Chapter 20

December 20, 2008

--

"Carissa Jane Harding, stop right there!"

The little girl literally stopped dead in her tracks at her aunt's barking yell.

Emily blew out an exasperated breath. She'd managed to catch Jack before he could take off after her little imp of a niece, but she'd missed Carissa by a hair. Now, with Jack resting against her hip, her ponytail wild from racing after children in the snow, she watched in almost relief as Hotch dropped the saw at her side and went after her niece, easily lifting her to his shoulders. The six-year-old squealed and laughed, though sobered when she saw the look on her aunt's face.

It was how the entire day had been, ever since she and Hotch fixed Jack's car seat into the back of Emily's SUV. Jack and Carissa seemed to find it an endlessly amusing game to push at each other, much to the annoyance of both of the adults. They'd tried to take it in stride, chalking it up to hyper children, but this was Emily's last straw. The handful of snow Carissa had managed to upend over the head of the three-year-old boy was harmless, but it wasn't going to be difficult to lose both children in the mess of trees.

"I'm sorry Auntie Em," Carissa said once they were in earshot.

Emily watched as Hotch put her down, handing Jack to him in the process. Emmeline stood by calmly, the same way she had for the entire trip. She squatted down in front of her niece, pulling both of the girl's hands into her own. "You can't go running off like that, okay?" she said seriously. "It's really easy to lose you in all of these trees and I don't want to do that."

Carissa's head dropped as she realized she wasn't in trouble for dumping snow over Jack's head. "I'm sorry."

"Promise me you won't run off like that again?"

"I promise."

Emily smiled, reassuring the little girl as much as relieving some of the tension. "If you can't see me, I can't see you, so don't go running off so far."

"I promise," Carissa repeated, stronger this time.

"Good." She let go of the little hands, not surprised when she all but raced to Hotch's side, stumbling a bit in the snow. Emily smiled as he easily held his free hand out for her and Carissa latched on. She shivered at the warmth of his eyes when they met hers.

Things had been markedly different, and with good reason, since he'd shown up at her place. He'd greeted her with a wide smile and a slow kiss on the cheek that reminded her of their real kiss only hours before. Emily's face had flushed and her stomach curled with heat. She had both of the girls and herself bundled up for a day in the snow by that point, so their only necessity was to switch cars. They agreed her SUV was the better vehicle to take. They'd gone over a few little ground rules in the car on the way to the tree farm and while all three children had agreed, by the way Carissa had been bouncing in her seat Emily knew they were in for a few stressful moments.

But it was more than that. The way she and Hotch went about removing the children from the car made her mind picture them doing this all the time, just with their own children. She'd almost shaken her head, literally, reminding herself that though they'd both essentially conveyed to each other that it was time to see where their attraction was leading, kids were a long way in the future. She'd felt that familiar warmth spread through her when he took her hand, allowing the children to run free up the large path. It was only when they'd gotten to the smaller paths, actually looking for trees that would fit her condo and his apartment that things had started getting out of hand.

Emily smiled down at Emmeline as she picked up the saw and the ten-year-old grasped her hand. "Having fun?"

Emmeline raised a small eyebrow. "Loads."

The elder woman chuckled. "Did your mom give Carrie sugar cereal this morning?"

"You know Mommy," Emmeline replied. "She would never give us sugar cereal in the morning."

Emily arched an eyebrow.

"It's Mommy's day off and Carrie woke her up early..."

That was all that needed to be said. Carissa had an uncanny ability to get her way, no matter what it was. And Emily knew that Anne preferred to sleep in as best she could on the very few days she had off. There was nothing that could stand up to Carissa's stubbornness when she was hungry. She checked her watch briefly and blew out a sigh. "She'll crash any minute."

And so was Jack if the way his head had just dropped to his father's shoulder was any indication. It was, after all, almost naptime. Emily knew they were close to the back of the tree farm and the thought of trying to get three small children back to the front along with a tree was a terrifying prospect. Still, she drew on the reserves of her patience to follow along behind Hotch. It helped that she could admire his backside through jeans she wasn't even aware he owned.

Suddenly, and much to her surprise, Emmeline stopped dead. So much so that Emily almost tugged the slight girl over. "Emmy?"

"That's it," the ten-year-old said, finger pointing down the rows of trees.

