Getting to work on Tuesday feels very normal from the whole craziness her life has felt like for the last couple of weeks. She had set up in Rossi's office, but when Hotch came to the kitchen while she was getting coffee and invited her to work in his room… why would she say no?
She relocated to his office while the bullpen was mostly empty, and they had spent the whole morning reviewing a case from New York about missing man. Emily couldn't believe how much it felt like old times when she was only a newcomer on the team and Hotch would review her consults closely to make sure she was comfortable.
On those times she always thought he would always forget the mistrust he had on her and how she entered the BAU and like teaching and showing her how they would consult on such difficult cases even without being present.
Which is why they spent most of the morning working together and enjoying it while the whole team watched fascinated.
"Catch me up again?" Matt asked the team who were all around Reid and JJ's desks.
"Okay so Emily and Hotch barely spoke for the last 3 weeks, actually I believe she has gone out of her way to not cross paths with him. Which had made us think…" Garcia explained.
"Us?" Reid interjects.
"Okay me, but still, it made me think that maybe she wasn't so okay as she told us about all of this."
"I have to agree with Pen, I've been feeling weird vibes from all of this as well." Garcia says nodding her head.
"Weird vibes I can agree, but we can't know for sure what it is and why." Luke disputes.
"Well whatever reason it was, they seemed to have made up. If you know what I mean." Tara said with a little smile on her face while she looks at Hotch's office where the other two agents can be seen laughing while they worked.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Reid asks.
"Well, Emily hasn't been seen with a smile that big in while." Tara explains.
"Hotch hasn't been seen with a smile, ever." Penelope joked.
"What do you think happened?" They all continued to stare and talk as Rossi got out of his office and went closer to them.
"You do know they can see you all staring, right?" He requestioned them all.
"You know what's going on, don't you? You always know what's going on." Penelope asks and all the team turns to look at Rossi.
"You always know, and besides you are both of their best friend. You were already fearing who would get you on the divorce." JJ said laughing.
"I know nothing. But right now, you are all in trouble." Rossi said pointing at Hotch's office where they could see both Emily saying something to Hotch and pointing them all.
Which instantly makes their unit chief get up, go to the window and start to close the blinds.
"Well, fun is over I guess." Penelope said getting up from Reid's desk.
"Wait, are they actually dating?" Matt asks after the blinds are completely closed.
"What? No. They are friends, but just friends" Reid objects.
"I mean, who can actually know for sure?" Luke not usually one for gossip, but also curious adds. "They are both very serious about the job, but mostly lonely in their personal lives."
"And Hotch does match Emily's type." JJ gives Tara and Penelope a knowing look.
"And what is her type?" Luke asks.
"Tall, dark, handsome … with a gun and an attitude." JJ laughs as she says.
"He sure does fit that." Rossi says and leaves them to go refill his mug.
"They could at least pretend they aren't watching." Hotch says sitting down on his chair again.
"I have to take some of the responsibility, I did keep my distance and they noticed."
"I did mess things up before that, so we let's agree to share the blame." Hotch mediated. "But they could at least pretend not to watch."
"Oh right, just like you were doing a few days ago when I was working at JJ's desk, right?" She mocked the dark-haired man.
"Oh no, that I just couldn't help myself, besides I can't say that was the first time." Hotch answers with a smile and Emily notices that he was almost blushing. She really doesn't know what to make of this new Hotch. Was he flirty with every woman now? Was he just being more open? Maybe joking more with people he was familiar with? Or was she special?
"Oh stop. You hated me."
"I was confused by you. I didn't know how you ended up on the team."
"And the fact that I wasn't bad at it pissed you off, didn't it?" Hotch chuckles at her.
"I can't say it was easy, it just made you more intriguing. Was I really that bad?" He asks feeling a bad about it.
"Not really, I was expecting to have difficulties, especially if you tried getting more information about my training or how I got into profiling. And the team is so dynamic that it just made me closer to Morgan, JJ and Garcia. You Reid and Jason were definitely not ready to open up anytime soon."
