And here it is, the epilogue for this story. I wanted to have some ~team closure, and this was the best way I could think if to get that. Thank you all SO much for sticking with me, for reading this, and for all your kind reviews. I might never have finished this story if not for all of you! I'm actually kind of sad this is over, I had fun writing it! Thanks again so much to every single one of you! : )
-kbrewster.
By the time the Hotchner family arrived back home, it was almost dark outside. Hotch had kept them out the rest of the afternoon. Emily found it kind of suspicious, but she waved it off. A day out with her family after what happened sounded absolutely perfect to her. Once they arrived home, Hotch insisted on leading everyone inside.
"What are you doing?" Emily asked, raising an eyebrow playfully in suspicion.
"What do you mean? We're just going inside..." Hotch teased back.
"There is something you're not telling me, Aaron Hotchner," Emily said, trying to get past Hotch without success.
"Just wait," Hotch smiled, turning the key in the lock and opening the door, motioning for the rest of them to come inside.
When Emily finally went inside, she gasped at the sight. The living room was decorated with white flowers along the door and window frames, across the back of the couch, and along the edges of the coffee table. She smiled as she walked closer to the table, seeing what sat in the center. It was a picture Emily didn't even know had been taken. It was of her, Hotch, Jack, and Gabby. All four of them were seated on the couch, Jack was sitting on the end next to Hotch, and Emily sat right next to him. Gabby had just jumped up on the couch and laid across all three of them, making them all laugh at her. Emily picked up the frame, staring at the picture, taking in the moment she remembered so clearly. Garcia must have snapped the picture when they weren't looking, because Emily remembered Garcia being at the house that day.
Emily spun around to face Hotch, clutching the picture close to her.
"Aaron- when did you- how did you-" Before any of her questions could be answered, the light in the kitchen flipped on.
"Surprise!" she heard several voices call. She wasn't expecting it, so she nearly jumped out of her skin.
Stunned, Emily watched as Garcia, JJ, Rossi, Morgan, and even Ashley Seaver walked into the living room, a happy smile on each of their faces.
"Oh my God," Emily breathed. "You guys!" She exclaimed, fighting back tears of joy.
"Did you two know about this too?" Emily asked Gabby and Jack, who neither outwardly confirmed nor denied Emily's question. The two just simply glanced at each other and smiled.
"Oh I can't believe you!" Emily said jokingly, sitting the picture frame back on the table. She turned to go greet her friends, but Garcia beat her to it. She threw her arms around Emily just as she turned around, nearly smothering the brunette.
"Oh, my precious raven-haired kitten, I am so glad you're okay! I was so worried! And now you're married and everything is just oh-so-perfect!" Garcia exclaimed dramatically, letting Emily go and picking up Gabby, who got a very similar greeting.
JJ approached Emily next, hugging her friend tightly.
"Congratulations," JJ smiled once the embrace ended.
"Thank you," Emily said, unable to keep a smile off her face. "I can't believe you guys did all this. It looks fantastic,"
"Anything for you guys," JJ said honestly, giving Emily's shoulder a squeeze.
Emily bit her lip, noticing the team just wasn't quite complete. "Where's um, where's Reid?" Emily asked almost hesitantly.
"We begged him to fly out, Emily. But he just... kept making up excuses," JJ told her.
"Oh," Emily said, a little disappointed. "I feel terrible,"
"No, no, no," JJ said. "There will be none of that, this is your wedding reception!"
Emily smiled, she liked the sound of that; of being married. Rossi approached the two women next.
"Mind if I cut in?" he joked, hugging Emily. "Good to see you, kiddo,"
"I think I'm a bit too old to be called a kid anymore, but it's so good to see you too, Dave," Emily quipped. "Aaron told me you sort of knew all along I was alive?" Emily questioned, curious to know how the man was able to figure it out.
"A wizard never reveals his secrets," Rossi winked.
"I think you mean magician. Age really hasn't done much for you, has it?" she joked.
Rather than return with his own witty comment, he simply hugged Emily again. "It's so good to have you back," he told her.
"I agree," Ashley said quietly as she came up behind Rossi. "I mean... I know I didn't know you all that well when all this happened. But you were a great mentor for me,"
"Ashley!" Emily said happily, throwing her arms around the younger blonde. In the midst of everything, Emily had forgotten all about telling Seaver the truth. She felt so guilty, and wanted to make it right somehow.
"I'm so sorry no one called you sooner," Emily said apologetically. "I loved having you on the team while you were there. It was fun kicking ass with you," Emily told her.
"Mama, you're not supposed to say that word!" Gabby chastised her mother teasingly, hugging Emily around the waist. Emily laughed at her as she hugged her back.
"I'll give you a dollar later, okay?" Emily promised.
"She's beautiful, Emily," Ashley said, smiling at Gabby.
"Thank you," Emily replied.
