Can I just say that I love you guys? Because I really do! I uploaded this story, thinking if I got 5 people to like this I was doing good! But instead of five people, I have 8 people who favorited, 31 people who are following, and 24 people who reviewed She's Back!
Now, I'm a little behind on sending PMs and thanking everyone for reviewing, so I'll just thank you all right now: Guest Spirit, Guest, JaycelynStewart, Celina79, PrentissObsessed, Petitemesange, Guest, Rmpcmfan, Angiely, Miss ellinor, Chlo-Bo, Emilyhotchnerforever, Emilyhotchnerforever, Rimasters, Storm-SA, Crayolakid0413, Rid3ThatChocob0, Korenyx, Hotchfan1, Guest, Ramona, Rmpcmfan, Celina79, and Chlo-Bo. You have no idea how much I appreciate your feedback and I'm glad that you all are enjoying this as much as am I! Please continue to offer me feedback and tell me if I write a crappy chapter or if I write something that didn't make sense. Or review just to tell me that you enjoyed the chapter! More reviews motivates me to put off doing my Psychology and Spanish 2 and Biology homework like I am right now to upload chapters faster! :)
Now, on with the story!
She writes that, yes, he can pick Jack up at her house and she invites him to her house tomorrow night, with the rest of the team, before leaving to pick up a kid who she hasn't seen in two years but has always loved him like a son. Who wouldn't, when he's just like his Daddy.
Emily pulls into the driveway of the address that Hotch gave her. She knocks on the door, preparing herself for a fight with Hotch's ex wife's sister for Jack but when Jessica opens the door, she only offers Emily a smile.
"Hi. You must be Agent Prentiss."
Emily smiles shyly, "and you're Haley's sister."
"Was. Was Haley's sister. You don't have to worry about me being emotional about this, Agent."
"Please, call me Emily."
"Aaron specifically said that you two are not dating, so I'm not supposed to grill you on you and Aaron's relationship," Jessica winks, "but, what Aaron doesn't know won't hurt him. So, Special Agent Emily Prentiss, what is your relationship with your boss?"
Emily raises an eyebrow, thankful that she's still got her mask on while on the inside she's screaming 'I love him!'. "My relationship with Special Agent Hotchner is not breaking any rules in the FBI handbook about two agents. I am friends with Hotch, that's all."
"You helped him and Jack when Haley died," Jessica points out.
"They needed to grieve but they couldn't just sit around the house watching tapes of Haley. They needed to get out and live and I took it into my hands to help. Nothing a friend wouldn't do for a friend," she defends herself.
"Jack talked a lot about you, saying 'Emmy gave me this' and 'my Emmy did this'."
"I love Jack like he's my own, but that doesn't mean he will ever be, and let's just leave it at that. Now, can I take Jack and leave because my kids are waiting for me at home?"
"You have kids?"
Emily smiles proudly, thinking about her wonderful and amazing kids, "yes, I do." Aftter seeing Jessica glance down at her left hand, she adds, "I'm not married."
Jessica smiles sheepishly, "I was wondering if that was why you and Aaron are 'just friends'."
"Why do you think we're something more? I have only talked to Hotch a few times since I left the Bureau two years ago."
"Because of the way that Aaron looked every time he talked about you. The look on his face every time Jack talks about 'his Emmy'. The way you looked at Aaron at Haley's funeral. Everyone else pitied him and felt sorry for him, but, while you you and the rest of your team felt sorry for him and even guilty that you couldn't save Haley, you guys wanted to help him get through it. But you more so than anyone else. You looked like you just wanted to protect Aaron and Jack from everything in the world."
Before Emily can respond, Jack comes up to the door. "Aunt Jessica, when is Daddy-" He stops talking when he sees Emily. He stares at her for a second before his eyes light up and he runs to her, "Emmy!"
She picks up the eight year old and spins him around, adding a "Ommph," as a sound effect. "You're getting big Jack-in-the-box."
He jumps down and stares at her with a glare that competes with Hotch's. "Where have you been, Emily Prentiss?"
She sits on her knees, eye level with him, before talking. "Well, Jack, you know I told you that I was going to live far, far away for a while."
"It's been two years, Emmy. That's a long while," Jack pouts.
"I know it is, Buddy, and I'm sorry I've been away for so long and I know I was away for a long time before that. But I had to leave."
"Why?"
She sighs, "I just..." She searches her brain for an explanation that will make him understand. "You know when you were four and you went to preschool?" He nods. "Well, when you turned five, you had to leave preschool and start Kindergarten. You didn't want to leave, you liked your teacher and your friends, but you didn't belong you in preschool anymore, you belonged in Kindergarten. Even though I loved working with your Daddy and the rest of the team and living in DC and seeing you, I didn't belong here any more."
