A/N: Hey, I'm back! You guys really made me so happy with your reviews. I couldn't reply all of them but know that I really appreciate your support. So, here is finally the dinner at Haley's and the introduction to Jack. Some of you may think that I pushed a little Hayle's character on this but honestly I can't write a bad Haley on this story. I have a lot of issues with the way she treated Hotch on the show but I actually like her a little bit. So I'm not going to make her a villain here. Their problems will be others, with the work, the Bureau, and their own personal issues.

Well, I hope you'll like it. Please let me know.

Chapter 17

"Are you sure you're okay with this Em? I don't want to pressure you into anything". Hotch said while he was putting his dark-green polo shirt. He was already dressed in dark jeans and Emily was dressed in a purple t-shirt, a pair of jeans and sneakers. She was fixing her hair in a messy bump and putting some mascara and a light gloss. They were due to be at Haley's in twenty minutes for dinner and he could see that she was pretty shaken at the prospect, he just didn't know if it was Haley or Jack who was frightening her more.

"I'm fine, Aaron" She sighed. No, she wasn't. Far from it, actually. She was terrified. What if Jack didn't like her? What if he kept asking his daddy to come home? What if he thought she was trying to steal his father from him? That aside from the fact that having dinner two days after the beginning of their relationship at his ex-wife house was really weird. Creepy. And terrifying.

"Are you sure? You look like you're going to pass out." He said, meeting her eyes on the mirror while hugging her from behind. He placed a sweet kiss on her neck. "I'm sorry I'm putting you into this. If you want I can say that you were not feeling well and we can post-point this introduction…"

"No Aaron, it's just… what if he doesn't like me?" She asked with a furrowed brow, her eyes showing her insecurity. "And what if Haley it's not really okay with this? What if she wants you back?"

"Okay, first of all, it's impossible that he doesn't like you, sweetheart. He already thinks you're a superhero because you made the bad guy go away and saved his mother. And we're going to focus on him getting to know you right now, later we can talk to him about the nature of our relationship, okay?" She couldn't help but smile at this. "Secondly, it was Haley that pushed me into make a move on the first place. We talked a lot about this before I came home that night and she knows that you make me happy and she is happy for us". He turned her around to look deep into her eyes. "And third, even if she wanted me back, she wouldn't have me. I don't belong to her anymore. I'm yours, for as long as you have me. And I hope it will be forever".

He kissed her thoroughly until they were both breathlessly. Pulling apart she smiled at him and wiped the gloss from his mouth. "Okay, let's go or we'll be late".

Twenty minutes later they were parking in front of Hotch's old house. They got off the car and went towards the front door, knocking it lightly. Just a few seconds later the door swung open and the four-year-old boy jumped into his father's arms. "Daddy!"

"Hey buddy!"

"Jack Hotchner! What did I tell you about opening the door without me?" Haley said sternly coming from the kitchen.

"But it was daddy and Miss Emily!" The boy argued.

"You didn't know that. You're too small to look at the peephole. Don't do this again Jack, do you hear me? It could be someone else!" The boy nodded and she turned to the couple at the door. "Hey, I'm sorry. Come on in…" She gestured them inside.

"It's okay Hay. And your mom is right. No more opening the door alone, got it?" Hotch said to Jack.

"Got it, daddy" He answered solemnly.

They went to the living room and sat on the couch, Haley excusing herself to look at the dinner, leaving Hotch, Jack and Emily alone. The boy rambled about his day at school, talking about how much he had missed his friends and the new turtle they had as the class's pet. Hotch smiled at his little boy enthusiasm and at his girlfriend completely melted for him.

Several minutes later Jack suddenly jumped off the couch, telling them to not move and run upstairs. Less than a minute later the boy was back with a drawing on his hand. He handed to Emily and pointed excitedly to her. "Look Miss Emily! It's us! And you! You're a superhero!"

Emily looked at the drawing and felt her throat constricting with tears. There was a blond woman with a little boy and a dark haired man on one side and on the other was a brunette woman, whom she identified as herself, with her hands on her hips and something like a cape on her back and on the floor there was a man, the bad guy, knocked out. And at the top of the page was written with the boy's messy letters 'Super Miss Emily!'

She felt the tears pooling into her eyes as she looked at the excited boy. "This looks really awesome sweetheart!" She looked at Hotch and watched him grinning at them. He looked at her with a face that just said I told you so, and she rolled her eyes affectionately to him.

Yeah, it turns out that he was indeed right.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

The dinner passed uneventfully, filled with easy talk and Jack's rambles about silly things. They were finishing desert when Emily's phone started to ring. She apologized herself and looked at the ID, letting out a growl when she saw who it was. Hearing Hotch chuckling beside her she looked up and saw him look at her with amused eyes. "There's only one person in the world that can cause this reaction".

"You think?" She said sarcastically, excusing herself and going to the balcony to answer. Just before she left they could hear her saying. "Hello Mother."

