staring off into the distance.

"You should probably go back to Jason's," she suggested.

"I don't like staying there," he confided.

She threw him a surprised look. "Why not? I thought he's your best friend?"

"He is. It's just getting… confusing staying there."

She frowned. "Confusing how?"

He looked at her then. She could see that he was on the verge of telling her something important. But then he frowned and said, "Never mind."

"Will, come back tomorrow to see Henry. You know I'd never keep you away from him. You're a good dad…"

He nodded and then stood up.

"Do you need a ride?"

"Nah… I took a cab…" He pointed behind him and she could see it was still there.

"Ok…" JJ said awkwardly. "I'll see you…"

"See you…"

Hotch was very relieved when the door opened about two minutes later to JJ, all alone. She was all right, but she looked on the verge of tears. He jumped up off the step to hug her close.

"You ok?" he asked dumbly.

"He's hurting because of me," JJ blamed.

"Oh JJ… don't blame yourself… this wasn't anyone's fault," Hotch tried to soothe. "You can't help who you fall for."

"I know," JJ conceded. "But I don't know if I'll feel ok about Will until he finds someone too."

"He will," Hotch assured. "It's only a matter of time."

He heard her sniffle back her tears. He hated that she felt this way, and he knew there wasn't much he could say to make her feel better about Will. He just hoped that she loved him enough to know that it was the right decision.

"JJ, you ok?" Emily's voice cut through the silent moment.

She pulled away from him, wiping at the corners of her eyes. She looked up at Emily at the top of the stairs and nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

"He left?" Garcia asked, coming up behind Emily.

Hotch nodded.

"Good, now you two better get going, you don't want to be late," their red-headed friend urged.

Hotch looked at JJ, she looked completely drained. "I think we'll stay in tonight."

"What? No Hotch, let's go. I know how much trouble you went to in planning tonight. Let's go," JJ protested.

He gave her a small smile. "JJ, it's all right. We'll have other nights," he paused, bringing her knuckles to his lips. "I know that encounter hurt and you don't want to be out for the world to see. I'm ok with that."

She smiled sadly. "You really are the best."

"Go check on the boys, and I'll call Sean," he added.

After a brief kiss, she ascended the stairs. He pulled out his cell phone, forgetting that he had an audience.

"You two are so sweet together," Garcia cooed. "You're going to give me diabetes."

The pair came down the stairs each one giving him a comforting pat on the shoulder.

"See you at work boss-man."

That's it for now.

Thanks to everyone who's still been reading. And thanks to my reviewers: ThePenIsMighty; jekkah (me too! If only we could have gotten scenes with the two in the show); Hotch Fan; Reading Red (nope you aren't seeing things); Myspaceisdaocean (I won't quit on this pairing, it's my favourite to write); angry penguin; canny-bairn; countersteak21 (we'll find out for sure what's up with Will, next chap); Starrmyst; spk; Zolidify; JJandHotch4ever96; kdzl; and anonymous (yeah, Henry's definitely not going to have an easy time of it…).

Thanks everyone!