Chapter 24

December 24, 2008

Christmas Eve

--

Emily grinned as she lifted Jack into her arms and out of his car seat in Derek's driveway. They'd agreed that his house was the best choice, well, because he had one. Jack hd been required to come because he was spending time with his father. Emily didn't mind. It had been great to climb into the car with both of the Hotchner men to make the drive to Derek's.

"Christmas!" Jack exclaimed into her ear.

Emily laughed. "Almost," she replied.

Meanwhile, Hotch had pulled the presents from the back of the car. He came around the car, smiling at her widely. "Ready?"

They'd made the decision to not say anything, but not deny it either. They wouldn't act any different than they had been and part of Emily even believed that he would put them into situations that would be sharing their relationship status with the rest of the team. She couldn't say she was particularly against that idea. She followed him up Derek's surprisingly well-manicured and freshly shovelled front walk. Hotch knocked on the door.

"Merry Christmas!" Penelope exclaimed as she threw open the door.

Emily smiled at one of her best friends, easily leaning around Jack to exchange a kiss on the cheek with her. "Merry Christmas to you too, Pen."

"Here, sir, let me take some of those."

Emily almost laughed.

"Garcia, we're not on the clock. Hotch is fine."

"Hotch! Oh, hey Em."

Emily did laugh at the surprised look on Derek's face. He'd seen her with Jack in the office, but it was the first time he'd seen her with Hotch and Jack. She put the little boy down to help him get out of his winter clothes and his boots, handing them to Penelope who held out her hand.

"Mama, you're not hostess here."

"Oh, don't you worry your pretty little head about it, my vision," Penelope waved him off. "I don't mind."

"I do," he replied taking Emily and Hotch's coat from both adults. "We're in the living room. Em?"

"Got it," she replied, lifting the three-year-old again as Jack held up his arms. She led the way through a quaint kitchen to Derek's living room, grinning at JJ on the way by. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas," JJ replied mirroring her friend's grin. "Kitchen duty."

"I see that."

"She shouldn't be," came Dave's voice from the nearby living room. "She should be sitting. Resting."

Emily arched an eyebrow at JJ, passing Jack off to Hotch to join her friend in the kitchen. "Are you stressed?"

"Not at all," JJ replied. "He's been overprotective since Will and I broke up."

"Any particular reason?"

The blond rolled her eyes, stepping away from the potatoes and allowing Emily to take over. "No. He says I need to take it easy because I'm pregnant."

"You're six months in."

"I know!" JJ agreed, exasperation tingeing her voice. "And yet, I haven't been allowed to do anything by myself."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "And you're chalking that up to the fact that he's being overprotective while you're pregnant?" she asked, voice dropping.

"Well, what else could it be?" JJ all but hissed back.

"I've spent every day since December 1st with Hotch," Emily revealed to her friend. "And, well…"

"You guys finally got your heads out of your butts and decided to see where the attraction leads?"

"About time."

Emily hadn't even realized Penelope had returned.

"We wondered," JJ admitted. "At the party, when you guys were inseparable. We wondered if you guys had taken that next step."

"We hadn't," Emily admitted. "Not really, anyway. We kissed for the first time that night."

"You told us," Penelope reminded her. "So?"

"So… I went over to his apartment after my mom's thing on Sunday. Ended up falling asleep."

"Falling asleep?" JJ gasped.

"On the couch. He moved me to his bed in the morning."

Penelope cocked her head to the side. "Do you get along with Jack?""

--

"Fabulously," Hotch answered Dave's question, keeping the corner of his eye on said child. The three-year-old seemed quite content with the backpack of toys he and Emily had packed for him. With his input, of course.

"Well of course she does," Derek said, leaning back against the recliner he was in. "Em was made to be a mother."

"She has two nieces," Hotch agreed. "She's natural at it."

"Seems like everything's working out," Dave replied, nodding slowly. "I don't know if you have anything to worry about right now."

"Other than our jobs," Hotch returned, breathing out a sigh. "The Bureau could destroy us."

"I doubt it," Dave said, meeting Hotch's gaze.

"We both live for our jobs. I wouldn't ask her to leave because of a relationship," Hotch replied. "I couldn't do that to her."

"You wouldn't have to ask," Derek pointed out. "By the time you talked about it she'd have already done it."

"I know," Hotch agreed.

"I don't mean metaphorically, either," Derek clarified. "She'd do it for you, Hotch. Anyone else, there would probably be a conversation over who would be better off to stay in the Bureau. For you, she'd just do it. She's done it before."

Dave arched an eyebrow. "She has?"

"Right after my suspension," Hotch said, talking quietly, eyes glazing over. "She was going to take the exams for the state department."

"She'd be bored out of her mind at the state department," Dave retorted, his face showing his distaste. "A waste of her mind."

"That's what I thought. I went to her apartment to talk her back into working for the BAU."

Both of Dave's eyebrows went up. "You talked her back into it?"

"I had to," Hotch replied. "I wasn't just going to let a brain like hers walk away."

"You were already in love with her," Dave accused, leaning forward in his seat.

--

"I was not," Emily contradicted, realizing after it was too late that all of the telling signs of a lie were on her face.

"Of course you were. We've all known this was coming, even when he was so cold to you. Even Gideon thought it was just a defence mechanism and who knows Hotch better than Gideon?"

"I didn't know Gideon had noticed," Emily admitted. "It was that obvious?"

"The attraction was. We weren't sure anything was going to come of it until New York and the way you guys changed after that," Penelope admitted.

"And now…: JJ shrugged. "Seems everything is working out for the better."

And despite her reservations, Emily couldn't agree more.

Dinner had been a fabulous affair. It had been one of the happiest Christmas dinners Emily could remember and she'd had some great ones with Anne, Emmeline and Carissa. Now, fully, content, having unwrapped presents and back in the passenger's seat of Hotch's car, Emily could honestly admit she was content.

And the whole team knew about her relationship with Hotch now. They'd been caught under mistletoe in Derek's basement. He'd decided to set the tree up there instead of in the living room because there was more room in the beautiful basement. However, she and Hotch – who had pretty much been acting like a married couple as it was – had chosen a couch right under a sprig of mistletoe. Emily blushed as she remembered Hotch's kiss, only slightly restrained for their audience.

She looked over at Hotch with a smile when he reached out and grasped her hand. "Stay tonight."

Emily raised an eyebrow at the same time her heart stopped in surprise. "I'm sorry?"

"Stay with Jack and I tonight. You can celebrate Christmas with us."

"I usually celebrate it with Carissa and Emmeline," Emily admitted.

"Do you have plans for tomorrow morning?" he asked.

"No," she replied.

"Then stay and watch Jack open presents with me. I'll make you breakfast."

Part of Emily was still apprehensive. The last time she'd stayed over it had simply been a mistake. This would be deliberate on her part.

"Nothing scandalous," Hotch promised. "Just sleep."

His bed was really comfortable. And she'd be getting breakfast out of it and the chance to spend the day with people that matter instead of people on her own. "Hotch…"

"Come on, Emily," he said, pulling out the puppy dog eyes as they stopped at a red light. "Stay."

She blew out a breath. "Promise no funny stuff?"

"No funny stuff," he reassured her. "I want to fall asleep with you."

Her stomach flipped at how domestic that sounded. "Okay," she agreed.

His dimples came out with the wide force of his grin.

"Yes," she said again, nodding now. "I'll stay."