"Hotch!" she called, alerting the man to their destination just as she and Emmeline all but raced down the row of trees together. Sure enough, Emmeline had found the virtually perfect tree. It was fat, but not overly so, full in all the right places and, she hoped, tall enough and short enough at the same time. Hotch, Jack and Carissa caught up to them in short order, Carissa pitching forward from her sudden stop in the snow. Emily helped her up then looked up at her boss.

"Well?"

His eye was critical as it followed the lines of the tree and the intensity of his concentration reminded her of the heated way he'd taken her in the night before. Was everything today going to come back to the Christmas party?

"I like it," he said finally. "It'll fit in your place perfectly."

Emily couldn't stop the flush in her cheeks. Why on earth did he make her blush so often? "It might be better to get one tree. Some of us look a little s-l-e-e-p-y."

His brow wrinkled adorably. "Where are we going to put it?"

"Your place," she said firmly. "You'll have Jack, you deserve the tree. Anne has an artificial one the girls decorated while we were in Bozeman."

--

That seemed like a perfectly logical idea to him as he took in the tree critically again, easily remembering the dimensions of his own home. "It should fit and we should be able to put the angel on top."

He almost staggered backwards at her blinding smile. "Do you want to start or should I?"

The thought of Emily on her back, even if it was with the innocent intention of cutting down a tree, was not something he needed. It was why he'd easily walked ahead of her with Jack and Carissa. Seeing her with children was tugging at his heart, even more so now that he knew he was in the clear. Pursuing her was his new Christmas goal and he knew she wasn't going to put up much of a fight. "I will."

She pursed her lips in that way that told him she didn't much like the idea. "So long as you promise to let me know if you get tired."

He nodded, watching as she lifted Jack into her arms to keep the three-year-old away from his father and the sharp saw. Then he set to work, methodically working the saw into the trunk of the tree. He didn't even have to ask her to hold it from falling over as he came to the end of his job. She was already there, one eye on all three children behind her as he finished and the tree toppled on top of him. He heard her laughter as she managed to get the tree off of him. Even the children were getting a good giggle out of it.

"Funny," he said, pulling himself upright after she took the saw from his grasp.

"Daddy! Tree!"

"Yes sir," Hotch agreed, dropping a hand to his son's head. "We have a tree."

"Now we have to get it back to the front," Emily said with a smile.

And, like perfect timing that never seemed to happen, sleigh bells sounded. Emmeline and Carissa took off down the snowy path to the main road, Jack close on their heels. It left the two of them to drag the tree after the children. It seemed like they had already explained the predicament when Emily and Hotch made it to the end of the row.

"Just tie it up on one of those strings," the elderly man driving the tractor requested. "We'll have you down to the front in twenty minutes."

Gratefully, he and Emily climbed into the wagon, the children arranging themselves around the adults. Eventually, she was pressed against his side, Jack curling into her body while Carissa did the same to Hotch. Why they ended up trading children Hotch would never be able to figure out, but he didn't mind it. Jack fell asleep quickly, not used to going so long on the required high energy necessary to go tree hunting. Carissa wasn't far behind and even Emmeline seemed to be dozing when they reached the front of the farm.

Carissa woke with a whine as the wagon slowed to a stop, but Jack seemed quite content to stay asleep.

"I'll handle the tree," he said quietly, hopping down from the wagon, then accepting a still sleeping Jack. "I saw a sign for hot apple cider. Take the kids, I'll meet you there."

--

Emily wanted to argue, but when he handed Jack back to her and pressed a kiss to her cheek, she felt her resistance melting. They were going to have to have a talk about independence and ability if this was going to work. For now, however, she didn't mind cuddling Jack against her, holding him under his bottom with one arm, while her free hand took Carissa's. Emmeline walked beside her as they made their way to the little clearing, a fire blazing in the middle. A few minutes later, after warning Carissa to be careful and arranging both girls on one of the logs in front of the fire, Emily took a seat, Jack still asleep against her.

"You're brave."

Emily looked over at the woman who had spoken with a polite smile. "Why?"

"Three kids tree hunting? I have a hard enough time keeping track of my nine-year-old son, let alone handling three kids. How old?"

Emily smiled warmly. "Ten, six and three," she replied, shifting Jack slightly. The little imp just moved himself back, whimpering. She let out a sigh.

"Someone else taking care of your tree?"

She nodded with a smile. "You?"

"Someone from the front helped, and thank goodness for that tractor!"

Emily nodded her agreement whole-heartedly. "I know she's going to be out in the car," she said, nodding to the way Carissa was starting to lean against her sister.

