Well this is a chapter about New Years now... and let's just say that a new year brings a new beginning.
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"Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instil in us." – Hal Borland
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"Poor Dave must be getting real sick of seeing us." Emily laughed, as she stepped out of the passenger side of the car for the second time that week, and looked up at Rossi's mansion.

"He loves us really." Hotch joked, as he moved around to the side door and helped Jack out, scooping the young boy up to his side with one arm, and taking out the shopping bags of food they'd brought along with the other arm.

The trio made their way through the thick snow and up to Rossi's door and knocked twice before letting themselves in.

"Why knock and then just walk in?" Rossi asked once they entered the house. "That sort of defeats the purpose of me coming all the way from the sitting room to see who's there." He added.

"Hello to you too." Hotch joked, as he placed Jack down and let the small boy run in to find the rest of his family.

"Don't worry Dave; the exercise is good for you." Emily teased as she brushed the snow off her jacket, causing Dave to glare at her as the white powder formed small puddles on his wooden floor.

"Yea, yea whatever, the rest of the gang's in the sitting room." Rossi told them with a frown, as Emily and Hotch both took off their jackets and shoes.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Dinner's served." Hotch called from the kitchen at eight o clock that evening, as the woman all sat around the fire laughing, and Jack and Henry both sat in the corner playing quietly, having just woken up from their naps.

"This should be interesting." Emily laughed, as she rose slowly from the floor, and walked over to get Jack.

"Why did we think this would be a good idea?" Garcia asked with a laugh, referring to the fact that the woman had told Hotch, Reid, Rossi, Will and Kevin that it was their turn to cook dinner, seeing as they'd cooked at Christmas... they of course had forced Morgan to help them, as he was the only man of the group that had proven he could actually cook.

All four women, plus Jack and Henry made their way into the kitchen, where their jaws almost hit the floor, when they saw the spread covering the dining room table.

There was melon starter, with what looked like a strawberry sauce, roast beef for the main course, with roast, mashed, boiled and garlic potatoes, not to mention an array of vegetables all covering the table.

"None of this looks burnt." Emily commented sceptically as she sat down, placing Jack in the seat to her left.

"That's because none of it is burnt darling." Hotch informed her as he sat down on the other side of Jack "Now tuck in and we made a chocolate cake for desert." He added, causing the women to smile.

"This is too good to be true." Austin said, as she viewed the meal in front of her, her mouth salivating at the sight of it all.

"It is actually." JJ replied, as she walked out of the kitchen holding Henry in one arm and the wrapping from a microwave vegetable set in the other. "Look what I found when I was going to get Henry's bottle out of the fridge." She told the room, holding up the accusing piece of plastic and waving it around. "There's also a cake box, and about ten different microwave potatoes sets in there." She added with a smirk.

"Busted." Garcia laughed as she began filling her plate with vegetables and boiled potatoes.

"Guess who's doing the dishes." Emily smirked as she pulled two pieces of roast beef and some vegetables onto her plate.

"Damn!" The men exclaimed under their breath in tandem, blushing at the fact that they'd been caught read handed.

The woman all laughed, before the entire team tucked into their delicious... even if it was shop bought... meal.

~.~.~.~.~.~

An hour or so after the meal was over and the men had cleaned the kitchen, the team found themselves sitting around the fire again, a glass of mulled wine in their hands as they chatted quietly.

After a moment, Hotch came into the room from his and Emily's room, and slid into the couch beside Emily wrapping his arm around her waist and allowing her to lean her head against his shoulder as she chatted to Rossi, Garcia nd Austin.

"You want to go for a walk?" Hotch whispered quietly to Emily, kissing around her ear as he spoke.

"Sure." Emily replied tilting her head back and smiling happily, as she excused herself from the conversation she was having, and got up slowly, linking hands with Hotch as they walked down the hall and out into the night breeze.

They walked in silence across the yard and into the woods that lay beside the frozen lake, happy to look around them at the beauty of the forest, and they didn't stop until they reached a small clearing.

"This has got to be the most beautiful place in the world." Emily sighed contently after a moment, looking around her in awe as she wrapped her arms around Hotch's and leant against him.

"Even more so with you here." Hotch replied, not taking his eyes off Emily.

"Jeez, cheesy much darling." Emily teased, as she looked at him for the first time, smiling shyly when she saw that he was staring back intently.

"No... Just telling the truth." Hotch replied, returning her smile, with one that brought out both his dimples.

"Ok, what's brought this on?" Emily asked with a nervous laugh. "Are you ok?" She asked, sounding slightly scared.

"I am... and I have been for one year, two months and twenty days." He replied, smiling lovingly at her.

"Right... because you talking cryptically is going to reassure me that you're fine." Emily laughed nervously. "Aaron... is there something you ne..." Emily stared, but the words caught in her throat at what Hotch done next.

The man in front of her, slowly got down on one knee, and pulled a small velvet box out of his jacket pocket, never taking his eyes off Emily.

"Jesus Christ!" Emily exclaimed quietly, as her eyes bulged out of her head.

"Emily Prentiss, I may not be Jesus Christ." Hotch joked, before turning serious. "But I promised you two months ago, when I asked you to move in, that someday I would propose, and that someday I'd stand at the bottom of an aisle and wait for you, and some day... we were going to grow old together, and I also told you that, because of all the Foyet crap, that I couldn't make any of them promises yet... but now I can." He told her, his voice wavering slightly with nerves. "Emily, I love you... I've loved you since Chicago, maybe even before then, but all I know is that I really don't want to live without you, I need you, and Jack needs you, and I'm ready to make those promises, I'm ready to make that commitment to you... and it's a new year Emily... a new year with new beginnings." He told her, as he watched tears pool in Emily's eyes.

