Well, the drama is over- but don't worry, I still have a few things planned before this story is officially over. All of them completely mushy and drama free. After this chapter, there's only one more plus an epilogue. So keep looking out for those! Thanks guys! : )
Just as Emily had suspected, she didn't have any broken bones. She had more than her fair share of cuts and bruises, and a few cracked ribs. She was given medication to take for the pain that she would soon start feeling, and then the doctor released her. Gabby, of course, was cleared of any physical harm and was released before Emily.
"Thank God," Emily said as she, Hotch, and Gabby walked out to the lobby, where Emily would be signed out and the three of them would finally be able to go home. It was late, and all of them were anxious to leave. JJ came to pick them up and was waiting for them when they walked out.
"Hey," she greeted with a smile.
"JJ!" Emily said happily, hugging the blonde tightly, since the last time she'd seen her, she wasn't in the best state. "I'm so glad you're alright! I was so worried,"
"I'm fine, I just had a concussion. No big deal," JJ said as the embrace broke.
"I'm sorry," Emily said.
"Don't," JJ said, holding up a hand. "You did what you had to do, right? Now look at you, you're here, Gabby's here, and you don't have to worry about anything anymore,"
"Thank you," Emily smiled, as JJ put an arm around her. They walked outside to JJ's car, Hotch and Gabby trailing a few steps behind them.
"We're going home now, right?" Gabby asked hopefully as she crawled into the backseat of the car.
"After we leave here, we're going to go pick Jack up from his aunt's house, but then we'll go home," Hotch promised, sliding in next to her.
"Okay," Gabby said tiredly.
"She'll be asleep before we get to Jessica's," Emily commented as she took the passenger's seat next to JJ.
"No I won't," Gabby argued, her eyes already beginning to close.
Emily had been right, Gabby was sound asleep before they picked Jack up and Jessica's.
"Hi," Emily said quietly once Jack was in the car next to Hotch.
"Emily," he greeted happily. "I'm so glad you're both okay,"
"Me, too,"
The rest of the ride was silent, but not uncomfortable. They said their goodbyes to JJ and went inside the house, Hotch carrying Gabby on his hip.
Though they tried to quietly enter the house, Gabby stirred and opened her eyes.
"We're home!" she said happily.
"We are!" Hotch said as he put Gabby down.
"Jack!" Gabby said once she noticed he was there, too. She ran over to him and threw her arms around his waist.
"Hey, you," Jack replied, hugging the little girl back.
"I missed you!" Gabby said as she pulled away.
"I missed you too, kiddo. I'm glad you're back!" Jack said.
"Me, too. I missed my bed..." she said, causing the three of them to laugh.
"Speaking of," Hotch said. "Go up to your room, there's a surprise waiting for you,"
"Really?" Gabby asked excitedly, running up the stairs to see what Hotch was talking about.
Emily glanced over at Hotch. "What did you do?" she asked.
"Come look," he said as he grabbed Emily's hand and led her carefully up the stairs, Jack behind them.
"Oh, Aaron," Emily said once they were inside the room. Hotch had painted the walls a bright, lighter shade of purple. Exactly what they had been planning to do before everything happened.
"I didn't have time to redo anything else. But I had to wait around... a lot... for people to listen to me. So to keep myself from going completely insane, I went ahead and painted. I was going to let you pick out the color, Gabby, but I remembered you said you liked purple," Hotch explained.
"I love it!" Gabby said excitedly. "Thank you!" She threw her arms around her father tightly.
"You're welcome, sweetheart," Hotch smiled, returning the hug. "When you and your mama are feeling up to it, we'll redo the rest of it,"
"Okay!" Gabby agreed, flopping down on her bed.
"You're tired, huh?" Emily asked, pulling the blankets back and allowing Gabby to get situated under them.
Gabby nodded, laying back into the pillows. "Will you and Daddy stay in here?" she asked quietly.
"Of course, baby," Emily said, sitting on one side of the bed while Hotch went around to sit on the other.
"I'm going to go to bed too," Jack said, bidding goodnight to everyone and heading to his own room.
Emily and Hotch sat with Gabby until she fell asleep, which took no time at all. As soon as she closed her eyes, she was sound asleep.
"I'm so glad she's able to go to sleep so easily," Emily said softly as she'd been worried Gabby might be afraid, or might have nightmares.
"It's a good sign," Hotch agreed.
"She missed you so much," Emily smiled. "She probably won't let you out of her sight for days,"
"You and Gabby will both be in my line of vision for awhile. I know you're safe now, but-"
"I know," Emily said. "It's okay. It's weird, though. I don't remember what it's like to not constantly be worried about Doyle. I've spent so long being afraid he would hurt the people I cared about. But now- I don't have to worry," Emily admitted.
"None of us have to, we can be together," Hotch said.
"That's the best part," Emily smiled, turning her attention to a sleeping Gabby.
"I talked to Declan," she said randomly after a few moments of silence between them.
"At the hospital?"
Emily nodded. "He came to see me while you had Gabby in the waiting room. I never- I never thought I would see him again. I never planned on seeing him again,"
"I'm glad you got to," Hotch said sincerely. He knew how much Declan meant to her.
