Ok... so I'm not really sure where this chapter is going yet, I'm sort of just going with the flow, because the idea's I have I don't want to write until they're fully formed in my head. So anyway, this is after the episode "Risky Business".

It's January 2010, Emily is 39 and Hotch is 44.

"Nothing travels faster than light, with the possible exception of bad news, which follows its own rules." – Douglas Adams.
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Emily hummed contently to the song playing on the radio in the kitchen, as she amerced her hands in warm soapy water, reaching to her elbows, as she washed up after quite a messy baking session.

Hotch had been acting oddly since they'd gotten back from the Wyoming two days ago and Emily had decided to bake brownies to cheer him up.

He was still at work, but Jack had been bouncing around the house all day in excitement at the prospect of the gooey chocolate heaven that was brownies, so Hotch had told them to go ahead and make them, and to save him a few.

Looking back, Emily wasn't sure if Hotch had used work as a ploy to get out of the actual baking, as she'd forgotten just how messy Jack could be... the four year old still not having fully grasped the concept that the mixture needed to be in the bowl, and not all over the kitchen.

Emily was pulled out of this thought when the said four year old trotted into the kitchen with the remains of a brownie on his face and hands, smiling from ear to ear.

"That was yummy Emmy, thank you!" He exclaimed happily, licking his lips to show how tasty his treat had been.

"Don't thank me sweety, thank Betty Crocker's readymade brownie mix." Emily laughed, as she started drying some of the dishes.

"Who?" Jack asked in confusion.

"Never mind buddy... you just go and clean your hands and face." Emily replied, smiling when she saw that more of the brownie had gotten on Jacks face and hands than he'd eaten.

Jack simply shrugged his shoulders and nodded, before scurrying off to the bathroom, returning a moment later with a clean face and hands, and pulling out one of the seats, so he could sit at the island that lay between the kitchen and the living room.

"Emmy." Jack spoke up after a moment once he'd gotten himself comfortable on the tall bar stool, drawing Emily's attention away from the spoon she was drying.

"Yes Jackster." Emily replied, placing the spoon down and taking a step closer to the young boy.

"You know how you and daddy are getting married." He said, as he played with Emily's engagement ring, that she'd taken off and placed on the table while she was washing the dishes so it wouldn't fall off. "Does that mean you're my new mommy?" He enquired.

At Jack's words Emily froze. She'd known that this conversation was inevitable ever since Hotch had told Jack about their engagement when they'd gotten back from Dave's... but she'd always hoped that Hotch would be here when Jack asked, as she didn't know how to answer that question, and it wasn't really her place.

"Well..." Emily started, but she paused and sighed after that, not really knowing how to continue. "Well, it's up to you buddy." She told him finally. "I love you with all my heart whether you call me Emmy, or mommy."

"Well I don't have a mommy... so you could be my mommy." Jack responded almost sadly.

"Jack, come here." Emily said when Jack spoke, picking the small boy off the chair and pulling him into a hug once he spoke. "You do have a mommy, and she loved you very much, she just had to go away to the angels, but she's still your mommy."She told the small boy.

"Yea... but my friend Peter told me that I don't have a mommy, because I call you Emmy and I call no one mommy." Jack informed Emily, looking obviously upset by the fact.

"Well your friend Peter is wrong." Emily replied. "In fact, Peter is probably jealous; because he only has a mommy... you have an Emmy, and a mommy." She added, trying to cheek Jack up.

"But his mom is living... my mommy's with the angels." Jack told her.

"You know your mommy only went to live with the angels because she loved you right?" Emily asked the young boy, hoping that this Peter kid wasn't getting Jack down too much.

"I know that." Jack replied with a sad smile. "She went to heaven so George wouldn't hurt me." He recited, having been told by Hotch what had happened once his nightmares began to get really bad, as a way of telling Jack that as long as him mom was watching over him he'd be ok.

"Well then, Peter is jealous, because his mommy wasn't as brave or as strong as yours was." Emily whispered to Jack, hugging the little boy close to her chest.

"So is it ok if I call you Emmy?" Jack asked after a brief silence, back to his normal happy self now that the Peter issue had been cleared up... for now.

"It's more than ok buddy." Emily replied with a smile, as she hugged the little boy again.

~.~.~.~.~.~

"What's up?" Hotch asked, as he gazed into Emily's dark eyes as she lay on his chest silently, both of them lying on the couch.

"Nothing..." Emily sighed, proving to Hotch that there was definitely something bothering her. "Here." She added, as she popped another piece of the brownie that was in her hand into Hotch's mouth.

"Really Em, tell me what's wrong." He managed to say in between chews of the extremely gooey brownie.

"Other than the fact that you're talking with your mouth full you mean?" Emily teased, popping the final piece of brownie into her own mouth.

"Oh ha, ha." Hotch replied once he'd finished eating. "Really though, tell me what's bothering you." He asked her again.

"Just something Jack said to me today." Emily informed him with a sigh. "He wanted to know if I was his new mom." She added, bracing herself for Hotch's reaction, even though she was sure it wouldn't be a bad one... Haley's death wasn't as tabooed a subject as it had been three months ago, but it could still be a touchy subject, especially after a difficult case.

"Oh... and?" Hotch asked, not sounding to phased by the situation, much to Emily's relief.

"And I told him it was up to him whether he called me Emmy or mommy." Emily replied. "So he chose to call me Emmy." She informed him.

"And..." Hotch prompted, being able to tell from the look in Emily's eye that there was something else was well.

"And... he also told me there was a kid at school giving him a hard time about the fact that he didn't have a mom." Emily blurted out quickly, figuring that telling Hotch this would be like pulling off a very nasty plaster.

"What?" Hotch exclaimed, sitting up quickly and almost causing Emily to fall off his chest in the process as she just about managed to cling onto the back of the couch.

"I told him that the kid, Peter, was jealous, and that his mommy was with the angels looking after him... but I think he's still pretty upset about it." Emily added, reaching out to rub Hotch's shoulders soothingly.

"First thing tomorrow." Hotch managed to growl out. "First thing tomorrow I'm going to Jack's school, I don't care how much work I have."

"I'm off tomorrow... I can go too if you like." Emily told him, knowing he may need support, otherwise he may cause a very nasty scene in the middle of Jack's school.

"Yea, ok." Hotch replied gruffly, staring in to space with a frown as he let Emily push him back on to the couch and let her lie on him again.

"Right, then in that case, lets relax before tomorrow." Emily sighed, as she closed her eyes, and let Hotch's arms wrap around her waist.
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There... I know, poor Jack! But it'll be ok in the end, don't worry. Tell me what you thought, and thanks for reading! =)