"There's not too much to bring back home, Aaron. You didn't have to come help me pack up." Erin gave him a soft smile as she handed him the larger of the two bags that he had brought to the facility for her back in December. "After all, it's not like I could buy anything when I never left here, save for the two weekends I spent at home. The only extras are the three plants you sent here to cheer me up."

She leaned in and kissed his cheek softly. "But you're my partner, so I want to do nice things for you. And this is the easiest nice thing that I can think of at the moment. After all, from this point on, I'm going to be spending time bouncing back and forth between your home and mine, so this will be the last time that I see this place."

Erin rolled her eyes a little before smacking his chest lovingly. "I cannot believe that you are this incorrigible, Aaron Hotchner. Why I ever fell in love with you, I'll never know." She tempered her words with a little smirk, and he shrugged. "You're lucky you're handsome."

"I know."

"Oh, the humility that's radiating off you right now is just stunning," she muttered as she picked up the orchid that had been his latest purchase for her room. "All right, let's head home."

Nodding, he picked up the smaller bag, too, allowing her to grab the other plant before they made their way out to the entryway. Lauren was waiting there for them, a wide smile on her lips. "I am so glad to see that you have a good friend here to bring you home, Erin. It has been a pleasure to work with you through getting your addiction under control, and I know that with Aaron's support, you're going to keep that addiction at bay. And I hope you both know that I want an invitation to the wedding."

"We'll have to see about that," Aaron said as Lauren opened the door for them, and Erin nodded as they made their way out to his car. "I don't think that I'll miss seeing her all the time, honestly."

"She's a lot like Ms. Garcia, in that she grows on you after a while. And she means well, even if she is a little heavy handed." Erin settled the plants on the floor in the back seat before settling into the passenger seat while he dropped her bags in the trunk. Though they didn't talk on the drive to her house, Erin did keep her hand safely tucked into the crook of his elbow. Her hand tightened when they pulled into the drive of her home, a happy breath of air drawn into her lungs when she saw who was sitting on the porch, waiting for her. "You didn't tell me this!"

"I wanted a happy surprise for you, Erin. I hope that I succeeded in doing so."

"Very much, yes." She looked up into his face, and he watched a few tears start to roll down her cheeks. "Thank you," she murmured before leaning in and kissing him softly. "Are they here for the weekend?"

"I wish that I could have gotten Alan to agree to that, but he did give us lunch. Especially since you'll be going back to the original custody agreement come Monday, which is your week with them, as soon as they get out of school."

"What?" she asked, her voice breathy and incredulous as she stared at him. "Aaron?"

"If you're to make sobriety work, you need to have things return to a semblance of normality. Alan and I agree on this, even if he doesn't quite get how I can feel so deeply about you in just a few months. But sometimes love does move quickly, and silently." She gave him a few nods before leaning in and kissing him once more. "Now, before we waste more time kissing in the car, how about we go greet your children?"

"No Jack?"

He shook his head. "I planned on spending the night, and Roy wanted to spend more time with him, so I let Jessica have him for the weekend. I hope that you don't mind?"

"No, I understand. I just like spending time with him, too. Perhaps next week?"

"Yes."

She smiled brilliantly before giving him a quick peck and then opening the car door to tumble out of it. "Darlings!"

The kids ran up to her, forming a tight circle around her as Aaron stepped out and grabbed her bags as he followed them inside. He listened to the sound of their voices enter the living room as he dropped the bags on the floor next to the table and then went back out to bring in her plants, not wanting the heat of the day to destroy them. Just as he was setting the third pot onto the table, Erin stepped back into the foyer, giving him an exasperated look. "What?"

"The children have made lunch for us, and it will be finished cooking in about twenty minutes. Until then, I guess there's this video that Bruce found on the internet that he wants us to watch? I don't get it, but he swears that it's funny, and as long as we're doing it together, I'm going to be content. Or as content as I can be until Jack is with us." Erin took hold of his hand and dragged him into the living room. The children looked at him innocently enough before pointedly looking at the smaller loveseat that remained open, and he rolled his eyes at them as Erin led him over to the seat. They were seated very closer together as Bruce handed over his tablet.

"It's all cued up to the right video, all you have to do is press the play button," he said as Aaron took hold of the tablet and did just that, allowing Erin to cuddle in close to him as they watched the screen.

"Viking Cats?"

"You know about that video?" He nodded. "How?"

"I'm not a complete dinosaur," he murmured as he watched Erin watch the screen. By the end of it, she was giggling, and he felt a surge of happiness rush through his system at her reaction. "All right, I raise your Viking Cats with Only In Kenya." Aaron expertly searched for the video he was thinking of before handing the tablet back to the kids, his arm coming to rest around Erin's shoulders as they watched the kids watching the video.

"I would expect this knowledge from Ms. Garcia more so than you."

"She's not the only one that's good with the internet," he replied as he began to run his hand up and down her arm. "This is cosy, but you're right, it would be better with Jack here. Next weekend, when the kids are here again, we'll come over as a package deal. Okay?"

"Yes." Erin let her head thump down on Aaron's chest and he let out a little sigh as he raised his hand to tug on pieces of her hair as the videos continued to play. "When I come back to work, I'm going to make afternoons like this the norm. I've missed so much with my children, and I don't want to make the same mistake again, especially with adding you and Jack to the mix. I hope that you won't find me clingy."

"I don't think that I could, no." He bent his head and pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head before turning his focus onto the children once more, and smiling at them, knowing that this was the beginning of something that he wanted to last for the long haul.