Emily stood at her bedroom window in her parent's home, looking out into the garden. Friday had arrived too quickly and she stood there thinking about the events of the past week and how her relationship with Hotch had grown stronger as they spent the week together at her parent's house.

During the week, she had seen her doctor for her two week check-up. Satisfied with her recovery, the doctor had given her the okay to drive and to partake in some light exercise, mostly walking. The doctor also surprised her when he gave her permission to return to work, but Emily was allowed to go into the filed – she was confined to the BAU for two weeks. Still, Emily was excited. She was not looking forward to spending her days without Hotch and her friends. At least if they did pick up a case, she would be able to help them via video conferencing.

Emily's excited thoughts about her return to work were interrupted when she remembered what her plans were for the day, and she was getting very nervous. This weekend, Jack would be spending time with his dad and Hotch wanted Emily to join them. It wouldn't be the first time that Emily was around Jack, since Hotch had brought him to the numerous BAU barbecues and parties that they all enjoyed, but this time would be different. Hotch was planning on telling Jack that he was dating Emily, and Emily was worried that Jack would not like that news.

Hotch stood in the doorway to her room looking at Emily. He could tell by the way she was standing that something was wrong. "Em?" he said tentatively.

"Do you think he will be okay with it?" she asked without turning around to him.

For a few seconds, Hotch was confused about who Emily was referring to. "You're worried about Jack?" Emily nodded and Hotch could see her wipe some tears from her eyes. He walked over and stood behind Emily, placing his arms around her waist and his chin on her shoulder. "Jack already knows you and he likes you. He loves that you are always playing with him at the barbeques and parties that I bring him to."

"But, it's all a little different now, Aaron. I am not just your co-worker."

"Em, everything is going to be fine."

"What about Haley?"

"I spoke with her on Wednesday. She is glad that you are feeling better and she is happy that we are seeing each other."

"Emily, Haley has been dating Steve for over a year and Jack is fine with them being together. I promise you that he will be fine with us." He turned Emily around to face him. "Do you trust me?"

"You know I do, but. . ."

"Everything will be fine. Is your bag packed?"

Emily nodded. "It is, but maybe we should just take separate cars and I'll come back to sleep here."

"Your parents are going to be away for the weekend."

"I'm a big girl, Aaron I can stay in the house by myself. You were with me this morning when the doctor said so."

"I know what the doctor said, Em, but I am worried about what would happen if you have a nightmare and you are all by yourself."

"I'll be fine," Emily said as she looked at her watch. "It is getting close to when Haley is supposed to drop Jack off at your house."

"Okay," said Hotch. "I'll make you a deal. I stop pushing the issue and let you take your car, but I reserve the right to continue this discussion later on."

"Okay," agreed Emily, "but I am not changing my mind." She kissed him and then picked up her bag and turned to leave the room.

"We'll see," said Hotch with a smile as he grabbed Emily's bag out of her hand and followed her out the door.

Thirty minutes later they were sitting on Hotch's couch when the doorbell rang. Emily let out a small groan. "It will be fine," said Hotch as he gave her a kiss and then got up to answer the door.

"Daddy!" exclaimed Jack as he jumped into his father's arms.

"Hey, bud. How are you doing?" Emily stood up and walked towards the door with a smile on her face as she watched the two Hotchner men say their hellos.

"Fine. Mom let me bring Toy Story. Can we watch it?"

"We'll watch it later, okay?"

"Okay. Hi Emily," Jack said just realizing that she was standing near them.

"Hi Jack," she answered,

"Hey, Jack, why don't you go and put your bag in your room," said Hotch.

"Okay, dad. Bye Mommy," said Jack as he gave his mother a hug and ran up the stairs.

"How are you feeling, Emily?" asked Haley.

"Almost back to normal. Thank you for asking."

"I am sure that Aaron told you that we spoke this week." Emily nodded. "I am happy for the both of you and I wish nothing but the best for you two. You are able to give him something that I could never have given – an understanding of how important his job means to him. Well, I have to get going now. I'll see you on Sunday. Should I pick Jack up or do you want to drop him off?"

"I'll drop him off," replied Hotch as he smiled his ex-wife. He watched her turn and walk towards her car. "Haley!" he called after her as he walked down the front patio.

"Yes," said Haley as she turned around.

"Thank you for what you said in there. I don't think you know how much Emily needed to hear those words come from you."

"I meant every one of them. I am happy for you, and tell her not to worry about Jack. He will be happy that you have someone in your life." Haley entered her car as she finished her statement.

"Thank you. I will see you on Sunday."

"Enjoy your weekend, Aaron."

Hotch waved to her as she drove off, and then he turned and made his way back into the house. He was pleased to see that Emily had relaxed a little. He took her into his arms, "See I told you everything was going to be okay." Emily just smiled back at him and turned around as they heard Jack coming out of his room and down the stairs.

"Is everyone else from your job coming over, too?" asked Jack.

"No, bud, it's just going to be you, me and Emily. Is that okay?" Hotch could sense Emily's body tensing as she waited for Jack to answer.

"Uh-huh. I like Emily. She's very pretty." Jack whispered the last part, although it was still loud enough that Emily was able to hear him.

"I agree," said Hotch as he looked up and winked at Emily causing her to smile back at them. "Let's go into the living room, Jack. There is something I want to talk to you about."

"Okay." Jack ran into the living room and sat down on the couch. Hotch followed behind him and sat on the couch, while Emily stood in the doorway. Not only did she not want to intrude in the conversation the father and son were about to have, but also she was afraid of what Jack's reaction would be.

"Jack, Emily and I have been spending a lot of time together."

"You work together, daddy, of course you spend a lot of time with her," Jack giggled at his father.

