"Ready to head home?" Marcus asked Emily.
"That sounds good," Emily said. "How about we go to the same place, your condo."
"Sounds good to me, but you are aware what that will lead to," said Marcus making sure Emily was aware of what would happen if they shared a bed.
"Which is why I suggested it," Emily said. "I am more than ready for you to start turning me immortal. It's already been a really good day, as we had a good time celebrating your mother's birthday and we told your parents and aunt and uncle about our engagement. We might as well continue that positive trend."
"Yes, ma'am," Marcus said lighting up at the thought of making love to his mate for the first time. "I really like the way you think."
There was no experience like it according to the mated couples in his family. His parents had told him that having sex with anyone else would never compare to having it with your mate and he couldn't wait to experience it for himself.
"We probably need to stop by my apartment briefly so I can pack an overnight bag, but that shouldn't take long," Emily said.
"Probably a good idea," Marcus agreed, as he turned towards Emily's apartment at the first intersection he came to.
Marcus arrived at Emily's apartment building in good time and both of them got on the elevator to head to the correct floor her apartment was on so she could pack a bag.
It didn't take Emily long to pack an overnight bag and within 15 minutes they were heading back to the car.
Marcus being the gentleman he was took her bag from her and carried it out of her apartment then waited until Emily locked her door before the two of them got on the elevator together.
"I'm looking forward to you spending the night," Marcus told Emily making it clear what he meant by kissing her passionately on the lips.
"So am I," Emily told him as the elevator finally reached the first floor and both of them stepped out.
"Shall we head to my condo, my lady?" Marcus suggested solicitously.
"We shall," Emily agreed taking Marcus's offered hand.
Marcus escorted his mate towards his car and the two of them got in the doors opening automatically as soon as they approached the vehicle.
"Do you know, cars didn't used to have doors that opened automatically when they were first invented," Marcus told Emily as soon as they were both in the front seat with the safety webbing around them. The safety webbing in the front seat just automatically buckled in whoever was in the car. "We simply didn't have the technology back then."
"That's rather interesting," Emily commented, as he drove towards his condo.
"I thought so as well. It's just a fun bit of trivia, which is rather interesting as you said. Cars also didn't used to have autopilot to where the vehicle will drive you to your destination with no help from its human occupant.
"That's rather fascinating," Emily admitted being sincere.
"Technology has advanced so much since I was born in the late 20th century," Marcus said. "If technology has advanced since I was born I'm sure it seems even more advanced to my father or my uncle, especially Uncle Dave."
"I'm sure that's true," Emily decided after thinking about it.
"They only had things like manual plows back when dad was born pulled by horses," Marcus reminded Emily. "They had absolutely no technology of any kind, not electronics at any rate back when dad was born and that goes doubly for my uncle.
"True, though my knowledge of history is rather lacking I'm afraid," Emily said. "It wasn't exactly my best subject in school, as we had a teacher that could put you to sleep in 10 minutes or less."
"That will soon change I promise you as you'll live through a lot of history now, even if you don't realize it for a few decades," Marcus said. "It will then make the history books and you will realize you lived through that time."
"That's really hard for me to imagine," Emily said her voice full of skepticism.
"It was hard for me to imagine at first," Marcus admitted, "but now that I've lived through a lot of history it's not so hard. I might not realize it while it's happening that what my experience is going to end up in the history books, but I eventually do, usually after it's all over with."
"I would imagine so," Emily said, as Marcus drove towards his condo. It wasn't long until they arrived and Marcus parked in the spot he normally did.
"My lady, shall we head up to my condo?" Marcus suggested with a seductive wink. Emily's door had opened at the same time his had and Marcus was there to help her emerge from the car.
"We shall," Emily agreed smiling, as she took Marcus's hand and then let him escort her towards the front door that led to the lobby.
The car, Marcus had been driving immediately closed and locked both doors automatically, once it's two passengers were out of range of the cars senors.
~~~Marcus and Emily~~~
Months later
"You make a beautiful bride sis," Sandy told Emily.
Emily was getting married on this day. The wedding planning had taken awhile, but not as long as it could have, because she had plenty of help from her sister and also Marcus's female relatives like his mother and his aunt. "The wedding dress you chose is gorgeous.
"You were there when I chose it," Emily reminded her sister with a smile feeling so happy that it was unreal. "You've always had really good taste. You take after mother in that way."
"Don't mention that woman to me or how I take after her," Sandy told her sister firmly. "She might've technically been our mother, but she sure didn't act like it. I have no doubt that she would've tried to break you and Marcus up claiming he wasn't good enough for you and she wouldn't care that you were happy."