"I don't want you to feel bad about not telling me, okay? It's not your fault. You were dealing with a lot of crap that you really didn't deserve. But I am really glad you're back," Ashley said. "And," she added with a smile. "I had fun out in the field with you, too,"
Emily couldn't stop smiling. She felt like it was all she'd done since she walked through the doors, but she couldn't help it. "Thank you for understanding," Emily said. "Let's not go another ten years without speaking, okay?"
"You got it," Ashley promised, before stepping out of the way for Morgan to greet Emily.
"Hey Princess," Morgan greeted, awkwardly hugging Emily, who still had Gabby attached to her waist, causing all three of them to laugh. "And Princess Junior," he added, ruffling Gabby's hair.
Once they laughter died down a bit, Emily spoke. "Derek, I want to thank you so much for what you did. Without you, without your team, I don't know what would have happened,"
"It's no problem, Emily. I just feel bad for not trying harder sooner. It was all Hotch, though. I've never seen him more determined in my entire life," Morgan told her. "I missed you, Em. I thought- I thought I lost you,"
"I'm sorry it had to be like this. But you haven't lost me. I'm not going anywhere for a long, long time," Emily promised. "Nothing can keep me away now,"
"Good," Morgan said, taking one of Emily's hands in his.
"Emily?" JJ asked. "Your presence is requested in the kitchen,"
"What for?" Emily asked, wondering what more she could possibly need at this point.
"What for?" JJ mocked dramatically. "Emily Hotchner, this is a wedding reception! You can't have a reception without cake and presents!"
"Presents? You guys really didn't have to-"
"Mama, don't ask questions! There's cake in there!" Gabby said, letting go of her mother and practically sprinting to the kitchen, motioning for Emily to follow.
"I think I just lost my daughter to cake," Emily joked, laughing as she followed the young girl into the kitchen, everyone else following behind her.
The cake was simple, just like you'd see at any wedding reception. It wasn't massive since there weren't many people. Rossi distributed a piece to each person in attendance, before turning to Hotch and Emily.
"It's tradition, you guys have to feed each other. And by that I mean shove it in each other's face,"
"Are you serious? We're not going to-" Emily's sentence was cut off when Hotch's cake came into contact with Emily's face.
"Oh, it's on now!" she exclaimed, picking up her piece of cake in one hand and shoving it all over Hotch's face. "That'll teach you," She joked as the whole team clapped and cheered, Garcia dutifully taking pictures.
"You guys look really funny," Gabby commented from her spot at the kitchen counter, where she say happily eating her cake.
Hotch laughed, taking some of the cake off his face and putting it on Gabby's nose. "There, now you look silly too,"
Gabby took a bite of cake into her fork, prepared to fling it at someone, but Emily grabbed her arm before she could do so. "Alright, alright, let's not turn this into a food fight! I'll have to clean this up later," she said laughing.
"Aw man," Gabby complained.
Hotch and Emily excused themselves moments later to wash their faces off, disappearing into the bathroom to do so.
"Good God, I think I have cake all the way up my nasal cavity," Emily said as she wiped the remaining cake from her face.
"I'm pretty sure you got it in my ear," Hotch told her. "I might be going deaf,"
"Oh, you'll be fine," Emily quipped.
"What?" Hotch asked, cupping his ear with his hand. "Did you say something, dear?"
"Shut up," Emily requested, dropping the cloth she had been using to wipe her face, exchanging it for Hotch. She wrapped her arms around him, kissing him hard. He pressed her up against the bathroom wall, returning and deepening the kiss.
"Mm, think they'll notice if we never go back down?" Emily whispered, running her fingers through her husband's graying hair. "I think it's past our bedtime,"
"I'm pretty sure they'll notice, Em," Hotch replied.
"Well damn. You owe me later," she winked as she slipped out of his embrace, opening he bathroom door and walking outside.
"Tease," Hotch muttered, following her out to the party, where everyone was waiting.
JJ and Garcia insisted they open their gifts now, though neither Hotch nor Emily knew they truly needed anything. They sat in the living room and opened the gifts graciously to appease their friends, though.
About halfway through, the doorbell rang. Emily gave Hotch a confused look. "Were you expecting somebody else?"
"Could be a stripper," Morgan joked.
"My nine-year-old daughter is in the room, Derek," Emily reminded him.
"Right... my bad," he said sheepishly.
Hotch laughed, standing from his spot on the couch next to Emily. "I'm not expecting anyone else," he said.
For a split second, Emily felt the room tense up. Doyle is gone, she kept telling herself. He's dead.
When Hotch opened the door, Emily let out an audible gasp. She brought her hands to her mouth. The person standing at the door was none other than Spencer Reid.
"Reid," She said in disbelief, meeting him halfway and enveloping him in a hug. One she thought she'd never get to give him. She hugged him tightly, worrying a bit that she was making it hard for him to breathe. Reid tensed at first, and Emily was afraid he was going to pull away, but he relaxed into the hug, returning it much to Emily's surprise.
"I'm so sorry, Reid. I'm sorry you were lied to. I'm sorry I left you like that," Emily told him, just loud enough for him to hear.
