Chapter 8: Apologies

Hotch cursed as he fumbled with his keys outside his house; his hands had gone completely numb just from the walk from his car to his house. Breathing out, a cloud of condensation showed in the night air. He knew he should have gotten home earlier, but he also believed that if Emily needed help looking after Jack she would have called him or someone else, and with no calls in the past six hours she figured she had gotten help… or fell asleep. She did sound absolutely exhausted at her twelve o'clock call. He regretted not leaving earlier, but he had not and now he was outside his house at six in the morning in the freezing cold winters air. He, once again, made a fumble for his keys, and finally separated the one that opened the front door out. As quiet as possible, he put the key in the door and turned it, and the door popped open. He was welcomed by the soft snores of his son and some soft mumblings from Emily, and the sound of the horrid Hansel and Gretel main menu in the background and he regretted not coming home sooner now as well. He should have known Emily would have slept on the couch, which is never a comfortable place for anybody, let alone a five months pregnant woman who had to share with the horrid six year old. As he loomed closer, he took the remote and turned the TV off. Turning back around, he saw Jack sleeping happily and comfortably on Emily, his tiny hand on her small bump and he had to smile, but he soon lost the smile as he saw Emily shivering from the cold. Of course, he knew his son was a blanket stealer, but obviously, Emily did not and as she shivered again, he filled with concern. Immediately, he scooped his son off of Emily's body and carried him upstairs, watching her shiver as the warmth from Jack was gone. When he came back down, the blanket in his hand, he threw it over Emily and tried his best to get her as warm as possible. He was dying just to pick her up and carry her to the bedroom, but he was worried he would hurt her and that he might wake her. Unfortunately, his avoidance had woken her up and her eyes fluttered open to meet his.

"Morning." He said and watched as she looked startled and then felt around for Jack.

"He's in bed, like normal, but if you keep letting him sleep on the couch, I am going to need to get some muscles for all the carrying up the stairs." She laughed slightly and sat up.

"What time is it?" She sounded groggy.

"A little after six." Hotch informed her and Emily stood up. "You should go up to my bed." He told her and Emily shook her head.

"No, Hotch, I'm fine." Just as she spoke, a yawn left her mouth.

"And I'm not a control freak." She smiled slightly.

"Fine, Hotch…" She paused, "On one condition." A mischievous smile grew on her face.

"And that would be what, Prentiss." He tried to kick into boss mode seeing she was vulnerable and acting off due to her lack of sleep.

"You…" She pointed a finger in his direction, poking his torso, "come with me." She said and gave him a more flirty smile.

"We both know that is not going to happen, now come on, to bed." He lightly pushed her towards the stairs, but she tried to remain unmoved.

"No, Hotch, I'm not going to bed until you join me." She gave him a goofy smile and Hotch realised he had no choice but to accompany her to bed.

"Alright, c'mon." Reaching the second to last step, he saw her begin in sway slightly, and he reached up just in time to stop her from falling, quickly leaning her forward and setting her down on the steps. Before pulling away, he lingered slightly above her, and in that split second Emily reached up and her lips touched with Hotch's. It was not a passionate kiss, or even a deep kiss, just a lingering touch. Of course, it sparked awkwardness in Hotch at least.

"Ew, your moustache and beard are growing back, grab a razor or something!" Emily complained, seemingly putting the kiss in the past, and standing back up. With Hotch's assistance, she walked the remainder of the stairs, landing and to the bedroom without another hassle and soon the pair were lying in bed, resting.

Hotch lay awkwardly on his half of the bed, Emily lay wrapped up in the other half, and it was not long before he felt her come closer and closer in her sleepy state. He felt a sense of vulnerability, not that Emily could see him or he felt at risk, he was just worried what effect this was going to have on his job and his boy. He felt the bed shake, and automatically knew it was because Emily was cold, Hotch had to admit, his room was never warm in the first place, so he did the very un-bossly thing of pulling her in his arms and trying his best to keep her warm, after all, the fraternization was less of an issue than what would be said if a pregnant member of the team got hypothermia whilst in his home. As he wrapped his arms around her, he grazed her more noticeable bump and had to smile, remembering all the nights he had laid there with Hailey, holding her, and stroking her stomach, talking to their son. Of course, he knew Emily would not have anyone to do that, Hotch did not even know who the father was, so, in an even more un-bossly way, he lent down and whispered to the bump.

"I will protect you, I promise." Quite happy that Emily was asleep and had stopped shaking, he let his eyes drop and fell into a heavy sleep as well.

As his eyes slowly open, he takes a deep breath and is bombarded by a raspberry smell that was too pleasant for his nose and he carefully tried to move her hair from his nose. Just as he was doing this, he noticed he had shook Emily slightly and her eyes began to flutter awake and take in the daytime light.

"Hotch?" She asked groggily and realised just where she was and as it dawned on her, he saw her eyes shot even more open and she sat up in shock. "Oh my God, last night. Please tell me I was just having a nightmare." She gulped, moving further away from him in the bed.

"What about it are you on about?" He looked slightly amused.