"Unfortunately true," Emily agreed soberly.
"So who's walking you down the aisle since father isn't around and Casey is dead," Sandy asked.
"Marcus's father, Aaron Hotchner," Emily said. "He is everything a father should be loving, supportive, generous. I like him a whole lot and have often wished ever since I met him that our father had been just like him instead of the one we were stuck with. Aaron, as he told me to call him, never would have put up with mother's attitude. While Aaron is an alpha male, he doesn't use it in the same way our mother did."
"I would love to meet him," Sandy said.
"Well, you've been wanting to meet Marcus's mother anyway, so I'll introduce you to both of them. Aaron should be here any minute to escort me to Marcus and I'll introduce you to Shonda after Marcus and I are married," Emily said.
"That would be good," Sandy said. "You must trust this Aaron Hotchner if you asked him to walk you down the aisle."
"I do," Emily said, "and I'm sure you will to if you have a chance to get to know him. We went up to Reno for Marcus's mother's birthday, as I mentioned we were going to do. It was quite the feast and there was a large crowd. Marcus has a large family as you know and they came from all over the world just to be there for Shonda Hotchner's birthday and what does that tell you?"
"That she's well liked, even loved by her family," Sandy said immediately.
"Exactly and as I told Marcus, if somebody had arranged a party for our mother's birthday nobody would've come unless they were blackmailed or bribed."
"Now that's an unfortunate truth," Sandy said with a grimace.
"Do you know what Shonda told me when me and Marcus gave her the presents we had brought," Emily asked her sister.
"No, what did she say?" Sandy asked with a raised eyebrow
"That she didn't need all the presents her family had bought her, as having them there to celebrate with her was more than enough," Emily revealed.
"Wow! That really says how your soon to be mother-in-law values her family," Sandy said looking wistful. "I wish I could say the same about that woman we are unfortunate enough to share DNA with.
"Yes, it does," Emily agreed. "I totally agree with that statement."
Emily didn't bother to tell Sandy why Shonda valued her family much more than any present that had been bought in a store. Shonda had everything she could possibly want when it came to material possessions so she put all the value on her family instead and that was very admirable.
"All the family that was there came not only because they were invited or because the food was spectacular, as it was catered, but because they loved their mother or their aunt.
"So she has nieces and nephews then," Sandy said.
"Yes, she does," Emily agreed. "Those nieces and nephews though aren't technically related to her."
"What do you mean?" Sandy asked confused.
"Remember when Marcus told you about his parents good friends the Rossis," Emily reminded her.
"Oh, right, I had forgotten," Sandy admitted.
"The two families are extremely close, so that they consider each other family. Anyway, Aaron should be here in just a minute to walk me down the aisle so you need to go and get in your place," Emily told Sandy. "You're the only family I have left so you get a seat on the front row."
"That's gonna be an empty front row if I'm the only person sitting there," Sandy said.
"Marcus's parents and his aunt and uncle will be joining you as well as his siblings and cousins," Emily said. "That will be no specific side for the groom or the bride as that just didn't work in this case."
"No, I suppose it wouldn't," Sandy admitted grimacing, "since I'm your only family."
"It doesn't matter," Emily said firmly. "I'm marrying the man I love with all my heart and that's all that matters. I'm also getting a terrific new family on top of it. The Hotchners are so unlike our mother that it's practically surreal."
"That's a good thing though, as I couldn't see you marrying anyone if their family was anything like mother was," Sandy suggested.
"That is an absolute home truth sis," Emily agreed wholeheartedly. "If I was stupid enough to marry someone with difficult relatives like that me and whoever my husband was would probably have trouble with his family constantly. I could easily see us getting divorced years down the road, because of the husband's family interference in our lives."
"Which is why I'm glad Marcus's family is nothing like our mother was," Sandy said. "I would hate to see that happen to you and Marcus where you got divorced."
"Never going to happen," Emily said, but didn't tell Sandy why it would never happen, even if his parents hadn't been so loving and reasonable.
There was a knock on the door and Sandy answered it.
"Ready to marry my son?" Aaron asked Emily with a smile on his face.
"Absolutely, I've been looking forward to it," Emily admitted with a smile of her own. Aaron kissed Emily on the cheek. "Aaron, meet my sister Sandy. Until I met Marcus she and Casey were the only family I had in this world. Ever since Casey was killed on a mission though, Sandy is the only blood related family I have left."
"That will soon not be true when you and Marcus start having children, but I know what you mean, as I was an only child as well and my parents have been dead for very long time," Aaron said. "It's nice to meet you Sandy."
"It's nice to meet you Mr. Hotchner," Sandy told Aaron shaking his hand firmly. "Thank you for supporting Marcus's and Emily's relationship.