"So, you didn't wanna live here?" At least when he asks this question, she can see that he isn't upset anymore, he's just curious.
"I wanted to live here, just like you wanted to keep going to preschool, but I couldn't stay, the same way you couldn't stay in preschool. I had to leave the BAU and you had to leave preschool."
Jack runs back into Emily's arms, staying in her embrace. "Don't leave me again, Emmy," he whispers.
She rubs his back for a minute, not able to promise that, and stands up. "Come on, Jack-Jack, you're coming home with me."
His eyes brighten, "really?"
Jessica and Emily both laugh. "Yes, really. Go get a change of clothes just in case you end up spending the night at my house. 'Kay?"
"Awesome!" He yells running to get the clothes.
"I think he's excited," Jessica comments.
"Just a little bit," Emily jokes.
Jack is back in seconds with an Iron Man backpack filled with presumedly clothes and probably toys. "Ready," he breathes out catching his breath.
"Let's go, then. Say goodbye to your aunt."
He gives his aunt a quick hug before running back to Emily's side. "Bye, Aunt Jessica."
Jessica does her best to look serious but her eyes are dancing, "is she your favorite now? You can't leave Emily's side for two seconds to give your favorite aunt a big hug?"
"Aunt Jess, you're my only aunt. Or at least, my only real aunt. I do have Aunt Pen and Aunt JJ."
Only then does her serious look crack and she starts laughing. "I know, kid, I know. I'm just messing with you. Bye Jack! Bye Emily!"
They drive in the car with Jack filling Emily in on everything she missed in the past two years while Emily nods in agreement to something he said or she just smiles or laughs, encouraging him to go on. "...and Steve told Mrs. Baxter that I-"
"Hey, Jack?"
"Yes, Emmy?" He eagerly turns towards Emily, not upset at all that she interrupted his story.
"I have to tell you something, buddy." She's almost as nervous as she was telling Hotch, which shouldn't be a surprise considering how close she got to Jack before she left and how much the boy's input means to her. "We are on the way to my house."
He nods seriously, "I know that, Emmy."
"Well, what you don't know is... I have kids now, honey."
He looks confused for a second while his brain processes the information. "You have kids? Like how I'm Daddy's kid?"
"Exactly like that."
Jack nods for a second, thinking before he grins and shouts, "Cool!"
Emily laughs, the tension in her shoulders disappearing immediately as she laughs with him. "Yes, it is cool."
"Do I get to play with them?" He asks worriedly.
"Of course you can play with them," she reassures.
"What are their names, Emmy?"
"Well, there's four of them."
His eyes widen, "you have four kids? That's a lot!"
She chuckles, "yeah, Buddy, that's a lot. My fourteen year old daughter Jocelyn is the oldest. Then there's Carson, who's six years old. The twins, Leo and Johanna Joy, are four years old."
"There's twins? That's so cool, Emmy! Only you would have a pair of twins!"
Emily tells him some silly stories of her kids and in return Jack tells her all the wierd things his daddy has done lately (stuff she can make fun of Hotch about later) and before they know it, Emily is pulling into the driveway. "I didn't tell them you were coming, Jack-Jack, but they will be excited to see you," she says unlocking the front door.
As soon as the door is opened, music floats out of the door and into the street. The house is vibrating because of the volume of the song. Emily quickly informs Jack, almost screaming at him so he could hear her, to cover his ears and they walk to the living room. There is Jocelyn, Carson, Leo, and Johanna Joy all dancing to "Don't Stop Believin", the Glee version.
Emily hides the smile she's trying so hard not to let out, hiding it behind a stern look as she turns off the music. The kids smile as they see her and the three youngest run to give her a hug while Jocelyn chuckles nervously, "uh, hey, Mom."
"If the music is vibrating the house, it's wayyyy too loud, Jocelyn."
"Sorry, it's just that..." her voice trails off as she sees Jack who's hiding nervously behind Emily. "Um, Mom? You have a follower."
She turns around and smiles at Jack. "It's okay, Jack. You can come out," she coaxes him. He slowly moves from behind Emily to in front of her. "Jack, this is Jocelyn, Carson, Leo, and Johanna Joy. Kids, this is Jack Hotchner. I work with his father."
Jocelyn's eyes widen at the mention of Hotchner but she wisely keeps quiet about it and smiles at Jack, though Emily can still see the questions in her eyes. "It's nice to meet you, Jack," she takes a step towards him and he meets her the rest of the way.
"Your name is Jocelyn?"
She smiles, "it is. So, Mr. Jack, do you like spaghetti?" He nods. "Good 'cause we made a ton of it for dinner and we need help eating it."
