Sunday the 5th

Having arrived back at his apartment in DC, Hotch is not surprised to see Emily parking behind his car.

"You stalking me are you?" He asks her with a smile on his face.

"Nope." Emily says as they walk in his apartment building.

"So when is Jack due back tonight?" Emily says as if seeing Jack is not that unusual for her.

"Jess asked for him to stay with her as they are leaving late from her parents place."

"Has he been enjoying himself?" Emily says as she walks into Hotch's apartment punching in the security code for his alarm

"He said so but he did miss you saying goodnight to him." Hotch says as he closes and locks the door behind them. Ever since Foyet's attack on him he has been that little bit extra careful with his security. Which for Emily isn't an issue; even now with Doyle dead and buried and has been for some time she still can't get out of the habit of being extra careful.

"Really?" Emily asks a tad surprised by Jack saying that to Hotch."

"Yes Em really." She stands there in shock over this.

"Emily you ok?"

"Um yea I think so. I can't believe Jack said that to you, he's never been worried about it before when we've been on a case?" Hotch goes up to her and wraps his arms around her waist.

"Well he did ask me the other day if he was allowed to love you as much as he loved his mummy." His soft voice is heard by Emily, as he then places a kiss on her forehead, she then leans into him. Enjoy the feel of his arms around her.

"What did you say to him?" he voice breaking as she says this. Aaron can hear the emotion in her words.

"I told him that he was most certainly allowed to love you as much as he loved her."

"Aaron I don't want to replace Hayley, she his mother."

"And he knows that sweetheart but it doesn't mean he can't love you as much as he loved her." She says nothing in reply so he goes on speaking.

"You do such a great job with him Em. You let him talk about his mother, you even bring her up and at Christmas time making those decorations for the tree the ones that had photos of Hayley with Jake and even me. You will never replace Hayley Em, but you are doing a great job in helping me remind Jake who is mother is, you helping me keep those promises Hayley asked of me. To remind Jack of who is mother was and to show him love and that I am not always about work." He says as he holds her close to him, placing a kiss on the top of her head. "Who else better than to be a mother figure for Jack, someone who has no issues bringing up his mother, someone who we all loved. There is no way that Jack will ever forget Hayley with you around. And Hayley would be honoured to see what you are doing to make sure our boy would always know who she was and what love is."

They stand there for a few more minutes before Hotch speaks again.

"Come on let's go to bed and get some more sleep unless you are hungry?" He decides to change the subject. Emily's stomach gives Aaron the answer to his question

"Right food it is then." He says with a smile as he untangles himself from Emily and heads to the kitchen to make breakfast.

After breakfast they both decide to curl up on the couch, Emily lying over Aaron as he also has laid down on the couch. As they watch the movie he runs his fingers through her hair the jester being some natural for them both and also soothing to each other.

"Emily how would you feel about living together?" he asks her as the movie starts to role its ends credits.

"Are you asking me to move in with you?"

"Well yes I am but I know what you are like and you like to have control over decisions in your life that are major ones, so instead of asking you to move in with me, I'm asking you how you would feel about us living together in the same place? So that if you aren't ready for you don't have to feel bad about saying."

This leaves Emily shocked. The fact he realises she likes to have control over major decisions in her life and instead of asking her to move in, he wont's to know how she would feel about it giving her a way of saying no without it hurting either of their feelings. This makes her smile.

"WOW, thanks for thinking of me like that Aaron." She says to him as he keeps on gentle running his hand through her hair.

"So how do you feel on the topic of living together?"

"Well I can't see there being an issue with it but which apartment do you want to live in?"

"That depends on you? We can either live here or at your one for now and later on find something better fitted to our joint needs." He replies back with.

"Well what about Jack?"

"He's been asking me for a few weeks if you could live with us."

"Ar so Jack is behind this is he?"

"No way I had been thinking about it but was worried how you might take it that is why I have been asking you to stay more often than we normally do. Trying to gauge how you would feel spending more time with use together as a family. Oh and whether you could handle being around me so much."

"I thought there was a motive behind it. I wanted to ask but decided to wait and see what was up. Anyway should we get an afternoon nap then go out for dinner and get some stuff from my place?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Aaron says as they both get up from the couch and head to the bedroom to get some more sleep before going out later. He knows from the way she has answered that she is happy to move in with him. And he is please he asked her in a way that gave her the control over the situation, the idea and allowed her an out that wouldn't disappoint either of them.

They have a nice dinner together before they go around to her apartment and she backs a bag full of gear she will need at his place including work outfits. They decide to move into his place to save jack from moving again. They also decided to put her stuff that she doesn't need at his apartment into storage till they move to another place.

It may not have been anything overly romantic done today, but being with each other was enough. For Emily him asking her to move in was something she had been thinking about. Somehow yet again both of them had been on the same wave link without even saying it to each other. Of course after a stressful case relaxing with each other helps them distress and relax.