Hotch continued to chuckle a little as Haley raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you don't know the Ambassador Prentiss. She is really remarkable".

"And you know her already?" Haley asked genuinely curious.

"I worked for her like fifteen years ago. It was one of my first assignments on the Bureau".

"Oh. So you two knew each other that long?" She asked nodding to the door where Emily left.

"Actually, no. She was at Yale that time. I think I may have seen her once at one of the functions her mother gave back then". He answered honestly. That was the truth but it was also true that this only time he saw her he thought that she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.

Haley nodded quickly and started to collect the dishes on the table. Jack started to ask for his father to go upstairs with him to see the new toys he had gotten from his Aunt Jess and his grandparents the day before. "You tell Emily when she got in that we'll be right back?" Hotch asked. At her nod he went upstairs with a bouncing Jack.

Two minutes later, a very annoyed Emily entered the kitchen. She stopped on her tracks when she saw just Haley there. "Jack is showing him his new toys. They'll be right back". Haley said to her. She opened her mouth and let out a pathetic 'Oh', nodding her head slightly and standing awkwardly on the doorframe. Haley saw her struggling and chuckled. "You don't need to stay there petrified Emily".

"I'm sorry." She said sheepishly. "It's just…"

"Weird?" Haley offered with a smile.

"Yeah". She chuckled. "Thank you for inviting for dinner. I know it can't be easy for you too." She said.

"Well… it's not how I imagined my life would be, twenty years ago, for sure. But I love Aaron…" At the slightest widening of Emily's eyes she quickly added. "Not like that, I swear. I love him as the father of my child. I honestly don't think that I could have found a better one. But I'm not in love with him anymore. For a very long time. That's why it's not hard for me or not so hard anyway. I love him and I'll always will. And I want him to be happy. I wasn't capable of that. I didn't get this need that you guys have to hunt serial killers on regular basis and I just kept asking him to be someone he couldn't be. I couldn't accept him and that's why we didn't work".

"I'm sorry…" Emily said quietly.

"It's okay. It was good, very good for a while. I'm sure you already know what kind of man he is. It's pretty difficult not to fall for him."

"Yeah, I know. It's infuriating…" Both chuckled a little. "So, you're really okay with this?"

"I am. I know that you get him and accept him so much more than I ever did. The thing with Foyet was enough for me to know that, the way you protected his career when all I did was ask for him to abandon everything". When Emily opened her mouth to say something she raised her hand. "I'm not saying that you love him more than I did or that you're better than I am. But maybe you and Aaron make more sense than we did". She sighed. "I just want you to promise me two things".

"What is it?"

"First. I don't doubt you in any sense but I need to know that you'll be good with my son. You know you'll be a great part of his life from now on, maybe even his step-mom someday."

Emily's eyes widened a little at that. "Look, I don't know about that, but you don't have to worry. Jack is the sweetest boy I've ever met. There's no way someone don't like him". She said with a smile.

"Okay. Secondly, I need to know that you'll make Aaron happy. And mostly…" She shrugged a little and sighed heavily. "Mostly, that you'll honor him, that if this doesn't work you'll be honesty with him. You won't betray him. He doesn't deserve this".

Emily's jaw literally dropped at this. "You mean you…"

"Yeah." She nodded slightly. "I'm not proud of it. God, I regret it every single day. He never confronted me. He never fought with me about it. But I know that he was aware of it, and I know that I hurt him deeply. So promise me you won't do the same. He doesn't deserve that".

"I… I don't even know what to say".

"Just promise me".

"I promise". She said quietly. Haley nodded and they stood in a somewhat comfort silence until they heard the footsteps of the two Hotchner boys coming downstairs.

Hotch came into the kitchen and saw them both in silence and stood beside Emily, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Everything's okay?"

She smiled at him. "Everything's fine." She whispered.

"What the Ambassador wanted?"

"Oh, don't remind me." She groaned and he chuckled. "It was just her monthly call to make me feel like a loser, old and lonely, you know".

"And I already told you that you're not a loser, definitely not old and even less a lonely woman right now." He said to her, giving her a light kiss on her forehead. She blushed a little bit and leaned into his arms.

"That's right, when you're going to introduce Aaron to your mother?"

Hotch laughed a little and she just rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. She would be so thrilled to know that I'm involved with my boss. It would be just perfect".

"Well, technically I'm not your boss right now". He added. She laughed and poked him on the ribs. They talked for a little more before deciding to say goodbye for the night. They left with another promise of a playdate with Jack, Hotch saying that since he was in suspension he would use his time to be with his son the most he could.

Getting into the car he looked at Emily and asked. "So, it wasn't so bad, was it?"

She smiled at him, leaning to give him a deep kiss. "No, it wasn't bad at all".

A/N: Let a review! You see how fast this was? Make me work even faster!