"It's weird. I still picture him as the little, curly-haired blonde boy that liked it when I read to him at night. Or that asked me to have picnics with him," Emily smiled at the thought.
"That's how I feel about Jack sometimes- and I've been with him every day," Hotch told her.
"I don't want her to grow up," Emily said, referring to the sleeping girl between them. "I already feel like she's grown up too fast. She'll be ten this year,"
"She's still little, Em. She's not a baby, of course. But she's nowhere near a grown up," Hotch reassured her.
"I know," Emily agreed.
The two of them were quiet for awhile again, when Hotch spoke up.
"Now that Doyle isn't a problem anymore, what are you going to do?"
"I was hoping Gabby and I would stay here..." Emily said, confused as to what Hotch meant.
"No I meant- are you going to change your name back to Emily Prentiss again?" he asked.
"I think so. I miss being Emily," Emily said. "Well, legally, anyway,"
"Well, I was thinking..." Hotch started, Emily raised an eyebrow in question. "You could always change it to Emily Hotchner..." he said quietly.
"Are you trying to propose to me, Hotchner?" Emily joked.
"Well- maybe. I know this isn't traditional, and I swear I'll get you a ring. But I love you, Emily. I've always loved you,"
"Aaron," she breathed, feeling tears welling in her eyes. "I don't need a ring. I just need you," she told him, leaning over Gabby carefully to plant a kiss right on his lips.
"Let's do it tomorrow," she said once they broke apart. "We can have a reception later. Or whatever. I don't care, I just want to be together. I want us to be a family,"
"Whatever you want, Em. You'll have it,"
"I love you," she told him, he returned the expression with another kiss.
"Can I change my name too?" they heard the familiar, small voice ask.
"How long have you been awake?" Emily asked.
"I don't know," Gabby said. "But I do know you guys are getting married!" she said happily.
"We are, ma chere," Emily confirmed.
"Can I change my last name, too?" Gabby asked again.
"Gabrielle Elizabeth Hotchner..." Emily said. "I like it," Emily said. "Of course you can change your name too, sweetheart,"
"Yay!" Gabby said excitedly.
"Okay," Emily said, "Daddy and I will be quiet now so you can sleep, you need it," Emily told the girl.
"'Kay," Gabby agreed. "I love you guys," she mumbled tiredly.
"We love you too, honey," Hotch told her as she fell back asleep.
"We should probably get some sleep too," Emily whispered.
"You're right. We'll talk more tomorrow," Hotch replied.
"Okay, goodnight," Emily said as she laid down, Hotch doing the same thing.
''Night," he responded. The three of them barely fit in the bed together, but none of them minded.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
The next morning, Emily woke up alone in the bed in Gabby's room. She heard laughter and smelled breakfast cooking downstairs. She rose from the bed, walking into the bathroom across the hall to wash her face and put her messy hair up in a ponytail. She walked downstairs to find every member of the Hotchner clan already there. Gabby was sitting at the kitchen counter next to Jack, the two of them laughing about something Emily had missed out on seeing.
Hotch was standing over the stove, a bowl of pancake batter next to him. He was laughing, too. Probably at whatever had Jack and Gabby cracking up too.
She went into the kitchen, making herself known.
"Mama!" Gabby said happily, jumping down from her chair and rushing into Emily's arms.
"Morning, sweetie," Emily greeted happily. "Did you sleep okay?"
"Yeah!" Gabby confirmed. "It's about time you got up," Gabby joked.
"I really didn't think I would sleep this late," Emily said. She had expected to be up tossing and turning all night, possibly having unstoppable nightmares. But that hadn't happened. She slept like she hadn't slept in months- years, even. It was nice.
"Daddy's making breakfast. Chocolate chip pancakes!" Gabby informed her mother.
"Ooh, my favorite!" Emily said as Gabby lead her over to the counter where they both took a seat.
"Now that Mama's awake, can I tell Jack what you and Mama agreed on last night?" Gabby asked Hotch, who gave her a nod of approval as he flipped a pancake over.
"Mama and Daddy are getting married! And my last name is going to be Hotchner!" Gabby said excitedly, speaking quickly as if she'd been dying to say it out loud.
"Wow, really?" Jack asked. For a split second, Emily was afraid he didn't agree, that he would be upset like he had been when Emily and Gabby first arrived back in the States. But then, he smiled, and Emily felt a wave of relief wash over her. "That's great! Congratulations, guys," he said as he rose from the chair and hugged Emily tightly.
"Thank you," Emily said. "You're okay with this?" Emily asked him.
"Of course I am, Mom," Jack smiled. Emily returned the smile, unable to say anything back. She had everything she ever wanted, and now she didn't have to worry about it all being ripped away from her by Ian Doyle. She was getting married, to Aaron Hotchner. Something she had desired for so long, but never thought she would see happen. She had Gabby, the little girl she couldn't possibly imagine her life without. Jack was okay with her now, he accepted her back into his life, something she was worried might never happen. In that moment, the only thing that mattered to her was her family.