"You love spaghetti don't you, Jack?" Emily asks him, trying to keep conversation going.
He nods excitedly,"uh-huh! 'Ghetti is my favorite! That's what you made the last time you had dinner had at our house, right, Emmy?" His smile disappears and nobody says anything for a few tense moments until Leo looks at Jack.
"I have legos and cars in my room, you wanna play with me? Jocey and Carson don't play with me very much and Mommy and Joey only play sometimes."
"Can I, Emmy? Please?" "Yeah, Momma, can he? PLEASE?" They both beg at the same time making Emily laugh.
"Yes, boys, you can go play." Once they run up the stairs and Johanna Joy follows, going to play with her Barbies, Emily turns to Carson. "Hey, Sonny, why don't you go to your room for a little bit while Jocelyn and I make garlic bread since I'm betting you guys didn't make the bread."
Carson shrugs sheepishly, "you make it better."
"Yeah, because it's soo hard to put garlic and butter on a loaf of bread and put it in the oven," Emily rolls her eyes.
Carson nods a few times, "it really is hard, Momma."
"Well, I'll have Jocelyn help me make it and you can go to your room and work on that painting you were working on last night."
"Okay! Wait..." She looks between her mom and her sister, squinting her eyes in suspicion, "why is Jocelyn helping you?"
"Because she wants to learn how to make garlic bread."
Carson studies her for a minute before her eyes widen, "you're lying!"
"WHAT? You can't tell that?" Emily huffs.
"Can too. You let out a small breath right after you said it. That's your tell."
"Are you kidding me? My six year old daughter can tell I'm lying but criminals can't? How can I be a good profiler if my daughter can tell I'm lying?"
"Uh, Mom?" Emily looks over at her oldest.
"Yes, Jocelyn?"
"You just called yourself a profiler. You technically haven't been a profiler in two years," she states with worried eyes.
Emily sighs. "yeah, I know I'm not a profiler anymore."
Jocelyn look at Carson and tilts her head in the direction of her room. She takes the hint and smiles, "you guys win. I'm going to go to my room now."
Once they are alone, Jocelyn turns to her mother. "Mom..."
"I know, sweetie, I know. Let's get that bread started and then we can talk." She follows her to the kitchen but doesn't say a word as Emily prepares the bread and then puts it in the already heated oven. "Okay, ask what you want."
"Why'd you call yourself a profiler?"
"Well, I still do profile criminals, I'm just not an official profiler like I was at the BAU."
Jocelyn gives her a pointed look, "that's it?"
"And..." Emily sighs, "and Hotch offered me my old job back."
"Really?" Jocelyn grins. "Mom, that's great! We can move to Quantico! I mean, I like London and everything, but I wanna move back to the states. And I like this house better than the one in London anyway. And so does Carson! The twins don't really care, but they would love to move near Henry and JJ."
"I never said I was taking it."
"Why wouldn't you take it? You'll be working along side the best friends you've ever had, whom you feel guilty for not telling anyone but JJ about us, you'll have the job you are passionate about again, and you'll be working with the man you've loved since... forever! Sounds like a great deal to me!"
"It's complicated, Jocelyn."
"Then explain it to me." After Emily is silent for a few moments, Jocelyn sighs. "If you don't want to tell me that, tell me what you told Hotch when he offered you the job."
"I told him I had people in my life that I needed to talk to this about. He automatically assumed that meant I'm married with kids, not that I blame him, so I set him straight on that."
"Moooooooooommmmmmm..." She says in her best whining voice. "He so loves you and you so love him. Why can't you just tell him?"
"Been talking to JJ, have we?" Emily smirks.
"No... Okay, yes. But, in my defense, I just want you to be happy, Mom. We all want that. And no matter how much you want to deny it or put off telling the man you love your feelings, we all know exactly how you feel about Aaron Hotchner."
Emily's about to respond when the doorbell rings. "Jocey, the bread will be done in a few minutes. Once the timer goes off, just spread butter on the bread and then dinner will be ready."
Emily groans when she goes to answer the door and sees Hotch. She was really hoping to have a few hours to think things through before he showed up. As soon as the door opens, Hotch lets out a chain of apologies. "I'm sorry that you had to pick Jack up and that Jessica 'interrogated' you, even if you both deny it, and I'm sorry you had to take him to your house."
After a few silent moments, she offers a small smile, "you done?"
He nods, "for now."
"Good. Spaghetti is ready and the bread will be momentarily. You and Jack are joining us."
His eyes widen at the word 'us', obviously still in shock about the kids, but he gets over it quickly. "No, Emily, we don't need to intrude on your family meal. We've already done enough of that today. I'm just going to get Jack and we will leave you and your kids alone."