"Are you sure?" Emily asked with a sniffle, as she wiped some tears away.

"Am I sure? I was expecting more along the lines of a yes or no answer." Hotch joked. "But yes Em, I'm two hundred per cent sure, I love you and I want to be with you for as long as you'll have me, which I'm hoping is forever." He told her with a smile.

"Then... yes." Emily stated, as a child like look of glee appeared on her face. "Yes Aaron, yes I'll marry you... I don't even know why you needed to ask, I love you! I love you! I love you!" Was all Emily managed to squeal out before jumping Hotch and wrapping her arms and legs around him and causing them to both fall into the snow.

"Wasn't expecting such a hyper reaction." Hotch laughed, as he clutched Emily tightly.

"Darling, I may not be a girly girl." Emily informed him, causing Hotch to snort in laughter at the thought. "But I was just proposed to by the man of my dreams... give me a moment of squealing." She laughed as she lifted her head off Hotch's chest and looked him in the eye.

Once their eyes met, it wasn't long before their lips did, and they crashed together, the happiness they were both feeling being poured into the kiss with every fibre of their being, as their lips parted naturally and passion overtook them, as their tongues battled for dominance, and their hands roamed each other's bodies.

"Stop." Emily breathed after a moment, pulling away from Hotch breathlessly as he lifted her top slightly.

"What?" He asked in confusion.

"How about we wait until later to continue this." Emily giggled. "Frost bite in certain places would be pretty hard to explain not to mention if the team found out we'd never live it down." She added.

"Good point." Hotch replied, as he stood slowly, lifting Emily with him. "Here, this is yours." He added, pulling Emily's hand towards him and slipping a simple silver band, with small ruby's in a swirl on the front.

"That's beautiful." Emily sighed as she looked down at her hand.

"Only the best for you my dear." Hotch replied, as he kiss her hand softly.

"Seriously, you've got to stop being cheesy." Emily smirked as they began to walk back towards Rossi's house, hand in hand. "It'll taint your hard ass image." She added.

"I'm just after proposing and you still find flaw in me." Hotch laughed, as he pulled Emily closer to his side and placed a kiss on her hair line as they walked.

"Let me have my fun." Emily joked.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Well there you two are... we were about to send out a search pa..." Rossi started, when Emily and Hotch came back into the sitting room, but he was cut off by Garcia.

"Oh. My. God!" She squeaked, jumping up quickly and staring at Emily's hand.

"What's the heck's the matter?"Kevin asked, shocked at her outburst.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" Garcia relied, still jumping.

"Someone care to fill me in?" Morgan spoke up, looking extremely confused. "JJ, is this a girl thing or something?" He asked.

JJ was about to reply with an "I have no idea" shoulder shrug when she followed Garcia's line of site to the brand new ring on Emily's finger.

"Shut up! No fricking way! Finally!" JJ exclaimed, as she stared in shock at Emily's hand.

"Wow!" Austin breathed out, as she too copped on to what the rest of the woman on the team were squealing about, as her eyes almost popped out of her head at the sight of the ring.

"Is there a full moon tonight or something." Rossi quipped, as he looked between the three women.

"Even better!"Garcia informed him; still talking in a voice so high pitched it was only audible to dogs, but having calmed down enough to actually talk now.

"What's going on?" Reid asked, having gone into shock at the antics of his team mates.

"Uh... I think their talking about this." Emily finally informed the team happily, holding out her hand so her ring sparkled in the light that was shining from the light fixture above.

"Is that what I think it is?" Morgan asked in surprise.

"No Morgan, it's a toaster." Emily replied sarcastically, causing everyone to laugh.

"Em, Hotch... I'm so happy for you guys." Morgan told them, standing up and clapping Hotch on the back, before enveloping Emily into a warm hug.

"We all are." Rossi added, as he too stood up to hug his friends, closely followed by the rest of the team, Garcia and JJ coming last and almost crushing their friends in hugs, still a bit over excited.

"Where's Jack?" Hotch asked once everyone was done congratulating them, wanting to tell his son.

"He's in his room sleeping... He wanted to stay up, but he was just too tired so we put him to bed." Garcia informed him.

"Thanks." Hotch said, before turning to Emily, and entwining their fingers, beginning to walk towards Jacks room.

"Maybe we shouldn't wake him." Emily said suddenly, causing Hotch to stop in his tracks. "I mean maybe we shouldn't tell him until after New Year, when he's settled again." She added.

"Maybe you're right." Hotch agreed after a moment of thinking. "We can tell him when we're back at home, and when he's not as tired." He mused, nodding his head slowly.

"Well then, looks like there's only one thing left to do." JJ called happily. "Celebrate!" She squealed, holding up a bottle of champagne with a bright smile.

"That's sixty years old... I was saving that for a special occasion!" Rossi gasped, as he watched JJ pop the cork in horror.

"Stop being the Grinch, this is a special occasion, so look happy." Garcia chastised playfully, as she handed him a glass.

"Fine then." Rossi huffed playfully. "To a new year, and to Hotch and Em!" He toasted, raising his glass high in the air.

"To a new year, and to Hotch and Em!" The team copied, raising their glasses high and clinking them with the person next to them.
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There. I hope that I done this chapter justice, because I wanted them to get engaged in the snow right from the start of the story. I realise Hotch was OOC and cheesy there (like very cheesy) but that's sort of the way he acted around Haley in season 1 so that's what I was basing it on. Tell me what you thought. =)