A case closed in Florida, three days home, and then four days in Alabama.

Alabama wasn't easy for me. The Romani family didn't sit well with me, and then when we found out that there were others, it made it worse.
Who knew how many of these gypsies were around, murdering parents and taking their daughters, reshaping them into wives.
Playing good cop – bad cop with Hotch felt a little different now, although I couldn't pinpoint what it was. It didn't affect how we functioned together, so I wasn't too worried.

I went back to my apartment when we returned home at 4pm, as did most of the others. Hotch and Rossi stayed behind.
At seven, I received a text from Hotch asking if I had eaten. I said I hadn't, but I never received a reply.

At eight, I heard a knock at my door. I got out of bed and went down. I saw Hotch through the peep hole and opened the door. "Chinese and scotch." He showed me the drink and food in his hands. I smiled weakly and stepped to the side to let him in.
He put the food out on the coffee table and I grabbed two glasses, filled them with ice, and then sat down with him. He filled the glasses and looked at me. "I figured we could watch a movie, and then maybe if you're up for it, soak in your hot tub. It'll help you relax."

I just kissed him, long and gentle. "You're perfect." He smiled in return and handed me the TV remote. I picked a movie as he opened the Chinese boxes and handed me a pair of chopsticks.
I got up and went outside to turn the hot tub on to warm up, and then returned and sat with him. I pressed play and settled beside him.

Once we finished eating, he sat back and I repositioned to lay with my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around me tightly and I sighed, trying to relax into him.
By the time the movie finished we had polished off the bottle of scotch, and I was not handling it well. He suggested maybe we just go to bed, but I said I wanted to sit in the tub with him for a while. He gave in easily and told me he'd get in while I changed.
I ran upstairs to my nightstand and grabbed a small bottle out, and then went back down, undressing as I went down the staircase.
I got into the tub naked, and Hotch hadn't even dressed down to his boxer briefs yet. I smiled and put the bottle down beside the tub and then moved across the tub to be in front of him. I slid his underwear off for him and smiled as I saw he was already semi-erect.

He seemed hesitant to be naked outside, but my balcony was pretty secluded; no one could see in. He got in beside me and handed me a glass of wine this time.

"Mixing alcohol?" I smiled at him.

"Well, I wouldn't want you to get thirsty." He sipped his own glass and moved into a more comfortable position for himself. He wrapped his arm around my waist and I sat close to his side, drinking the wine and just appreciating the warm water and silence – apart from the jets. On my second glass of wine, I let my hand move down his torso slowly until I reached him. He took in a breath as I ghosted my fingers over him gently. "Emily, we can't have sex in a hot tub."

"Why not?" I moved to face him more directly and began to move my hand over him. He was fully erect now. I kissed along his jaw before moving down his neck slowly.

"Because water does not lubricate…"

I pulled away momentarily and grabbed the bottle I had brought out with me. I showed it to him, "Silicone-based lubricant. It's the best one for water sex." I winked at him, and then returned my hand back to him. He took a deep breath and gave me an unsure look. I stopped and pulled my hand away completely, "If you really don't want to then we won't."

"It's not that…it's that I've never had sex in water before. Haley was very traditional. I don't want to hurt you."

I smiled and moved to straddle him, "Then let me take control for once." I whispered in his ear before biting at his earlobe lightly, tugging with my teeth.
He ran a hand through my hair and pulled me back just enough to connect our lips. It grew intense quickly. He pinched at my nipples and caused me to moan and arch my back. I grabbed the bottle from where it sat behind him and stood up out of the water for a second. I applied the lubricant around myself and dipped my fingers in to make sure I was all good to go. He groaned, watching me move my own finger inside of myself. I prolonged it for a little while longer, seeing him start to shift where he sat.
I got back down to straddle him, put more lubricant in my hand, and then massaged it over him. He groaned quietly, dropping his head back. As soon as I was sure it was sufficient, I lowered onto him slowly. His head was still back, so he hadn't seen me move to sit on him. He groaned louder, his hands finding my hips and digging in, a little painfully.

I got myself off once with the help of his thumb rubbing circles over my clit. Afterwards, he lifted me off him and stood, pulling me with him, "I'm sorry, I need you in a bed. Now." He held my hand as I stepped out of the tub to make sure I didn't fall. I switched it off before going inside, quickly going upstairs. I lay down and he came in a few seconds behind me. He was above me straight away, his lips on mine and entering me again, so easily.

We closed three cases before the case involving Matthew and John came up. It was agonising to work with little support from Hotch.
Having JJ back for a few cases now was comforting, but she stayed on the side lines with this one, trying not to get on Hotch's bad side.

Admitting the abortion to Rossi was almost impossible for me to get out. He was supportive and understanding. Once I told him that Matthew was not the father, he made the connection that John was on his own.

Once we closed the case and I had gotten back home after walking through the snow for two hours, I went upstairs straight away to shower and warm up. I got changed into some warm pyjamas and then went back downstairs to make some coffee.

My phone sounded and I opened Hotch's text, "Are you okay?"

I sighed to myself and decided to text back bluntly, "I needed you, and you were not there to support me. Please give me a few days alone to recoup."
He didn't reply after that, and when I was about to turn my phone off, my phone rang. I picked up Rossi's call, "Hey."

"Scotch and cigars?"

"Absolutely." I felt a small smile on my lips. I appreciated him so much.

"Your place or mine?"

"I'll come to you. I'll be about an hour." I hung up and changed back out of my pyjamas.
The drive over to him took a little longer than usual thanks to the snow.
Really, I probably shouldn't have been driving in the current conditions, but I had broken enough laws the past few days for the case that one more wasn't a worry.

