A/N: Hey, guys. So, this story is for one of my good friends, Audrey, (ankCM). She suggested the prompt, 'summer, strawberries, Iowa, Audrey Hepburn, and a baby.' Thank you, love-bug, and I hope you enjoy this, I know I did!

Thank you to my BETA, Kelsey! You are amazing and I love you dearly.

Now, I present to you,

Chapter 2

As the three women began to wash and cut the strawberries into bite size cubes, the men sat in the living room, waiting for the pie to be ready. They had already done their job of rolling out the pie crust, and now the two brothers sat in the other room, the television on as Sean watched a football game, while Aaron only half paid attention. His mind was in the kitchen with Emily, wondering just as to what the three ladies were talking about in there. There was an awful amount of laughter, and each time he heard a certain brunette's, he wanted to go in there more and more. However, the women insisted they stay out of the kitchen while they bonded. Oh, they were bonding alright.

While in the midst of baking, Emily realized just how tired Lorelai was, and remembered that it was her usual afternoon naptime. Aaron had offered to lay both Jack and Lorelai down in one of the guest bedrooms, and now both toddlers were sound asleep as the others sipped coffee.

"Emily," Angela started, turning towards the brunette in a simple shrug, "I couldn't help but notice you and Aaron earlier…"

The question caught Emily off guard, she stuttered and blushed, "I... huh?" She glanced from Angela to Carrie as the blonde pretended not to be listening. Carrie let out a small laugh and raised an eyebrow as Emily caught herself, "…What about Aaron and I?"

Angela cleared her throat and turned to meet Emily's eyes. "I can see it in the way he looks at you when you speak, even when you aren't speaking." She shrugged and walked over to the brunette, taking her hands in hers.

"Angela…" Carrie shot her a warning glance, afraid that she'd scare Emily off.

Angela continued, ignoring the blonde woman beside her. "I've always wanted him to meet the right woman. Haley just never was." She gave Emily's hands a slight squeeze and nodded, realization dawning on her. She released her hands and nodded, "Sorry, I just want my son to be happy." She trailed off and turned back, leaving Emily to process all of this.

Emily nodded slowly, her heart beating rapidly, yet fluttering. Her head began pounding and she bit her lip so she wouldn't focus on the pain. "No, it's… okay." She closed her eyes and leaned against the wall briefly. It felt like her breath was being constricted in her throat. She couldn't breathe, couldn't speak anymore; she could only gasp. After taking a brief moment, she backed out of the kitchen and choked out a breath, "I… I need a moment. I'll be back." She exhaled softly and stumbled out of the kitchen, turning on her heel and colliding with none other than her unit chief.

"Oh, Sor-" He glanced down into her eyes as he steadied her by placing his hands on her shoulders, "-Emily?" He eyed her carefully, recognizing the paleness of her complexion and her wide doe eyes. He grew worried when he noticed how flushed she actually was. "Are you okay?"

Backing away from him, she nodded, gasping for breath as he had caught her by surprise. She quickly nodded and sucked in a breath, "Sure, I'm fine." She made a beeline for the bathroom and closed the door behind her, inhaling and exhaling. Her anxiety was getting worse with each passing second.

Aaron's mother thought he liked her? Could that even be possible? She shook her head and leaned forward, gripping the sides of the vanity as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. How could this be? Her boss liked her?

She just didn't see it.

She couldn't.

Closing her eyes and counting back from one-hundred, her breathing began to return to normal. As she reached 66, a soft knock on the door jolted her from her breathing exercise. She opened her eyes and spun around as the voice called out from behind the door.

"Emily?"

"I'm fine, Hotch."

She didn't mean for it to sound so harsh, she was just panicking and stressed. How could any of this possibly be real? Aaron Hotchner, the young agent who had worked for her mother all those years ago liked her. Hearing him sigh softly and then the sound of his footsteps getting further away, she bit her lip. To hell with it. "Aaron, wait. I'm sorry." She opened the door to see him a few feet away, frozen in place.

"Emily, what's going on?"

She closed the gap between them, inhaling deeply when she stopped in front of him, meeting his dark eyes. Her stomach churned and she ran a hand through her hair. "I don't-I…" She frowned, not knowing the correct words. Once she cleared her throat, she began again, "Aaron, I'm sorry, I just… I have to go." She looked away from his eyes and shook her head, "I'm sorry. I'm just not feeling well, and I have to meet Clyde."