"The part that lead to here." She realised that it must have been real. "I am so sorry, Hotch, I mean, Sir." She tried to redeem herself by getting out of the bed as fast as she could. "I am so sorry, I was tired, I had no clue what I was saying. Sorry." She apologised for the millionth time before just leaving the room without another apology. As Hotch sprung up to stop her, but, hearing his son begin to wake up, he was forced to go back into his room, and a second or so later he heard Emily's car start, and then the sound of it driving away.

He arrived at work an hour late after having to watch Jack until Jessica arrived, then there was the added delay of him having to change his suit because his son threw up on him. If that had not already pissed him off, the mood between him and Prentiss at the office had also added to his frustration. They first ran into each other at the coffee machine, and both of them barely said a word to each other. Hotch had actually sounded less cold than normal with her, just saying 'Prentiss' in a sweet tone almost, but her cold, plain 'Sir' was sent back, before Emily walked away, her drink in her hand. Of course, Morgan picked up on the mood automatically and gossiped with Reid about it. When he asked Emily about the cold moment, she said it was hormones. Now, she was busily working through some files, as Hotch came out onto the balcony.

"Prentiss." He had a more firm voice, more boss like. Emily felt like she was back in High School, and she was being called to the Principal's office, the only difference being, she knew what she had done wrong now and she did not know how much apologising would be able to fix it. Standing, nervously, she turned to see him still there, and her eyes avoided his, not wanting to make any of this a public display. As she came to his office, he followed her in, closing the door and shutting the blinds that allowed the other members in the bull pen to look in. She nervously took a seat without asking, as Hotch knew she would do so well because he would not want her standing up until he gave her the say so to sit down, now that was unacceptable. "You should not be here." He said, his bossy tone dropping slightly. Emily gave the floor a confused look (still not looking him in the eyes), she was unsure what she had done so wrong that would result in her having time off. Of course, Hotch having not seeing that look and Emily unable to come up for an answer with her confusion, she had to look him in the eye.

"What, Sir?" It seemed that she had slipped back into her habit of calling Hotch 'Sir'.

"Emily." He gave her a 'stop that' look and she looked more vulnerable than before.

"I'm sorry, Hotch, I just don't know what I have done wrong. I mean, I know this morning was unacceptable but…" He did the only thing that could stop her rambling, which made him grateful that the blinds were shut. His lips went into her's and this time, he massaged her bottom lip with his own.

"Sshh, Em." He said when he finally pulled away, "This morning was… fine… more than fine even. I know I shouldn't say this, but I have been waiting a while to do that."

"To sleep in a bed with me without sex? Gee, thanks Hotch." She said, sarcasm staining her words.

"No, to kiss you, fool. See, what I mean is… I… I am falling for you Agent Prentiss. I am falling in love with Emily." He said, making sure she understood it, but she still sat motionless.

"I uh…" She had no clue what to say, and now Hotch felt ashamed.

"Oh, my, God, I'm so sorry, I thought you wanted to… and I…" He began rambling, and Emily did the same as he did to her and kiss her, this time both of their lips taking part.

"I have been falling for you too, Hotch." She confessed, when they finally pulled away. "I have been falling for you since day one."

"You don't know how good it is to hear those words… it's amazing." They both smiled at each other and Hotch moved away from her, sitting back at his desk finally remembering where they were and that they could get caught at any moment. "I want you to go home." He said, again, and Emily really had no clue what he was going on about now.

"What? Hotch, but…" She babbled.

"It's nothing to do with this morning, or a minute ago, you haven't been to sleep properly, Emily, and it is all my fault; you were looking after Jack all night." He informed her.

"It's fine, Hotch, I'm awake, and I loved looking after him anyway, he is the sweetest son ever." She smiled a great smile at him, forcing him to give his dimples back. And then they were disturbed.

"Hotch, we have a big…" JJ stopped, "Oh, my, God, Hotch… smiling. What has the world come to." She teased and Hotch shot her an 'un-amused' look. "Sorry, we have a case, a big case."

"I'll be in now." He turned back to Emily, "You, home, now, sleep. There is no way you are coming on this case with us. Final!" He left before she could protest, and he knew within half an hour, she would be in her bed fast asleep.

Arriving home, just twenty minutes later, Emily could not help but smile; she had finally got it all. She thought. She had the man of her dreams… and a family. There it was, she had to gulp. Jack. Of course she should have thought ahead, both her and Hotch knew that is Jack was not ready or he did not like Emily nothing would happen between them. Now fear filled her stomach as she crawled into bed in her yellow bottoms and white top. She laid on her left side, her hand going around her stomach tenderly, remembering where Jack's hand was last night. She knew there was no way he did not like her, but the new mom thing would be a big issue. At least she could understand that. And Jack would still be a great cousin to her baby. Even with her reassuring thoughts, she could not sleep, so she wondered down to the small box room down the hallway, and her eyes fell on the several boxes and bags of things. She thought that doing something productive would help, so taking the giraffe bear off of the crib box, and placing it on the box for the Moses basket, she began to rip open the box, and started putting the pieces together.