He's about to walk up the stairs to get Jack but she lightly touches his arm, stopping his movements and getting in front of him so she can see she's serious. "Aaron, I would love for you and Jack to join us for dinner. You and Jack will never be intruding on anything in my life."
He studies her, everything from her posture to her words to her eyes, her beautiful brown eyes, and smiles when he concludes that she is telling the truth. She wants him and Jack here with her family. "Okay."
Emily sighs in relief, "good because Jocelyn and the rest of the bunch made way too much spaghetti for us to eat in a month, nevertheless in one night."
"Hey! I resent that!" Jocelyn yells out from her hiding spot on the other side of the wall before sighing, "crap."
"Come on out, Jocelyn Renee."
Her daughter comes out smiling innocently, "I was just coming to tell you the bread is almost ready."
"Yeah, right," she scoffs. "You weren't earsdropping or anything, were you, Jocelyn?"
She smiles, "of course not, Mommy. That would be rude."
"Uh-huh," Emily clearly doesn't believe her daughter but smiles anyway. "But since you are here, I'll make introductions anyway. Jocelyn, this is my friend and old boss Aaron Hotchner. Hotch, this is my fourteen year old daughter Jocelyn."
Hotch smiles, his dimples making an appearance. The same dimples that make Emily's heart melt and her knees grow weak (not that he knows that). "It's nice to meet you, Jocelyn. And ignore what your mother said, I'm not old."
"Not as old as Rossi but still older than the rest of us," Emily mumbles until her breath winking at her daughter who giggles.
The giggle gets Hotch's attention as he turns to Emily. "What did you say, Agent?"
"Oh nothing, sir. I didn't say anything, nothing at all," she grins.
Hotch rolls his eyes, "is this what I missed in these two years? You making fun of my age?"
Her eyes widen. "You head what I said? You better watch out, Jocelyn, Grandpa Timer over here isn't going deaf just yet."
"Just for that remark I'm going to tell Jocelyn about that in Georgia when you-"
"Oh my god, don't you dare tell her that story! That's too embarrassing!"
"Oh, I wanna hear it now. Please do tell, Agent Hotchner," Jocelyn winks at her mom.
"Trader," Emily glares at her daughter.
Hotch grins at Emily before looking at Jocelyn, "so we were in Atlanta, Georgia on a case and-"
"If you tell her that story I will tell the entire team what happened that time we took Jack to feed the ducks!"
"You can't tell them that!"
"Wanna bet?" Emily grins.
"But that wasn't at work. You can't tell FBI Agents, that I supervise, that story!"
"Any story is fair game."
"I want to hear both of those stories," Jocelyn smiles innocently.
Hotch and Emily study each other for a second before turning to her and saying, "too bad," at the same time.
"Well, if you guys are done flirting, I would love to hear at least some stories of your trips around the country. Just the fun parts though, no serial killer hunting stories tonight."
Johanna Joy runs down the stairs and stands right in front of Emily, practically vibrating with excitement. "Mommy! Mommy! Guess what?" She doesn't wait for a response, she just keeps talking. "Aunt JJ, Uncle Will, and Henry just pulled into the driveway!"
"Oh crap," Emily murmurs before turning to Hotch. "I wasn't expecting them."
"It's okay, Emily. I'll just take Jack and go."
"NO!" Everyone looks at Jocelyn and she smiles nervously, "I mean... Stay, Agent Hotchner! There's plently of spaghetti for everyone and that way you and Mom can have some time to catch up."
"Jocelyn Renee, I'm onto you," Emily says suspecting that JJ and her family coming wasn't just a random decision. Someone leaked the 4-11 about the Hotchner boys being here. And that is the same someone who's one of the few rare people that truly know how Emily feels about her boss.
"I just don't want Agent Hotchner and Jack to leave before I get to know them."
Emily narrows her eyes at her oldest daughter but is quick to nod her agreement, "I don't want them to leave just yet either." She looks at him. "Stay for dinner, Hotch. We would love to have you and Jack along with JJ, Will, and Henry for dinner."
He and Emily have a conversation with their eyes, Hotch asking if she really does want him to stay and Emily begging him to stay. "Okay, I'll stay. On one condition! Jocelyn, you and all the kids call me Aaron or Hotch or even Hotchner, just not Agent Hotchner. This isn't an interrogation."
"Hotch it is," Jocelyn responds right before the doorbell rings. "I'll get it!"
And the verdict is? Good chapter? Bad chapter? Do I still have readers? I sure hope so but now I'm off to do my homework!
Hannahbanana Jane :)