Aaron stared down at her, processing all that she said. He paused, his eyes growing wider, "Clyde."

"He's Lorelai's father." She sighed softly, "It's already late and I promised him dinner tonight and then I'd finish helping him with the house." Lies. She grit her teeth hard, the pain traveling up through her temples and to her skull.

"Oh." She hated seeing him so… so hurt, sad. But as fast as the sadness in his eyes appeared, it disappeared. A slight cold and stony expression settled on his face as he worked his jaw. "Right. Well, shall I go get Lorelai for you then?"

She looked away from him, unable to meet his eyes at the moment and nodded slowly, watching as he clenched his fists and walked away.

Once she had bid his family farewell and thanked them for their Southern hospitality, she took one last look at Hotch and left, driving back out to the city.

Aaron slumped down on the couch, upset that she had just left. Noticing the change in attitude, Carrie sucked in a breath and shook her head as she eyed Angela. "Ange, I told you not to say that. Now she's gone, probably afraid."

Angela shook her head and sighed, "How could she be afraid? All I said was that he liked her."

"Yes, Angela, and to some people that's a scary thought. I was afraid to love at first." She shrugged, "Emily's the daughter of the Ambassador, I can only imagine what life was like for her as a child. Probably neglected by her own mother and father, always moving around? She told Audrey that the only place she actually felt comfortable was in drama." She shook her head and scrubbed a hand down her face. "Poor thing."

"What do I do now? The two of them are perfect for each other, you can't even deny it, though. I mean, look at him. He was so happy earlier, and now…"

"You have to tell him what you did. Mama Ange, I'm sorry, but you have to tell Aaron. He probably thinks he did something to scare her off. I know Aaron, and he'd just let her go because that's what he does."

Angela nodded and sighed, inhaling deeply as she placed the towel she had been using, down on the counter. She walked into the living room and eyed her son. "Aaron?"

No reply.

"It's not your fault she ran off the way she did."

Still, he did not reply. Instead, he stared down at his shoes and sighed, Sean muting the volume of the game.

"Now, you're probably going to hate me for this, but… Aaron, I may have said something to Emily."

This peaked Aaron's interest. He raised an eyebrow and slowly forced himself to glance up as he grunted softly, "And?"

"And… I may have told her that you had feelings for her-"

"YOU WHAT?!" Aaron stood up so fast, the blood rose to his head as the vein in his neck pulsed with fury. "I DO NOT HAVE FEELINGS FOR PRENTISS."

Angela backed up instinctively, cowering inside herself as she had done all those years ago when her husband had screamed at her. She pleaded softly, "Aaron, please lower your voice."

Swallowing his anger and realizing what he had just done, guilt instantly settled in. He gasped for breath and ran a hand down his face, sighing. "I'm sorry." He shook his head and backed away slowly, "I'm sorry… I-" He was exactly like his father. Everything Emily had said earlier ran through his head, but it meant nothing now. He had just yelled at his own mother, just as his father had done before beating her.

Without saying anything else, he turned and walked outside, collapsing into the porch swing. No wonder she seemed scared. Hell, he'd be scared as well if he were in her place. He rested his head in his hands and swallowed, trying to sort out his thoughts.

He remembered her from long ago, the time he first had laid eyes on her. She was so young then, so beautiful. She had just finished her second semester of college when her mother had hired him as security detail. He remembered it clearly, as if it were the other day.

"Agent Hotchner, this is my… daughter, Emily." He stared at the young brunette as she smiled slightly, adding a small wave as well. "Now, I need you to watch out for her. And don't let her give you any of her sass. She's got tons of it." Elizabeth Prentiss' eyes narrowed on her daughter as her daughter frowned. Clearly their relationship was strained.

The following week had been preparation for one of Elizabeth's functions. The whole house was decorated with color and fancy lights, new flowers of all different scents and colors were placed in each room. "Emilia! What are you doing?!" He heard the anger and irritation in Elizabeth's voice and frowned. What had the high-strung brunette gotten into now? Sighing, he walked into the kitchen to find her stirring a large bowl of what looked to be cookie dough.

"Miss Prentiss?" His eyes connected with those wide doe eyes and he sucked in a breath in order to stay focused.