"We've got a little bit of a drive ahead of us, so I wanted a break before braving it," the other woman replied. "Nicholas, away from the fire please."

Emily watched the boy come back to his mother. "Are you almost done? We have a tree to decorate!"

Emily laughed at the childish exuberance.

"Soon," his mother promised.

"Emily"

She knew her smile was bright before she turned to seek him out. She glared when Hotch laughed slightly at the position of Jack against her. "Where's the tree?"

"Attached to your car," he replied, lifting Jack easily from her arms as he stood with his back to the fire. "Someone at the front helped me out."

Emily nodded. "I'm glad." There was more than one reason for that. Jack's weight wasn't light and so her arms had been getting a little bit sore. "I'll get you a cup."

"No, Emily its-"

She shushed him with a peck to the cheek. "I want to."

They agreed to drop Carissa and Emmeline off first so Emily could help him get the tree into his apartment. It took some doing, and they'd had to find some way to keep Jack asleep in the apartment while they wrestled with the tree, but they managed to get it in with only enough hassle to have them both hissing the inappropriate words under their breaths.

Finally, Hotch stood slightly behind her as she admired their work, her hands on her hips. "I like it."

"Me too," he agreed. "Between your decorations and the ones I've bought we should have this tree decorated in no time."

She cocked her head to the side, surprised and confused. "My ornaments?"

"The ones you and Jack made," he answered. "Unless you have your own decorations you'd like to add to the tree."

She chuckled. "No. I don't usually have a tree. I help Anne and the girls decorate theirs. That's enough for me."

"But you missed it," he said, one hand coming to rest against her back.

Emily turned to face him, his hand sliding around so it was wrapped around her. One of her hands came up to rest against his bicep, the other found his other hand. "I did. Sometimes I do."

"Come decorate tomorrow," he said.

She chuckled. "That's a lot of time together, Hotch," she said quietly. She was starting to get nervous. Yes, they'd decided to start moving forward in their relationship, but did that really mean spending at least part of every day together? Not only that, but her mother's big Christmas party was the next night.

"I don't think so," he replied. "I like spending time with you, Emily."

She shivered at the use of her first name. "And I like spending time with you," she assured him. "And that would be a good enough argument, but my mother's Christmas party is tomorrow."

He nodded slowly, disengaging his hand from hers to wrap it around the back of her neck, his fingertips delving into her hair. "So come in the afternoon. You can still make your mother's party."

It was a really, really tempting offer and the way his fingers were lightly massaging her scalp wasn't helping her to make a rational decision. "Hotch-"

But he was already kissing her.

--

He'd never tried this particular form of persuasion before. He'd never been allowed, never thought the opportunity would ever come up. Now, however, he took advantage of it, coaxing her lips open. He thrilled when she pressed herself closer, fitting herself against him her posture mirroring his in the way one arm wrapped around his back and the other plunged into his short hair.

He'd always thought Emily a passionate woman. He'd always fantasized that she'd be the type of woman that would make him hot in a matter of seconds. She'd done it before, by what she wore in the office, by the way she carried herself, by the curls in her hair and she hadn't even known it at the time. Now, with her there, real, dressed down it was so much better, so much more potent.

"Hotch," she murmured, pulling away and tilting her head back to ensure he couldn't catch her lips again.

He simply diverted his attention to the smooth skin of her neck and her ears. "Emily."

"I can't miss my mother's party," she said, her fingers digging into his back.

It was what he needed to continue his torment. "Come. Decorate."

She managed to take him by surprise as she pulled away, putting space between them. "I can't," she repeated. "But, I can come by afterward, if it's not too late."

He knew her, and she wouldn't stay longer than she had to. She'd made it oh so clear she hated politics more than anything else in the world. "Okay." He was really left with no other choice.

She smiled. "I should probably go," she said quietly.

The look in her eyes told him she didn't want to go and he didn't want to let her go, but, with Jack upstairs, he knew it was probably best for both of them. "Call me when you're on your way tomorrow."

"I will," she promised quietly as he walked her to the door. "Say goodbye to Jack for me."

"I will."

They stood, almost awkwardly in the doorway. He reached passed her to open the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She bit her lip before popping up to press a chaste kiss to his lips. "Tomorrow."

Gosh, now that I'm getting into the relationship part of it my chapters are getting longer and longer and longer! And now that I'm off school, I have so much time to write that it's been so much fun... I'm going to be endlessly sad to see this end, methinks. And it will. Sooner than I'd like.

Let me know if you enjoyed this one!