"You can call me Aaron, as we'll soon be family. We might not see each other very much, but there's still no reason to be so formal," Aaron said. "And you're quite welcome. Emily has been really good for Marcus actually, so how could I not approve? Marcus has been so much happier ever since he met your sister so how could I object? I wouldn't love my son very much if I objected to his relationship with Emily and I do love my son a great deal. Both his mother and I are very happy that he's finally found love and are delighted to welcome Emily into our family."
"That's very nice of you," Sandy said amazed as Aaron's attitude was the total opposite of Elizabeth Prentiss's. Elizabeth Prentiss had never been happy a day in her life and had tried her best to make her children just as miserable as she was. That she had died in her early 60s from a massive heart attack and that none of her three children mourned her really said something about her attitude and personality. Considering that humans could live for a couple of hundred years now to die at just 60 meant that Elizabeth Prentiss had still been relatively young by today's standards. Those with Elizabeth's kind of personality where they were never happy and tried to make everybody as miserable as they were often died sooner then other who were happy or at least contented with their lives.
Aaron Hotchner was a very handsome man Sandy noticed. He had black hair with streaks of gray and eyes of a dark brown that crinkled at the corners when he smiled. There was only a few lines in his face, around his eyes and mouth mostly so he still looked young despite having grown children. He was well over six feet in height with broad shoulders and slim waist. Aaron also seemed to have a nice personality to go along with his looks and didn't seem at all arrogant or conceited like so many handsome men were.
He didn't look much like his son so apparently Marcus took after his mother more than his father. Marcus and his father shared the same color eyes as well as the shape of them, but Emily's fiancé had his mother's red hair and a lot of her facial features. Marcus did take after his father in his broad shoulders and slim waist though as well as his long legs.
"I'm looking forward to getting to know you and your family better," Sandy told Aaron sincerely. "Emily has already told me so much about your family and how you were so supportive of her relationship with your son."
"Why wouldn't we be supportive?" Aaron asked with a small smile. "Shonda and I don't look at it as losing a son, but gaining a daughter. The fact, that they'll soon have children, giving us grandchildren is just an added bonus. Marcus is the first one to get married as his two brothers and one sister have yet to tie the knot with anyone."
Aaron didn't tell Sandy that the reason the rest of his children hadn't married anyone yet was they had not met their mates. Sandy didn't know a thing about immortality. Of course, he and Shonda had grandchildren galore but not for Marcus's generation, so he technically spoke the truth.
"I see you were right," Sandy said to Emily.
"Told you," Emily said.
"So you did," Sandy admitted with a small smile.
Aaron listened and figured what they were talking about was something that the two sisters had discussed at some point probably having to do with his family because why bring it up otherwise.
"Sorry to talk about things you know nothing about, but what Emily and I were discussing was that your family is much more reasonable, loving and supportive than our own was," Sandy explained. "Emily happened to mention that she was surprised when she met you for the first time as she didn't expect such a warm reception."
"Despite Marcus assuring me that you'd love me, simply because he did," Emily said.
"If it had been our mother she would've tried her best to break me and Marcus up, just because she didn't want her daughters to find happiness with someone. The fact that her marriage was miserable might've had something to do with that," Emily added. "She always claimed that none of our former boyfriends were good enough for us."
"Well, I knew you came from something of a broken home, just from the things you have said, but that is so sad and also tragic," Aaron decided shaking his head. "That your mother couldn't love her children and let them develop their own personalities and interests is just wrong."
"It is, which is one of the reasons I went in to profession I did," Sandy said. "My job takes me out of town on a fairly regular basis. Not that mother agreed with my idea of a career, much like she never agreed with Casey's idea to join the Navy SEALs. Really, Emily is the only one that has a job that doesn't take away from home. I believe Casey was drawn to the SEALs partly so he could leave the city where our mother was. He visited, but he never stayed more than a few days. He never went to visit mother when he was here I know that for certain."
"I'm glad I stayed in Fort Worth now, as I never would have met Marcus otherwise and that would have been tragic," Emily said with real feeling in her voice.
"Well, you're about to marry him and I'm looking forward to having you for daughter-in-law," Aaron said. "We better get going though before Marcus comes looking for you."
"Let's go. I've never anticipated something so much as I am my own wedding and I never imagined I'd say that in a million years," Emily agreed with a smile, as she let Aaron escort her out of the room where she had been getting ready with her sister's help.
"See you at the reception sis," Emily added over shoulder.
Sandy watched them go smiling before she hurrying to find her place in the front row to see her baby sister marry the man she loved.
~~~Marcus and Emily~~~