"It wasn't completely bad?"
"It wasn't bad at all." They both worked the rest of the afternoon with smiles on their face and exchanging glances.
"Hey Jack! I'm home" Hotch yells as he gets inside.
The teen comes running from his room, but his smile turns sad when he sees his dad is alone.
"What happened? Where is Emily?" Jack says in an accusatory manner.
"Hi dad, how are you? Hey Jack, I'm good, I had a great day at work. Thank you for asking" The older man says mockingly while putting his briefcase away and starting to remove his jacket and tie.
"Daaaad. I'm glad it was a good day, now where is Emily?" Hoch could feel his son would start vibrating any minute now.
"She is coming, she had a last-minute meeting she had to attend to, and she had her own car so I gave her the address and she should be here in about 30 minutes." Hotch laughs and starts walking to the kitchen. "How about you help me make pasta for dinner so we can show her we don't live like wolves?"
"Fine! But just because Emily isn't here yet. When she gets here, I want to spend time with her." Jack starts opening the cupboards and helping his dad get the ingredients.
In no time at all they had prepared almost everything and now the pasta was finishing cooking in the sauce. Jack was setting the table when the doorbell rang, which prompted him to run for the door yelling, I'll get it.
"EMILY!" Said the little boy as soon as the door opened, throwing his arms around the dark-haired woman's shoulders, who was still hadn't been able to enter the house.
Hotch got there just in time to see Emily circle her arms around the boy and lift him from the ground while laughing, her eyes filling with tears of joy.
"Hi sweety, how are you?" She put him back on the ground but kept hugging him when it was clear he wasn't ready to let go.
"I missed you." He said without letting go and Emily could tell by his voice that he was crying.
"I missed you so much Jack, you have no idea. And I'm really glad I can see you and hug you again." Emily kept rubbing his back when she realized the boy was crying and her eyes filled with tears. He was so grown up, and each time she saw him he looked more and more like Aaron.
After he had calmed down a bit and removed his arms from around her and grabbed her hand pulling her inside the house.
"Come, I want to show you the house and my room. Daddy and I even made dinner." He had one hand on hers and the other cleaning the tears from his face.
She looked over at Hotch and she could see that his face was worried, probably also noticing that Jack reverted into a younger moniker for him, but still very happy that his son was so happy.
"How about we eat dinner first and then you give her the tour buddy?"
"Sure, come on Em. I put you next to me." Jack continues walking to the table.
"The house is very nice boys, and Jack I loved the stars in your bedroom." Jack had been talking nonstop all through dinner and the tour. I was like he wanted to catch Emili up on the last few years since she had moved to London in just one night.
"But you haven't seen Dad's room yet" Jack said already grabbing her hand again and starting to lead them to the last room in the house.
"Oh, we don't have to…" She said trying to stop what could be a weird situation.
"That's okay." Hotch relented.
"You have to see it Em, it's the biggest one in the house and it has very big windows, the bathroom too. It's so cool."
Whatever she had ever thought about how her ex-boss' room would be, this certainly was not the case. The room was very clean, but it had a very comfy feel to it. The windows overlooked the front of the house, which she had seen when she got there.
The house had a modern style with black frames and light-colored walls, she could see from the inside that they were all tinted and you really couldn't see from the outside in, just a mirrored image. Which made sense with their profession, but this made the house very illuminated, and the view was truly incredible.
"This is amazing Hotch. The view is just breathtaking." Emily had walked close to the window, so she turned to look at him.
"It's perfect." He was leaning in the doorway.
The moment was broken by Jack coming back into the room and proposing a movie. Emily couldn't remember when he had left.
"Please, Emily. You have to stay for a movie." She could swear his eyes got big and round like a kitten begging for cuddles.
"Sure, I have time for a movie with my favorite boy." She smiled at both of them, and she couldn't help but wish that maybe in the future she would be in this room again.