She cleared her throat, ignoring her mother's continuous shouting. "Oh, you're not going to yell at me too, are you? The Ambassador says that I shouldn't bake, that, that's what the maids are for." She had rolled her eyes in a way that had gotten Aaron to chuckle softly.

"Oh?" He took a step closer to her and shrugged, "Can I ask you something?"

She hummed softly and nodded, her eyes returning to the cookie dough.

"Alright, well, why do you always address Ambassador Prentiss as 'The Ambassador'? She's your mother, you know. Don't you ever call her that?"

Emily laughed, a laugh that warmed Aaron to his core. Watching her grin, she nodded. "Ah. I was wondering if anyone would ever notice. You're studying to become a profiler?"

He nodded and shrugged, "What can I say. I observe."

She nodded and turned to him, "Then you'd know that she doesn't even view me as her daughter. That I'm looked down upon." She crossed her arms and sighed softly, not quite knowing why she was telling him all of this. "My mother is a very important and busy woman… She doesn't have time for me. Hell, I was an accident. My father left us when I was seven, but of course, you probably already figured that out, huh?"

He nodded and listened intently as she continued, "Did you know that she never once hugged me, never held me in her arms and told me how she was proud of me, or even told me she loved me?" She shook her head and sighed, "She only wants me to marry a rich man and follow in her line of politics."

His heart ached for this young woman. He barely even knew her, and yet she had just revealed something she never had told anyone before. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and tell her that she was loved, that she would find somebody to appreciate her the way she should be appreciated, but he couldn't. He worked for her mother, and any physical contact was forbidden, and his job would be terminated. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, so am I." She laughed un-humorously and sighed as she heard her mother's voice again. "Go, I don't want you to get in trouble as well."

Aaron returned to reality as a presence lingered near. He sucked in a breath and without looking up, mumbled, "What do you want, Sean?"

There was a slight pause as his younger brother sat down next to him on the swing. He shrugged and released a sigh, staying silent for a few minutes before finally opening his mouth to speak. "Mother says she was sorry. Aar, she knows she did the wrong thing. She just wants you to be happy, and you were. With Emily." He looked up at the cloudless sky, the hot summer sun shining down harshly. "Look, bro, I'm sorry for what happened, but you know she didn't mean it. You know how she gets." He shrugged, "She just was excited."

After listening to Sean for a while, Aaron finally nodded and worked his jaw, "Yes, I understand that, but how do I fix this with her? I thought I scared her away, and then I was horrible to her." He shook his head, "How is it that you always have luck with relationships… You're… you."

"Ouch. Aaron, brother, you wound me deeply. Ever think that it's because I'm not a workaholic and I actually don't shut everyone out. Aaron, you're not dad. You're better than that man. You deserve better. Just apologize and explain to her what happened. We all know you really do have feelings for her. Don't deny it."

Aaron hesitated and shook his head, "Sean, I think you're missing the point… So what if I do like Emily. I can't act on my feelings because I'm her boss. She works for me. We can and will both be fired if anything happens between us. She'll probably be transferred to the State Department, and I'll go elsewhere. I'm not going to let her lose everything just for me. I'm not worth it."

Sean rolled his eyes, "God dammit, Aaron! You are worth it. Don't you see it? I spent my whole childhood, wishing I could be just like you. You're intelligent, you have authority, respect, money, and you have an amazing kid. Jack loves you, and I'm sure Emily likes you the same as you like her. Did you not see the way she jumped right in to soothe your son when he was crying? Or what about the way she looked at you when-"

"-Alright, Sean. Enough. You've made your point."

He shook his head and glanced down at the floorboards. "No, I don't think I have, Aaron. What I'm trying to say is that, I think she really does like you. I believe that she's just afraid to admit it for whatever reason. Give her time, let her figure it out and then invite her for lunch or something. And if not lunch, maybe just a play date with Jack and Lorelai?"

Silence stretched along the porch as Aaron took it all in. He nodded once and sighed, "I can't believe I'm admitting this, but you may be right… Thanks." Aaron got off of the swing and ran back inside, leaving Sean on the swing.

He gave a small chuckle and nodded as soon as he was out of ear shot. "Always am."

A/N: Wow, already this has been far longer than what I had originally planned… However, I think it'll either be a two-shot, or perhaps even a multi-chapter. We shall see.

Thank you for reading and please review! It always makes me happy to know your thoughts.

-Em.