"Now who can tell me which word on the sheet you have goes in the blank up here on the board?" Looking out amongst the sea of eight year olds that filled her room, Emily pointed to a small dark haired girl in the back. "Daisy."

The green eyed girl looked down to her paper. "An?"

Emily gave the eight year old a smile. "That's right," she nodded happily, forcing herself to contain her laughter at the joy she saw on the young girl's face.

When the bell rang, the third grade teacher collected the worksheets she had handed her students in the beginning of class. Looking up to the clock, Emily nodded to herself. She could finally head home.

She quickly put all of her papers she needed to grade from that day into a folder and stuffed it in the purse she was carrying before heading out of her classroom and into the sunlit courtyard of the school.

"Oh Emily!"

Turning her head, the ambassador's daughter saw another teacher waving her over to a group of women she stood with. "Alexis," Emily smiled, walking over to the teachers. "How are you?"

"Damn fine."

She frowned, spinning on her heel to look toward the entrance of the school to see what they were all looking at, and she huffed.

It was Aaron Hotchner.

The assistant principal bit her lip as she watched the single father help his son with his backpack. "I can't believe how handsome he is."

"So gorgeous."

Alexis nodded. "If he wants more children, I'm glad to help him."

Emily found herself blushing at the words her new friend was saying, and she shook her head.

"Bye Ms. Prentiss!"

The brunette turned and grinned to the eight year old waving her way. She waved back, and when her eyes connected with Aaron's, her breathing grew shallow.

He grinned at her, and gave her a small wave.

Instead of waving the way she had at his son, Emily brought her hand down near her breast, as if she were trying to hide her action, and she bent her fingers in a small wave goodbye.

Waiting until the father and son were out of sight, Alexis slapped at the new teacher's arm. "You know him?"

The dark eyed woman held her arm where her new friend had slapped her. "I do," she laughed awkwardly, noticing all the women staring her down. "Jack Hotchner is my student, and his father and I have had some conversations."

"Is he a dream to talk to?"

Emily felt herself hesitate. "I guess." She shrugged, gently backing away from the group. "He's a very polite man." Smiling to Alexis, she pointed back to the entrance gates. "I have to go, but you all have a wonderful evening."

Once she was back home, the teacher found herself constantly flipping between watching the news, grading papers and texting her best friend. Life was getting hectic, and it was only her second day.

"Permission to enter?"

She frowned, hearing the muffled words come from just outside her apartment door. Getting up, Emily readjusted the belt on the jeans she had put on and opened up her door. "Aaron," she laughed, seeing the grin on his face. "Can I help you?"

The older man noticed the change the brunette had made, jeans and a plain t-shirt, and he refrained himself from commenting. She looked beautiful. "Jack insisted that I come over and ask his favorite teacher to dinner."

Emily felt her jaw drop, and she peeked out the door to see a giggling Jack standing just the hall in front of their door. "Oh that's so sweet," she whispered, almost to herself. Looking back to the man before her, the beautiful brunette woman sadly nodded her head. "I would love to but I can't. I'm so sorry, I have too many papers to grade before classes tomorrow."

Stepping out into the hallway, the third grade teacher smiled to her student. "Do you think maybe I can come over another night, Jack? I still have to see what you wrote down on your worksheet today."

Jack readily nodded his head. "I think I did good!"

She grinned. "I'm sure you did," she laughed lightly, looking back to her neighbor once the eight year old ran back inside. "Thank you for the offer."

Aaron nodded gently down to the younger woman. "If you finish up early..."

He left the statement open ended, and Emily slowly stepped back into her apartment and gave him a smile. "Thank you. Goodnight, Aaron."

Hours later, the teacher was still sitting on her couch, her hair up and out of her face and her body warming up in her favorite sweatshirt. "Fuck," she cursed, rubbing her palms over her eyes as she felt herself falling asleep. Thanks to a phone call from her mother that lasted almost an entire hour, Emily was behind on her grading, and it was almost ten at night.

There was a knock at her door. Again.

Groaning, Emily got herself up and shuffled over to the door, peeking out the peephole and frowning when she didn't see anyone. "Come on." She pulled the door open and looked up and down the hallway. "Hello?"

Before she stepped out into the hall, her gaze thankfully glanced down to the floor where she saw a plate wrapped in steamed up silicone wrap. Eyes wide, she bent down and took the warm plate in her hands, smiling softly down to the door beside hers before heading back inside.