Only then did Reid pull away from Emily. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you. Out on anybody. It makes sense, but I just- you're my friend, Emily. A really, really good friend. When I thought I lost you like that I almost couldn't take it,"
Emily smiled a simple, apologetic smile. "It's okay, I'm here now,"
"I know," Reid smiled. "Now, Garcia told me all about Gabby, so if it's okay I'd like to meet her..."
"Of course," Emily said, leading Reid into the living room where everyone else was waiting.
"Spence!" JJ said happily. "I'm so glad you came!"
"Yeah," Reid said. "Me, too. I almost didn't, but then I realized how ignorant I was being,"
"Gabby," Emily called for the girl, who was intently inspecting her parent's gifts; things like cookware, a new coffee maker, picture frames, and a couple of gift cards.
"Yeah?" Gabby looked up from her task.
"Come here, there's somebody you need to meet," Gabby stood from the floor and wandered shyly over to Emily, standing slightly behind her.
"Gabby, this is Spencer. He's a genius," Emily laughed.
Reid bent down to Gabby's level, hoping to ease her nerves a little. "Hi," he smiled. "Garcia told me a lot about you, I'm honored to finally get to meet you.
Gabby's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the name. "Penelope, honey," Emily said.
"Oh," Gabby replied. "Are you really a genius?" Gabby asked.
Reid chuckled a bit. "My IQ says so, yes. But you know what else?"
"What's that?" Gabby asked.
"I'm also a magician," he said quietly, as if it were a secret.
"No way! Show me! Please?" Gabby asked excitedly.
"Of course, of course," Reid agreed, leading Gabby into the kitchen to show off some of his tricks.
Hotch came up behind Emily, wrapping his arms around her waist. She leaned back into him, clasping her hands over his.
"Thank you," Emily said. "For this. It's... it's perfect,"
"I'd have to say... I'm a pretty damn good husband," he joked.
"You're right about that," Emily said, turning in the man's arms and kissing him, it seemed appropriate for the moment.
Once the kiss ended, they walked hand-in-hand into the kitchen to watch Reid's magic tricks, and they had to admit they were probably just as entertained as Gabby was.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
By now, it was well past midnight. Everyone had just left, and Emily was busy cleaning up the kitchen. Everyone had offered to help her, but she declined the offer. They had already done too much for her.
"Hey Em?" Hotch whispered from the door way.
"Mhm?" Emily replied.
"I'm gonna take Gabby up to her room. She's still asleep on the couch," he laughed quietly. Gabby had fallen asleep nearly an hour and a half ago, refusing to go to bed until everyone left.
"Wait, I'll go with you," Emily said, wiping her hands off with a dish towel, following Hotch into the living room.
Hotch gently picked Gabby up, and slowly walked up the stairs and into Gabby's bedroom, Emily trailing not too far behind him.
"Should we wake her up to put on her pajamas? She's still in her dress from the wedding," Hotch pointed out, gently laying her down on the bed.
"Good luck waking her up," Emily chuckled, knowing Gabby was nearly impossible to wake up.
"I'm awake," Gabby said sleepily, sitting up in bed and rubbing her eyes tiredly.
"Did we wake you up?" Emily asked, tossing the girl a pair of pajamas from one of the drawers in the dresser.
"No," Gabby said, getting down from the bed and grabbing the pajamas Emily had tossed her. "I was just pretending so I wouldn't have to walk up the stairs," she giggled before disappearing into the bathroom to change clothes.
"Well," Emily said. "I never expected to be played by my own child,"
"Oh come on, you've probably never said 'no' to her for anything before," Hotch said.
"She wanted a pony when she was four. I told her no because it wouldn't fit in the apartment... but then I bought her a pony for her Barbie dolls," Emily explained.
"See," Hotch smirked playfully.
"I did tell her no when she said she wanted a sibling, did I not?" Emily reminded him, determined to win their pretend argument.
"But then you said you'd get her a puppy. Face it. You've spoiled her,"
"Yeah well, I wouldn't have it any other way," Emily said, just as Gabby came back into the room. She jumped up on the bed, pulling the covers back and situating herself under them.
"So," she started. "About that baby brother or sister..." Gabby said.
Emily flipped off Gabby's light and turned on the lamp that sat beside her bed. "Goodnight, sweetheart," she said, kissing Gabby's forehead as Hotch did the same.
"Okay," Gabby said. "You guys win tonight, but I'm not going to drop it," she warned them through her yawn.
Both Emily and Hotch laughed lightly. "Goodnight," they said again, exiting the room and quietly closing the door behind them.
"So, Mr. Hotchner..." Emily said once they were in their bedroom with the door closed.
"Yes, Mrs. Hotchner?" Hotch responded.
"What do you say to a little honeymoon?" She asked teasingly, removing the dress she still wore from the day's events.
"I say," he asked, kissing her, pressing her up against the wall. "I've been waiting for you to ask me that all day,"