"That is true, but we have been spending some time together when we are not at work."

Jack thought about this for a while. "You mean like mommy and Steve?"

"Yes, like mommy and Steve," said Hotch. "What do you think about that?"

"Daddy, does Emily make you smile?"

"Emily makes me smile a lot," answered Hotch.

"I like to see you smiling. You need someone to make you smile when I am with mommy." Jack had a wide grin on his face as he smiled at his father and than at Emily.

"What about when you are here? Would it be okay for Emily to spend time with us also?" his father asked. Hotch could sense that Emily was holding her breath waiting for Jack's answer.

Jack nodded his reply, "I like Emily."

Emily smiled at Jack. "I like you too, Jack. Thank you," she said as tears started to form in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" asked Jack.

"Nothing is wrong, Jack," said Emily.

"But, you are crying. Are you sad?"

"I'm happy. Tears can mean happiness also," Emily explained as she smiled at Jack.

Jack thought this new information over and started to laugh, "You're silly Emily," and then he gave her a hug.

Emily gazed over to Hotch with a surprised look on her face as she returned Jack's hug. Hotch had a wide grin on his face and Emily then realized just how silly she was to doubt that Jack would accept her, Emily agreed, "Yeah, Jack I guess I am."

Later that evening, Emily was sitting on the couch while Hotch was upstairs taking care of tucking Jack into bed. Emily's phone started to ring, announcing that she had a text message. She opened her phone and saw that the message was from JJ.

How did it go?

Emily smiled at the message and sent her reply.

You were right! I had nothing to worry about! :-)

A few seconds later Emily's phone rang again.

Told you so :-P

Emily did her best to suppress a giggle and sent her reply.

Oh that's mature. LOL. Gotta go. Hotch is coming back into the room.

Hotch walked back into the room with a look of concern on his face. "I heard JJ's ringtone while I was upstairs. Please don't tell me that they have called me in for an emergency case."

Emily shook her head, "Don't worry hon, you're still on leave. JJ knew that I was worried about telling Jack today and she wanted to see how it went and to say, 'I told you so' when I told her that there were no problems, and I am guessing that you are about to say the same."

"I'm not," Hotch answered as he sat on the couch next to her. "I love you, Emily and I enjoyed today."

"It was a lot of fun," agreed Emily as she moved to snuggle next to Hotch giving him a kiss when she was comfortable. "I love you, too."

"So, I take it you're staying?" he asked her with a smile.

"You knew I would stay. That's why you gave up so easily this morning. You profiled me, Aaron."

"No, I didn't profile you," he answered. "I know how you were feeling. You were just nervous, and I knew how Jack would react to the news. So, yes I knew that you would stay." Hotch shifted in his seat, turning his body towards Emily. Placing one hand on her cheek, Hotch closed the gap between their mouths, kissing Emily softly on the lips. His lips left hers as he trailed kisses down her neck, enticing a moan to escape from Emily's lips. "I spoke with the doctor in the hallway while you were getting changed after your appointment," Aaron whispered into her ear.

His kisses and the feeling of his breath on her ear took away any rational thought she might have had. She managed to let a small, "uh-huh" out.

"He said" sucks on her ear lobe "that we could" kisses her neck "have some" kissed her jaw line, "adult fun tonight," kisses her on the lips. Emily parts her lips allowing for his tongue to enter and a moan to escape.

The weekend ended too quickly and the members of the BAU returned to work after their two weeks off. Hotch and Emily entered the bullpen. "Hey Em," said Reid, "I thought you had to stay at home some more."

"I had my follow up appointment on Friday and he cleared me to return to work," she explained.

"Limitedly," added Hotch.

"I confined to my desk and Quantico. No field work," Emily complained.

"Sounds like you just love that," joked Morgan.

"It's better than staying alone in the house all day."

"That's not what you said when we left the doctor's office," said Hotch with a smile, only to be rewarded by a smack to the arm from Emily. The glass doors to the bullpen opened again and the smiles left their faces as Section Chief, Erin Strauss walked in.

"Welcome back everyone. I trust that you have had the chance to relax and recover," she looked at around at each of them. "Agent Prentiss your doctor faxed over your return to work clearance. I trust that you will follow the doctor's orders."

"Yes, ma'am," replied Emily.

Turning her gaze to Hotch, Strauss continued. "Agent Hotchner, can I speak with you?"

Hotch nodded to her in reply before speaking with his team, "Reacquaint yourselves with the last case. The last official one," he clarified. "We still need to debrief on that one so that we can all finish our reports." The team nodded their understanding. "We will meet in the conference room after I am finished speaking with Chief Strass. Ma'am if you are ready we can speak in my office." He turned and walked to his office not waiting for her reply. Strauss followed him.

The team watched the pair as they retreated to Hotch's office and he shut the door. Rossi did not miss the look on Emily's face. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Em, it will be okay." Emily just nodded at him in return before moving to her desk and pulling out some files.

Rossi made his way to the break room to poor himself a cup of coffee followed by Morgan.

"What do you think that is all about?" asked Morgan.

Rossi watched Emily trying her best to avoid staring up at Hotch's office before finally resting his eyes back on Morgan's and answering his question. "In the hospital, his guard was down when he sat near Emily's side. You didn't have to be a profiler to see the love in his eyes that Aaron has for her. I am sure that Strauss saw it."

"You think she is going to cause some trouble?"

"Let's just say that it would not surprise me," Rossi answered as they left the room and parted ways to their respective desks.

Emily looked up as the door to Hotch's office opened and he stepped out. "Prentiss can you join us, please." Without saying a word, Emily stood up, silently walked up the stairs and entered Hotch's office.