When I pulled up at his place, he came outside and waited for me on the porch. I walked over slowly, like my legs wouldn't go any faster. He took my go-bag from my shoulder and guided me inside with a hand on my back.
He had the fireplace lit in the den. I sat down and he went upstairs to drop my bag in the bedroom I usually stayed in, and then he came back. He handed me a generous glass of scotch and then a cigar.

We were silent for a while. When we finished our third glasses of scotch and refilled them, he finally spoke, "Since I've known you, whenever someone brings up the topic of you having children, you claim you don't want them. Do you not want kids, or do you feel like you don't deserve kids?"

I stared at him for a few seconds. I wasn't sure how to respond to that. I felt tears rising and I tried desperately to get them under control before they reached my eyes, "I don't want to talk about it." I whispered.

"So the latter, then," He gave me a sympathetic smile, "Emily, you were 15. There was no way you could raise a child then. Things are different now; you're an adult with a good, stable income, space in your apartment and your life, and you would be a magnificent mother."

The tears dripped onto my cheeks and I wiped them away straight away. I looked at the flames in the fireplace to avoid his eyes, "I said I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay."

We were quiet again as we drank.
The sixth glass – a stronger scotch now that we had opened a second bottle – was when it all hit me. I was drunk and upset, and I spoke to him quietly. "I'm dating Aaron."

"…Your—since when?"

"It's been almost a year. Started the night we were all here after Haley left him. Well…that was when we slept together the first time. A little while after regularly sleeping together, he went back to Haley. Then he came to my apartment and told me he wanted to be with me, and that he had filed for the divorce."

"I had a suspicion, but I thought maybe a one-night-stand. I didn't expect you to actually be together.
"…Are you still together? After this case?" He looked at me. I just nodded. "Does he make you happy?" he asked. I nodded again. "Then why do you look so upset?"

I looked at him now, "Do you think he'll expect more kids?"

He took a moment to think about it before speaking, "He always had every intention of providing a sibling for Jack. Why don't you ask him if he wants more?"

"It's too early for that," I shook my head. I got up and walked over to the couch where he sat, and I sat next to him. He understood that I wanted his comfort and immediately pulled me in against him. I lay with my legs up and my head on his chest. He stroked my hair in a fatherly way, and I closed my eyes. "Thank you." I whispered sleepily. The alcohol was overcoming me now and I wasn't too far off falling asleep.

He just hushed me and repositioned himself slightly, still holding me tightly.

I didn't get a chance to speak with Hotch before we were in Boston on The Reaper's case. It didn't sit well with him, and I later found out from Reid that it was one of his first cases, that obviously went unsolved.
We left it initially solved, until we saw the news reports of him breaking out of custody.

We were straight to Indiana after that, and then South Padre Island.
Finally, we were given four days off to recover from three back-to-back cases.

I went home to shower, do some laundry, and repack my go-bag. Then I sat down and called Hotch. He didn't pick up, but then he called me back a few minutes later. I asked if he had Jack, and then he told me to come to his place.

I grabbed my bag and left my apartment. Weeks away, and I wasn't worried about not having a night in my own bed. I just wanted him.
When I arrived, Jack opened the door before Hotch got there. "Jack, you do not answer the door alone." Hotch scolded lightly, turning the boy back to the apartment gently.

He motioned for me to come in and I put my things down on the table beside the door.
"I knew it was Emmy!" Jack jumped into my arms as I crouched down. I hugged him tightly with a smile. He returned to the couch where a movie played, and he lay with his security teddy, a blue elephant.

I stood back up and looked at Hotch. He seemed so tired. I smiled weakly and kissed him gently. He glanced at Jack and then back to me, "Do you want to talk?"

"We don't need to talk, Aaron. I just needed a few days to move on. I know you were in an impossible position, and we're okay." I smiled reassuringly, holding his hand.

"I don't want you to think that you're not a priority. I don't want to—"

I wanted him to stop feeling guilty and worrying about it, so I cut him off with the only thing I could think to get him to stop talking, "I love you," I whispered. I kissed him again, longer this time, "We're okay."

He returned to the kitchen when the oven sounded. He got a tray of roasted potatoes out of the oven and took a pan off the top the stove. He made pork chops, potatoes, and steamed vegetables.
He plated the meal for us and set it all down at the table, asking Jack to pause his movie and go wash his hands. He poured me a glass of wine, got himself a whiskey, and Jack some juice.
After we finished eating, I insisted on cleaning up. He let me, reluctantly, and he ran a bath for Jack.

A half hour later, I was waiting on the couch as he put Jack to bed, and then he came out and sat beside me, a hand resting on my knee. "So I hear you told Rossi." He smirked at me.

I sighed, "I was very drunk. There was a lot of scotch involved. Plus, JJ hates being the only one that knows. Now they can gossip about us together." He just laughed as he leant forward and grabbed the TV remote. He searched for a movie, and then sat back and pulled me over to cuddle against him. I snuggled into his side and pulled the light blanket from the back of the couch around me. He kissed my hair and ran his fingers lightly up and down my arm.
I fell asleep against him about halfway through and woke when he picked me up and carried me to bed.

"Shh, it's okay sweetheart. Go back to sleep." He lay me down on the bed lightly and made sure I was warm and comfortable. He went to set the alarm, and then slid into bed beside me. I snuggled up to him again. I was almost asleep when he spoke again, but I think he thought I was fully out of it, "I love you too, Emily."